“Of course he does,” Avery said. “So genius, what’s your backup plan?”
“Follow me.”
Brady took off on foot for the abandoned mine entrance he’d discovered in his previous visit.
It took them over half an hour to reach it, and despite the fact that he was the youngest by far, Avery was the only one breathing hard when they stopped walking.
Brady smiled at him.
“You have to work on your stamina, kid.”
“Your mom never complains.”
Brady ignored him, and spoke to Jake and Craig.
“As you can see, it’s not deep at all, but it’s deep enough to back into, and if we rig together some sort of camouflage to hang down in front of the entrance, it shouldn’t be discovered. We’ll also put back the signs that warn people not to enter.”
Jake looked around and then up at the trees.
“We’ll need to clear away the brush or some of those branches could crack the windshield.”
“We’ll clear a path the morning of the job, and those branches can be tied back out of the way and then released after the car is inside, that way, no one will suspect that we drove in here, and as far as tracks go, this old gravel won’t show any.”
“I like it,” Craig said. “And it’s far enough from the lakeshore so that no one will see us.”
Avery shook his head in disagreement.
“This is fine for the car, but what do we do with the money? There could be as many as a dozen bags.”
“We leave it in the car and come back for it when the heat dies down,” Brady said.
“Are you stupid or something, Brady? What if the cops find the car?”
“All the more reason to leave it here, Avery,” Jake said. “If the cops find the car, they’ll tear apart every trailer up here looking for the money, and if we tried to drive it out of here in another ride, we might be stopped at a checkpoint, and then we’d be screwed.”
“I don’t like it,” Avery mumbled.
Brady smiled.
“I’m going to miss this, pulling heists, but after this job I’m going to settle down with Mary, make babies, and grow fat.”
“We’ll all miss it,” Craig said. “But Selina and Lindy are right. We’ve been lucky for years, and it’s time to leave as winners.”
They left the entrance to the mine to walk back to the truck, and as Avery brought up the rear, he wore a devilish smile.
CHAPTER 32
Harry stared into the mine. He hadn’t been able to get close enough to hear what Brady and the others were saying, but he had a good idea what it was.
They were going to rob something or someone with a connection to that fairground they were at, and afterwards, they were coming to the mine and hiding their getaway vehicle inside it.
Harry could think of only one way to take the money away from the gang, but he had never killed anyone before, and they were four to his one.
He would have to outsmart them, and that was something he felt that he could do, but first, he’d have to gain more information.
He left the mine and ran to catch up to Brady’s gang, because he was not about to let them out of his sight.
***
In town, at the police station, Clay leaned back in his office chair and pursed his lips as he looked over Brady’s arrest record on the computer.
Mary said that Brady admitted that he had been in trouble as a teen, but he was twenty when he was last arrested for breaking into a house, and anyone that old was no kid.
Clay thought of Mary, and in truth, she rarely left his mind lately, and he wondered what would happen if he just came out and told her that he wanted more than friendship.
I might lose her completely, that’s what, Clay thought, and contemplating that made him wince.
He had fallen in love with Mary, and it snuck up on him so gradually that he hadn’t even been aware of it until the last few days.
No matter what happened between them, he couldn’t risk losing her friendship, and not only for his sake, but for Bobby’s as well.
His son loved Mary, and in some ways, she had filled the role of mother in his life. If Mary were suddenly torn from the boy’s world the way his real mother had been, it could be devastating.
Clay exited Brady’s file. He wouldn’t interfere in Mary’s life, but she was a smart woman and would eventually leave Brady. At least, Clay prayed so.
***
Harry followed Brady and his friends into a diner on the highway and sat at the counter, across from the booth where Brady had settled.
When the waitress came to take his order, he saw her look over at Brady’s table and frown.
“Is there somebody over there that you don’t like?”
Eva Ames looked at Harry, saw that he was wearing a suit and a nice watch, and smiled.
“I know that guy on the right sitting by the window, the one with the dark hair. He has a girl in Destination.”
“He must be a jerk if you don’t like him.”
“I’m Eva, handsome, what can I get you?”
Harry gave her his order and then listened as Eva walked over to the booth with a pot of coffee.
He couldn’t hear every word, but it sounded as if Brady was surprised to see her, and he assumed that the waitress must know his client, Mary, and that Brady Ross was afraid that Mary would find out that he had been near enough to visit her, but didn’t.
The waitress, Eva, sounded cold, and after taking their orders, she soon returned to Harry with the plate of bacon and eggs he had ordered.
“So what’s the story with that guy; is he an ex-boyfriend?”
“No, I just don’t like him, that’s all.”
Harry smiled.
“Do you like me?”
Eva smiled back at him.
“Are you passing through, or will you be in the area for a while?”
“I have to leave soon, but I’ll be back when the County Fair opens up.”
“Good, and don’t forget to stop by.”
“I’ll do that.”
***
Over in the booth, Brady was debating whether to visit Mary, as he feared that Eva would mention that she saw him. Avery wasn’t at the table; he had gone to use the men’s room.
“Are they friends?” Jake asked.
“No, but if Mary finds out I was here and didn’t try to see her she might find it strange.”
Craig shrugged.
“It’s up to you, but I don’t think it will hurt if she knows. She’ll just think that you were up here on construction company business, that’s all.”
“I hate lying to her, you know, and I do it all the time.”
Craig said, “You’re talking about you and Shay, aren’t you?” and Brady nearly choked on the coffee he was sipping.
“Shit, Shay told you?”
“No, Selina figured it out, but Brady, anybody can see that you still have feelings for her.”
Jake, who was seated beside Brady, pointed a finger at him.
“We told you months ago that this thing with Mary wouldn’t work out. Now why don’t you dump that girl before you hurt her, or God help us, before she finds out what you really do for a living.”
“No, this is our last job and after that I can go to her clean. I won’t have to hide anything from her anymore and then I’ll get Shay out of my system too.”
“It’s a shit thing you’re doing to Shay and you know it,” Jake said.
Brady looked tortured.
“I love them both, I really do.”
“You can’t have both of them and you know it, so choose,” Craig said.
“What’s going on?” Avery said, and all three men looked at him as if he had just appeared from a puff of smoke.
“Brady can’t decide if he wants something spicy or something with more substance,” Craig said.
Avery slid back into the booth.
“Pick the spicy; you can’t go wrong.”
“Listen to hi
m, Brady, for once the kid is right,” Jake said.
They ordered, but when the food arrived, Brady found that he had little appetite.
CHAPTER 33
That night, Harry was back in Emma Watts’s apartment and training his camera at Shay’s bedroom window.
“If you get any good pictures I want copies,” Emma said.
Harry turned and stared at the gray-haired old woman.
“At your age?”
“What? I’m old, not dead.”
“Sorry Emma, but I can’t do it, professional ethics,”
Emma laughed so loudly that it startled Harry.
“Who do you think you’re talking to, boy? You wouldn’t know a scruple from a truffle.”
“I’ll leave you a set, but they’ll cost you twenty bucks.”
“Now that’s the Harry I know.”
Harry grinned.
“It’s too bad you’re so old or we could have some fun.”
“You’re not my type; I like them young and virile.”
“And when was the last time that happened?”
“1979.”
“Good God!”
“Tell me about it.”
***
Brady showed just after ten o’clock and he and Shay sat on the bed and talked for a few minutes before he leaned over and kissed her.
Emma was sitting beside Harry with a pair of cheap binoculars, and when things heated up, she actually blushed.
“Oh my,”
“Oh yeah,” Harry said.
***
When Saturday came, Mary met with Harry in his office, before going to Brady’s to spend the weekend.
As she sat in front of Harry’s desk, she realized that she wasn’t sure which would make her happier, learning that Brady was faithful, in which case she should stay with him, or learning that he was betraying her trust, which would then free her to be with Clay.
When she looked up at Harry, she saw that his face betrayed nothing, but then he handed her an envelope.
“What’s in here, pictures?”
“Yes, and I think that you should see them.”
Mary let out a slow breath and opened the envelope. She looked through the photos slowly, and then up at Harry.
“These are all innocent. They just show him coming and going from his apartment and visiting a construction site.”
Harry smiled.
“That’s right; it looks like you’ve got a faithful hardworking man there, Ms. Carson, so you can rest easy.”
Mary thanked him, but as she rode down in the elevator; her mind was in turmoil. She didn’t feel relief, but disappointment, and now she knew that what she was really looking for was an excuse to do what she’s wanted to do for weeks.
Mary drove towards Brady’s apartment, not for a lover’s weekend, but rather, to say goodbye.
CHAPTER 34
Harry leaned back in his chair and smiled at the sanitized file he had given Mary.
He had to lie to Mary, because if he had supplied her with photos of Brady with Shay, Mary would have thrown them in Brady’s face as proof of the affair, and then Brady would be alerted to the fact that someone had been following him around.
That knowledge might make Brady change his plans, and that would mean that Harry would lose his chance at getting his hands on more money.
He had watched Brady and his crew all week as they prepared for the robbery, and with the County Fair opening soon, he knew that the time for the heist was drawing near.
He still had no idea what they were going to rob, and couldn’t imagine that it would be the County Fair itself, because his experience as an ex-cop told him that the security inside the cash office would be tight.
His guess was that they would attack the armored car that transferred the Fair’s proceeds, but that too would take a lot of guts and luck.
Whatever it was, he knew where they would wind up when it was done, and he would be waiting there to take the money from them. And although he had never killed anyone, Harry figured that there was a first time for everything.
***
Avery joined Joe Venta in the same bar where they first met, and he filled him in on the details of the robbery.
When Venta said that he wanted to see the area with his own eyes, Avery balked at taking the long drive, but when Venta recited the address of Avery’s mother, the young punk turned white.
“What the hell, you followed me to my mom’s house?”
“Yes, and if you try to double-cross me the way you’re double-crossing your other partners, your mother will pay the price.”
Avery paid for their drinks and off they went.
***
Brady placed both hands on the mantel of his fireplace and hung his head.
“I don’t believe this. You’re dumping me, and just when we can finally be together?”
Mary wiped at tears as she spoke.
“We wouldn’t last, don’t you see it? And truthfully Brady, I’m not sure that I trust you anymore.”
Brady turned around to face her.
“What’s that mean?”
“You cheated on Shay; what’s to stop you from cheating on me?”
“Because I love you,”
“And you never loved Shay? Is that what you’re saying? If that’s true, then why were you two together for so long?”
“Mary, forget Shay, forget the past, and please just give me another chance, please?”
Mary cried more tears, and after gulping in air, she made a confession.
“It’s not just Shay, I’ve... I’ve fallen in love with someone else.”
“What? Who?”
Mary whispered the name.
“Clay Richards.”
Brady appeared dumbfounded as he walked over to the sofa and stared down at Mary.
“You mean the cop whose son you’re watching? Son of a bitch, how long have you two been sleeping together?”
“Never! We’ve never even kissed, but we have been spending a lot of time together, and, well, I care about him.”
“Is it mutual?”
“Yes, I think so, but we’ve never really talked about it because I’ve been with you, and he was still healing after his wife’s death.”
Brady chuckled, but there was no joy in it.
“The damn hick cop; I never saw that coming.”
“I’m sorry, Brady, but I know you’ll find someone else, and, I think Shay still loves you.”
“You’re really dumping me?”
“Yes.”
Brady fell onto the sofa and pointed at the door.
“Leave; there’s nothing left to say.”
Mary reached out to touch him on the cheek, but Brady jerked his head away.
“Just go, Mary, just leave me alone.”
Mary left the apartment with a face wet from tears, as Brady rose from the sofa to get his hands on a bottle.
***
The fairground was larger than Venta would have thought, and even from a distance, he could see that there were people working to put up the rides and booths.
Avery had directed him to park his car at the same spot on the road where he had previously been with Brady and the others, and then they hiked through the trees to take in the fairgrounds.
Afterwards, they went back to the road, and as traffic sped by both ways, Venta asked how they planned to stop the armored vehicle on the busy roadway.
“We’ll steal two big trucks from the parking lot of a moving company a few nights before the heist, and park them in an old barn nearby. The farm has been deserted for years, but we’ll put up motion detectors to alert us in case anyone finds the trucks. I’ll also install a camera so that I can check on them anytime.”
“Why the trucks?”
“To block the road, Jake will be in a truck riding in front of the armored car while I’ll be on the opposite side of the road slowing down the oncoming traffic. When we get near each other, we’ll hit the brakes and stop traffic both ways. That�
��s when Brady will open the rear doors on the truck Jake is driving and aim a rocket at the armored car.”
Venta startled as his eyes blinked rapidly.
“A rocket? Are you talking about a surface to air missile, that sort of thing?”
Avery grinned.
“It’s a fake, but I’ll be damned if the thing doesn’t look real. Jake and Craig’s wives made it along with Shay. If I was sitting inside that armored car, I’d think it was real.”
“So that’s the plan, to trick the guards into abandoning the truck? What happens if they don’t move?”
Avery let out a long breath.
“We call off the heist and leave the scene.”
“Why not just blow up the armored car for real, surely they could get their hands on explosives.”
“They don’t want to kill the guards, and Craig thinks there will be close to a quarter mil in that truck. Shit, for that kind of money I’d kill ten guards.”
“Your friends have soft hearts; that’s good.”
Avery shuffled his feet and gave Venta a sideways glance.
“You won’t kill them, will you?”
Venta grabbed him by the arm and stared into his eyes.
“As you just said, we’re talking about a fortune here; I will do what I need do, and so will you. Believe me, once they realize that you’ve betrayed them, they’ll have no problem killing you.”
Avery thought that over and nodded.
“You’re right, and I actually wouldn’t mind shooting Brady.”
“That’s the spirit, now, once they have the money what then?”
“We have to cross the road.”
It took over a minute before there was a break in the traffic, but after they ran across, Avery led Venta down to the edge of the river.
“Craig will be here with a speed boat. After they toss the money in, we’ll make our way to the opposite shore and load the bags into the trunk of a car that will be parked there. That’s when you and I will make our move, and once we have the others handled, we’ll drive off and leave them looking stupid.”
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