TCB Part 26: Chapter 8: Friday Evening.

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Chapter 8: Friday Evening

The team sat silently in the safehouse. Higgs was more than a little nervous about the heist. Things had gone well, but not exactly as planned. There was a witness, the guard at the bank. Phineas had to ride the train all the way into the city. Charlotte crashed her wingsuit when they weren’t able to lift off in the airship. And on top of all that, the train had been moving faster than expected, so the take was not as big. Not that the size of the take really mattered. No take was big enough to take a risk with his life. Higgs wanted the money, but he wanted to be a free man more.

They were surprised to find Phineas already waiting for them when they arrived at the safehouse. Higgs hadn’t expected him to be there and pulled a gun when he saw someone in their hideout. Thankfully, Kostas stopped him from firing. He was too jumpy, too nervous about the outcome. He just wanted to settle matters with the team and get on with life. Where could he go now? The thought of leaving the city was too much for him, yet staying here was too much of a risk.

Higgs paced impatiently along the platform. Each pass, he couldn’t resist looking down the tunnel to assure that the boxcar was still there. Where would it go? It couldn’t go anywhere without them noticing. He was paranoid, what’s worse, he knew it and it didn’t help. Just then, something happened which did not help his paranoia. One of the warning lamps lit up indicating someone was coming down the rail tunnel.

Higgs drew his weapon, a small 8-shot revolver. Kostas pulled a knife out of his boot and went to stand next to Higgs. Phineas was too blasé about the whole thing, not even bothering to stand and defend their fortress. They heard the footsteps coming down the tunnel, uneven and slow. Kostas jumped onto the tracks, lit a flashlight and ran down the tunnel with his knife.

A moment later, his accented voice came echoing back, “Is ok! Is Charlotte.”

Kostas led Charlotte into the safehouse. She was battered and bruised and held one arm gingerly in front of her. She walked with a strong limp and her smile, usually broad and brazen, was tempered with pain. Kostas and Higgs helped her up onto the platform.

Anabelle jumped from her seat and rushed to Charlotte. She embraced her in a hug and brushed her short curls away from her face. “Are you alright, Charlie? You look like you’ve been through the war.”

Charlotte nodded, “I feel like it too.”

Higgs looked down at his feet. He felt ashamed for leaving her. “I’m sorry we didn’t circle back to get you, that was pretty rotten.”

“Shut up.” Charlotte replied, proving that she was the same Charlotte. “That would’ve been stupid. You had to get the loot to safety. You did get the loot to safety?”

Phineas joined the conversation, “Yeah, they got the loot to safety. Hey Higgs, you didn’t apologize for leaving me behind.”

Higgs shook his head, “No Phineas. But you were in your element. Charlotte was hurt and helpless. I felt the same about you that I did about Anabelle. I felt comfortable leaving either of you on the train.”

“Yeah, the valuables were secured, so why worry about a member of the team. If I’m caught that’s fewer hands to divide between.” Phineas spoke with more than a little sarcasm.

“You say that as if you wouldn’t have done the same for me, Phineas.” Higgs scolded.

“I wouldn’t. The whole reason I was on that train into the city was that I went back to take care of Anabelle. So don’t tell me I wouldn’t have come for you too.” Phineas was getting angry now. If he was a fighter, this would be the point that he would have thrown a punch.

“And yet, Anabelle was fine on her own.” Higgs said calmly.

“He’s right, Finn, I was ok on my own. It’s sweet that you came to my rescue, but I didn’t need rescuing.” Anabelle smiled and touched Phineas’s arm.

He shook his head. “What happened to you on the train anyway, Belle?”

“Oh, I ran into an old…friend. And a guard was watching me. I couldn’t exactly go back through the door the way I’d come. So I told my friend I had to use the ladies’ room, and then I climbed onto the roof of the train. Nothing too clever about that I suppose.”

Phineas laughed sardonically. “You’re some lady, you know that, Belle?”

Anabelle just smiled coyly and took Phineas by the arm. “We’re all ok in the end, so what’s the point in fighting. Let’s divide the things and go our separate ways.”

“Agreed.” Dr. Montebanque, quiet until this moment, stood and joined the conversation. “I have important things to attend to, so I would like to divide my part and go.”

“Well, this is where it gets tough.” Higgs replied. “Dividing the goods is easy enough, but moving them is hard. Unless you plan to walk down the streets with a wheelbarrow full of gold bars, we need to do this in pieces. I propose that we keep the boxcar stashed here, with our individual items separated into six groups. Feel free to move your goods as you see fit.”

“And how do we know we can trust the others to not run off with our goods.” Phineas asked, suspiciously.

“We are all people of honor, are we not?” Dr. Montebanque replied.

“Ha! People of honor.” Charlotte laughed. “We just robbed a train, Monty, I think that disqualifies us.”

“I give you all my word, I will not touch your portion.” Anabelle smiled genuinely.

“Me too.” Kostas replied.

“Yes, of course.” Dr. Montebanque huffed.

“I ain’t gonna steal your stuff.” Charlotte replied.

“Naturally, you have my word as well.” Higgs nodded. “But I suspect that Phineas needs more than that.”

“No, your word will do. I mistrust all of you equally, as I’m sure you do me. So I assume that our mutual distrust is deterrent enough.” Phineas chuckled.

The team boarded the boxcar and agreed upon an equitable division of the loot. They outlined six sections of the train, one for each person, and divided the goods accordingly. With that settled, they all shook hands, filled their pockets and bags, and left the safehouse their separate ways.

***

When Montgomery Lester got wind of the robbery, he was livid. He paced his board room glaring at each person seated at the table. He had called each member of the railroad group that had any kind of connection to this train.

“How could it happen?” He asked to nobody in particular. “How could someone steal millions from our armored car, on our high speed train, and get away without anybody noticing?”

He continued to pace the room. He waited in vain for a response to his question. But the response was written all over each person’s face. Nobody knew how it was possible. In fact, nobody knew how it had even happened. All that anybody knew, or at least all they were telling him, was a simple statement of obvious fact. The train arrived in the city. The armored car was mostly empty. The rear door had been damaged and opened. His clients had been robbed on his train.

“We need to get to the bottom of this. Since none of you seem capable of doing your jobs, I will be enlisting the help of an investigator. I expect that you will all cooperate fully with him.”

Montgomery left the room and went to his office. The investigator was waiting for him when he got there. He was an average sized man wearing a gray suit and black overcoat. He held a black hat on his lap. Lester sat behind his desk and addressed the other man. “Hello Mr. Hawke. I will cut to the chase. One of my trains was robbed this morning and I want you to catch whoever did it.”

“I can do that.” The investigator nodded and wrote a note in a small notebook. “Just a few questions if you don’t mind. Can you tell me when and where it was robbed?”

“It was this morning, somewhere south of the city. The train was on its way to the city at the time.”

“And what was stolen?”

“There was an armored car on the back of the train. A great deal of valuable items were stolen. I can have my secretary supply you a list of the items that have been reported missing.”

“Very well.” Hawke wrote down a few more notes, “One last question. Any leads? Do you have any enemies, anybody you suspect?”

Lester stopped for a moment in thought, deciding how much he wanted to share with this stranger. “No, nobody specific.”

“Do you think it could have been an inside job? Someone on your team?”

“Possible.” Lester shook his head slowly, “Though I do not think it is likely. If that is all you need from me, I have some damage control to get to. I look forward to your periodic reports.”

“Thank you sir.” Hawke stood and shook Lester’s hand. He put his hat on his head and tipped it to the secretary on his way out.

Montgomery had told the truth to Hawke when he said he had damage control. He had a mountain of damage control. This could ruin the railroad division if he didn’t catch these thieves.

“Sir, the reporters are here.” His secretary said quietly.

“Very well, let them in.”

A handful of reporters from every paper in the city rushed into the room. They all started shouting their questions at once. The instant cacophony was too much. Montgomery wanted to just shut them out and be to himself. No, he had to speak with them.

“Quiet please. I have a statement to make. This morning, one of my trains was robbed on its way into the city. At this point, it is too early to say exactly what happened and who is responsible. We have several strong leads and we are investigating every possible suspect. Rest assured we will find those who committed this crime. There will be a reward for anybody who comes forward with evidence that leads to the arrest of these thieves.

“To those who did this, I want you to know, You did not rob me today. You robbed innocent clients of mine. The people you robbed were just ordinary people who trusted in the safety of my company. I assured them of that safety, and I was wrong. I will not make the same mistake twice. You will pay the price for your crime, and I will not rest until every last one of you has been brought to justice.

“Thank you, that is all.”

Two large men came into the room and began to shuffle the reporters out. They continued to shout questions for Montgomery, but he ignored them all. He hoped that his statement would buy him some time to let Inspector Hawke work. In the meantime, he had a company to run, and he couldn’t let a failure in one division take his attention away from the rest.

Part 27 >