Take it Easy by Lee Garrett
from Betrayal: a PUNK NOIR Magazine series
Kaplan savored each turn of the dial like a musician searching for the right note.
“Close?” Saison fidgeted anxiously. “We need to dust.”
“You and Buddy, always so impatient.” Kaplan held his tongue between his teeth. Click. Just one more, and the vault would open. “Power’s cut. Alarms are dead. Learn to savor the moment.”
“Always so fucking laissez faire, aren’t you? Last job, we almost got pinched because you were too busy ‘savoring.’”
“‘Take it easy, baby,” Kaplan softly sang, searching for the vault’s final note.
Click.
“‘Take it as it comes.’”
He pulled the vault open, still singing.
“‘Don’t move too fast, if you—”
Saison put the .22 slug through the back of his head before he could turn around.
“I never liked The Doors,” Saison told his corpse.
Saison moved fast, loading cash and jewelry into the duffel bag. She was back out to the alleyway in less than two minutes, the bag stuffed full of the promise of a new life. Buddy’s Firebird idled, waiting to make their getaway.
When she opened the door, Buddy greeted her with a Glock and a grin.
She closed her eyes. Better to take it easy.
This story appears as part of Betrayal, a PUNK NOIR Magazine series, originally published May 2024.
Bio
Michel Lee Garrett (she/her) is a noir author, Pennsyltucky poet, and recovering journalist. She has investigated courthouse corruption as an investigative reporter, directed communications for a U.S. Senate campaign, and worked as a university president's speechwriter. She is the author of Born a Ramblin' Man and Other Stories (April 2025, Shotgun Honey), the editor of Transcendent Love: True Stories of Trans-for-Trans Relationships (forthcoming, JKP Books), and the editor of Burning Down the House: Crime Fiction Incited by the Songs of the Talking Heads (April 2024, Shotgun Honey). She lives in Central Pennsylvania, where she works in higher education and serves as a LGBTQ+ community organizer and advocate.
PUNK NOIR, the online literary and arts magazine that looks at the world at its most askew, casting a bloodshot eye over the written word, film, music, television and more.
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Whoa. Haha. It's a cutthroat business. Kaplan was a real asset, too. Dumb move.