Watcher

by Andrew Weis

  “That’s because you were. You needed to take the time to orient yourself to your situation, even stumble through it for a while. You had to make tough choices. That carjacker you killed was one example. His death was necessary, and they handled his spirit in the proper manner. That act showed your passion for protecting Daniel despite the conflicted feelings you still harbor for him.”

  “I just want to finish and get out of here,” I said with an impatient sigh.

  “Why are you so hostile toward Daniel? You’ve known him for years, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What happened?”

  Nothing embarrassed me more than having to talk about my boyfriends with my parents, let alone tell them how I screwed up the biggest love of my life.

  “Let’s just say he wasn’t very nice,” I said, lowering my head.

  “Do you have a personal grudge against him?”

  “You could say that.”

  “Okay. I can’t help you with that. It’s possible that addressing your personal issues is part of your ARV path as well. Regardless of how you handle things, you must resolve those too.”

  “What do you want me to do? Kiss and make up with him?” I said and turned away.

  If I’d done that when I was alive, I wouldn’t be in this mess.

  “If that’s what it takes to clear your heart, then yes. Make peace with yourself and your feelings toward him. I take it that’s why you changed your appearance and your name.”

  I jerked my head around and, with a crooked mouth, looked at my dad.

  “It makes sense now,” Dad said, nodding.

  “What does?”

  “If you want your promotion, resolve the issue between you and Daniel. He doesn’t know who you are, and that makes resolution impossible.”

  “How come?”

  “You’d have to expose your true identity before you could pass that step.”

  “Perfect, but I can’t tell him who I am.”

  “True, but there must be a way to solve your problem. There are always alternatives.”

  After all that talk, I felt I never left the starting line on my ARV. All I wanted to do was get Daniel and Reggie out from under Tyrone. That was all.

  Dad’s eyes flashed blue, then Daniel became unfrozen, unaware that anything had happened to him. He looked at us as if he tried to reorient himself. Dad continued answering Daniel’s last question as if nothing happened.

  “To answer your question, Daniel, I’m not what you think I am. Nemo and Nero help me from time to time. They mentioned that your father was in trouble. Nero overheard Coz talking about what happened to Akio. Nero then told me about it,” Dad said.

  “Oh,” Daniel said.

  Nemo came back outside and closed the club door.

  “Check it. Nero said T’s hitting Continental tonight,” Nemo said.

  “What’s that? A night club?” I asked.

  “No, girl. The bank four blocks west of here in the old Silvergate Theater building.”

  “Will my dad be there?” Daniel asked.

  “Count on it.”

  Getting a heads up on Reggie’s location was perfect. If I appeared with guns blazing, that’d show my impatience and a new level of stupidity.

  “Okay, since Tyrone’s not an expert, how’s he going to bypass security?” I asked.

  “He’s made friends over the years, so he might bring in help to get inside,” Nemo said. “He busted a money mill in the wastelands before his hitch in the Army. I heard he bagged about a half million. No clue where he keeps it.”

  “The wastelands?”

  “Small farm towns.”

  Tyrone must’ve either stashed the money somewhere or spent it on building Xtremes.

  “Gotcha. With video cameras everywhere, he’d get caught as soon as he got out of his car. Why take that chance?”

  “That’s an easy one,” Dad said. “His ego tells him he’ll never get caught. It’s plain old greed.”

  “What do we do?” Daniel asked.

  “Me and Nero are meeting T and Coz at Avalon Range at ten tonight,” Nemo said. “You can get close to the bank around that time but stay out of sight. The cameras can see the street too.”

  “Will you be driving your Galaxie?” I asked.

  “No, we’ll use T’s Escalade.”

  Despite the general population of Englewood Rails owning classic cars, Tyrone was never into that. He liked the new models Detroit crapped out.

  “At that hour, I’m not sure how he plans to get inside the place without killing anybody or tripping alarms,” I said.

  “Nero said Tyrone knows one of the guards,” Nemo said.

  “That’ll do it,” Dad said. “The Continental robbery’s a perfect practice run before attempting the Fed.”

  A robbery tonight afforded another opportunity for Daniel or Reggie to get killed. Since there was no way I could leave Daniel on his own, I had no choice but to bring him with me. Lovely.

  Chapter 23

  THE ODDS OF Tyrone and Coz succeeding at Continental Bank seemed well in their favor with an inside man to open the door for them. The Fed was a different animal. Tyrone’s crew didn’t have the smarts to take on such a high-risk job, so they had to know someone high enough in the bank to help them get through security.

  Anyone who worked at the Fed could be an accomplice, but they too risked facing a lengthy prison sentence. They’d have to be as stupid as Tyrone to trade their job for a jail cell.

  Daniel and I rode in a cab which let us off in front of a Chinese restaurant. I shielded my eyes from the early evening sun while Daniel paid the driver. We stepped inside the restaurant vestibule and waited there.

  The oily aroma of fried rice and sesame filled my nose while I recalled how my Dad got Chinese takeout on Saturday nights when I was a little girl. Sweet and sour chicken and fortune cookies was my go-to choice for years.

  I peered through the restaurant window, watching the cab drive away. I grabbed Daniel by the arm and led him back to the street.

  “What was that all about?” Daniel asked. “Are we staying or leaving?”

  “I want the driver to think we wanted to come here,” I said. “If the cops ask him, he could only say he saw us go in.”

  “Oh.”

  “Anyway, I needed to buy us a little time.”

  Daniel and I walked down the sidewalk toward the bank. We made it to the corner, and the bank, carved out of an old movie palace, stood opposite of us, its marquee boarded over and the art deco Silvergate lettering rusting away. As far as I knew, the theater closed decades ago. We walked away from the bank and down a gangway between a pair of commercial buildings.

  The thick, rich smell of sesame oil from the Chinese restaurant followed us. There wasn’t a free minute for me to do anything foolish. In moments I spotted a black Cadillac Escalade with its lights on turn down a side street next to the bank.

  “That must be them,” I said. “Look, I hate to do this, but you have to wait here,” I said.

  “Hey, I came to get my dad,” Daniel said.

  “So did I, but if it goes bad in there, it’s not like you can get away like I can.”

  “You’re going to leave me hanging, huh? Nice.” Daniel huffed, looking back toward the bank.

  I loved that he wanted to help me, but the risks for him weren’t worth taking.

  “Daniel, you’re not known as a hoodlum or a brawler,” I said. “You could cause more harm than good. Time’s short enough, so wait here, okay? Please?”

  “Okay, I’ll wait. What if things go wrong in there?” he asked.

  “They better not, that’s all.”

  Daniel looked at me. I gazed back into his swoon-worthy brown eyes. Those stupid 1990s love movies got in my head again.

  “Yes?” I asked.

  “It was a boy, wasn’t it?” Daniel asked.

  “Huh?” I asked, darting my eyes toward the bank.

  “You got killed over a boy.”

 
; I jerked my head toward him, then pursed my lips.

  “I got killed because I was stupid enough to believe I could trust a boy. Now, leave it be.”

  Daniel receded, his face relaxed, but he didn’t look satisfied with my answer.

  “I better get going,” I said, then took a couple steps toward the bank.

  “How long will you be?” he blurted.

  “Maybe ten or twenty minutes. Thieves don’t like to linger. If you hear any alarms or see any cops pulling up, take a cab home. I’ll meet you there.”

  “What if they catch you?”

  “They won’t. Remember what I said.”

  “Okay. Good luck,” he said.

  At that moment an inexplicable urge to kiss him charged through me. Since I remembered my appearance was different, he might get creeped out by getting kissed by a blonde-haired African-Asian mix. Then again, he did say before he thought I as pretty, but now was not the time to complicate things.

  “Thanks,” I said. I inrepped and headed for the bank.

  I floated into the Continental Bank lobby. Upon landing on the marble floor, I scanned the vacant lobby and listened for any sounds. A rusty squealing sound squawked from the rear of the building and echoed across the marble interior.

  The cold white marble lobby smelled of pine floor cleaner. The intruders’ whispers sounded loud as they echoed off the walls. I leaned on the teller’s countertop near a guard desk. The uniformed guard, a skin and bones elderly black man swimming in his oversized guard suit, looked back toward the rear entrance. The name badge above his left breast coat pocket read John Lee.

  Tyrone, Reggie, Coz, Nemo and Nero hustled over to the security desk.

  “The vault’s downstairs,” John Lee said in a constrained, raspy voice. He picked up a large key ring packed with heavy brass keys, then led the group down a wide staircase to the lower level.

  Downstairs, inside a cage of steel bars, a stainless steel vault awaited Tyrone’s invasion, along with another guard, Marko. Marko, a portly Ukrainian-looking soul searching for a better life through million-to-one odds, scratched away at lottery tickets while he sat at his desk.

  “Hey,” Tyrone said with urgency.

  Coz sneered while Marko stood and fumbled with his own heavy chrome key ring. Marko soon found the right key to unlock the cage.

  Tyrone removed a hand-drawn schematic from his coat pocket. He studied it and examined the door. While gliding his hands along the curved door, he stopped and tapped the spot with his finger.

  “These old vaults are classic. Plant it there,” Tyrone said with his finger near the door’s brass handle below the combination dial.

  Reggie stood silent, his duffle bag slung over his shoulder. Tyrone glanced at Coz and jerked his head. Coz smacked Reggie across the back of his head.

  “Work the mud, boy,” Coz said.

  Reggie dropped the duffle bag, then shoved Coz back.

  “Focus or I’ll drop you here,” Tyrone said, aiming his gun at Reggie’s head.

  Reggie flashed Coz a dirty look before fishing out blasting caps from the duffle bag. Reggie placed a small block of dark clay material on the vault door, then pressed a blasting cap into it. He fiddled with a small remote detonator with a trigger button until a tiny LED red light flashed. The gang hustled up the stairs to the lobby and crouched on the floor behind the teller counter.

  “Do it,” Tyrone said.

  Reggie took a breath as he pressed the detonator. A soft muffle rippled through the quiet bank. Reggie shuffled for the stairs; the others rushed behind him like toddlers keeping up with their mommy. The vault door drifted open. Inside, wrapped bundles of currency and rolled coins filled several shelves.

  “It’s Christmas, man,” Coz said with arrogant laughter as he stepped to the vault. Tyrone yanked Coz back by the collar, like a disobedient dog.

  “Floor sensors,” Tyrone said an inch from Coz’s disrespected face.

  Marko inserted a different key into the vault door frame to disable the floor sensors. With a quick twist, a pair of green lights went dark.

  “It’s cool,” Marko said in a deep, Russian-sounding accent.

  Tyrone and Coz took as much money as their bags could hold. Nemo and Nero eyed Reggie who seemed disgusted. Coz was right. It was like Christmas. Like an over-excited kid tearing gift-wrap off one present after the next, he tossed away bundles of five-dollar bills as if they were sweaters. After they loaded all they could, they started up the stairs.

  “Your cut will be at Xtremes. Come by after things cool off,” Tyrone said to John Lee. “We’ll be in touch.”

  “Thanks, man,” John Lee said. Tyrone gangster-hugged John Lee, then shouldered a gym bag of money.

  As Tyrone, Reggie, Nemo and Nero headed for the back door, Coz pulled out a gun and shot both guards in cold blood. The shots startled everyone. Tyrone saw John Lee on the floor. The crimson flow spread across the reflective white marble floor.

  Tyrone rushed to John Lee’s side.

  “Sorry, T. Like I said before, dead men tell no tales, hear what I’m saying?” Coz said in his usual arrogant manner.

  Tyrone whipped out his gun and shoved the barrel into Coz’s mouth.

  “He was my friend. He made this job possible. You screw me like that again,” Tyrone said, waving the gun, “I’ll bleed you and with a big ass smile watch your punk ass eyes close for good.”

  Tyrone shoved Coz, then watched him as he tucked his gun into his belt. He put Coz in his place for the moment, but Coz didn’t seem too intimidated as he grinned behind Tyrone’s back. In a momentary fit of anger, I materialized myself, slugged the back of Coz’s head and knocked him to the floor.

  As Coz groaned, he struggled to get his balance. Without warning, someone picked me up and threw me across the bank lobby. The last thing I saw before hitting the marble wall was a man in a trench coat wearing a fedora.

  I opened my eyes to a sea of sweeping blue lights move across the walls. I’d seen them on the evening news all the time. With the Chicago cops running over to me with guns drawn, I chose to let the event play out instead of inrepping. I hoped Daniel didn’t try to be a hero.

  Chapter 24

  I OPENED MY eyes to a cold barren ceiling with steel cages covering fluorescent tube lights. The dank room stunk of gross musty bathroom plumbing. Across from me sat two of the biggest, meanest women I ever saw.

  They looked like stereotypical kick-butt lesbian biker chicks riddled with tattoos and topped with buzz cuts. They reeked of pungent pot and looked ready to kill anyone in their way once they got out of this lockup.

  I took one look at my cellmates, then dubbed them Bear and Moose. The main difference between the two was that Bear’s breasts, squeezed into a thick leather corset, were big enough to have their own zip code. They approached me as if I made crude jokes about their mothers. I wasn’t in the mood for any trouble, but I didn’t sense they could give me much.

  “Is there a problem, ladies?” I asked with a raised brow.

  I crossed my legs and pressed my back against the smooth concrete wall.

  “That’s my bench,” Bear said.

  “How about you?” I said, nodding toward Moose.

  “I’m making sure you get off her bench,” Moose said, nodding toward Bear.

  With a deep breath, I stood. They were a few inches taller than I and seemed to have my number. While my field of vision turned blue, I tilted my head and looked back at them while my wings momentarily appeared.

  “Ladies, can we do this another time?” I asked.

  They raised their hands as they stepped back.

  “The girl’s got a point,” Bear said.

  “Yeah. The girl’s got a point,” Moose said. “We don’t want any trouble, Blondie. We were only making sure they were treating you good.”

  They both shuffled back to their bench and sat.

  “Thanks, girls. Maybe we’ll get together and have a beer sometime.”

  “Yeah, sometime,”
Bear said.

  I didn’t worry if they told anyone about me and my angelic talents because honestly, who’d believe them? Having friends like them might come in handy someday, so I didn’t sweat it.

  “Abbey, out,” a jail guard said, waving for me to go to the cage door. Bear and Moose watched as I waited for the guard to unlock the cage.

  “Ladies, it’s better to have friends than enemies,” I said, winking. They nodded back at me with slack jaws.

  The guard escorted me down a hall to a questioning room. The guard then clipped my bound hands to a steel ring bolted to a pressed aluminum floor-anchored table.

  A few seconds later, he entered the room. Despite our contentious relationship, I felt relieved to see a familiar face from the angel-side of existence. Even his.

  “Ellis? What’re you doing here?” I asked with suspicion.

  “More than you realize,” Ellis said.

  Ellis sat down while looking at my handcuffs. His eyes glowed and my shackles unlocked.

  “Thanks,” I said while I rubbed my wrists. “I take it you were the one who clocked me at the bank.”

  “I was looking out for you,” Ellis said with crossed arms.

  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to get rid of me.”

  “You need to stay away from Tyrone and Coz. I have my own assignment to work here.”

  “Yeah? What do you have to do?” I asked.

  “I can’t tell you the details, but it concerns Coz. It’d be a breach of protocol if I told you anything more. Why are you staying so close to Coz?”

  Ellis rubbed me the wrong way. I wasn’t sure why my mentor worked against me, or at least so close to my ARV.

  “Daniel’s father has a problem, and it’s jacking my ARV,” I said. “Daniel’s like a toddler. He keeps chasing after his dad despite my efforts to keep him under control. So, if I’m supposed to watch him but my path crosses yours, where’s the middle ground?”

  “There’s never any middle ground on ARVs. Humans interact. As an angel, it shouldn’t surprise you that our paths had the possibility to cross, especially if we’re both on projects in Englewood Rails.”

  “With all the crap going on in the world, my ARV is in the same neighborhood as yours? That seems too damned convenient. In a way, I feel set up.”