Chapter 4

The next week the first of several things happened that really changed our lives. That sounds strange considering some of the outlandish things that have already happened in this narrative. But this was a game changer.

Betty contacted us and said that she had an odd request. There was a police officer that wanted to meet with us. She gave us a cell phone number and a code word and said that we could call anytime. We bought a cheap pay as you go cell phone and drove to another city to call.

"Hello" a man answered.

"I was told to call this number and tell you "good deeds don't go unpunished"." I said.

"Right. We have a proposition for you. But I want to meet face to face."

"Agreed. But understand, if this is a trap, we will protect ourselves from anyone. And I do mean anyone. Uniforms would not protect you."

"I understand. I will be alone. This isn't a trap. Just a meeting."

"Okay, you know where Mom's Diner is outside Smallville?"

"Yeah, I know it. About a hour away. But I ain't eating there. That place is one health citation away from being a parking lot."

"No, we'll meet a hour after they close. We'll be in a white van. No double crosses."

"Fine. I can't do anything about the locals if you are too obvious though."

"No worries. We'll look right at home."

We meet him the next night at ten at night outside the diner. I could see him laughing as he walked up to the van. We had made a giant paper mache cockroach and glued it to the top of the van. The sides now said Acme Exterminators. As he walked up, I opened the door and motioned him inside.

"I almost wish you guys were exterminators. This place could use it." he laughed. "You can call me Detective."

"Detective what?" I asked.

"Just Detective is fine for today. And you are?" he asked.

"I'm Faceless. She's Beautiful and she's Gorgeous." I answered, pointed to each of us in turn.

"Yes, yes they are. So you three are the ones knocking over the drug houses."

"Yeah. Well we are some of the ones. I guess there could be others."

"But you guys are the ones that have been donating money to charities? Right?"

"Right. Probably not any other crooks donating to the Policeman's Ball fund."

"Okay, I have a deal for you. Some of the guys have been feeding info to your friend. I have a location for you that will make the rest look like chicken feed. But I have some conditions."

"We're still listening. What do you want?"

"One, we want this guy bad. The owner of the house is a big time Colombian. He controls all coke and most of the other drugs coming into this area. I have to tell you. This will be different. This guy has twenty or more guards and they are professionals. We can give you a blue print of the house but we believe they have added a sub-basement and that is where the money and drugs are. We want you to leave the drugs untouched and to notify us as you leave. The house will be open and signs of a firefight so we will have probable cause to search the area. We find the drugs and put him away."

Beautiful, Gorgeous and I looked at each other. "That is on the outside edge of doable. What else?"

The guy squirmed a little, "We want half. We figure you have been donating ten percent or so. This time we want half. But listen for a minute. We ain't just getting greedy. We figure there is over a million dollars in cash in the house and we want it for a good cause. There is a guy on the force. His kid's got cancer. The bills are killing him. We set up a fund but there are too many other needy kids. If he can't come up with the money they won't authorize this one treatment. I guess the insurance company won't pay for it. With this treatment the kid's got a ninety percent chance of living. Without it, it's fifty fifty at best."

Beautiful and Gorgeous looked at me with tears in their eyes. I knew they were in when they heard kid and cancer. "Okay, we're in. How are you going to laundry the money? I guarantee questions will be asked if he just shows up with the cash."

Detective looked at me blankly, "We figured you would do that. You have to have some way to laundry what you already stolen."

"Shit, shit, shit. I can't move that much a one time. You know the feds watch any big transactions. That is too much to have won in a poker game. Let me think for a minute." They all stared at me as I thought furiously. I knew that Tammy and Terry wanted to help. Plus if I just refused the cop was liable to get physical. There was no way he could arrest us but it would be a pain if he tried. And the cops would go from being a minor concern to a major problem. "I think we have about two hundred thousand on tap. Within a couple of days, a little known corporation will make a donation to a minor charity. It will take about four weeks from the time we do the job to get the rest of it. Will that work?"

The guy looked like he was about to cry, "You would do that? You would use your money?"

"Yeah well, maybe we're crooks. But we're not bad guys. If it will help the kid, we will donate the money."

"Yeah, that will work. I can tell his dad to start the treatments. The sooner it gets started, the better his chances are. The hospital is used to dealing with charities. They will start the treatment as soon as they get some of the money. But they will quit just as fast if the money dries up."

We worked out the rest of the details. The police had a man on the inside but he never saw the money or drugs. He was working as a bodyguard. If they had time eventually he would come up with something that they could convict on. The inside guy was sure there was a sub-basement. He also thought there was a lift that came out in the garage but it was controlled from below. The money was stored in fifty gallon drums. He stated that in his opinion that anyone in the house was in on the crime and we should do what we had to defending ourselves. I told him to keep the cell phone number that I had called. We would notify him as we went in and as we were leaving. It was up to them to get there before the bad guys woke up. And I told him that it would take us at least two weeks to get ready. Finally we had everything worked out that I could think of. I told him that we would not contact him again until two days before to let him set up.