Chapter 20
Frankie drove the GTO into the parking lot of a small strip mall.
He drove around until he found four empty parking stalls.
He pulled in one of the stalls and parked.
They waited.
In the backseat, Jesse rubbed the backside of Kathy’s jeans. She cringed and hated the very touch of his hand on her rear end. Kathy fought the strong temptation to bite his crotch as hard as she could.
Inside the bank, Carrie, a female teller looked at the cars in the drive-thru lanes while she waited.
Another busy day. She thought while she completed someone’s request for withdrawal of sixty dollars. She put the cash in the tube with a receipt. She put the carrier tube in the hole and pressed the “Send” button. “Thank you, Mister Knox,” she said into her microphone.
She waited for her next assignment.
Lenny’s carrier tube swooshed to her.
She grabbed it and opened it up.
She removed what she thought was a deposit slip. She read the note. Her hands were shaken while she read it for the second time to ensure she read it correctly.
“This is a bank robbery. We want forty thousand dollars in one hundred dollar bills. We have a friend inside your bank, and he’s keeping an eye on you. If he suspects you hit the alarm, he’ll start shooting, and you’ll receive the first bullet. Just give us the money, and nobody will get hurt. If you must call the police, you will wait twenty minutes after we’re gone or dead bodies will be there when they arrive,” the typed note stated.
Carrie picked up her phone. She punched in a phone number. “Allison! I need your assistance please” she said into the phone and tried to be as calm as she could be so others in the bank won’t be alarmed. Especially this so-called friend of the bank robbers.
From her office, the bank manager, Allison, was irritated that one of her tellers interrupted her from her work. She hung up the phone, got up, and left her office.
Allison walked around the eight customers that waited in line for the next available teller.
She walked behind the counter and walked up to Carrie. “What is it now?” Allison asked with an irritated tone and stern look.
Carrie looked scared to death in her eyes. Her hands trembled while she handed Allison the note.
Allison read the note. The serious look turned to being scared. Allison’s hands trembled. They both glanced at the customers. Two of them looked to have the potential of being criminals. So they surmised.
“Give them what they want. We’ll call the police after these customers are out of the bank,” she said then walked away with the robbery note in hand.
Inside Lenny’s Corolla, they waited.
Then the plastic carrier tube swooshed back to the machine. Lenny reached out and grabbed the tube from the machine.
He opened it up and dumped two bundles of one hundred dollar bills into his lap.
Another tube swooshed to him from the machine.
He reached out and grabbed it. He opened it up and dumped two more bundles into his lap.
“Good boy Lenny,” Rose quietly said while she hid in the backseat.
Back in the Denver police station…
Angie sat by Tibbets desk.
He worked on paperwork while Angie sipped on coffee and thought about Joey. Something bugged her while her detective instincts kicked in big time.
“I have this strange feeling Austin wasn’t totally honest with me,” she told Tibbets.
“What do you want to do?” he asked.
“I would like to visit where this Lenny Roth lives,” she replied.
Tibbets thought for a second while he stared at his tedious paperwork. “What the hell. I need to get out and stretch my legs,” he said then stood up.
Angie and Tibbets walked out of his office area.
Inside Lenny’s Corolla, Joey looked at the cash and knew he would spend the rest of his life in prison.
Lenny looked at Joey, and his eyes welled up. “I don’t want to go to prison,” he said with extreme fear in his eyes.
“I know Lenny. I know,” Joey said and put a hand on his shoulder for comfort. “Let’s get out of here,” Joey said.
Lenny looked scared to death at the teller’s window as he drove off.
He drove his Corolla through the bank parking lot. Lenny felt something was wrong. He looked down at his crotch and realized he forgot to put the plastic carrier tube back in the machine. “Aw man,” he said.
“What’s wrong?” Rose asked from the backseat.
“I forgot to put that tube back in the drive-thru machine,” he said.
“They’ll put you in jail for that,” Rose chuckled from the backseat.
Lenny and Joey didn’t find her smart-ass comment funny.
Lenny drove his car out of the bank entrance and pulled into the street.
Tibbett and Williams stood outside Lenny’s apartment door.
Tibbett knocked on the door. They waited. Nothing.
Tibbett knocked on the door again. “Cable Company Mister Roth,” he said.
Angie looked at him and smiled. Nothing.
“I don’t like the feeling of this,” Angie said while they walked away.
Back in Lenny’s car, Rose sat up in the backseat.
She handed Joey the paper bag. “Put the money in there. Just like in Orlando,” Rose said. “In fact, I’m really going to use some of this cash for my wedding in Mexico,” she said as she smiled while visions of a romantic wedding on a Mexican beach filled her head.
Joey reached over and grabbed the bundles of one hundred dollar bills from Lenny’s crotch.
He dumped them in the paper bag.
Lenny’s eyes welled up while he drove down the street.
He saw another Denver police car that drove in the opposite lane and approached them.
“There’s a cop!” Lenny cried out in a panic.
Joey immediately put the bag down on the floor.
Rose immediately ducked down in the backseat. “Just be calm, Lenny,” she instructed out of view.
Beads of sweat formed on Lenny’s forehead. He started to tremble. He looked worried.
He got the dry heaves again.
“I’m going to be sick,” he cried out between heaves.
“No Lenny. Not again,” Joey replied as he kept a watchful eye on Lenny.
Lenny continued with the dry heaves while the cop car passed them.
The coast was clear.
Lenny calmed down after he realized the cop wasn’t after them.
Rose peeked up from the backseat and looked out the rear window. She saw the police car while it drove past the bank they just robbed. It drove down the street past the bank, and she was relieved.
Rose leaned over between the front seats.
She kissed Joey on his cheek then kissed Lenny on his cheek. “You did good, Lenny and Joey. Now if you could please give me my money,” Rose asked Joey.
He handed the bag back to Rose.
“Just like old times, right, Joey?” she said while she opened the bag and peeked inside.
She took Lenny’s phone and called Joey’s phone number.
In the GTO, Frankie drove, and Joey’s iPhone rang in the backseat. Jesse answered it. “How did it go?”
“Piece of cake,” she told Jesse from Lenny’s iPhone. “Great. We’ll meet on south I-25. I’ll drive under the speed limit. Tell Lenny to drive the limit. You should catch up to us soon,” he told her.
Jesse disconnected the call and smiled. “Looks like you’ll get to live, Kathy. The boys performed like natural bank robbers,” Jesse said.
He leaned down and kissed her head.
Then he stroked her hair while her head was still in his crotch.
Her eyes welled up.
Twenty minutes later, Frankie drove the GTO down Interstate I-25 five miles under the speed limit. He glanced at his rearview mirror for Lenny’s Corolla. It wasn’t in sight.
Jesse turned around and looked out the rear window. “They should be here soon. Just keep it five miles under the speed limit,” Jesse told Frankie.
“Got it,” he replied.
Jesse ran his hand slowly down Kathy’s back.
He slipped his hand into the back of her pants.
She moved her rear end in an attempt to shake it out.
He forced his hand in deeper and ran his hand down her butt crack.
She opened her mouth to bite his crotch. She thought about the consequences. She closed and tried to think about other things while Jesse continued with his creepy thrill.
They drove ten more miles down I-25.
Frankie looked in the rearview mirror. He smiled. “They’re coming up behind us,” he told Jesse.
Jesse turned around and saw Lenny’s Corolla as it drove up behind them. Joey’s cell phone rang. He answered it. “Yeah, Rose,” he said.
“We’re right behind you,” she told him. “Stay close,” he ordered, then disconnected the call.
Inside Lenny’s Corolla, Rose leaned forward from the backseat and looked at Jesse’s GTO. She saw the back of Jesse’s head, and she knew he was in the backseat.
“What’s he doing? He doesn’t let anybody drive his GTO,” she looked jealous and a little pissed.
Lenny and Joey looked at each other then at Jesse’s GTO.
Joey looked concern. I wonder where he has Kathy?” he asked. “Maybe alone in the backseat?” he added and hoped that would piss off Rose. But Joey was also a little jealous.
Rose looked at Joey then at Jesse’s GTO.
She got furious. She called Joey’s number from Lenny’s cell phone. “Where the hell is Kathy?” she asked Jesse from the cell phone.
“Don’t you worry about her,” Jesse replied from Lenny’s cell phone. Rose looked at the cell phone. “The bastard hung up on me,” she said and was pissed.
She sat back, crossed her arms, upset. Her eyes welled up.
Lenny and Joey looked at each other and liked the idea that a little friction between Jesse and Rose might increase their chances of coming out of this alive.
They all drove down I-25 like a convoy.
Tibbets and Angie drove back to the police station.
He pulled his car into his station’s parking lot and parked his unmarked car.
The got out of his car and walked back to the station.
They entered the station and overheard two officers talked about a bank robbery that happened thirty minutes ago. Angie’s ears perked up, and she walked over to them.
“Excuse me. Did you just mention that a bank robbery just happened?” Angie asked them as detective Tibbets walked up.
“Yes, ma-am. It happened at the Key Bank over in the Lakewood area,” the one officer told her.
Angie looked at Tibbets. “I bet it was them,” she said. “Well, we only have one way to find out,” he replied.
They rushed out the door.
Fifteen minutes, back at the Key Bank, two police cars are parked, and they had the bank roped off.
Inside the bank, police officers jotted down witness statements.
Allison walked up to one of the officers with videotape in hand.
“Here’s the security tape of the drive-thru,” she said then handed the officer the tape.
Angie and Detective Tibbets entered the bank lobby.
They walked up to the officers and Allison.
Detective Tibbets flashed his badge.
“Detective Tibbets and this is Detective Williams from the Orange County sheriff’s department in Orlando, Florida,” he told them. “Here’s the security tape from the drive-thru,” the officer said then showed it to Tibbets.
Inside Lenny’s Corolla, Rose started to get nervous.
She called Joey’s cell phone. “What?” Jesse responded.
“I’m getting nervous,” she told Jesse.
“What now?” he asked a little bothered.
“I don’t like driving around here in this Corolla. I’m pretty sure someone got our tag number,” she told him.
Inside the backseat of his GTO, Jesse looked bothered. He could care less if they got pulled over. “That’s the risk we take,” he told her.
In Lenny’s Corolla, Rose looked upset. “Find another Corolla and switch tags. It’ll take them a while to figure that out and might buy us some more time,” she pleaded.
A few seconds of silence from Lenny’s cell phone. “Okay. We’re getting close to Pueblo,” Jesse replied. Rose felt better.
Back at the Key Bank in Denver…
Angie and Detective Tibbets sat in a room and watched the security tape.
Tibbets pressed the fast forward button.
The past events of the drive-thru business whizzed by. Then something looked familiar, and Angie’s eyes widened. “Stop and go back a little bit,” she requested.
Tibbets stopped the tape and rewound it. Then he played it.
On TV, saw Lenny’s scared face from his car.
“Pause right there,” she yelled. Tibbets paused the tape.
From the TV, they saw Lenny’s scared face as he looked at the teller’s window.
“They beat us,” Angie said. “It’s Lenny Roth, and he’s scared to death.”
“Are you sure it’s him?” Tibbets asked while he stared at the TV.
She looked harder at the TV and could see Joey in the passenger seat. “There’s my guy, Joey Austin,” she said disappointed.
Later that day, Jesse drove his GTO down Abriendo Avenue in Pueblo.
They stopped at the light at Abriendo and Lincoln Street, where Frankie turned right.
Lenny’s Corolla followed. They saw a similar Corolla parked in a Walgreens parking lot.
They drove into the parking lot. They were lucky as the Corolla was backed into its parking stall and had the rear end facing the building.
They parked close by.
Frankie got out of the GTO with a screwdriver in hand.
He rushed over to Lenny’s Corolla.
He went to the rear of it and removed his tag.
He rushed over to the other Corolla and quickly removed its tag.
He installed Lenny’s tag.
He rushed over to Lenny’s Corolla and quickly installed the new tag.
He tapped on the trunk, which indicated he was done.
He rushed back over to the GTO.
He got inside, and they drove out of the parking lot.
Back in Denver, Angie and Detective Tibbets walked out of the Key Bank and over to his car.
“Can you take me back to my hotel?” she asked.
“Sure. What are your plans?” he asked.
“I’m going to piss off my boss and husband,” she replied.
“How’s that?” he asked.
“I’m going to Phoenix and hopefully catch some bank robbers,” she replied concerned.
“Sure if that’s what you want,” he said while they got to his car.
Jesse’s GTO and Lenny’s Corolla drove down I-25 and got to Walsenburg, Colorado exits.
Inside Lenny’s Corolla, Rose eyes drooped, as she was about to fall asleep.
Lenny’s cell phone rang. She jumped up startled.
She looked as his cell and immediately answered it. “Hey baby,” she said as she already forgave Jesse. “Let’s pull over and get some gas at the next exit,” Jesse said from Lenny’s cell phone.
“Follow them to the next exit. We’re getting gas,” Rose instructed Lenny.
He nodded from upfront that he heard.
Lenny followed Jesse’s GTO as Frankie drove down the next exit.
Jesse’s GTO pulled in the nearest gas station off that exit. It was safe as not a cop was in sight.
Frankie parked the GTO by a pump.
Lenny parked his car behind the GTO.
Inside Lenny’s Corolla, his cell phone rang. “Hey, baby,” Rose answered. “I want you to take some of your cash from Denver and pay for the gas for the dork’s Corolla,” he ordered.
“Why is it always me?” Rose asked.
“Do you want that wedding on a Mexican beach?” Jesse asked from the cell phone. “Besides, I can’t chance one of those geeks going into the store. They could talk,” Jesse said.
“You’re right,” Rose said after she thought about what he said for a few seconds.
“How much gas will this car need? It’s on me,” she said to Lenny.
He looked at his gas gauge. “Thirty dollars should do it,” he replied.
She got out of the car and went inside the store.
She walked up to the counter where a young girl worked.
“Thirty dollars on pump five,” Rose told her then handed her a hundred dollar bill - one from the robbery.
The clerk looked at the bill and frowned.
“Sorry. It’s the only money I have on me,” she said.
The girl shrugged her shoulders as she could care less. Her shift was almost over anyway. She took the bill and gave her back seventy dollars in change.
Rose turned around to leave and saw Frankie, who stood in line behind her.
They ignored each other when she walked out of the store.
Inside the Corolla, Lenny and Joey looked around.
“What are we going to do?” Lenny asked Joey.
“I don’t know just yet,” Joey replied.
“Where are they taking us?” Lenny asked.
From the outside, they watched while Rose walked around to the Corolla and started to pump gas.
Then they saw Frankie while he walked to the GTO and started to pump gas.
“Probably to Phoenix,” Joey replied.
“Why, Phoenix?” Lenny asked a little confused.
“Sammy’s going to be forced into robbing another bank with us,” Joey said.
Lenny’s eyes welled up. “He’s really seeking revenge. Isn’t he?” Lenny asked Joey.
“I wish we could warn Sammy?” Lenny asked.
“I know, but we can’t,” Joey replied.
“We could drive off right now and find a police officer,” Lenny suggested. Joey frowned at that suggestion. “No way. He would seriously hurt Kathy, and I won’t allow that to happen,” Joey responded.
They looked at Frankie while he pumped gas into the GTO. Joey looked at the rear window of the GTO and stared at the back of Jesse’s head. “I hope Kathy is all right,” he said with a worried look.
Lenny looked at the rear window of the GTO then over at Joey. He thought for a minute, then figured it out. “You like her, don’t you?” he said.
Joey smiled. “Yes I do,” he said. “She’s the first girl to treat me with some respect,” he said.
Lenny thought about what he said then looked a little depressed. “I’ve been trying to get a woman. But just can’t find one,” Lenny replied.
Then it hit Joey. “I guess you can say that Rose is responsible for me meeting Kathy,” he said then smiled. “Imagine that. I unknowingly rob a bank for a criminal then meet a nice woman while on the run. Fate sure is funny,” Joey said and smiled.
Rose finished pumping gas and put the nozzle back.
She got back in the back seat of the Corolla.
Frankie finished pumping gas and put the nozzle back. He got into the driver's seat of the GTO.
Frankie drove Jesse’s GTO away from the pumps. Lenny started his Corolla and followed the GTO.
They drove out of the parking lot and back to the street.