“I’m looking for jazz. Do you know jazz?”
Ross reached over to help but Jack just slapped his hand away. “Keep your eyes on the road.”
“Just trying to help. Try button five and then push seek.”
Jack pushed the buttons and the sound of a saxophone filled the interior of the car. Jack smiled and closed his eyes.
“I know what jazz is, but not who plays what. Who’s this?”
Jack cocked his head and held up a finger, indicating that Ross would have to wait for an answer. His head rolled and bobbed on his shoulders as the sax sailed through another riff building to the climax at the end of the song. “Man, that was good, wasn’t it?”
“It sounded good, I guess.”
“I guess? Oh, Grasshopper, I have so much to teach you. Not only about bank robbery investigations, but music as well. What else? Women? Sports? You know about sex, don’t you?”
Ross laughed. “Let’s start with your ideas on this investigation and you can throw in some jazz knowledge. I think I can figure most of the other stuff out on my own.” He reached over and turned down the radio.
“I need to learn a little more about my teacher. Tell me about Special Agent Miller. Today, I learned you have a couple of kids. Somebody has a birthday coming up. How long have you been doing this? Take your pick.”
At the mention of his kids, Jack started thinking about them again. It tore him up that he couldn’t go home and see them at the end of the day. He was really looking forward to spending time with them tomorrow. He loved being with them. They had an outlook on life that made some of the stuff he dealt with day to day seem insignificant, while at the same time helped him understand why what he did was so important. He was glad he had them to help him escape into the other world. Tomorrow was going to be fun.
“Jack?”
“Sorry, I drifted there for a minute.”
“So, are you going to tell me something about yourself?”
“I’ve got two kids. You saw their pictures. They keep me honest. I like to run to keep in shape so I can keep up with them.” He looked at Ross. “Your turn.”
“Me, hmm. No kids. I’m pretty new to town. Haven’t met many people. You know how it goes with this job. Working weird hours. Plus, some people are put off when they find out you’re an FBI agent. When I’m not working I like to work out. I’m into triathlons. There’s a big one here in Minneapolis as part of the Aquatennial in a few weeks. I’m hoping to find enough time to stay in good enough shape to compete in that one. I’m ready for it. Maybe we could run together.”
“When it gets a little cooler.”
Jack asked another question to keep Ross talking about himself and added the appropriate nod or grunt when it was required. The jazz playing in the background and Ross’ monologue engaged one part of Jack’s brain while the other part worked on the case.
“Jack, I’ve been running at the mouth. Your turn.”
“Isn’t this our exit?”
“Right.” Ross swerved to the right into the ramp that led off the highway, the wheels of the Crown Vic spitting loose stones.
Jack braced himself and leaned into the door. “Geez, Junior.”
“Sorry, I guess I wasn’t paying attention.” Ross stopped the car at the stop sign at the bottom of the ramp. “You had someplace in mind for lunch?”
“Head over to the lake.”
Ross drove the car through the streets of Wayzata making his way towards the main street of downtown that ran along a bay on the east end of Lake Minnetonka. Wayzata was a small village about twenty minutes west of downtown Minneapolis. It was a community of upper middle class and above that prided itself on its relationship to the lake and summer. It was a popular spot with its views and docks and was one of the easier communities around the lake to get to from Minneapolis.
“I’d like to show you the site first hand.”
“OK,” Jack said. “The bank and then lunch.”
Ross drove into an open parking spot, put the car in park.
“Wait. When you were here before you concentrated on the bank. Let’s sit here for a couple of minutes, look around, then tell me what you see.”
Jack left the jazz playing. Ahead of them was Lake Minnetonka. The afternoon sun reflected off the lake and the small waves that rolled across its surface. The hot weather brought out the recreational users. Speedboats and jet skis cut across the waves leaving behind their wakes. Sailboats were farther out criss-crossing the lake, driven by the breeze.
Between them and the lake were railroad tracks that ran parallel to the shore between the lake and the bank building. The bank building itself looked like it had been by the railroad tracks for a long time, but it was relatively new. It was brick with a steep, pitched roof and old style windows.
Ross was looking off to the left towards the rows of storefronts along the main street of downtown Wayzata.
Jack opened his door and got out of the car. He got his coat out of the back and threw it on to cover his holster. “Ready, Junior? Let’s go.”
Ross hurried out of the car, locked the door, and ran a few steps to catch up with Jack.
They walked to the entrance of the bank, Ross quickly making his way to the door, all business. Jack meandered, looked at the ground, across the street, stared at the roof, and finally got to the door, hands jammed into the pockets of his pants. They flashed their credentials at the Wayzata police officer waiting at the door and he let them in.
The interior of the bank was dark and eerily quiet. No personal bankers sat at the desks, no tellers were behind the counter, and there wasn’t anybody at the information desk. The bank was closed for business until they were through with their initial investigation.
Jack stood silently inside the entrance with Ross a half step back and to his right. Ross turned on the lights and Jack had a strange sense of deja vu as he looked over the scene, the same scene he had seen in the video many times, from a slightly different angle. “Look familiar?” Jack asked.
Ross answered in the same library voice that Jack was using. “This is weird. We watched that video so many times I’m able to see this with my eyes closed. I’m just waiting for the Governor to walk out from around the corner.”
“Well, we’re here because there are things we can see here we couldn’t see on the tape. Where should we start?”
“Jack, let’s go see what’s behind door number one,” Ross answered in his Let’s Make a Deal announcer voice. “I want to go see what’s down that hallway.”
“OK, that’s a start. But, here’s how I want to do it.” Jack grabbed Ross from behind by the shoulders and maneuvered him to the spot they had seen the Governor and Ms. Humphrey on the video. Jack looked back over his shoulder at the camera above the door to make sure they were standing in the right spot.
“I’m the Governor, you’re Ms. Humphrey. How much time elapsed from the time they disappeared from view until they came back?”
“Five minutes and forty-six seconds.”
“OK, Junior,” Jack looked at his watch and pushed Ross in the back like the Governor had pushed Ms. Humphrey. “Let’s go see what’s down that hallway.”
They walked around the corner. “Slow down. You’re scared, pregnant, and crying, and don’t know where you’re supposed to go.” The first doorway on their right led to a room with a fax machine, copier, and a supply storage cabinet. Jack glanced in and they kept moving towards the end of the hall. “It was just a few steps from the corner to here. Where do you think they were going?” Jack asked.
“The vault?”
“Walk down to the end of the hall and we’ll see how we’re doing time-wise.”
Standing at the end of the hallway outside of a VP’s office, Jack looked at his watch. “OK, twenty-two seconds from the corner to here. Let’s say thirty, a minute round trip. Can you do the math, Junior?”
“That leaves four minutes and forty-six seconds for something.”
