Don't have much to say. Hope you're all doing well, and I'm sorry for the lack of updating.

Disclaimer: I don't TSL, and I didn't own TSL in the last chapter, either.

Chapter 11

But I'm the one who keeps on reading

The psychiatrist's office building sat in the heart of downtown Boston, about 2 miles from the hotel. It was an older brick building with large, rectangular windows that sat low to the ground. The two windows on the bottom floor had green flower boxes underneath them. They looked extremely weathered and were empty.

Zack walked through the giant wooden doors that graced the front of the building, waved to his mother and quickly sank down behind one of the windows, peering out to see her driving away. Then he cast his gaze upon officer Lopez.

After convincing his mother that he should see the psychiatrist alone, Zack had to wait for Lopez to meander off towards the coffee house across the street.

"You know you want the coffee, Lopez," he whispered, licking his lips in anticipation. Lopez glanced up and down the street.

"Come on, dude," Zack said a little louder. A couple walking down the hall looked at him strangely.

"Mind your own business," Zack scoffed, shooing them along. He turned his attention back to Lopez and waited. About 10 minutes later, Lopez took off across the street and into the coffee house.

"Finally!" Zack cried. He walked out of the front doors and took off down the street. He looked at his watch, noting that he had 13 minutes until 5 o'clock. Taking a short cut through an alley behind an apartment building, Zack ran into a homeless man, knocking him to the ground.

"Hey, watch where you're going punk!" the man wailed, as Zack rose to his feet and kept running.

"Sorry!" he called behind him. Within 8 minutes, Zack had reached the hotel, breathless. He ran behind it and sank down below the payphone, panting and looking at his watch.

4:58 p.m.

The phone rang.

Zack nearly jumped out of his skin and scrambled upright, staring at the phone as if it were going to attack him. He cautiously picked up the phone, glanced around, and quietly said, "Hello?"

"Zack, man! How are you, buddy? You're early!"

Zack gulped and felt his heart leap into his throat. "Cut the crap and tell me what you want," he said, disgusted by how Felix was treating him like a friend he was trying to catch up with. Felix huffed angrily.

"Now, is that any way to talk to your ol' pal, Zack? Remember that I'm the one in charge here."

"I'm sorry, just tell me what you want," Zack answered.

"In a hurry, Zack? That's ok, I'll make this quick."

Zack wiped his sweaty brow, breathing deeply to try and supress his neausea.

"You put me in quite a pickle when you and your brother got Artie killed. Anyway, I'll send another letter by the end of the week with the details. I just wanted to make sure you understand how this is going to work."

Zack closed his eyes and said, "I understand, just don't hurt my brother."

Felix laughed. It was the same laugh that plagued Zack's dreams.

"As long as you keep your end of the agreement, I don't see why I should have to kill him. But if you don't...I'll slit his throat myself."

Felix delivered the last sentence so viciously that Zack cringed and nodded, though Felix couldn't see him doing so.

"Glad we could chat. Watch for my instructions."

Zack, eyes still closed, barely replied, "Kay."

Felix laughed horribly again. Then there was the dial tone.

Zack, shaking, put the phone back on the hook and tried to calm himself down.

"Deep breaths," he muttered, trying to regain control. It was no use. He gagged, fell to his knees and threw up next to the payphone. Rising shakily to his feet, he wiped his mouth and glanced at his watch.

"Damn," he whispered, taking off back to the psychiatrist's office.

5:12 p.m.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cody sat by his window, watching the kids playing across the street at the park when he noticed a boy with blonde hair run just out of sight.

"That looked like Zack..." he thought, looking over at the clock on his endtable.

5:13 p.m.

He shook his head and laughed a little. Zack was still at his psychiatrist appointment, so it couldn't have been him. However, he still gazed out the window uneasily.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zack made it back to the office before his mother, but not before Lopez had stationed himself back in front of the doors.

"Son of a..." Zack cursed, gritting his teeth. He looked around quickly, trying to think of something he could do to distract the officer. He ran down the alley next to the office and saw a few trash cans. Kicking them over, he made as much noise as he could, as well as letting out a loud yell. Then he hid behind the dumpster a little further up the alley. As he expected, Lopez came running around the side, looking around. Zack slid from his hiding place, crept out of the alley and flew into the front doors. He wiped his forehead and sank down with his back against wall.

He made it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3 days later...

The letter came.

Zack stared at it in his shaky hands, afraid of what the contents held. He played it off as another pen pal note, but he could see in Cody's eyes that he didn't believe him. Making up an excuse to leave the room, Zack took off through the lobby and was now hiding under one of the tables in the dining room, shielded by the tablecloth.

Taking a deep breath he opened the letter and took his keychain flashlight out to read it.

dearest zack,

i told you id be getting back to you soon didnt i? now like i said before you put me in quite a tough spot when you had artie killed. see when we planned this whole robbery we agreed on a hiding place where we would stash the diamond then come back for it later. but after artie found out that you and your brother got him fired he musta gone crazy. always talked about revenge on the person that got him fired. anyways this is a problem for me. i know that they had the diamond locked up in an evidence room when i left but no doubt they gave it back to tipton by now.

heres what you gotta do for me. i want that diamond zackey boy. you find out where it is and send me a letter to the address i got at the bottom of the page. then i give you the next set of instructions. i better have a reply by next friday, or i break your brothers neck.

love your pal felix

Zack pulled his knees up to his chest and put his head down.

He had no idea how he was going to pull this off.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Again, sorry it took me so long to update. But I want to give this my best, and it takes time to do that. So thank you for sticking with me.