“I got breakfast,” he said, setting the bag on the counter of the kitchen nook. He pulled out two coffees, five breakfast sandwiches, and five hash browns. “I was starving and figured you would be, too.”
He unwrapped a sandwich and bit into it, stuffing nearly a third of it into his mouth at once.
Sarita said, “Did you get some cash?”
Marshall said, “Mmphh nth.”
“I don’t feel safe here. I want to get a train to New York.”
Marshall got enough food down his throat to talk. “I didn’t go to the cash machine. I did something else. Somethin’ that’ll give you way more money. Both of us.”
He held out a sandwich to her, but she didn’t take it.
“What did you do?”
“You gotta listen to me, babe. I know you were worried about this, but I’ve got the ball rolling. This is going to work. This is going to set us up good.”
“Tell me you didn’t call Mr. Gaynor.”
“Look, just hear me out.”
“You idiot!”
“No, listen!” He reached out to her with the hand that wasn’t holding a breakfast sandwich, but Sarita stepped back. He took a quick bite of biscuit, egg, and sausage. “This is going to work out. He’s going to give us fifty thousand dollars.”
“Oh, my God. You mentioned me? You told him I was part of this?”
“No, no. I’m not an idiot. When I say us, I mean we get the money. But as far as Gaynor knows, he’s just dealing with one guy, and he has no idea who that guy is.”
“I told you not to do this.”
“Come on, you’re not thinking straight because you’re so directly involved. I’m taking a step back. I can see the whole picture. You have to trust me on this.” He glanced at his watch. “Guy’s going to be calling me very soon. If I haven’t heard from him by ten thirty, so far as he knows, I go to the cops with everything I know. Everything you’ve told me.”
“You can’t do that. You can’t go to the police.”
Marshall rolled his eyes. “Of course I’m not going to the cops! But he doesn’t know that! That’s the beauty of it. That’s why he’s going to come up with fifty thou. A guy like that, he won’t even miss that kind of money. But for us, it’s a chance to start our lives over.”
“You’re making things worse. Things are already bad and you’re making them worse.”
“Come on, babe. How is this worse? This is a solution. This is a way out of the mess.”
“You told me you wouldn’t do this,” Sarita said. “I have to go. I have to get out of here.”
“Hold on. Just for a little while. Maybe another hour? Gaynor’s gonna call me any second. I go get the money; I come back; we go. Anything we need, we can buy it on the way.”
She walked to the window, looked out at the street, walked back. She paced.
“All I ever wanted was to do the right thing,” she said. “When I saw her there in the kitchen, I had to do something and—”
“And you did a good thing. It wasn’t like you could leave the little fucker there. But that part’s over. Now we’re—”
The cell phone in the front pocket of Marshall’s jeans rang.
He tossed his sandwich onto the counter and dug in his pocket for the phone, put it to his ear.
“Right on time, Mr. Gaynor,” Marshall said. Sarita watched him, slowly shaking her head.
She was mouthing, No, no, no, as Marshall put a finger to his lips.
“It wasn’t easy,” Bill Gaynor said.
“But you did it.”
“I got the money.”
“That’s excellent,” Marshall Kemper said. “Now, here’s what I want you to do. You know the Promise Falls Mall?”
“Of course,” he said.
Marshall said, “Okay, so I want you to put the money in one of those eco bags. You got one of them?”
“Yes.”
“You can get it all in there, right?” he asked. “Will it fit?”
“It’ll fit,” Gaynor said.
“Okay, so you put the money in the eco bag. There’s a hot-dog place over on the left side, and right near the end of it there’s a garbage can. Just put the bag in there and walk away.”
“Leave the money in the garbage?”
“I’ll collect it soon enough. But here’s the thing. I’ll be watching. I’ll know what you look like, but you won’t know me. And I’ll be watching to see if anybody’s watching you. You understand?”
“I understand.”
“Because if you try to pull something, then I go to the cops. You get that?”
“I told you, I understand.”
“Okay. You make the drop; you get out. Simple as that. You did the right thing, Gaynor. You’re not going to hear from me again after this. I’m not one of those guys who’s going to come back again and again and hit you up for money. I got ethics.”
“Whatever,” Gaynor said. “When do you want to do this?”
Marshall looked at his watch again. Sarita could see him thinking, timing things.
“One hour,” Marshall said. “Don’t be late.”
“I won’t.”
Gaynor ended the call. Marshall looked at Sarita and smiled. “We’re going to be rich, babe.”