“No. Thank you, though. I’ve got something I need to finish. Maybe tomorrow?” she said, but without sincerity.
“Sure. Catch you later then.”
Corbin turned to leave. However, as he put his hand on the doorknob, Theresa spoke: “Tell me you don’t like her?”
“Who?”
“Molly. Tell me you aren’t interested in her?”
Corbin didn’t expect this. “Come again?”
“I have no illusion that you and I will ever. . but as a friend. . she’s bad news. She enjoys tearing people down. Be careful with her,” Theresa said quietly. She rose and looked out her window. “That’s all I wanted to say.”
“I have no interest in her,” he responded.
Chapter 10
With two days to go, Corbin and Beckett spent the morning going over a map of downtown Philadelphia. Corbin marked each mailbox store and bank on the map. Together, they plotted the route Beckett and Alvarez would take. After finishing with the map, Corbin reached into his briefcase and produced a clear plastic bag containing a wallet and some papers. This was one of the packets which would be inside the duffel bag.
“Each plastic bag has a name on it and a colored dot.”
“Colored dot, check,” Beckett said, nodding his head.
“The dot is very important because it lets you match the right phones with the right addresses and the right wallets. Each wallet contains a drivers license, a social security card, and $220 in cash.”
“That’s a lot of cash between all those packets.”
“It takes money to make money.”
Beckett again nodded his agreement.
“Each packet contains a wallet, a fake lease and a fake utility bill,” Corbin continued. “When you buy a cell phone, put a colored sticker on the back and write the phone number on the sticker. From that moment on, that phone will go with any packet bearing the same colored dot.”
“Got it.”
“Same thing with the mailboxes. When you open a box, put a colored sticker on the back of the paperwork. Use this chart to decide which color dot to use for each mailbox.” Corbin handed Beckett a piece of paper the size of a playing card. “You need to follow that chart so the street addresses on the leases and the utility bills match the street addresses of the mailboxes. I need that to organize the accounts. Once you have the right color dot on the paperwork, go through each packet with the same colored dot and handwrite the mailbox number on the lease.” Corbin handed Beckett the fake lease from the packet.
Beckett verified where the box number would be added.
Corbin handed him the wallet. “We got a bunch of these at dollar stores. They’re all a little different, but they all have what we need. Before Nobody goes into a bank, give him the lease and the utility bill from the packet. He’ll put those into his pocket. Then open the wallet and re-confirm the contents: license, social and $220.” Corbin waited for Beckett to open the wallet and confirm the contents. “Hand him the wallet. Grab the cell phone with the same colored sticker as the plastic bag. Hand him that as well.”
“Ok.”
“When he returns, take the bank paperwork, the lease, the utility bill, and the wallet and return them to the same plastic bag. Seal the plastic bag and return it to the duffel bag. Put the phone back into the phone bag. Then move on to the next bank and repeat.”
“I can see why you didn’t want Nobody worrying about this at the same time he’s going into the banks.”
“Don’t worry, it’s a lot easier than it sounds. Just follow the color coding and you can’t go wrong. We did a practice run last week and it turned out to be really simple. The key to everything is to make sure you only work with one bag at a time. Never open a bag until all the other bags are closed.”
“Got it.”
“That’s all there is,” Corbin said.
“One more thing. How do I recognize Nobody when I see him?”
“How about a password?”
Beckett looked stunned. “I am
“Darn, there goes plan A.”
Beckett stared at Corbin, trying to determine if he was serious.
Suddenly, Corbin burst into laughter. “I’m just kidding. I bought train tickets for both of you. You’ll be sitting directly across from each other.”
That night Corbin sat in the middle of his floor surrounded by wallets, colored stickers, plastic bags, and stacks of twenty dollar bills. His phone rang. He knew it was Alvarez because Alvarez called every night this week.
“Vez.”
“How’s it going?”
“Almost done with the packets.” Corbin counted out another eleven twenties.
“How’s Beckett?”
“He’s nervous, but seems ok. What about you?”
“Good enough, but I want to get this going. I hate waiting.”
“One more day,” Corbin said, as he stuffed the twenties into a brown leather wallet.
“You figured out yet what you’re going to do with your share?”
Corbin set the wallet down and scratched his chin. “No, not really. I figure something will come to me.”
Alvarez laughed. “If you decide you don’t want it, your old friend Alvarez will be more than happy to take it off your hands.”
“I’m sure.”
“Hey, that’s what friends are for, right?”
“Is that how Websters defines friendship?”
“I think I read that, yeah. Are you still planning to stay at the lousy job?”
“That’s part of the plan. I need to stick around at least one year so I can keep an eye on the people in the office. They’re our coal-mine canaries; they’ll be the first to know if the cops start investigating.”
“Better you than me.”
“I knew I could count on you for sympathy,” Corbin chuckled.
“If you want sympathy, you know where to find it.”
“Yeah, between shit and syphilis in the dictionary.”
“You know what you should do to pass the time?”
“What?” Corbin asked dubiously.
“You should hook up with that Mary girl you told me about.”
“You mean Molly?”
“Sure, Molly, the younger one. She sounds like a wild ride.”
Corbin rolled his eyes. “Let’s move on shall we.”
“It’s just a suggestion.”
“It’s a disastrous suggestion. Do you know who Tantalus is?”
“Didn’t he fight Godzilla?”
“No. Greek mythology. He was punished for stealing ambrosia from the gods and bringing it back to his people. His punishment was to stand in a pool of water below a fruit tree. Whenever he reached for the fruit, the branches raised beyond his reach. When he bent to drink, the water receded away before him. Thus, his fate was to be tempted without ever achieving satisfaction. Hence, the word ‘tantalize.’ That’s Molly. She wants you to chase,
