Chapter 17―Joshua

After talking with Amanda, I felt a huge sense of relief. As much as I wanted to get out of Vegas, I had dreaded having to leave her behind. I didn’t know if we could make it for the long run, or if we’d even be romantically involved again, but I was willing to give it a shot.

It also felt good to know that she didn’t hate my guts either. If she was willing to hide out in another country with me for a while, she must like me a little bit.

Now that Amanda was in on the job, I didn’t have to go running out of the room every time I needed to make a phone call. I waited until Reese was due to be done working to call him.

“Reese,” I said excitedly, “she’s in.”

“That’s a relief. So she promised not to name us during the investigation?”

“No, I mean she’s actually in on this. She’s going to help us get the money, and then she’s going to come with us.”

There was no response from the other side of the line.

“Are you there?”

“Y–yeah,” he stuttered. “I don’t think I understand.”

“It’s a long story, and I can fill you in on it later. The main point is, we can trust her, and she’s given us a much better plan.”

“Let’s act soon. There’s nothing in the bank account yet and I’m getting nervous.”

“Her dad isn’t going to pay. We need to go directly to her mom. Do you think Abi would be down to fly to Texas? She can take the cash out of Amanda’s purse to buy the tickets.”

“I’ll talk to her. When should she go?”

“Probably first thing tomorrow morning. Is there any chance you guys can stop by tonight? I think it’s best if we all meet in person to talk things through.”

“Yeah, as long as Ben doesn’t notice we’re gone.”

“Can you bring some paper and an envelope? Amanda wants to write a note to her mom.”

“Sure. I’ll wait until Abi’s shift is over, and then we can head over.”

“Cool,” I said. “See you then.”

“What did he say?” Amanda asked, twirling a strand of hair.

“They’ll be here later tonight,” I replied. “I think this could actually work.”

“Of course it will,” she said. “You have me on your side.”

I picked up the old blankets, folding them neatly and placing them next to the couch. I cleaned up as best as I could in anticipation of Reese and Abi’s arrival. I didn’t know when they’d show up, but I hoped that it would be soon. The longer I sat in that building, the more anxious I became.

“Can we really go anywhere we want to?” Amanda asked, turning to face me. She had a glimmer of excitement in her eyes.

“I suppose so. I imagine that Reese and Abi will want to go somewhere in Europe. You’d never guess, but he’s a pretty talented writer. I think Abi’s got a degree in Art History or something like that, too.”

“Really?” she asked. “That surprises me.”

“I know my fair share of dancers around here. A lot of them are girls trying to pay for college or moms making sure they can provide for their kids. Even Reese was accepted into a good writing program, but he had to drop out after a few semesters because he couldn’t pay tuition.”

“Have you ever left the country before?” she asked.

“Nope. I’ve always liked the idea of traveling, but I could never seem to make it work. Honestly, I’m kind of glad that I’m being forced into moving. Maybe I’ll finally have a chance at the life I always wanted.”

“Where do you see yourself living?”

“I couldn’t even begin to tell you. I haven’t seen enough of the world to know where I’d fit in. What about you?”

“Italy,” she said after some careful consideration. “Rome might be nice. Or maybe Milan. I’ve always had a dream of doing something in the fashion scene. I’d love to do some designing, or maybe open my own boutique.”

“I could help you with that,” I chimed in. “You can focus on the clothes, and I’ll help run the shop. We could make our own hours and not have to answer to anyone.”

Amanda smiled. “Do you think we could really do that?”

“I don’t see why not. We’ll have a good amount of money to invest into it. It will be a fresh start for both of us. I think we can do whatever we want.”

We sat quietly for a moment, both daydreaming about what our life could be like in Italy. I imagined us living in a small apartment above our shop, spending our days working and our nights drinking wine and making love. I knew it would take some time for her to regain her trust in me, but I would wait. I wondered if she thought about the same things.

“Plus,” I added, “we can eat as much pizza as we want.”

“I’m sold.” She giggled.

Once again, I got the sudden urge to kiss her. I didn’t know if this was the time or the place, but I wanted to hold her in my arms so badly. Every time I worked up the courage to do it, I was worried that I was going to ruin everything by coming on to her again. Finally, I made up my mind that I was going to lean into her, and if she followed, then I would know that it was time.

I slowly started to lean into her when the door swung open, letting hot, dry air into the room.

I jumped back, sliding to the opposite side of the couch like a teenager getting caught by his parents.

“Sorry,” Reese said, wiping his feet on the mat. “Did I interrupt something?”

“No,” I said quickly. “We were just talking about the plan.”

“Right,” he said curtly and handed Amanda a piece of paper, a pen, and an envelope. She knelt on the floor and starting drafting her letter to her mother on the coffee table.

“Abi’s flight leaves at seven tomorrow morning,” Reese said, looking over to a sullen looking Abi. “Thanks for the cash, Amanda.”

She nodded without looking up from her writing.

“Amanda is going to give you the letter and her necklace to give to her mom. We’re going to ask for half of our original demand so her mom will be more likely to hand it over.”

“That reminds me,” Reese said grimly. “I talked to Ben. He told me to call the parents tomorrow and demand a full million.”

“Are you going to do it?” I asked.

“I don’t know. If Ben’s around, I don’t have much of a choice. However, he specifically said that we should all limit our contact with each other.”

“What’s his reasoning for that?”

“I think it’s partially so we don’t catch on to what he’s doing. I also think it’s because he doesn’t want us to talk to each other. He must know that we’re not happy with this whole situation.”

“Maybe that will work in our favor. I’m paranoid that he’s going to show up here out of the blue and catch us in the act.”

“Is there anything else we need to plan?” Abi asked. “I’ll do my best to get the money tomorrow, and if all goes well, I’ll be back here in the afternoon.”

“I’ll talk to my guy in LA to get us fake passports,” I offered.

“That will cover our escape,” Reese said, “but do we have a plan for covering our tracks?”

“Give me another piece of paper,” Amanda requested. “I’ll write a note to the police and hide it somewhere in here, telling the story we want the police to believe. I’ll name Ben and say that he worked alone.”

We all nodded in agreement.

“I guess the only thing we can do now is lay low and hope that Ben and his crooked cop don’t get to us before the money does,” I said.

“It looks like we have everything settled then,” Reese said. “Abi will send us a message the moment she has the money. Stay safe, everyone.”

Reese put his arm around Abi’s shoulder and guided her out of the room. As the wind blew inside, a shiver went down my spine. We were so close to getting out of there, out of this mess of a life that I had created for myself.