Roses Are Red

Chapter Forty-Nine

The Mastermind was keeping everything on a tight schedule. The clock inside his head was ticking loudly, always ticking.

The best of the bank-robbing crews, the creme de la creme, was scheduled to meet with him in his suite at a Holiday Inn near Colonial Village in Washington. They were on time of course. He had made it a formal condition of the meeting.

Brian Macdougall swaggered into the suite ahead of the others. The Mastermind smiled at the absurdly cocksure way Macdougall carried himself. He knew that Macdougall would lead the way into the room. He was followed by his subordinates, B J Stringer and Robert Shaw. The three of them look like anything but high-level thieves, he thought. Two of the three wore royal-blue-and-white T-shirts from the same Long Island softball league.

"Mr. O'Malley and Mr. Crews?" the Mastermind asked from behind the screen of lights that prohibited them from seeing him. "Where are they, might I ask?"

Macdougall spoke for the group," They have to work today. You gave us kind of short notice, partner. Three of us took off this morning. It'd look suspicious, if we all called in sick."

The Mastermind continued to observe the three New York men sitting beyond the lights. Each looked like your average Joe. In truth, they were the most dangerous of the bank-robbing crews he'd used. They were exactly what he needed for the next test.

"So this is what, an audition?" Macdougall asked. He had on a black silk shirt, black trousers and loafers. He had slicked-back black hair and a goatee.

"An audition? No, not at all. The job is yours, if you want it. I know how you work. Know all about you. I know your track record."

Macdougall stared ahead at the bright lights, almost as if his gaze could penetrate them. "This needs to be a face-to-face meeting, "he said stonily. "That's the only way we'll do the job."

The Mastermind rose quickly. He was stunned and angry. The legs of his chair made a loud scraping noise against the floor. "You were told from the beginning that wasn't possible. This meeting is over."

A heavy silence filled the hotel room. Macdougall looked over at Stringer and Shaw. He scratched his goatee a few times, then he laughed out loud. "I was just testing, partner. I guess we can live without seeing your face. If you have our payment with you?"

"I have the money, gentlemen. Fifty thousand dollars. Just for meeting with me. I always keep my promises."

And we walk away with the payment if we don't like your plan for the job?"

Now it was the Mastermind's turn to smile. "You'll like the plan," he said "You'll especially like the part about your share. It's fifteen million dollars."