Brad?" asked Max gritting his teeth.
"As headgear goes, it's lovely and soft on the neck in my opinion. I like the overall size and feel."
"All right guys, enough of the balaclava talk," spat Max shaking his head. "Do we have any further questions?"
"Will they have Rolex's in there?" asked David raising his hand.
"Yes, I'm sure they have a Rolex's, David."
"If there's a Rolex, please let me have it. I never owned one of them before."
Max pulled out a pen and scrawled it down on a notepad furiously then looked up.
"Would anyone else like a watch?" he asked.
"I'd like a Cartier." piped Bradley, thrusting his arm high into the air.
"A Cartier? It adds a dash of elegance, good choice." said Max massaging his temples in slow circular movements.
"If possible, one with a Mother of Pearl dial." added Bradley.
Max set the pen down and there was silence in the back of the van.
"I want some ear rings," remarked Bob. "Not for me, for the girlfriend."
"You want ear rings?"
"Yeah!" said Bob nodding his head. "She likes the big gold hoop earring things."
"Gentlemen, this is not supermarket sweep. You don’t get to keep mementos of the day. We have buyers waiting to pay us in cash for our haul today and the only barrier stopping us from getting out hands on the cash is the owner of the big jewelry shop we're parked outside, you know, that guy that has all the stuff we're going to steal. We have a job to do and we're going to carry out that job quickly and professionally. Do we all understand what is required?"
"Yeah, we get it." mumbled Bob. "It would have been nice though, Alice would have been really made up with some hoops."
"Here's a thought, why don’t you buy her some nice and shiny ear rings with your share of the cash from this job?"
"Suppose so." grumbled Bob.
"Right then, all set your watches to one hundred and eighty seconds countdown." said Max lifting his left wrist up and setting the timer.
After a moment he looked up and saw Bradley peering closely at the face of his watch, pressing a button on the side repeatedly.
"Are you struggling there?" asked Max.
"It's the glove," replied Bradley. "I can't seem to press the button to set it."
"Temporarily remove the glove, Brad. There's a good boy."
He yanked off the glove and fumbled at the watch for a few seconds until David reached over his shoulder and tried to help him.
"No, no I can do it." said Bradley shrugging the hand away in irritation before returning to the watch.
After a few minutes he looked up and nodded his head.
"Good, now when the alarm sounds you get out of that shop with whatever you have, okay?"
"The alarm in the shop?" queried Bob.
"No Bob, the alarm on the watch when the countdown timer runs out."
"Oh okay."
"Let me just clarify that point," added Max, pointing to his watch for emphasis. "We leave when this beeps."
"I set mine to melody." said David.
Max blinked a couple of times and took a deep steady breath.
"Beeps, melodies, ring tones or whatever! When its runs out, you run out. Are we ready?"
They nodded in unison and Max banged the side of the Transit van with his fist.
"Tom, its show-time." he shouted out to the driver, before picking up his baseball bat. "Keep the van ticking over."
The engine rumbled into life as Max yanked open the sliding side door and stepped onto the path outside the jewelers, followed quickly by his three accomplices. They burst into the shop, startling the man behind the counter who put his hands to his face in horror. Max brandished the baseball bat threateningly, while his accomplices moved quickly to the display cases.
"Put your hands where I can see them," snarled Max, pointing at him with the bat. "Right in the air and do what I say and no-one gets hurt."
The man in the suit behind the cashier thrust his hands into the air and waggled his fingers.
"This truly is a shocking day-time raid," he said. "I'm nothing more than a terrified victim with