“The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round!”

It seems that some songs would never go out of popularity with small children mused a distracted John. Squeaky shopping cart wheels, loud children with their ever so patient parents, and the beeping of checkout counters. These sounds made up the small Gail’s Grocery.

Under his breath John thought aloud, “today is Tuesday, which means Sarah will want tacos”. He strolled down the refrigerated meat section of the store with his non-squeaking shopping cart. The first item on his mental checklist was ground beef. The selection in the store wasn’t great, but just ahead John’s studious analysis of the clearly labeled packages was rewarded with him finding his prize.

Unfortunately, finding the meat was half the battle. The bright yellow sale sticker seemed to leer at John as he frowned in contemplation. The meat is there, I am here, so how do I get to the meat? A mother with a shopping cart so full that she must have at least six children stood talking on the phone right in front of the sought after meat, completely blocking it. A little girl darted about around the shopping cart and generally acting as bored children do with their inattentive mothers in grocery stores.

John, with practiced ease, leaned over the shopping cart and smoothly picked up a package of the very same ground beef from the cart of the distracted mother. Content in his solution to the problem, He was quite unready for the small hand that held his shirt from behind. “Hey! That’s mommy’s!” Quiet, and concerned came the voice of the girl who couldn’t be more than seven or eight years old.

On instinct, John let loose his most charming grin and said, “Well your mommy wasn’t watching it now was she?”. The child furrowed her brow and deeply considered what John said. As she looked back, presumably with a counterpoint prepared, she saw the quickly departing figure of John who looked at her over his shoulder and said “Remember kid, its only stealing if you get caught!”

***

Pulling his BMW into the drive-way, John walked up the steps to the large suburban home he shared with his girlfriend Sarah.

Kicking off his shoes when he walked through the front door he cracked his neck and entered the kitchen. It was luxurious by his standards but who was he to complain. The house had been given to Sarah by her parents who decided to live out their retirement on some tropical island complete with a full serving staff to cater to their health, needs, and just about every whim. Sarah was gifted with the home after she had told her parents that she didn’t want to live the lavish lifestyle she had been accustomed to growing up in their wealth laden mansion with its manicured lawns and servants waiting on hand and foot. Sarah had been adamant that she would be fine living like a pauper as her father so politely described it.

The old man was a force to be reckoned with. He owned or was a major shareholder for numerous companies that ruled the economic world. As could be discovered by asking in the right places, the man was as shrewd as they come and was seen as an unbeatable opponent in business. His wealth’s one great weakness was none other than his daughter.

A few years ago, through an acquaintance of his, John had been invited to a party for the young and rich members of refined society. Having all the worst expectations, John nonetheless accepted the invite. The party was the perfect place for John to find a mark after all.

If it was not clear already, John is a con-man. Formerly involved in armed robbery and theft, he now makes his money by gaining the trust of those who can be made to feel they have money to burn. His ‘acquaintance’ was just a gossipmonger who owed him a favor and had deep connections.

Upon arriving at the party, John was blown away by the vast shows of wealth on display. The cheapest thing being served was the water which even then was still ludicrously expensive as it held the special denotation of being imported from some island spring or other bullshit. Shocked as he was, there was no hesitation on John’s part. Knowing that doing well with this crowd was a shoe into where real wealth was being exchanged was motivation enough to form connections and make friends with those who had so much money they could afford to waste it on what good ol’ Johnny said was a ‘good deal’.

That party ended up being nearly a total bust. For the most part, the party-goers were unbelievably dull. The self-centered attitudes of wealthy adolescents with access to ‘daddy’s money’ were like broken records. John could have asked any question and it would have looped back around to fabulously gaudy shows of wealth and power. A question about music preferences would lead to an overblown story about how they had some famous artists play at their birthday party cause it was easy as paying them a 'few' dollars.

There was little substance to be found among such company, the arrogant showboating was bearable if only because he had secured a foot in the door with a number of idiots who were too stupid for their wealth. John even justified that at least his use of the funds would be far less frivolous than what they had in mind.

That party had started to get only more unreasonable as the guests steadily consumed alcohol, turning their stomachs into a who’s who of expensive liquors.

Believing that one shouldn’t be too greedy, John decided to head for the door before the crowd who had more dollars than sense started to get too out of control. That’s when he met her.

Sarah had made the same decision as John and also decided that it would be wise to head out. Seeing a mostly sober scion, John put on his most winning grin. And came up right beside the girl out on the sidewalk belonging to the rented out club.

“Some party eh?”

The girl glanced over to the charming man on her right. “Only if you’re smart enough to fit in with that brain-trust.”

Seeing a chance for at least one meaningful conversation that night, John decided it wouldn’t be too bad to mix business and pleasure.

“It does seem that their personalities revolve around numbers with dollar signs in front and a line of zeroes going out the door.”

Sarah let loose an unintended grin. At that moment, John knew he had the right kind of fish on the hook.

“unless you have somewhere better to be, how about we head somewhere a little more our speed. The night is still young... enough.”

Sarah let out a laugh and gave a little nod. “Sure, I’d like that.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

That turned out to be the start to a serious relationship between the two. John and Sarah grew close, they went on trips together, ate at the most expensive restaurants, and had a generally happy couple years together. All on her dime of course.

***

Make no mistake, John did not possess love as a primary motive for his relationship with Sarah. No, the emotion that drove him was greed.

As John silently slipped out of the bed he and Sarah shared, he felt pangs of regret. Sarah was not the first to be duped by John, and she was far from the last he thought.

Over the years of their relationship, John had influenced Sarah into investing money in all sorts of things, no amount was all that large. A few dollars here and a few dollars there did add up though. He was set to walk away with millions of dollars thanks to the deep pockets and deeper generosity of Sarah’s father. Still, He didn’t hate the time they shared. Sure, she was too naive for his tastes, but she was a passionate person who did a bit more actual ‘living’ than most.

The rain silently pelted the glass of the window above the kitchen sink. There were no more ‘tomorrows’ and no more ‘see you laters’ to be shared between him and Sarah.

He spent his last minutes inside the well-furnished kitchen silently mourning the death of a relationship.

***

*Whap* *Whap* *Thud*

A hard-faced man stepped out on the rainy street from a black and unassuming car. The rain dripping down his stony features. The dull sheen of his leather jacket. The cruel aura of the gun in his hand.

He had a mission, and he never, ever failed his missions.

***

The door of the suburban dream-home opened silently, and a darkly clothed and quite handsome man stepped out of the doorway onto the front steps. Taking one last look back at the home, the man calmly walked through the path of the well-kept front lawn. Getting to the sidewalk, more hesitation was seen on his face until he finally showed a steely resolve in his eyes. He swiftly made a sharp turn and begun walking down the sidewalk away from the home. Unnoticed by the handsome man, the stone-faced man near silently followed him down the empty street.

The handsome man stopped and spoke to what appeared to be no one.

“You were sent for me, weren’t you?”

Stony lips parted and replied. “The boss doesn’t like for his family to be hurt. And if any of ‘em ever are, he sends people like me to make sure they can’t do it again.”

Turning around with an accepting grin, John gave a low chuckle. “Guess I deserve this huh?”

*Pahp* *Phap*

“Yeah, you do”.

By the morning, there wasn’t even a bloodstain. It’s incredible what paying top dollar can help you accomplish.