Bruce was taken to the helicopter on the roof and then to LAX airport. He boarded Howard’s private jet, accompanied by Melissa, her father himself and eight of his men. Upon asking one of them, he was informed that they would fly to Phoenix. However, the man in question did not have any more information and only told Bruce that he would be given further instructions on the ground.

As one would expect, Bruce was devastated. In his mind, Melissa had betrayed him in the worst possible way. Whatever dreams he had of a life with her were instantly destroyed. He could no longer trust the woman who had made him risk his life. As far as he was concerned, things were over between them. During the two-hour flight, he would not even glance at her.

“I can’t believe I opened up to you. You ruined everything, Melissa. You helped that psychopath catch me. That’s why you were fishing in your purse this morning. I think you turned on your cell phone. How could you have been so naïve as to believe that he’d allow us to be together? There’s no way in hell he’s going to do that. He’s an animal, darling. He’s just a big, old, greedy animal. And you trusted him. Now, I got to go do this and hope that he won’t hurt Matt.”

After landing at Sky Harbor International Airport, Bruce was driven to a large, old warehouse on the outskirts of the city, where four more men had been waiting for them. It featured two, big windows –one on each side and there was only a big, wooden table in the middle and a small room on the upper right corner. Other than that, it was completely empty. Bruce was led to that table and sat on the left of the man who seemed to be in charge, before Howard and Melissa went to the room.

“I take it you’re Bruce. My name’s Tom.” The rather overweight, young man introduced himself and broke out a map. “Now…” He sucked in a deep breath. “You may be wondering why you were brought here. It’s simple: The trucks left Vegas a few minutes ago, which means that they’ll be here sometime between 10:30 and 11pm tonight. But, there’s a problem. We can’t touch them until they’re far from the city.”

“Meaning?”

“We can only rob them in Fountain Hills.” Tom explained, pointing at the location of the small city on the map. “It’s 36 miles from here. It’s much smaller than Phoenix. I was there this morning. There are plenty of narrow roads, both in and around the city.”

“It can’t be done in the city.” Bruce spoke his mind. “The commotion could wake up the neighbors.”

“I know.” Tom agreed. “Which is why I’ve picked Barnard Road. It’s uphill, it’s got trees on both sides and it’s full of industrial warehouses. The nearest house is half a mile north. It’s perfect.”

“Not bad.” Bruce commented. “But we need something to block off the road they came from. And it’s got to be huge.”

“Why?”

“Truckers are excellent drivers.” Bruce responded. “We’re up against six trucks. The first three are just a decoy. The money’s in the last three. If the drivers smell a rat, they’ll just put the trucks in reverse and get the hell out of there, ASAP.”

“Smart thinking.” Tom remarked, as a toothy smile spread across his chubby face.

“Yeah, that’s why that psychopath dragged me here.” Bruce hummed.

“I got two, big trucks outback.” Tom claimed. “We’ll carry the bodies in one of them. We can use them to form a roadblock.”

“The what?!” Bruce exclaimed.

“The bodies.”

“Fuck, no!” Bruce yelled. “We’re talking about twelve people here. Nobody’s shooting anyone. Do you get me?”

“I thought we were supposed to get rid of…”

“I don’t care what you thought!” Bruce cried, interrupting him. “I said, no! We’re going to gather the security clerks up, tie them up and leave them.”

“Alright.” Tom gave an exasperated gasp. “How do you want to do this?”

“First of all, we need intercom.” Bruce spoke in a firm tone. “I can’t just yell at you. We need big guns and masks. Preferably black. Ski masks are ideal. Are there any bushes on that road?”

“Yeah.” Tom nodded. “Some of them are pretty big, too. Why?”

“I don’t like the idea of jumping from a tree. Hiding behind them is risky. Oncoming cars could spot us.” Bruce said with a sigh.

“We got AK-47’s, a few Glocks and a couple of M-16’s. Military grade.” Tom grinned.

“Good.” Bruce muttered. “The men will have to put the trucks in gear and jump out of them. The security clerks could cut themselves loose and go after us. Talk to me when you get the trucks.”

“I guess we’re ready.” Tom said.

Melissa’s footsteps echoed in the vast warehouse, as Tom and the four men rose from their seats. Bruce leaned his elbows on the table, hoping to avoid having the dreaded discussion, as they walked away from the table. To no avail. The click clacking of her heels was getting louder by the second. He would not force his eyes to meet hers; the pain of her betrayal was still too fresh.

“Baby?” The single word that came out of Melissa’s mouth was enough to infuriate him. Bruce did not speak. He jumped from his seat and put his hands under the table. Pushing it upward with all his might, he flipped it over, feeling his blood boiling in his veins and pound at his temples. She had to jump back, in order to avoid it.

“Stop calling me that!” He screamed at the top of his lungs, sensing his chest pumping up and down erratically, glaring down at her. “You’ve lost that right!”

“Why?!” Melissa asked, her voice quivering. “Because I was looking out for you?”

“You still don’t get it, do you?” Bruce squinted at her. “The only reason I’m still alive is because he needs me. The moment the job is done, I’m a dead man. So is Matt, your cousin and her partner.”

“Look, I know you’re mad at me.” She added, swallowing hard, putting her hand in her pocket. Melissa pulled a thick envelope out of the back pocket of her jeans and handed it over to him. “Here. Read this after you calm down.”