The Bank

I did the best I could. I put on makeup and lipstick and fine-tuned it until I looked as good as I could. Luckily, the doctors had only shaved the area around where the bullet grazed me so I was able to comb my hair down over it. If you didn't know what to look for it was barely noticeable. After the nurse left, I started going over what I'd say to both the Keystone cops and more importantly to Lucas.

First, after thinking about it, I realized that telling the deputies anything about my relationship with Jerry would probably be a mistake. I doubted that they'd believe that I didn't know that he was going to rob the bank. I'd believed everything he told me about working for a movie company. The less they knew about that the better. I'd let them believe that I was just an innocent bank employee who got shot during the robbery. The only other person, who knew that I knew Jerry, was Ted and unfortunately, though fortunate for me, he was dead. In a way that was my fault.

As for Lucas, I had to play this perfectly. The longer we were apart the greater the chance that I wouldn't get him back. He was seemingly adjusting to living without me far faster than I would ever have thought. And judging from the reaction of those stupid women at the bank and even the nurses in the hospital, Lucas could replace me fairly easily if he got lonely. There had to be a way for me to get him to get over this. I was sure that if I put my mind to it I could come up with something.

Breakfast came and went with no cops. I was beginning to get frustrated. I actually thought about calling the Sheriff's department myself. For several hours, I fussed around in my bed trying to think of what I'd do about saving my marriage, when suddenly it hit me. I didn't have to do anything. All I had to do was nothing. I'd get the doctors to tell Lucas that I needed someone to take care of me. They'd already told me that I could go home in a couple of days if I had someone to watch over me. I'd also play up the one bad arm thing to the hilt. Lucas had always taken good care of me anyway. It was one of the ways that even when we were dating I knew that he'd be a great father someday. He's caring and compassionate and above all else he has a sense of fairness that is just incredible.

And while he's taking care of me, I can tell him what I now suspected. My new theory was that Jerry used me to get information about the bank. He just played up my boredom with my life to work his way into my affections to get information out of me about the bank. I'd also have to tell Lucas that he couldn't tell the police anything about Jerry because he might come back to try to finish the job. I was sure that Jerry had only shot me to let the police know that I was innocent. Even when he pulled the trigger, I could see the love in his eyes. I wouldn't tell Lucas that part though. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. And things between Jerry and I were over anyway. They'd ended for me the day that Lucas caught us. It had been fun but it wasn't worth losing my marriage over.

Just as I was thinking about how to finalize my plan and possible get the doctor or one of the nurses to call Lucas, one of the nurses came into my room.

"The security desk just called. The deputy is on her way up," she said smiling brightly. "And she has a man with her."

I quickly arranged my hair and leaned back against my pillows. I was shooting for a pose that was both sexy and vulnerable at the same time. I wanted Lucas to think about how much he loved me and missed me. But I also wanted to arouse his protective instincts as well. You can't spend as much time with someone as Lucas and I had over the years without developing some degree of empathy for them. When he saw me in pain, it would hopefully bring those instincts out in Lucas.

Just as little miss, "My shit doesn't stink," sashayed into my room followed closely by a man, I let out a well-timed moan of pain. Actually the rise in my voice that sold it was genuine. It wasn't genuine pain though; they had me so doped up that I couldn't feel shit. What caused my voice to rise wasn't pain, it was surprise.

The man with her wasn't my Lucas. It was some grizzled old guy. He looked like a Sam Elliot clone and he was wearing a Sheriff's department uniform like hers.

"Where's Lucas?" I asked her heatedly.

"He didn't want to come," she snapped back, just as heatedly.

"Oh boy," I said. "I think I'm getting dizzy. Maybe I'd better call the nurse."

"Maybe I should handle this," said the man. "There seems to be something going on between the two of you that might not be good for my investigation."

"I'm the Sheriff," he said. "We'd like to ask you a few questions about your relationship with Rod Shorter."

"Who the hell is that?" I asked him.

"He's the man you knew as Jerry," he said slowly. "It may be another alias, though."

"I don't know any Jerry either," I said.

He stood up and walked around the room. He shrugged his shoulders at the female deputy. "Well Tanya," he said. "I've tried to shield you from this kind of thing, but you have to grow up some time." She just nodded and smiled. I was wondering what the fuck he was talking about when he suddenly stopped pacing and glared straight at me.

"Alright bitch," he spat. "Here's how this really works. I don't give a flying fuck about you, your God damned problems or the boo-boo on your head. A good man is dead just so some out of town assholes can run off with the money a lot of people in this town worked very hard for. I had no clues to the identities of these men at all until last night we got a source that helped us out a lot."

"The problem is that my source's account of what you know differs drastically from yours." My eyes widened and I think he saw it. "If I was going by my gut instinct, I'd believe him based on what I've seen of the two of you. He seems to be pretty honest and extremely fair. You on the other hand seem to be trying to either use my investigation for your own purposes or to actually cover things up."

"Then there's the fact that he provided me with evidence to back up his claims. And there's also the fact that his evidence proves that you're lying to me. So unless you'd like to serve out the rest of your recovery and the beginning of your sentence in jail instead of this cushy hospital, you'd better start talking sister."

I thought he was bluffing so I decided to try to stick to my story. "Oh, call the nurse," I cried.

"Yeah," he said. "Tanya, Honey, get the nurse in here." I knew then that he was serious.

As soon as the nurse came into the room he started on her. "What's wrong with her?" he asked.

The nurse looked flustered. "I can't release information on a patient or her condition without the patient's consent," she said.

"Get the doctor in here," he snapped. I breathed a sigh of relief. A few moments later a doctor came into the room.

He looked at the doctor. "Doctor," he said. "I know all about the HIPPA regulations and how you can't tell me shit about a patient without their consent. I also know that I can pick up my phone and call the judge and have him issue me a warrant for her records and make this shit extremely unpleasant for all concerned. So you and Mrs. Blue here need to figure a few things out either together or separately."

"One way or another I'm going to have the information I need. So either A, Mrs. Blue needs to start telling me the truth. Or B you need to answer a few hypothetical questions for me that don't necessarily pertain to Mrs. Blue. Are you willing to do that?"

There was a very short staring contest and the doctor blinked. "What would you like to know, hypothetically?" He gulped.

"Hypothetically speaking," said the Sheriff. "If a person got shot in the head and it proved to only be a glancing blow, could that person recover in a prison hospital as well as they could here a few days after the incident had occurred?"

"Well, theoretically," began the doctor.

"Okay," I said. "I'll tell you what you want to know."

"Start singing sister," he said.

"Uhm, do the doctor and the nurse have to be in the room?" I asked.

"Thanks doc," he said. Then he tipped his hat to the nurse and they left the room.

"Look Mrs. Blue," he began. "I really think that we got off on the wrong foot here. I'm not trying to be overly hard on you and I give you my word that the details of your entanglements and your divorce are not my interest. The only thing I'm trying to do here is bring a murderer to justice."

"I'm not getting a divorce," I said exasperatedly. My words brought a loud snort from the female deputy. He looked at her pointedly.

"You and me are going to have a long talk about this later anyway," he told her.

"Mrs. Blue, I don't want to take up too much of your time, all I really need for you to do right now is to verify some things for me. How long have you known Rodney Shorter?"

"I met him about 5 or 6 weeks ago," I said.

"How long have you been fucking him?" asked Tanya.

"I..." I hesitated and they both looked at me.

"Look lady," he said. "This will go easier if you just answer the questions. Then we can leave and you can do whatever you're going to do. Maybe I should show you something first, okay. I'm going to lay all of my cards on the table, here. We'll be totally honest with you. So you'll know what we know and then you can be totally honest with us. But the next time I get the feeling you're holding something back I'm throwing your ass in jail for a while. Good luck trying to get your husband back from there."

He reached into his pocket and brought out a phone. It was an iPhone 4s like the one Lucas has.

He brought up a video and held it in front of my face. The video showed Jerry or whatever his real name was just fucking away at me. It was very clear and both of our faces could be easily identified. My eyes were closed, whether out of shame or pleasure, I couldn't tell. The most embarrassing thing though was something I'd never noticed before. The look on Jerry's face showed anything but lust or pleasure. It looked like he was disgusted. He was even licking his tongue out and making faces at me while he fucked me.

It was strange that all the time I'd thought that the sex I'd had with Jerry was intense and special but seeing it from this angel made it look like two people having a sleazy quickie in a cheap motel.

"So you can now see why I haven't believed a word out of your God damned mouth," he said. "You can also see that I have a really good case for withholding information too, right?"

I nodded my head and looked away from him. I was ashamed. "Just answer the God damned questions okay?" he asked.

"I didn't immediately start sleeping with Jerry," I said. "It took him a while to break me down."

"How long?" he asked. "A two weeks? A month?"

"Two days," I said. "But he really..."

"Two fucking days?" asked Tanya in shock. "Jeezus, weren't you married at the time?"

"It didn't mean anything and it has nothing to do with my marriage," I offered. "It was just sex. He listened to me and..."

"Did your husband listen to you?" she asked.

"Yes, all the time," I said. "We talked every day and..."

"Did your husband ever beat you or come home drunk and act crazy?" she asked.

"Of course not," I said. "Lucas wouldn't hurt a fly, he..."

"Did he cheat on you or steal from you?" she asked.

"No," I said. "Lucas isn't that kind of person." I was about to say something else but she interrupted me again.

"Then what the fuck is wrong with you lady?" she asked. "Do you know how many women there are who would love to have a man like the one you pissed away?"

"Tanya, wait outside," said the Sheriff. "You and I are still going to have words, missy."

"I'm sorry for that Mrs. Blue," he said. "So you immediately started a sexual relationship with Mr. Shorter; we've established that. Was Mr. Shorter one of the men who robbed your bank?"

"Yes," I said.

"Was Mr. shorter the man who shot you and Ted Granger?" he asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Since all of the men were wearing masks, how did you know this?" he asked.

"I recognized his voice when we went into the safe," I said. "I asked him not to rob the bank. I tried to get him to just leave. Ted, Jerry and I went into the safe while the other two men cleaned out the teller's drawers."

"Go on," said the Sheriff.

"Well, while we were there he had Ted start emptying the cash drawers in the safe and I recognized his voice. I said, 'Jerry that's you isn't it'. I could tell it was him because we were uhm...close. But I also knew it was him because he was having trouble with his mask. It looked like wearing the mask was painful for him. He kept trying to pull it away from his nose and it looked like every time he tried to move his side hurt."

"The last time I'd seen Jerry. Lucas had done a real number on him when he caught us at the motel. He'd broken Jerry's nose and possible several of his ribs."

"Thank you Mrs. Blue," said the Sheriff. "That wasn't so hard was it?" He looked at me with a mixture of pity and revulsion. He tried to cover it up behind a persona of professionalism but he wasn't that good an actor.

"We already knew most of this from Mr. Blue and his video. It was very honest of your husband to give us that video and very helpful as well. He gave it to us unsolicited despite the fact that it could have gotten him in hot water," he said.

"How could it have gotten Lucas in trouble?" I asked.

"He put the phone down in the window to make the recording," said the Sheriff. "So he didn't have time to turn it off. The video shows him knocking the shit out of Shorter and then kicking him in the side. That could be used to prove an assault charge against him but he gave us the video anyway. That takes guts and a willingness to see things done the right way. My niece tried to cover for him by making a copy of the tape and cutting it off before the assault. In actuality we needed that part of the tape too. Once we found out how your lover had been injured we checked all of the clinics in town and all of the neighboring towns until we found where he'd been treated. That's how we got his name. He does have a criminal record under that name so maybe it's his real one. We have an APB out for him nation-wide. I'm sure he'll turn up. Stay in town, we may have further questions for you as the investigation proceeds."

After the Sheriff left, I got the doctor to come back into my room. He seemed to be trying to apologize for almost allowing the Sheriff to throw me into jail. I asked him how soon I could be released. He told me that I could actually leave later that day if I had someone to pick me up and watch over me for the next few days. I told him to call Lucas.

* * * * * *

Lucas

I was checking the dimensions on some of the parts I'd just run when my phone rang. I looked at the caller I.D. and saw that it was the hospital. I walked away from the phone. It could only be the doctor or some member of the hospital staff calling me to inform me of Angela's condition or calling to ask me questions about billing for Angela's treatment. I wasn't interested in either. My health insurance company would handle the billing since she was still covered under my policy. And unless they were calling to tell me that she'd died during the night or this morning, I really didn't want to hear about her condition.

Of course, it could have been Angela herself calling me. I'd be even less interested then.

I measured the overall thickness of the parts using a Starrett digital micrometer. The parts on this pallet were well within the allowed tolerances. There'd be no need for me to do any offsets for tool wear on the next batch. I pushed the cycle start button and watched as the tool came down to begin cutting the next blank.

I loaded the parts I'd just measured into a box. I was back on schedule. I'd taken quick naps as I ran parts all through the night. My UPS truck would be here by four p.m. this afternoon. I should have all of the parts done by two p.m.

I decided that another quick nap wouldn't hurt me. It would take the milling center over an hour to run the pallet of parts and I was a bit tired. I stifled a yawn just as the knocking on the door started. I was pissed. How the fuck was I supposed to run my business with all of the constant interruptions?

As I opened the door to the cheerful face of Stan Lee, our mailman I had to smile. Stan was never unhappy. Whether he was delivering mail in the July heat like today or the unrelenting chill of a Michigan winter he was always cheerful. It was hard to be upset around someone like that.

Right after Stan left the phone started ringing again. I picked it up more to get whoever was calling to leave me alone than anything else.

"Mr. Blue, can you come in today to take your wife home?" asked a voice on the other end of the line.

"No, I can't," I said with mock cheer.

"When can you come in?" he asked.

"I can't bring her home because I don't know where she lives," I said.

"I was under the impression that she resided with you," said the voice. "She will need someone to help her out and look out for her for a few days I'm afraid."

"Call her mom," I said. "Or try a nursing home." Then I hung up the phone, thinking that a shower before my nap might be in order.

Before I even made it to the door someone else had started knocking on it. Fate had obviously decided that I was unworthy of sleep. This time whoever was at the door would feel the brunt of my anger. I'd already taken a breath to yell at whoever it was when those pale gray eyes made me swallow it.

"Hi Lucas," my ears relished the sound of that subtle southern accent, even as my eyes feasted on her curves and smile. She looked up at me and smiled and then brushed the unruly hair out of those eyes and away from her face.

All thoughts and need for a nap vanished instantly. My own face erupted in a spontaneous smile. "Did I catch you at a bad time?" she asked. "I just came to bring you your phone back."

"Never too busy to see my favorite law enforcement official," I said.

"Are you always this nice to the deputies?" she asked

"Nope, only the gorgeous ones," I said.

"All of the gorgeous ones?" she asked, wrapping her arms around me. "Or only the ones who kiss you, like this?" She stepped up onto her tiptoes and pushed her mouth against mine. Everything stopped. I don't think I even heard the machines running in the background. This kiss was much more urgent than any of the others had been. This time her lips parted and her cherry flavored tongue met mine causing electrical impulses to run through both of our bodies. This time she pressed that firm body of hers against me and I wrapped my arms back against her pulling her even closer into me.

"That's what I thought," she said.

"Huh?" I asked, while trying to get the stars flying around in my head out, so I could focus again.

"Oh God, we're going to have to get you more used to that," she smirked. "Maybe with practice..." I nodded excitedly.

"So," she began, changing the subject. "We have something to talk about. What are you up to about now?"

"Nothing," I said. "The parts I'm working on will be done in about an hour. I finally got the hospital off of my back."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Some doctor kept calling me, until I finally answered the phone," I said. "He wanted me to bring Angela home. I think I got it across to him that she no longer lives here."

"Ooh, I wish you hadn't done that," she said, looking at me. "Well part of me is glad you did that though."