It got halfway up then jammed.
“Stupid thing’s broke,” Kev complained.
“She broke it,” Marcus accused. “She did it on purpose.”
I rolled my eyes. Kev ignored Marcus. He knew what he was like. Marcus got edgy. He wasn’t good at holding it together under pressure. That was why I hated working with him. Usually, we’d take Jimmy-boy, but he got nicked for possession with intent to supply two days ago.
“I can’t get to the lock on the front door.” It was a high lock, covered by the partially-opened shutters.
“Fine, we crack a window, then.” Marcus snatched Kev’s baseball bat off him.
“No, stop! It could be alarmed!” Kev tried to take the bat back, but he was too slow. Marcus whacked the plate glass window and smashed it in. Glass shards tumbled away like snowfall. Immediately, an alarm blared.
“We need to scarper,” I said, looking around in case anyone on the deserted pavement had seen us.
“Not ‘til we’ve got the goods.” Marcus pulled his knife out and indicated for me to go in. “You broke the lock, you go in there.”
He put the knife to my stomach. One shove and he could gut me like a fish. I held my hands up and nodded.
“I’m going, I’m going.” I stepped into the pharmacy through jagged chunks of broken glass still framing the window. The shop floor was of no interest to me. I needed to get into the dispensary.
It was protected by one of those little waist-high swing doors with a partial counter on top. It didn’t even have a sliding bolt. I went straight to the high shelves that customers never saw. From experience of doing this in other pharmacies, the medications would be arranged alphabetically, with a locked cupboard for the really good stuff.
I swiped as many painkillers as I recognized, along with the cough medicine and other things Marcus would need to cook up some meth. The cupboard was another issue. I turned to work it out, then realized that the pharmacist hadn’t clicked the padlock properly at the end of the day. It opened easily, and I swiped the heavy shit. Oramorph went into the bag. Ketamine, too. Fentanyl. Diamorphine... that was heroin, so it went in. I grabbed the amphetamines, too. Speed, they literally handed out speed legally to some people.
There wasn’t a huge amount else on the shelves. This place must have been waiting for a delivery. I zipped up the bag.
“Tash, the police are comin’!” Kev shouted, pronouncing itpo-lis. I ran to the door. Marcus blocked the broken window and held out his hands for the bag.
“Giz it!”
I shook my head. I knew what would happen if I let go.
“You’re on to plums if you think I’m giving you this. Get out of the way.”
“Let her out.” Kev dragged Marcus away from the broken window and I climbed out.
The sirens were getting louder. Blue and red lights flashed from up the road.
“You were too fucking slow,” Marcus growled.
“Come on, we need to scarper.” Kev began running. I followed. Around a corner, in a dark alley, Marcus snatched the bag off me and shoved me over. I fell down some concrete steps that must have led to a boiler or a stockroom. Pain flared in my ankle. I knew I couldn’t stop. Scrambling to my feet, I limped away after them.
Footsteps thudded behind me. The police were going to catch up with me. Someone slammed into me, I fell to the concrete and all my breath left my lungs in a whoosh.
Fuck. I was caught. Trying to stay calm, I remembered they had zero evidence I was involved in robbing the pharmacy.
“It’s not a balaclava, it’s a fucking Covid mask!” I shouted. “I’m an innocent bystander!”
On reflection, I might have incriminated myself by protesting. I shut my mouth.
“Two to trans mat.”
The voice sounded strange. Then, to my shock, the concrete surroundings vanished and were replaced by metal and lights. A man in a black uniform stood behind some sort of console pressing buttons. I looked over my shoulder at the one who was crushing me into the floor.
“This is police brutality!” I argued. “Get the fuck off me.”
“Lively, isn’t she?” the man behind me mumbled. He got up and let go of me. “We’ve been watching you for several days. You’re on our ship, now.”