Ten
Flying people to and from the sea pen was honest work and Joey wasn’t going to complain about it. There was no one shooting at him. He didn’t have to wear three layers of pants to keep his blood from freezing in his veins, and not only did Russell pay him well, he also covered fuel for personal use and “training,” which was basically Joey flying around for fun.
At the same time, having to wait an entire week before he could take Eliza in the air for her first flight was killing him.
While he was busy making chitchat with contractors and veterinarians, Eliza was in the tea shop researching everything she could find about the previous robberies.
She managed to bake something new every day, too – macadamia nut cookies yesterday, birthday cake sugar cookie bars today.
Joey stopped in every day after work for her updates and new recipes. His favorite so far were the Earl Grey sugar cookies, which came on the same day Eliza had a breakthrough on the case.
“He’s getting bolder,” she said, spreading a stack of papers onto the table in front of him.
“Mm, yes,” Joey said, his mouth full of cookies. “Did you dust these with sugar?”
“Yes,” she said impatiently. “Look at this. His first robbery, they think, was in Tacoma. He robbed the tellers and only got away with a few thousand. Kept it quick.”
He took a sip of tea. “Yeah. Is this cinnamon, too?”
“Can you please focus?”
“Yes, of course. Focused.”
“Then he hit the branches in Olympia, Leavenworth, and Portland in the same way. They didn’t even realize the Portland one was him until recently. That was where he started to get creative.”
“Ah yes, Portland. That’s a fun place to land.”
She pointed to a red star she’d made on the map. “This was the first time he cleaned out the ATMs, too. That was when he started making more money. A comment from one of the news stories piqued my interest.”
“A news story from back when he did it?”
“Yeah. One of the employees they interviewed said the guy had to be a bank employee. He knew too much of the lingo and seemed to know his way around.”
Joey shifted in his seat. Now that was interesting. “Why did they decide this robbery was done by the same guy?”
“The pattern, I guess. Hitting all these branches, getting in and out quickly. Working alone.”
“Interesting. Is that where we’ll start, then? In Portland?”
“I wish we could get an employee list,” she said with a groan. “That would make it so much easier.”
“I’ll just ring up Stacy, our favorite ATF agent, and ask her for a list.”
“Better you than me,” Eliza said, then paused. “You know, sometimes websites have a directory. You can look at all the employees, maybe even use a function to see previous lists…”
“You’re thinking this guy got fired?”
“Fired or laid off, maybe? How bold would you have to be to keep working at the bank you’re robbing?”
“He could be one of those shy, introverted bank robbers.”
“Yeah, sure.” She took a bite of a cookie, chewing slowly. “These are supposed to be softer.”
“They’re perfect,” he said, picking up his third. “And yes, there are shy bank robbers. There was that guy who only handed notes and never spoke during robberies. When he got caught, he said he was funding a charity.”
“You believed him?”
Joey frowned. “Don’t you?”
She sighed. “I don’t trust anyone anymore.”
“Not even me?” He regretted saying it as soon as it was out of his mouth.
She grinned. “No, I trust you, Joey. Enough to put my life in your hands when we take to the skies.”
The last bite of cookie got caught in his throat. Maybe they were a touch dry. Too much powdered sugar on top.
Or maybe it was time he told her more about his past and what had brought him here.
“Should I not trust you?” she asked.
If she hadn’t figured it out by now, what was the point in ruining their fun?
“Ha. No, you should.” He forced a smile. “I’m honored.”