Back in the bullpen, Dimitrius and Tara were playing the bank robbery footage on the office's flat screen. First, they watched the reel in full, before Dimitrius went back and did a play by play color commentary, "So, there were four of them. They were all wearing black and they covered their faces, but judging by their figures due to their abnormally tight clothes, our perpetrators consisted of three males and one female. When they broke into the bank, they went straight for the vault, and ignored all of the loose money, meaning that this was premeditated, and could have been planned for days, weeks or months. They knew what they were looking for, and got in and out cleanly and swiftly. Sue, Elke, did you talk to the owner?"
Sue answered, "Mr. Giordano denied that he had any involvement in the robbery, which was to be expected. But Elke and I discussed further, and we both came to the conclusion that we are suspicious of his son. Mr. Giordano sounds legitimate, and I believe what he says."
Elke added, "Oh, I found out something new today. Sue here likes to judge people through their tone of voice and emotions, and not through evidence." Slightly chuckling, she said, "Based on experience, I concur with Sue. Mr. Giordano sounds like he genuinely doesn't know where the two million dollars is coming from."
Bobby asked, "Did he deny it?"
Elke replied, "He denied that he took anything, and that he made two million dollars of income throughout the day, but he didn't deny that any stolen money was in his business' bank account. I don't think that was suspicious; just circumstantial based on how our conversation went. I think he'll be asking his son questions tonight."
Bobby asked again, "What if he decides to take money out tonight, and leave the country?"
Tara sounded, "He can't. No one can. The account was flagged and it is now frozen because it's under investigation." She then switched CCTV video feeds, and displayed footage of the person who deposited two million dollars at six in the morning. Dimitrius paused the video footage when their suspect was at the teller with a huge bag of bills, and Tara zoomed in. Dimitrius asked, "Does he look familiar?"
Sue and Elke looked closely. It was a man…a very clueless man. He had short, black hair with tight curls, bore slightly darker skin, was dressed appropriately for fall weather, and was not shy of displaying the money being held in a reusable grocery shopping bag. Sue shook her head. "That's not Mr. Giordano, or his son."
Elke said, "All I see is a really stupid person for depositing so much money at once. If I were him, I would have hid the money, and deposited little bits at a time over a span of a year. He looks Italian though. He might be a family member, relative or close friend to Mr. Giordano who has a shady past and is trying to stowaway the money."
Jack added, "Or he's an enemy of Mr. Giordano, and is trying to set him up. Tara, please print three copies of this guy. Then, Elke, Sue and I will go back to the shop tomorrow morning and interview both Mr. Giordano and his son."
Elke mentioned, "And if Mr. Giordano and his son don't know who this guy is, maybe we should pay a visit to the brother who is in jail."
Dimitrius questioned, "He has a brother in jail?"
Sue nodded. "Yes, and it's for theft."
Bobby said, "Oi, Tara, can you make another copy? While Jack, Sue and Elke are questioning the sandwich shop, maybe I'll go pay a visit to the prison and see if Mr. Giordano's brother knows who this person is."
Tara said, "I'll get you an ID for his brother, so you know who to ask for at the prison."
Jack added, "Great idea Bobby. Maybe we can get two answers at the same time, compare them against each other, and save us some time."
Dimitrius said, "Good work everyone. Let's be here at 6:00am tomorrow for a brief meeting before dispersing to our preferred locations."
6:30pm…
At a fairly priced Italian restaurant, Sue and Jack were waiting for their pasta. After discussing their busy day at the bureau, they went back to discussing Bermuda and their wedding plans. Sue mentioned to Jack what Tara told her earlier about Myles potentially not being able to make it to the wedding if he wasn't feeling better by then, and asked if he had the same opinion. Reluctantly, Jack did, but he was just being realistic.
"That's what I was afraid of," said Sue, "So if that's the case then Tara and I will start talking to the wedding agency in Bermuda, and pick out flowers and designs for the ceremony and my bouquet online. Come and join us though. This is your wedding too; I don't want to be making all of the decisions."
Jack smiled. "Sue, whatever you love, I'll love it even more. We could get married in a trash can, and you could have weeds for a bouquet, and I'd still marry you. Say…I've been thinking…" he trailed off, unsure of how he was going to approach the subject so soon.
"Yes?"
"...I've been saving up for a house…for a while now. And once we're married, I was thinking of buying one, and getting out of our tiny apartment asap. I mean, we discussed kids a long time ago, and we settled on two or three if I remember correctly. So…we're going to need a bigger space than a two bedroom apartment with half a bathroom."
Sue was taken aback. She didn't think something like this would be brought up until after the wedding.
Jack said, "I'm sorry if it's too soon to discuss…"
Sue interjected, "No, no, it's not! I'd be happy for us to move into an actual house when we are married. Did you have a particular part of the city in mind?"
"To be honest, it has to be somewhere safe and practical. And when I mean practical, I mean having a school, grocery store and church nearby. Also, I refuse to buy a 100 year old house; I don't want to be changing pipes two years into my mortgage. You know I wouldn't settle on just anything. I would make sure you're involved, and have a say, because we'll be…spouses. Wow," he drew a breath, "I'm getting married. I'm so nervous already. But in a good way. I'm so excited to finally be yours for life." He then grabbed her hand across the table and lightly massaged it. "Have I ever told you that you were love at first sight?"
Sue laughed, "Yes…many times."
"It's easy to say these words now, but…I can't believe for years, I did not act on my feelings, and I can't believe that it took another few years to ask you to marry me. Why didn't you ever say anything?"
Sue answered, "Because I was just as clueless and scared as you. I thought you'd say no. Lucy and the rest of the gang told me I was absolutely ridiculous for thinking that, but did I listen?"
Jack chuckled. "It's ridiculous now that we've had time to think about it. I regret not marrying you four or five years earlier."
Just then, their pasta showed up, and they were starving. As they dug into their chicken carbonara and chicken alfredo, Jack asked Sue, "So…when are you buying your dress?"
With her mouth full, Sue responded, "Shh…it's a secret. I'm not telling."
Jack couldn't help but laugh. He loved her so much. He didn't deserve her at all.
Lake Moomaw…
At 1:30am, Myles was in the cottage's kitchen making a ruckus. With the trash can in front of him, he was confidently dumping his current medication into it little bits at a time. Since he got to Lake Moomaw, his medication had been doing nothing for him. The flashbacks were persistent, his anxiety levels were high, and the nausea was now nerfing the applesauce. Getting rid of his medication while at someone's residence wasn't the most sensible thing to do, but it was necessary and had to be done as soon as possible. Concerned, Wanda - dressed in her night attire - sleepily entered the kitchen and asked, "Myles, what are you still doing up? It's late."
Myles slightly jumped at the voice. He quickly looked over his shoulder, and noticed Wanda looking at him concerned. Ever since he told her two days ago (just after Jack and Sue left) about why he was truly temporarily relieved from work, she'd been quiet and walking on eggshells around him, probably unsure of how to handle him if something were to happen. Although a little agitated, Myles said in a calm manner, "My medications aren't helping me anymore. The applesauce helps settle my stomach a little bit, but they're not doing their job by keeping my anxiety at bay, and making sure my flashbacks are under control. I need to pursue other medications when I get home, along with a new psychiatrist as his behavioral programs aren't helping much either. I don't know…he doesn't listen to me anyway; all he cares about is the money. Unfortunately, with how short staffed the medical system in the country is, I might have to wait months or years before I can assign myself a new one."
Wanda, with her arms firmly crossed, said, "I'm sorry that you are going through this. If you would have told me about your condition sooner, I could have recommended yoga to you on your first day. Fishing is nice, but keeping down that anxiety is more important, and yoga is probably one the best ways to keep it contained; especially meditation yoga." She sighed. "And now you're not taking your meds…"
Once the first bottle was emptied, Myles chucked it into the trash before uncapping another bottle, and doing the same. "I'm sorry for not telling you about what was actually wrong with me; that was unfair to you and Gregory. I'm a pretty private person, and I thought I was doing a service to both you and I for undisclosing certain pieces of information…obviously, that backfired. My only excuse is that so much had happened before you showed up in my life that I wasn't thinking straight."
Wanda said, "So, what am I to expect now that you're off your meds?"
Myles explained bluntly, "I'll have flashbacks…lots of them; you'll know I'm having one if I'm doubled over, having trouble breathing, or if I'm in some weird trance. If that happens, just leave me alone, because although the flashbacks are quick, it'll take me a few minutes for me to come to my senses." Once he emptied the bottle, he threw that one into the trash too. Finally, he grasped one last bottle; they were prescribed supplements that were supposed to give his current medication more bang for his buck, but they gave him bad diarrhea, so there was no use for those either. "Please be assured that if I have a PTSD episode, I don't get physical or violent. I will suffer from memory problems like forgetting to do tasks that I do on a daily basis, forget people's names and phone numbers, forget where I am, who certain people are, and sometimes I tend to wander and get lost. I'll try not to do that." Myles looked at Wanda again, and upon seeing her unsure expression, he knew exactly what she was thinking and feeling. After emptying and throwing the last bottle away, Myles turned to the woman and said, "I want to thank you and your husband for your generous hospitality, but I can't put you through that. I think it's best if I leave."
Wanda's eyes widened. "What? You're going?"
"Relax, I'm not leaving Lake Moomaw; it's the perfect place for my getaway. There's a bed and breakfast in the village, and since it's late fall, they have plenty of rooms open that I can stay in for the next week and a half. I'm going to officially book one in the morning, and I'll be moved out after my yoga appointment. Wanda, let's be realistic. If I stay here, every day is going to feel like a 50/50 gamble. I'll either wake up depressed, confused or be enduring constant flashbacks, or I'll be 100% healthy, and be continuing with life as if nothing is wrong. I want you and Gregory to live your lives and have fun here, not take care of a stranger and wonder if said stranger is going to self-destruct. Besides, we'll keep in touch. I need a ride home, and I still plan on fishing with you, or joining you guys around the campfire…that's if you're still open to that."
"Of course we are," Wanda said, "Okay, we'll drive you to the B&B, exchange phone numbers at your new location since you don't have a cellphone on you, and we'll keep in touch often. It's too bad you couldn't enjoy your stay here longer."
"Believe me, I can't get rid of you guys that easily." He then brushed past her and said, "See you in the morning."
Chapter 20 is next…
