Time is Money (2 page)

“You got it boss,” a uniform cop said as he left to go handle the task.

“Mind if I borrow this tape?” Stone asked.

“I’ll have a copy on your desk first thing in the morning,” Fisher’s voice boomed, as he exited the back room.

Stone walked around the bank and looked for anything that may help him crack the case. In the video, he noticed that one of the gunmen went straight to the woman who had the key to the safe, which meant that they had done their homework and knew exactly who to go after. Stone exited the bank saying goodbye to his captain and hopped in his all black Charger. Once inside his ride, Stone reached in his glove compartment and removed a bottle of Tequila. He quickly turned the bottle up to his lips. “Damn!” he growled with his face crumbled. Unlike other detectives, Anthony Stone worked better with a little drink in his system.

Stone cruised aimlessly through the city and on his lap, sat the bottle of Tequila. All that was on his mind was tracking down the bank robbers. He knew it wouldn’t be easy, but this type of case had his name written all over it. Just from looking at the surveillance tape, he could tell that the bank robbers would never go down quietly or without deadly force.

Stone pulled up in front of his apartment building, as a domestic call came through his radio. Since the location wasn’t far from his apartment, he decided to take the call. “I’m on it,” he said into his walkie-talkie and headed towards the location. Outside of work, Anthony Stone didn’t have much of a life. It was just one case after another.

Stone pulled up in front of the building, hopped out, and entered the building. Rather than wait for the elevator, Stone decided it would be best to take the stairs. He stepped out the staircase and walked down the narrow hallway until he reached the door.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Seconds later, a tall black man cracked the door, peeking out. “Yeah was sup?”

“Yeah I got a call about a disturbance,” Stone said as he noticed fresh scratches on the man’s neck and shoulder.

“Nah ain’t no disturbance over here!” The man went to close the door, but Stone quickly stuck his foot in the doorway before it could close.

“Sir, I’m going to have to come in and see your girlfriend!” Stone said sternly. The man reluctantly allowed Detective Stone inside the apartment.

Stone stepped foot in the apartment and the first thing he noticed was that the place was a mess. There were clothes thrown everywhere with trash lying around all over the floor.

“There she goes, you happy?” the man’s voice boomed.

Stone looked at the chick sitting on the couch and noticed dots of blood on the floor near her along with a few bruises around her eye and neck area. “Ma’am, are you okay?”

The woman looked down at the floor and nodded her head yes. Stone then turned his gaze back over to the man. “Put a shirt on! You’re coming with me!”

“For what?” the man asked, as if he didn’t know what he had done wrong.

“I’m not going to tell you again!” Stone told him as he took a step forward. Without warning, the man made a dash for the front door. Stone quickly took off after the man, tackling him in the hallway right before he reached the door.

The man spun around and delivered an elbow that connected with Stone’s chin. The blow stunned Stone and allowed the man a chance to make it back to his feet. He quickly tried to put Stone in a
UFC
style chokehold. The tall man quickly dropped down to the floor, wrapped his legs around Stone’s waist, and applied more pressure to the chokehold. “That’s right motherfucker go to sleep!” the man growled.

Stone did his best to escape the chokehold, but the more he fought, the weaker he became. Having no other choice, Stone reached in his pocket and removed a pocket knife. The blade popped out with a snap as he drove it back into the man’s side. He did that repeatedly until the man released his grip on the chokehold. Stone quickly made it to his feet and unloaded a twelve punch combination into the man’s face. Stone was about to stomp the man out, when out of nowhere, the man’s girlfriend hopped on Stone’s back and began clawing at Stone’s face.

“Bitch!” Stone barked as he bent over and violently flung the girl over his shoulders down onto the glass coffee table that rested in the living room. He bent the woman’s arm back and hand cuffed her. Stone looked up and saw the man coming towards him, holding the pocket knife. Stone quickly pulled his P89 from his holster and shot the man in his thigh. He watched as the man crumbled down to the floor clutching his leg.

“Hands behind your back!” Stone ordered, as he quickly cuffed the tall man and called for backup.

Chapter 3

I Need You Focused

D
ana sat at a red light as the sound of Trey Songz hummed softly through her speakers at a reasonable volume. Ghost had called a meeting as he always did when it was time to split up the money. Dana was in no hurry to get to the meeting because she was sure Ghost was going to tear into her ass about her opening fire on the clerks that pulled the silent alarm. Dana knew she shouldn’t have shot the clerks, but in the heat of the moment, it seemed like the right thing to do. By them pushing that silent alarm they were trying to end Dana’s life so she figured why not return the favor.

Dana was a regular girl who’d been through a lot over the years. A few situations that had occurred in her life turned her heartless, and after both of her parents died in a car crash; Dana no longer wanted to live. The only person that was there for her after her parents died was her brother, Ghost. Ghost was hard on her, but she knew it was only because he wanted the best for her.

Dana pulled into the driveway of the house that Ghost used for meetings. The only thing this house was only used for other than meetings was addressing anything that went wrong on a job. If something happened, this was the meet up spot. Other than that, the house was never used for any other reason.

Dana stepped foot in the house and the first person she saw sitting at the round table was Dougie. Dougie was always the type to be laughing, dancing, and joking around. When Dana saw the serious look on his face, she knew she was in big trouble. The next person she saw at the round table was Randy. In his hand, he held a cigarette and in front of him, sat a glass of dark liquor. As usual, he had a nonchalant look on his face. The truth was Randy envied Dana because he felt that since she was the only woman on the team, she should have been the driver instead of him, but that decision wasn’t up to him, it was up to Ghost. Last but not least, Dana spotted Ghost sitting at the round table. He wore a custom made fitted grey suit with a slim tie to match. Sitting in front of him was a glass of dark liquor.

“Listen Ghost I know you’re upset but....”

“Sit yo ass down!” Ghost’s voice boomed cutting Dana off. He was so mad with her that if she wasn’t his sister he might have put his hands on her.

“So far we have successfully robbed four banks,” Ghost began. “Thanks to my perfect planning and Randy’s great driving skills,” he paused for a second. “When I came up with these plans, I don’t think murder was a part of it,” he said with his gaze falling on Dana. “We are not murderers and we only use our weapons if we have to, if we’re forced to, or when we’re left with no other choice.” He paused to take a sip from his drink and to look at Dana. “Four bank robberies and you’ve killed six people.”

“Ghost I know you’re mad with me, but you have to give me a chance to explain,” Dana said. “When we go up in these banks, everyone needs to know that we ain’t fucking around,” she said. “And when those clerks pushed the silent alarm, I felt as if they didn’t respect us, so I did what I had to do so the next time we walk into a bank, the clerks will know that we are not fucking around and think twice about pushing the silent alarm.”

“We’re not taking down banks for a reputation! We’re taking them down so we can get paid!” Ghost reminded her. “The more you use your gun during a job, the more the cops are going to be gunning for us, and instead of them trying to arrest us; they’ll be trying to put us down.”

“Fuck the police!” Dana spat. “Since when did we start giving a fuck about them?”

“I don’t give a fuck about the police and you all know that. You guys are the only family I got and I’m not trying to lose y’all because we’re known as the armed and dangerous bank robbers,” he pointed out. “Now if the cops force our hand, then that’s different. We’ll air their asses out in a heartbeat, but until that time comes, do not use your gun during a job again unless you are left with no other choice.” Ghost glared at his little sister. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes,” Dana mumbled with a slight attitude. She hated how cautious Ghost was. He always wanted to plan and be prepared for things, but in there line of work sometimes things didn’t always go according to plan.

Ghost stood up and neatly stacked the money in front of each member that sat at the table. He sat Randy’s money down in front of him and said. “A big part of our success is you and your driving skills. I know sometimes you want to go inside the banks with us where all the action is, but you are the best driver I know and I need you behind that wheel.”

Randy nodded his head. “It’s all good Ghost. I’m pretty sure I’ll get my chance to get a piece of the action one day.”

“One day,” Ghost smiled. “You all know the rules. Don’t go out spending like crazy and making big purchases. We stay low key and under the radar.”

Dougie looked down at his share of the money, hopped up and broke out into a dance. He was smiling from ear to ear as he did the latest dance moves that the young kids were now doing these days. Before Ghost had recruited Dougie, he was working at a fast food restaurant. When Ghost would walk into the restaurant he would always see the hunger in Dougie’s eyes and one day he decided to give him a shot in the big leagues and Dougie had been rocking with Ghost ever since. Dougie’s job was to collect the money while Ghost and Dana did all the dirty work. “I love you Ghost!” Dougie said as he hugged Ghost and tried to get him to dance, but of course, Ghost was too cool to dance. Ghost was strictly about business most of the time.
 

“What’s next for us?” Dana asked. She was still in kind of a salty mood, but she continued to keep her face neutral.

Ghost smiled as he reached under the table and pulled out a blueprint. “Next we take down an armored truck.”

“Are you serious?” Dougie asked. He was no longer laughing and joking. He was now dead serious.

“Yes, I’m as serious as cancer,” Ghost continued. “We’re going to catch them when they make their last pick up for the day downtown. I’ve been scoping out their routes for the past two weeks and everything is like clockwork,” he smiled. “There are three men to a truck. The two guards in the back carry shotguns and the third man is the driver.”

“Sounds like a suicide mission to me,” Randy said, stumping his cigarette out and helping himself to another glass of liquor.

“We have a four minute window to make this happen,” Ghost told them. “These guards are trained to shoot first and ask questions never, so this job may call for us to use force,” he said looking over at Dana. “If we all stick to the plan, I can promise you all that no one will get hurt; well at least not any of us,” he chuckled. “Who all in?”

Ghost watched his entire crew all raised their hands. “Great! This job will require us to use two cars. Half the money will go in one car and the other half in the other. We get away safely and we meet back up here. If anybody gets caught, keep your fucking mouth shut and we’ll hold your money. I’ll be riding with Randy on this job and Dana you’ll be riding with Dougie. We taking this truck down in two days so be ready.”

Chapter 4

I Need a Drink

A
fter the meeting was over, Dana hopped in her car, merged onto the highway, and just drove. Whenever she needed to escape life, get away for a second, and think, the highway was her answer. It was something about driving, listening to calm R&B music that relaxed Dana’s mind and put her at ease. During her ride, Ghost’s words replayed repeatedly in her head. He had a few good points but Dana still felt as if she had done the right thing by shooting the clerks at the bank. All over the radio and on every T.V. station they were talking about the armed and dangerous bank robbers. From what Dana was hearing the cops had no clue as to who the bank robbers were. In the type of business Dana was in, that was a good thing. No news was always good news. After driving around for a little over an hour, Dana came across a nice low-key looking lounge. She wasn’t really the partying type, but tonight she could really use a drink and she wouldn’t mind listening to a little music either.

Dana exited her car and headed towards the entrance of the lounge where a bulldog-looking dike looked at Dana as if she couldn’t wait to frisk her. Dana was 5’6” and weighed about 150 lbs. People said she favored the actress Lauren London.

“Spread your arms and turn around!” the female bouncer said with authority as she proceeded to frisk Dana. While frisking Dana, the female bouncer made sure when she reached Dana’s curves that she gave them a little extra attention.

After being semi-molested, Dana was finally allowed to enter the lounge. She hadn’t planned on going out so she wasn’t properly dressed for the occasion. While all the other women in the club wore tight fitting skimpy attire, Dana strolled in wearing a pair of tight black jeans and a black wife-beater. On her feet, she wore a pair of flat, open-toe sandals, her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and a pair of oversized designer shades hid her eyes. Not really in a party mood, Dana headed straight for the bar. She sat on the only available open stool and ordered a shot of Vodka. Dana downed the glass of liquid fire in one gulp and raised her hand to flag down the bartender so she could order another drink, when out of nowhere the man sitting next to her shoved his bottle of Pineapple Cîroc towards her.