––––––––
When Loretta got home, she changed into jogging bottoms and a t-shirt, threw together a sandwich and headed for the garage.
Cheese and tomato wasn’t much of a lunch when she’d been expecting medium rare steak. The sandwich was gone in a few bites. Oh well, it filled a hole and it didn’t come with all the drama attached to the steak dinner.
She pulled Edna’s tarpaulin off and thought about what she should do next. The new gauges she’d ordered had arrived on Monday. All she’d had time to do was get them out of their boxes and take a look.
With the rest of the afternoon to herself, she decided to have a go at the tyre pressure gauge first. She got down to work and the hours slipped away like they always did. It was only when it got so dark it was difficult to see what she was doing that she realised how late it was.
She hadn’t been hungry, but as soon as she thought about getting something to eat her stomach started to rumble. Better get cleaned up and search the kitchen.
After putting everything straight and covering Edna up again, she headed for the shower. She turned on the water and waited for it to reach the right temperature.
What a day. Armed robbery and lunch with the most infuriating man she’d ever met. Well, they’d almost had lunch. Apparently fate hadn’t wanted them to break bread together.
Taking off her clothes, she threw them on the floor and climbed under the steaming water. Nothing ever felt as good as a hot shower after a hard day. She squeezed out a good measure of gel and lathered herself up. It didn’t take long for her to get started on a Jennifer Hudson medley, her voice bouncing back to her off the walls.
Then she caught sight of the black smudge on her hand. The phone number. Shit, she’d forgotten all about it.
She held her palm out of the water and tried to make out the numbers. It was pointless. Not a single digit was legible.
Good, she told herself. He was a liar and a womaniser. She should have washed it off as soon as she got in the house.
She started another song, but soon trailed off. It didn’t matter how much she rationalised it, her good mood was gone. Whether she liked it or not, there was something about Jordan that she couldn’t shake off. And now there was no chance she’d see him again.
It looked like she was back to being a good girl.
***
“I have to admit, there was a small part of me that thought you might be stupid enough not to show tonight.” Ursino stroked his beard and gestured for Jordan to sit down.
There wasn’t a safe answer to that, so he kept his mouth shut.
“Everything go smoothly?”
“You know about Marcolini?”
The boss nodded. Of course he knew, but there were set steps to this dance and Jordan had to place his feet correctly.
“We managed well enough without him.”
“So I see. Not quite the haul we were expecting though.”
“Not far off. Everything they had in the tills.” But Gina would have told Daddy all about the deposit boxes and the bank manageress.
“Expect a call from Marcolini.”
He kept his expression neutral.
“He’s got one last chance to redeem himself. I’ve put him in charge of the next job. Give him all the intel you get about the back room at the bank.” Ursino started tapping away at his computer keyboard. The audience was over.
Jordan got to his feet. He was halfway to the door when he changed his mind. “Sir, can I speak freely?”
Ursino looked up, his face unreadable. “Go ahead.”
“Marcolini’s a hothead. He was this morning and nothing will have changed since then.” Going back into that bank with him at the helm was guaranteed to end with one or all of them in the dock. As he met Ursino’s gaze, he slowly came to the conclusion that was the whole point. But which one of them did the old bastard want behind bars?
“He knows what’s at stake here. As do you. Find a way to handle him.”
Trying to keep track of all the different layers of meaning in the conversation was making his head hurt.
Ursino turned his attention back to the computer screen and Jordan made his way out.
This was turning into a massive pain in the ass. How could everything have spun out of control so fast? Gina, Bill, robbery number two. Even his attempt to get Loretta into bed had gone wrong.
He walked out to the street. The day had started so well. His phone rang in his back pocket and he pulled it out. It would be Gina again.
But it was Bill. “Hey.”
“How’s the information gathering going?”
“Been spying on me, Bill?”
“Don’t tell me you’re getting shy.”
Enough of this bullshit. “What do you want?”
“We’re going in Saturday afternoon. You’ve got till Wednesday to get us a way in.”
“Or what?”
“Or I tell Ursino you’re a lying piece of shit who’s cheating on his daughter.”
“I’ll talk to you Wednesday.” He hung up before Bill could get in another dig.
It could have been worse. It was only Friday now. But if he wanted to pull this off, he needed to hit the ground running.
Scrolling through his call history, he found Danny’s number. “Danny? I need to fill you in on a few things. And I need a favour.”
He’d spent most of the afternoon hoping Loretta would call. Now he was hoping she wouldn’t. There was a lot to get done before he saw her again.