Page 35 of Tastes Like Misery

The only ones making money were the owners, and that pissed me off to no end. They didn’t even work at the place and it wasn’t fair they could just sit around and collect money from these addicts. Hell, a lot of them looked as though they worked hard all day, the desperation in their eyes to hit it big so off-putting to me. I had no problem taking everything we could and hoped like hell the bastards were closed down without all that money.

Our plan was solid, and I was ready for it, trying to act like a dowdy woman well past her prime and really quite boring all around. I even had cat pictures on my fake phone to keep up the Mary image, not that they allowed phones outside of the lockers, one of the few security practices they kept that equaled the casinos in Las Vegas according to the guys.

Speak of the devils, Dane came up to cash in his chips, his hat keeping his face from being seen on the cameras. It was my signal of it being time, trying not to let his smooth voice affect me when he tipped the brim of his hat, “Have a good night, ma’am.”

I filed it for later to have him wear that hat and let me ride him like a bucking bronco. No matter how attracted I was to the tattooed bad boys, I was still a Texan at heart, born and bred to love the cowboys. Swiftly, I went to where the computer terminal was located, pretending to take a drink of my soda and knocking it over.

“Oh, darn it all,” I gasped loudly, grabbing paper towels and mopping it up as I used the distraction to slip the small SIM card into the computer. Soon, Ollie would do his magic and take over the system. I went back to my place by the counter, knowing I needed to be in the right place for the loop to work right. My man was brilliant with computers when I barely knew how to turn one on, and I followed his instructions perfectly.

Once, I asked him why they never did this in Vegas. Without boring me too much, he just explained the security was too updated and impossible to get into their systems. Little towns just didn’t have the big bucks to invest in the best technology like Vegas could. It made sense since a couple million in cash was a lot less than the billions of dollars a year going through the gambling capital each year.

The door opened and Finn’s large body loomed in the doorway, Ollie standing behind him. “Wait, who is running the computer?” my heart pounded in my chest at the sight of him.

“Darling, you have little faith in me. The program runs itself. I wasn’t going to miss seeing you in action,” he chuckled as he tossed me a bag and handed me my gun. “Damn pink pistol.”

“Oh my God, just stop teasing me about my choice of guns. It works damn well, and it matches my purse,” I told him as I put it in my waistband, hiding it under my shirt.

As he pointed the gun at me, I unlocked the safe and threw money in the bag. It was our failsafe in case something happened with the cameras or someone came in. It had to look like I wasn’t involved, so they didn’t look further into me. If my fingerprints were run, they’d find out my real identity and we couldn’t take that risk.

Finn started with the drawers, cleaning them out of every single bill. I noticed this time he wasn’t tense like our first robbery. He was relaxed and his eyes twinkled. He winked when he caught me staring, “Get the rest, Mary. Fill it up.”

“Fuck off,” I grumbled. I hated the name and hoped they wouldn’t keep calling me that in the future. I’d cut off sex to anyone of them who called me once we left this place.

We made quick work of cleaning out the money and there was no way I could pick up the filled bag. I stepped back and let Ollie heft it up. He waved his gun to let me go first. I put my hands up and stepped out into the hallway, rushing down the short hall to the employee exit. There shouldn’t be anyone out with breaks not due for another hour, but none of us wanted to take any chances.

Once we were out the door, they threw the bags in the bed and we piled in the truck; the plates having been exchanged for some I pilfered from a car in a restaurant parking lot the day before. “Buckle up, buttercup,” Dane smirked at me as he put it in drive and peeled out of the parking lot, heading for the highway. We’d be in the next county quickly, each probable route mapped out ahead of time. He took the fastest one since we didn’t have to run from anyone.

I let out a big whoop as we passed the county line and I pulled off the ugly dyed wig and let it fly out the window. “Someone give me my makeup wipes,” I demanded, wanting to get rid of the ugly face as soon as possible.

Finn passed me the pack, and I wiped my face clean, realizing I’d put the beauty mark on the wrong side. It didn’t matter. These dumbass country boys would never notice, and if they did, I doubted they would think anything of it. Hell, in the past, I’d gotten away with so much with the sheriff back in my hometown because he never looked closely enough to notice my shirts hid more than I fessed up to stealing.

“So much better,” Dane complimented me, taking his eyes off the road to look at me in the dim light of the mirror. “I hope none of our plans in the future require that makeup. I love you, Vivian, but you looked like a schoolteacher in that makeup.”

“That’s no longer a thing,” I laughed. “I mean, my teachers were all ugly, but have you seen some of these teachers on the television? They are hot.”

“Don’t make me call you Mary,” he teased.

“Alright, no more old lady makeup,” I agreed. “I hated it anyway, even though I’m supremely talented at transforming myself with just a bit of the right products.”

“Baby girl, you are talented in so many things and I plan on enjoying all of them as soon as we get to our next accommodations.”

Chapter 22

Sheriff Frank Hinton

I watched as the lead agent tried to speak to the locals. The distrust of outsiders was clear in the way they avoided talking to her. After hours of knowing she wasn’t getting anywhere, I finally pulled her aside, “Bailey, the folks aren’t keen on the government. I don’t want to step on your toes, but I know I can get more if you let me.”

She stiffened, the only sign of her irritation as she gave me a tight-lipped smile, “You’re government too, Sheriff.”

I nodded, “Yes, but I’m local. In their eyes, I’m one of them. They voted me in. You were hired. State and federal are different to us down here.”

Relenting with a heavy sigh, she agreed, “Fine, but I will give you a list of questions and I want the interviews recorded for my team. And, I will accompany you. I’ll stand back, but I’m going to be there in case anything stands out which needs immediate follow-up questions.”

I knew it wasn’t the best way to handle this, but I also knew I was in over my head. “No one heard or saw anything aside from a car of one of our residents parked down the street. According to one local, this person left late last night to visit her mother and her car should have been behind her apartment building. I’m not sure if she had someone drive her to the airport or if it was a mistake.”

“It’s not much, but it’s something,” Bailey noted as she scribbled in her notebook. “I’ve got my team on the security footage and so far there’s nothing of significance. The death wasn’t recorded at all, so it leads me to believe it’s not the real footage. It will take some time to know for certain. Who is this resident?”

My stomach plummeted, knowing I had to give the name of a woman I didn’t believe was involved. The townsfolk weren’t the only ones distrustful of the feds. “Vivian Parker. No friends here in town. She lives in an apartment not far from here and works at the bar over there,” I pointed in the general direction of the town’s only bar.

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