"You do that." Leon waited until the man left the room before nodding to George. "Go ahead."
George popped the lid on the safety deposit box then drew in a heavy breath as he stared down at the single piece of paper inside.
"George?"
"Yeah?" The man continued to stare down at the ticket.
"Pick it up and put it in your wallet."
George jerked as if electrocuted. "Right." He pulled his wallet out then picked up the lottery ticket and slid it inside one of the pockets. He put his wallet back in his pants then closed the lid on the box before looking at Leon.
"Can we go now?"
Leon chuckled. "We probably need to stick around until the police get here so they can take out statements, but then we can go."
"We're supposed to be at lottery headquarters at ten," Ford reminded them. "I think we're going to be late."
Oh, they were going to be late all right. Law enforcement was nothing if not slow.
Leon glanced toward the still open door of the vault. The cold chill was back. "Don't say anything about what we were getting out of the box for right now. If someone asks, tell them it was just some personal papers or something."
George frowned. "Why not?"
"Because I'm not sure who all is in on this, and until I am, I don't know who we can trust." Leon hated the way the corners of George's mouth turned down. He reached over and gave George's arm a gentle pat. "Remember, one thing at a time."
"I need a drink," George whispered.
The sadness in George's voice tore at Leon's soul. That sound should never come out of the pretty man's mouth. "And you can have one, once this is all over. You just need to get through the next few hours."
"Yeah, okay."
Leon smiled at the man until George smiled back. It wasn't a big smile or even a bright smile, but it was there, and that was something. That smile, no matter how small it was, warmed something deep inside of Leon that hadn't been touched in longer than he could remember. He wanted to keep that smile on George's face and maybe see one that came from happiness, not resignation.
"Come on." Leon grabbed George's arm and started steering him toward the door. "Let's get this over with so we can go have that drink."
