by Kylie Parker
23
Melissa sighed contentedly as she snuggled up to Bruce and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.
“I’m sorry for waking you up.” She purred like a contented cat, with a broad smile on her beautiful face.
“No, you’re not.” He rejected that notion, smiling down at her.
“Yeah, you’re right.” Melissa agreed. “I just got tired of waiting for you.”
“Tired?” Bruce squinted at her. “Why? How long was I in there?”
“Forty-five minutes.” She replied.
“Holy crap.” He mumbled. “Anyway, there’s no need to apologize. It was great.”
“I really can’t describe it.” Melissa laughed, her eyes sparkling with joy. “You always pay attention to me. I can’t get enough of that.”
“The pleasure is all mine.” Bruce whispered. ‘Come on, get up. We need to start packing.”
For some reason that Bruce could not fathom, Melissa’s eyes darkened. Her smile was wiped off her face; she acted as if he had told her something terrible.
“Do we?” She wondered. Even her voice did not sound cheerful as usual. Instead, it sounded very sad.
“Baby, what’s wrong?” He asked, his own voice shaky with anxiety.
“Nevermind.” Melissa shook her head sideways, once. “Ok, let’s start packing.”
Bruce jumped out of bed, unable to shake the feeling that she was hiding something from him. He could hardly take his eyes off of her, as he put his clothes back on. On the other hand, Melissa chose to lie in bed and peer ceilingward, unwilling to meet his gaze. Her odd behavior made him curious, but it also enraged him. Within minutes, he could feel the blood boiling in his veins. Melissa’s prolonged silence was not a good sign by any means. However, knowing that he was in no condition to have a difficult conversation, he stormed out of the bedroom and slammed the door behind him.
“Alright, what the hell is this? We just had sex and she’s sad? What’s going on here? Get a grip, Bruce. Keep your temper. This girl is special. She said she’d follow you. What more do you need? I just need her to tell me what got her so upset. Was it something I said?”
Lost in his thoughts, he reached the living room. At that moment, the loud, banging noise of someone trying to kick down his door forced him to flip around. A second, even louder bang sent the door five feet across the living room. It fell with a thump, landing a few inches next to his right leg. Two, large men with guns in their hands, pointing them at him emerged. Right behind them, the man that Bruce physically hated: Frank Howard.
“You’re quite something, Mr. Harris.” He smirked, lazily walking into the suite. “You steal from me, you date my daughter, you refuse to help me, you walk out on me… Am I forgetting something? It’s a rather long list.”
“No.” Bruce grumbled. “What the hell are you doing here, Howard? How did you find me?”
His questions appeared to amuse Howard. As soon as he had finished his sentence, the elderly man burst out laughing. In fact, he laughed so hard that he held his stomach.
“Thanks, I need that.” Howard chuckled. “By triangulating my daughter’s cell phone. We had a nice, long talk last night.”
At that point, the sound of the bedroom door opening drew his attention. Melissa slowly crossed the corridor, with her arms folded across her chest, looking down at the floor. Before he could address her though, the sound of a whirring helicopter approaching sent his adrenaline into the ozone layer.
“Melissa…” Bruce’s voice was bass-deep, with a hint of change behind it. “What did you say to him?”
“I told him everything.” She replied, her voice trembling, but still, she wouldn’t face him. Instead, she looked up at her father. “The money is in the suitcases.”
“No!” Bruce screamed at the top of his lungs, grabbing his hair in despair. His world had just collapsed around him. Melissa’s betrayal cut like a knife. Tears welled up in his eyes, as he fixed her gaze on her face, once again trying to make her look at him.
“Was any of it true?” He asked, his voice thick with emotion, his hands shaking as he ran them through his hair.
“Yes!” Melissa cried, finally meeting his gaze, as tears spilled from her eyes. “I had to make sure you were safe!”
“Safe?!” Bruce yelled.
“My father promised not to hurt you, if you robbed those trucks!” She cried even louder, as her tears rolled off her face. “He said I could follow you!”
“He’s going to kill me!” Bruce cried.
“Please don’t say that!” Melissa begged, rushing towards him. Stopping in front of Bruce, she reached her right arm forward and tried to put her hand on his face.
“Don’t touch me!” He snarled.
“Oh, my God…” She sniffled, putting her head in her hands.
“Where’s Matt? What have you done with him?” He inquired, averting his gaze from her, panting.
“Bring them here.” Howard ordered in a loud, hoarse tone.
“Them?” Bruce squinted at him. It didn’t take long for his question to be answered. Two of Howard’s men emerged, holding Matt tightly by the arms. His mouth was duct-taped shut and his hands were bound. Two more quickly showed up, holding Julia and Jeffrey accordingly.
“I’ll let them go, as soon as you rob those trucks.” Howard stated. “I have the itinerary. My men have done all the recon necessary. I need you to coordinate the whole thing and drive one of those trucks yourself. You’re a much better driver than any of my men. At least, that’s what Sanders said, before I shot him last night.”
“You fucking piece of shit!” Bruce’s voice roared like thunder.
“I’m sorry.” Howard smirked once more. “Your friend, the blonde and the guy stay here. I’ll cut them loose, as soon as you finish the job. Follow my men to the chopper. They’ve been instructed to answer your questions. And Harris?” He paused, taking one step closer to him. “Don’t even think about crossing me.”
24
Bruce was taken to the helicopter on the roof and then to LAX airport. He boarded Howard’s private jet, accompanied by Melissa, her father himself and eight of his men. Upon asking one of them, he was informed that they would fly to Phoenix. However, the man in question did not have any more information and only told Bruce that he would be given further instructions on the ground.
As one would expect, Bruce was devastated. In his mind, Melissa had betrayed him in the worst possible way. Whatever dreams he had of a life with her were instantly destroyed. He could no longer trust the woman who had made him risk his life. As far as he was concerned, things were over between them. During the two-hour flight, he would not even glance at her.
“I can’t believe I opened up to you. You ruined everything, Melissa. You helped that psychopath catch me. That’s why you were fishing in your purse this morning. I think you turned on your cell phone. How could you have been so naïve as to believe that he’d allow us to be together? There’s no way in hell he’s going to do that. He’s an animal, darling. He’s just a big, old, greedy animal. And you trusted him. Now, I got to go do this and hope that he won’t hurt Matt.”
After landing at Sky Harbor International Airport, Bruce was driven to a large, old warehouse on the outskirts of the city, where four more men had been waiting for them. It featured two, big windows –one on each side and there was only a big, wooden table in the middle and a small room on the upper right corner. Other than that, it was completely empty. Bruce was led to that table and sat on the left of the man who seemed to be in charge, before Howard and Melissa went to the room.
“I take it you’re Bruce. My name’s Tom.” The rather overweight, young man introduced himself and broke out a map. “Now…” He sucked in a deep breath. “You may be wondering why you were brought here. It’s simple: The trucks left Vegas a few minutes ago, which means that they’ll be here sometime between 10:30 and 11pm tonight. But, there’s a problem. We can’t touch them until they’re far from the city.”
&nb
sp; “Meaning?”
“We can only rob them in Fountain Hills.” Tom explained, pointing at the location of the small city on the map. “It’s 36 miles from here. It’s much smaller than Phoenix. I was there this morning. There are plenty of narrow roads, both in and around the city.”
“It can’t be done in the city.” Bruce spoke his mind. “The commotion could wake up the neighbors.”
“I know.” Tom agreed. “Which is why I’ve picked Barnard Road. It’s uphill, it’s got trees on both sides and it’s full of industrial warehouses. The nearest house is half a mile north. It’s perfect.”
“Not bad.” Bruce commented. “But we need something to block off the road they came from. And it’s got to be huge.”
“Why?”
“Truckers are excellent drivers.” Bruce responded. “We’re up against six trucks. The first three are just a decoy. The money’s in the last three. If the drivers smell a rat, they’ll just put the trucks in reverse and get the hell out of there, ASAP.”
“Smart thinking.” Tom remarked, as a toothy smile spread across his chubby face.
“Yeah, that’s why that psychopath dragged me here.” Bruce hummed.
“I got two, big trucks outback.” Tom claimed. “We’ll carry the bodies in one of them. We can use them to form a roadblock.”
“The what?!” Bruce exclaimed.
“The bodies.”
“Fuck, no!” Bruce yelled. “We’re talking about twelve people here. Nobody’s shooting anyone. Do you get me?”
“I thought we were supposed to get rid of…”
“I don’t care what you thought!” Bruce cried, interrupting him. “I said, no! We’re going to gather the security clerks up, tie them up and leave them.”
“Alright.” Tom gave an exasperated gasp. “How do you want to do this?”
“First of all, we need intercom.” Bruce spoke in a firm tone. “I can’t just yell at you. We need big guns and masks. Preferably black. Ski masks are ideal. Are there any bushes on that road?”
“Yeah.” Tom nodded. “Some of them are pretty big, too. Why?”
“I don’t like the idea of jumping from a tree. Hiding behind them is risky. Oncoming cars could spot us.” Bruce said with a sigh.
“We got AK-47’s, a few Glocks and a couple of M-16’s. Military grade.” Tom grinned.
“Good.” Bruce muttered. “The men will have to put the trucks in gear and jump out of them. The security clerks could cut themselves loose and go after us. Talk to me when you get the trucks.”
“I guess we’re ready.” Tom said.
Melissa’s footsteps echoed in the vast warehouse, as Tom and the four men rose from their seats. Bruce leaned his elbows on the table, hoping to avoid having the dreaded discussion, as they walked away from the table. To no avail. The click clacking of her heels was getting louder by the second. He would not force his eyes to meet hers; the pain of her betrayal was still too fresh.
“Baby?” The single word that came out of Melissa’s mouth was enough to infuriate him. Bruce did not speak. He jumped from his seat and put his hands under the table. Pushing it upward with all his might, he flipped it over, feeling his blood boiling in his veins and pound at his temples. She had to jump back, in order to avoid it.
“Stop calling me that!” He screamed at the top of his lungs, sensing his chest pumping up and down erratically, glaring down at her. “You’ve lost that right!”
“Why?!” Melissa asked, her voice quivering. “Because I was looking out for you?”
“You still don’t get it, do you?” Bruce squinted at her. “The only reason I’m still alive is because he needs me. The moment the job is done, I’m a dead man. So is Matt, your cousin and her partner.”
“Look, I know you’re mad at me.” She added, swallowing hard, putting her hand in her pocket. Melissa pulled a thick envelope out of the back pocket of her jeans and handed it over to him. “Here. Read this after you calm down.”
25
Had Melissa given Bruce that letter a few hours earlier, he would have been dying to read it. The time or place would not matter. He would love to read whatever his lover had to say to him. However, that was not the case anymore. For him, the envelope in his hands was just a reminder of her betrayal. His initial thought was to burn it. Deep down, he knew that her words would hurt him more deeply than her actions. However, he did no such thing. He chose to put it in his pocket and try to focus on the task at hand. Not only for Matt, but also for Julia and her partner. Their help in getting Melissa back had been invaluable. Bruce had to do everything in his power to save their lives, as he felt guilty about dragging them into this chaos.
A few minutes after 11pm on that dark, chilly, moonless night in Fountain Hills, he and Howard’s men took up their positions on Barnard Road, hiding in pairs behind large, thorny bushes, on either side of the uphill road. As Bruce would lead the assault, he hid with Tom behind the bush with the best vantage point, at the top of the road. The right turn that the six, armored trucks would take was more than five hundred yards down the road, giving them plenty of time to get ready.
Under any other circumstances, Bruce would not feel anxious at all. He had done this twice before, while being a member of the motorcycle club. Back then though, he only had to worry about his personal safety. The lives of three innocent people did not depend on him. More than that, the people who he had worked with were his friends and would risk their lives to save him, not total strangers like the ones he was with that night. He had been given an AK-47, a powerful assault rifle and a handgun, but he knew that should anything go wrong, he could not rely on any of them.
“Look what you made me do.” He thought to himself, grasping the grip of his rifle. “This is all because of you, Melissa. I really don’t know why you flew here. Are you still hoping that we’ll be together after this? Really? Guess again, darling. This ship has sailed.”
Picking up the faint sound of an engine, he slightly raised his head over the bush. Two seconds later, the headlights of the first truck appeared in the horizon.
“Get ready.” He spoke in his intercom, as tension tightened the back of his neck. The first truck entered Barnard Road. The remaining five followed within seconds. Shivers went down his spine, as he realized that he had to give the order to block off the road.
“Block them!” Bruce commanded. Within seconds, the two trucks that Tom had spoken of emerged from the road to the right. The first turned onto Barnard Road and the other one followed behind it. After a few seconds, the driver on the left lane eased up on the brakes, stopped and waited for his colleague to do the same, as the first armored truck approached the top of the road. Should any of the truck drivers decide to escape, he would have to use the muddy, ditch-ridden sides of the road. With the first armored truck nearly a hundred yards away, Bruce drew in a deep breath, feeling drops of sweat flowing down his forehead.
“Now!” He whispered, just when the second truck came to a full stop. Upon his order, he and eleven of Howard’s men popped out of the bushes, with their rifles pointed at the driver of the armored truck. The driver stepped on the brakes. The tires of the large vehicle squealed as it was slowly brought to a halt.
“Get out of the truck!” Bruce’s stentorian voice roared like thunder, echoing in the vast wilderness. The driver opened his door with fear-clumsy fingers and stepped down the large vehicle; moments later, his colleague followed.
“On your knees! Hands behind your head!” He ordered once more. The two security clerks had no choice but to comply.
“Do what I said.” He told Tom, looking down at him over his left shoulder. “I’ll be waiting.”
“You heard the man!” Tom spoke in a loud tone. “Gather them up. Let’s move!”
Bruce lowered his rifle, looking down into the terrified eyes of the middle-aged truck driver. He squeezed his lips and began to shake his head sideways, overwhelmed with guilt over his actions.
“Poor bastard.” He thought to himse
lf, as Howard’s men dragged him away from the vehicle. “I just threatened you with a gun, because some rich prick wanted to get richer. Damn… I wish she was here, just to see his face. That’s the only way she’d understand what she’s done.”
Howard’s men carried out Bruce’s orders. The security clerks were gathered on the left side of the road. Soon afterwards, they bound the clerks’ hands and ankles. Three men jumped into the decoy trucks. One at a time, they put the trucks into gear and jumped out of them. They all crashed into the large oak trees, on the left or the right side of the road. With the trucks disabled, it was time for Bruce and Howard’s men to leave.
“We’re ready.” Tom spoke in the intercom. Bruce sprinted along the road and boarded the first of the three remaining trucks.
“That was fucking beautiful!” Tom commented, with a silly smile on his face, climbing into the truck cab.
“If you say so.” Bruce croaked.
“Come on, man!” Tom patted him on the back. “You should be proud!”
“Ok, shut up and let me drive this thing, will you?” Bruce groaned, gently stepping on the gas.
“Whatever you say.” Tom spoke in a happy tone, lying back in his seat.
“Alright, you piece of shit. We’ve done it. Let’s see if you can keep your word.”
26
Tom was fast asleep, when Bruce entered the straight where the old warehouse was located at. Spotting it on the right side of the road, three hundred yards away, he pulled out his gun and abruptly turned his head to the right. Bruce cocked it, two inches away from Tom’s ear.