Page 45 of Graveyard Dog

She didn’t respond. He was delusional if he thought she would travel the country with him, robbing banks. She needed to come up with a plan and fast.

He opened the door, and they walked inside. It had been a long time since Izzy had done something like this. Even her nerves were nervous. The first person she saw was the security guard. He stood chatting with a female loan agent, sitting at a desk on the opposite side of the counters. His uniform didn’t fit well at all, and she wore a coat over her…police uniform?

She turned away from them the second she realized the security guard was none other than Agent Carson’s partner. How in the…? Her gaze darted to the single teller sitting at the counter. Izzy almost stumbled again when she saw Agent Carson counting money like she’d been born to it.

They must’ve discovered her disappearance about four seconds after she left. How did they beat her stepfather here? And how did they know where he was headed? She was so stunned, she stumbled when Leo thrust her forward.

He grabbed her quickly so as not to draw attention, then impaled her with a glare. The one that melted her knees and her resolve. Weak and pathetic, indeed.

One more quick scan, and Izzy found Michael sitting at the end of the counter under a sign that readCustomer Service. He wore a tie and a tweed jacket, the coat so tight she worried it would rip at the seams any second.

He didn’t look up at her. He played on a computer, pretending to type something. At least, she hoped he was pretending. He could bring down the whole financial system with one wrong stroke. And where did he get those glasses? Becauseday-um.

But for real, how did they beat her and Leo here, and who’d decided on their roles? Michael would’ve made a much better security guard than a kid who barely looked old enough to buy alcohol. Then again, maybe that was the point. To put Leo at ease, they’d made the security guard the least threatening individual in the room—including the female cop.

Leo had noticed the security guard, too, of course, but if they did their jobs correctly, the guard would never be alerted to the fact that their transaction was anything but copacetic. That was how they’d gotten away with robbing banks and other institutions for so long.

“Can I help you?” Agent Carson said, tapping a stack of fifties and putting it back in her drawer.

All she did to change her appearance was put her dark hair up and slide on a pair of purple glasses. She was adorable. She still wore her navy suit but had an employee name tag that read:Bunny. She was pretty sure that wasn’t the agent’s real name.

Izzy filled her lungs and released the air slowly before starting. Would Agent Carson know what to do? Would Leo even remember the minutia of the process? Either way, Izzy would have to make it quick.

“Be still,” she said softly.

The agent stilled, and her expression went blank. Michael must’ve told her how to act after seeing Iz mesmerize the nurse. She could only pray she wouldn’t blink.

“You will forget us in sixty seconds.”

Please, don’t blink.

“You will take all the paper money out of your drawer, minus the dye pack, put it in a bank bag, and hand it to me.”

Please, don’t blink.

“No,” Leo whispered in her ear. He’d likely been watching her mouth to make sure she didn’t rat him out. “I want more.”

She shook her head, refusing, and said the final words that would bring Agent Carson out of the trance but keep her locked on the mission until it was completed. “That will be all.”

Leo jammed the gun, still in his pocket, into her back. She sucked air through her teeth but ignored him. Still, the act caught Michael’s attention. He looked up as casually as he could, but she caught a spark of anger flash across his face from herperiphery. She shook her head quickly, the movement almost imperceptible.

Agent Carson blinked and inhaled as if she’d been holding her breath. She was now in a state of in-between. Limbo. Or she would’ve been, had Izzy actually mesmerized her. But how did she know not to blink? To hold her breath?

Emma. Of course. Had they called Emma and asked her? Either that, or Michael was way more preceptive than she’d given him credit for.

Agent Carson emptied her drawer, a congenial smile on her face the whole time, leaving a bundle of twenties that surely had the dye pack stashed inside. She zipped the bank bag closed and handed it over. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“No, thank you,” Izzy said. “Have a good weekend.”

“You, too.”

They turned to leave just as a city police car pulled up. Was this part of the ruse? Izzy didn’t know. She didn’t know what to do or how to act.

Leo grabbed her arm and steered her to a door that led to another parking lot in the back, but it was locked, given the bank was about to close. If this had all been real, Leo’s panic would’ve given them away.

“I’ll get that door for you,” the fake security guard said as the cop walked in. Izzy realized from Michael’s expression that the cop was very muchnota part of the plan. Probably off duty, checking his phone, barely paying attention to anything going on in the bank.

All Leo had to do was let the security guard open the door, but he couldn’t hear him. He thought the guard was coming for them, so he did the unthinkable. He pulled his gun.

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