Jimmy slid through the shadows on the foggy streets of Philly heading toward the port and the large number of warehouses that lined it. He could have hailed a cab and been there faster but the less people who knew he had been on this side of town at this time of night the better - it wouldn't due to have the wrong people connect his name to the business that was to be done tonight. 

Arriving at the docks  he came across the first challenge between himself and his score. An armed security guard sat looking bored inside a small gate shack at the one gate in and out of the large warehouse yard, the lone sentinel protecting the vast riches within - or at least the lone sentinel that the average joe would ever see, Jimmy knew better than to think there wouldn't be far deadlier guards closer to his goal. 

Not wishing to risk discovery this far from his ultimate target Jimmy took a side street about a block away from the guard shack at worked his way about a quarter of a mile down the road before cutting through a few parking lots to arrive at the 9 foot tall razor wire topped fence that stretched all the way around the warehouse yard. Pulling a small pair of wire clippers from the pack slung across his back Jimmy carefully clipped a hole just large enough for him to squeeze through near the very base of the fence. Shoving his bag through first Jimmy shimmied his way through. Once in he carefully placed the removed portion of the fence back into the hole he created and taking a small bit of bare metal wire out of his pack tied it back into place - it wouldn't hold up to a close inspection but it would hopefully keep the guard that patrolled the perimeter of the fence from realizing their was a breach. Jimmy had spent many cold, miserable nights watching the fence line before allowing himself the confidence that the guard who patrolled this area was not likely to look closely at the base of the fence unless he happened to notice a donut tied to it. 

Once confident his decoy was in place Jimmy hurried into the maze of shipping containers that surrounded the ten large warehouse buildings at the center of the several square mile warehouse district of the docks. The items in these containers were, by and large, worthless and would require a large rig to get out in a quantity at any worthwhile level. What Jimmy was after would only require a small pouch to make the weeks of planning worth every second. 

Arriving at the mammoth buildings where the more valuable items were stored Jimmy skirted around the back of the warehouse that had a large number five painted near the center top of the front and back wall. Keeping close to the wall to stay out of the harsh light cast by the large spotlights attached to the roof and shining out toward the container maze Jimmy worked his way around until he came to a small door in the wall a short way off from the massive cargo door. Jimmy put his hear to the door and listened intently for a moment for any sound of movement. Jimmy knew that from this point forward is when he would face the real danger. Up to this point the worst he would have faced would have been port guard who would have detained him until police arrived and he would have spent a few weeks in the county jail for trespassing. The guards within weren't some schmucks being paid minimum wage - they were cutthroat killers paid by the smuggling ring who controlled this particular warehouse to make sure that anyone found inside that shouldn't be there was next seen if and when the chain holding them to the bottom of the port rusted out and whatever was left of their decomposed body rose to the top. 

Pulling out his trusty lockpicking kit Jimmy went to work and within a few minutes he was silently opening the door and slipping in. He had paid off one of the dockworkers that worked here bringing in the, cheap, bulk items that were used as cover to give me a basic layout of the building and to tip me off the next time he saw the armed guard count jump significantly. I knew that when the guard count was up it meant a valuable delivery had been made and was waiting pickup - the perfect time for an inspiring lad like myself to pay a visit. 

Slipping into the shadows between two large aisles of bulk merchandise boxes Jimmy scaled up one of the stacks of boxes and laying on his belly scanned the warehouse in detail. On his first scan he identified at least 4 guards armed with what looked like shotguns - a great weapon for the close quarters of the warehouse. calling on his innate patience Jimmy didn't head toward the office in the far corner of the warehouse were he knew his prize waited but instead sat stock still in the dark and continued to watch. His patience turned out to be prudent as he not only noted two additional armed guards but was able to find a definite pattern in the way the guards walked, pacing out a grid around the warehouse. 

Once he was sure he knew what he faced Jimmy carefully lowered himself back to the ground and began making his way to the office. After a stressful thirty minutes he slipped into the office and began to look around. His source had informed him that the small boxes that carried his payday were always brought into this office, however, he had never been able to make it in here so for the first time Jimmy was totally blind on what to expect. Jimmy, however, was far from modest about his ability to pick up on details most people would miss and began to let his eyes scan every inch of the office, looking for anything that would indicate a hiding place. On his third pass over the room he noticed that the floor was lightly scuffed where the two drawer filing cabinet was placed next to the large desk that took up the bulk of the room. Smiling to himself Jimmy moved over to the cabinet and as silently as possible moved it in to the right, in the direction he saw the scuff marks moving. As he was about to push it the last few inches what he called his "bump of trouble" began to itch and he stopped moving it. Lightly running his hand down the side of the cabinet he got about three quarters of the way down when he felt his hand hit a tiny thread - too small to see in the dim light unless you were looking for it - and hard to see even then. Looking closer Jimmy saw that a small hole was drilled into the side of the cabinet allowing the thread to pass through. Tracing his hand to the other side he saw that the other end passed through a similar hold in the side wall of the desk. Thinking Jimmy trusted his instinct and slowly opened the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet slowly and looked inside - a grenade was fastened to the wall of the cabinet furthest from the desk and a small hook connected the thread to the pull pin, pulled nearly taught as Jimmy moved the cabinet - if he had pulled any further it likely would have been the last act of his life. Carefully pushing the filing cabinet back toward the desk to provide some slack he removed the hook - eliminating the booby trap. 

Moving with even more caution now that he knew to what lengths the smugglers would do to protect their stash Jimmy finished moving the cabinet and revealing the small trap door built into the floor. Running his hand along all of the seams to look for any further traps Jimmy found nothing before slowly lifting the lid. It would seem that the smugglers felt that the small army in the warehouse and the one booby trap was enough because inside he saw a small box. Lifting it out carefully he opened it and his heart skipped a beat as he finally looked down at the score that would set him for life. Inside of the box were twenty uncut diamonds stolen from the DeBeers mine and smuggled into America to be cut and sold for an immense profit. 

Jimmy stood and made his way to the door. Opening it slowly he slipped out and just as his bump of trouble once again flared he felt a sharp paid behind his ear and the world went black. 

. . . 

Jimmy opened his eyes and almost as quickly shut them again as they were assaulted with bright light shining from multiple shop lights shined in his direction. Opening his eyes slowly to let them adjust he took in his surroundings and found that he was tied to a chair which seemed to be bolted to the bottom of what appeared to be a shipping container - he guessed it was one of the many inside of warehouse five. He could see three figures hidden in the shadows behind the lights but could make out no details blinded by the lights as he was. Two of the figures - large, hulking men who looked like they could snap Jimmy like a twig - were standing just behind the third who was seated in a chair. It was the third figure that spoke as he saw Jimmy stir. In an almost comforting voice with an aristocratic air the man said, 

"Your first mistake my young friend was trusting a good for nothing dock rat to keep his trap shut when confronted - ok, that was your second, your first was thinking I wouldn't be having the dock workers allowed in this building watched regularly in case any of them decided to get any ideas." 

Jimmy assumed the man must have seen the sudden anger that flashed through him at the realization that the man had betrayed him because he added, 

"Sorry to say that you won't be able to get revenge, the man has already paid the price for selling information about the Mockers and our work. You may wonder why you have not paid the price for daring to consider stealing from us - let me explain." 

"You, Jimmy the Hand, are not unknown to us and we are loathe to waste good talent."

Seeing Jimmy about to object the man cut him off before he even started

"Before you start telling me about how you have a crew and all that save your breath - I'm don't need associates, I need resourceful people in the right places at the right times ready to do jobs that only they can do. Nothing I would ever ask of you would be cause to go against your family so there is no reason for you to die some noble death to protect your honor. What I will require of you is to do the occasional job for us. You will be well paid for your work - I'm not looking for slaves either. If you understand and are willing to play your part nod now - if you are not, well, my friend here will see to it that option b is carried out right away. 

Jimmy hear the unmistakable sound of the hammer of a revolver being cocked and knew that his choices were to work for this man or to die. It occurred to him that the man obviously knew he was coming which meant that he had waited to see if Jimmy blew himself up before making this kind offer - was it a test to see if he actually lived up to what the man had heard about him? Jimmy expected so and, in a way, respected the man for it. 

Jimmy had heard of the Mockers of course - the nearly mythical smuggling syndicate that controlled docks and warehouses around the world and that was rumored to be able to source anything you could imagine if you had enough coin to pay for it. He didn't know if the man in front of him was the infamous Upright Man - in fact he doubted he was - but he did know if he was making this offer he spoke with the Upright Man's blessing and that if he agreed to a deal with this man it was agreeing to a deal with the Upright Man himself - attempting to go back on it later would mean a death mark that would follow him anywhere he tried to go. 

Jimmy considered too if he could honestly accept this deal and not break oath to his family - something he would gladly die before doing. The man claimed nothing he did would go against the family and Jimmy had no reason to doubt. After a second though Jimmy figured that if he was ever asked to do something against the family he could simply inform his superiors and then refuse and accept the death mark it would certainly earn him. With that final though Jimmy nodded to the man. 

"Smart boy Jimmy. I have to be leaving now but I'll be in touch. Before we let you go there is one last thing. I'm sure a smart boy like you understands we can't let your trespass go completely unpunished - it would set a horrible precedent."

With that he stood from his chair, nodded to men that had been standing behind him, and walked away. As he left the men approached and I braced myself for what I was sure would be a not quite deadly but fearsome beating.