chapter 24
THE GERIATRIC GANGSTERS were eating breakfast at the local Mennonite bakery, and no one was counting calories. Now that the group had access to other people’s money, they were eating out at every opportunity. They weren’t spending big bucks, but they weren’t eating canned soup and oatmeal as regularly as before. Today they were all a bit jumpy in anticipation of the Gold Mine burglary.
“Bailey just called and said the magnets need to be off-white,” Walter remarked to Bernard.
“I’m on it,” Bernard replied.
“She also said that she’s gonna be able to get a copy of the key today.”
“Now we just gotta find out the rest of the safe combination,” Sebastian said confidently.
“That’s easier said than done,” Lucille remarked.
Walter glanced around to make certain no one was eavesdropping. “Guys, I’m starting to get some heat. I got a call early this morning requesting I come down to the store at ten so corporate security can ask me some more questions. They’re very good. I’m not sure where we messed up to allow them to connect the dots to me. I really thought they would snoop around, fire that piece-of-shit manager, and move on. It’s been almost two weeks, and they haven’t let up a bit…I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
“What can we do?” Lucille asked.
“I don’t know. I swear, I’ll never give you guys up if something happens.”
“And us either; it goes both ways,” Sebastian said immediately.
They all nodded as they looked around the table at each other.
“There’s no I in team. We’re a team,” Sebastian said.
Walter smiled. He really liked Sebastian. He had a level head, and he loved to fight for the underdog.
“I’ll know more later today, but to be honest, I’m nervous.”
“Just keep quiet and play dumb, and we’ll all back you up,” Sebastian calmly instructed.
“Act like you got Alzheimer’s,” Bernard said with a chuckle.
Walter appreciated their spirit and knew he could trust them. He hated that his plan had potentially gotten everyone into trouble. They didn’t deserve the humiliation that would follow the public scrutiny. He had to devise a means of deflecting the attention. Walter had an awful lot on his mind.
“Guys, I think we should slow down the formation of the foundation for a bit. If Kroger’s security brings in the police and they find out we started a foundation shortly after the money went missing, it could lead to more questions that we don’t want to answer.”
“He’s right,” Sebastian said as he sipped his coffee.
“So, are we going to”—Lucille looked around the room nervously—“you know, rob the Gold Mine?”
Walter was drinking a Code Red Mountain Dew for its maximum caffeine effect. “I think so. It’s too good an opportunity to pass up.”
They all nodded their agreement, and Lucille began to tear up, thinking of how this was going to help Bailey.
Through sniffles, Lucille said, “Walter…what if we get in the Gold Mine safe and there’s two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in there? Why can’t we give Kroger back their money? We’d be back to square one. Even Steven. All Bailey needs is enough to disappear and get her business started; twenty thousand would do it.”
Everyone agreed that it seemed like a good, workable idea.
Walter slowly looked around the group. He knew it was a good idea and nodded his agreement. How to return the money was going to take some thought.
“Walter, you’ve had some great ideas, and I agree that we should delay the foundation until things settle down with Kroger,” Lucille pleaded. “Have our attorney hold up the paperwork and give us a month at least.”
“Yeah, and since we’ve paid her a retainer, have her go with you to the meeting at Kroger today,” Sebastian added.
“Yeah, lawyer up, like they do on tee vee,” Bernard added.