by Kara Hart
There’s a sense of nostalgia attached to this. I haven’t been to the mall in forever, let alone seen a movie. I could never really afford it. However, when I was younger, it was like a ritual for my friends and I. I thought I’d never get to experience things like this again. I always just figured that it was for one time in my life only. But that’s what love does I guess. It brings you back to the basics, while opening you up to even newer memories. It’s the best feeling I’ve ever felt, and that’s what scares me the most.
“Alright, dammit. I cried!” he laughs. “I cried so damn hard.”
“I knew it!” I scream with laughter. “I caught you.”
He kisses me. “Why did Derrick have to leave Jessica!? It was so stupid and selfish,” he says.
“But they fixed things,” I giggle.
“Oh man, that hit hard. When he stood under her window for three days, soaking wet from the winter rain… that killed me, man,” he says. “There’s not a love more pure.”
“You’re such a softie,” I say. I feel like a regular girl right now. I feel normal. All my life, I’ve stood on the outside. But right now, everything is perfect. With Marshall, I’m on top of the world.
“I guess I am,” he admits. But the truth always has a way of rearing its ugly head back in. “God, I don’t want to have to go into the station tomorrow. The kid’s not talking and the whole thing just makes me go crazy.”
We get on the bike and he starts the engine. “Please don’t bring that up, right now,” I beg him. “It’s just us tonight, remember?”
“Sorry,” he says, but it’s in this absent way that lets me know he’s still thinking about it. Deep down, he’s not a softie. He’s a cop. He will always be a cop. What do cops do? They put their wives through hell because the job is their life.
We take off back to his house, but I’m already planning on going home. I can’t take another night of suspense, or of feeling like he might suddenly come to the conclusion that I’m the girl he’s looking for. It’s just too much on my mind and body.
Oddly enough, when we get back and I tell him I have to go, he doesn’t put up a fight. Instead, he just says, “Okay, darlin’,” as if he already assumed I would leave in the first place. No, it’s like he wants me gone. He wants to mull over this damn case so badly, that it actually makes me want to stay. No doubt, he’s going to be scouring the internet for anything related to a woman bank robber in this county. I don’t know how great his detective skills are, but if he throws the right bait, I’m fucked.
Tonight was the best night of my life. Sometimes, you just have to leave it at that and move on.
49
Marshall
“No celebrations, everyone,” I say, as I walk through the door. Still, my buddies at the station are all clapping. Odd, since they were the ones who were “worried about” me. I’ll keep in mind how fickle my relationships are down here. “I’m here to do my job. Adam, update me.”
“He’s not talking,” he says. “He says he wants to talk to you.”
“To me?” I laugh. “Why would he want to talk to me. He spit in my face, remember?”
“Hell if I know,” he shakes his head. “But he wants to talk to you. His lawyer is here. He keeps advising him against it. Our first court hearing is tomorrow. We better act fast before he gets bail.”
“He won’t get bail. I’ll make sure of it,” I say. “Alright, I’m going to go talk to the kid. Wish me luck.”
“Don’t do anything stupid,” he says. I ignore him. This whole thing has been stupid.
I walk through the door and sit down, facing him. He smiles. “You wanted to talk to me?” I ask him.
“I figured you’d want to talk to me. You know, after everything went down the other day,” he says. His lawyer next to him is an unkempt man, but he’s well known around here as Lenny Krunnman. He’s a damn good lawyer.
“I have nothing to say. At this point, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I won’t be getting any more answers out of you,” I admit. “So be it. That’s the way things gotta be sometimes.”
“And the girl involved? You don’t want to know anything about her?” he asks. His lawyer advises him against it, whispering in his ear, but he ignores him. I’m starting to feel like I might get something from him and that pleases me.
“I don’t care,” I lie. “Look, I told you. We’re going to prosecute and accept the judge’s decision.”
“I loved her, you know,” he ignores me. “That’s why I did this. I thought we’d run away together. To Europe. Thought we’d start a family. I guess that’s all finished now.”
“I guess so,” I say.
“That’s all you have to say? You know, she’s beautiful. She could blend in real well in this town. No one would suspect her,” he says.
I nod. “But you, they’d suspect,” I say. “You’re an obvious choice.”
“Hell yeah, I am. You look at me and you know what class they’ve put me in,” he says. “But you look at her, and you have no idea. She could have gone to fucking Harvard. That’s how captivating she is.”
His lawyer turns red and looks completely stressed out. “I would advise you to—”
“Shut up,” he says. “I’m saying something.”
“Go on,” I urge him. “You’re not saying much.”
“I’m saying more than you know,” he smiles. “If anyone will win this, it’ll be her. If she met you, you’d never know. She’d make sure of that. But Craig. You’ll have to search for Craig.”
It’s like he’s rung the fucking bell. “Craig?” I lean forward. “Who’s Craig? The other guy?”
“Craig Richardson. The motherfucker who left without me.” He just goes on and on, giving me a pile of gold. “He would have left her too, but she’s too smart. She took the third option, a safer route.”
“We’ll have to end this conversation now,” Lenny Krunnman says, completely outraged by his client.
I smile and give an arrogant wink, enough to piss off the guy. “Yes. I believe we do.”
I leave the room and everyone in the station is dumbstruck. I smile to myself and soon, I’m wondering where the damn champagne is. Still, there’s more to be done. We have to find the guy before any celebrating can happen.
I look at the team and throw my hands up in the air. “Well, get to work, guys. Let’s find him,” I tell them. They hurriedly get into their positions. Some leave the station to patrol and scour the streets, while others get on the computers and look through databases. Adam, however, is standing in front of me with his arms crossed, looking sour.
“You win again,” he says.
I shrug. “I’m just lucky. You know the guy who’s never played roulette before, but wins on his first try? That’s me,” I say.
“Whatever,” he huffs. “Look, man. We have to talk about what just happened in there.”
“What about it? Seems to me we just got ourselves a second suspect,” I laugh. We really won. Or, at least, we’re winning more than we were. This will be breaking news, once we find the guy. There shouldn’t be any doubts about that.
“Right. Well, he dropped a big bombshell in there, don’t you think?” he asks me. I’m not catching his drift.
“What about the girl?” he asks. “He said she’s smart. He said she would’ve outsmarted you right from the get go. What the hell does any of that mean?”
“Son, I’ve been asking myself the same fucking question for at least three days now. I don’t know,” I admit. “I wish I did.”
“That girl,” he says. “The one who was at your place on the night it happened…”
“What are you getting at?” I ask him. He’s crazy. Her? No fucking way.
“You don’t think she could have been involved in any way?” he asks. “I’m thinking we need to bring her in. Shit, we should bring in any woman you’ve been with in the past month or two.”
“You’re out of your damn mind,” I say. “The line would be out the door and aroun
d the block.”
“I’m not crazy,” he says. “I’m observant. Sometimes I’m wrong, I’ll admit. But this time, I feel pretty certain about it.”
“That’s what you said about the bank job,” I groan. “Look, man. Why don’t you stay in your area of expertise? Let’s find this guy and question him. Then, we’ll worry about which woman I’ve been with and when. Cool?”
“Whatever you say, boss,” is his passive response. He’s not happy, of course, but I’m not about to go and violate these women’s privacy. Plus, no one knows about my Vi. No one needs to. As far as I’m concerned, she’s not a suspect.
Virginia? A bank robber? Hell no. She’s quickly becoming the love of my life. There’s no way I’m going to let anyone ruin that. I’ll die protecting her if I have to.
50
Virginia
I wake up the next day to my radio, blaring by my bed. Normally, I hit the snooze button, but this time I’m forced to listen as I hear a female reporter say the words, “New suspect confirmed. Craig Richardson, a 27-year-old man from Texas, is now confirmed as the second of three bank robbers. Known for their cunning…”
I jump out of bed and turn the radio up. “Holy shit,” I mumble. No. This can’t be. It can’t be true!
“Yesterday, Elroy Rodriguez dropped a bombshell on detectives at the local precinct. He has now been confirmed to have given the name to Officer Warren Marshall, known for his sharp interrogation skills and nearly perfect record,” the reporter says. “When questioned outside of the station, Marshall denied such statements, only saying, ‘I don’t know where you heard this rumor, but they are only rumors. Whatever has been said in that room is for our ears only right now. We are trying to build a case. It is currently in the public’s interest to stay out of it.’ You’ve heard it here first, only on 583 AM…”
I turn it off and stare blankly at my wall. Suddenly, it feels like my apartment is paper-thin. It feels like it’s closing in on me. I don’t know what to do. Do I flee to Europe on my own? Maybe I can find a cargo ship that I can sneak onto at night. But in Texas? In the middle of the fucking desert? No, that’s not going to happen.
I wrack my brain, trying to find out what the right move is. I have no answers. I only have questions. What exactly did Elroy say? What do they know? The reporter received this information by a local officer, no doubt. That’s how they find out about these things. They were tipped off.
I’m in shock. Total shock. I don’t understand how or why Elroy betrayed us. My guess is that the situation is weighing on him. That, or he wants to be some sort of hero. He realized that he’s caught. The media is going to vilify him for what he’s done. Maybe this was his way of fixing his image.
Not too long after, I get a call on my new burner phone. The number isn’t listed. After four rings, I answer it, completely terrified. I don’t speak when I press the green button. I just listen.
“Hey, it’s me,” Craig’s voice says into the receiver.
I exhale slowly. I feel so fucking dizzy and confused. I just want to be with Marshall. I want to be in his arms. I want to feel as good as I felt the other night. How did life get so out of hand?
“Hey,” I whisper. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” he sighs. “As okay as I can be. You heard the news, I’m guessing. Things are fucked right now. I don’t know what to do.”
That’s a first for Craig. Usually, he’s got all of the answers. He’s normally so confident in his abilities, but now he’s lost that edge to his voice. He sounds really scared.
“Yeah, I just heard on the radio. I can’t believe he did it,” I say, still in total disbelief. Maybe I’m dreaming. I can pinch myself and I’ll wake up. Of course, this is no dream. This is the harsh reality we chose. We fucked up.
“I can. I knew he’d do it. That’s why I am where I am right now. They can’t find me over here,” he says. “Anyway, it’s my fault. I freaked out during the last hit.”
“I know,” I say. “I saw you. You panicked. Everything was going so smoothly. Why’d you do it?”
“We were taking too long. I had to leave you guys. I had to. Ten more seconds yelling at the damn woman at the front and we’d have all been fucked,” he defends himself. “I thought I could create a diversion. I was wrong.”
“Bullshit,” I hiss. “You were always in this for the wrong reasons. You were being selfish and you know it. Admit it.”
“Selfish? You mean like you meeting with Marshall? What the fuck was that all about?” he asks. But he doesn’t let me answer. He just continues his long-winded rant. “Can you really blame me for leaving you two? I was freaked out, man. I thought you had set up a trap for us. Why else would you be talking with a cop?”
“I was getting answers for us, you idiot!” I scream, losing my cool. I can’t take this anymore. I can’t take being in a conspiracy with these guys. I just want to be alone. No, I want to be with Marshall. Fuck, I hate this so much. I’m blaming myself every second of every day. I’m the idiot.
“You were too busy sucking his dick,” he says with all the spite he has left.
“Fuck you,” I say. “You don’t know my motives. He was way off base. We were going to get away with it. They had no idea what our plan was and he was giving me all the information he could give. It was the perfect crime and you ruined it. Fuck, Elroy ruined it too. He didn’t have to talk. Marshall said the state had a shit case on him. That all just went out the fucking window.”
“We all ruined it,” he says, calming down. “We were all so naïve. Like little children. We shouldn’t have done this, but we were dreamers, right? We thought we could escape a rigged system. We thought we could make a better life, somewhere far away from this hellhole.”
“Yeah… well, now what do we do? Is there any way out of this? Let’s find a cargo boat on our own. We’ll hire a driver to the sea. It’s not that far to Louisiana. We can do it,” I say. I’m practically begging at this point. There are no more options, other than to run out the clock and get caught. We’re done for.
“My face is plastered on every single TV screen in America. The feds are after us now. There’s no doubt about that. You know it’s true too. Soon enough, they’ll contact the department down here and take over the case. Your Marshall will have no idea what’s going on anymore and you’ll be in the dark,” he says. “And then, when you least suspect it, your image will be on that television screen. They’ll bring you in for questioning and you’ll be over and done with. We’re in this together. We have been since day one.”
“Don’t say that. Please don’t say that,” I cry. I feel the tears falling down my face. They hit the carpet below me, making a dull tapping noise. My throat starts to close and I just break down. I weep.
Craig starts to cry too. He’s never cried in front of me. He’s too “manly” for that. But now I see that this has really affected him, maybe more than me. It all seems so hopeless now.
“I’m sorry,” he cries. “But you know it’s the fucking truth. We never stood a chance out there. They never gave us a fair shot, so we had to fight back. We had to!”
“Don’t give up now, Craig. You can’t give up now. Stay where you are. Stay in hiding. Get food and water when you have to, but stay in hiding, God dammit. I beg of you,” I say.
“There’s nothing else I can do,” he says, now calm. “My time is up.”
He hangs up the phone, but I’m screaming, “Craig! Craig, no! Please!”
There’s no response on the other line. He’s giving up. I feel broken. I’m shattered to pieces.
51
Marshall
I glance at the piece of fabric on my dresser. I can’t get it out of my mind. Was that piece of pantyhose left there as a distraction for me? If it was, it’s confusing, to say the least. If not, it’s the smoking gun. It’s my answer to finding this woman.
I pick it up and stretch the fabric out, looking at it in the light. It, of course, doesn’t give me any concrete answers. It’s just
a piece of fucking fabric. Worst of all, I should have turned it in when I found it. But I don’t play by the rules. That’s how I win. I work the cases in my own way. Up until now, I’ve never had any trouble doing so.
Now, I’m fucked because there’s probably DNA evidence all over this small piece of pantyhose. It holds the key to the whole damn thing. I sigh and put it back down. All of this makes me exhausted. I even think back to what Adam said, even though it’s bat-shit crazy.
All of those women I fooled around with… is one of them responsible for this? Shit, is Virginia responsible for this? What if she is and I’ve just been in the dark this whole time? It would break my fucking heart. I’d go completely insane. The only woman that I’ve ever bared my soul to is the woman I’ve been hunting down recently?
No fucking way. I can’t believe it. I won’t believe it. Yet, the fucking thought persists in my stupid head. Why? There’s not a shred of evidence that she’s involved. In this line of work, we need evidence. We need truth. This can’t be true. I’ll lay down my badge before I believe it.
I hear a knock at my door, which is curious. No one comes over here, except for Adam. And I know he’s back at home, thinking about the case. I open the door and I see Virginia, staring at me. She’s holding flowers and a bottle of Singleton whiskey. “Happy birthday, officer,” she says, smiling.
“Birthday?” I laugh, letting her inside. “It ain’t my birthday, sweetheart.”
She just shrugs and kisses me. “So what? I thought we could celebrate. You’re about to finish this case,” she says confidently. No, she couldn’t be involved in this. She wouldn’t be this chipper about things. “You’re going to get promoted, right?”
“Shit,” I sigh. “So you heard the news, I guess? That wasn’t supposed to get out.”
