Love, Money, and Lies

by Olivia Saxton

  “But, Bruce—”

  “Hold on, sweetheart. Let me say this. I apologize for . . . violating your privacy and acting like a jealous ass. A smart person told me tonight that trust is important between two people who love each other. Whatever it is that is going on . . . I’m sure you’ll tell me when you’re ready.”

  “Oh, Bruce,” she whispered as she raised her other hand to the phone. She cradled it in her hands like it was precious gold. “I’m sorry about our fight too.” And for what I am about to do.

  “I love you, honey.”

  A knot formed in her throat. “I love you, too. No matter what happens, don’t doubt that I love you. You do know that, right?”

  “That I do know for sure,” he said with confidence. “I’ll be home on the twenty-sixth so I can tell you and show you how much I love you in person.”

  She blinked her eyes to keep tears from running down her face as guilt gnawed at her to the bone. “All right.”

  “Oh, and if Calhoun sniffs around you again, tell him to stop it, or I’ll break his hand,” he added.

  She let out a chuckle. “Okay.”

  “Can you put Alec back on the phone?”

  “Yeah, he’s only a few inches away,” she said as she looked over at him.

  Alec walked over.

  “Here he is.”

  “All right. Goodbye, hon. I’ll see you soon.”

  She swallowed hard. “Goodbye,” she said and handed the phone to Alec. Bruce didn’t know it, but they had just communicated for the last time.

  “Yeah, buddy.” Alec smiled as Margo touched her fingers around her eyes to keep from crying. “Don’t worry about it. If I’m not around, Vic will be. No, you can’t break Seamus’s hand. He’s across the room chatting Enid up. She doesn’t seem to mind the smell of his cologne, God bless her.” Alec laughed. “Yeah, see you in two days. Later.” He hung the cordless up on the base. Then he looked at Margo and her watery eyes. “If I knew letting Bruce talk to you would make you miss him more, I would have told him to wait until he got back,” he joked.

  She smiled. “Yes, I miss him.”

  “He’s crazy about you, too. I’m glad Bruce has finally met someone that he could . . . well, take on the long haul.”

  “Long haul?” she repeated nervously.

  “I overheard you telling him you loved him. I’m not sure what you two fought about, but I’m glad I could help you two to clear it up. He said he tried to call you on your cell, and you didn’t answer.”

  “Oh, I probably didn’t hear it from the music,” she said softly.

  Chapter 26

  It was three a.m. on the dot when Anthony, Bobbi, Morris, and Aaron pulled up to her house in a big U-Haul. The guys Anthony had arranged for her had gotten so drunk four hours earlier that they couldn’t walk much less move furniture.

  Margo had contacted the new owners the evening her and Bruce had fought and asked them if they were willing to sign the final paperwork and pay her a week early. They were more than happy to do so because they were living in a hotel and their things were in storage. She was going to meet them at eight a.m.

  Morris let out a low whistle when he entered her house. “You were livin’ large, girl,” he echoed with awe as he looked around her massive house. “I hope I get to peep your new digs in the Caribbean.”

  Margo looked at Anthony. He had to have told Morris that. She had no plans to move to the Caribbean.

  As Morris looked around with amazement, Anthony came up behind her. “He asked where you were moving to when I asked him for help,” he whispered in her ear. “I told him the Caribbean, knowing that it was the last place you’d go.”

  Margo nodded her understanding. Morris knew nothing about their upcoming heist, and he didn’t need to. He has proven his loyalty and usefulness to BAAM, but the team was going to disban, and he wasn’t needed for the last job. No reason to give him information he didn’t need.

  “That’s why I tried getting the other guys for you,” Anthony whispered. “They would have moved the shit and not asked questions as long as they got paid.”

  She nodded again.

  “Let’s get started, guys. It’ll be sunup before we know it with all this stuff,” Aaron said.

  Margo had tried to get rid of everything she could before this day, but it turned out that she had more stuff than she realized.

  They started moving boxes out the door.

  Morris and Anthony lifted a chair and were carrying it out the door.

  Then what they all heard made their blood run cold. “Freeze! FBI!”

  “Shit!” Morris yelled.

  Margo could hear her armchair hit the porch with a thud. She looked out the window. It was Alec with his gun drawn. He had on a white T-tank and a pair of sweatpants. But, more importantly, he was alone. She went to the door. “Alec, what are you doing?”

  “Are you all right?” he asked as he continued to aim his weapon at Anthony and Morris. They had their hands up.

  “Yes, what the fuck are you doing here?” she asked with confusion.

  “Who are these guys?” he asked as he kept aiming at them.

  “They’re friends of mine. They’re helping me move,” she answered without thinking.

  He lowered the Glock. “In the middle of the night?” he asked an octave above his normal voice.

  “Yeah,” she replied and looked at Anthony and Morris. They had lowered their hands. Beads of sweat had formed on both their foreheads. “It’s okay, guys. He’s my neighbor.”

  “Who’s an FBI agent with a happy trigger finger?” Morris asked with nervousness.

  “I’m sorry,” Alec said sincerely. “I had gotten up to get a glass of water. I saw the U-Haul driving slowly up the street. When I saw you guys back it up in Margo’s yard to her porch, I thought you were burglars. I just grabbed my gun and ran down the street. I thought she might be in trouble or not home.”

  “Better safe than sorry, right, guys?” Margo said.

  “Yeah,” they mumbled.

  “Margo, can I talk to you for a minute?” Alec asked.

  “Sure.” She couldn’t get off the porch because the back of the truck was blocking the stairs. “Meet me on the patio around back.”

  Alec nodded as he swung his gun around his back and stuffed it in his pants.

  Margo went back into the house.

  “What’s Alec doing here?” Bobbi whispered with worry.

  “Stay cool. He thought the house was being robbed,” Margo explained. “He doesn’t know anything.”

  “Then why does he want to talk to you?” Aaron asked.

  “I’m sure he is going to ask me why I’m moving in the middle of the night. And if Bruce knows,” she replied.

  “Ugh, great,” Bobbi groaned.

  “What if he calls Bruce before we can get you out of here?” Aaron asked.

  “That won’t be a problem. It’ll take us three hours at the most to clear this place. Bruce is in Texas, so even if he does call and tell him, he won’t be able to get back here in time to drill me.”

  Before Aaron and Bobbi could reply, Alec knocked on the sliding door glass as he was staring at them.

  Margo inhaled as she made her way around boxes and furniture to get to the door. She opened up and stepped out on the patio. She didn’t have to worry about taking the patio furniture because the new owners had asked if they could have it. She was more than happy to let them keep it. She slid the door closed as Alec stared daggers at her. Judging from his facial expression, this wasn’t going to be a pleasant chat.

  “So, you’re moving?” he asked as he folded his arms in front of his chest.

  What could she say? She was caught red-handed. “Yes.”

  “Where?”

  “Not sure yet. I’m staying with a friend until . . . I find a place,” she lied.

  “One of those friends in there, I assume.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You know, Bruce didn’t mention anything about thi
s to me. And you didn’t mention it to Lana.”

  “I . . . I can’t explain now, but I have to go for a while,” she said nervously.

  “Tell me what’s going on, Margo. I can help . . . Bruce can help,” he said seriously.

  “No, you can’t, but everything will be fine in the end. You’ll see.” Bruce would forget about her along with her neighbors and friends on Sunset Boulevard.

  Alec frowned. “Well, I can’t make you tell me,” he said with a sour tone. “How long will you . . . not be around?”

  “A while,” she said.

  “That’s not really an answer. Are we talking about a month? Two months? Fuck, a year?”

  “I really don’t know right now.” Forever.

  “Bruce is going to be a mess when he comes back and finds you gone,” Alec stated.

  “I know, but I’m sure you’ll be able to make him feel better until I return.”

  Alec nodded. “I heard you tell him over the phone that you loved him on Christmas Eve. Did you mean it?”

  “Yes,” she said with conviction. “I love him more than you know, Alec.”

  “If that’s true, call him before you go off to wherever you are going off to.”

  She nodded, but she had no intention of calling him. Bruce had called her yesterday to wish her a Merry Christmas and tell her what his family had gotten him. She hadn’t expected him to call again because he was with his family, but he had said that he missed her and needed to hear her voice. Margo had cried for thirty minutes after she got off the phone with him.

  Alec exhaled as he dropped his arms. “What do you want me to tell Lana and Lacey?”

  “Please ask them to forgive me, and everything will become clear in due time.”

  “Lana is going to be mad as hell.”

  “I trust you will smooth things over for me with her, too.”

  “Be safe, Margo.”

  “I’ll do my best,” she said with a faint smile.

  Alec pulled her in for a hug. Then he mumbled something in her ear that almost made her body go still. “You better not be lying about this.”

  ****

  They had cleared the house out in two hours. Margo believed Alec showing up put the spring in everyone’s step. Morris was hungry, so they went to an IHOP for a very early breakfast.

  When they were done, they drove to the factory. Margo parked her Mustang under the overpass next to the U-Haul. No one would see them from the main road.

  The guys moved her bed into one of the offices in the factory’s basement along with one box, her laptop case, a suitcase, and a carry-on. It was right across the hall from the office Bobbi was staying in.

  “Margo, what are you planning to do with your car?” Morris asked. “I mean, you can’t drive it across the ocean.”

  “I’m going to take it to a used car dealership and get what I can for it. Why?”

  “How about selling it to me?”

  She thought for a moment. “Well, I rather for you to have her than some sleazy used car salesman. She’s a good ride. I’ve only had her for two years.”

  “How much you want for it?”

  “How about thirteen thousand?”

  “Sounds good to me. The DMV will be open soon. We can get it all done this morning.”

  “Not yet. I have to meet someone at eight and run some other errands. Can we meet back here at noon and then go to the DMV?

  “Sure. And the stuff in the U-Haul?”

  “I was going to drop it off at a Goodwill.”

  “I’ll pay you for the furniture. It looks like some classy stuff. I’ll give it to one of my baby’s mommas.”

  She shrugged. “Okay.”

  Chapter 27

  Margo had run all the errands she needed to run with the exception of one. She had taken a cab to the Starbucks that was five miles away from Sunset Boulevard. The driver said as long as she could pay the tab, he would wait on her. However, she wasn’t dumb enough to leave her black satchel full of the money Morris paid her for the Mustang, living room furniture, and dining set. He had assured her that he wasn’t paying her with the money from the SunBeam Heist. It was still too hot to use that cash yet. Margo assumed he paid her with drug money. Not that she cared. As long as it was spendable in the near future, it was fine with her.

  She looked at her Rolex as she sat in the booth in the back. It had been fifteen minutes since she had called Lacey to meet her there. Margo couldn’t lie low until she got this one last thing done.

  The door opened. It was Lacey and Lana.

  Damn it, I told her to come alone.

  They looked around for her. Lacey was wearing a killer white pants outfit. Her new weave still looked just as fresh as it did at Lana’s Christmas Eve party. Lana, who was now four months pregnant and didn’t look it, had on a short black dress that hugged her figure.

  Margo licked her lips and waved at them.

  They spotted her and hurried to the booth.

  “Margo, thank God,” Lana said with relief.

  “Lacey, I asked you to come alone.”

  “Well, that was hard for me to do since you called me while Lana was at my house,” Lacey replied as she sat down in the other side of the booth.

  Lana sat down beside Lacey. “Alec told me he caught you moving in the middle of the night. I wish he would have woken me up and told me. He didn’t say a word until breakfast this morning.”

  “I’m sorry. I know this is strange, but . . . it’s for the best.”

  “Did you call Bruce like Alec asked you to?” Lana asked.

  This was why Margo called Lacey. She knew Alec would tell Lana about their conversation, and Lana had gone to college with Bruce, too. They were like brother and sister. “No, that’s why I called Lacey here, but since you’re both here.” Margo pulled the wrapped box and the letter out of her black bag. “These are for Bruce. This is the Christmas gift I didn’t get to give him and the letter I wrote this morning. It will answer most of his questions. I need you to get these things to him.”

  They stared at her like she was someone they didn’t recognize.

  “Oh, dear God,” Lana groaned. “You’re not coming back, are you?”

  Margo refused to answer the question because she was tired of lying. She had lied so much during the past few months that she couldn’t keep up with the fibs anymore. “If you two are my friends, you will get these things to Bruce.”

  Lacey sighed. “What or who the hell has got you so scared that you have to move in the middle of the night, call us here for a secret meeting, and duck out on a good-looking man that is probably willing to do anything for you if you ask?”

  “I can’t explain that now, Lacey. I’m sorry.”

  “Margo, the three of us have hung out and shared all kinds of things over afternoon coffee twice a week for the past year. Hell, you were a bridesmaid in my wedding,” Lana stressed. “If you can’t tell us, who can you tell?”

  “No one,” she answered flatly. “I am sorry about keeping you in guys in the dark, but for now, will you do this for me? Please?”

  Lacey and Lana looked at each other.

  “I would prefer for Bruce to get these things today. His flight lands at three o’clock. Alec is supposed to pick him up at the airport and drive him to work so he can get a few hours in.”

  “I know,” Lana said. “We can run over to the Federal building, and I’ll give it to Alec.”

  “Thank you,” Margo said with relief. For a minute there, she thought they would refuse.

  “Well, I guess this is it. The last time the three of us will be together,” Lacey mumbled with sadness.

  “If that is the case, let’s have some girl talk over coffee one last time,” Lana said.

  Margo nodded.

  They got up solemnly and walked to the counter. They only had to wait behind two people. Once those customers were taken care of, Lacey and Margo placed their orders. Then it was Lana’s turn.

  “I’d like to have a vanilla co
ffee with a splash of hazelnut syrup and please make sure it’s decaf, sugar. I’m with child,” Lana slurred with a fake Southern accent as she waved a Kleenex in the air.

  Lacey and Margo burst out laughing. Leave it to Lana to lighten the mood in a heavy situation.

  Chapter 28

  Bruce walked out of the deboarding alcove. He had left his SUV in the bureau’s parking garage. Alec was going to meet him and drive him back to the office so he could get a few hours of work in. But he missed Margo so badly he had half a mind to shun the office and go straight to her house. Last night as he slept on the floor of his parents’ living room, he had dreamt about her long legs, coconut breasts, her thick-as-honey blonde hair, and the sound of her crying out his name in ecstasy.

  Alec was standing outside of the boarding area. His jaw was tight, and his eyes were filled with . . . dread.

  “Hey, buddy,” Bruce said slowly. “For the holiday season, you look pretty morose. What’s up?”

  “Get your things from baggage claim. I’ll tell you in the truck.”

  Twenty-five minutes later, they were walking in the parking lot.

  “Alec, the silence is killing me,” Bruce said as he carried his carry-on and suitcase. “What’s going on? Is it Keisha?”

  “No.”

  “Lana?”

  “No.”

  They finally reached Alec’s truck. He lowered the tailgate to let Bruce put his things in back. Alec pulled the water-resistant cover over the back to make sure Bruce’s luggage didn’t fallout just in case they hit a nasty pothole. Then they got in the front.

  “Alec,” Bruce began. “Is it Margo?”

  He slowly turned his head to look at him. His expression said it was.

  “Oh God! Was she in a car accident? I tried calling her twice before I left Dallas. Her cell went straight to voicemail both times. What the fuck happened, Alec?”

  “Open the glove compartment,” Alec said seriously.

  Bruce yanked the compartment open so hard it was a wonder he didn’t pull the door off the hinges. A Christmas gift was in it.

  “It’s for you. The envelope under it is addressed to you – from her,” Alec said and started the truck.