Making Crime Pay

Jenna was already having trouble believing that was her when she looked in the mirror. "Damn!" she said as she looked at her sultry, sexy eyes in the makeup mirror.

"Ugh! We're gonna really have to work on that voice of yours. But don't worry, okay? We'll get there, but you can't talk like a man or just call out, 'Damn!' anymore."

Tina then showed Jenna how to shade her nose and cheekbones and chin to accentuate her positive feminine features and conceal anything that looked larger or masculine. "I see why they guys picked you, hon. You just don't have any masculine features. Your nose is small and cute, your cheekbones are nice and high, and you don't have a square jaw or anything close to it." She stepped back and said, "Not even an Adam's apple for cryin' out loud."

Once she finished with Jenna's makeup she took a step back and said, "Okay. Let's get you dressed then we'll to work on your hair and nails."

Tina spent another hour teaching Jenna how to wash, set, and style a human-hair wig like she'd be wearing and another half hour doing her nails. Tina told her she could almost wear her own real hair, but because it would be very short for a woman, this was the better option. "I guess if you ever had to do this again someday, you could style your own hair as long as you don't cut it. A trim maybe. Just don't cut it too short."

Jenna was still uncomfortable looking this way, but she knew it was her one and only chance to win Nate's body. She felt sure she'd already won his heart, but because he wasn't attracted to boys the way she looked as Jason, this had to work and that meant adapting to her new role over the long term.

Tina carefully placed the beautifully-styled wig on Jenna's head then adjusted it to make sure it was sitting perfectly. She then teased the roots giving Jenna a completely believable, natural-looking hairline.

"Okay, hon. Turn around and step into these heels then we're gonna take a look at my beautiful new creation."

Jenna did just that. "You gotta wear pumps, okay? No ankle straps. In case you gotta ditch 'em and run like hell. And nothing too high. These are 2 1/2 inches so they look stylish but won't draw unwanted attention."

Tina took her hand and said, "Close your eyes, sweetie. You're not gonna believe this when you see it." She led her to a spot directly in front of the full-length mirror, stood behind her and said, "Okay, hon. Open those pretty eyes of yours."

As she did, Jenna couldn't process what she was seeing. She blinked several times, her false eyelashes fluttering as her brain struggled to make sense of the image it was receiving. After 19 years of seeing a male image, this was just too much to take in all at once.

Tina put her hands on Jenna's shoulders and said, "There are a LOT of men who would pay a TON of money to able to look like you do right now, hon. Unlike you, they'd be all kind of turned on by it, but this is just a means to an end in your case, so I'm guessing there must be a lot of money involved."

"You have no idea," Jenna thought to herself thinking more about Nate than the money which really was the means to an end.

"Okay, now that you know what you look like as Jenna, we need to completely turn you into her so you can pull whatever it is your doing off without a hitch."

They spent the rest of the day rehearsing the basics. Jenna walked back and forth toward the mirror scores of times. "My feet are killing me in these shoes," she said after what seemed like the hundredth time.

"You feet aren't going to give you away, but that voice of yours will. We've got to get you to where you can say these few words...where are they?" She looked around for the paper Ralph had given her letting her know exactly what Jenna had to be able to say convincingly as a woman. "Ah! Here they are," she said picking up the piece of paper with Jenna's script on it.

"Okay, let's start with someone simple. Tell me 'good morning' and remember to smile. Women smile a lot. Don't forget that."

Jenna tried saying good morning in a feminine voice and Tina cringed. "Um...let's try doing some musical scale work to get you out of that falsetto thing and into some that sounds more realistic."

They spent the rest of the day, taking short breaks as required, working on finding a range that Jenna could speak in and that sounded convincing.

After a lot of trial and error which was mostly error, Tina told her, "The good news is you look so convincing people will give you a lot of room on your voice. If you looked like Ralph in a dress.... Well, you get my point, right?"

The spent the early hours of next day doing the same things after Tina turned Jason back into Jenna. After trying to use more of her nasal cavity or something she couldn't explain, Tina said, "Oh! That's it! Say it again just like that!"

Tina knew Jenna needed to burn how she did that into her brain until it became second nature so they practiced it over and over again. At first, it was just 'good morning' but Tina had her add in a few words at a time. "Good morning, I'm Jenna Connors. I'd like to open a safe deposit box, please." Once she had that down pat, she added, "May I take a look at the safe deposit area first?"

By the time his Uncle Kyle and Ralph returned very early the morning of the heist, Tina assured them Jason was ready. "But this ain't Jason no more, boys. Please allow me to present Miss Jenna Connors."

Jenna walked out wearing the very form-fitting black knit dress and said, "Good morning. I'm Jenna Connors. I'd like to open a safe deposit box, please."

Kyle turned to Ralph was already raving. "I'm be goddamned!" he exclaimed. "Jesus Christ, Teenz. You did it!"

He turned to Kyle and said, "What'd I tell you, Kyle? I told you the kid could pull this off. Take a look at him, would ya?"

"Her," Tina corrected him. "Take a look at her. That's a very beautiful, very sophisticated young woman right there, boys. Treat her like one if you want her to remember to act like one."

Kyle thanked Tina for her efforts and told her they'd get her money to her as soon as they had theirs which seemed to satisfy her as she got into her Bug and drove away.

"Okay um...Jenna. We gotta get movin'. If you need to pee or whatever, now's the time."

"I'm good," she said in her new feminine voice.

"She even sounds like a broad!" Ralph said when he heard her speak.

"All right. You're going to carry this black leather satchel with you along with this black purse Tina set out. Put whatever girl things you need in here and put your guy clothes in the back of the truck parked outside. There's a couple of cardboard boxes layin' around if you need 'em. We leave in fifteen minutes."

Jenna not only put a few things in her purse, she also took everything she could put in a cardboard box from makeup to clothes to the other wigs. She laid her male clothes on top of them and took them outside and put them where her Uncle Kyle had requested.

During the hour-long drive into the city, Kyle explained exactly what Jenna had to. "Any questions?" he asked her.

"No. No questions," she said.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Kyle asked, "So what are you gonna with your share of the money? If this goes off right, you could stay right here and no one would know unless you started spending too much money too fast."

"No, I don't want to stay here. I want to find a nice house in a laid-back city then see if I can mend fences with someone. So I guess I might end up comin' back here at some point to see how that goes, but I don't want to live here."

"Yeah, okay, but you gotta be back here after the heist. The cops are gonna know Ralph and I are involved and because I'm your uncle, they're gonna come lookin' for you. So remember—you were up at the cabin, you don't know anything about me or the job. Got it?"

"Got it," Jenna replied. She was sitting there with her legs crossed looking down at her long, thin, shapely legs, heels, the hem of her short dress, and her painted nails, and for the first time, it felt almost natural to her. Maybe, just maybe....

Several minutes later Kyle said, "Okay, we're getting close. Remember. I'll drop you off two blocks away so this truck can't get picked up by any surveillance camera from the bank."

"I know, I know. I casually walk to the bank, go in, ask to see the manager, then do my thing, then find the truck at the staging place."

"Right. While you're doing that, Ralph and I drive the armored car to the back, come in like we're picking up cash and that's when we...."

"I got it, Uncle Kyle. That's when I need to be in the back with the satchel. I got it."

"Okay, kid. Sorry, I mean...Jenna. I'm letting you out at the next corner. Walk exactly like you practiced and don't hurry. You got your sunglasses, right?"

She pulled them out of her purse and put them on. The vehicle slowed to a stop and Jenna slid out, the satchel in her hand and her purse slung over her shoulder. "Good luck!" Kyle told her as she shut the door.

Jenna crossed the street and couldn't help but notice her reflection in the large display window of the department store. "Jesus. I really do look like a girl," she told herself as she turned right and headed toward the bank.

In the course of those two blocks, she also couldn't help but notice that almost without exception, every man or teenage boy who saw her either smiled, did a double take, or shamelessly checked her out. She even got a couple of cat calls which made her smile. "If guys found her that attractive, then why couldn't Nate?"

She saw the First National Bank sign just ahead. Jenna took a couple of deep breaths and walked inside as an older man held the door for her. She smiled, thanked him, then looked around. She was exactly on schedule as she walked over to the information desk where she asked to see the manager. A balding man of about 60 to 65 who wore wire-rimmed glasses came out and said, "Good morning. I'm Robert Perkins, the branch manager. How may I help you?"

"Good morning, I'm Jenna Connors. I'd like to open a safe deposit box, please."

"Certainly. Please come with me, young lady, and I'll get you all taken care of." He led her toward his office and said, "Beautiful day out there, isn't it?"

Jenna smiled and as they got closer she stopped and said, "I'd like to see the safe deposit box area first, if you don't mind."

Mr. Perkins hesitated and said, "Well, we don't generally do that until we've assigned you a box number."

Jenna put her hand on his forearm and smiled. She saw him look at her the way older men did when they wanted to impress a beautiful woman then said, "Can't you make an exception this one time? Please? I just want to know what the room looks like."

She was amazed at the power she had just by virtue of her appearance. Jason could never have convinced him to even consider doing this but he smiled and said, "Well, it's important to keep up good customer relations with the public. I don't see how taking a quick look could possibly hurt. Come on!"

Jenna tried to keep her composure as he led her into the back of the bank. He opened a door with a six-digit code then allowed her to go in first.

"Thank you," she said sweetly with a big smile.

"So off to that side is our vault and to your left is our safety deposit box area. If you'll follow me, I'll be happy to let you take a quick look inside. But as it so happens, we're receiving a delivery and I'll need to open the vault first. Please wait right here and I'll be with you in a minute, okay sweetheart?"

Jenna smiled coyly. As he stepped off, she saw two uniformed men to her right near the vault with another bank employee. They were chatting with her and laughing as the manager said hello to them before entering the ten-digit code after a retinal scan confirmed his identity. The other employee re-entered it after doing the same.

"Okay, fellas," he said. "Just set the package down and I'll close it back up."

She saw her Uncle Kyle step inside with a thin packet. Before he set it down she heard him say, "Uh, Mr. Perkins? You need to take a look at this."

As soon as he stepped inside, Ralph tapped his foot which was Jenna's cue to move toward him. As she did, he pulled out his weapon and said, "Stay right there, lady. Don't come any closer."

The other bank employee froze and held her hands up in silence. Ralph turned and pushed her inside where Kyle sprayed something in their faces. She and Mr. Perkins slumped to the floor as Ralph grabbed Jenna. Kyle slipped the packet into the open satchel and both of them headed out the back door into their armored vehicle.

Jenna walked calmly back through the main office and no one asked any questions or even took notice. She headed back outside, turned right, and and walked one block where she found the waiting truck staged exactly where Uncle Kyle said it would be. She found the key, also exactly where it was supposed to be, got in and started it up. She drove four blocks and saw Ralph now in civilian clothes. She slowed and let him jump in, slide over and take the wheel.

"Go! Right through there, kid," Ralph said pointing to the area between the seats. Jenna pushed and it gave way. She crawled through the back and began returning herself to Jason using the wet wipes and nail polish remover staged with her clothes and other items.

When he was satisfied all the makeup was off, he pulled on his old clothes, threw on a ball cap, he carefully packed everything he'd brought in inside a duffel bag then banged on back wall. "Come on up, kid," Ralph hollered.

Jason crawled back up front then dragged the duffel bag through. "All set," Jason told him. Ralph took a quick look and said, "I'll be damned! Ain't no one ever gonna suspect you of bein' part of this, kid." He looked back at the road then said, "My car's two miles from here. I'll get out when we get there and drive my car. You take the truck to the location we talked about and your uncle and I will meet you there in 30 minutes. Don't be late."

Ralph stopped the truck but left it idling. "Thirty minutes, kid. And good job."

Jason slid over and put the truck back in gear and headed out of town to where they agreed to meet. They'd abandon the van deep in the woods, then take Ralph's car out of state and all the way to New York City where they'd meet the fence. Uncle Kyle had long ago abandoned the armored car and was taking a taxi to another point where Ralph would pick him up. No one had heard a siren yet and that was good news.

Thirty minutes later, Jason pulled in and shut off the truck. They were in some very heavy brush in a wooded area which would hopefully keep it hidden long enough for them to get out of town. Jason hopped in making sure he had the satchel, its contents, and his duffel bag. Kyle did a quick sweep of the vehicle to ensure nothing was left behind then wiped everything down to remove fingerprints and even used a portable Dust Buster to vacuum up any hair follicles. He shut the door, wiped off the handle, and they were off to New York.

As they drove out of the city limits Kyle said, "Both of us have been seen. Our faces will be all over the news and every cop will be on the lookout for us. But they'll also be looking for a very attractive young woman...."

"Uncle Kyle. Are you saying you found me attractive?" Jason joked feeling hopeful for the first time since 'the kiss.'

Ralph roared and said, "Yeah, he was a pretty good-lookin' dame, wasn't he?"

Kyle shook his head and said, "That's why you're driving the entire way. No more than five miles over the speed limit. No sudden lane changes. And use your turn signal."

"I got it," Jason told him.

Kyle had had his car repainted two day ago from white to dark blue and he'd stolen a license plate and replaced his that morning. Anything to buy them more time.

The two grown men were in the back laying down and the rear seats which had also been pulled down, their feet extending into the trunk as Jason drove. He stopped once for gas and six hours later, they entered New York. "Okay kid, I'll take over from here," Ralph said. "These boroughs are confusing as hell if you ain't from around here and since this is where I grew up...."

An hour later they were somewhere in the Bronx in a back alley in a part of town that scared the hell out of Jason. "If you think this is bad, you don't want to go to jail, kid," Ralph told him.

They went up a fire escape and into the back door of a rundown building's second floor. The came to another door where Ralph knocked several times in a certain way and as if on cue, the door opened for them. They went inside and Jason counted five men. One man was seated at a table with two men standing on either side of him.

"Ralphie. Long time no see," the man in the middle said.

"Tony! How you been?" The two men shook hands and hugged clapping each other on the back.

"So lemme see 'em," he said to Ralph. Jason handed him the satchel and the man removed the package and opened it. There was yet another envelope inside it with some very official-looking markings on it. The man carefully slit open one end and pulled out the contents.

He grabbed a jeweler's loop and began carefully inspecting them. After looking at each one of them he said, "These are legit. Nice work. You too, pretty boy," he said pointing a stubby finger at Jason. "That was really ballsy of you, kid. Or maybe I should say—pussy of you." The four security goons all laughed.

"Okay, it's gonna take me about 24 hours to take care of this. Give me the kid's bank account number."

"He ain't got one," Ralph said.

"Are you shittin' me? He's gonna walk outta here with a million bucks in cash? Give me fuckin' break. This is a joke, right Ralphie?"

"No joke, Tone. That's how the kid wants to play it."

"Ah' right. It's his money and his life. I'll have the money in you two's accounts by this time tomorrow. No one leaves until it's done. Oh, and we had that piece of shit car you drove taken care of. It's the size of small desk already."

Jason was grateful he'd remembered to take his duffel bag out before going upstairs. It had everything in it he'd need to start over and while it wasn't as important as the money, he had plans for the bag's contents once he got back home.

They sat around and talked, played cards, watched TV and drank beer until midnight. Everyone slept a few hours and killed the day until Tony came back and let them know everything was done. "You two got cash comin' out the ass in the Cayman Islands. This is yours, kid. Good luck." One of his security men sat down a couple of large bags then unzipped them to show Jason it was all there.

"All '20s and all unmarked. It ain't easy comin' up with a million like that overnight, but the Tonester's got connections." He looked at the three of them then said, "I know we're taking you two clowns to a private plane to get you out of the country. How about you, kid? Where you going?"

"Back home," he replied.

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One of the security men drove him all the way back to Richmond and dropped him off at the cabin just after midnight. His car was right where it was supposed to be and after stashing the cash in a safe place, he headed home.

There were two police cars sitting next to the curb of his Uncle Kyle's house as he pulled up. He no sooner got out of the car than a pair of detectives were in his face. He spent the next hour being grilled about his whereabouts and when he'd last seen his Uncle Kyle. They wanted to know if he knew some guy named Ralph along with a whole lot of other questions. He told them he'd been fishing the last few days and hadn't even seen the news.

Jason played his role perfectly when they told him about the robbery and showed him footage from the bank. "You ever seen this girl before?" they wanted to know.