Charlie The Hood Houdini

By Janice Elliott-Howard

A skilled thief is not a bad person; he’s just a man with a particular set of skills that he sharpens with every mark. His ability to take you for everything you’ve got in plain sight is mind-blowing, and therein lies the magic. Meet Charlie the Hood Houdini; he’s the most thoughtful mastermind of trickery who’d shake your hand and rob you blind. Charlie masters the art of escape. The Hood Houdini has one last illusion that could cost him the ultimate price. Will you root for Charlie? Will anyone? Find out what makes Charlie tick and how he became the Hood Houdini.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Janice Elliott-Howard
• Release date: May 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370331864

Janice Elliott-Howard

J Elliott-Howard is a native of New York, New York. She holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration. She has had a successful career in corporate America. A divorced mother of two adult children and a grandmother of three. She enjoys photography and water color painting. She had been known to always see her glass as half-full instead of empty. She has a very interesting way of relating to people and her peers always seem to gravitate to her idealism. She has always been told that she ought to be an author based on her delivery methods of good, bad or indifferent news. She always manages to keep herself and those around centered in thought and action.

Book preview

Charlie The Hood Houdini

Copyright 2017 Janice Elliott-Howard

Published by Janice Elliott-Howard at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgement

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

About Janice Elliott-Howard

Other books by Janice Elliott-Howard

Connect with Janice Elliott-Howard

Acknowledgement

The motivation for this tale comes from my love of mystery novels. I have finally found the courage to write a thriller of my own.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Chapter One

Suspect down, I repeat, suspect down. Said the first officer on the scene. Somebody radio for an ambulance. His partner bellows. A third officer radios, Yeah, we have the perpetrators, one might not make it, and the other seems to be in shock. The crime scene is cordoned off with yellow tape. Several additional police cars arrive. They all wait for the medical team, but you do not have to be a doctor to recognize when life is fading away before your eyes. The victim’s breath is labored. Everyone present hears the shallow breath sounds, from experience they understand it to mean only one thing, imminent death. Five minutes elapse before emergency medical technicians show up. They rush over to the nearly lifeless body of Mo. The other suspect seems to be frozen in suspended animation mentally floating above it all unable to speak or show emotion. Mo takes a final gasping breath. The medical team begins cardiopulmonary resuscitation. One-one-thousand, Two-one-thousand, Three-one-thousand counts one of the medical team members while doing chest compressions as another squeezes the airbag gently to inflate Mo’s chest. Suddenly, the other suspect who is handcuffed screams. Mo, I am sorry. Mo, hold on, please. All the officers look in his direction; none make a sound. One makes a note on a small pad.

The medical team do everything within their power to give Mo a fighting chance. Their efforts prove fruitless. Mo dies at the scene. An officer radios to request that the medical examiner is dispatched. Mo’s partner weeps uncontrollably. It is the time that he be removed. Two officers get him up on his feet from the roadside. They lead him to a patrol car. He enters without a hint of resistance. Charlie is devastated by the events that occur. His need for escape is a fleeting idea buried deep in the recesses of his mind. The lead detective on the case arrives on the scene and wants to re-enact all that transpired. The patrol car that confines Charlie gets two taps on the hood and slowly drives off. Charlie turns sideways to get another glimpse of Mo lying on the ground in a pool of blood motionless. It is etched in his mind forever more.

On the way to the station, the two officers chat amongst themselves. I thought it was just this guy we were after. Where and when did the deceased become part of the equation? Said the officer who is driving the patrol car. His partner responses. You’ve got me. The important thing is we caught this one. Yep, he will be going away for a long stretch. Charlie sits squarely in the middle of the backseat looking at the road with a blank stare. The officer in the front passenger seat glances back at Charlie pursing his lip to imply his statement is spot on. Charlie does not acknowledge the smug look on his face. The short ride seems like forever. Charlie gets white line fever as the markings hypnotize him on the road. Without warning, a tire blows on the patrol car; the car swivels as the officer tries to maintain control. Charlie is tossed about awaken from his mindless gaze. The car comes to a stop. The officer in the passenger seat is a bit shaken but recovers quickly. The two regain their composure. The driver turns to look at the rear of the vehicle when he asks. Are you okay back there? Charlie has his head down, bleeding from a small gash he suffers from being bounced against the partition that separates the front of the car from the back of the car. The officer radios ahead for assistance. The three sit in the patrol car with three wheels as they wait for a replacement vehicle.

Another transport vehicle arrives, Charlie is escorted by two different police officers. He is still bleeding from his forehead but not enough for anyone to render aid. He is loaded into the next car; the three take off down the road, lights, and sirens blaring all the way to the station. They arrive at the headquarters, the driving officer gestures for Charlie to exit the car. He compiles without issue. The prisoner walks into the station; everyone stops because they know who Charlie is. All of the officers in the squad room begin to whistle and applaud. Charlie looks up to notice that his photograph covers eighty percent of the wall space at the precinct. He is a criminal celebrity of sorts. This reception snaps him back into reality. Charlie holds his head up high as he has paraded by everyone leading to the holding cell.

The jail cell door opens, the officer signals to Charlie to enter. He walks in still handcuffed. Place your hands up against the bars. Said the officer. Charlie does as instructed. The cuffs are removed. The office walks away. Charlies walks over to the cot where he sits and recounts all that he witnessed this evening. His thought turns back to the loss of Mo, his partner. He begins to tremble as he breaks out into a sweat. He tries desperately not to cry out loud but sobs quietly. About half an hour goes by when a medic comes to check on Charlie’s injury from the car accident. Can you come close to the bars so that I can get a look at the wound on your head, please? Charlie walks towards the medic who stands outside of the cell with gauze and antiseptic. I am going to need you to hold on to the bars where I can see your hands for my safety as well as yours. Charlie follows his direction. The medic puts his arms through the bars as he inspects Charlie’s wound. He will not require stitches. It turns out that it is merely a cut. He cleans the wound and places a band-aid across the sliver of flesh exposed. Charlie looks him in the eye when he says. Thank you. I appreciate your help." The medic smiles as he backs away from the bars of Charlie’s cell.

He continues to stand there holding the bars looking out as police personnel goes by. Again, he has a far off look in his eye. No one notices that Charlie’s mind drifts far from his physical being at this moment. He glides back to two weeks ago when he and Mo got wind of an event that could set them up for life or at least have them retire from their profession. It was a simple well-thought out plan. One that both Mo and Charlie could execute with ease or so they thought. The two learned about the opportunity that they could not refuse by chance. A housekeeper working at the big mansion on Cooper Lane mentions to a friend in a conversation about having to work overtime for Mr. Everett. He is hosting an exhibit at his home to show off his newly acquired gold coin collection. Everyone who was anyone would be in attendance. The collection is said to be worth millions of dollars, and that is all the information that Mo and Charlie need to hear.

The night starts out like any other night where Mo and Charlie have a job. The two plan to rob the mansion of the biggest forestry manufacturing owner in all of Alabama. Clyde Everett has a taste for the finer things in life. He worked his way through an apprenticeship in the timberland industry and developed a way to streamline production. Mr. Everett found a few investors by beating on a lot of doors, but it paid off. Today, he is the richest man in Birmingham County. Mr. Everett is an avid art and gold collector. He often hosts exhibits at his twenty-six-acre estate. Many of his soirees are heavily guarded and by invitation only. It was going to take a miracle for Mo and Charlie to get on the guest list. All they need is a reason to be on the property and the location of the room where the gold coin collection will reside for display.

Oddly enough, Mo has a cousin who works on the Everett ranch in the office. The relative with a little greasing of the palm gets Mo the list. Charlie and Mo review the who’s who and decide that they need false identities with a bit of social fanfare to get an invitation. They have all the right connections to gain access to mock identities for a modest price, but for this payout, the two would pay anything asked of them. The unique quality both Charlie and Mo share is the ability to make people feel comfortable almost giving whoever they encounter a false sense of security. It is the gift that never gets old especially in their line of work. Role-playing comes easy for these two.

A loud bang has Charlie back at the scene where Mo is hit, and then he realizes it is just the thud of the janitors long-handled dust pan hitting the edge of the walls as he sweeps up around the station. His drift brings him back to the present time. Charlie returns to his seated position on the cot in his jail cell. He thinks about what his fate holds for the future.