RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Writer's Block "Malum in se"

“You want the truth…from me? How ironic, considering that you deem me incapable of telling such a thing. You haven’t trusted me since the Chicago heist. You see anything I do as a ‘manipulation’ in order to ‘destabilize’ the team; you think I called you in a ‘panic’ instead of being concerned and very much aware that there is more at stake here than just money. Why should I tell you anything? I tried telling you the truth once. Not that it did me any good then. And it’s not like you trust me enough to believe me now.”

Leigh moved towards the window and turned her back to Aaron and looked out onto the water. The sun was almost gone and the remaining light colored the horizon a deep red which was fading quickly. Leigh heard Aaron move towards her and stiffened.

“Leigh, just tell me what’s got you so scared?” Aaron was behind her now and slid an arm around her waist, his voice a whisper against her ear. “C’mon, baby, you can tell me.” Leigh struggled to move away from him and turned to face him. The look on her face said it all.

“Don’t.” She was pissed. “Don’t you dare use what we once had as a way to try and manipulate me now. Don’t give me another reason to hate you even more than I already do.”

Aaron took one look at her and knew immediately that he had used the wrong tactic with her. For a brief moment he looked almost sorry. Then the mask came down again. It was back to business as usual.

“If you don’t tell me what’s going on, you’re out of this deal. We’ll move on without you.”

It was an empty bluff and they both knew it.

“We both know that you can’t do this heist without me. But if that’s how you feel, I’ll leave here first thing in the morning.” She turned and headed to the door to leave. He grabbed her arm and she spun around looking like she could punch him.

“You are the most difficult woman I have ever met!” he said fiercely. He was trying not to let his anger get the best of him, but she was really trying his patience.

“And you’re an arrogant son of a bitch who can’t handle someone not blindly following your every word,” she said, wrestling away from his grip. “Yeah, we need to get on that boat, but why must we be out in the open? What’s so important that Viv and I can’t stay hidden and unseen with the rest of the crew?”

“Tell me what’s got you so scared, and I’ll tell explain why you and Viv can’t remain behind the scenes.”

Leigh appraised him deciding if she should tell him everything. They were silent for a few moments, and then Leigh walked over to the table, opened a beer and sat down. Aaron took the seat across from her and pulled out his cigarettes and offered her one. She took one and he lit hers and then his.

She took a long drag and watched as the smoke curled upward from the lit end in a slow swirling motion. Then she began.

“Everyone here is excited about the payout if this heist goes through, but what no one seems to have questioned is: why I would want to get involved when I’m already wealthy? My money may have started dirty, but I’ve been able to parlay it into a small fortune. I don’t need the money, I already have plenty, so why would I be here?”

“I’ve wondered that myself.”

“Of course you have. You always were one to question everything,” she said quietly. “Remember what I said when I called you? This is more than just about the money. Lives are at stake. I wasn’t panicking or over-exaggerating. We’re dealing with Ramos here, and he’s not just some drug dealer who has eluded the law. He’s more than what he appears to be. You know that expression, ‘politics makes strange bedfellows’?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“Well, Ramos has a few in his pocket, here and there. Judges, cops, but most importantly politicians.”

“Not unusual for a man in his position,” Aaron said, waiting to see where this was going.

“Information is power, Aaron. Youknow that.” She paused, clearly debating whether she should continue or not.

“Go on,” Aaron coaxed, wanting her to continue now that she had started.

Leigh flicked her ash and watched the smoke rise for a few seconds. Then she took a deep breath and told him what he wanted to hear: the truth.

Vivian blinked as the morning sun lit her room through a small window with white trim. She looked around the room, expecting to be back in her cell at the Robertson Unit. But she was not there. These walls were painted blue, the old ones were off-white over concrete. This bed was warm, the old one stiff. She didn't belong in this bedroom, she belong in her cell.

She wanted to sleep off her hangover, but something else was nagging at her. Ah yes. Her work. Even when she was working with Ramos, she had been described as a workaholic. Granted, organized crime wasn't a 9 to 5 type of job, but Vivian always seemed a little more driven when she was doing what she did best -- messing with numbers.

***

Of course, Vivian hadn't always been doing illegal work for Ramos. At first, she was just an assistant to his chief of Las Vegas finances. At least until she was summoned to his home in Switzerland -- one of his favorite haunts.

She was brought to his office by a very attractive Swiss secretary. "You are a very bright young lady, Miss Jaspers. The accent throws one off. People look at you, with your plantation manners and your big Texas cheerleader hair, and they think you're just a little doll. A simpleton."

Vivian had remember not being afraid of Ramos during the meeting. She would be terrified during later ones. "And what do you see when you look at me?"

"Potential." He held up a pile of bank statements. "You could have sent this material to the FBI, or INTERPOL, or Scotland Yard. I could be in jail. Instead, you corrected the glitches in the formula."

"I was going to ask for a raise, sir."

"Dammit, Vivian!" Ramos threw the papers down. "Do not take me for an idiot! You're smart enough to know where this money came from. Why didn't you go to the police?"

Ramos's face was red from all the excitement. He wanted to get his heart medication out, but he never took them when other people were present. Vivian, on the other hand, looked indifferent. "I don't really care how you get your money, sir. You hired me to make sure things run smoothly. I did my job, didn't I?"

"Don't you worry about punishment? Going to jail?"

Vivian thought about it for a moment. "I suppose I'd have to get caught first, sir. And I don't intend to get caught."

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Vivian worried that she had sent Ramos over the edge. Instead, he chuckled. "'Don't intend to get caught.' Quite a wit. Brandy?" Vivian nodded. Ramos poured two glasses. "You are a very bright young lady, Miss Jaspers. And I think you're ill-suited to simply be an accountant's assistant. How do you feel about managing the other half of my finances?"

Vivian accepted the drink. "Forgive me for questioning your judgement, sir, but I really don't know much about your particular lifestyle. All I did was see a flaw in your casino system and I corrected it. I just know numbers."

"Hell, that's the hard part!" said Ramos. "Guns and drugs and ships -- I can teach you that. That's easy. But you've got a knack for making money untracable, and that's a rare gift." He stood up from behind his massive mahogany desk. "I'm going to Tokyo in a few weeks. I'd like you to come with me. There are people I want you to meet. You'll pick up on things soon enough."

Vivian looked down at the brandy in her hand. It went down her throat like liquid gold. The glass was made of crystal. The room was well-decorated with first-edition hardbacks. His home -- his home was a damn castle in the Alps! Oh Vivian, you could get use to this sort of lifestyle. "I suppose a good response would be Gou ni itte wa, gou ni shitagae. Don't you agree?"

***

Vivian headed downstair. She was still dressed in her clothing from yesterday -- although a little more rumpled -- and carrying the little black book that had not left her side. Sam was at the table. "Things would help if you could get us more information on the ship."

"Working on that now." She grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil. She flipped to a page in the book and began writing like mad, ignoring her bad hair and her pale complexion.

Sam leaned over to look at the notebook. There were no letters, just a mess of numbers and mathmatical symbols. "You didn't write it in English? What is this stuff?"

"Back in college I came up with a sort of code. It's not a real language -- not one like what your use to, anyways. It's base on mathmatical concepts -- trig, calculas, that sort of thing. When I began to work for Ramos, I used this book to write down everything I've done."

"And you can read all this?"

Vivian grinned. "I spent so much time writing in this notebook...I can read the formula like you read a book. It may just look like random numbers to you, but I see paragraphs."

"Does Ramos have a copy?"

"I don't think so. It was actually in storage during my stay in the jail. Plus, it's not like anyone who works for Ramos could actually translate this thing. There's another book upstairs. It's a little red book. Red...for revenge. That's the book I wrote while I was in jail."

"What's in it?"

"Important stuff that's not in the black book. Ramos's usual haunts. Addresses and names of people that he knows -- friends and enemies." She smiled at the next thought. "My opinions on who should, would, and could help me out."

This was amusing. "What did you write about me?"

"I figured odds were three to four that you wouldn't accept the offer. And the rest was hope, really." Vivian stopped writing for a moment. "I wronged you...greatly. I regret that, you know."

Sam just shrugged. "The money's good and...well, you didn't really know what you were doing."

Vivian stomped her hands on the desk. "I get it, I get it, I'm not a good shot --"

Sam laughed. "That's not what I meant. I mean you not suited for that sort of dirty work. Oh, you're capable of lying and cheating and stealing...but killing? You're bad, Vivian. You're not evil. That's why we're all here to get back at Ramos. We're all bad -- we're not afraid to break the law to make a few bucks. Ramos? He's evil -- he steals other things besides money. You know that better than any of us."

Vivian handed Sam the notebook. "That's only a few pages. I have plenty of material on his boat. I'll give you some more as soon as I've had a drink."

"Thanks. I'll show this to the guys." He got up to head to the garage, when a thought stopped him. "By the way, how many pages do you have on Seth? Or is he a villian in your little blue book?"

Vivian just rolled her eyes. "Everyone's a hero in their own novel."

Vivian looked up from her book. It was noon. She hadn't eaten. Fuck, she groaned. She pulled up the cellphone Aaron had given her and looked up the number for the deli she had found last night. She didn't remember much before getting drunk, but she remembered they had some menu items she'd wanted to test out. Where the fuck did I put that menu? She glanced around at the kitchen. It was spotless. Is everybody working? Shit. . .might as well make it a large order.

************************

Gulls cried in the distance as she walked along the pier down to the boat. Redjack was looking at the engine. He seemed to be showing something in it to Chris. Chris nodded as Redjack made several motions with his hands. Is Chris actually making an attempt to learn something? Huh. Imagine that.

Leigh was seated off to the side of the two men, flipping through a newspaper. Vivian sat next to her. "I ordered lunch for everyone."

Leigh looked up. "The deli we found? What did you order?"

Vivian nodded. "Just basic stuff. I didn't feel like getting too indepth."

"Hangover?" Leigh asked.

Vivian nodded again. She looked around the pier. She didn't see Sam, Seth, or Aaron.

"Aaron's checking back over our trails to make sure we're covered. Again." Leigh flipped over the paper. "Sam is. . .who the fuck knows. . ." Flip. "Seth's down at the end of the pier."

"Oh." Vivian nodded. She realized she was doing that a lot and made a mental note to stop. She would probably ignore that thought later.

"He didn't lay a hand on you." Leigh looked up from the paper. She couldn't tell if Vivian was relieved or insulted. Vivian wasn't too sure herself.

"I need more coffee." was all she said before getting up and walking back to the house.

*****************************

Two cups of coffee later, she made her way out to the end of the pier. She saw him sitting there on the edge, his feet dangling over the water. He was looking out into the distance. But at what she didn't know. There was nothing she could see but water.

"I ordered lunch. It'll be here soon."

"Not hungry." He tossed a rock into the water. It disappeared.

"I thought you'd be working with Jack on the boat." She proffered.

"Needs parts. Had to be ordered." He tossed another rock into the ocean. It sank, too. This game wasn't very exciting.

She could tell he hadn't slept. "Thanks for letting me sleep in your room last night."

He turned to look up at her, squinting in the light. "You didn't really leave me much choice."

"You could've done something about it."

"Don't think it didn't cross my mind."

"Why didn't you?"

"Lots of reasons." He looked back out at the ocean. "You were drunk. We're not married anymore. It would've lead to more problems and complications. I'm a bastard. But I'm not a fucking bastard."

"I'm starved. Food'll be here shortly. Come eat with us." She half turned, waiting for his response.

"Might." Was all that was offered.

Leigh watched as Vivian made her way down to Seth at the end of the pier. She got up and went back to the house to get refill her coffee cup. Entering the house she made her way over to the kitchen and poured herself a cup. Black with a little sugar. It was good. Sam had made it before dissappearing to Lord knows where. Bless Sam's thieving little heart, the man knew how to make a good cup of coffee.

Aaron was off triple checking things, as he always did. Leigh breathed in the smell of the coffee as her mind wandered back to last night. She had told him everything - about the tapes she had garnered while in Ramos' employ and how that, coupled with the information in Vivian's "little black book," were enough to destroy Ramos. It was incontrovertable proof - not only of his drugs, but of the political bribes and the politicians he had in his pocket. If the information got out ot would be more than enough to destroy Ramos and half a dozen high level politicians. People who didn't just kill you in a messy, high profile drug related killing, but people who could make you dissappear and make it as if you never existed at all. And it wouldn't just be the crew that would suffer - it was a domino effect; others who were involved, who the politicians might suspect knew more than they should - innocents who stumble on info whose significance they didn't even understand themselves - they would all be at risk if Vivian began to dig and if her own tapes got out. Ramos was aware of this and she had no doubt that Vivian's release was on his radar and he was prepared to do whatever it took to keep all that information from being known.

Leigh could see that Aaron didn't want to believe her, but even if he didn't trust her anymore, her words had the ring of truth. She could see it in his face that he knew she wasn't lying. She had left him then, to digest what she had told him and to stumble into bed.

She had been exhausted. Stumbling into her room she had found Seth there, lying on Viv's bed, but fully awake.

"What are you doing here?"

"My bed is currently occupied." Leigh raised an eyebrow before responding.

"Then what are you waiting for? I thought that's what you wanted?"

"She's drunk."

Leigh scowled. "When are you two going to stop playing this cat and mouse bullshit with each other?"

Seth didn't answer her. Leigh sighed. "Look, I don't know what is going on with you two, and truthfully I don't really care, but either do something so you know what's going on or walk away. You don't want to keep hoping for something only to find out that its never gonna happen. Trust me."

"Aaron?"

"Not anymore."

Seth nodded.

"I'm geting ready for bed. I'm fucking wiped. You want to take Vivian's bed fine, but let me fall asleep first, because as I recall once you start snoring I never get to sleep."

"We had fun, didn't we Leigh?" He seemed a bit down.

Leigh paused, and looked at him thoughtfully. Carefully. "Yeah, we did once," she said slowly as she lay on the bed. "But that was then." She was so tired she didn't even bother to change. "This is now." The words were barely out of her mouth before she fell asleep.

**************

She had awoken this morning, not feeling totally rested and had looked over at Viv's bed. It had not been slept in. She had showered and changed into jeans and a t-shirt and then come down to find Redjack and Chris outside already and joined them. Her brother was right: there was something sketchy about Chris that made her cautious. He didn't follow orders and...

...the bell rang and startled Leigh. No one knows we're here she thought, before remembering that Vivian had placed an order for delivery. Dear Lord, please have made Vivian smart enough not to have paid via credit card, she though as she went to answer the door.

Harris fumbled about and grabbed a flask in the glove compartment. He was parked in a rusty F-150 outside a seedy motel. The only other interesting thing was a dead armadillo collecting flies. I can't believe Vivian is dumb enough to stay in El Paso. Unless she's trying to go to Mexico.

Two other men were in the truck with him. One of them, an older man in a beat-up jacket, looked at his watch. "Harris, we've been out here for two hours. This has to be a waste."

"Yeah," said the thug in the back, playing with his silencer. "For all we know Seth's dumped Vivian for a Chinese contortionist."

Harris rolled his eyes. "Look, I've got trusted informants. Ramos wants Vivian dead." He didn't need to add that Ramos was giving him a second chance.

Harris excelled in only one thing -- being average. He lack Vivian's brains, or Seth's muscles, or Sam's skills. His advancement had mostly been due to the fact that he never took a risk. So while everyone else found themselves dead or in jail, Harris continued to serve Ramos.

But such underserved promotions had a price. Ramos was quickly putting Harris in charge of more and more dangerous operations. Harris knew one day he would slip up. That's why he liked having a few idiots along for the ride. It's easier to place blame on a dead man.

Like the two grunts in the truck.

A Silverado pulled into the motel. A man wearing a jacket quickly jumped out of the truck and ran towards one of the doors. It was clear he didn't want to be seen. The door opened, and he quickly rushed inside.

"Number one-three-seven. Just like he said." Harris turned to the man with the gun. "Shoot them in the head. Nice clean kill. Hide the bodies in the bathroom. And try not to leave fingerprints."

"Why aren't you helping?"

Harris held up his cellphone. "Making a call."

After the grunts left the truck, Harris phoned Ramos. He seemed relax. Must have taken his heart medication today. "Even you can't mess this up."

"Don't worry, the plan is -- "

BAM!

The older grunt opened the door, setting off a trap. Harris ducked under the wheel. An explosion rattled the truck, and the bodies of the two grunts and the man with the jacket flew into the air and crashed into the dust.

Ramos could hear everything over the other line. "Harris, what was that?" Harris said nothing. "You're the reason I need all this damn heart medication, you know that, right?"

"Yes...sir..."

"Get back here," said Ramos. "She had Aaron on her team. This complicates things."

***

Seth spotted the sandwiches. He grabbed one off the top of the pile. "I sure hope there's no mayo."

Vivian grabbed something from the bag. "Here's a napkin for -- nevermind, that's what a shirt's for..."

Aaron was talking on his cell phone by one of the boats. When he hung up, he had a grin on his face.

"This is not good," said Leigh to Vivian. "I hate that face."

"Fixed your parole officer problems," said Aaron.

Vivian stopped eating her sandwich. "Do I want to know how you did it?"

Seth wiped the mustard off his nose. "Hells bells, I want to know how you did it."

"Easy. Detective Ashley Greenwood is a very busy man --"

"Wait," said Seth. "Ashley's a he?"

"Just finish your sandwich, Seth. Anyways, he's been assisting the FBI and the Border Patrol with Vivian's capture. I'd say they'd find you in a week, two weeks tops."

"And?"

"And he's also very angry that he can't do anything about his damn son-in-law. Bastard broke his daughter's heart when he ran off with a toothless stripper. They've been at it like two jackrabbits at some seedy motel. So, I arranged for Harris to think you were in the hotel room...and well, let's just say Detective Greenwood is very eager to repay us anyway we like."

"Which means?"

Leigh grinned. "Which means Greenwood is feeding false information to the FBI. And since Ramos has access to government files and is bound to be sniffing around..."

Aaron finished her sentence. "It gives us a small advantage."

"For how long?" asked Seth.

"I make no promises. But we need to talk to Sam and Chris. Those boats need to be ready by tomorrow night."

It was twilight. A chilly breeze came from the south as the waves hit the wooden beans of the pier.

Leigh was already waiting at the pier. She was using the light from her cell phone to look at a couple of crabs below. They were picking meat off a dead frog. I wonder if those frogs really are endangered. There was a tunk tunk tunk sound behind her, and she turned to see Vivian walking on the planks in heels.

The weeks in the sun and shade should have purked Vivian up. But her face was still pale and her body somewhat gaunt. "You left a bunch of bottles in the room again."

Vivian looked up as though she didn't realize someone was in front of her. "Did I? How careless of me." There was no reason to discuss her slow decline into alcoholism. She decided to change the subject. "I hope they didn't drag us out here to -- "

"Ssssssh," hissed Leigh. "Look. Out there in the ocean."

The two of them spotted lights in the water. Seth, Redjack, and Aaron were all driving the three boats. It was too far away to notice the heavy modifications, but the boys had manage to quiet the engines and lower the sides of the hulls. The boats were now faster, quieter, and harder to see. They kept the lights shining towards the pier, the only sign of their presence.

"Good God," said Vivian. "They did it."

Seth was driving the lead boat. He signaled for Redjack and Aaron to follow him as he headed towards the docks. The girls were grinning like schoolchildren at this point. Seth tossed a rope towards Vivian. "Tie her up."

Leigh helped with Redjack's boat, and Seth pulled Aaron's next to his. Aaron hopped off the boat and handed Vivian a few maps of the Atlantic coast. "The circles mark friendly places where we can gas up and get supplies. The triangles are caves or other forms of natural shelter we can use during the daytime. The red crosses are to be avoided -- law enforcement or someone friendly to Ramos."

"That's usually the same thing," said Leigh.

Aaron nodded in agreement. "Where's Chris?"

Vivian pointed back to the rental house. "I told him what you said and he's getting all the supplies ready. Redjack, I told him to leave your explosives alone."

"Thanks, Viv."

Leigh looked around at everyone and grinned. "We're finally going to do this, aren't we?"