The First 1100 Words

Periodically I will be sharing passages from my current project. Below are the first 1100+ words, around 1/3 of the first chapter. This book has not yet been titled. It is the first in a series I’m currently calling “The Naomi Files”. Technically, Naomi isn’t introduced here yet. There is a reason I say technically, but I’m not going to tell you what that reason is. All feedback, good or bad, as long as it is constructive, is welcome here. Just please bear in mind that this is a very early, unedited draft. In the future, I will also post character interviews to the blog, thanks to a suggestion from Jenny at Jenny in Neverland. Anyway, it’s a quick peek (it’s too soon to give too much away) but I hope you enjoy…

“You cretins have records!” she hissed through clenched teeth, “If we fuck this up, you will both leave prison with the assistance of a walker.”

God Talia could be a bitch.  Adam was thankful that they were at the diner.  She couldn’t wail at them here, not if she wanted to continue to plan a felony in this booth.  What was it about this place?  She must love the shitty food here.  How she ate this garbage and maintained that physique, he had no idea.

Why did she have to bring up prison?  His thoughts were all over the place.  He glanced up at Emmett to see if his face registered any reaction.  As usual, his expression was stoic.  That bald hulk was 250 pounds of immovable stone.  If he had any concerns, they certainly weren’t evident now.  Adam couldn’t bear the thought of jail.  He survived his latest stint only because he was fortunate enough to be tossed in a cell with Emmett.  He had no idea what Emmett had done to earn his reputation with the other inmates, but whatever it was, it was effective.  Hell, the prison guards kept their distance from Emmett.  Even so, with each passing day their cell became smaller; the minutes passed slower.  Adam shuddered at the thought.

“Adam!” Talia’s clearly irritated voice snapped Adam back to the present, “I need you in the here and now.  We have 2 days.  Do you understand how vital you are to this plan?  Our success or failure depends almost solely on whether or not you can follow direction.”

“Toilet” With that, Emmett stood up from their isolated booth and disappeared around the corner.  Talia raised her brow and looked at Adam inquisitively.  He just shrugged.  What could he say?  Emmett was just about as talkative as he was emotional.  She seemed bothered at first, but ultimately smiled and shook her head.

Seeing the tension fade somewhat, Adam took her slender hand in his and calmly tried again, “I’m just saying, we’d never have to worry about money again if we hit that vault.  We could disappear forever.”

Talia rolled her eyes and pulled her hand away.  Maybe he should have left it alone.  “Adam.  I’m going to explain this to you one more time.  The bank vault on the main level contains no money.  It’s just safe deposit boxes.  The cash vault was moved underground decades ago.  There is one way in and one way out, a single elevator.  If you get on that lift, you are checking yourself into a cell.  Period.”

“What if I take you as a shield?  No one there can connect me to you.  You could be my hostage, my free pass in and out of that vault.”  His idea was brilliant.  He just couldn’t understand how Talia didn’t see it.

“How do you propose keeping a bank full of people contained while you’re dicking around in the vault?  You might as well just call the swat team before you ever enter the building.  We have discussed this.  I will be running the main window.  I am expecting a substantial shipment of cash for the vault just after the bank opens.  While I verify it for accuracy on Monday morning, my window will be stocked with 25 times the money the other tellers have at their windows.  It’s enough.  Listen to me.  We do this quietly or we do not do this at all.”  Talia insisted.

“No hostages, no vault.”  Emmett returned from his abrupt bathroom break.  He didn’t have emotions, or much of a vocabulary, but he wasn’t stupid.  Besides, Adam trusted Emmett with his life.  It was 2 against 1, fine, no vault.

“So we agree?  THIS is the plan – we stick to it.  Yes?”  Talia implored.

“Yes.”  The men agreed.

She waved her hand as if to dismiss them.  Obediently Adam stood and joined Emmett.  Both dropped a few dollars in change on the table, and turned to leave.  On his way out, Adam looked over his shoulder at Talia who remained seated.  She was absolutely stunning.  The rising sun pierced through the window and engulfed her as she sat there plotting.  Ironically, she looked like an angel.  Each strand of her caramel hair shone like a string of spun gold.  It was pulled high and tight now, but when she let it down, it tumbled over her shoulders and flowed to the middle of her back.  His mind drifted back to last night; visions of her on her hands and knees before him, back arched at her thin waist, round ass in the air.   <you’ll just have to wait until the book comes out for the rest of this flashback>

“Dude, we leaving?”  Right, reality.  That woman had some kind of power over him.  She didn’t even have to return his gaze.  By doing nothing special at all she managed to make Adam forget where he was and what he was doing.  He quickly collected himself and followed Emmett out the door and to the car.

“You trust her, right?”  Oddly enough, it was Emmett who broke the uneasy silence hanging between them in the car.

“Talia?  Almost as much as I trust you, Ghost.”  Adam used Emmett’s nickname and attempted to make eye contact in order to reassure his friend, but Emmett’s focus was on the road ahead.

“The plan is solid.  If she can be trusted, it will actually work.”  Emmett spoke from experience.  He knew bank robberies; he had successfully executed several.  Sure, he got caught once, but that wasn’t the result of any poor planning.

“Even if she’s not what she says she is, she’s too invested.  She can’t screw us.”  Adam assured him.  Emmett finally glanced over at Adam.  Was that a flicker of doubt, Adam wondered, why is he so paranoid?  Of course Talia was trustworthy.  Before the men came up with the idea to rob her employer, she was dedicated to her work and good at it too.  She refused at first.  She needed the job.  Of course, Adam was difficult to resist; eventually he wore her down.  Nothing positive was keeping them in Yuma anyway.  Nobody was going to get hurt.  They would take money that the bank certainly didn’t need, bolt to Mexico, build a new life together, and figure the rest out later.  Emmett would come along initially, but only until the heat died down.  He had his own business to handle.

Emmett returned his concentration to the road.  “What’s the first thing you’re going to do when we get there?”

He’s convinced enough to close the topic, Adam thought.  “Emmett, my friend, the first thing I plan to do is dive naked into the ocean at dusk.”

“I’ll be sure to miss that.”  Emmett retorted, still expressionless.