Chapter 5-The Battery/Charleston

It was about three in the morning when Gabe finally made it into Charleston. The smell of the air was invigorating. Luckily, it was cool enough outside that he had the windows down and the moon roof open; his stereo was still blasting music and he was still singing along. Any other time of day during the summer there would've been no way to roll down the windows. The humidity and heat mad Gabe sweat like a stuck pig on a barbecue pit.

"Now this is where I should be. Forget New York, this is 'my kinda town,'" he half sung half said to himself.

As he drove down the battery he was admiring, actually sizing up, all the houses he passed. He needed to find a place to hunker down for the night and a motel just wouldn't cut it. Having been a master thief for this long, it was easy for him to pick out what houses were simply asleep and what houses were empty.

The old colonial style houses made Gabe think about living in the times in which these houses were built. Life would've been much different and he wondered whether he would have been born into the good life, or if he would still be a thief like he was now. Not that it really mattered, but a different time and a different upbringing and maybe his life would've turned out differently.

These old houses sure are something. Hmmmm, that one on the right up ahead looks like a good pad to crash at for the night.

As Gabe pulled into the driveway he killed the lights to his Lexus. Before breaking into a house he had to make sure his hunch about no one being home was right. Again he had a checklist to go over:

1) Do a lap around the house and peer in windows to see how "lived" in the house looks.
2) Check the mailbox for mail which hadn't been picked up.
3) If possible look in the garage and see if there are any cars inside. (This rule was beginning to deteriorate a lot since garages had now been built with no windows.)
4) See if automatic flood lights come on.

Gabe went through his checklist and there was mail in the mailbox which looked like a week's worth. The house had automatic timers on certain lights in the house and it appeared lived in, but not for a while. There were no cars in the garage. Since this was an older house the garage doors still had windows. However, there were no automatic flood lights which worried him.

Ah, three out of four ain't bad. Now let's see if this house has an alarm system.

Kneeling down to get a better look at the lock, Gabe pulled out his phone for some extra light. He then took out a bobby pin and began twisting it around in the lock. Within minutes he had picked the deadbolt and the door lock to the front door of the house.

Easy, peasy, fresh and squeezey. This is just too easy.

He walked back to his car and pulled out a duffel bag with some clothes and shaving kit in it. He was prepared for a one night stay at whoever's house this was. As he walked back up to the door, he slowly turned the handle just in case he was wrong about the house being empty. There had only been a few times when he'd had to make a run for it because he was wrong.

As he entered the house, he could smell a distinctive polished wood smell and a hint of peroxide in the air.

Smart people. They know how to clean without that bleach smell. Ugh. Wait what is that scent smells like....

Gabe turned to quietly push the door shut and to lock it back. He kept the doorknob turned as he closed the door and released it when it was shut all the way. He then turned the lock on the door and turned the lock in the deadbolt. CLACK!

Dammit!

The noise reverberated down the hallway and there even seemed to be a slight echo. Gabe turned around a was staring straight into the barrel of a shotgun.

"Motherfucker! Whoa! Hold on there a minute!"

Gabe's eyes tried to focus past the end of the shotgun to see who was holding it. In the darkness his eyes adjusted to see a beautiful woman about his age on the other end of the gun.

"Hey, hey now. I know this looks bad, but I can explain."

"You know what? I am really tired of explanations from men this evening. I honestly ought to just blow your brains out right here and not worry another thing about it."

"Um, well, I really don't have an answer for that. I would really prefer you not do that, but if you feel that strongly about it..."

"Oh, shut up. What the hell are you breaking into my house for? And why all the snooping around before you did it?"

"Wait, you saw me snooping around? How come I didn't see you?"

"Cause I'm just as stealthy as you are. And do you really think those door locks would be that easy to pick?"

"What? Are you saying you unlocked the door for me?"

"Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. I was actually curious as to why you were breaking into my house. So, you're not a rapist and you don't look like you're going to steal anything....and what's with the duffel bag? Planning on staying?"

"Uh, actually, yeah I was planning on that. Staying that is. Could you maybe lower the gun if we're gonna stand here and talk? It's making me a little nervous. I promise I'm not gonna hurt you. I really was just looking for a place to crash for the night."

"You know there are plenty of hotels in this city, right? I mean it is a tourist destination, all though I wish it wasn't."

"Yeah, not big on hotels. Too much money, especially this time of year. It's like price gouging. By the way, my name's Gabe. Now could you lower the shotgun?"

"Hmmm, we seem to be of like minds about the whole tourist thing. My name's Lacy and this house has been in my family since before the Civil War, so sorry if I'm a little overprotective of it. Plus, living by myself I can't be too careful. Why don't you come on in and make yourself comfortable on the sofa. I'm gonna go get something to drink. Care for anything?"

"So, southern hospitality does still exist? Sure, a drink sounds great. Do you have any tea?"

"Sweet or unsweet?"

"Pshhhh, sweet of course. Are you kidding me? Only Yankees drink unsweetened tea."

"Mmmmm, a man after my own heart. Make yourself comfortable. I'll be right in."

Gabe made his way down the hallway and walked into the spacious living room. The room was dark, so he cut on a small lamp at the end of the sofa and noticed a picture on the fireplace. He walked over and picked up the picture. In the picture was a man in his mid thirties and a little girl of about 10 years old with features he recognized as Lacy.

Lacy walked into the kitchen and began going through the refrigerator just as she had done earlier. She felt as if she was having a weird sense of deja vu. However, this time it felt a tad bit different. This Gabe guy, even though he had just broken into her house, didn't have the kind of arrogance Rob seemed to have, and he acted as if he was from the South as well, even though his accent wasn't very thick.

Thinking about all of these things, she absentmindedly poured the two glasses of sweet tea and rested the shotgun against the kitchen counters. However, as she made her way back into the living room, she undid her robe ever so slightly just so she could have easier access to the pistol she had tucked next to her right thigh in a garter.