Not knowing if anyone knew about it or if I was beingwatched, I continued using back doors. I made it to our unit without beingstopped or assaulted, so I called that a win.
I unlocked the sliding door and lifted the gate,expecting to find a treasure trove of priceless riches.
We would be set for life. We wouldn’t have to worryabout anything. We could pack the car with all of my things and then slowlysell them along the way. It was the perfect plan because I could only beconnected to a few of the items. Most of them weren’t even traceable back tome. And I wouldn’t sell the obvious pieces. I’d keep those for myself.
Instead of my coveted treasure trove though, I found nothing.A few pieces of useless furniture, a filing cabinet that was empty and a box ofSayer’s old clothes. But nothing valuable. Nothing priceless. Nothing worth allthis fucking trouble.
“Where is it?” I gasped, trying to reconcile what Iwas seeing with what my brain said should be there. “Did I use the wrong key?Open the wrong unit?”
No. That was the only storage unit key I had. And ithad worked. I was inside, wasn’t I?
Only this was all wrong. Sayer had taken my trophiesand hid them like I asked. Only he’d hid them too well because now I couldn’tfind them.
Had he done it on purpose?
Was this his collateral?
His way of making sure I stayed with him?
My stomach churned and I knew I was going to be sick.I needed a bathroom. I needed a breath of fresh air.
I needed answers.
My phone dinged in my pocket. I ripped it out andopened the text, half assuming it to be Sayer until I realized he couldn’t textme anymore.
He wouldn’t be able to text me for another decade.
Oh my God. What had I done?
Did it! The text said. Which was code from Frankie.She’d gotten thejunkercar we were going to use toget out. She’d found an old Toyota Corolla on Craigslist and paid cash for itout of our savings.
Our things were ready.
The car was ready.
She was ready.
We were only waiting on me.
Good job!I texted back.Sheknew to meet me behind the storage facility in the getaway car.
When she sent back awinkyface fifteen minutes later, I knew she was on her way. We’d figured out thecode last night. Today, all we needed to do was execute our plan perfectly.
If they were watching us, they would still be waitingfor us to leave our apartment.
We had no intentions of ever going back there again.
She pulled up behind the storage unit fifty minuteslater wearing a blonde wig. She’d grabbed our bags from her trunk back at theapartment and managed to get a significant amount of cash from our multipleaccounts and three of her uncle’s bars. They would see her later when theywatched the security cameras and know she took the money, stole from them.
We would already be gone.
She tossed a red wig at me the second I sat down inthe passenger’s side. I quickly put it on and grabbed a pair of oversized sunglasses.
“Where’s all the stuff?” she asked.
“Gone,” I whispered. “It’s all gone. It’s not there. Idon’t know where he put it.”
She frowned at me and slammed on the gas. “Cellphones,” was her only response to Sayer’s betrayal.
