Confused by Shadows

by Geonn Cannon

  They were parked at the curb halfway down the street, close enough to see the bank but hopefully out of the range of their cameras. Lance wasn't comfortable being so close to the future scene of the crime, but there wasn't much she could do about it now. Besides, it was good planning to do recon. It would spare them from having any nasty surprises.

  And speaking of nasty surprises. She lifted her foot and displaced a load bearing wall of garbage. Fast food containers, burger wrappers and empty soda cans collapsed and covered her other foot.

  "Don't worry about that," Ares said.

  "Something just spilled on my shoe," Lance said. She looked down and decided she couldn't discount the possibility of something alive under the mess. "Or peed on it."

  "Messy car, organized thoughts." He closed his lips around his straw and slurped the remnants of his soda.

  "Have you been doing this long?"

  "Long enough to get good. Long enough to get anxious when a new player enters the game at the last minute."

  Lance stared out the window. "There was no way I was going to let Jodie be a part of this."

  "Really commendable. Fucking stupid, but commendable. I think half...no, more than half. I think a great goddamn amount of the heroic stuff people get awarded for is just stupid ass moronic behavior. Running into a burning building, that dude a few years back who jumped on a guy under the subway train, diving on a grenade. That shit is just sheer stupidity. Darwin. Survival of the fittest."

  "Uh-huh," Lance said. The bank manager spoke briefly with the security guards, waved good bye and went back inside. The guard returned to the armored car and, a few seconds later, the truck pulled away from the curb. Lance looked at the clock; the entire thing had taken less than ten minutes. Tania waited until the truck was gone and the bank manager was inside. She pushed away from the wall, casually glanced toward Ares' car, then turned and went inside.

  "A week from Friday, that's the big day. And it'll be a lot busier than it is right now," he said. He pointed at the bank. "This is just a Monday. But Friday is payday, everyone cashing their check. This place doesn't have a drive through window, so everyone's gotta go inside. Trust me, enough people in this neighborhood don't trust direct deposit and insist on doin' it themselves. So there's plenty of mazuma on hand. We're gonna need all hands on deck to make sure no one tries to be a hero."

  Lance nodded. "But no violence, right?"

  "Violence if necessary," Ares said. "We'll be armed. They see us come in with a bunch of guns, they can tell if you're ready to use 'em. So we be ready, they see it, so no one has to get hurt. Works every time." He plucked a piece of pork that was about to fall from the bun of his sandwich and dropped it into his mouth, chewing quietly.

  Lance grimaced. She didn't even want to know where he found a barbeque place that was open for breakfast. She sighed. "So, this team of yours. Do you always work in Washington?"

  Ares pursed his lips. "Now, see, that there's another problem. Newbie comes in and elbows her way into the group, starts asking a whole bunch of questions. That happens, and all I see is four big letters written on that person's head. N-A-R-C." He turned and looked at Lance with his dark eyes. "You feelin' me?"

  "No questions," Lance said.

  Ares reached down and twisted the knob for the heater. "Fucking freezer in here. Shit, man. Sun's shining, but I'm about to freeze my 'nads off."

  Lance grimaced. "Hey, Ares. How about we just don't talk at all for a while."

  Ares shrugged and they both stared silently at the bank.

  #

  Ares drove Lance back to Sinjin's to pick up her car. She was halfway across the parking lot when Rebecca came outside. She wore a heavy velvet jacket and a scarf, the tails of her coat picked up by the wind. "Why don't you join us inside?" she said. "We're having a bite to eat. It'll give you an opportunity to get to know your fellow team members."

  "I'm supposed to meet Jodie for lunch," Lance said without breaking stride.

  "Jodie is inside."

  Lance stopped and frowned at her watch. "Jodie's still at work."

  "She just arrived. Come inside. Socialize."

  Lance followed Rebecca into the restaurant. The tables were all set, the mood music playing through ceiling speakers, but everyone was gathered around a single table in the middle of the room. Jodie was indeed present, her coveralls pushed down around her waist to reveal an undershirt. She looked up as Lance entered and her eyes widened slightly. She mouthed, "Sorry."

  "It's okay," Lance replied. And then she was attacked from behind. She nearly responded with force before she realized it was just a hug. An unusually ferocious hug from someone she had only met once, but a hug nonetheless.

  Nemesis, the woman who assigned every team member their names, squeezed Lance around the midsection, smiling brightly with her eyes squeezed shut. "I'm so glad you came. I was so afraid you wouldn't."

  "Yeah," Lance said. She looked to Rebecca for help. "No problem."

  Rebecca put her hands on Nemesis' shoulders and said, "Angie, leave her alone. Let her go." When Nemesis stepped back, Lance saw that she was dressed in a frilly peasant blouse and stretch pants. She was barefoot, and wore a ring on one of her toes.

  Lance watched her glide back to the table and take the seat next to Aphrodite. "What exactly is her story?"

  "Not exactly your first pick for robbing a bank, is she?" Rebecca asked.

  Jodie had crossed the room and stopped next to Lance. Lance reached out and lightly touched Jodie's arm as Rebecca spoke.

  "She wasn't always so spacey. Two years ago, her gun accidentally discharged during a job. Bullet caught a little girl in the chest. The whole group went into hiding until the heat was off, so she didn't hear that the little girl lived until a week later. Ares said she spent the entire time hugging herself, rocking in the corner and crying. No sleep, no food, just staring into space, praying. When she found out the girl was alive, it's like a switch was thrown. Ares keeps her around because he thinks she's good karma. Thinks she's blessed or something."

  "What's with the names?" Jodie asked as they started toward the table.

  Rebecca shook her head. "The team was always color coded. Hence the tie that goes with your suits. But after the incident, Nemesis comes up with themes. Winnie-the-Pooh characters, Bond actors, and one particularly interesting job included names taken from sexual positions. I believe Aphrodite was Tribadism. I think it's a Tarantino thing. Reservoir Dogs."

  "You seem to know an awful lot about this little group," Lance said. She looked down and saw that her hand was wrapped around Jodie's. She squeezed and focused on Rebecca again.

  Rebecca nodded. "I don't do business with people I don't know. Trust me, they were thoroughly examined before this process began."

  Hatcher, the man who seemed to have put everything into motion, rose from his seat as Lance and Jodie approached. "Miss Landry." He extended a hand and Lance reluctantly released Jodie's hand to shake. "Miss Curran, you're lucky to have someone like this in your life. The risk she's taking—"

  "You don't even know the half of it," Jodie said.

  Hatcher began to say something else when something near the door caught his eye. He smiled and said, "Ah, the gang's all here."

  Lance and Jodie turned to see Tania walk in. Lance felt Jodie tense and looked at her in time to see Jodie's right eye twitch. Tania still wore her security uniform—the shirt untucked—and walked through the restaurant with her eyes focused on Lance and Jodie's entwined hands. "Sorry, I'm late. I have to leave early. Only have forty-five minutes for lunch, and this place isn't exactly centrally located." She smiled at Jodie. "Hey there."

  "Hi, Tania." Jodie's voice was cold, the bare minimum of politeness.

  Tania looked at Lance and said, "How's she treating you? Everything okay? You two have slept together, right?"

  Jodie squeezed Lance's hand hard enough to hurt. Lance knew it was partly anger, but mostly a warning for her not to take the bait. "Jodie is no longer a
ny of your concern, Tania," Lance said, keeping her voice even.

  Hatcher interrupted by clearing his throat. When they turned to him, he gestured at the chairs and said, "Please. Have a seat."

  "Let me guess," Ares said. "One of us is going to betray you."

  "No. And you can deny me all you want, three times or thirty. This is just an attempt to get to know one another. I know Rebecca—"

  Rebecca held up a hand. "Aliases only, please."

  "Right. I apologize. I know Athena and Ares best, from setting this up. But I haven't met much of Ares' team. And I definitely would like to get to know Artemis a little better."

  Ares had put his knife across the top of his glass and laid his fork over it, forming an X with the silverware. "We do the job and then we got nothing to say to each other. Do the split, never see each other again. Don't know why we gotta get all touchy feely about it."

  Hatcher reached out and slapped the silverware off the glass. "I'm going into that bank with you, remember. If I don't know you, if I can't predict how you may react in a stressful situation, then the opportunity for disaster increases."

  "Fine," Ares said. He straightened in his seat and said, "Eat, drink and be merry. What the fuck."

  Lance noticed Aphrodite was focused on Rebecca, her finger idly tracing the top edge of her glass. Jodie kept casting wary glances at Tania and shaking her head. Nemesis was quietly humming, and the redheaded man, the man identified as Morpheus, had finished mutilating a muffin and began popping the tiny pieces into his mouth.

  Rebecca smiled and said, "Isn't this nice? One big happy family."

  #

  After the meal, Lance found Jodie outside. She was leaning against the trunk of the Torino, staring out at the freeway. Lance walked up behind her and touched her arm. Jodie jerked her arm away and said, "For fuck's sake, leave me alone."

  "Okay. I just—"

  Jodie turned. "Claire, don't go. I'm sorry, I thought you were Tania." She reached out and snagged Lance's sleeve with her fingers. "Don't go, please."

  Lance stepped closer and leaned against the trunk. Jodie scooted closer, put her head on Lance's shoulder, and wrapped her arms around her waist. "It's freezing out here," Jodie whispered.

  "Do you want to go back inside?"

  "Not while she's in there."

  "She's leaving soon," Lance said. She looked around the parking lot for either of Tania's vehicles and spotted the motorcycle a few spaces away from the Torino. She recalled watching Jodie climb off of it, and smiled. "Oh."

  "What?"

  Lance embraced Jodie. "Speed gets you off. I can only imagine what it's like hopping on the back of that thing."

  Jodie chuckled. "Like jumping on a hundred horsepower vibrator. In public. That thing bought my relationship with Tania an extra two months."

  Lance pulled Jodie closer and kissed her ear. "Lucky for me. You sure you don't miss it?"

  "Nope," Jodie said. She took Lance's left hand and kissed the tip of the middle finger. "I found something to take its place."

  Tania came out of the restaurant a few seconds later, helmet in hand. She saw Lance and Jodie looking at the bike and said, "Kawasaki Indian. Four stroke engine, hundred and seven horsepower."

  "I've heard," Lance said.

  Tania put her helmet on and flipped the visor up so Lance could see her eyes. "Want to take it out sometime, let me know."

  "No, thanks," Lance said. She squeezed Jodie's hand where Tania couldn't see. "I'm happy with what I have."

  "Your loss," Tania said. She flipped the visor down, backed out of the space, and revved the engine as she swept out of the parking lot.

  Lance and Jodie watched her go, and Lance wrapped her arms tighter around Jodie. "No. Her loss. Definitely her loss."

  Jodie smiled and nuzzled her face against Lance's neck.

  #

  Jodie turned twenty-eight on Wednesday, ten days before the bank robbery. Lance and Daphne presented her with a cake at lunch, and Daphne pretended to be occupied in the garage while Lance fulfilled Jodie's fantasy of sex in the bathroom. After work, Lance took her to Castaneda's and led the group in a round of Happy Birthday. They danced, drank the free beer offered by the bartender, and went home.

  With an hour left on her birthday, Jodie sat on the balcony with her eyes half-closed, breathing heavily. "You know, I have a...surprise planned, too."

  Lance looked up from her position between Jodie's legs. She kissed Jodie's thigh and said, "Oh?"

  "Don't stop," Jodie said, and Lance bowed her head again. Jodie shifted and bit her bottom lip. After a moment, she said, "It's this weekend. The last weekend we'll have before..." She touched the top of Lance's head and grunted. "I don't want to give it away. But it's not just for my birthday. It's honoring you, too. What you've done for me. You've changed my life, Claire."

  Lance closed her eyes and, after a moment said, "You made me realize I was still alive, Jodie."

  Jodie blinked away her tears. "Come here." She pulled Lance to her and kissed her. "I'm going to miss you so much."

  Lance wrapped her arms around Jodie, Jodie's legs tightening around her midsection to draw her closer, reluctant to let her go.

  #

  Jodie slapped Lance's bare foot, and it vanished under the blanket.

  "Come on, lazy butt," Jodie said. She crawled onto the bed, covering the Lance-shaped bulge with her body. She dug through the blankets until she found flesh, and she gently nibbled it with her teeth. Lance grunted and tried to burrow deeper into the blankets. "There's only so far you can run before you're out of bed," Jodie said. "I will win this battle."

  "Ess fuken coh," Lance said.

  "It's November. It's supposed to be fucking cold," Jodie said. She tugged the blankets away and exposed Lance's upper body. "You're wearing a tank top. No wonder you're cold." She snaked her hand under the blankets and pinched Lance's ass. "Get up. Warm shower, thick sweater, you'll be warmer than you are here. And you won't have me crawling all over your ass."

  "That's not incentive," Lance said. She rolled onto her back and pulled Jodie down. They kissed and Lance ran her hand down Jodie's side, pushing under the waistband of her pajama pants. "I know someplace that's always warm. Soft..."

  Jodie's breath caught and her eyelids fluttered. She swallowed and said, "Well. At least. Your fingers. Will be warm." She licked her lips.

  Lance leaned up and kissed Jodie's throat. "Do you mind?"

  "No," Jodie said. She twisted her body until she could kiss Lance's lips. "I'll always keep you warm. Always." She lifted her hips and Lance's hand pushed harder between her legs. Jodie sighed and stopped trying to force Lance out of bed.

  When they finished, overheated with the sweat threatening to freeze on their skin, Jodie curled against Lance's side and licked the sweat from her breast.

  "Why the hell are you trying to get me out of bed at five in the morning? It's Saturday."

  "It's our last Saturday," Jodie said. "Remember, I said I had plans for our last weekend. I want to do it up right."

  "Right. I'd forgotten." Lance rubbed her forehead and pushed her hair out of her face. "Well, at least we got started on the right foot."

  Jodie chuckled low in her throat and kissed Lance's nipple. "Get up and shower. We're already late. I want to be in Seattle by seven."

  "Seattle?"

  "Mm hmm." Jodie pushed herself up and slid to the edge of the mattress. She bent down to look for her clothes, and Lance found herself distracted by the planes and ridges of Jodie's torso. She reached out and ran two knuckles along Jodie's spine and Jodie arched her body. "Stop that." Jodie looked over her shoulder. "Not right now. Later."

  "Promise?"

  Jodie stood up and pulled a T-shirt over her head. "Shower. Go."

  Lance grudgingly rolled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom.

  Twenty minutes later, after Jodie stopped by a neighbor's apartment to make sure Danica would be taken care of over the weekend, they were on the road. Lance st
ruggled not to fall asleep in the passenger seat, sorting through Jodie's CDs. "I appreciate the thought," Lance said, "but why exactly are we going to Seattle?"

  "Because you need to be a tourist. Just once. You've seen all of these wonderful places on your way from one place to the next, but you never really got a chance to experience any of them. I'm going to change that. You're getting the full Seattle experience."

  Lance nodded and looked in the rearview mirror. They had this particular stretch of highway all to themselves, so she said, "Speed up a little."

  "I'm already going seventy," Jodie said.

  "So push it to eighty," Lance said. She reached across the center console and rested her hand in Jodie's lap. She brushed the back of her hand over Jodie's crotch, then tugged her zipper down.

  Jodie gasped and gripped the wheel with both hands, lifting her hips off the seat. The engine growled and the speedometer rose to eighty. Lance's hand slipped into Jodie's pants and she said, "Fast enough?"

  "Getting there," Jodie said. She licked her lips and carefully lowered herself back to her seat. "It's going to be quite the commute," she said.

  Lance smiled.

  #

  They checked into the hotel and Jodie carried their suitcases upstairs. She let Lance open the hotel room door, lead the way in, and said, "Where would you like the bags?"

  Lance frowned at the businesslike tone of her voice and pointed at one of the two beds in the room. "Might as well leave them there."

  "Very well, ma'am," Jodie said.

  Lance stared at Jodie's back as she put the bags down. "Are you feeling okay?"

  "Just fine, ma'am," Jodie said. She turned and clasped her hands behind her back. "Will that be all, ma'am? I should return to the lobby in case anyone else needs a bellhop."

  Lance finally picked up on what she was doing. "But I haven't given you a tip yet."

  "Oh, it's worked into the price of the room, ma'am, no worries."