“Shut up and drive.”
“I should have known you’d be up,” Rachel commented, walking into the dining room area where Nick was typing, already dressed in his suit, minus the coat. “I missed not slipping into your room last night.”
“Did you?” Nick looked up at the same time Deke did as the dog lay behind his chair. “I’d like you to be ready in an hour. I don’t want to be waiting at the bank entrance when it opens. I want you to go in about half an hour after they open the doors.”
Sensing a change in Nick’s demeanor, Rachel walked over, grabbed and shook Deke’s nose playfully for a moment, and sat next to Nick. He felt her reach around and run her right hand up and down his back. He clenched his teeth together, unable to halt the familiar passion sweeping through him at her touch. She leaned in against him, her head on his shoulder. He could feel the heat where her breast pressed into his arm through the flimsy silk nightgown, and her scent seared his senses.
“You don’t like me much this morning, do you?” Rachel asked, her left hand moving down Nick’s stomach and over his belt. “Well, okay, maybe you do like me.”
Nick’s hands knotted into fists on either side of his notebook computer.
“Did you kill her?”
“No, but I should have. Our excursion this morning is in jeopardy because I left her alive. I’m lucky Gus didn’t walk away from this last night. It puts his life in danger along with all of ours.”
“Knowing you, the risk will be small,” she whispered.
“I’m not in the risk business, Rachel. I’m in the dead bang cinch business. Better go get ready so we can make the risk as small as possible.”
“I love you.”
“What if I’d killed Santora?”
“You didn’t.”
“I would’ve in a heartbeat,” he replied, turning and locking eyes with Rachel.
The dark, cold, and lifeless nature of his piercing stare made her shudder and look away.
“I believe you.” She gave him a final tense hug before standing up. “I’ll go get ready.”
Chapter Nineteen
Gus arrived at eight o’clock sharp, laughing when he saw Nick with Jean out on the patch of lawn bordering the condo complex in suit pants, white shirt and tie, taking turns throwing Deke the Frisbee. Gus parked the black Lincoln Town Car under the awning-covered parking section near the building’s front. He exited the Lincoln, also dressed formally, and walked over toward Nick.
“I see you’re passing the time before our morning enterprise gainfully.” Gus grinned down at Jean, who came over and gave him a hug, while Deke dropped the Frisbee in front of him. “I’m beginning to see where you’re going with all this, Nick.”
“Good. Maybe you can fill me in. Danger’s going with you and Rachel. I’ll take the Escalade with Deke in the back. I’m not leaving anyone this morning.”
“It’s your show,” Gus agreed, his tone somewhat surprised.
“I’ll get Rachel.”
Nick entered the condo. Rachel met him at the door with his suit coat, and he looked her over approvingly. She wore a sleeveless burgundy dress with black high heels and tan nylons. The neckline plunged modestly. Her hair fell in waves past her shoulders. She turned after handing Nick his coat.
“Zip me, big boy.”
He did as ordered. “I see you have your bag. Do you have the ID’s you’ll need to access your box?”
“Yes, and I have the Ziploc bag for the drives. I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to take the pepper-spray and stun-gun though. I shouldn’t -”
“Leave them in your bag,” he directed, locking up after she cleared the doorway. “They won’t search you. The stun-gun and pepper-spray give you added insurance in case I missed something or Santora has been found. I checked the local news earlier. It was all quiet. I expect they haven’t seen you around at the bank in quite a while. They’re sure to give you a bad time at check-in. Stay frosty and don’t take any shit. Have them call over the branch manager if they give you the run around.”
“I will,” she acknowledged with some condescension, having heard the directions many times. “It won’t be so hard since you didn’t have me dye my hair red.”
“Did you just give me attitude?”
“Maybe…ouch!” She jumped as Nick smacked her butt with a resounding slap. “You…you spanked me!”
He smiled as he took Rachel’s arm and pushed her forward. When they reached the Lincoln, Nick opened the rear door for her, giving Jean a small wave.
“A couple hours from now we’ll be lying out by the pool,” Nick told them, closing the door. He turned, and took Deke’s leash from Gus. “I’ll call you the moment I go in. We’ll stay in constant contact once we’re in the bank. Anybody in front looking suspicious, let us know.”
Gus nodded. He walked around to the driver’s side of the Lincoln while Nick walked Deke two spots over, opening the Cadillac’s rear door and motioning for Deke to jump up. Nick left first as they had previously arranged. He drove to the bank, parking in the spot they had used for surveillance. Looking around with his spotting scope, he saw only a few cars parked near the shops along Main Street. The traffic was sparse. In the few minutes before Gus arrived, Nick only spotted one person going into the bank. He watched the Lincoln pull up in front of the bank, and then drive away, leaving Rachel walking confidently into the bank.
Nick waited fifteen minutes. Leaving the Escalade with notebook computer bag in hand, he walked quickly over to the SunTrust bank and went inside, phoning Gus as he did. A woman was signing Rachel into the safety deposit box area when Nick came through the entrance.
“Rachel’s in,” he relayed to Gus. “Open up a three way for us with her.”
“You’re on,” Gus replied simply.
“Everything okay, Rach?”
“They’re all here. I’ll be out in ten minutes.”
“Hang up, put your cell on vibrate. Once you’ve left the drives with me, sit down in the waiting area. I’ll call you when we’re clear.”
He walked over to a teller’s window in the nearly empty bank and deposited two hundred dollars before moving to the forms desk, where patrons could get deposit and withdrawal slips. They also had forms for obtaining ATM cards. Nick took one of those and began filling it out carefully. Rachel walked out of the safety deposit box area a few minutes later, spotted him, and walked over to the form table. She put the Ziploc bag with flash drives on the table, picked up some deposit slips, and went to sit on one of the chairs in the waiting area.
Nick put the filled out form in his bag with the flash drives. He signed into the safety deposit box area and retrieved his box with the help of Rene Santora’s replacement. Inside the private viewing room, he opened up his notebook computer and started the tedious process of copying the flash drives over to his hard disk, and to a new set of flash drives. When he completed the process, he put the original flash drives in his safety deposit box. After storing away the new copies and notebook computer in his bag, he waited for the attendant. When she came over to help him, Nick returned his safety deposit box to its slot and left.
“Gus, I’m on the way out of the safety deposit box area. Are you across the street?”
“Yes, and there’s a woman pacing out here: brunette, mid-thirties, designer blue and green jogging outfit. She’s moving around as if waiting for a running partner. I don’t like it.”
“I’ll take a look. Get Rachel back on with us now.”
Nick walked to the entranceway and stopped near the security guard. He knelt down as if to rearrange or check
