“When she gave the go ahead, I went to the door opened it, and we ran in. We went down the hall to the vault. Aaron drilled into that thing so fast — I’ve never seen anything like it. Before I knew it, we were in. Margo was keeping us informed about how much time we had left through the Bluetooths. I snatched up as much money as I could. We all had two big black duffle bags. Anthony and Bobbi had finished early and went out to drive to the meet-up location. Me and Aaron were behind them. When we were driving out of the lot, the alarm had gone off, but we got away clean. All four of us drove in different directions. It would have looked suspicious if four cars that were the same make and model were flying up the same road. Before the job, Anthony and I installed radars in them just in case a cop was sitting in the bushes as we sped to the meet-up location.”
“And where was the meet-up?” Trent asked.
“A junkyard outside of the city. It doesn’t have a name. Just a sign that says junkyard. A friend of mine and Anthony’s runs the place, Mullet. He loaded the Chargers on the conveyor belt and crushed the cars into square boxes. We left the Bluetooths and burners in the cars to be destroyed as well. We unloaded the money into a Jeep Cherokee that Bobbi had rented at the airport when she arrived that afternoon.”
“Where was she coming from?” Tommy asked.
“Dallas. She had said that she was working a temporary job out there.”
“Where did you guys go after the junkyard?” Alec asked.
“Mullet gave me a ride home in his truck. He didn’t know any better. I just asked him to crush some cars for me in the middle of the night, and he did. He didn’t ask any questions. All he cared about was getting paid extra for the inconvenience. Aaron, Bobbi, and Anthony drove the Cherokee back to the warehouse. A day later, Anthony swung by my house and gave me my cut. I asked about the amount. It seemed a little light considering that we left with eight bags full. He had said that the main reason we hit the bank was because they needed a million dollars to pay some dude that had information they needed.”
“Damn, what kind of information?” Vic asked with awe.
“Don’t know. I asked, but Anthony wouldn’t tell me. It had to be some good shit for them to be willing to pay him a million bucks, though. That’s all I know about the SunBeam robbery.”
“Now, let’s get to the reserve. What do you know about that?”
“Not much. What I do know I pieced together. On New Year’s Eve, I went to my aunt’s, Anthony’s momma’s, house to ring in the New Year with the family. Anthony was already there when I arrived. He said that he had to leave town for good, and he wasn’t coming back. He wouldn’t say why, but I do know that it wasn’t because of a rival gang or anything like that because he had said so. He gave me the keys and title to his Cadillac, so I knew it was for real. Anthony loves that car. For old time’s sake, we dropped the top and cruised for a while. He said he had to go to the factory before he left town. It was about eleven o’clock when I dropped him off there. I noticed two dark SUVs with luggage and boxes in the back. That’s when Anthony told me to never come back to the factory.”
“Why?” Bruce asked.
“Sorry, man, he didn’t say why, but I can tell he was dead serious. I said okay, we hugged goodbye, and I hadn’t seen or heard from him since. The next day on the news, I see the sewing factory halfway burned to the ground. No doubt in my mind he and the others had something to do with that. Aaron had said he bought the place. At first, I thought they were running an insurance scam. Then, a day later . . . I heard the Federal Reserve got robbed. If anybody could pull that off, it’s them. Their game is tight.”
“Not tight enough, because we’re on to em,” Tommy said.
“We need more details about the factory. What did you see in there?” Trent asked.
“A few computer boxes and computers, tables, chairs, nothing out of the norm,” Morris answered. “Oh, here’s something that might help. Aaron had a boat.”
“How does that help?” Bruce asked.
“Later on, I learned that Anthony told his sister that he had to leave the country. What better way to get out of the country other than by boat?”
“How do you know he had a boat?” Alec asked.
“I overheard Aaron mentioning it to Bobbi. Well, he called it a yacht.”
Bruce remembered his accident from New Year’s Eve. That SUV that hit him and Vic was speeding like crazy. It had to be them. Two of them at least. He had only been a few minutes behind them. “You said there were two SUVs at the factory that night, right?”
“Yeah,” Morris confirmed.
“Are you aware of any other crimes this group has committed?” Trent asked.
“Not in detail, but Anthony did admit that he had done a few jobs with them in the past.”
Chapter 41
It was eight o’clock at night by the time they were finished with Morris. Bruce and Alec were walking down the hall. Blanchette and Rolls called them over.
“Congratulations, Styles,” Blanchette said.
“Sir?”
“Thanks to your steel trap memory, we got names and hopefully faces concerning the hit on the reserve.” Blanchette explained.
“Damn good work,” Rolls said and extended his hand to him.
Bruce wanted to walk away. He wasn’t proud of himself about this, but he shook Rolls’s hand, nonetheless.
“You’ll be recognized for your contribution, Styles,” Rolls assured him. “I’ll personally see to it.”
“I just got . . . lucky, sir. And I was able to connect some dots, that’s all,” he mumbled.
“Dots that can blow this thing wide open. Thanks to you, we got names, and once the IT and analysis team is finished, we’ll have faces,” Rolls said.
Bruce nodded.
“You both look tired,” Blanchette commented. “Why don’t you go home and get some rest?”
“I’d like to stay,” Bruce said. “I want to be here when the team comes back with stats on the suspects.”
“Me, too.”
“Alec, you’re a married man now with a child and one on the way. Go home to your wife for a few hours,” Blanchette said. “Trust me, you’ll want to spend all the time you can with them while you can.”
“She understands, sir. She knew what she was getting into when she married me,” Alec stated.
“We don’t know how long it will be.” Rolls said.
“That’s okay,” Alec said.
****
It was nine o’clock before Morris got back to his house in the hood. He breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn’t spending the night in jail. He hated himself, but he wasn’t going to take the fall for people he barely knew. And Anthony was gone. As long as Anthony stayed away and kept his head down, he would fine.
His cell rang. It was from a number he didn’t recognize. The caller ID said Mexico. He decided to answer. “Hello.”
“Hey, it’s me,” Anthony said. “I’ll be leaving from here soon, but I wanted to call and say goodbye one last time. I already miss you guys.”
Morris sat up in the chair. “Stop talking. The feds know you and your buddies hit the reserve. I don’t know where you are and don’t tell. But wherever you are, you better make sure you are hidden good and you can’t be recognized. In four hours or less, your face and theirs will be on the FBI’s most wanted list.”
“Fuck!”
“I’m hanging up. They might be tracing the call for all I know,” Morris said and clicked off. All he could do now was hope that Anthony would heed the warning and cut the white folks loose if he hadn’t already.
****
If Anthony hadn’t taken a chance and called Morris, he wouldn’t have known. The only reason he took the risk was because he had ventured to the non-tourist section of Cancun where a store owner had let him use the phone and because he was leaving Cancun tomorrow.
Anthony rushed back to the rental car to drive back to the yacht club. He had gotten a room there because he was tired of the
rocky waves of Aaron’s boat. His mind ran through scenarios of what to do and how to do it.
When he got to the club, he went to the front desk and told them he had to check out that evening. They were fine with it as long as he paid for today. He agreed he would and said that he had to get some things out of his room. They told him his keycard was still good until midnight.
Once he was back in his room, he hurried to pack his clothes and secured the seven-hundred and twenty grand he had in his bag. Then he went to the bathroom. Using hair clippers, he shaved his head bald and put on a fake black mustache. One of his new personas had a picture of him with a mustache. Then a thought struck him.
The only person who knew the names of his new personas was Aaron. He could get caught and rat him out. Margo could be a problem, too. They had encouraged the girls not to share their new identities with each other, and Aaron and Anthony didn’t share theirs with them. However, that FBI agent who had a hard-on for Margo could help her get a sweet deal, selling the rest of them down the river. The decision was made. Anthony loved them, but they weren’t blood. And he had to look after himself.
He gathered his luggage and left the room, leaving the keycard inside. Margo had gotten a room down the hall from him. Aaron was bringing a girl on the yacht every night, and Margo got tired of the moans and rocking.
When he got to Margo’s door, he knocked on it. He was surprised when Aaron answered the door.
“Hey– wow,” Aaron said. “I almost didn’t recognize you. Why did you shave your head?”
“Let me in. I’ll explain.”
Aaron widened the door.
Anthony walked in with his rolling suitcase and his bag of money on his shoulder. “Where’s Margo?”
“Um, she’s not here. What’s going on? Why are you wearing a disguise?” he asked nervously as he closed the door.
“Then what are you doing in her room?”
“She had to go down to the shop for some tampons. I was just waiting for her to get back. We were going to meet Bobbi on the beach for lunch. We were coming down to get you, but it looks like you got other plans.”
Shit. He had to do this while he had the chance. Aaron was the top priority, anyway. “I got word that the feds know it was us who hit the reserve. They got our names and soon they will have our faces plastered all over the place.”
“What? How?”
“That doesn’t matter now” Anthony said as he reached behind him and pulled his pistol from his waistband.
“Shit!”
“Aaron, other than myself, you are the only one who knows everyone’s new aliases. That can’t fly. If they weren’t onto us, I wouldn’t do this. You’ve got to know that. As much as I like you guys, I’m not doing time for you. I’m getting away clean and with the money.”
“You don’t have to do this. We can come up with another plan.”
Anthony pulled the trigger. The gun didn’t make a sound because of the silencer. The round went into Aaron’s chest. He pulled the trigger three more times to make sure he was dead. He sighed with regret as he walked over to Aaron. He searched his pockets for the boat keys. He didn’t know how to drive the thing, but he had no choice but to learn on the go. After finding the keys, Anthony grabbed his gear and left.
****
Margo had her hand clamped over her mouth, trying to keep quiet. She had seen Anthony shoot Aaron through the crack in the bathroom. It looked like Anthony had searched Aaron’s pockets. She couldn’t believe Anthony shot Aaron in cold blood. Margo wasn’t sure why Aaron told Anthony that she wasn’t in the room, but no matter the reason, he had saved her life. Her gun was in her bag in the closet.
Once she heard the door close, she came out of the bathroom. Aaron’s body was on the floor. His blood was seeping onto the carpet. His blue eyes were still open.
“Oh my God,” she groaned with distress.
Anthony’s plan might have been to kill Aaron, but he had thought it necessary kill Margo too. Otherwise, why would he come to her room? He didn’t know Aaron was there. She didn’t want to do it, but she had to search Aaron’s pockets. She had heard the keys jingling when Anthony searched his pockets. They had to be Aaron’s yacht keys. He was going to take the yacht.
She pulled out Aaron’s ID. It was one of his fake ones. He also had his fake passport on him along with two hundred dollars. Margo gazed upon Aaron’s face. “I don’t know why you told him I wasn’t here, but thank you.” She stuffed the items in her purse and started gathering her things.
****
Anthony had gotten on the yacht. To his surprise, Bobbi was still there.
“Geez, you scared me,” she said. “Why are wearing a disguise?”
“I got word an hour ago that the FBI knows we hit the reserve. We gotta get out of here. Is your stuff on the boat?”
“What? Yeah, but how did they—?”
“I’ll explain on the way.”
“Where are we going?”
“Away from here. They could have traced the call I was on.”
“Where are Margo and Aaron?”
“I don’t know, and we can’t afford to care. We’re on our own.”
“We are not leaving,” she said sternly. “We should warn them at least.”
Anthony wasn’t in the mood to argue with the freak. He turned around and started pulling his gun out.
Bobbi saw what he was about to do and kicked him in the face so hard that his head went back. Then everything went black.
****
Margo had packed her things and checked her gun. Anthony could still be lurking for all she knew. The gun had been in her bag in the closet when Anthony had come in. Margo was too far away from it. She was going to go down to the beach to see if she could find Bobbi to warn her. If she couldn’t find her, she had leave. If Anthony was telling the truth, she had to get out of Cancun.
The room phone rang. Hoping against hope that it was good news, she answered.
“Hello.”
“Margo, something is going down,” Bobbi said.
“Oh thank God it’s you. Where are you?”
“On the boat.”
“Get out of there. Anthony is on his way to the boat, and he shot Aaron. He’ll shot you, too, probably!”
“Don’t worry about it. I knocked him out cold and tied him up.”
Margo was shocked. “Wow. Good.”
“Is Aaron all right?”
“No, he’s dead. In my room,” Margo stressed.
“Oh no!”
“Look, I have to get out of here, or they are going to think I did it.”
“Come to the boat.”
“No, Anthony is on there.”
“I got his gun, and his ropes are tight. And I got the yacht keys. I know how to drive it. We’ll go down the coast.”
“Okay. I’m on my way.” Margo hung up the phone.
Chapter 42
It was ten o’clock, and Bruce was still at the office. He had just gotten the email with the newest most wanted. He read each profile slowly, committing it to memory.
Aaron R. Stokes had dark blond, curly hair and blue eyes. He was five-foot-seven and weighed a hundred and fifty-seven pounds. The last known job he had was eight years ago as a waiter in the Keys. Nine years ago, he had been arrested for money laundering and running a prostitution ring. Anthony Wayne Mandel had a box afro, clean shaven, and he weighed a hundred and forty-two pounds. He had been arrested for possession at the age of eighteen. He served four years for it. A few years later, he was found in contempt of court and was made to do six months of community service and pay a five thousand dollar fine. He had no profession on record. Bobbi Lauren Bennett, born Robert Lee Bennett, had dark brown hair and was five-foot-seven. When Bobbi was a man, she was a bank manager, married to a woman named Lois Belle Bennett, and lived in LA. Bruce wondered if Margo and Bobbi had met in LA years ago when she lived there. The marriage was dissolved seven years ago. They had no children. Four years ago, Robert changed her name
to Bobbi.
Bruce’s nose turned up with resentment. He didn’t care what anyone wanted to be in life. That was what freedom was all about. However, he didn’t like being fooled.
Then he came to Margo’s profile. He knew her stats. Yet he didn’t know who she truly was. How could the woman he had held and kissed and loved be a low-down hacker who stole everything she had? How did it come to that for her? He stared at her picture. It looked like a driver’s license picture, and it looked good. Margo never looked bad.
The email had gone to every FBI agent in the country. The bureau had also alerted the Mexican and Canadian authorities. If they had gone to either place, they would be found eventually.
****
BAAM’s luck had run out. Aaron was dead, Anthony was a turncoat, and Bobbi and Margo were stuck in Cancun because there wasn’t enough fuel in the yacht to get out of the marina.
“We can’t stay here,” Margo said with wild eyes.
“We have to,” Bobbi stated. “According to the manager, the fuel truck will be here by noon tomorrow.”
“That’s four o’clock here. No one rushes in this country,” Margo said nervously.
“Just lie low. Don’t let anyone see you,” Bobbi said.
Margo had half a mind to take her chances at the airport. If she put on the wig in her bag and taped half her cash on her body, she might have a chance.
“Since we’re staying, I’m going to check on Anthony. He’s probably awake by now. I’ll give him something to eat,” Bobbi said.
To Margo’s shame, her mind drifted to Aaron’s cut of the heist. “Wait, Bobbi, what about . . . I’m sorry to say this since he just died, Aaron’s part of the money?”
Bobbi looked at Margo for a moment. “Well, it’s not like he needs it now.”
“I can’t use the ID and account number that was on him. It will be traced by the yacht club when they realize that he hasn’t checked the boat out. But if we can find his other alias, we can transfer most of the money to our accounts. We can still get at least half his cut.”
Love, Money, and Lies Page 20
