“Heya guys, I’m getting tired holding my arms up like this for ten minutes straight. Doncha think we could come to some agreement?” Jerry said, thinking about the bag of money next to his feet, and the future it holds for him.

“Getting tired are we? We’ll I guess we know whose gonna drop his guard and die first. Don’t we Jerry?” Ty sneered, keeping his stare on Artimus.

“You go and shoot him and I’ll blow your head off right after.” Artimus answered Ty’s assumption. He was beginning to get really frustrated that he had to play by the police officer’s code, but after a day like this he decided he wasn’t going to worry any more. Artimus had shown mercy to too many scumbags in his days as a cop and now he had put up with just as much crap as he could handle. I have to get myself out of this shit or one of these nobodies will kill me. I have too much respect to let that happen. Artimus thought as beads of sweat formed on his slim cheeks, a product of twelve years of training more than eating doughnuts.

“Ha! You cops all think a like. Just because you’re the good guys you’ll win. Tell that to your four buddies I dropped easier than Jerry frightens women.” Ty laughed. Artimus didn’t find his humor funny. Neither did Jerry. Ty continued, “So Jerry, how much money did you get outta there?”

“Not sure. Cops showed right when I was gettin in the vault. I think I grabbed a bunch a bundles of ones.”

“Why don’t you open that bag at your feet and check.” Ty said peering into Jerry’s eyes.

“Ya right, I ain’t stupid you know.” Jerry said, calming his nerves a bit. Casual talk was beginning to relax the men, including Artimus, even though they each had guns pointed at their heads.

“I know you aren’t stupid Jerry. So prove it.” Ty said smiling.

“What does that mean?” Artimus interred, looking at Ty.

“It means Jerry has to find out how much money is in the bag without dying. If he can do that, he’s got my respect.”

Artimus was getting frustrated again by Ty’s attitude. “How the fuck does he do that? How are you gonna believe what he says anyway if you can’t count the money yourself? What if he lies? See this is why you guys should be in jail, you make no sense.” Artimus’s words challenged Ty.

“Easy Einstein. I’m just trying to relieve some of that tension. Stress is bad for the body.” Ty grinned back at him, “I understand the situation is more serious than my words, but I’d rather talk, who knows we all might be standing like this for quite some time.” Artimus rolled his eyes away from Ty over to Jerry. Light kept the room illuminated from the skylight in the center of the ceiling; right between them. It had iron bars crisscrossing over it and the shadows wrapped around the men like a web. Rotten stenches of garbage in the air made it apparent they were inside a paper mill. Floorboards creaked under them when they shifted their weight. The three men’s minds were in high gear. Knowing well that the slightest mistake could spell disaster for them. Caution was a virtue they all had in common, and none were about to brake it. At this point in the game no man wanted to risk trying to blow the heads off the other two men when there were two equally anxious pistols aimed at yours. It was a trap for them.

Garrett ..1.. ..2.. ..3.. ..4.. ..5.. ..6.. ..7.. ..8.. ..9.. ..10.. ..11.. ..12.. ..13..