She had shaken her head, trying to clear some of the fogginess from too many bourbon and sevens and finally dismissed it as her imagination. Nobody could change their personality that fast, she decided and had then preceded to drain the last drink the very nice Frankie baby had bought her. The mean streak in him had not come back until later that night when, after telling her she should go to Florida with him and his friend Carrie on a little mini vacation combined with a little business deal they had to transact while they were down there. She could lay out by the pool while they conducted their business at the new resort they were going to. It would be a real party time he had promised and he might buy her a new outfit or two if the deal went over as planned. She had decided, what the hell. She was real tired of this stupid town anyway and she owed too many people, too much money.
Frank Medford had rented a shabby motel room with sagging stained mattresses on twin beds, one for her and Frankie, and one for his geeky pal, Whitey or Carrie or whatever. She had been so blitzed by then, she didn’t really care if the freak watched her and Frankie making it on the bed next to him. She had been there, done that, so that type of thing would not have mattered. It was when Frankie started acting really weird that she had begun to worry. She had quickly sobered up when, he had taken off his belt and instead of laying it on the dresser or even throwing it on the floor next to the bed, he snapped it like a bull whip and told her to get out of her clothes and get on all fours on the floor and crawl around like a dog.
She had just started pleading with him to climb onto the bed and make it really nice for her when, he let loose with the first of many stinging cracks of the tip of the belt on her naked skin. Carrie had crackled with laughter and had started yelling. June 14 Sat“Head em up rawhide.”
She didn’t think it could have gotten any worse when, all of a sudden he had tired of the belt and began slapping her with his open palm. The pain engulfed her like waves and she began to lose consciousness when, he started with his closed fists.
The next afternoon, around four o’clock as close as she could figure out, she had awakened, hurting in places she didn’t even have places. The only thing she was thankful for, was that she was alone in the seedy room and she prayed aloud that, they would not come back. Just when she had decided that, there might really be a God after all, the door had burst open and her new, so-called friends came barging in.
“Come on. Get up sweetheart.” Frankie had whispered bending down to her left ear. “It’s time to get on the road. We’re on our way to the sunshine state.”
He had acted like nothing had happened the night before, and that is what scared her the most. How could anyone be so changeable? Be as nice as could be one minute and beat the living crap out of her for no reason, the next minute. This was one strange dude, she had thought, and she had figured he probably could kill her and not bat an eye. Whatever they were planning to do in Florida sounded very much against the law and the last thing they would need was a witness that could testify against them if they got caught. She had to plan some way of getting the hell away from them as soon as she could figure out exactly what to do without getting her brains smashed out
June 12, Thursday 3:42 p.m.
Fulton County, Georgia
"Oh look. There's Six Flags. Let's stop for a while. I love all those sideshows and the gambling booths. Come on Frankie. Just for a little while." Carrie whined as he craned his neck looking past Frank Medford out the driver's window.
The stolen van cruised past the exit off the interstate leading to the famous amusement park. They had been heading west on Interstate 20 out of Atlanta looking for a small town where they could replenish their almost empty pockets with a quick burglary of a small convenience store.
"Shut up, you freak. You belong in a sideshow. You know we don't have time for that kind of foolishness. We've got to pick up some quick cash if we're going to have enough gas money to get to Florida and besides, I want to buy some real food in a restaurant somewhere. I'm tired of all this fast food crap. I want a big steak to build up my energy level before I take on the resort. Now just keep your eyes peeled for a little store as soon as I get off the highway. Remember, it needs to be an independent, not a chain store. The security is almost nil in that little mom and pop type stores and they don't have a cash drop like the other stores."
Frank Medford turned right at the next exit and headed north then east scouting out an easy target. "Dave and Lonnie's Liquor Lounge" caught Frank's eye as he slowly cruised past a shabby yellow and red brick building standing by itself on a barren red patch of Georgia clay. He circled around the block and parked about two hundred yards away from the building in front of a deserted playground.
"Ok Carrie. You get behind the wheel and get ready to take off quickly when I come back. If the Indian princess makes a sound, you have my permission to smack her up the side of the head."
Frankie opened the driver's door and climbed out. He reached under the seat and removed a thirty-eight-caliber snub nose pistol that he then placed in his waistband under his shirt.
"Just remember Carrie. Honk the horn if you see anybody driving by that looks like they are going to pull into the store. I won't be but a minute and then we can blow this stupid town. Just remember. Keep your eyes open."
Frank Medford walked casually down the side of the road, glancing, he hoped, not suspiciously in all directions. He pushed open the wooden entrance door and heard the sound of a buzzer from deep within the building. He looked to the right as he entered the package store and saw a passageway leading into a darkened room. The sound of a drawly country song drifted from the hallway and a fiftyish year old man emerged from the gloom heading his way.
"Afternoon son. Hot one out there isn't it. You want a cold beer from the bar to cool you off."
"Naw." Frankie replied. "I just want to get a bottle of rum to go."
"We have about five different kinds." the liquor store operator said. "What we'll be your pleasure?"
Frank pointed to a bottle of Ron Rico dark and when the gray haired man had his back turned to reach for the bottle, Frank pulled out the gun from under his shirt.
"Just leave the bottle, pops. All I want is the money out of the register. Now hand it over quick."
The man reaching for the cash drawer moved his right foot toward the alarm button built into the bottom edge of the cabinet below the cash register. Frankie, seeing the quick movement
of the man's leg yelled before he could make contact with the button.
"You idiot." Shot out of Frank Medford's mouth at the same time a thirty-eight slug shot out of the pistol. "Look what you made me do."
The words were lost in the air as Frank watched a very nicely centered hole appear in the man's forehead. Frank reached over and grabbed the cash out of the partially opened drawer and was heading toward the door before the dead man fully slumped to the floor. Frank pushed opened the door and was almost through it when he heard a shout coming from the bar room.
"What's going on Dave?" Came a female voice just as the door was closing on Frank's departing figure. "Oh my God, you've been shot."
The van, with Carrie behind the wheel, came roaring up to Frank as he ran down the road away from the liquor store. He ran to the passenger side, wrenched the door open, and jumped inside before the van had come to a complete stop.
"Haul butt, white boy. I just shot some fool that tried to set off an alarm The old dame that came out of the bar didn't get a good look at me so we need to make tracks and then we'll be safe. I hope."
"Did you kill him Frankie? I never saw a dead guy before. Was it neat? I wish I could have watched."
"Look just drive back to the interstate. We need to get to Florida as soon as we can. I don't want to be in Georgia any more."
Sam(Stretch)Sidel had been working on the details of the resort job in Florida for over a month and he felt that all the fine details were falling ni
cely into place. He had called Frank Medford at least a dozen times to ask about how they should do this and how they should do that. Frank had one of the most brilliant criminal minds that Stretch had ever met and Frank could answer just about any question about what would happen if any particular thing would go wrong and what they could do to counter the situation. Frank liked the way they were going to disable the guards and he even suggested a back up plan if that didn't work.
Stretch had worried how he was going to get to Florida, how Terry was going to get to Florida, how they were going to get the chemical from Long Neck Luther to inject into the guards and how Stretch was going to have enough money to get to Florida and survive the whole month waiting till the resort opened. Frank had the answers to all these problems and then some. Frank had told Stretch to grab a pen and some paper and to start writing. Frank was going to solve all of Stretch's worries and make the day sunshine bright.
"First off," Frank told Stretch, "You and Terry are going to Florida in style. You will be driving a one year old Cadillac with all the trimmings," he had continued. It seems Frank had been busy on his aunt's computer searching the newspaper classified ads for all the surrounding areas. He told Stretch he had looked in the personal ads for people who were planning to go to Florida for an extended visit and didn't want to drive down but, wanted their vehicle delivered. He had made a lot of calls till he found the perfect one. An elderly couple in Dayton were going to Orlando in the first part of July and wanted someone special to take their car down there and treat it with tender loving care. Frank had told them that he was a wealthy industrialist and his son was picking up a new Ferrari at about the same time in Tampa but, he was afraid to fly. Frank had even suggested that his son Sammy would deliver the car for free but, the couple were so pleased with the idea that they were putting in five hundred dollars for expenses and that they wouldn't take no for an answer. "That," Frank had told Stretch, "takes care of how you and Terry will get to Florida. You also can stop by your buddy Long Neck Luther in Kentucky on your way down and pick up what you need to handle the guards at the resort. The only thing left is a little matter of having enough money to live on till you leave. I know you have already spent the five hundred I gave you before you left Ohio. I have a perfect plan for you to make some quick easy cash so listen carefully."
"I know you won't like this idea, but it will work if you follow my plan exactly. In the past you always targeted old ladies and soaked them for as much money as you could get, but you always were impatient and stole what you could including their car and always got caught. This time, they will happily hand you the money and think you did them a big favor so there is no way they will call the cops on you. Thanks to my aunt's computer and laser printer I have printed out some items that will guarantee you a windfall of cash with no questions asked. First of all, I printed you a letter of credit drawn on The First State Bank showing a credit line of four and one half million dollars. It really looks authentic because I used my aunt's notary stamp she uses in her part time realty business. I even got the name of the president and vice president of the bank and forged their signatures on expensive document letterhead. I printed you up a stack of business cards, with your name gold embossed which list you as senior vice president of a fake investment firm. You are going to go to one of those ballroom dance studios where all the rich old ladies hang out and find one that is dripping with expensive jewelry and get her off to the side and tell her she is the best dancer you have ever seen. You are then going to tell her privately that you are representing a company that is interested in opening a new dance studio and you need a spokesperson who is a wonderful dancer to be a charter member to represent how beneficial this new dance studio will be to new members. You will tell her that she will be driven around in a stretch limousine to all the charity events and other places where potential clients will be and she will be represented as Ms. Ballroom Dancer of the Year because of her unique talent. Once you got her thoroughly convinced she is the best dancer you have ever seen, you spring on her the fact that you need five thousand dollars for her charter membership fee. She will probably balk at this so you whip out a preprinted form that I have already made stating that her membership fee is fully refundable after she makes only six appearances representing the company. You will tell her that the company requires the money as good faith money so they don't spend all the promotional money on someone who would fail to show up at the various events. You will reassure her that you know for a fact that she would never fail to show up, but the company you are representing has certain rules and you have to abide by them. I am sending you another two hundred dollars so that you can go to the Salvation Army and buy the most expensive suit you can find and shoes that will make you look like a wealthy business man. I want you to also arrive in a rented limo and take the balance of the money and turn it into one dollar bills with a twenty on each side of the stack so it looks like a wad of money. After you arrive in a limo and flash the money around, you will be a shoe in. If it doesn't work on the first lady you approach, go to a different dance studio and try someone else. I guarantee you will find one in no time with a big enough ego that it can't miss. I will be sending you the money this afternoon via Western Union so you can get started right away. Good luck even though I know you won't need it.
June 11, Wednesday 4:42 p.m.
Indianapolis, Indiana
Terry DeAngelo pushed the grocery cart slowly down the wide aisle of the super market scanning the many varieties of potato chips and other non-perishable snacks. She randomly picked items of the shelves that caught her attention and tossed them into the buggy. She wasn't particularly hungry, she just wanted to stock up on road trip goodies so the long ride to Florida wasn't totally boring. She hated going on trips. Especially trips that took over two hours. The only reason she could deal with this one was the money. It was always the money. She stayed broke most of her adult life and she hated it. Terry probably could have gotten a real job and maybe even put a little nest egg away, but that wasn't her. She sponged off everyone. Her parents, her friends, her many boyfriends, anyone who had a sympathetic ear. She had a million excuses for not working. Her back was misaligned and hurt all the time. She was born with a defective digestive system and she had stomach cramps constantly. Migraine headaches were one of her most popular ailments. She could invent a new disease to a perfect stranger in about two seconds flat and sound completely believable. Terry was not destined to work.
Terry was pretty ecstatic when her cousin Stretch had called and offered her five thousand dollars for less than one hours work. The downside came when he told her they had to go to Florida to pull off the job. The money was great and what the hell, she had never been to Florida. She settled it in her mind that even with the long trip it would really be worth it. Stretch told her he would be picking her up in a really nice car and they would be stopping in Kentucky to see a friend of his and then head straight to Florida. It would probably do her good to get out of Indiana for awhile. She was really sick of Indianapolis. Stretch was due to pick her up the next morning and she wanted to get home from her shopping and take a nice hot bath and get to bed early so she was fresh as a daisy when he arrived at her door. Terry at thirty four had a well shaped body and a very cute face. She had thought of being a model in her early years but, it required getting up early and working long hours and she liked to sleep till noon and hang out by the pool at the apartment complex she had lived at when she was in her early twenties. She always had a constant flow of boyfriends and sugar daddies that kept her supplied with alcohol and drugs and always managed to supply her with rent and grocery money. Her life of leisure suited her just fine and she didn't feel the need to have to go to work. Sure she had to sleep with a lot of men, young and middle-aged and sometimes older but, it kept her from the drudgeries of punching a time card. She stayed out late at night, hitting all the popular clubs, to keep her supply of men con
stant, so she felt the need to sleep in everyday. Now in her mid thirties her life style was getting old and she felt the need to do something different. This offer from Stretch came at just the right time. She could start a new life with the money and maybe actually get a real God forbid job. Things were going to be different after her trip to Florida and what the hell she might even stay in the sunshine state.
June 12, Thursday 9:31 a.m.
Indianapolis, Indiana
The honking of the horn woke Terry from a very deep sleep. She sat up and tried to remember where she was. Suddenly, she shook her head violently in realization and everything came into focus. Stretch, must be outside, she murmured to herself. "Shit, she shouted. "I overslept again." She jumped nude off the bed (her usual sleeping garment) and ran quickly over to the front window and threw it open with a mighty shove.
"Hey Stretch!" she yelled out into the street. "I'm sorry. I must have overslept. You want to come in and have some coffee while I get ready?"
Stretch, usually a very impatient person, would normally have been very pissed but, after seeing Terry's great body from the waist up framed angelically in the window he was very mellow.
"Sure Terry. I'll be right in." I know she's my cousin Stretch thought to himself but she sure has a great bod! Stretch moved the electric seat of the Cadillac back, opened the door, and got out. Nice ride, he thought, I'll buy me one of these when we finish the resort job. I think I will get a bright color, like red or maybe even yellow. I want people to really notice me when I drive up.
Stretch walked into the little house that Terry had rented three months ago and walked through the living room and met his cousin in the hall way as she hurried out of the kitchen.