Steal

by Jeff Elkins

  As Angie pulled the car out into the street and followed Edwin, Stacie asked, “How many of you are there?”

  “Here or total?” Francine asked.

  “Total,” Stacie said with surprise.

  “Eight,” Francine said.

  “Here?” Moe asked.

  “Four. The other half of my team are on a different job,” Francine said.

  Moe watched out the back window as a black van pulled out and fell in line behind them. It had been parked a block away from Edwin and two blocks away from Francine.

  “You didn’t bring the whole team for us?” Stacie playfully complained.

  “The two of you make six. That’s more than enough,” Francine said.

  “Thanks,” Moe said with a big smile. Whether it was true or not, Moe liked the idea that she was skilled enough to be a part of Francine’s team.

  “I still think we merit the whole team,” Stacie said, sitting back and crossing her arms.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  They followed Edwin north, deeper into the suburbs for fifteen minutes. Angie slowed the car when Edwin turned into an entrance for Loch Raven Reservoir. The gigantic lake was over 10 miles long, held more than 23 billion gallons of water, and supplied water to most of Baltimore County. It was surrounded by forest, hiking trails, parks, and recreation areas. “How should I proceed?” Angie asked.

  “Give it a seven count,” Francine said.

  They waited seven seconds, and then pulled down the long and winding entrance. The road was surrounded by woods on both sides for the first two hundred yards. It then opened into large parking lot surround by a park. To the right was a playground. To the left were picnic pavilions filled with picnic tables and BBQ grills. A few cars were scattered through the lot, most grouped by an entrance to a hiking trail. Edwin had exited his vehicle and was walking away from the playgrounds, hiking trails, and picnic pavilions toward the shore of the reservoir. His pace was frantic.

  “How do you want to play this?” Francine asked.

  “If we don’t talk to him now, I don’t think we’ll get another chance,” Stacie said.

  “Agreed. The speed at which this was put together, combined with the fact that they called this meeting after you pushed him, they brought him here to kill him,” Francine said.

  “We can’t let him die. Let’s go get him,” Moe said.

  Picking up her phone and pressing the button on the side, Francine said, “Park near the trails. Tamara on the big gun, pick a pavilion roof. Jessica, Angie, set up on priority escape routes. When Tamara takes the first shot, move in. We don’t know who is coming, but we should expect at least the six Marines. I’m on Stacie and Moe. No kill shots. We want whoever shows up still breathing when this is done. Angie, when they show, it will go fast. As soon as they pull up, call emergency services. Everyone, be in position in three minutes.”

  Moe watched out the back window of car as the black van sped into a parking spot by the hiking trails. Two women, both dressed exactly like Francine, jumped out. One carried a long briefcase. They ran toward the picnic pavilions, to the left of Edwin’s position, and quickly disappeared from view. Angie eased their car into the parking spot next to Edwin’s. They could see him one-hundred and fifty yards away, standing next to a large tree. Moe looked around. The park was completely empty besides Edwin. It was a good spot for a secret meet.

  “So what’s the plan?” Stacie asked, as they all exited the car.

  Without a word, Angie took off to the right toward the playground equipment. Francine dropped two paces behind Moe and Stacie, bringing up the rear.

  Moe glanced at her shoelaces as she walked, took a deep breath, and said, “If he doesn’t talk, I’m just going to take what I need. I’ll search for the suspects and see what I find.”

  “Are you sure? You said you don’t like stealing memories. You don’t know what you’re going to find in this creep’s head,” Stacie said.

  “I’m sure. Let’s finish this,” Moe said.

  Edwin began to panic at the site of them. Looking left and right, Moe could tell he was thinking about running, but where would he go. He’d have to pass through them to get to his car. Instead of bolting, he began yelling at them, “No! You shouldn’t be here! Go away!”

  Moe held her hands up as she approached in a sign of surrender. “We’re just here to talk, Edwin,” she said.

  “I’ve got nothing to say,” Edwin yelled.

  There was only twenty-yards between them. Slowing down, but continuing to move forward Moe said, “Look. We can help. I don’t know who you are meeting, but they aren’t coming here to help you.”

  “You need to leave with us, Ed. We’re your only hope,” Stacie said.

  “You shouldn’t be here. They’re going to think I’m working with you,” Edwin said, as he began pacing.

  “Who is going to think that?” Moe asked.

  “Why are you here? You shouldn’t be here,” Edwin said, his voice cracking with fear.

  “We’re here to help you,” Stacie said.

  “Just tell us what your part in this is and we can help you. We’ll walk you into the station and make sure you are protected. They’ll listen to your story, if you let us take you in,” Moe reasoned. She was within arm’s reach now. She was still considering just grabbing him and taking what she needed.

  “I don’t know what you want from me. I’m just one of the cogs. I’m not in charge. My job was just to watch the Mr. Thalberg’s purchases. That was it. I promise,” Edwin whined, looking around.

  “Who else in Mr. Thalberg’s house is involved?” Moe said.

  “I’m not saying anything else. You need to leave before they get here,” Edwin said, folding his arms across his chest.

  “Is it Thad? Are you waiting for Thalberg’s son?” Moe probed.

  Edwin looked around the park. Panic was building in his eyes. He mumbled to himself, “I’m not going to live through this am I? They’re going to kill me. I know too much.”

  “We know about the changes in the will. Is Thad doing this to get back at his dad?” Moe probed, but Edwin didn’t seem to hear her. He was lost in frantic thought.

  “It’s okay. We’ve got you. Just come with us,” Stacie urged.

  Edwin placed his hands on his head and started taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down. “I knew it was a bad idea. I told them it was a bad idea.”

  Moe snapped her fingers and said, “Hey, Edwin. Stay with us.”

  Edwin locked eyes with her and said, “If he’d just paid us what we were worth. If he just wasn’t such a tight ass. None of this would have happened. Do you think I wanted this? I didn’t want this.”

  Nodding, Stacie said, “Of course not. You’re a loyal employee.”

  “You better believe I’m loyal. I’m the best man he has. He wouldn’t last a day without me,” Edwin said.

  “And you didn’t want anyone to get hurt,” Stacie said.

  “No. God, no. I abhor violence. They took it too far,” Edwin said.

  “You were just trying to get what you should have been paid,” Stacie said.

  “But they’re so greedy. I told them, there was no way he would change his will. I knew it was insanity. But skimming off the top and taking the paintings wasn’t enough. They had to have more,” Edwin said.

  “Is Hayes the greedy one?” Moe asked.

  “Oh, God,” Edwin said, looking past Moe and Stacie. His face turned white as a sheet. Moe turned to see where he was looking. A brown van sped into the parking lot and screeched to a stop, blocking in Edwin’s car. Six men stepped from the vehicle. Each carried an assault rifle. They approached with military precision, assessing the park as they moved forward.

  “Not them. Oh, God. Why did they come? They’re going to kill us all,” Edwin said. He stood and began frantically looking in all directions for a way to escape.

  Francine turned to face them, putting herself between Moe and Stacie. Pushing her jacket back, she place h
er hands on the guns holstered on her hips. She looked like a cowboy at high noon.

  “Oh, God. Oh, God. He’s going to kill me,” Edwin whined.

  “Stay put,” Moe said.

  At the sight of Francine, the men slowed to a stop fifty yards away. The two in the middle focused their weapons on Francine while the four on the outsides scanned the perimeter.

  One of the ones in the middle spoke, “Give us the butler and you can walk away,” he said. His eyes were cold and blue. Moe would guess he was around twenty-five years old. She scanned the group. They were all younger than she expected.

  Slowly stepping back, Francine said, “Get behind the tree.” Stumbling past the tree, Edwin obeyed. Moe and Stacie followed behind him.

  “Look, no one has to get hurt. Just give us the butler and we’ll leave,” the one in the middle with the cold blue eyes called again.

  There was a sudden explosion of pink mist from the shoulder of one of the Marines as the man fell forward. It was followed by a loud explosive crack as the man went down. Before the Marines could react, a second crack and explosion of pink mist dropped another one.

  “Sniper! Take cover!” the Marine with the blue eyes screamed.

  Seizing on the opportunity, Moe leaped forward and grabbed Edwin by the head. Pushing with all her energy, she searched his mind for her three suspects.

  There was the smell of beer and sweat and vomit. She was walking through a room full of people. Some conscious. Some not. Their faces came into view. They were all young and all strung out. Many were entangled with one another. There had to be at least twenty of them. Moe wondered where else they were in the house. She bent down, picked up a red plastic cup, and put it in the trash bag she was carrying. She took two more steps and picked up a bag of blue and gray pills. They, also, went in the trash.

  “Hey, Edwin,” a hoarse voice said from Moe’s right. She looked to see Thad propping himself up on his elbows. He could barely open his eyes, still high from whatever he had taken the night before. “Hey. Thanks for cleaning up. You’re the best,” he said with a grin.

  Moe felt a surge of rage. Edwin hated Thad with a burning passion. “It’s a shame you didn’t overdose,” she muttered to herself, as she put another red cup in the trash bag.

  Moe pulled out of the memory. That wasn’t what she needed. She pushed in further.

  A cool wind blew in her face. She checked her watch. They were late. They were never late. She began to worry. She checked her watch again. Maybe, she got the time wrong. She looked around. She was in a park – an empty park. This tree was important. It was where they always met.

  She checked her watch again. Should she leave? She didn’t know. Anxiety began to well up in her chest. What if she were too early. She needed to leave. She shouldn’t be here by herself. She looked around. The only movement was the breeze. This wasn’t right.

  Moe pulled out of the memory again. She could feel Edwin’s mind fighting her, instinctively pushing her to memories adjacent to what she wanted. She pushed harder, seeking the feeling of regret, mixed with the faces of her suspects.

  It was hot and muggy. She took a sip of her martini. There was too much vermouth. A shame. She pushed it away from her.

  “That’s what you get for ordering something so fancy in a place like this,” Hayes said with a grin. He took a long draw from his beer.

  Moe looked around the room. The bar was dark and empty and small. The floor was dirty and sticky. When she moved her feet, her shoes pulled at the ground and made a ripping noise. Edwin worried about the long term impact that would have on the souls. He liked these shoes. He’d need to get them shined after this meeting was over.

  “Why am I here?” Edwin said to Hayes.

  “I know as much as you do,” Hayes said. Edwin hated his smug grin. Hayes thought he was so strong and dangerous, but Edwin was the one that had Mr. Thalberg’s ear. If he complained, he could probably get Hayes fired in a heartbeat. He was sure Mr. Thalberg would listen to him, so who had the power really? Edwin reveled in the thought of Hayes being fired.

  A younger man joined the table. He couldn’t have been older than twenty-five. His piercing blue eyes were unnerving. He placed a plate of fries in front of them and a second beer in front of Hayes. “They don’t do cheese fries so I got regular ones,” he said. His cold blue eyes made Edwin shift in his seat. Edwin had met him once before, at the house. Hayes had been trying to get him a job. His name was Lewis Quartz. He was the son of one of Hayes old Marine buddies.

  “Fries are fries,” Hayes said, as he took one from the plate and popped it into his mouth. Watching him eat disgusted Edwin.

  A breeze filled the room as the door opened. Moe looked over. It was Melvin Hersch. He smiled at the table and nodded. Before coming over, he hung his coat, scarf, and hat on the coat rack by the door. Edwin sighed and looked at his watch. He didn’t know why he’d agreed to this meeting.

  Melvin joined them at the table. Giving them a warm smile and sincere smile, he said, “Gentlemen, thank you for coming. To begin, I want to make something clear. Mr. Hayes, I have evidence that you’ve been taking items from the house and selling them on E-Bay. Mr. Lachete, I know you’ve been taking money from the petty cash to pay your bills, and I have documentation of the missing money and how it corresponds to your expenses. And Mr. Quartz, although we’ve never met, I do know of your proclivity to take things that aren’t yours. It would be a shame if the police were alerted to your activities. So, if either of you decide to mention this meeting to our employer, not only will I deny it, I will ensure that you are all out on your asses. Are we clear?”

  “Right to the point. I told you you’d like how this one does business,” Hayes said to Quartz, as he nudged him with his elbow.

  Moe felt an overwhelming sense of fear. She wanted to run. Looking into her martini glass she mumbled, “I haven’t taken that much. Mr. Thalberg would understand.”

  “Oh, Edwin,” Mel said with another smile, as he patted Edwin’s hand. “Over the last four years, you’ve taken over thirteen-thousand dollars. The only reason such a large sum has gone unnoticed is because I made sure it went unnoticed.”

  Edwin kept his eyes locked on his glass. He felt trapped. He wanted to crawl under the table and hide.

  Mel squeezed Moe’s hand and said, “And please know, Edwin, your part in this will be small. We won’t ask too much of you.”

  Moe pulled her hand away. She took another drink of the terrible martini.

  “What exactly are you proposing?” Hayes asked.

  “I have a plan that should be simple to accomplish with the skillsets around this table, inflicted limited irritation on our employer, rid us of his terrible heir, and make us all very wealthy,” Melvin said.

  “How are you going to do all that?” Lewis asked with a grin.

  “We’re going to steal a bunch of art, doctor a will, put it all at the feet of Thad, and then, we walk away with the spoils,” Mel said. The innocence in his voice terrified Edwin.

  Moe opened her eyes, let go of Edwin, and stumbled backward into Stacie. The air still felt hot and Edwin’s anxiety swirled around her. Her heart sank at the realization that the kind old family attorney was behind it all.

  “What did you do? What did you do to me?” Edwin shrieked, as he fell into the tree behind him.

  Stacie steadied Moe and asked “Are you alright?”

  “I got it. I saw it all,” Moe said, her gut hurting from Edwin’s anxiety and what she had seen.

  Looking up, Moe realized that in the few seconds she was in Edwin’s memories, the world around them had erupted into violence and chaos.

  Angie stood above the two Marines that had been shot, a gun pointed at each of them. Off to Moe’s left, another woman dressed like Francine was standing above two other Marines who were also bleeding in the grass. Lewis Quartz, the blue-eyed marine and his last remaining partner had taken cover behind a large tree to the right. Francine had positioned herself between
them and the tree Moe and Stacie were behind. Splinters exploded from Lewis’ tree as another crack from the sniper rifle filled the air.

  “Put your guns down, surrender, and I promise not to kill you,” Francine yelled.

  “Fuck you, bitch! I’m not leaving here without that butler,” Lewis screamed from behind the tree.

  “This is over. We’ve called the authorities. They will be here any minute. Stand down,” she yelled.

  Edwin began to stumble back, but Moe grabbed him and pulled him to the tree. “We’re not going to let them take you,” she said.

  “What did you do to me? Why did I see those things again,” he whined.

  “She stole your memories. Get over it,” Stacie said.

  “You’ll be fine in a few minutes,” Moe said to Edwin. Steadying herself, she said to Stacie, “The one behind the tree is Quartz. He’s connected to Hayes. They are both working for Hersch. I think Hayes is cleaning house. We’ve got to get to Melvin Hersch, or there will be no evidence left of what they were doing.”

  “Hey, Marine. Listen to me. This fight is over. Stand down and no one else will get hurt,” Francine called to Lewis.

  “You’re not in charge here,” Lewis screamed with rage.

  Sirens rang in the distance as the police approached.

  “Shit! Shit! Shit!” the Marine next to Lewis screamed.

  Francine’s voice was calm, as if she were correcting a wayward child. She continued, “I’m going to count to three, and then, I’m going to come and get you. So lay down your weapons. Okay?” she said.

  “We just came for the butler,” Lewis screamed.

  “Last chance. You have until I get to three,” Francine said.

  “Fuck you!” Lewis yelled.

  As Francine said “One,” Lewis spun from behind the tree, his weapon raised, but Francine was too quick. Before he could get a shot off, she dove to the right. With both pistols drawn, she put four bullets in his shoulders and legs. Lewis fell to the ground, his gun loosing wild rounds into the air. Leaping back to her feet, Francine charged and kicked the weapon from his hand. Spinning, she pointed both weapons at the second Marine hiding behind the tree. Throwing his weapon to the ground, he knelt and put his hands behind his head.