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.