Twice tempted, p.9
Twice Tempted, page 9
"I’m not sure she would after tonight."
"Why? Just because you gave her $2,000."
"No, the way she made love to me."
"You made love to her!"
"Two solid hours."
"Wait a minute, you realize Maria won’t marry you if she finds out you’re not a virgin."
"That really didn't occur to me at the time, I guess I've gone off the deep end."
"Actually it sounds pretty exciting, but it's not like you, I am just shocked."
"You haven't heard the most shocking part yet."
"What could be more shocking?" Randy asked.
"I can't talk about it over the telephone. Next time I see you I'll fill you in."
"I'll be there in two hours."
"No. No. . . . When the time is right, I'll tell you about it. Promise me you won't discuss it with anyone."
"Discuss what?"
"I'll tell you later, I've got to go. Bye."
"Okay. . . . Bye."
I knew I had left Randy disturbed as he hung up the phone. I wished I hadn't alluded to the bank robbery. Now he would be bugging me until I told him about it. It's not that I didn't trust him, because I did completely. But I was afraid if I told him what happened he might later be forced to testify against me and end up committing perjury.
With all this on my mind it was impossible to sleep. I knew tomorrow was the day of reckoning. Although, so far, I had almost been able to put the whole matter out of my mind it would be nearly impossible tomorrow. Normally I had no trouble sleeping since I had developed an effective technique to combat insomnia. If I couldn't sleep, I would concentrate on something very pleasant. I had learned this from a motivational speaker I had listened to one time on the radio. Usually I would focus my thoughts on a beautiful place, a beautiful woman or happy event and imagine I was there. Tonight, nothing worked until I thought about Candy. Suddenly I heard a noise . . . it was laughter. As I turned around, I saw a beautiful woman emerging from a pond of water surrounded by dense tropical vegetation. I could see her pretty face, her wet blond hair, her mysterious eyes and those voluptuous breasts. She came toward me smiling and laughing. She splashed water at me and giggled in delight. We embraced, kissed and then she walked out of the pool with her back toward me. She walked a few steps, turned her head around at me, smiled and winked. As I gazed at her naked body, my knees buckled and I became overwhelmed with joy. I struggled to keep my composure, surely I was in heaven. Then I heard her screaming. She turned again and there was terror in her eyes . . . I woke up in a cold sweat.
When I opened my eyes I saw the display on the clock radio and it read 6:45 a.m. The night had finally passed. For a moment I laid in bed pondering my dream and wondering if I'd ever be free of it. It wasn't long however, before I remembered it was Monday and all hell would be breaking loose at the Bank. I felt like calling in sick, but I knew that would look bad. The only thing I could do was go to work and act like nothing had happened. My mind could repress all recollection of Friday night, it was possible, I knew it was possible. I'd keep my mind focused on something else at all times.
Twelve
All morning I managed to focus my attention on my classes and homework with some success, but before I knew it the hour had come to go to work. As I drove downtown, I kept my thoughts on Candy, my conversation with Randy and the term papers that I had yet to start. I parked my car in the usual place and walked over to the motor pool. Jim was standing at the pumps filling one of the bank's vehicles with gas.
"Hi Jim," I said trying to act natural.
"Hello Fred," Jim replied somewhat subdued.
"Did you have a good weekend?"
"Yeah, not so bad. How was yours mate?" he asked.
"Fabulous?"
"Fabulous, well then, you must have done something quite extraordinary. Let me guess. . . . One of your women came through or you went to that Dodger game everyone's been talking about."
"Right on both counts."
"Both counts, you did have a fabulous weekend."
"You're not a baseball fan are you Jim?"
"Well, I prefer soccer, but I must admit I am starting to get into baseball a little bit."
"Did you go to the game?"
"No, but I had it playing on the radio all right. Of course, I can't say that I heard much of it since my young lass was keeping me pretty busy."
"Maria wasn't too interested in the game either."
"So you went to ball game with Maria and got lucky with- . . . What's her bloody name?"
"Candy."
"Candy. The girl who wants to be your mistress right?"
"Right."
"Tell me Fred, when you and Maria get married are you going to invite Candy to the wedding?"
I smiled and laughed at Jim's sarcasm. I had decided I couldn't hide the situation with Candy and it might actually help in making my life appear ordinary.
"Probably not. Although she would probably like to come."
"You better be careful lad, as I remember Maria was unforgiving and good with a knife."
"Well, you're the master at juggling women so how about some pointers?"
"My only advice is not to fall in love with either one of them. If you do then the other one will feel it in the way you treat her, she'll know there is another."
"It may be too late then," I said. "I love them both."
Just then our conversation was interrupted by Sinclair's shouting, "Fuller! Get up here. I need to talk to you."
Sinclair's voice sent shivers up and down my spine as I knew the dreaded moment had arrived. I took a deep breath, looked at Jim, raised my eyebrows and said, "I wonder what he wants."
"I've got some ideas," Jim replied.
"What?"
"You better go ahead and see Sinclair, but stop by here before you leave, I need to tell you a few things."
"Okay."
As I walked toward Sinclair I felt my heart pounding rapidly. I needed to calm down so I took a deep breath and tried to relax. When I got to Sinclair, I gave him a puzzled look."
"Fuller, there is going to be a change in your route today."
"Really?"
"Yes, there won't be a bag at San Bernadino."
"How come?"
"Didn't you hear the news today?"
"No, I've been at school all day."
"San Bernadino got robbed?"
"You're kidding?"
"No, Harvey Hamlin is dead."
"What!"
"Consequently the bank's closed today."
"Was it armed robbery? Did Harvey get shot?"
"No, but he might as well have."
"What do you mean?"
"He died of a heart attack during the robbery. When they catch the robbers they'll be charged with felony murder since Harvey died while a felony was in progress."
Sinclair's words stunned me. It had never occurred to me by dragging Hamlin into the vault I had turned a simple bank robbery into murder. Despite the horror I felt inside I managed to keep a poker face and finally replied, "Damn!"
"Oh, Sam quit so you'll have to pick up Arrowhead and Big Bear too."
"Jesus! I won't be back here until midnight."
"Well, we don't have any other choice."
"Okay, I better get going."
"Oh. Before you go, those guys you talked to before from the FBI, they want to talk to you again for a minute."
I knew eventually I was going to have to face the FBI, but I wasn't prepared for it at this moment.
"If I've got to do two routes I need to get going?" I said.
"It will just take a minute," Sinclair said and smiled.
"Okay, where are they?"
"Take the elevator down where you met them before."
"Okay, thanks."
As the elevator descended, I felt like I was sinking into the pits of hell. I didn't think they knew anything or Sinclair wouldn't be sending me out on my run, but nevertheless I couldn't stop my hands from shaking. As I entered the conference room, I put them in my pocket so they wouldn't give me away.
"Mr. Fuller," agent Harper said as he saw me enter the room. "Thank you for coming down."
"No problem."
"Do you remember agent Walters?" Harper said
"Yes, sir, nice to see you again," I replied.
"I guess you've heard about San Bernadino," Harper continued.
"Yes, Mr. Sinclair just told me about it. I can't believe it."
"Did you see anything unusual Friday night?"
"No, nothing in particular comes to mind."
"We need you to tell us everything that happened. We need a minute by minute account without any details left out."
"Why?"
"You may have seen something and didn't realize it."
"Okay. Well. . . . Ah. . . . When I drove up I was pretty much on schedule but Sam wasn't there yet. I guess you know I have the longest route so I'm the last driver to get in at night. Sam is supposed to be there when I arrive so I'm not delayed."
"What did you do when you discovered Sam wasn't there?"
"I went inside to get the bags."
"Did you do anything inside the bank other than bring out the bags?"
I gave Harper a calculating stare and then responded, "Well, when I got inside I noticed it was pitch black. The night lamp was apparently out so I went back outside to get a flashlight. Just as soon as I got out of the door I was blinded by headlights. It scared the shit, excuse me, the crap out of me. It turned out to be Sam, luckily."
"Did Sam say why he was late?" Walters said.
"Yeah, he said one of the tellers was out of balance I think."
"How long did Sam hang around? Harper said.
"Just a couple minutes."
"Then what did you do?"
"Well, I put Sam's bags in the car and then went inside to get the bags that were still in the bank."
"Did you see anything unusual inside?"
"Well, other than it being real dark . . . actually I did see something kind of unusual?"
Walters leaned forward and asked, "What?"
"In the darkness there was a light from down the hall. I thought maybe someone was still in the bank so I went down to talk to them and tell them the night lamp was out."
"Go on," Walters said.
"It was Harvey Hamlin's office, the light was still on. I knew it was his office because he had taken me in there one time for something."
"What did you see?" Walters said.
"Nothing really, it was empty. Nobody was there so I just turned off the light and left."
"Did you do anything else, anything at all?"
Harper's question bothered me, if I had left a fingerprint somewhere else in the bank they would find it sooner or later. Should I tell them I went into the president's office. It would be better for me to tell them than for them to discover it later. "No, I just dropped by the kitchen and bought a coke."
"I thought it was dark, how could you see to buy a coke?"
"I turned on the kitchen light. It's quite a ride from San Bernadino to LA so I usually buy a coke to drink on the way back."
"Okay, that will do except we will need to take your fingerprints."
"My fingerprints, why?"
"Fingerprints can be most helpful in determining what happened at a crime scene. We need to know the identity of every print in that bank. Walters will take your prints right now."
"Okay. . . . I guess I better tell you one more thing."
Walter's eyes widened as I continued, "I know I shouldn't have done it, but you know I've always kind of wondered what it would be like to be a bank president. Since I was killing time Friday night I went into the President's office and sat in his chair just to see what it felt like. I didn't touch anything though. . . . At least I don't remember touching anything."
"How long were you in his office," Walters asked.
"Just a minute."
"Anything else," Walters said.
"No, that's it I think."
"Oh, by the way," Harper added. "I understand you found the vault open at San Bernadino about six months ago?"
"Yeah, can you believe that?"
"Well, Mr. Sinclair was pretty impressed with your honesty."
"I am sure any other messenger would have done the same thing," I replied.
"Not necessarily," Walters noted.
I smiled, took my hands out of my pocket, extended them to Walters and said, "Okay, well let me give you my fingerprints and then I better get going. I've got a long run tonight."
"Okay, right over here," Walters said as he pointed to a pad and some fingerprint charts at the end of the table. He took each of my fingers and pressed them onto the ink pad. Then he pressed them onto the chart in the appropriate spot. I tried to let my hand go limp so my fingers wouldn't shake but apparently Walters felt the tension and asked, "Ever had your fingerprints taken before?"
"No, Sir."
"Don't worry about it, it's just routine."
After Walters was done, I went upstairs and to talk to Jim. I was curious as to what he had to tell me. There were several drivers at the pumps as I walked up, so I waited for them to leave and then I began talking to Jim.
"What did Sinclair want?" Jim said.
"Agent Walters and Harper are downstairs and they wanted to talk to me."
"I figured as much. I saw them come back with Sinclair."
"Come back from where?"
"FBI Headquarters. Sinclair had a meeting there today with Walters and Harper, some new agents and a couple bank officials. He told me all about it."
"Really? What happened at this meeting?"
"They read the coroner's preliminary report. They know Hamlin died of a heart attack. They're not sure what caused it but he was pretty stressed out Friday night. Apparently he had gotten into a tussle with one of the bank examiners and told him to fuck-off. When his superiors found out about it, they fired him."
"Shit."
"They're bloody sure Hamlin was in on the heist, but they can't figure out who was working with him. They knew he had a serious drinking problem so some professionals might have approached him knowing he was vulnerable. It could have been a double-cross which would explain the tape on his mouth and wrists; or Hamlin might have just succumbed from all the stress he was under, they just don't know."
"Couldn't someone have just surprised Hamlin and overtaken him?" I asked trying to act dumb.
"They don't think that's likely since the perpetrator had to have had inside information."
"Why is that?"
"There was no sign of a forced entry. They apparently waltzed in and out of the bank unnoticed."
"Hmm."
"The assistant cashier has been cleared. She had half the combination to the vault and should have stayed there to make sure Hamlin closed it, but she says Hamlin made her go home before the vault was closed. She claims to have protested but Hamlin insisted she leave. I guess her alibi checks out."
"So, do they have any suspects," I asked.
"That's why I wanted to talk to you Fred. You are their number one suspect and they have you under surveillance."
"Oh Shit! I can't believe this. What about Sam Stewart?" I said. "Isn't he a suspect?"
"They said Sam quit his job on Wednesday and hasn't been seen since."
"Well, then he obviously must have done it. Why else would he quit his job and disappear."
"That's what I told Sinclair, but apparently Sam stopped to buy some ammo at an army surplus store on his way in from Big Bear. The owner is quite sure about the time, so it would have been nearly impossible for him to have been at the bank any earlier than you."
"Damn."
"I don't think Sam has been ruled out entirely. They've got agents looking for him, but you definitely have the number one billing at this stage of the game lad."
"What do you think I should do, Jim?"
"Keep your mouth shut for one thing. They've got a tail on you and probably a lot of bugs. You might warn your family and friends too, they're sending agents up to Ventura."
"Oh my God! You've got to be kidding."
"I’m afraid you're in deep trouble Fred whether you deserve it or not."
"Listen Jim, if you hear anything else will you tell me?"
"I damn bloody will. . . . I don't want to see an innocent man take a tumble."
"So you believe I am innocent?"
"No, I didn't say that, but even if you took the loot I wouldn't blame you. I'd of done the same had I been given the chance."
"You're a good man Jim. Can I get your phone number in case I need to call you."
"Sure," Jim said as he reached in his pocket for a scrap of paper and wrote his number on it.
"Now don't be alarmed if a young lass answers."
"Oh believe me, I wouldn't be."
"If by chance you're not here Monday, take care."
"Thanks, Jim."
After talking to Jim I got the hell out of there as fast as I could without attracting attention. Once on the road I took a deep breath and tried to relax. After fifteen or twenty minutes I began to look forward to seeing Candy at the Banning Branch. I hoped she would still be there since I was already thirty minutes late. I increased my speed to try to make up time. Tonight of all nights I needed to see her. By the time I got to Palm Springs I had made up ten minutes. The road from Palm Springs to Banning was mountainous and full of dangerous curves. It wouldn't be possible to make up too much time but I tried anyway. The wheels of the white Impala shrieked as I sailed around each bend. Suddenly I realized I was rapidly approaching a slow-moving car ahead. The road seemed clear beyond the car so I passed it quickly. My anticipation of seeing Candy had become so intense that I scarcely noticed I was traveling 75 mph on this treacherous mountain road.
As I approached the summit, I observed a car parked in a lookout adjacent to the road and some people admiring the view. Suddenly out from behind the car came a little girl. There was no time to stop so I swerved sharply to the left barely missing the child. My heart nearly stopped as I narrowly averted plunging over the cliff on the other side of the summit. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw the child's mother lift her up. She was okay. Thank God! The near accident brought me back to my senses. Candy will be there, just relax I told myself.
