The Muse

The storm began to pick up and Cecilia watched the funnel cloud swirl around the yard. Luckily, it did not come close to the house. As she continued to watch she saw that it was headed for the neighbors to the south. They had been hit more than three times. Hopefully, this one wouldn't do too much damage.

As the storm began to settle she began to worry about Wendell. He still had not stirred since she had pulled him across the threshold. Cecilia allowed herself to begin to dwell in the what ifs that she could feel at the back of her consciousness. They had just been a wisp of a thought five minutes ago when she was caught up in watching the storm, but now they were getting bigger and moving with more force through her mind.

What if Wendell didn't wake up? What would she do? She could not work this land by herself. She was lost without Wendell in more ways than one. She had never spent a day apart from him. He had always been there. Cecilia never knew where he had come from. He was not her brother, but he had always lived with her and she had never asked her mother about where he came from. Cecelia wasn't even sure that Wendell knew. She made a mental note to ask him when he woke up. She also made a note to tell him how much she appreciated him and loved him when he woke up, if he woke up.

Just then, her swirling thoughts were interrupted by the phone ringing. She moved as quickly as she could into the kitchen where the phone was.

"Hello," Cecelia answered. It was her neighbor to the South, Ann.

"Cece..I am just calling to make sure you and Wendell are okay. We watched the tornado swirl around the property. Luckily, it missed your house and ours." Ann said.

"Well, as far as damage I think we are okay. But, Wendell fell on the porch right before the storm and still has not woken up. I barely got him moved in before the storm started. Can you send the boys over here to help get him to the bed."

"I will send the right over, but Cece you need to call the doc to come out." Ann implored.

"I am going to wait. I think he will just wake up and when he does he will be embarrassed. I don't want him to be embarrassed in front of doc."

"Okay, the boys will be there soon." Ann hung up.

Cecelia poured herself a glass of tea and sat down in the living room to wait for the boys. Hopefully, they would be able to get Wendell into his bedroom and in bed. That should help.

The Heist

Everyone started to get to work. Time was of the essence, and they all knew it. Les was aware of how Frank was staring at him. He wondered how much Frank had figured out by now. He and Frank had been in "business" together for about twenty years now. They could finish each other's sentences and as far as Frank knew they had never tried to con one another. Until now.

Les' motto had always been to keep his friends close and his enemies closer. He had never considered Frank a friend. He knew more about Frank than most people knew about the person they were married to. When he first met Frank they had been introduced by the head of another group of criminals that Frank had been a part of, Gary. Gary was a genius. He could smell a job, and knew when things had gone south. It took Les a long time to learn everything he needed to from Gary and then find a way to get rid of him. Gary hung around like a bad cough in January.

He had the opportunity to eliminate Gary as a threat about five years ago. Les had presented the group with a job that involved a computer scam. They had set up a store front operation, and things went south quickly. Les had been the real inside man for that job and walked away with seven figures in his pocket when it was all said and done, however everyone else just walked away, except Gary. Les had it set up that Gary would either take the fall for the job or lose his life. In the end Gary had done both. Frank of course was devastated. Les knew that he would be. Gary was their mentor after all.

The group was the same as it was during the computer job. He had pulled Indigo in on the scam at the last minute. She proved to be a real asset and able to keep her mouth shut. However, he knew that eventually he would have to eliminate her as well. The thing about his motto was that Les didn't have any friends, so all of his enemies felt like family. Each one with their own story, and their own role to play. Once that story was over, Les was free to move on.