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Back Just Thieves Save as PDF
Chapters (42)
  1. Cover
  2. Other Titles
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. 1
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 2
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 3
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. ACCOMPLICES AND EASY MARKS

Frank was better suited to this life than I am, something I didn’t discover until after he joined me. He had the right temperament for sitting for hours, and he knew when to be quiet and when to break the silence. He would sit and think, his mind off somewhere, and he’d forget that mine wasn’t in the same place and he’d say something that might take me a minute to catch on to how he got there. “Anything but blind,” Frank said, continuing a conversation he’d been having silently with himself. I knew what he was saying. That would be the worst, I told him.

“I wouldn’t mind not seeing stuff,” Frank said, “but I couldn’t stand not knowing where I was or who was around. I’d think the walls were closing in or someone was out to get me.”

“Someone’s always out to get you, Frank.”

—

I wanted to go home. The thought woke me up, I think. Or maybe I was awake already, and only startled by the thought. I’d never thought that way before, but there I was in the dark hotel room, all of a sudden thinking I wanted to leave. The darkness of the room seemed too close, unnaturally close. Frank was asleep; the whole building was asleep for all I knew, every room and every guest, and the dark decided to move in on me and make me want to flee, for the first time. I stared at the ceiling and tried to think my way out of it. Another day; another night at the most and we’d be done and gone, back home and back to Froehmer and it would all be behind us. There was nothing to worry about with this job. Frank would see for himself tomorrow and I’d be in and out in less than a minute or so and everything would be fine. I could see it all, the way into the house, the room, the shelf, the item, me taking it and going right back out. Everything would go exactly as I saw it in my mind; everything would go exactly as it had every other time, with no problem. Frank had figured out his dead horse and I had this figured out. It was only a passing thought in my head, wanting to leave. There was nothing to worry about. It was only dark. And Froehmer was out there waiting. Froehmer was waiting for us to deliver. We wouldn’t disappoint.

3

FROEHMER