Page 32 of Sebastian

“Holy shit, were you a dirty cop?” asked Mac. Jeffrey laughed, shaking his head.

“You’re asking me this now? We’re fucking bank robbers and murderers, Mac. You fucking killed two federal agents. Don’t judge me. I know them. That’s all you need to know. They’re going to meet me at Diascund Reservoir tonight at ten. You can come with me, or I can go alone.”

“I’ll go with him,” said Helen. “I trust him, but this way, I’ll come back with information that will make all of you feel better.”

“Please, Helen,” smirked Myrtle. “We all know that you and Jeffrey have been climbing all over one another for the last year. Don’t give us that bullshit.”

“Really, you want to go there, Myrtle? Do you think we don’t know that you were screwing around with Willie. While your husband was alive.” The older woman stared at her friend, her lip quivering.

“Stop! None of that matters now,” said Ed. “So what if Myrtle and Willie were seeing one another? Nick was an asshole to her sometimes. We all saw it. Willie was a sweet, kind man. They deserved some happiness together. I don’t give a shit about you and Jeffrey, Helen. We’ve known about this for a while now. All of it.”

The trailer quieted once again as they peered out the small windows, watching the wind blow the falling leaves across the park. With their affair public, Helen sat next to Jeffrey, who put his arm around her.

“I think we have to give it a shot,” said Mac. “If we can make enough money off of this to help the last few people, we can move on and maybe find another way.”

“How much will we make, Jeffrey?” asked Myrtle.

“I’ve asked them for half the cash. That’s fifteen million dollars. More than enough to do what we want to do. I get them access to the building, and they’ll give me the cash before they leave.”

“Can you really trust them?” asked Ed.

“With my life.”

“How can you be so sure? These are criminals. I know what you’re going to say. So are we, but they are violent men. You can’t be sure!”

“I can.”

“How?” pressed Mac.

“Because the leader is my brother.”

“Your brother? Your blood brother?” asked Mac.

“Yes. Different fathers but same mother. We’ve always been close, even when he went to the gang and I went to the academy. I helped him. He helped me. He won’t double-cross me.”

“What do you all say?” asked Ed.

“I say yes,” said Helen.

“Yes,” said Myrtle. Ed nodded.

“Alright. Let’s find a new way to help.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Chief and Hex walked into the bridge club only to be greeted by the same woman who had greeted Sebastian and Emelia. She must have known they would come back. That or she was the only one guarding the gate. Cocky when they left her, she just didn’t have any idea of how bad it was going to be.

“If you’re here about those bank robbers, we don’t know a thing,” she said, smiling at Hex and Chief.

“Wrong answer,” said Hex, shoving the desk aside and pushing the woman in her wheeled office chair toward the wall. She screeched, and two older men came out, staring at them. Then, they saw that they were not alone. A group of federal agents walked into the building. The yellow logo of the FBI on the back of their jackets. They were armed with crates to remove evidence and weapons that they were not about to test out.

“You lied. You lied about knowing all of them,” said Hex, pointing to the wall. “You lied about knowing Frank. He’s dead now, by the way.” The two men and the woman gasped, looking at one another.

“The funds of this club are now frozen and in federal custody. This club will be shut down, and you will not have access to your banking, this building, or anything else belonging to the club.”

“You can’t do this! Joey, call someone to help!” she yelled at the man.

“Frank was the one that could help, Anne. We’re done. Just shut up.”