All Chapters of Love, Money, and Lies (A Series of Secrets 2): Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Instead of being at Jimbo’s Steakhouse BBQ for a few hours, they stayed until eight o’clock in the evening. The time had gotten away from Margo because she ended up having a better time than she thought. It was great to watch Bruce play with the kids there along with Keisha. Margo and Lana had a nice chat. Then Alec, Margo, and Bruce played softball with a few other guys and teenagers. Bruce walked Margo to her door. She unlocked it and turned around to face him. “Thank you for taking me to the barbeque.” He grinned. “I told you you would have fun.” “I did, and I hadn’t played softball since I was in high school. You were the hero of the team with that homerun that won us the game.” There was a twinkle in his eye. “I’m glad that I helped the team, but the reward of that kiss you gave me was better.” “Oh, I’m sure my kiss and the three other women’s kisses right after was great for you,” she remarked. She had given

It was a few days before Thanksgiving, and Margo was only a few inches away from creating a virus that was stable, spread to all twelve Federal Reserve locations, could extract and transfer funds to various locations at once in a hurry, and could lay dormant until 11:59 p.m. on December thirty-first. She also had three couples who were interested in buying her house. She had placed an ad on a for-sale-by-owner website in September. However, Margo didn’t place a for sale by owner sign in the yard because she didn’t want her neighbors or friends to know. They would have asked too many questions, plus Bruce would find out. She had to disappear without a trace. Margo had also been slowly selling some of her household things on eBay. She had sold both bedroom sets in her guest rooms in October. She kept the doors closed to those rooms so Bruce wasn’t any the wiser when he spent the night. Her mind drifted to Bruce. During the past few months,

Four dark-colored Dodge Charger Hellcats were parked under the overpass across from the building. Everyone was already there when Margo got to the factory. Morris was a little surprised to find out that she was in the life, but he nodded his respect and listened as Aaron went over the full plan. He had also clued Morris in on how to communicate over the burners. At one-fifteen a.m., Bobbi, Aaron, Morris, and Anthony deployed to the Hellcats. Margo already had her computer up and ready to go. Anthony and Morris, along with two guys they had met on the street, had boosted the cars from a Dodge dealership earlier that evening. It was easy, and they got away clean because it was closed for the holiday. By the time the dealership opened tomorrow and discovered them missing, the cars would be destroyed. They were small vehicles, but they were fast enough to escape the cops just in case something went wrong. They were all linked on a conference call setup

Bruce and Alec drove to the Dodge dealership at nine-fifteen. They walked through the doors. “Well, well, Bruce Styles,” Carmen drooled out. “Long time, no see.” Alec looked at him. “Hi, Carmen. How’ve you been?” “Okay, until today. My father is flipping out. We got robbed yesterday. He just got off the phone with the police.” “That’s why we’re here, ma’am,” Alec said. He had no idea who Carmen was. Bruce had met Carmen a few years back when he went looking for a new vehicle. He didn’t like anything in the lot but Carmen. They had gone out a few times. At one point, Carmen was on Bruce’s top-ten list. “What? This is official business?” she asked. “That’s fast,” Lance Davidson said as he walked out of the office. “I just got off the phone with the cops.” “We’re with the FBI, sir,” Alec said and flashed his identification. “FBI? What in the world are you g

Friday morning, Bruce was sitting in Alec’s office as he was talking about the cases they were working on. “Bruce!” Alec yelled. He jumped in the chair. “Huh! What?” “You haven’t heard a fucking word I said,” Alec said with a hint of anger. “I . . . I’m sorry, man,” Bruce stuttered as he wiped his face with his hand. “What the hell is the matter with you this morning? I know we’ve been working a lot of overtime, and we’re both tired, but you gotta stay with me here.” He shook his head. “It isn’t necessarily exhaustion. I just got a lot on my mind.” “Like what?” “No, you’ll laugh or think I’m being paranoid,” he stated. “Whatever it is, you can’t get your mind off of it, and I need you at your best. Spit it out. Maybe I can help,” Alec said with concern. After a bit of hemming and hawing, Bruce finally broke down and told his best friend what was on his mi