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The Key
By Jordan, age 11, 5th Grade, The Bullis School, Potomac, MD, USA
Adam Basten was a short man, no taller than five feet, who certainly had a lot of stamina. He had been climbing for more than three hours on the rugged terrain of a pretty big mountain, which was right in the center of Brazil.The day was the average summer temperature for Brazil but to Adam it was hotter than hot. He kept on climbing until he got to a pretty shady spot under a few trees. He sat down and took a big drink of his bottle of Evian. But while he was drinking he saw something sparkle out of the corner of his eye.
At first he thought it was nothing, but than he saw it again. He moved closer and noticed what it was. He was so happy he spilled the bottle of water all over himself. It was a diamond, a real diamond! He started frantically searching for other ones but the one he had was the only one that could be found. Convinced that there were no more diamonds around, he began his decent down the mountain gleefully.
Adam went into town that afternoon. He saw a gemologist's shop and went in to have his diamond appraised. It did not take long for the man inside to tell its true value . He even offered to buy it from Adam. Although Adam still had two days left on his vacation he rescheduled it to leave that same day. He got back to his hotel, packed his stuff, and checked out. He made a promise to himself not to tell anyone about the diamond in case they try and steal it from him.
He boarded the plane pretty swiftly, and asked to have his bag (carrying the diamond) placed directly under his seat. The stewardess kindly said yes. The plane ride was enjoyable. That's what he loved about Continental Airlines. They always had good food and some good movies,. The movie he watched was an oldie but goodie, it was Vegas Vacation, which he had seen a few times, but it was still good.
Adam landed back in his home town of New York City. He signaled a cab and told the cab driver his address. He was on his way home.
Bill Jackson was a tall man with a beard and a hint of gray hair. He was a man who was very rich and famous. He was known as the diamond collector, but this time he was not searching for any ordinary diamond. This diamond would open a door to the biggest treasure vault ever. He had found the treasure vault a year ago, but he kept what he was looking for a secret. The thing that he just could not find was the diamond.
He went out for his morning breakfast at IHOP and took a quick glance at the paper. He could not believe his eyes. A man had found a diamond, not just any diamond, but the diamond he had been looking for, the one that opened the biggest treasure vault in the world. Bill began wondering if that man knew what it opened. The guy probably stumbled upon it, but just in case he went to a phone, dialed a number and asked if it was a safe line. Bill got a stern reply of yes. He asked the man on the other line if he could do a little business. When the man said yes he told the guy what his plan was.
The man Bill was talking to was the most well known thief, especially to the police who never caught him and knew him only by the name of the Cat Burglar. His real name was Matt Ruffige, he was contacted by people only he knew personally, and did their dirty work for them. He was not a murderer, he was more like a thief who did stuff only to the highest bidder. He had seen the diamond this afternoon on NBC's news and knew the value of it was more than thirty three million dollars.
He spent the rest of the day preparing, even though all he had to do was point a gun at the guy and tell him to give up the diamond. The hard part was to get the guy to come to him. He decided to bluff and offer the guy sixty six million dollars for the diamond, but instead of giving him the money he would take the diamond. The only problem was to find a place that had a few people in it, just enough to make him feel comfortable but not too many just incase one might witness him steal the diamond.
He decided to go to a pizza parlor, a nice one, but not to one that is too well known around town. The phone book had several names of good pizza parlors, but he decided to go to California Pizza Kitchen. He began planning once again. He opened up his closet and found an arsenal of weapons which he decided to take: one silenced 9mm and two extra magazines, just in case something happened, although he doubted something would. He then called Adam Basten and arranged the trade. He also scheduled a reservation at the restaurant for Friday night.
Jack Belford was one of the best cops there ever was and ever will be. His record was clean and he never disobeyed order. He was a single man, although two years ago he was married to a beautiful wife named Melissa. When she left she left him with their two twin boys who were then three and now were five. He always was a good dad even though he also had to juggle things a little bit. Luckily for him he had the whole Friday off and decided to spend it with his kids. He invited them out to eat at California Pizza Kitchen, which the twins, Jake and Jeff gladly accepted.
The meeting was all set. All Matt had to do was to wait until the man with the diamond showed up. He looked at the entrance and saw a man coming in with two twin boys. He watched as they sat on the other side of the room. Although he did not know why, he felt a little scared about that man. This man was not that much bigger than he was and he looked pretty nice. So why did this uneasy feeling come over him?
His attention went off that subject when he suddenly saw a man with a pretty big brief case come in the room. He stood up to greet the guy, but he also showed the man his gun while putting his finger over his mouth to make sure the guy did not say anything.
He told the man in a low whisper, "Give me the diamond and I will not hurt you."
He took out his gun just to make sure the guy did not try anything stupid. Adam gave the diamond to the man and the man slowly walked away.
Jack could not believe what he saw: a man pulled out a gun and was pointing it at another man. Jack quickly pulled out his Berretta .45 and told the man to drop his weapon. But instead of that the man made a diving leap to a safe place behind the counter and began shooting at Jack. Jack returned his fire with two quick bursts from his .45 and dove for cover under a small bench. They exchanged shots until the man slid out the back entrance. Jack quickly followed him but lost him in the dark. He then quickly went back to the restaurant to make sure his kids were ok.
The police were there when he got back which was surprisingly quick. After he answered a truckload of questions he was set free. He did not even realize that he had not eaten so he just ordered in Chinese for the whole family.
Matt Ruffige never was late to anything especially when it had to do with money. The exchange was at an old factory where Bill was waiting for the money which was in a big, brown, briefcase. Matt had the old diamond in a small purple box. They exchanged their belongings and went out, Matt going home and Bill heading to the vault in Brazil. Both thinking that everything was going to be fine.
The NYPD had more than fifty guys working on where the Cat Burglar was, they also had the CIA using satellites to pinpoint his location, they had the NSA tapping phones, and they even had the FBI questioning people. The only thing they knew was he paid for the dinner under the name of Matt Ruffige.
Raymond Kenlot was the only FBI guy that was having fun while working on the case of looking for the Cat Burglar. He was in charge of one FBI's hostage and rescue teams but instead of doing his normal job he was at a bar looking for this Cat Burglar. A man walked in the bar really without anyone noticing him. He then walked up to Raymond and said," Hi, my name is Matt Ruffige and do you know were the bathroom is because I have to go." Raymond was so happy he all most tackled the guy but instead he pointed to a door with the sign of a man on the front of it. Once the man went into the bathroom he pulled out his Sprint PCS phone and dialed, The number for the head of the FBI. When he was on the phone he said, "This is Kenlot I found him."
The FBI and the police came pretty quick. When Matt came out of the bathroom they arrested him and took him to FBI headquarters in New York City. They then interrogated him until he told them who bought the diamond, where he was going, what the diamond really was, and where the vault was. Matt knew the location because he had gone and found the vault with Bill. After the interrogation they packed up and took all the men they could get a hold of including Jack Belford and Raymond Kenlot.
The ride to Brazil was not that fun considering you were changing into black bullet proof head and body gear, plus being passed HK MP5 submachine guns with a silencer, a few flashbangs frag grenades, and a few extra magazines. These were extra precautions just in case Bill had some bodyguards.
They hovered right in front of the vault in the helicopter and sure enough there were bodyguards. The bodyguards tried to shoot the helicopter down but were quickly cut down by the helicopters right gun torrent. When the helicopter landed they approached the vault and noticed the diamond fit right in a hole that every one guessed was a keyhole. Team A went around to see if there were any more bodyguards hiding while team B went in the vault and arrested Bill. Team B could not believe their eyes. There was nothing in the vault, nothing at all, and Bill was no where to be found. Team A came in the vault to see if everything was okay, but when they got in the vault they were just as surprised as Team B was. The only one that moved was Mike Foster who reached into his radio and said, "This is Dispatch One and the treasure is out in the open." After that both teams went back in the helicopter and headed home.
The FBI, CIA, NSA and NYPD started a new search, this time for Bill and the treasure. The Brazilian police where trying the best they could but just could not find him. Many people on the police force thought he either changed his name or left the country.
Jack Belford was aloud to look up the airline files for Delta, American Airlines and Continental Airlines and none of them had anyone who from the video tapes or passports looked like Bill. He then checked hotels and motels and still came out empty. Then he figured it out that the man must have used a helicopter to transfer the treasure. He also found out that Bill owned a private airport right in Brasilia a city in Brazil. He then called the Charlie Horse squadron, a team that is used in situations like this.
The Charlie Horse Squadron went in and took Bill and his bodyguards easily. They arrested Bill and all the rest of his bodyguards and took them back to the states to be convicted. Jack went back on a small Plane, a 725 to be exact, where he then received a hero's welcome.
TWO MONTHS LATER
The diamond and all the treasures it opened were given to Adam to do with as he wished. As for Jack and all the other guys who helped Adam get all of the treasure, well they got a pure gold watch. As for Bill and Matt, well they're going to be in jail for a long time.
The End
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Last revised: 9th June 1999