“Yes, I think she was because she said Jerry dumped her and she has no money and he is not around her anymore.”
“Mellie, honey, try and calm down, she’s not worth your being upset, I’m going to call Wilson and tell him about the call, and then we’ll go from there. I’ll be there to pick you up tonight Babe, love you.”
OK, honey, see you then, love you.”
Secret thoughts: (I can’t believe that call from my mother. Why does she want to torment me? She made my life bad enough when she left and if my instincts are right daddy was so depressed and engrossed in trying to understand why she left he got himself killed. She thinks that because she was my birth mother, she should automatically get my respect. Well I don’t feel that way.)
[ Chapter 52 ]
Jerry and Joey arrived in New York City and met Big Ralph and Skeeter. They found them an apartment in the same building. Each day they got together and worked on the final planning for the armored car heist. The money the armed car would be carrying would come from several sources three large separate businesses; Sunoco Oil, Comcast Telecommunications, and Amerisource Berger, a wholesale drug distributor, each of these corporations have large bases in Philadelphia. There was also a casino in Atlantic City and two small banks. The money in these places would be held at the Beneficial Bank of Philadelphia, the oldest and largest bank in Pennsylvania. It would be picked up by the armored car company the next day.
It would have been almost impossible to rob an armored car, with their bulletproof windows, heavy undercarriage protection from explosives and special tires, which can be driven on even if they were flat. The fact is that Big Ralph had inside information, from Marlon a driver who worked for the armored car company for 25 years. Marlon was in on the deal.
To make this robbery happen, everything had to be timed and go off perfectly. Special security precautions for this extra-large delivery were done by a random selection process. The employees didn’t know in advance, who would be driving the delivery armed car in advance or what route they would be taking until the last few minutes before they got the assignment. It would be almost impossible if Big Ralph didn’t have an inside advantage with Marlon in on the job.
They were discussing the job and Jerry said, to Big Ralph, “Out of curiosity how did you find Marlon? Because I know, the rules are strict to become an armored car security man.
“You’re right about that,” Big Ralph told them. “It’s a Hell of a pain in the ass to become a security guard or driver of an armored vehicle. You must have a fingerprint check with FBI and other agencies, a criminal background check, a valid driver’s license, be bonded and have a Certificate of insurance. You also have to take firearms training and be at least 21 years old. All this shit must be renewed every two years. In addition, continuing education credit must be completed every two years. If a guard breaks any of the company rules, they’re fined and pay a penalty. If one of them breaks the rules three times, he gets counseling and a warning. If the rules were broken by the guy again within the year, he’s fired. One of the cardinal rules was not stopping for any reason other than the armored car breaking down and being unable to move. In that case the guards were to stay in the armored car until assistance arrived. It’s a tough job.”
If Marlon’s role in the heist was discovered, he would never work as a security guard again. He was a trusted employee and had nearly 25 years with the company. If he got caught it would be a long time until he got out of jail.
Marlon was married to Big Ralph’s second cousin, Kay. Marlon worked odd hours and was sometimes away all night. Twice he caught her in lies about where she was when he came home from work in the wee hours of the night. Once he saw a man coming out of the house, as he was getting home. He knew she was seeing other men. He didn’t threaten her with a divorce or anything else because he knew it would mean a problem at work. He would have to go through another background check, and he didn’t want that. He let her think he knew nothing about the affairs, and she was getting away with it all. Marlon didn’t tell his wife a thing about the robbery. He would take his share of the robbery money and some money that he saved and go back to Italy. There he still had relatives and would live like a king, he would find a good, old-fashioned girl, and get married over there.
Marlon watched the random job selection for quite some time. Even though it was random, it was not computer generated and he knew who oversaw the selection process. Marlon’s wife was not the only one with a romance on the side. Marlon had been subtly courting Theresa for months. She was of Italian descent and dressed in old-fashioned clothes. She wore her hair pulled back in a bun and was a big woman. Marlon told her he liked girls who liked the old ways and not all the fancy American styles. She brought him homemade cookies and beamed when he came into her area of the dispatch room. He felt certain she would do pretty much anything for him and giving him the job with the large money drop because of the extra bonus was possible. Theresa said she would let him know.
Marlon phoned Big Ralph to tell him to get everything ready although he didn’t have an exact date or time, he was certain a large drop would be due soon. They would have to have everything ready to go in a matter of minutes, because that’s all Marlon would be able to give them. Big Ralph bought guns for each of them on the street. They stayed in the apartment not wanting to take any chances of anyone getting in trouble or being spotted, since they all had records and some like Jerry had outstanding warrants and could be arrested easily. Big Ralph, Skeeter, Joey, Jerry, and the rest were like caged lions, they didn’t talk they growled at one another, they didn’t even leave for food relying on carry out and delivery. They rehearsed the plan over and over. They were all very up tight.
As soon as Marlon knew he had the assignment he would text Big Ralph and let him know all was ready, he would tell him two things, in the code they established. What route would be taken and who the driver would be. Who the driver would be was important because a few of them would do Marlon a favor and stop the armored car for him for a good reason. The others would follow the rules to the letter and wouldn’t stop. It would mean a more difficult job if they had to stop the armored car and Marlon had to disable the driver. Marlon had a tracing devise in his shoe so the gang would be able to follow the route of the armored car since the routes were always varied for security reasons.
Marlon wore a fake earpiece, he supposedly had to listen to music, and it was really for listening to directions from Big Ralph. Marlon would ask the driver to stop the car on a darkest part of the road, telling him he needed an emergency stop to go to the bathroom. He knew the driver well enough to know that he would do it. They would call it in to the tracking people as trouble with the car. Once the armored car was stopped, and Marlon opened the door, the others would jump in, overpower the driver, take all the cash, and be gone. They would all split up and each would head in different directions and take as many moneybags as they could carry. Big Ralph and Skeeter would take more than the others because they needed to finish paying the computer hacker and besides, they came up with the idea. They would rendezvous in New Jersey in a house Ralph had rented and split up the money.
The day finally came, and Marlon called Big Ralph and gave him the information. The gang was ready and drove out to the site to wait for the armored car. It didn’t matter what route it took because the gang know all the routes the car traveled thanks to Marlon and had them noted by number. They had selected specific areas on each route that would be the best place to stop.
Marlon made his pitch to the driver with faked nausea and stomach cramping and he agreed to stop for a few minutes. As soon as the armored car came to a stop and Marlon opened the door, the gang jumped the driver. They pulled him out of the car and at first acted as if Marlon were a hostage also. They tied up the driver and put him on the ground. The gang all wore masks. They tried to open the back of the truck and couldn’t get the door open due to the heavy combin
ation locks. Since they only had minutes to spare Marlon had to break his charade of being a hostage and open the combination locks on the door. This was a problem now because the driver knew that it was an inside job and Marlon was involved. Big Ralph knew that it could mean that he could be traced to Marlon. After they got all the money and put it in the cars, Big Ralph said to Marlon, “We’re going to have to whack the driver, he knows you are with us and when he is questioned he will spill his guts and everybody will be looking for us.”
“Come on Big Ralph, he’s a good guy, let me talk to him and see if he will give us a break.”
Jerry overheard them talking. “Ralph, I don’t think you can trust the driver not to say anything, he would agree to anything now, but when he thinks he’s safe he will sing like a bird. We can’t let them go,” said Jerry.
Marlon walked over to the driver and asked him if he would take some money and not tell the cops anything. As he bent over talking to the driver, he heard shots ring out. He had a look of surprise on his face and then fell over. Jerry killed Marlon and the driver.
“Your stupid fuck, why did you kill Marlon? Asked Big Ralph, he was with us.”
“It would look suspicious if we killed only one man,” said Jerry, “and besides the other guy would have fingered us.”
Let’s get the fuck out of here right now,” said Big Ralph, and they all took off.
Jerry and Joey’s route was to drive the back roads through Amish country in Pennsylvania and avoid the highways. They drove to Lancaster County and went through the towns of Bird in Hand and Blue Ball, eight miles down the road was the town of Intercourse. As Joey read the signs, he couldn’t believe his eyes what drunken jerk named these towns, he said and laughed until tears came. They saw horse and buggy teams, and people who were dressed in black, old-fashioned clothes. Jerry told him they were Amish people and didn’t have any modern conveniences such as cars, electricity or telephones. They did everything the old-fashioned way. Joey was fascinated.
They decided to get a motel room before making the drive to New Jersey. Jerry told Joey he was sleepy, and they should rest some because the last thing in the world they wanted was to get pulled over for a driving offense. They would take turns watching the car. Jerry wanted to sleep first and fell asleep almost the minute he laid down. Joey went out to the car and got the whiskey he hid and brought it in the room. He began drinking and soon was asleep himself. Jerry awoke several hours later and found Joey in a deep sleep with the half empty bottle at his side. He was pissed. He slapped Joey until he woke up.
“What’s wrong with you man?” Said Joey, “What are you hitting me for?”
“You stupid prick you drank until you fell asleep someone could have come and stolen the car and all that money. You’re as stupid as the slut sister of yours, all she was good for, was a roll in the hay.”
“You mean you were banging my sister,” asked Joey.
“Yeah, I was, so what she’s the one who had the hots for me and couldn’t keep her legs together, damn near killed me when she was on top.”
“You scum,” said Joey, “you were gonna leave her to have the kid by herself and not give her any money or anything?”
“What do you expect, I’m not sure the kid is mine, she would screw anything that walks.”
Joey got up and staggered toward Jerry trying to take a punch at him, he missed, and Jerry hit him in the head with the butt of his gun. He fell to the floor unconscious. Shit thought Jerry now I have to do something with him. I can’t leave him because he knows where the house is and who everybody is. I know if the cops find him, he’ll sing like a little girl. I’ll get him in the car pretending he’s drunk when we leave and take him somewhere no one will find him for a long time.
Jerry dragged Joey to the car, he was still unconscious. What am I going to do with this idiot, he thought? If they find him and identify him, his mother and the cow will tell them I was there. I’ll have to take him with me. Jerry gagged Joey and tied him up. He put him in the truck of the car and drove for several hours. When he got to the rural house that Big Ralph rented, he went in and told them what happened.
Big Ralph was very disturbed with Jerry, he didn’t want any bodies or more trouble.
“It wasn’t supposed to go down like this, there was not supposed to be any killings. Now what are we going to do with Joey?” He asked Jerry.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” said Big Ralph. “Let’s wait till Skeeter gets here and then we’ll have a meeting and decide.”
Skeeter arrived and there were only two men left to show up. They locked Joey in a closet, and he was awake now and began kicking on the door.
“Stop that shit,” Big Ralph said, opening the door, “your making too much noise if you don’t stop, I’ll shot your ass.”
At that moment, a car pulled up and Charlie, another member of the gang, got out and began walking toward the house. He came in and asked Big Ralph if he should bring the money in.
“Yeah bring it in we have to get it all counted and divided up so we can all get on our way.”
Clem, the last member of the group, stopped the car, looked around, and stretched as he started toward the house. He turned then and heard the noise. It sounded like a racing rally as law enforcement vehicles surrounded the house coming from all directs and there was a helicopter in the air. There were local cops, state cops, and FBI agents everywhere. Clem raced in the house, told the others, they had already heard all the commotion, and knew they were in trouble. They all pulled out their guns. Next, they heard one of the FBI agents talking to them with a bullhorn. Throw out all your weapons through the window and come out with your hands on your heads and no one will get hurt. You’re surrounded and there’s no way to escape, if one shot is fired, we’ll pepper your sorry asses with everything we got.”
Big Ralph said, “I don’t think we have any choice boys they have us cornered in here like rats in a barrel. I don’t want to go to jail again, but it’s better than getting killed. One thing is we all must stick together and let them find out the details by themselves. We all gotta do this.”
They threw out their guns and went out one by one. They forgot about Joey being tied up in the closet. The officers searched the house for weapons and other stolen goods. They found Joey when he started to beat on the door with his feet. They untied him and asked him what happened. Sizing up the situation and thinking quickly, Joey said what he thought would work to his advantage. He told them that they were holding him hostage and after they split up the money, they were gonna kill him because he saw the whole thing.
The officers transported all the gang and Joey back to Philadelphia and questioned them separately. They started to investigate their backgrounds, after they took their fingerprints and booked them.
Joey at first convinced the agents that the gang was holding him as a hostage and that Jerry was the leader of the group. While questioning Joey the investigators were called out of the room and given an update on Joey’s background.
The first agent said, “Joey when are you going to start telling us the truth?”
“What do you mean I have been telling you the truth?”
“But Joey, you left out some parts,” said the second agent.
“You didn’t tell us that you and Jerry, Big Ralph and Skeeter were in the same platoon in the military, Joey. And you didn’t mention that Jerry was staying with you in the same trailer park or that you both worked for the same company and it got robbed a few short weeks ago.”
“I don’t know,” said the first agent, “I guess we’re just going to have to go to the trailer park and arrest your mother and sister and bring them in for harboring criminals. That means your sister will have her baby in prison Joey and have to give it up.”
“Now just a minute,” said Joey, his anger aroused and his animosity toward Jerry at its peak, “I’ll tell you all I know if w
e can cut a deal.”
“If your information is good, we’ll think about it.”
Joey sang loud and long. He even told them about the drug deal and the junkie dying because of what Jerry added to the drugs they shot up. Joey denied having anything to do with the robbery of his company and told them Jerry killed the driver and security man who were in the armored car.
The agents took all of what Joey said down and would begin investigating if the things he told them were true or not.
“He could be making up a lot of that shit,” said the first agent, “he’s the kind that would lie when it was easier to tell the truth.”
[ Chapter 53 ]
Wilson’s friend Vince, who was an FBI agent, called him and told him all about the robbery of the armored car. That guy you asked me to run a few months back is supposed to be the leader of the gang, his name is Jerry Stillwater. We have all of them in custody and they are all singing like birds, trouble is each has a different tune.
“I heard about the robbery,” said Wilson, “it sounded as if they had a pretty good handle on all the information, they needed to pull it off.”
“We think it was an inside job because the security guard cleaned out all the money in his bank account two days before and when we went over his car, he had a ticket to fly to Italy two days after the robbery.”
“That’s usually the way, how did they get around the tracking devises the company uses, I know they are really accurate.”
“Yes, they are they had a computer hacker interrupt the tracking devise, while they cleaned out the money. It showed up as a computer glitch and reported they were still moving on the same route. We figure the guard talked the driver into stopping because there were no skid marks or signs of a sudden stop. He may have threatened him. We’re not sure yet.”
“So how did you guys know exactly where to find them, if they had all the bases covered and the tracking didn’t show where they were?”
Secrets of Amelia Page 33