Bruce jogged through the hole where the gate would normally be.
“Bruce!” Vic shouted again. It sounded like he was following him.
He was in the lot now. Light smoke invaded his lungs. He started coughing and then he yelled Margo’s name. Then he felt someone grab him.
“It looks like an inferno in there,” Vic said.
“Let go of me!”
“No!”
They weakly struggled against each other until a loud boom got their attention.
“Jesus! Let’s get out of here!” Vic yelled.
Before they could move, another boom sounded off closer to them, knocking them on the pavement. Bruce could feel a wave of heat as everything went dark.
Chapter 36
BAAM met at the Tampa Bay Marina. They took their things out of their SUVs and loaded it on Aaron’s yacht. Then they drove the SUVs ten miles from the marina and ditched them on the side of the road next to a thicket of trees and bushes. They walked half a mile to a gas station and called for an Uber to take them back to the marina.
Aaron and Anthony undid the ropes that were tied to the brown poles of the dock and the boat.
“All aboard,” Aaron said as they got on the yacht.
They all piled into the sitting area where the captain’s controls were.
Aaron raised the anchor, cut on the lights, and started the engine.
“Bon voyage, Tampa,” Margo chimed.
They chuckled.
Aaron blew the horn.
Anthony collected the Bluetooths and burner phones that they used during the heist. When they got five miles away from the coast, Anthony tossed them in the water. They had purchased new burners for their new lives earlier.
They quietly lounged in the sitting area, dozing on and off. Margo had just woken from a nap. She didn’t know how much time had passed, but no one had said a word since they had left the coastline. They were still nervous. At the very least, they had to make it to international waters.
She yawned as she stretched on the sofa. The boat wasn’t moving. Were they stopped by the law?
“Anthony,” she whispered.
He was sitting in a white armchair with his feet propped up on a matching cushioned stool. His eyes were closed. “I’m awake.”
“How long have we’ve been standing still?” she asked.
Anthony opened his eyes. “I don’t know.”
Bobbi coughed as her eyes opened.
“You don’t think anything is wrong, do you?” Margo asked.
“We would have heard something like, ‘freeze, put your hands up’, or big ass thumping on the deck,” Anthony replied lazily.
Aaron entered the room. “My beloved sleepy cohorts, we are officially and exactly thirty-one nautical miles from the coast.” He had a serious look, and his hands were behind his back.
They all looked at each other, and then stared at Aaron with confusion.
“Aaron, we don’t talk boaters’ language,” Anthony stated. “What the hell does that mean?’
“It means,” Aaron began slowly. “That we’re in international waters, baby!” he yelled happily and pulled his hands from behind his back to reveal a bottle of champagne.
They all jumped up and screamed and yelled for joy as the sound of champagne being opened joined in the celebration.
Champagne drizzled out of the bottle. Aaron must have shaken it before he came in.
“Where are the glasses?” Bobbi asked.
“No glasses this time. We’re drinking it right out of the bottle,” Aaron said with elation.
“Fine with me, you rich mothafucka!” Anthony said with a smile.
“Oh no. You’re the rich mothafucka,” Aaron said back and laughed.
“Hold on,” Margo interjected. “We got to let Bobbi do her thing before we take a drink.”
Everyone looked at the long-haired brunette.
Bobbi cleared her throat. “Federal Reserve, you just got hit with the BAAM!” she shouted.
They all laughed their heads off.
Aaron took a swig from the bottle. “Fifty million apiece! Tax free!” He gave the bottle to Anthony.
“I have to say I was worried when we set the factory on fire, but it all worked,” Anthony said and took a drink. He passed it to Margo.
She took a swig. Aaron had sprung on the good stuff, Ace of Spades. She passed the bottle to Bobbi.
“Now that we’re good, I’m going to change out of this sneakin’ suit,” Anthony said. “It’s hot as fuck.”
Everyone chuckled.
“Maybe I should have gotten glasses,” Aaron said. “I want to make a toast.”
“Well, go get them,” Anthony said and took his shirt off. His chest was smooth like melted chocolate, and it had slight muscle definition.
Margo cut on the stereo as Aaron got the glasses. Hip-hop hummed through the speakers.
Aaron got champagne flutes, and Bobbi poured.
“All right, homie,” Anthony said and raised his glass.
“To the best crew I have every worked with, and to all of us being rich assholes for the rest of our days!” Aaron exclaimed.
They all cheered and laughed as they brought their glasses together.
“Happy New Year, guys,” Bobbi said with a smile before she took a drink.
****
Bruce opened his eyes to florescent lights. His was sore all over and his head was killing him. He let out a groan.
“Hello, idiot,” someone greeted.
Bruce turned his head to see Blanchette sitting in a chair next to the bed. “What the hell?” he murmured hoarsely.
“You’re in the ER, Styles,” Blanchette said flatly. He ran his hand through the side of his dark brown hair. “You were knocked out cold when the fire department and EMTs got to the factory.
He closed his eyes as he remembered the last fifteen minutes before he blacked out. “Shit,” he whispered. “Where’s Vic? Is he okay?”
“Other than a few scrapes and bruises, he’s fine despite your big ass falling on him. He’s sitting in the lobby, waiting on word about you.”
“How long was I out?”
“Not exactly sure. The EMTs said you woke up in the ambulance for a minute, but you passed right back out again. When I got here thirty minutes ago, you were laid up like an oak tree that had just been chopped down.”
“Who called you?”
“The cops at the scene pulled you and Vic’s identification. They called the emergency number for the bureau, and I was paged. The cops thought you two were working on a big case and got . . . caught up in the fire.”
“Damn, I’m sorry that you had to come out on New Year’s Eve.”
“Part of my job, and it’s more like New Year’s Day. It’s three o’clock in the morning. Bruce, what were you and Vic doing at the factory?”
“What did Vic say?”
Blanchette snorted. “He wouldn’t say a thing, even after I threatened to suspend him. I don’t want to suspend you guys, so why don’t you tell me what you two were doing? Who did you think was in that factory? Or what did you think was in there?”
Bruce placed his hand on his throbbing head. “Vic did some research on a guy that I met a few days earlier. Turns out the guy had stolen someone’s identity and used his name to purchase the building that was on fire. We went to the place that was on his address, and the landlady had said that he was at work tonight. We tracked him to the factory. I was driving to the factory when a black or maybe dark blue SUV crashed through the gate and side swiped us. A Good Samaritan stopped. We got out of the car, and I saw the building was on fire. I went to the building to see if anyone was inside, and Vic tried to stop me. I remember hearing a boom and . . . now I’m talking to you.”
Blanchette licked his lips. “I see. Did you think he committed fraud concerning the government?”
“We weren’t sure. We were going to confront him and detain him until we could get the local authorities to respond. That was the plan anyway.”
/>
“Styles, why do I get the feeling you’re leaving something out?”
Because I am. Bruce remained silent.
“Look, whatever the other part is, and I know there’s another part considering the fact that you’ve been a grouch and a half for days at the office, you almost got yourself and Vic killed over it.” Blanchette shook his head. “You’ve always been impulsive. That and your big appetite for women are your only flaws. What am I going to do with you?”
Bruce sat up. His clothes were so dirty that it looked like he had been rolling around in the streets. His shirt was torn open, and his tie was gone. “I hope nothing bad, sir.”
He sighed. “You were hoping to find that girl that got your head fucked up, weren’t you?”
Bruce didn’t answer. He didn’t want to get benched for emotional reasons.
“It has happened to the best of us, but you need to pull yourself together before your impulsiveness gets somebody killed.”
“In all fairness, sir, I didn’t ask Vic to come with me.”
“I know, but he wasn’t going to let you run off without backup, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let you run into a burning building.”
“Was anyone in the building?”
“No.”
Bruce exhaled with relief.
Blanchette stood. “Just be more careful. The truth is, we don’t know what you and Vic stumbled upon. The fire department said that it looked like the fire was started on purpose. The staff said they are going to do a CT scan on you before they release you. They suspect you have a concussion. Take the week off.”
“Sir–” Bruce began to protest.
“For medical reasons. You can’t work with a concussion. I’ll tell the nurse that you’re awake.” He walked out of the room.
Bruce groaned.
Chapter 37
Two days later . . .
The doctor had made Bruce stay in the hospital overnight for observation. When Bruce had tried to leave in the middle of the night, Blanchette was right there to stop him. They had let Vic go home.
Bruce had gotten a rental car while his SUV was in the shop. Luckily, his car insurance covered rentals due to accidents. He was going to take a few days off, but he got an all alert text on his phone from headquarters in Washington. When that kind of text was sent, something big had gone down. A text like that was sent to every FBI agent in the country.
Bruce walked off the elevator. Of course, Blanchette was the first person he saw.
“Styles, you’re supposed to be on medical leave,” he said harshly.
“I know, sir, and I was going to follow orders, but I saw the text. It’s obviously important. There’s nothing wrong with my head or body that a few aspirin can’t keep at bay.” Bruce had a couple of scratches on his face and a bruise on his arm, nothing life threatening. And the small bump on his head was almost gone.
“Well, you don’t look as cross-eyed as you did when I saw you last time, that’s for sure. I’ll save you some time from going to your office to read the email. A satellite conference will start in thirty minutes. The director in Washington is going to address us personally about this.”
Wow.
“Thank you for letting me stay, sir.”
Thirty minutes later, half of the Tampa agents were in the conference room upstairs. The other half were in the conference room downstairs. They didn’t have one room that was big enough to fit everyone in the building at the same time.
“Good afternoon,” the director said on the screen. He was sitting in a chair at a desk. “I’ll make this brief. The Federal Reserve Bank was hacked, at the best that we can tell, December thirty-first around midnight. The offenders were able to steal two hundred million dollars.”
Light mumbling could be heard in the room, but it quickly stopped.
“The theft wasn’t discovered until closing on January second. Somehow, the hackers had inserted a virus into the system that affected all twelve locations. The Washington IT analyses are currently working on where and how the virus got into the system. For those of you who don’t know, this is the biggest breach and theft of the Federal Reserve on record.”
Bruce was shell shocked. He couldn’t imagine any crook having enough balls to rob the Federal Reserve, especially for that much money.
“I wanted to inform all of you first and personally because I’ll have to address the press at noon. News of the theft has leaked, and we have to get ahead of it. Everything concerning this case is considered highly classified at this time.”
That meant no talking to the press, family, friends, or strangers about the case unless it was cleared by the top brass.
****
BAAM had reached their destination three hours ago, Cancun, Mexico. They knew when they planned the heist that they could only bob around in the ocean for so long because it was too dangerous. Pirates had been known to rob yachts in international waters. Even though they had guns, there was no planning for how many pirates could jump the ship and rob them. Cancun was close by boat, warm, and away from the States.
News of the robbery had been revealed by the director of the FBI on TV. They were watching it on the yacht. Anthony chuckled as they all gazed at the director’s grim expression. When the news conference ended, Bobbi spoke. “Fuck the government!”
Everyone laughed but Margo. She couldn’t help but wonder what Bruce thought about all this.
“You damn straight,” Anthony agreed. “Bastards squeeze every tax dollar out of poor folks until they’re starving, and then they want to arrest someone’s ass for taking a short cut for some extra cash. The government is the real crooks.”
“Amen,” Aaron said. “Tomorrow, we’ll all go our separate ways from here. Remember, don’t buy anything big for at least a year.”
“Why do we have to split up tomorrow? We left and arrived here by private boat. They have no idea where we are, or that it was us that hit the reserve,” Bobbi said. “Let’s stay here in Cancun for a week – together. It will be the perfect celebration before we split.”
Aaron thought for a moment. “Well, we didn’t leave any evidence, that’s for damn sure.”
They had seen the factory fire on the morning news. Half the building was burned to the ground. Luckily, it was the half that they mostly used. Apparently, two idiots were too close to the fire and had gotten light injuries in the blast.
“What the hell,” Anthony said. “I think we deserve a vacation. Cancun is just as good a place as any.”
“It would be nice to take in some R and R,” Margo said.
“All right, but only for a week. Cancun is not the place we want to be caught in.”
“Caught? In Mexico? Everyone knows Mexico is the best place to hide,” Anthony said.
“That’s a misconception. There has been a bilateral extradition treaty between the US and Mexico since 1978. The feds can fly in here on Air Force One and cart our asses back to America in chains if they wanted to.”
“Word?” Anthony asked with wide eyes.
“Word,” Aaron confirmed.
“Well, there is a reason why you have planned most of our shit. You know stuff a normal cat doesn’t know,” Anthony stated.
“Yeah, but they don’t know. Even with the cars on the side of the road, the little fender bender you two had, and the factory fire . . . there’s no way they can connect that, can they?” Bobbi asked.
“I can’t see how. We used gloves every time we handled the SUVs,” Margo said.
“No. Those events would look like usual crimes in a big city,” Aaron said. “I think we’re fine. Let’s stay and party, but we should keep a low profile.”
“Cool,” Bobbi said happily. “Let’s have more champagne.”
“Y’all go ahead. We’ve been docked for a few hours, and I hadn’t even checked into the yacht club. I need to get that squared away. Then I can relax,” Aaron said.
Chapter 38
Two days later . . .
Bruce was at home
on the couch. With the exception of the occasional headache, he was a lot better. After getting briefed about the robbery, Blanchette had ordered him to go back home. Bruce had no choice but to comply, or Blanchette would have made it official by suspending him. However, Alec had kept him in the loop. IT experts at the Dallas field office had figured out that the virus had originated at the Dallas Reserve. They believe the system had to be compromised on site. If a hacker had tried to breach the system outside of the reserve without weakening the system first, they would have been automatically traced in seconds. The information wasn’t released to the public, and the bureau wanted to keep it that way until the thief or thieves were caught.
The last thing he needed was to look at the walls and think. Every time his mind wandered, he thought about Margo. How could she leave him? And what was she really doing with the fake Luke? The last question really plagued him. Did she know he was a fraud? What if she knew he was?
Bruce had come to the realization that he may never see her again to ask those questions. He didn’t believe she was partaking in any criminal activity because she was a successful computer programmer. So successful that she had a country club membership and one of the biggest houses in one of the flushest neighborhoods in Tampa – before she left.
He cursed himself. “Damn it, I can’t keep doing this. I’ll go crazy if I do.” Yet he couldn’t accept the fact that she was gone for good. Not until he go answers. He shook his head again and picked up the phone. He was going to call his father to see what he was doing. It was a feeble attempt to keep his mind occupied. His parents didn’t know about his accident, and he didn’t want to tell them. It would only worry them.
His cell rang in his hand. The caller ID said it was his parents. “Great minds think alike.” He pressed the button. “Hey, Dad.”
“This is Mom.”
“Hey, Mom. Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”
“Normally, I would be, but I came home for lunch. I didn’t want anyone there to hear me. Son, about the robbery–”
“Mom, I can’t talk about that, and I’m sure you can’t either. I don’t care if we do work for the government, they’re two separate divisions.”
Love, Money, and Lies Page 18
