Reading Sample - Chapter One from the "Riders Club"

Chapter One from "The Riders Club" includes the inciting incident, a smash, and grab burglary.

I hope you find it timely and interesting.

Chapter 1

Tom was in bed with his wife, enjoying a deep, restful sleep. All was well, except they were getting ripped off, big time.

The telephone rang at 4:16 Sunday morning. Tom was usually a hard man to wake. He was a deep sleeper and a dreamer. He woke confused and irritated, and after the second ring, he muttered, "What the hell is that?”

Tess, more alert, mumbled, “It’s the phone.”

“What time is it?” He searched for the clock on his nightstand, rolled over, and tried to sit up. He wanted to find the screaming phone and silence it. Half-asleep, he staggered from the bed, when, thankfully, Tess turned on the lights.

She looked concerned. She held the phone and said, “It’s the alarm company.”

That did it; he was awake now. He found his way to Tess, grabbed the phone, and answered, "This is Tom Coogan."

“Mr. Coogan, this is Andre with Northern Alarm. We received an alarm activation at your 1344 North Vista Avenue location. We have dispatched the police. Are you able to meet them at that location?”

“Yes, I can.”

“Mr. Coogan, how long will it take for you to get there?”

“Well, I have to change, which shouldn’t take too long, then I can head right out, so about twenty to twenty-five minutes.”

“Mr. Coogan, what is the make and color of the vehicle that you will be driving?"

“It’s a Ford F150 Pickup, brown.”

***

The Boise traffic was light in the early morning darkness. Tess had offered to come, an effort of support typical of her; for 25 years, she was always there and always stable. Tom explained it was probably just another false alarm, so she should go back to bed. At least one of them should get some sleep. Still, four in the morning is a rough time to get an alarm call. He felt if there was a real problem, the police would be there, and it would be best to face the music alone.

Tom had just turned fifty and was relatively healthy for a business guy who spent too much time locked to his desk. His short blonde hair was partially gray, with even more of the color taking over his well-maintained beard. His best attributes were his constant smile and positive attitude. He tried to lead, set a positive example and work hard, possibly to a fault.

Tom drove up Capital Boulevard, and after climbing Depot Hill, he merged onto Vista Avenue. A half-mile later, he pulled into the newly renovated Vista Park Shopping Center, where two Boise Police cars stood parked in front of his store. It was immediately apparent this was not a false alarm. Even from a distance, Teton Outdoors’s front entrance appeared to be compromised.

Tom had purchased the business from his dad when he was in his thirties and had since expanded it from one to three stores. He hoped his children would one day continue the tradition. Teton Outdoors was the best outdoor and travel store in the area, with loyal clientele who enjoyed a dynamic and active outdoor lifestyle uniquely available in Idaho. Still, retail was getting more difficult with time. With all the internet competition and the local media losing their advertising effectiveness, retail became very challenging. And then, of course, there were the burglaries.

Tom parked his pickup and carried his six-foot, 205-pound frame across the parking lot. It felt like a workout. Tom's once athletic build had started to fade, and he struggled to stay fit. He felt he was still doing okay, but today shook that belief. As he drew closer, he stopped, dropped his hands to his knees, let his head fall forward, and closed his eyes.

“Oh shit,” He muttered. After three slow Yoga breaths, he erectly marched onward with his game face on. He needed to suck it up.

After the third burglary, they had upgraded the store's security features with reinforced doors, laminated glass, and roll-down steel mesh gates. With the improvements, the front entrances were supposed to be insurmountable. There was no way anyone could break into Teton Outdoors, or so everyone thought.

With each step, Tom checked out the mess. Fifteen yards from the store’s entrance, a mass of twisted metal sat separate from the framework that previously held it together. So much for the security gate. A few steps closer, large pieces of laminated glass laid in batches on the asphalt. The glue binding the glass sheets held it together in cracked jagged chunks, some folded vertically, teeth-up, creating a dangerous landscape for the unaware. The glass belonged to the reinforced doors, which were now about six inconsistently sized chunks of scattered metal, with some small glass pieces still clinging to their frames. When he reached the front entrance, he saw why there were shreds of wood siding, and other construction materials lying in the parking lot; the structure around the front doors no longer existed.

It's not that the gate didn't hold, or the door's frame didn't bend, or the glass didn't break. Teton Outdoors’s security measures were, once again, inadequate. With the entrance's framework torn free, it left the building with a gashed front opening with questionable integrity.

Tom walked up to one of the Boise Police officers and introduced himself. The officer was fit and carried himself with a military bearing. He introduced himself as Officer Andrew Taft. “Mr. Coogan, the alarm company received the alarm signal at 4:06 AM. They notified us at 4:10, and our first car arrived on the scene at 4:22. The perpetrators were no longer on-site when we arrived. The situation appears to be a very sophisticated smash-and-grab burglary.”

“Did anyone see anything? I mean, with Vista Avenue being such a busy street, its likely to have some traffic even in the middle of the night. I would hope someone saw something,” Tom pled.

“I agree. Typically, when someone witnesses a crime, if they show up, they show up quickly. There could very well be a witness, someone driving by, but no one has come forward.”

“Yeah, okay, but… crap.”

“I understand, Mr. Coogan. We certainly will follow up. In situations like these, we may need to notify the media and see if the news departments can ask the public for help.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. Hopefully, someone might have seen something around here.”

“Mr. Coogan, your alarm system did its job; its siren still howled when we drove up. It may have driven the group away.”

“Group—you think there was a group?”

“Yes, sir, we think it was a large group. There was a significant amount of activity inside.”

“Significant? Now you're scaring me. How bad is it?” Tom's voice cracked, and his composure weakened.

“Our other officers are making their final clearing of the building and adjacent areas. They will complete their process soon, and then you can go in. You’re the only one who can best define how significant the damage is. What we know so far is there is a mess in there. A big mess,” Officer Taft switched gears, “You have an excellent alarm system; do you have a camera system?”

“Yes, we do. We have eight cameras inside, and one out front with good coverage of the front door, and they are all backed up on a DVR system.”

“Nine cameras. Excellent. When can we see the video?”

“Right away. My son, Nick, is our tech expert, and he's on his way. I expect he’ll be here momentarily.”

Officer Taft's stiff demeanor softened for just a second, and he let a consolatory smile show.

Nick showed up a few minutes later, and after getting briefed by his dad, they waited together for the police's all-clear. Nick stood strong at six-foot-five; he was clean-shaven with short brown hair, had intelligent green eyes, a square jaw, and a booming voice. As a business school graduate, he brought more than just his physical presence into the business. His technical skills added an element that was essential to the business’s growth.

Finally, the police gave the all-clear, and Tom, Nick, and the store manager, Steve Smith, entered the building. When Officer Taft said there was a big mess, he wasn't kidding. The front entrance was a sea of broken glass with pieces large and small. There were several mounds several inches deep. Plus, there were large shards with jagged ends that looked like weapons. Even with good shoes, you could get cut.

As they entered the store, a line of free-standing glass showcases standard in retail stores stood on the right side. Behind them was a range of displays. They all once displayed high-end merchandise on glass shelves. The burglars must not have wasted time by sliding open the doors on either side of the showcases. Instead, they destroyed all the glass on both sides and then removed the merchandise from inside. A lot of damaged merchandise laid on the floor. Both the showcases and the towers appeared trashed. They looked like a pile of garbage you might find at the city landfill.

Tom, Nick, and Steve huddled together in disbelief. Tom demonstrated his calm composure by throwing an immature fit. His anger took over, and he completely lost control. Tom started by yelling a string of obscenities and then marched nowhere in tight circles. He stepped toward a free-standing display of Tilley Hats. Tom grabbed the display unit, hoisted it off the ground, military-pressed it, and tossed it across the room. Unimpressed with his effort, he charged the prone hat display as if it might put up a fight. Tom attacked the prop and its remaining hats with a series of sharp kicks and stomps while continuing his swearing litany. His first kick broke the hat display into two pieces, the second into thirds. Tom's final kick was a total whiff that threw him off balance and led him into flight. He landed awkwardly on a nice sizable chunk of broken glass that easily sliced through his pants and slit his leg. Who won the big fight between Tom Coogan and the Tilley Hat display? The Tilley Hat display by a TKO.

Good thing Teton Outdoors sells first aid kits. Tom rolled up his pant leg and checked the damage. His ankle was a bloody mess. There was a row of small punctures; it almost looked like a saw blade hit him. A deeper cut bled on his calf, a stab from the large chunk of glass that left a gash about an inch wide. He was pretty lucky; a jagged piece of glass like that could have impaled him, and if it hit a vein, his bleeding could have been severe.

Tom washed his leg and ankle with a wet paper towel and applied pressure with a couple more hoping to stem the blood flow, the blood flow that was ruining his pants and socks. He rubbed a coating of antiseptic gel on all of his wounds and used a butterfly bandage to close the deep cut, and then he wrapped gauze and tape all around his lower leg.

Nick stood above him with an incredulous look on his face. Tom looked up at his son, and as he stood, said, “I'm good to go.”

“Are you sure you don’t need stitches on that cut?” Nick asked.

“No, I don’t think so. I’ve had worse.”

“Really, how often do you attack Tilley Hat displays?”

Tom didn't say a word; he just stared at his son.

“You’re always telling me to act professionally and keep my cool when an irrational customer is giving everyone crap,” Nick added, sounding irritated.

Tom looked down, then turned back and said, "Okay, when you're right, you're right, and you are. So, let's get together with Officer Taft and check out how much these assholes stole, okay?”

“Okay, but Mom will be pissed about those pants.”

“I’ll bet she will cut me some slack on this one.”

Officer Taft was shooting a series of photos to document the crime scene. Tom and Nick joined him and went to work. They stacked the empty boxes that matched up with the stolen merchandise. Then tried to guess what else was missing by memory. They were trying to build a ballpark estimate of the missing merchandise.

Taft asked, “Do you have an estimate of the loss?”

“Well, they knew what they were stealing,” Tom replied. “They grabbed the high-end optics, like Nikon, Canon, Swarovski, and Zeiss. They cleaned out our Celestron scopes and a lot more. We are going to have to shut down and perform a physical inventory, and then we will know.”

“Any general idea you can give me?”

“Yeah, easily six figures.”

Officer Taft seemed stunned, then looked Tom in the eye and said, "Then this is serious. It is a major crime. I’m so sorry.”

Tom shook his head and said, “Thanks.”

“Are you insured?”

“Yes, but I doubt any insurance company will touch us after today.”

***

Steve, Nick, Tom, and Officer Taft crammed into Steve's small office, staring at the surveillance system's LED screen. Nick was in control, with everyone's attention locked on the image.

“The master display shows all nine feeds at once. We can scan through them all together or individually, or if you want, we can do both. What first draws my attention is that camera nine is not sending a signal,” Nick said.

“Which camera is number nine?” Tom inhaled.

“Outside, front door,” Steve answered.

“Shit. How long has it been down?” Tom challenged.

“It hasn’t been down. It was going yesterday.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, sir,” Steve answered confidently.

“Okay, let's start with camera nine and see what's up,” Nick said. He brought the feed to full screen and scanned backward. Only a timestamp was displayed.

The timestamp counted down on the unchanging screen until 1:45 AM, when an image finally appeared. Nick stopped the playback and then played it forward until suddenly, the imaged vanished. Nick scanned back and played it again, this time in slow motion. Camera nine's angle captured the front door and thirty feet of the front parking lot. The storefront was reasonably lit, and nothing in the scene physically moved. Suddenly, the screen went dark, and then the image vanished. Nick scanned backed and played it, and once again, the screen went dark.

“Somebody disabled the camera,” Officer Taft offered.

In one motion, everyone got up and marched out the front entrance.

Camera nine used to be mounted under an eave about eight feet out and thirty feet to the front door's left. It looked like someone had destroyed the camera with a bat. The camera spun unnaturally on its mount, and they tore its connecting wires free. It was mounted ten feet above the walkway, too high to be an accident. And it happened two hours before the burglary.

Tom thought whoever did this had pre-planned and covered their tracks at the same time. They probably disabled the camera and then observed the scene to see if the damage set off an alarm. Two hours later, they robbed the store, all the while knowing it would be hard to identify their vehicles since they eliminated the operational outdoor camera.

Everyone went back to Steve's office and watched the feeds from the other cameras. Some cameras showed nothing, like the ones in the offices and other areas away from the sales floor. Nick went through the feeds quickly, and everyone watched them all. Some of the floor cameras gave some valuable detail, and camera numbers three and four, which covered the front door and the showcase area, showed everything.

From the front door view, a couple of masked individuals in dark clothing quickly attached chains to both of the front doors and the steel mesh gate, and then attached cables. A large dark vehicle pulled up. Nick froze the playback, and everyone looked for details, hoping to see make, model, and, of course, a license plate. They couldn't see much. The uneven light made it impossible for the camera to get an accurate exposure of the vehicle. Still, they had enough light to see it was an oversized pickup truck. Unfortunately, most of the other detail was blurred, and only vague features appeared. Then, the big truck pulled away, the cable quickly drew taut, and the gate and one door broke free. The pickup reversed back toward the front door, and as quick as it returned, it sped off again. This time when the cable snapped, the other door broke free, along with the entire door frame, and just that quick, the front end of the store was gone. The timestamp showed 4:04 AM.

The truck pulled away, and a nondescript van backed in with its back doors wide open. The vehicle transfer was fast and smooth. A group of nine individuals met at the door, all in dark clothing and masks. They formed a quick huddle as if they were a football team, and when the group broke, they went into action.

Two masked men led the group–one wielding an extra-large iron pry bar, and the other carrying an aluminum baseball bat. They swept down each side of the showcases, swinging their weapons, destroying and wiping clean the glass on both sides. A step behind were four pickers, cleaning off the shelves from the right and left sides of the cleared showcases. A fifth was removing the merchandise from the display shelves mounted to the wall fixtures. Another rolled in a large trash container with wheels and an open lid. The pickers were taking merchandise and tossing it into the trash container. Some of their throws were up to six feet in distance, and some tosses went awry, which explained why some damaged products were lying on the floor. Speed appeared to be their primary focus.

“Look at that! They're not only stealing fragile equipment, but probably busting the crap out of it. That stuff will get scratched to hell at the very least,” Tom exclaimed.

The burglars rotated trash containers as fast as they filled them and then slid them up and into the van. They hit the sections of the store with high-end merchandise on display. They executed the smash-and-grab with speed and teamwork. It would have been impressive to Tom if it didn't make him sick and angry. They rolled the last trash container into the van, closed the back doors behind it, and sped away. The timestamp was 4:13 AM.

Officer Taft and Nick worked together in Steve’s office, finishing their security video analysis. “Okay, so you want the feeds off of camera three, four, six, and seven. And you want the time from 4:00 to 4:15 Would you like me to put them on a USB drive or a DVD?" Nick asked.

“Let's try the DVD.”

“I’ll make two copies for you and drop them off at the station when they’re finished.”

Officer Taft stood up and shook Nick's hand, said thanks, and then walked out into the storefront where Tom and Steve were huddling. Taft walked up to Tom, shook his hand, and said, “Mr. Coogan, I'm very sorry this happened. I hope you can get the store back together soon enough so that your business is not disturbed too much.”

“That's the next project for today; clean up, recover, and reopen for business.”

“I have the information I need to complete my report. I went over the surveillance video with Nick, and he's putting together copies for us. Do you have a business card I can add to the file in case we need to get a hold of you?”

“Sure,” Tom handed him his card and said, “Call anytime. I want to get to the bottom of this one. I want to get these guys.”

Officer Taft stiffened and said, “Here is my card, and on the back, I have written the case number we have assigned. Whenever you contact the department regarding this case, refer to this number. I will finish my report, and a detective will be assigned. In the meantime, my shift is transitioning, and I will be off for the next week. If you have any questions or discover any other relevant information, call the station.”