Still wondering about Gary, he called the other man’s cell phone and then his house, reaching voicemail on both and leaving messages for Gary to call him back as soon as possible. Could he be next door? There were no customers yet, so Kyle locked the door behind him and walked over to the bank, bypassing the line since he had no interest in getting a tote bag.

What they had done with the place was amazing. Soft recessed ceiling lights illuminated dark wood walls hung with western art. On the carpeted left side of the long room were desks and chairs and potted palms. On the right half was a marble floor, a line of teller windows and two dark wood tables filled with pastries, donuts and miniature bottles of orange juice and water. There was indeed a walk-in safe in the back and, visible inside, a wall of safety deposit boxes.

Before heading for the food, the others attending the grand opening were collecting pamphlets and blue tote bags imprinted with the bank’s name from employees standing next to boxes filled with the items just inside the door.

One of those employees was Gary.

Kyle was stunned. Gary was already working here? They’d already hired him?

When had that happened? It must have been this morning, because Gary sure as hell hadn’t given any hint about this yesterday when they were closing. Although, if it had been this morning, Gary would have had to be interviewed and accepted hours ago in order to give him time to go out and buy that suit, because Kyle knew for a fact that his friend didn’t own anything that nice.

Where could he have bought a new suit in Montgomery at eight o’clock in the morning?

Everything about this seemed wrong, and Kyle bypassed the line, walked behind a smiling Stepford woman passing out pamphlets and tapped Gary on the shoulder. “Hey.”

“Hello, sir.”

Gary didn’t recognize him.

Kyle took a step back. How was this possible? He frowned. “What’s going on here?”

“Our bank offers a range of services—”

“What the hell, Gary?” It occurred to him that maybe the bank wanted its employees to pretend not to know its customers out of some misguided sense that detachment implied objectivity.

But, no, the expression on his friend’s face revealed no hint of familiarity, no indication that Gary had ever seen him before.

The cold that settled over him had nothing to do with the ultra-efficient air conditioning that had been installed overnight.

Gary offered him a bland smile.

“Would you like a tote bag, sir?”

2

As soon as Coy arrived at work, Ben Shanley called him into his office.

“Close the door,” he said.

Coy did so, then sat down in the proffered chair. The bank manager stood up from his own seat and started pacing, saying nothing for several moments, as though trying to gather his thoughts.

“We have competition,” the manager said finally.

Coy frowned. “What?”

“There’s going to be a new bank in town. It’s opening up on Main Street next to the bookstore.”