Desolation Lake

by Kane, Remington

  Craig took a cigarette from a pack, lit it, and after taking a puff, he chimed in.

  “I was on a crew with his father when I was younger than he is now. It was my idea to use his help, but making him one of us is another thing.”

  “We need him,” Jake said. “The whole damn world is running on zeroes and ones and our old asses haven’t got a clue about how any of it works.”

  “How old is the kid?” Brady said.

  “He’s twenty-one,” Craig said.

  Brady made a face.

  “That’s damn young.”

  Mitch laughed.

  “What was your age when I recruited you?”

  Brady ducked his head.

  “Twenty, but still, I’d feel better about him if he went out on a job with us first, you know, from start to finish, and not just hack into a computer to come up with the armored car route and serial numbers.”

  Jake nodded in agreement.

  “Yeah Mitch, we need to know if the kid’s got guts. He might be about the same age Brady was when we took him on, but Brady had stones from the get-go.”

  “I agree,” Mitch said. “That’s why I want to test him out, and once we do the score, we’ll vote, agreed?”

  There were nods of agreement all around, Lindy and Selina included. Although Jake and Craig’s wives weren’t technically part of the crew, they had a say about who joined and who didn’t, because after all, a crew as tight-knit as theirs was more like a family than a gang, and if someone rubbed anyone the wrong way it would affect them all.

  “When do we have to be in Vermont?” Jake asked Craig, for although Mitch ran the crew, it was Craig who set-up the jobs and handled logistics.

  “The middle of November I’ll go up there and look into the local hiring situation, but there won’t be any building going on until April, when there’s little chance of ice blocking the flow of the water. Still, the land surveyors will need trailers since there’s nothing up there but trees and a big hole in the ground. The place is really an old quarry.”

  “Will the lake be there in April?” Selina asked.

  “Yeah and May is when we’ll do the score.”

  “What is the score?” Craig said.

  “It’s a county fair, a big one, and from what I can tell, they’ll take in about 100K a day over the Memorial Day weekend, and most of it will be in cash.”

  Brady whistled.

  “That’s some take, but what’s the catch?”

  “Private security and lots of it; all backed up by the State Police,” Craig said.

  “That’s on the fairgrounds; so why don’t we hit the armored car as it takes the money to the bank?”

  Craig sent Brady a wink.

  “That’s my thinking too, and it’s another reason we’ll need Avery. The cash pick-ups will be random, and unless we want to watch the fairgrounds 24/7, we’ll need inside info from the armored car company’s computer. Avery can get us that information.”

  “It still sounds risky,” Lindy said.

  Craig smiled confidently.

  “It is risky, but it can be done. I have an idea how to do it, but we won’t commit to it until after I’ve had a chance to do more research.”

  “Avery could help with that,” Mitch said.

  “Yeah and if he passes his test, we’ll bring him in on the heist.”

  “What’s our back-up if we decide not to do it?” Brady asked.

  “A bank job in Pittsfield that I’ve had my eye on, but it’s small, the take might only be a hundred grand.”

  Mitch poured another drink and sat back.

  “All right, we’ll make the decision once we know more. In the meantime, we’ll all relax over the winter like always.”

  The room grew silent then, but Brady saw that everyone was looking his way.

  “What?” he said.

  Selina and Lindy moved over and sat beside him, Selina on his right, Lindy on the left.

  Selina took his hand.

  “This girl Mary that you’re seeing, how’s that going to work with what we have here?”

  “I don’t know what you mean?” Brady said, although he had an idea.

  “I mean that you can never be yourself around her, and that’s no way to live the rest of your life.”

  “She never has to find out about the scores, as far as she’s concerned I’m in the construction business.”

  “It won’t work, kid,” Mitch said. “I’ve seen a lot of guys try that juggling act over the years and sooner or later they drop one of the balls.”

  “If I ever told her the truth... I don’t think that she would accept it. She comes from the straight world, you know, and her father and mother are both accountants.”

  “Are you going to keep us a secret too?” Lindy said, in a voice tinged with hurt feelings.

  Brady smiled at her.

  “You guys are my family, if we never did another score that wouldn’t change.”

  “Would she move here to be with you?”

  “I don’t know, Mitch, and hey, we’ve only been together for a short time, but things will work themselves out.”

  “So, when do we get to meet her?” Craig said.

  “How about next month? I’ll bring her down for Thanksgiving.”

  Selina released his hand.

  “That means we all have to pretend to be somebody we’re not, and not just at Thanksgiving, but every time we’re near her. Brady, don’t you see how wrong that is?”

  “We already do that with the kids though, don’t we? None of your children have any idea what’s going on.”

  “That’s true, but they’re kids, this would be different.”

  Jake leaned forward and locked eyes with Brady.

  “There’s something else to consider, if she finds out about you, she finds out about all of us, and I’ll tell you right now, I’ll do whatever it takes to protect Lindy and me.”

  Brady stood up and glared down at him.

  “Are you threatening my girl?”

  “I’m just telling you the way things are, and it’s something you already know. It’s why you took care of that inside man on that job we did in ‘09’.”

  “This wouldn’t go down that way; if Mary ever found out anything she wouldn’t use it to hurt me or anybody else.”

  Jake got up from his seat and stood before Brady, his massive size intimidating.

  “This Mary, she’s no good for you, and I say this to you like an older brother.”

  Brady looked around the room.

  “What is this, an intervention?”

  Mitch sighed.

  “We’re concerned and we worry about you, but you’ve always been your own man and I’ll back whatever play you make, as always.”

  Brady sat back on the sofa and Jake returned to his chair.

  “I’ll go slow, but understand something, I really like this girl.”

  Selina patted his hand.

  “All right, we spoke our piece; now let’s watch a movie, and who wants cake?”

  Brady stood again.

  “I’ll pass; I’ve got a long drive ahead of me in the morning and I want to get some sleep.”

  The women kissed him, the men shook his hand, and Brady left as they all filed into the kitchen for dessert.

  When he reached his car, he found a beautiful woman sitting in the passenger seat. She had long black hair, long sexy legs, and a look of longing in her dark eyes.

  Brady opened the driver’s side door, sat behind the wheel, and stared at her.

  “Hello, Shay.”

  CHAPTER 9

  In Vermont, Mary smiled as she watched Chief Clay Richards walk off the elevator with his son, Bobby, but then frowned as she saw that they were not alone.

  The woman walking beside Clay was named Eva Ames. She had been introduced to Mary as a waitress from the local diner, who had been babysitting Bobby for Clay while he spent time at his wife’s bedside.

  However, Mary saw the predatory gleam in Eva’s ey
es whenever she looked at Clay, and thought that Eva had plans to become Clay’s second wife, when the inevitable took place and Clay’s present wife passed away.

  Eva Ames was a shapely and petite woman with dark hair and blue eyes. If she did have Clay in her sights, the man would probably be unable to resist her, and as he once said, his son needed a mother.

  Mary greeted them all with a smile and gave Bobby a kiss on the cheek. The little boy appeared embarrassed by the attention and clung to Eva’s leg. Whatever shortcomings Eva Ames possessed, she did seem genuinely affectionate towards Bobby and the young boy appeared to like her a great deal.

  Bobby was holding a toy that was a figure of a popular cartoon character, and when Mary noticed it, she said the character’s name.

  Bobby looked surprised.

  “You know who Buzzy is?”

  “I sure do, Buzzy and Beano.”

  “You have a little boy?”

  “No honey, I watch it myself, I love cartoons.”

  “Really?”

  “Uh-huh and do you have a Beano figure too?”

  Bobby shook his head.

  “Daddy couldn’t find one.”

  “They’re as rare as hen’s teeth,” Clay said. “But not as rare as this.”

  Clay handed Mary a book, a slim volume about the Civil War that was clad in leather and looked very old.

  “What’s this, Clay?”

  “That is a memoir. It was written and self-published by a Civil War soldier who began the war fighting for The South and ended it fighting for The North. I’m told that there are only a handful of those still around, although the man had five-hundred copies printed at the time of publication.”

  Mary caressed the volume as if it were made of delicate glass.

  “Oh, I can’t wait to read it and thank you so much for sharing it.”

  “Please be careful with that,” Eva said. “It must be worth some money.”

  “Of course I’ll be careful,” Mary said, and the two women stared at each other silently for a moment.

  Clay saw the exchange and lowered his voice, while gazing at Mary.

  “Eva... she’s been a Godsend where Bobby is concerned.”

  Mary smiled.

  “I’m glad you have help with him at a time like this.”

  “Is my wife awake, Mary? I’d like Bobby to see her.”

  Mary nodded, knowing that what Clay really meant is that he would like Bobby to see her one last time. Fortunately, the chief’s wife was having a good day and was filled with enough drugs to hold back the pain, at least for a little while.

  “I was just speaking to her and she’s looking forward to seeing Bobby, but perhaps you should go in first, things can... change quickly.”

  Clay knew what she meant and went in to talk to his wife, to be sure that she was up to seeing Bobby.

  Mary returned to her seat behind the nurses’ station, but felt Eva’s eyes upon her.

  “Can I help you, Ms. Ames?”

  “I see you call him Clay now.”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you have a boyfriend, Mary?”

  “As a matter of fact, I do, and I’ll be seeing him tomorrow.”

  “That’s good to know,” Eva said, and then she tickled Bobby to make him laugh.

  ***

  Shay Vicenti leaned across the front seat and kissed Brady hard on the lips, so hard that he could taste her tongue.

  Brady pushed her away, but gently.

  “How did you get inside my car?”

  “You gave me a key once, remember? Or have you forgotten everything we used to share?”

  “Used to, Shay, as in the past, listen; I don’t want to hurt your feelings but we’re over. Move on.”

  Shay laid her head on his shoulder.

  “I don’t want to move on; I want to move forward.”

  “Not with me, I’m sorry, but not with me.”

  “Because of that bitch you met, what was her name, Mary?”

  Brady took a deep breath and as he released it, he got out of the car. An instant later, he was on the other side and was ripping the passenger door open, with the intention to grab Shay and pull her out of the seat; however, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

  “Get out, please?”

  Shay got out and pressed herself against him.

  “Get this Mary girl out of your system and then come back to me, but don’t take too long.”

  “Or what, you’ll move on? Good, do that anyway, because Mary will always be a part of me.”

  Shay released him and backed up a step, and Brady could tell that she was hurt by his words.

  “Goodbye, Shay.”

  Brady drove away, while watching her in his rearview mirror, expecting to see tears. He was not disappointed.

  He tried to force Shay from his mind by putting music on to forget, but he hated having hurt her feelings, and when he stopped for a light a mile later, he sent her a one-word text: SORRY

  CHAPTER 10

  On Monday Morning, Detective Harry Drake stared down at the body of Melissa Hartford.

  Harry was on Mount Vernon Street, in the Beacon Hill section of Boston, and standing inside a luxury apartment that was worth more than a million dollars.

  Melissa Hartford was the wife of Cortlandt Hartford, a retired stockbroker in his eighties.

  Melissa had been thirty-four and although she’d been dead for nearly an hour and had the left side of her head crushed in, Harry could still tell that the young Mrs. Hartford had been a looker.

  The murder weapon was some sort of modern sculpture, which was about the size of a small lamp and had a point on its top.

  It was Harry’s first day as a Homicide cop and he and his partner answered the call, because they were driving nearby.

  However, the Hartford murder wouldn’t be theirs, because the brass at police headquarters knew that it could turn into a high profile case, and so they passed it along to another team of detectives that had more experience.

  Still, Harry and his partner had been first on the scene and so they were staying until they had to be somewhere else.

  The call came in from the husband. Cortlandt Hartford claimed that he was awakened from a nap by a shout, which was followed by a scream, and when he went to investigate, he found his young wife laying on the floor, eyes staring at nothing, and with a vicious wound to the side of her head that was so forceful it had split her skull open.

  The door to the apartment was sitting ajar at the time as well, and Harry’s first thought was that Melissa Hartford had been the victim of a push-in robbery that had gone sideways and turned to murder.

  First day as a homicide cop or not, Harry was sure that the old man hadn’t killed his wife. For one thing, the man would never have the strength to deliver a blow as brutal as the one that killed her.

  Also, if he had hired someone to do it, then why be on the scene when it happened, instead of far away with an airtight alibi.

  The old guy looked shaken, and had been given a mild sedative by his doctor, who was a heart specialist named John Rafferty.

  Harry had noticed something about Dr. Rafferty, who was a handsome man in his early forties.

  The doctor never looked at the wife’s body, not once, not even a sideways glance.

  He had entered the apartment while being escorted by one of the uniforms and went straight to Cortlandt Hartford. Hartford was sitting on a huge white sofa that was so large it made the shriveled up old man look childlike.

  The doctor stayed only for a short time before saying that he had to get back to his office, and once again, he went past the body without taking a glance.

  Harry walked over to the wide window that looked down onto the street and saw the doctor walk over to a blue sedan, and after the man had climbed inside the car, he lowered his head onto the steering wheel.

  Harry couldn’t be certain, but it looked as if the doctor was crying.

  CHAPTER 11

  Burlington, Vermontr />
  Mary placed a comforting hand on the shoulder of Clay Richards, as the man cried deep tears of grief over his wife’s body.

  Patricia Taft Richards had passed away only moments ago, while holding her husband’s hand.

  Clay was crying so hard that his shoulders shook, and Mary’s own tears slid down her cheeks as she took in her friend’s grief, but she brushed them away, because she needed to be strong.

  Mary cleared her throat and then spoke.

  “I’ll be at the nurses’ station, Clay. Come out when you’re ready.”

  He couldn’t speak, but Clay acknowledged her words with a slight nod and Mary drifted out of the room, where an older nurse, a black woman named Lois, was working on the computer.

  Lois looked up, saw Mary’s face and knew.

  “She passed, hmm?”

  “Yes.”

  “That poor man, to lose a wife that young, still, he’s a good-looking guy, and in time I’m sure he’ll remarry.”

  Mary leaned on the nurses’ station and rested her chin on her hands.

  “Poor Clay,”

  “What about you?” Lois said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You and the Chief, there seemed to be a connection there; maybe someday you two could be more than friends.”

  Mary blinked rapidly in surprise.

  “Clay and I are only friends, so no, nothing will happen between us, and anyway, I already have a boyfriend.”

  “That guy from Boston? You hardly see him.”

  “That was my fault. I moved here right after we first met and then we grew closer, but he’s a part-owner in the construction firm that will be working on the lake project, and so I’ll be seeing much more of him when that begins, and he’s here visiting right now.”

  “That’s good, honey, and I hope it works out for you.”

  “I think it will, I really like him.”

  “What’s his name again?”

  “Brady, Brady Ross.”

  ***

  Brady stood on the rim of a huge depression in the earth that would soon become the new Destination Lake.

  Brady had studied the history of the area on the Internet before venturing out to get a look at the property, but the size of the area still surprised him.

  The land had been a granite quarry until it was discovered that veins of copper were present as well. That’s when the mining began, and within two years, the copper was gone, leaving a huge hole where the granite had been and mineshafts running beneath and alongside it.