“Does Chris look different to you?” Nicole asked.
“I was just thinking that,” Bridge answered.
“He looks…” Then she got it and snapped her fingers. “He looks just like his brother. That’s it.”
“They put actor’s makeup, or whatever it’s called, on his face to try to alter his appearance to make him look more like his brother.”
“Looks like it worked. They look almost identical.”
“Yeah.”
“Kind of creepy actually.”
“What would they do that for?” Steve asked.
“Just like we talked about. They must’ve needed Gary to get money out. With him gone, they went to the next best thing: his brother.”
Dalton and Abbott proceeded inside the bank, while the others waited by the van. They still didn’t see Magareth, though, but they figured he must have been inside the back of the truck.
While they waited, Steve radioed down to the other members of the team who were nearby. “Team two, did you see a black van pull up here a little while ago?”
“Roger. We couldn’t get a good look at who was inside, though.”
“Be advised that the occupants are our targets. Repeat, the van is our target. We’ve got visual confirmation that four of the five occupants are definitely inside. The fifth we suspect is as well.”
“What are our orders?”
“We’re gonna start making our way down to your position. If the van beats us there, you start following. Keep your distance. We don’t want to spook them yet. Let’s let them get to their destination first, then we get them.”
“Got it.”
Steve started to get up, but was quickly halted by Bridge. “We should stay here until they’ve gone.”
“What? Why? We know where they’re going.”
“We do?”
“Well, there’s only one road out of here. They have to leave the way they came in.”
“What if they don’t?”
“Where else would they go?”
“Listen, in theory, you’re right,” Bridge said. “But what if they decide to ditch the car up the road there, then disappear into the trees on foot?”
“Why would they do that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they have another way out. Maybe they have a helicopter in a clearing patch somewhere. I don’t know. But we can’t just assume. We have too much riding on this.”
“He’s right,” Nicole said. “There’s a ninety-five percent chance they’re gonna take that road like we figured. But if they take that other five percent, we’re screwed.”
“Besides, you already have a team in place down there. We don’t need to be right on top of them. Sure, it’ll take us a little while to get back to our car, probably putting us a good twenty, thirty minutes behind them. But we have help. Let’s use it and make sure we don’t make any mistakes.”
Steve thought about it, looking at his two partners. He then nodded. It made sense. “Agreed. We’ll wait. We’ll make sure they use that road. Guess I’m just a little anxious.”
Bridge tapped him on the arm. “Happens to all of us. Your team down there. They good? Can they hold a tail?”
“Yeah. They’re good.”
“Good. We’ll let them take the lead then. Besides, once Dalton and company are out of here, I wanna make sure they don’t dump Abbott somewhere along the side of the road. ‘Cause after they leave that bank, there are no guarantees anymore regarding his safety.”
“Let’s keep eyes on that bank to see what they bring out,” Nicole said. “That’s another reason for staying. If we leave early, we won’t know what they have. Might be helpful for later if things go sideways.”
“If?”
“When?”
It took about twenty minutes before Dalton and Abbott were seen again. They came out of the bank, each holding two black duffel bags. They took them over to the van and placed them in the cargo area.
“Four bags,” Bridge said. “Looks like cash.”
Dalton and Abbott then went back inside the bank again. “Must be a haul,” Nicole said. “They’re going back in for more.”
“You didn’t think they were doing this over pennies, did you?”
“Never know with some of these people.”
Dalton and Abbott came out of the bank again, once again holding a bag in each hand. They went over to the van and placed them inside. Once they were done, Abbott got inside as Dalton went over to the door to shake the hand of someone who was standing there watching.
“Must be the manager or something,” Bridge said.
“Well, whoever it is, looks like they’re finished,” Nicole said. “They’re all getting back in the car.”
“Let’s move!”
They quickly got up from their position and backtracked their way to their vehicle. They moved quicker on the way back then they did on the way there, cutting a few minutes off their time. By the time they got there, they knew the van had already passed them, so they jumped in their vehicle and Steve almost put his foot through the floor.
“Team two, we’re leaving our position now, have you seen the van yet?”
“Negative. Not yet.”
“Keep alert, they should be coming out soon.”
“We’ve got our eyes out.”
Steve sped down the dirty road, hoping to make up some ground on the hopefully unsuspecting gang of criminals. Once they got to the end of the road, they saw the car of Team two. Steve pulled up behind them and they all got out. Steve threw his arms up in disgust.
“What are you still sitting here for?”
“They never came out!”
“What do you mean they never came out?!”
The agent shrugged, not sure how else he could explain it. “They never came out! The van never showed up.”
“How can that be? There’s no other road!”
“What do you want me to say? We didn’t see a car come out.”
Steve put his hands on his head and turned around. “Come on!”
As they continued the spirited discussion, Bridge didn’t pay
