The Appropriate Heist

Suspenseful from the start, a novel about a group of college students on the run from law...with a dangerous but key secret for the future of mankind. Preview available! This novel is in progress...stay tuned for more!

Corson’s Inlet, Ocean City, New Jersey 2014 Original Photo by PJ Greene

Corson’s Inlet, Ocean City, New Jersey 2014 Original Photo by PJ Greene

 

The Appropriate Heist

Mina dropped down off the tailgate of the truck where Claire and Stephen stood in front of her, arms folded mirroring each other’s stances. The dust kicked up at Mina’s feet as she landed reminding her that there had been no rain for weeks now.

“I can’t believe that you didn’t notice that the truck was running low on gas!” Claire whined in a strained voice. She sounded like she was holding her temper in by a very thin thread.

“Well I wasn’t the one falling asleep in the back and not offering to drive a portion of the trip!” Mina ground out, shooting her a vicious look.

“Girls, we know we can’t stand around forever here, night’s going to fall and then we’ll be sitting ducks in the dark for Clark to find us. We should have drove separate vehicles in case this happened.” Stephen ran his fingers through his sandy short cropped hair, disheveling it and making him look like he had just stuck his finger in an electrical socket. The thickly rimmed glasses perched on his bird-like nose didn’t help the look any.

“Fine, lets start walking. I’m sure someone will travel through this godforsaken desert eventually. Or at the very least we’ll find shelter for the night.” Mina replied.

They each grabbed the lightly packed backpacks out of the bed of the truck and Mina stepped to the cab, wrenching open the rusted out door.

“What are you doing up there?” Claire queried.

“Getting something for a weapon.”

“We don’t need weapons! Clark wouldn’t hurt us if he found us!”

“Puh-lease! What planet do you live on? Of course Clark will hurt us if he finds us! Do you want a list of the reasons why?!” Mina gave Claire an exasperated glare.

Stephen replied for Claire, “I don’t think she needs a list of —”

Mina cut him off, launching into a list, “First we stole his computer, then we hacked into the CIA’s database on it, then the feds found tracked it back to his computer, then we planted the computer back on his person, they brought him in for questioning and held him, then when he told them it was us we not only planted more evidence on his computer that he did the deed, but we also stole his truck, and now we are on the run from him! Oh and by the way, he went through Navy Seal training and we are just a few computer geek college kids trying to rig the system!”

“Mina!” Stephen tried to interrupt.

“…so yes, not IF but WHEN Clark finds us, he will hurt us.” Mina finished her rant with a completely level gaze at Claire who seemed to shrink behind Stephen.

Sighing Stephen looked at Claire, “She’s right, lets get going.”

Mina grabbed a tire iron, two road flares, and an old box of matches. Then she checked the glove box. Bingo. A small 9mm revolver sat in the glove box hidden under some papers. Turning her body to shield the view of the gun from the others, she checked chambers and found six rounds. She tucked the gun into the back of her waistband, pulling her shirt down to conceal it. Thank god her brother taught her to shoot before he left for Russia with the special forces.

“C’mon.” Stephen said and they set off alongside the road single file.

The hours slowly slipped away, the sun slipped off the edge of the world casting longer shadows, then plunging the desert into tar black night. No one said a word as they had walked for the last several hours, never stopping, never seeing a passing car.

Stephen finally broke the silence, “We need to stop for the night. There’s a mass of boulders over there a little ways, head that way and we can sleep there till dawn.”

No one replied, just turned and followed the direction Stephen had pointed. Mina picked up her pace as the boulders grew closer. Perfectly deserted and a few good shelter type setups within the boulder placements. Mina bounded up one boulder keeping herself facing the road side of the pile. She walked along the edge till the boulder flattened and allowed her to crouch down under a little overhang from another boulder above. She set her stuff down and called down to the others, “I’ll watch over from here tonight, you two find spots down there and get some sleep.”

“Okay.” Came the reply from Claire and Stephen in unison.

Mina heard a little giggle from Claire and their chatting and rustling around for a few minutes until it went silent. Sitting rigidly against the face of one boulder tucked under the overhang with her pack at her feet, Mina replayed the events of the day in her head and counted the endless stars spilling across the sky, not realizing she was drifting off.

~~

Something warm brushed her cheek, a soft touch of a rough hand. Clark, she knew the scent of his skin anywhere, fresh clean with a little dirt from a day of hard work in the mechanic’s bay still lingering even after cleaning up. Clark! No! Mina jerked awake to feel a hard hand clamp down over her mouth to keep her from screaming. Instinctively she reached up and found his pinky finger, wrenching it backwards hard, knowing that it was a weak link in the hand structure. Clark had taught her that. She rolled to her side and jumped, just missing his hand snaking out to grab at her again. She yelped. Another move and she would be on the open side of the boulder where she could scramble down, he caught her square in the shin with his boot, landing her on her elbows and stomach hard. Mina grunted, rolled over and was suddenly pinned by an entire body across her frame, one solidly muscled forearm pressed against her throat. One of her hands was pinned behind her, the other wrist was caught between his steely grip. Claire and Stephen must have heard the scuffling because suddenly they were climbing up the side of the boulder to reach her. Without his eyes leaving her face, Clark said, “Move another inch and I cut off her air. And drop the tire iron, Stephen.”

Clang. The tire iron fell to the rock and bounced off the edge, falling far below out of reach.

“Let…me…speak…” Mina ground out, her throat constricted from his arm.

Clark lightened his hold on her neck fractionally. It was just enough for her to tilt her body slightly, whipping the revolver out from behind her back. She snaked it up underneath his arm, pressing the mouth of the gun against the underside of his jaw. He froze, and she thought she saw a flash of surprise behind his eyes, but it was gone as soon as she most likely imagined it.

“Didn’t you find your truck?” Mina batted her eyelashes at him mockingly.

“Yes.” He replied shortly, his hot breath washing across her face with his close proximity.

“Didn’t you think to check the glovebox to see if we had weapons?” She tried so hard to keep from grinning.

“My how the tables have turned.” She spoke again, keeping her voice in a mocking tone.

Clark stayed silent.

“One twitch of my finger and you’re dead. It’s loaded still, yes the safety is off, and yes I have fired a gun before.”

“You wouldn’t kill me. You couldn’t.” He said flatly.

“Watch me.” She replied coldly.

“You tracked us out here because we screwed up royally and you got the shit for it. Yeah we messed up your Navy Seal training, yeah we got you kicked out, we certainly didn’t mean to do that, you just happened to be the unlucky one in this situation. We can’t go home and you can’t go home, you can’t kill any of us though because then you’ll have that on your conscience and currently you actually didn’t do anything wrong. So the way I see it, you either help us get the heck out of dodge, or you get shot here on this rock and left to die. Either way, we are leaving the country.”

Clark regarded her for a moment before saying, “Why would I help you? You messed up my life, I don’t have anything to go back for either, but why would you do that to me?” His voice almost betrayed his emotion on the last few words.

Mina heard the hardness in his voice and almost gave in but caught herself, “One way ticket to Mexico with your name on it if you help us. We have something that you might want…and it might actually get you back in good graces with the government.”

Silence filled the air.