by Aline Riva
"I want to be here."
He glanced at me and the look in his eyes softened.
"That's good enough for me."
We drove in silence for a while, then he finally spoke up again:
"I know a bloke who can sort me out, but I need to get hold of the merchandise first."
"You're going to steal something?"
"Does it bother you?" he said.
"Can I come with you?" I asked.
He looked at me intently, seeming stuck somewhere between anger and a need to explain carefully. .
"This isn’t a game, Sally. It's fucking dangerous. You stay in the car and you keep your head down, you do as I say, you keep out of the way and out of sight, understand?"
I nodded.
As we drove on I felt a mix of fear and excitement; every girl likes to fantasise about her lover being a bad boy but this was real, it was dangerous and part of me wanted to run - but when I looked at him all I wanted to do was stay by his side.
We reached the next town and headed for the town centre. Jack drove around there, around and around several times, then pulled the car into an alley way. He took the gun from under the seat and put it in his pocket.
"I want you to go in the jewellers across the road and ask to look at diamond rings,” h said to me, “Take your time, try some on, then look at the bracelets. Say you haven’t seen anything you’re sure about but you might come back later. While you’re in there have a look for CCTV. it’s a small shop, it might not have one. It looks to me like they've got a lot of stuff on half price, so times must be hard and that could mean if they do have it the camera's crap, it won't be the sharpest for picking up on images. Just act calm. Can you do it for me?"
I nodded again, keeping quiet about the fact that my heart was racing and breathing felt tight.
"Right," he told me, "When you come out, if there’s no visible signs of state of the art cameras, head up the street towards the crossing and turn left down the side road. Go about halfway down and wait for me, I'll pick you up, understand?"
"And if there’s cameras everywhere?"
"Just come back over here and I'll have to think of something else," he replied.
I was shaking when I got out of that car but I did as he said. I walked into the jewellers and looked at a tray of diamonds, tried one of them on but said I wasn't sure if it suited me. Then I looked at gold bracelets, all the while I knew the woman was alone in the shop and was about to get the fright of her life after I left. I saw one camera, it was trained on the door and looked pretty old.
I left the shop and walked slowly towards the crossing.
Before I had even reached the corner of the road I heard a car screech to a halt. I didn't look back, just kept walking and then I turned the corner, by the time I was halfway down the road my heart was pounding and my hands were shaking and I was trying not to think about spiralling from the high of the adventure to realising this was no adventure and going straight down into total panic. And there was still no sign of Jack...
Then the car came tearing round the corner, it screeched to a halt and I jumped in. Relief washed over me as we drove off and headed for the motorway, he looked at me and smiled.
"See what's in the back."
I turned around and stared, then I laughed as all my fear slipped away as sure as the further we drove, the bigger distance we put between ourselves and the scene of the crime: It was like looking at treasure - whole trays of rings, chains, bracelets, piled up on the seat, beside it was a black balaclava and Jack's gun.
"I know a geezer who will pay top whack for this lot," he said,”I'll sort a meeting but after that we have to dump the car and get another one."
I laughed as I leaned over and kissed his cheek. Then I noticed as we slowed to turn on to the motorway that a couple crossing the road glanced at us and I wondered if they would remember our faces - but the thought was brief and I kissed him again.
"Was it really that easy?" I asked.
We turned on to the motorway.
"She didn't argue with a gun shoved in her face, people don't." The way he said it was matter of fact, as if this was an every day occurrence for him. I said nothing more, but as we drove I kept looking back at the gold and thinking how easy it had seemed.
We turned off the motorway and went down a country lane, then turned the car into a pub car park, where we stopped. Jack got out and started making calls on his mobile. While I waited I reached over and ran my hand over the tray of bracelets. There was one that had caught my eye, it was a solid gold link bracelet filled with charms. I unhooked it from the tray and fastened it around my wrist. Jack cut off his call and came back over to the car.
"That's not yours."
"I'll take it off."
Then he smiled.
"No, keep it. Don't touch the rest, I got a man coming to exchange for cash in half an hour."
That half an hour passed quickly.
Then another car pulled up and heavy built guy got out, then Jack got out too and he opened up the door to the back seat, moved his gun and balaclava aside and the guy threw a cloth over the jewellery, wrapped it up and loaded it into his own car. Then he spoke with Jack quietly, handed him a small, zipped up sports bag, and then he got into his own car and left.
I don't know what I had been expecting to happen, but the exchange had been done swiftly and quietly and then the other car had driven away.
Then Jack got back into the car and put the bag on the back seat.
“Sorted,” was all he said, and then he gave me a kiss.
As he kissed me I reached up and touched his face. My hand was shaking and he felt it, catching hold of me and watching as the shivering ran through me.
"What's wrong?"
"It was scary."
Jack sighed.
“You'll have to get used to that. It doesn't have to be scary – unless we get caught.”
“It's a lot to get used to!”
"Then you need to get used to this or I'll drop you off at the next town and you can find your own way back. It's not too late to get out.”
“I don't want to get out! I was never in this to get out again, Jack!”
He saw tears in my eyes, and I saw something reflected in his gaze too, something soft and deep that took me by surprise.
“I hear you, Sally, maybe you love me me and maybe I love you too,” was all he said, and then he turned the key in the ignition.
As he started the car up I felt surprised that a man who could have been so violent earlier that morning could show such love in his eyes as he had spoken so softly. But it was then I realised I was seeing a different side to him - this wasn't Jack the armed robber and ex con, this was Jack the man, and he was so gentle and loving towards me, this was the real Jack. As we drove away I knew in my heart I was sure now, I knew I loved him, and no matter what lie ahead, nothing would change that.
"I'm picking up another car soon," he told me, "It's getting sorted by the bloke who bought the gold, we just park this one up and get in the other one and drive off."
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"We should just find somewhere to stay for a bit while I think about what to do next, I have to find Matt. He went right off the radar and I can only think of one person who might know where he is."
"It seems like you know some useful people."
"I know people, but not the kind you want to meet,"he replied.
"You made that robbery look so easy."
"It's easy till it goes wrong then its years behind bars if I get caught - they'll lock me up and I'll never get out again,” he told me,”That's why it's so dangerous. No one wants to shoot anyone, not sane people anyway - but if they're shooting at you, or someone tries to stop you getting away, what's the choice? It’s pull the trigger or get locked up for life."
A thought ran through me that made me go cold as I looked at the man I loved.
"Have you ever killed anyone?"
"No," Jack replied
, but he kept his eyes on the road and then fell silent again, leaving me wondering if he had said that just to make me feel better...
Chapter 4
We turned off the motorway and in the next town we swapped cars, leaving the other one parked on a local housing estate. Jack paused to wipe prints from the car, then said that leaving the door open would ensure the local kids wrecked it anyway so it would be a long time before the police traced it - by the time they found it, it would probably be smashed up or even on fire. This was a rough area, a world away from the small town I had grown up in and I was glad to be in the new car and driving away.
We drove on until we came to a small hotel on the edge of town. Here it was better, with cleaner, nicer houses, no graffiti on the walls. When we got to our room and Jack locked the door I felt relief wash through me. But Jack had brought the gun and the money and while the money was in his suitcase beside the wardrobe, the gun stayed beside the bed. As he placed it there, he said:
"It's just a precaution."
I lay back on the bed and felt mildly high from the the fact that he had got away with robbery, and I was getting even more of a buzz seeing him standing over me unbuttoning his shirt. As he slid it off I glanced at the gun again.
"It does turn me on."
Jack laughed as if he had heard that one before and I guessed a lot of women had said that kind of thing to him.
He picked the gun up and took the bullets out.
"If we get the door kicked in now, I’m in trouble." he said, "But I'll take a chance...”
He sat beside me and ran the gun from my throat all the way down to the cleavage of my dress, pausing to gently touch me as he stroked my breasts beneath the fabric, feeling my nipples harden. I made a move to slide the dress from my shoulders but he stopped me and ran the gun down my body, then down between my legs, as the cold metal brushed against my wetness I gasped and he pressed a little harder, raising my skirt to my hips and looking at my body, watching how I was swelling with arousal. I was aching by now and I knew what I needed, what I desperately wanted him to do.
"Kiss me down there...”I whispered.
Jack put the gun aside and gently spread me wide open, kissing all over me, every kiss down there felt like bliss and each time he got closer to my clit I felt like the smallest touch would make me slip over the edge, but he teased me, kissing then licking me slowly, then he licked me harder, sucking, licking, kissing me there, over and over until all I wanted was for him to do it harder and harder.
I lost control and came fast, screaming out loud as I pushed him harder between my legs. I was still throbbing and soaking wet as he kissed me gently again, watching my body throb then he slid two fingers inside me and all I could do was lay there and let my wetness run out over his hand. I was barely recovered from it when he slid down his zip and finally freed his erection, and feeling him slide into me after that orgasm was so good that as he thrust against me I felt on the brink of another orgasm all over again. I clung to him and wanted it to last forever, not caring now that I knew he was going to come deep inside me again. I wanted his hardness in me while I ran my hands down his body and make the moment never end. I felt him tremble as he came hard and as he fell breathless into my arms, I looked into his eyes and he whispered that he loved me.
"I love you too," I told him, and then I held him like I never wanted to let go.
We stayed like that for a while, just holding each other, kissing, touching, enjoying togetherness. As night fell I know I slept for a while but I was woken by Jack kissing me softly. Then he sat up and slid me onto his lap, while I sat there he sucked on my nipples while his hand rubbed gently between my legs. I got aroused fast, wetness running out of me as I got lost in the sensation of such arousal at his touch. Then he kissed me again.
"Just relax," he told me, "This won't hurt, you'll like it...”
And as he carried on sucking and kissing my nipples, he slid two fingers deep in side me, then a third, then a fourth, all the way up till half his hand was stretching me down there and gently moving in and out, just a fraction, I felt as if I was going to burst with the pleasure of it.
"Come for me," he whispered.
I reached down and rubbed hard at the place where my body was screaming for release, and moments later I was shaking and crying out as the pleasure rushed through me. Then he slid his fingers out of me and we embraced, he held me in his arms and I rested my head on his shoulder.
"Don't ever leave me," I said breathlessly.
"I won’t," he promised me, "We're together in this now and I'm taking you with me."
I laughed.
"Like Bonnie and Clyde."
"No, look what happened to them!"
Jack looked into my eyes.
"Nothing will happen to us, it’s going to be fine, we have some money, now we have to find Matt. It’s simple, it will work out, trust me."
I did trust him.
The next day we woke entwined in each other's arms and then he took some cash from the bag and said it was time we went shopping, so we took the car into town and spent the next few hours just walking around, looking at shops, Jack bought me some new clothes because all I had with me was the dress I was wearing, then we went for lunch in a cafe.
It was so normal, after everything I had witnessed this man do with the beating and then the robbery, it was such a contrast but I prefer to think the man he was when away from crime was the real Jack. Then later, we pulled up outside the hotel and got out of the car and as we went back inside my thoughts were on wrapping my arms around him and making love to him all over again.
We stopped as we came to the hotel room.
The door was ajar...
Jack took his gun from his pocket.
"Keep behind me," he whispered.
He pushed the door open and went inside. I followed. Jack lowered the gun and just stood there. I stared at the mess; the drawers had been tipped out, clothes were strewn all over the room. The place had been turned over. We had been burgled and the burglar had got lucky.
I didn't have to say it.
Jack screamed it.
"The fucking money's gone!"
As he gripped that gun of his and his eyes blazed I realised I was truly seeing his bad side, had anyone walked through the door at that moment he would have blown a hole in them. He seriously would have killed anyone in moment of blind rage.
"We have to leave." I said in a hushed voice.
Jack was still looking around the room, around and around as he shifted between rage and disbelief.
I threw open his case and started piling everything into it, while he just stood there. Then I grabbed his case and my shopping bags and headed for the door.
"Jack, now, come on, let's go. We'll think of a plan later."
What I said seemed to work, he followed me out of the room and put the gun away.
I went out to the car park and he walked beside me in silence, and then I put the case and the bags in the back of the car, then I got into the passenger seat and waited for him to get into the car. But he didn't. Instead he turned around again and went back into the hotel. And that was when I got a very bad feeling:
Jack had truly lost it.
I reached the reception just in time to see him grab the man behind the desk as he glared into his eyes.
"I've just been robbed!" he yelled, "Some thieving cunt broke into my room and stole my money!"
And before the man could speak, Jack head butted him hard, sending him flying backwards with a broken nose. Then he leaned over, opened the till and took out all the cash. It was little more than a few hundred. The man on the floor was trying to pick him self up, still stunned as blood ran from his nose.
Jack looked at the money.
"I need more than this. Where's the safe? Open the safe!" The man staggered to his feet and grabbed some keys, as I glanced around I felt thankful this place was so quiet, no witnesses so far... Jack went behind the counter, shoved the man out the back
and forced him to open the safe. Then he ripped the phone socket from the wall and smashed it on the floor, before leaving the man in the back room and locking the door. He stuffed a wad of notes in his pocket and looked at me.
"Now we are leaving!" he said sharply.
Chapter 5
Once we were back in the car and driving away I kept expecting to hear sirens behind us, but Jack hit eighty miles an hour and we sped through the country lanes, sticking to back roads for miles. Then we stopped at a petrol station and he sent me in for a can of petrol. When I came out he finished filing the tank then he drove off without paying. He seemed to be calming down a little now; as he drove slower he gave a sigh and finally spoke up.
“You've got to understand, that bank job eight years ago was a big one. I lost a fortune. I didn't need to be fucked over twice."
But he still had that look in his eyes and I knew this had been the last straw - he was ready to go off like a loose cannon and all I could do was hope I could do something to stop it from happening. Deep down I knew it was out of my control, but so was all of this and I knew I loved him and even if a police car had pulled up right now, I knew I would not make a run for it - I wanted to be here with him no matter what happened. And that was me, mind made up – I was in this until the end, what ever that end turned out to be..
We drove the car deep into the countryside. There was a small town up ahead and when Jack said we should dump the car now I got that awful feeling again that maybe we would get caught, but I shoved that thought aside and remained calm, at least on the outside. We continued to drive, going on, taking on more miles, and the further we went, the more aware I became that we could never go back.