CHAPTER 15
RYAN

I headed to the dump location, for if things absolutely got twisted backwards. In the event of the police staying on our tails, people being able to identify us, and us not being able to get out of town because of barricades, we were going to funnel the police into an abandoned warehouse lot just within the city limits. There were two specific areas the police could surround us where would still be able to slip underground with the money we took from the bank. It would require us to shoot our way out, which wasn’t our style at all and I prayed that it would never come to that. I absolutely abhorred violence.

Pulling up to the place, I cased all of the avenues. I marked where the two sewer entrances were before I made my way to Kenneth’s truck. He was sitting in the driver’s seat impatiently bouncing his leg up and down.

I poked around the area a bit, trying to familiarize myself with it before I walked into the container.

“How nice of you to show up,” Kenneth said.

“You know there’s no reason to rush,” I said in response. “You check out the guy yet?”

“Slowly but surely. He checks out so far, but I’m digging farther than you did,” I said. “Which brings me to our first point. We need to set a date.”

“How about two weeks from Thursday?” Jesse asked. “Gives the cameras we’ve been caught on time to cycle and Thursdays are usually slow bank days.”

“Around places like this, Fridays and Sundays will be best. Officers are ready to get the fuck home for the weekend, so they’ll be caught off-guard. All of the bullshit cops are on duty in places like this on Sundays,” Kenneth said.

“My vote is two weeks from Saturday,” I said.

“Why is that?” Jesse asked.

“I was able to schmooze one of the desk workers in that place. You know, one of those with a private office. The head honcho takes every Saturday off. So that’s one less asshole we’ll have to deal with.”

“No head honcho means one less person brave enough to take a run at us,” Kenneth said.

“Exactly. No one is going to go cowboy on us if their ass isn’t on the line,” I said. “Plus, I saw it written out that the assistant manager is off that day too,” I added. “So, bonus for us.” “Then that’s definitely our best chance. Just after lunch when everyone’s full and happy, two managers or whatever down. Shit. That’s primetime,” Kenneth said.

“Wait, you saw that?” Jesse asked. “Just laying out? A note that the assistant manager would be off too?” He sounded skeptical.

In truth, I had asked Grace about her upcoming schedule. Planning this heist and trying to keep her out of harm’s way was becoming a juggling act. But inviting her out to the vineyard opened up the avenue to freely talk about her schedule. When I was able to get this information out of her and fuse it with what I already knew about Lionel’s schedule, I was able to pinpoint two weeks from Saturday where both Grace and Lionel would be out of the bank. That meant the safety of it fell into the hands of an underrepresented back up manager whose day we would probably ruin.

The manager probably wouldn’t know protocol for a robbery, which made the bank easier for us to hit, and it kept Grace safe.

Two things that would play in my favor.

“People around here post shit like that all the time,” Kenneth said. “The damn ammo store I walked into a week ago had their damn schedule on the fucking wall.”

“It’s insane, but people are trusting around here. We can use that to our advantage,” I said.

“Now I’m reminded why I keep working with you,” Kenneth said.

The comment made me nauseous, but I had his trust back now. Which meant he would more than likely follow orders, which would wind up in people not getting hurt.

Specifically, him when he decided to fuck up.

“I’m in for two weeks from Saturday,” Kenneth said.

“Then if Kenneth’s in, I’m in,” Jesse said.

“Good. You guys on the uptick with all the plans?” I asked.

“Yep. Plan A is the perfect one. We drive around back, you do your electrical shit, we come in through the back and I start loading up the vault while you and Jesse keep a handle on the front lobby. After four minutes, Jesse goes back to the car, three minutes after that you come out, we buzz off into the sunset,” Kenneth said.

“Plan B is if we can’t shake the police. I’ll have a random car I’ve hotwired in an alleyway. I’ll buzz through and Ryan takes himself and the money and heads to his place. Kenneth and I shake the police, then we head to Ryan’s house where we sneak down through his basement and into the sewer system of the city to get away,” Jesse said.

“Plan C is if we’re caught in the bank. Make sure to have your fake I.D.’s in your wallets and the passports in the bag with the money. Kenneth and I will make sure Jesse can get free, he takes off with the car and the money and goes to my house to store it. Then he works his magic and gets us free of the holding cell they’ll throw us into,” I said.

“Easy as pie,” Jesse said.

“Plan D is if shit all goes to hell. We funnel them into here near one of the two main sewage pipeline entrances. We slip into the main sewers and split up at the branches before they even know where we went,” Kenneth said.

“Good. All contingencies covered. So two weeks from this Saturday is good?” I asked.

“Yep,” Kenneth said.

“I’ll be there,” Jesse said.

“Then it’s a date,” I said with a grin. “We don’t meet up or approach one another at all until four hours before. We’ll meet at my place. Jason won’t be there, I’ve already got plans for him to be gone, so that’s one less mouth running for or against us depending on the fucking mood he’s in.”

“You sure he won’t be a problem?” Kenneth asked.

“Never has been and never will be. But he is pissed he can’t help. It’s best if I ship him off before any of this goes down to keep all of us sane,” I said.

“You’re a good brother,” Jesse said.

“I try to be. Two weeks from Saturday, my house at nine in the morning. We’ll prepare to hit the bank around one, and if all goes well we’ll be riding for the city line ten minutes later,” I said.

We all shook hands before we parted ways. The plan was set in stone and all we had to do now was wait out the security camera and their logs. It would provide a window of opportunity for Jesse to do what he had to do to get us out if we got caught, and it covered our asses in case the police dug into us further than what I thought they would.

But it didn’t keep me from being nervous.

I was really having doubts about this whole thing. If one thing got messed up, it could jeopardize Jason, myself, and Grace. I wanted to back out, but I was the one who organized this in the first fucking place. It wouldn’t look good on me if I wanted out of this at the last minute, and the two of them now knew too much. They could roll over on me to the police to save themselves and I could get thrown in jail with my father.

No fucking way that was happening. I wouldn’t leave Jason to fend for himself. So, I had to keep my strong facade. Having Kenneth’s respect back was the only thing pushing me forward on this damn job. If he had still been combative, I probably would’ve pulled the plug. But he seemed to be at ease, so that had to be enough.

Getting into my car, I headed back to the house. Jason didn’t know it yet, but I’d set him up for an SAT study session and a practice exam. It would keep him occupied for a full eight hours of the day, long enough for us to pull the job and get back to the house. He wouldn’t be happy about it, but he would be safe. I could take his sulking, even his outbursts, as long as I knew he wasn’t in jeopardy.

I drove back to my house, chanting in my head that this was the last job. The last one before I was out. It had to be. Grace was showing me a way of life that was actually possible for a man like myself. A life with a good woman at my side and a kid who adored me and who I adored in return. The chance to make myself a better person and show Jason there was more to life than crime and quick payoffs. The more I thought about Grace, the more I wanted that kind of life with her. A domestic life where I woke up beside her, helped her with Harper, then went off to work. A life where I came home to a dinner with the two of them and spent Saturdays in the park, and occasionally whisked Grace away on adult weekends while Harper was with her grandmother.

Jason would love having a family like that.

And so would I.

I pulled up into the driveway and saw Jason on the porch. He was rocking in a chair, his eyes running over the pages of a textbook. He looked up at me and smiled and it warmed my gut. If anything, I was getting out of this for him. Even if Grace wasn’t waiting on the other side, I had to get out for Jason.

I had to show him there was a better way of life than this. A stable one. A life where he could make friends and keep them and invite them over without fear of exposing my dirty little secret.

I didn’t want him to have to live in secrecy any longer.

“Hey Jason, can I talk to you for a second?”

“What’s up?” he asked.

“I set you up for a study session and a practice SAT for a week from Saturday. I thought maybe afterward, I’d give you some cash to grab a pizza and a movie with one of your friends. Maybe that Terrance guy that you study with sometimes.”

“You need me out of the way for the job.”

“Jason,” I said.

“I get it. I get it. It’s fine.”

“Good. Though I’m sure you won’t need the practice. Shit, I could have taken a study session every week for a year before the SAT’s and still wouldn’t have passed I bet,” I said.

“

“You talk like you’re an idiot, but you’re really not,” he said.

“Oh yeah?” I asked.

“It takes intelligence to do what you’re doing. You understand how electrical wirings work. You can also take apart and entire car and put it back together. I know you still draw, I’ve seen your sketchbook lying open on the table. Creative abilities take a level of intelligence people don’t realize. With artistry, it takes a natural knowledge of angles and how colors blend together to create the perfect outcome. You tell yourself that you’re stupid, but you’re not.”

I walked up onto the porch and took a seat by my brother.

“You’re the smartest person I know, Ryan.”

“Thanks, Jason.”

“I mean it. That wasn’t just a compliment. I’ve watched you repair anything and everything that breaks down in this house. Plumbing. Sinks. Holes in the walls. Furniture that breaks. The refrigerator. You name it, you can repair it. I’ve seen it. I can read books fast and retain information, but you can do all the practical stuff. All the stuff that matters.”

“Hey, what you do matters.”

“It will when I can apply it to something. But right now, I can’t. Hopefully Forensic Psychology will give me an application, but until then I’m just reciting and regurgitating nonsense.”

“You make it sound like food poisoning,” I said.

“All I’m saying is, don’t let a lack of a college degree hold you back. You’re good at a lot of stuff.”

“Aren’t you only sixteen? Wanna know what I was doing at sixteen?”

“What?” he asked.

“Grace,” I said, with a grin.

“Girls don’t like me.”

“When you get to college and find out you’ll be making the big bucks, they will,” I said. “Nerds are where it’s at these days.”

“You think so?” he asked.

I wrapped my arm around his neck and pulled him close to me.

“I know so,” I said.