Lights Out

Jack unzipped the bag, showed him the contents: two handguns, clips of ammunition. “One for you, one for me,” Jack said.

“You’re a gun owner?”

“Lots of gun owners on Wall Street,” Jack said. “You’d be surprised.”

Eddie shook his head. “No guns.”

“No guns?”

Eddie had heard hundreds of robbery stories, most of them robberies gone wrong. Guns didn’t help. They made people overconfident and careless. That was the opinion of Jonathan C. McBright, former cellmate and a pro. “It’s not that kind of thing,” Eddie said. “No one’s even going to see us.” The sign of a good job, Jonathan C. McBright liked to say, was when no one knew he was being jobbed.

Jack returned the gym bag to the bedroom, came out rubbing his hands together. “Jesus,” he said, “this is exciting.”

Eddie didn’t like that. Excitement was one of the common elements of robberies gone wrong. “Let’s go,” he said.

Jack’s car was waiting in front of the hotel. All the new equipment, paid for in cash, was in place. The two mountain bikes were locked onto the rear carrier, the large capacity, lightweight EMS backpacks lay on the backseat, the ax was in the trunk. Jack took the wheel. They drove out of the city. The rain stopped and the setting sun poked through a hole in the clouds, casting a coppery glow on the river, on the bridges, on every puddle, windshield, pane of glass.

“Sun at last,” Jack said. “I was giving up hope.”

A few minutes later it went down, sucking away the coppery glow and all other color. Jack turned up the heat.

“Nice car,” Eddie said.

“Never use it,” Jack replied. “It just sits in the garage.”

“What’s it worth?”

“It’s leased, Eddie. Not really mine, so I couldn’t get anything for it, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He stopped at a toll booth, took a ticket from the dispenser, drove south on the turnpike. “There’s a bottle of something in the glove compartment,” he said.

Eddie shook his head. Alcohol was another factor in robberies gone wrong.

“You’ll never guess what I’m thinking,” Jack said.

“Plundering the Spanish Main,” Eddie replied.

Jack took his eyes off the road for a moment, looked at Eddie. He reached over, squeezed Eddie’s knee. “You know me, bro,” he said. “Don’t take offense. Just an expression. You’re my brother. It’s something special, right?”

“Yeah,” Eddie said. It meant you had the same mother and father. After that, it was what you made it. He left the thought unspoken; this wasn’t the time for introducing complications.

“Know something?” Jack said. “You’re a smart guy. I deal with smart guys all the time and you’re a smart guy. In a little different way maybe, but you really could have been-” Jack stopped himself. A mile or two went by. “Still, everything’s going to change now, isn’t it?”

“In what way?”

“In what way. Shit. In a material way. What are you going to do with all that money?”

Eddie hadn’t thought about that, had no desire to. “Take the next exit,” he said.

Jack took the next exit, drove west on a two-lane state road. For a while they had it to themselves. Then taillights appeared in the distance. Jack was driving fast. The taillights grew bigger and brighter. Then Eddie saw a beer can rolling beside the road.

“Slow down,” he said.

“Slow down?”

“That’s them.”

Jack took his foot off the gas. The taillights dimmed and shrank, finally disappearing. Jack turned down the heat. He was sweating; Eddie could smell it.

There was a long silence. Then Jack said, “What are they like?”

“It doesn’t matter what they’re like,” Eddie said. “They’re not going to see us.”

“Right. That’s key, isn’t it?”

“If we want to live,” Eddie said.

Jack laughed, high and tight.

“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Eddie asked.

There was a buzzing sound.

“What’s that?” Eddie said.

“The phone.”

Jack reached into the console between them. “Hello?” he said. His voice was low, as if someone nearby might overhear.

“Jack?” It was Karen on the speaker phone. “I can hardly hear you.”

“I can’t talk right now,” Jack said. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“That’s not good enough. I’m concerned about my account. Extremely. I spoke to my lawyer about it this afternoon. She’s extremely concerned too. I don’t want this to get messy, Jack, but I’m afraid-”

Jack’s voice rose. “Tomorrow. You’ll have it tomorrow.”

There was a pause. Then Karen said, “Where are you?”

“I’ll call you by noon,” Jack said, and clicked off.

He turned to Eddie. “And don’t you patronize me,” he said. Again Eddie was conscious of the shifting balance between them. “I may not have your experience in these matters, but I’m used to managing risk.” He drove on; in the glow of the instrument panel Eddie could see his hands tightening around the steering wheel.

“Then take the next right,” he said.

Jack turned onto the dirt road. “Besides,” he said. “What choice have I got?”

“Cut the lights.”

Jack slowed down, switched them off. A half moon hung just above the trees, lighting their way. Big clouds drifted across the sky like continents. “My night vision has gone to shit,” Jack said.

“We’re not in a hurry.”