“Vi-” I hear my name being called. “Vi!”

A rock hits my window. I look down and it’s the guys, Craig and Elroy. “Fucking idiots,” I hiss, jumping out of bed. Why are they here? Are they complete morons?

I run down and open the bottom gate, looking to the left and right. I make sure no one sees them, but you can never be too certain. I hurry them in, regardless, and lock the gate up. We walk upstairs and I slam the door shut, locking that too.

“What the fucking fuck!” I half-scream at them. “Are you insane?!”

Craig rolls his eyes. “We’re good. No one saw us. It’s still dark out,” he says.

“Barely,” I say. “Besides, that’s not the fucking point and you know it. We have to be extra careful now.”

“Why? Because you’re in bed with that cop?” Craig says, sitting down on my couch. For some reason, the sight of him doing that drives me crazy. I want him out and I want him to apologize now. Of course, he just smiles at me, looking all too smug.

“He’s our inside source,” I tell him. “I’ll find out some shit. You’ll see.”

“You better,” Elroy joins in, glancing at Craig. “I mean, the whole thing has been making us feel sick as hell. We don’t want to hit this bank if he’s going to be there waiting, guns ready.”

“He won’t,” I close my eyes and feel despair creep up into my body. How have I complicated things so much? I’ve let myself do the unthinkable. “I’m going to get him to tell me his plans. We’ll go from there.”

“We don’t have much time,” Craig reminds me. “So I thought we should go over this job. Most likely, we’re going to have to hit this one place regardless. If we have to switch it up last second, we’ll do it old school style. Fast.”

“Sounds good,” I nod.

My heart starts to race as he pulls out a blueprint. He points his fingers at each important spot, but it all moves in slow motion for me. I can’t think. I can barely even focus on my breathing. I just want out. That was the plan, to get the hell out of here. But here I am. Stuck. Nothing is ever as easy as it seems.

There’s always a catch and I’m stuck in the net.

“Got it,” I say, as he finishes up his speech. Elroy glances at me with a worried look.

“You sure? You’re good, Vi?” Elroy asks. Vi… It just reminds me of Marshall, the man I shouldn’t ever have talked to.

“I’m sure,” I say. “In and out, fast. We’ll hit it and take the back routes. The car sounds good. I think we’ll be fine.”

But I have no idea if we’ll be fine or not. In fact, I’ve got a feeling we’ll all end up in Marshall’s control, and not in the way I had hoped.

We hug goodbye and Elroy whispers, “I hope you still have some fight in you. We’re doing this because bankers rob the world every single day. They deserve it.”

“Yeah,” I mutter. “I know.”

I don’t care about that anymore. I shut the door and fall face first on the couch. Justice, right? It would be one thing if we were giving the money back to the people. That, I might understand. But we’re not doing anything like that. We’re taking it for our own gain. Somehow, that seems a bit selfish. It seems like we’re doing exactly what the banks do themselves. So, in turn, we’ve become the enemy we’ve always hated.

Great.

* * *

I somehow fell asleep for hours, even though I had a full night of sleep. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me. Probably stress. It’s Marshall’s call that wakes me up, actually. I answer, voice groggy and completely unsexy. “Marshall?” I say.

“Where you been?” he asks.

“What do you mean?” I ask. “What time is it?”

“It’s close to nine. I’ve only been calling you for the past two hours,” he says. He doesn’t sound angry though, so that’s good.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” I sigh. “I got up earlier, but I guess I ended up falling asleep. Give me 20 minutes and I’ll meet you at your place.”

“Sounds nice. I wish I could sleep through the day,” he says. “20 minutes is fine. Take your time. I’ll be here.”

“See you.” I hang up the phone and get ready quick.

I head out the front door, wearing some plain jeans and a t-shirt that cuts off around the stomach. I wanted to wear something a bit sexier, maybe classier, but I don’t have the time. Hopefully this outfit can get something out of him still.

I take a cab to his house, and when I’m about to pay, he comes jogging outside, shirtless, with some money in his hand. “Here ya go,” he says to the driver.

“Marshall, you don’t have to do that,” I weakly protest. Of course, he insists and I don’t really put up that much of a fight.

“Come on in,” he says, kissing my cheek. “Shit, I’m so excited. I’ve had the most boring two days of my life.”

It’s cute how excited he really is. I guess cops don’t really have the most exciting jobs in the world and part of me is starting to realize that maybe I misunderstood him a little. Maybe, deep down at least, he’s a really good guy. I mean, am I at all better than him? Probably not. I know Craig and Elroy aren’t.

“Tell me about your boring day,” I smile. “I want to hear all about it.”

“Really?” he laughs.

“Really!” I say, stepping inside his house. “I’m sure it’s more exciting than my last few days.”

Inside his house, it’s nicely put together, much nicer than my last visit. He’s really put in some effort, all for me, and I’m just using him for his information. I feel like a total asshole. Well, it’s not only about that for me. If he only wasn’t a cop, I could bring him with me. We could leave this stupid place together…

He sits down on his couch and smooths out a spot for me. “What do you do anyway?” he asks me. “You’ve got all this free time. You’re lucky.”

I look away for a brief moment and he catches me. I didn’t even think about preparing myself for a question like this. Shit. “I, uh…” I stutter. “I kind of did some questionable work for a while.” I look down, awkwardly. Sex work? Drugs? What kind of work am I even implying? It’s a bad lie.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he eyes me, curiously.

“Advertisement,” I laugh. A quick recovery. “It’s the most evil profession a person can get into. You’re wasting your time on the street criminals. You should be locking people like me up.”

He cracks up and jumps up from the couch, over to the bar area. “You got me there for a second!” he says. “My heart was racing.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” I say. My heart is racing. He points to the big selection of bottles. “Get me a vodka tonic?”

“Coming right up,” he says.

He pours the drinks and sits back down. “So you want to hear about my day?” he asks.

“I do.” I don’t even have to act interested. I am interested.

He leans back, looking pleased with himself. He puts his arm around me and pulls out his phone. He shows me a picture. It’s a picture of a bank, but not the bank we’re hitting. Already, I’m happy. “What is this? A bank? Did another one get robbed?” I ask him, playing dumb.

He laughs. “No, no. I wish another one would happen. I know it’s wrong, but we’re getting pretty stumped out there. I hate admitting that. But that’s how these things go.”

“So what’re you going to do? You’re staking this place out or something?” I ask him. He’s already given me too much. If he’s staying in one area, we’re good. We’re golden.

“Yes, ma’am. Until they hit some place else. Then, I guess it’s back to the drawing board. These things usually happen in threes,” he says, eyeing me to see if I’m impressed by the big task he’s got. I’m assuming he thinks he’ll win this battle and draw me in further. He’s wrong though. Very wrong. Before he knows it, I’ll be gone. I’ll be on the coast of Europe, drinking a glass of red wine, happy as can be. I can’t wait.

“Well, you have to catch the guys,” I say.

He gives me a long, hard, and serious stare. “Who said they were guys?” he asks me. I start to freak out, but he bursts out laughing. “Just kidding. Of course they’re guys. And we’ll catch them. We always do.”

I laugh alongside with him, but things aren’t sitting right for me. At least he thinks there’s going to be more jobs in the future. This is the only one though. None will come after. He’ll be sitting, waiting and twirling his thumbs.

“Hey, want to do something fun?” he asks me.

“I love a little fun,” I smile, biting my lower lip.

“Well come on, then. I figure we could use some excitement,” he says, taking me by the hand. He pulls me into his garage and turns on the light. Inside is an old motorcycle. “Want to ride?”

My eyes light up. “Whoa, I haven’t ridden one of these in years!” I exclaim. I haven’t since I was a kid. It’s kind of a coincidence, really. The other day I was thinking a motorcycle might make a perfect getaway vehicle.

“Hop on,” he says, getting on himself. He pushes the garage door open with a button. “And don’t forget to hold on tight, honey.”

My hands grip tightly around his pecs, slowly moving downwards. I feel his tight abs and close my eyes, pressing my face against his shoulder. Before I know it, we’re flying out of the garage, going at least 80 on some neighborhood streets. He’s speeding around some turns and definitely breaking the law, and he’s scaring me to death.

But I like seeing him like this. He screams against the wind, something cheesy like “yee-haw,” and I find myself doing it right after him, because in this moment we’re nothing that we’ve built ourselves up to be. We’re just living. We’re free. In the end, this is what we should be, I think to myself. Again, I fall against his shoulder and feel the solid heartbeat of this man who could end my freedom any second. And even though this is the sad truth of things, I feel okay about it. Anyway, I’m not as hung up about it in the moment.

We turn off onto a dusty trail and it gets a little rough, so I’m forced to hold on tighter. “Almost there,” he says. I can’t stop fucking smiling. This is it. The highest I’ll feel until I’m where I need to be. I know it. The trail starts to climb and we’re face to face with a steep edge of a mountain. We keep going until we turn around at the very top.

“Here, at last,” he smiles, a little out of breath. He turns the bike off and gets off.

“That drive was a little unexpected,” I laugh, fixing my hair.

He completely ignores me in the most charming way, that it almost makes me sick. “You’re so damn beautiful,” he says, reclaiming the air in his lungs. He looks confident, and a little bit somber, which hits me hard. Of course, I fall. I fall harder than he does. When he runs his hands above my ear and through my hair, I glance away for a second, only to feel my chest sink with emotions.

“You’re just saying that,” I tell him. I don’t know what else to say. It can’t be. We can’t be “a thing.” It’s just not in our cards.

“Only, I’m not. This is real. This isn’t a dream. You’re here in front of me and we can do anything our hearts desire,” he says, full of hope and wonder. It’s inspiring. It’s uplifting. It’s everything every girl in the world dreams about. But what am I going to do about it?

“I wish that was true,” I say.

He gets down on his knees, covering himself in dirt. “What do you want me to do to get you to react like a human being?” he asks. If he wasn’t right in his assessment of me, I would be offended. “Just be here with me. For one night, at least.”

“Okay,” I say, tears filling my eyes. I hold them open so they don’t splash out onto my face. I don’t want him to know how pained I am. I don’t ever want him to know the decision I’m going to have to make. It’s not fair, but it is my fault. And sometimes you have to live with the choices you make.

“Tonight is our night,” I smile, feeling the tears disappear. I can smile again, even if it comes from a different place. Tonight, I’ll have to play the part. Tonight, we’ll be lovers as if this night were forever.

He kisses my jeans and I do him a favor and unbutton the top button. He looks at me, not smiling anymore, and unbuttons the rest of them with his teeth. I feel my lower body grow warm. All of the blood in my body floods downwards. “Yes,” I moan. “Oh, God, yes.”

I feel so… invested in this. All of my emotions are just there. Right now, I’m his, and it’s not just some drunken hookup. He’s not just some guy at the bar. I know it’s so soon, but we have an unshakeable bond together, and I don’t care how wrong that is or how short-lived it might be. This night will live on in my memories.

He pulls my jeans down as I throw my heels to the dirt. Soon enough, all my clothes are off and he leans me against a boulder. I feel the slight heat from the day still radiating from the rock as it pushes against my ass and back. I spread my legs aside as he slides his tongue against me. This time, he’s not trying to please me. He’s not “going with the motions.” He’s just enjoying me.

When I look down at him, it truly looks like he was born to do this. His tongue falls flat and wide and covers every single part of me. Every fold gets engulfed as he swipes up and down. Then, when I feel a slight tinge of electricity start to build inside of me, he goes further.

Not only does he fit three fingers firmly inside, pushing them in and out in the most sensual manner, he also begins sucking away. He sucks and pulls back like a suction cup. Every now and then, he lets go and looks up at me with those deep, masculine eyes, whispering, “This is what you want. Isn’t it? You want more of this, don’t you?”

There’s no question about it. I do. I just nod and let my head fall back. Up in the sky, the stars are shining bright. The air is much cooler up here, but my body is heating up by the second. All around us are the sounds of desert life, humming their song. And when he curls his fingers against that soft spot of mine, I howl like a fucking coyote.

“OHHHH!” I scream. “Yeeeesssss!”

I convulse and he just picks up speed. My mind is racing and I’m dizzy with pleasure. He picks me up off that rock with all his strength and power, and sets me down onto his lap. His cock goes right inside of me.

He starts pounding me, back against the rock, as my body continues to spasm. I look at his eyes and he kisses me. “Keep looking at me,” he whispers. “Just like that. Don’t look away.”

He grabs my face and I smile, so fucking turned on by him. He’s revealing everything he likes. He’s deep. He’s nothing like I thought he was. “Oh, Marshall,” I whisper back. “You fuck me so good.”

He nearly dies. He lets out of a deep sound, almost like a lion roar, and holds me close to him. “Don’t you dare let me go,” I say. “Keep cumming for me, baby.”

I can feel his cock expanding and contracting inside of me. Slowly, it inches its way back to its normal self. He presses his cheek against mine and we’re both gasping for air. At the bottom of the trail, we can hear hikers, which makes us both laugh.

“Fuck, you’re hot,” I say. “Where’d you learn to fuck like that, Mister? Surely, not the Police Academy.”

We both grab our clothing quickly and get back on the bike. He’s laughing and feeling good about himself. I’m doing exactly the same. “Hell no. Most of those guys are fools with women. I guess they don’t get paid enough to care about eating pussy, right?” He laughs some more. “I just found a woman whose taste, looks, and wild personality I can’t get out of my mind. It’s bad, woman.”

I place my head against his shoulder again and close my eyes. God dammit. Why does the heart have to be so complicated? I guess other girls don’t have this problem because they make normal choices, or maybe they just had some better chances in this life.

Either way, I can’t reflect on it too much because I’ve already decided on something. Tonight, I’m going to spend the night.