Tina drives down the freeway toward the turnpike. And closer to the hotel and casino where the councilors’ area of land starts. Stretched out before us, it’s still quite bare. But it’s evident there is still construction going on in the area.

More businesses for the area and more money for the councilors. It runs through my mind, when is enough, enough? They had to be playing at this game for around ten years. How much money does one group of people need to live on?

“This is their boundary, well, that we’ve estimated,” Tina says as we pass the hotel on the left.

She continues driving straight down the freeway. “Okay,” I say, taking it all in my mind’s eye.

“On the right, we’ve got the houses where the swinger club is located, and what we know is, they have a construction company. So, all these houses were built by them,” Tina explains.

“Obscene, it's absolutely obscene,” I reply.

Tina nods and smiles. “It's good business, but unfortunately they’ve built it on the back of corruption which is the sad part.”

“They’ll soon know the difference when they find their stash is missing,” I say. “But they still have the casino to bring money in. Or they will until the gaming committee know they haven’t paid any taxes or anything.”

“We’re approaching the far boundary, so from this turnpike to the one with the hotel is theirs, and it stretches the same distance to the sides,” Tina says as she turns the truck off going down the furthest turnpike.

“Where is the precinct, then?”

Tina pulls down from the turnpike, and we drive below the underpass and head back into bare land. “The golf course is a block or two up here.”

We follow the road back toward the hotel. I see the tops of the large houses in the distance. A small shopping strip is being constructed, and then we pass an open area. The next block has been planted with trees to line the streets. Tina slows the truck and we turn down the street.

“I'll tell you something weird. This actually looks like a beautiful place to live,” I say.

Tina looks at me. “Fucking ironic don’t you think!”

“It just shows that if money is no object, just think how nice other parts of the country could be,” I add.

Tina concentrates on the road. She says, “It's just like a lot of those oil-rich countries, they pay no tax and look how nice they are, same here.”

“Is that the precinct?”

“Yup, right at the end of the street. It backs onto the golf course. And the clubhouse is way over there.” Tina points across to the far side of the open area.

Tina slows the truck and stops at the edge of the street. I step outside and limber up my muscles a little. I turn around naturally as if I'm just getting over a drive, but the action cam that is fastened to my vest is recording every detail of the area.

I look around. “It’s secluded, no other real buildings that will interfere.”

I turn and see a couple of squad cars pass by us on the street and head toward the precinct. The driver casts his gaze over us and tilts his head as if he recognizes us.

“I think the disguise is working,” I say.

“They must guess that any workers in the area are on the councilors payroll,” Tina replies.

“You want a soda?” I ask. “There’s a store, and I can get some good camera angles as I walk back.”

“Sure, anything sugar-free.”

I head up the side of the street and cross the road to the store. I grab a couple of cans and see an armored vehicle drive past the store, very slowly.

“Where’s that going?” I ask the storekeeper.

“They’re always up and down this road to the precinct. I think they have the job of looking after the casino takings.”

I look at him curiously. “I figured it was only a local casino?”

“It is, but it rakes in shitloads of cash. People around these parts are not short of a penny or two. Some real-big card games go on there. All away from the prying eyes of the city.”

“Maybe I can pay a visit when my shift is over,” I say handing over the money for the cans.

“What are you fixing anyway, Mister?”

“We had a call about a line connection or something, my partner knows more about it than I do,” I say.

“I bet it's those damned blackouts we have.”

“What blackouts?” I ask plainly.

“They say rotating outages, one evening every week. Generally, a Sunday and lasts for an hour, no shorter, and no longer.” The shopkeeper shrugs.

“And this happens every Sunday?”

“Yeah, every Sunday I think. Eight o’clock on the dot.”

“I'll look into it, in case it's anything to do with my company,” I say.

“It's a real pain. We miss the best TV programs at that time.”

I walk from the store and walk down the sidewalk back to where Tina is positioning traffic cones. I see the armored vehicle reversed up against the side of the precinct. The guards are there, and some cops too, who are dotted around and trying to look as casual as they can.

I step to cross the road as a black SUV passes by me. It drives straight to the front of the precinct and stops.

Fuck! This camera won’t reach that far.

I walk quickly to try and get back to Tina’s position to get a better view. She looks up and I point toward the precinct. I see her grab a handful of cones and she begins walking toward it.

Two guards walk onto the street and stop Tina in her tracks. I see her nodding and pointing toward the telephone lines. She places the cones on the road as she walks back to the truck.

I look at her. “What did they ask?”

“Usual. What are you doing here?” Tina replies. “I just told them it was a fault on the phone line.”

“That’s what I said to the storekeeper before he mentioned the blackouts,” I say.

Tina looks at me plainly. “Blackouts?”

“Yeah. I think they move the cash once per week,” I say. “They do it under the cover of darkness.”

“Where the hell do they take it to?”

I smile at Tina. “We can find out in a couple of days, the next one is Sunday.”

Tina leans on the truck and cracks open her sugar-free soda. She glances toward the precinct. “I'm not sure if this helps us or hinders us.”

“There is one thing I know for sure, Bob’s estimate of eighty million is going to be way off.”

“We can either hit the precinct and risk it, and just take what’s in there. Or, we can find where they take the cash and hit that place,” Tina says.

“All this we’ll have to decide after Sunday,” I say. “We also have to consider how many vehicles they use. What happens if they use two or three?”

“We'll have to be ready to follow up to five vehicles if needed.”

“There isn’t enough of us to do that safely,” I say plainly.

“I think it's time to go back and see that Ingrid woman,” Tina says.

“I'll go and speak to her tomorrow. I don’t believe that we can just trail them. I mean, we need waypoints until we know where they’re going.”

Tina looks at me strangely. “What job did you used to do? God, you seem to know a lot about all of this sort of undercover crap.” She laughs.

“Can I tell you a secret?”

“Of course, you can. I was black ops, and no one knew.” She screws her face up.

I lean back on the van and sip from my can. “Well, I'm a bit vague on the events and the details, but you know that movie where the guy loses his memory, but he’s like a super assassin sort of dude.”

“Yeah, I remember that.”

“I think I'm something like that,” I say.

“Bullshit, those guys don’t exist.”

“I know, I was joking. I was in the forces for a while. And then pulled out for special ops.” I laugh.

“What do you mean special ops?” Tina asks, confused.

“At the time, I thought it was something to do with The Kingmaker, but it wasn’t. It was just normal government stuff,” I say.

“Now you think you have parents?” Tina asks.

“I believe that fire has blanked out a lot of my past. I was in hospital for a while when the blast threw me across the street,” I say. “I knew my sister was the one in the coma at the time, but the rest of my memory is a blur. She is now missing. The other guy I assumed was my brother, but maybe he’s not.”

“What are you saying? That you're a triplet, or not?” Tina asks.

“Yes. But natural. And who my mother and father are, God only knows.”

“What about growing up as a kid?”

I crumple my can and look at her. “That’s the part I don’t know. I can only remember the blast, and snippets of special ops.”

“Sometimes memories are the reason we’re unable to move forward.”