She glanced at Jared in the rearview mirror. He had insisted on sitting in the back seat by himself. At first she thought it was so he could sit directly behind her and boss her around, issuing directions. But he had already shown them where the bank was this morning. There was no need for directions.
His eyes met hers in the mirror and she quickly looked away, trying to cover her reaction by checking the car coming up alongside her. He was too calm, she decided. The sky had continued to grow darker. In the distance she could see a hint of lightning. The pole lights along the highway had begun to come on again as they had earlier in the day when they were sitting in the Cracker Barrel. Now she wished they were back there, talking big and pretending this was just a job they'd tackle someday. Pretending. That's all.
Jared sat in the back seat, cool and calm like it was a game of pretend, while Melanie's palms were slick with sweat. Her T-shirt stuck to her back, even with the A/C blowing at her. She couldn't keep her eyes from darting back and forth. Her fingers fidgeted. A couple times she caught herself biting down on her lower lip.
Even Charlie's eating, she knew, was a nervous response, an attempt to keep his brain and stomach distracted. But Jared didn't seem the least bit nervous. He watched out the window, not a bead of sweat on his upper lip or forehead. Whatever his secret was for staying so composed, Melanie knew he wouldn't be sharing it anytime soon.
She pulled off Highway 50 and turned into the bank's parking lot.
'Park up there alongside the west end of the lot, away from the building,' Jared said, now sitting so far forward she could feel his hot breath on the back of her bare neck.
There were no cars on this side of the building and the lot backed onto an empty area of overgrown grass. Across the street was a car dealership, a line of brand-new Ford pickups with shiny headlights staring at them. In the distance Melanie could see McDonald's golden arches. She could still hear the hum of the interstate traffic. Yet, as she parked the car, she noticed she could no longer see the cars on Highway 50. Although it hardly mattered. The bank's windows were tinted. She was only fifty yards away and she couldn't see inside.
Jared had certainly done his homework. This morning she had been impressed when he pointed out that the bank was less than a mile inside Douglas County. They would head south and immediately cross into Sarpy County. He seemed convinced that law enforcement officials would squabble over jurisdiction, if and when they came after them. That was one of the reasons he said he chose this particular bank. And it was reason enough for Melanie to believe that Jared might actually be able to pull this off.
Jared was now fiddling with his wristwatch. Melanie wiped the palms of her hands on her jeans, trying to be casual, trying not to draw Charlie's or Jared's attention. She kept the car engine idling with the vents blasting cold air, and she felt a chill. She examined the other cars in the lot. The bank's drive-through lane was empty. The access road was empty. Even across the street at the dealership there was no activity. It almost seemed too quiet. Too perfect. She glanced up and in the rearview mirror saw Jared pull two guns out of his duffel bag.
CHAPTER 14
4:15 p.m.
Jesus, Jared. Where the hell did you get those?'
'Where do you think?'
'You know how I feel about guns.'
'That was a long time ago, Mel. Get over it. Besides, what did you think we'd do? Slip them a note and they'd simply hand over a bag of cash?'
Melanie gripped the steering wheel, keeping herself from spinning around to get a better look. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Charlie sat sideways, his arm slung over the seat back, watching Jared and smiling. He seemed excited to get his hands on one of those guns. Melanie tried to catch his eye, hoping he'd notice her disapproval. But at the moment the boy couldn't notice anything other than the shiny metal Jared was sneaking forward to him over the middle front console.
Charlie took the gun, keeping it low and out of sight but turning it over and over as if it were a new toy.
Melanie wanted to grab it away from him. She wanted to tell Jared to forget it. She wanted to speed away and not give him a choice. Instead, she sat there frozen, continuing to grip the wheel, trying to ignore the trickle of sweat that slid down her back.
'We've never had to use a gun before.' She finally found her voice, though it sounded like someone else's, small and weak. But it was something she was proud of. Charlie and she had never used any kind of weapon. Unless you counted the wire clothes hanger Charlie used to pop the locks of Saturn doors.
She checked the rearview mirror. Jared was transferring the contents of his duffel bag to the pockets of his coverall. 'We've never had to use a gun before,' she repeated, this time a little louder.
'I heard you the first time,' her brother said without looking up. 'You don't need a gun when you're pulling off piddly little shit jobs.'
She wanted to tell him that those piddly little shit jobs had kept her and Charlie off the streets and living quite comfortably for almost ten years. But there was no way she could stand up to Jared with her cheeks burning and her voice shaky. He didn't seem to think they were piddly shit jobs five years ago. She met his eyes again in the rearview mirror, calm, dark eyes. How could he be so calm?
'Remember everything I told you, Charlie?' His eyes never left Melanie's.
'Yup,' her son answered so quickly, so confidently that Melanie jerked around to look at him, shocked to find the red kerchief up over the lower part of his face and a black stocking cap pulled down over his forehead. All she could see were his eyes. She stared at him as he shoved the gun into one of the coverall's oversize pockets, treating it as if it were something he handled every day.
'Leave the car running.' Jared lifted his kerchief over his nose and mouth.
Melanie looked from one to the other. Didn't they realize how ridiculous they looked? Then suddenly she decided she wanted this over with, the sooner, the better. Of course, she'd leave the car running, and she reached to turn off the A/C.
'We don't need the engine overheating at a time like this.'
'Good idea, Mel,' Jared muttered through the cloth, and his rare compliment actually seemed to soothe her a little.
Jared hesitated, checking out the parking lot, craning his neck and looking in all directions. They were out of sight from the traffic and no one had gone in or out of the bank since they had parked. But how much time had that been? Melanie tried to remember.
'Let's go,' Jared said, and Charlie didn't hesitate at all.
She watched them in the rearview mirror cross the short distance to the front entrance. Her fingers drummed the steering wheel. Her right foot tapped uncontrollably. Maybe Charlie had gotten that habit from her. She looked away from the bank's entrance for five or ten seconds. Glancing into the rearview mirror, she noticed that her lower lip was red and bruised from biting down on it. She tucked a strand of hair back up into the cap. And that's when she heard the first blast, muffled but loud enough to make her jump. She sat forward, searching the surroundings, hoping to see a car backfiring. The next shots came fast, one after another, three, maybe four. She hadn't counted. She couldn't breathe, how could she count? Before she could react, she saw Charlie and Jared racing out of the bank's entrance, their figures filling the rearview mirror. She sat paralyzed, unable or unwilling to turn around and watch them out the back window. Instead, she stared at the mirror, pieces of them rushing closer.
Jared jumped in beside her. 'Go. Go now. Get the fuck going.'
'What happened? I heard shots.'
'Just get the fuck out of here.'
Charlie flew into the back seat as she shifted into drive and floored it, not even noticing the back door was still open until she saw in her side mirror that Charlie was hanging out, struggling to close it. She automatically slowed the car.
'What the fuck are you doing?' Jared slid across the front seat and slammed his foot on top of hers, pushing the accelerator and sending the car fishtailing around the access road. She swung wide to miss a semitrailer as
