Seth let out a long whistle. "Well, can't blame him for wanting to kill us, can we, 'sugar'?"
Vivian looked like she wanted to crawl under the table. "No, 'dear', I can't blame him for wanting to spend some bullets on us."
"This is stupid," said Sam. "For crying out loud, how long ago was all this? Viv, are you still mad at me for punching you in the face?"
"In retrospect, there's really not that much to be mad at you for."
"Hey," interrupted Seth. "I'm still fucking mad at him for punching you in the face."
Leigh rolled her eyes. "I swear, you are the guys are the most retarded criminals ever."
Well, that cat was out of the bag. Vivian looked up at Leigh and grinned. Leigh hated that smile. It was the wide smile that showed off her white teeth. Vivian use to grin like that when she was talking to people she thought were beneth her. But now her upper lip curled a bit, showing off her scar. "That's right Leigh. Go ahead and poke fun at us. By the way, nice to see that you're living all nice and pretty in your little Yankee condo. I bet you have the whole place covered in Picasso's Blue Period."
"Something like that."
"Whatever." She looked at her watch. "Let's head to the park. I hear they have a new seal exhibit."
"Wait a moment," said Redjack. "Didn't you hear what Leigh just said?"
Vivian pulled out her compact to check her makeup. "Yes."
"So why are we still meeting with Aaron?"
Vivian didn't even look up from her mirror. "Because Leigh never tells the truth to me. Or to anyone." She smiled. "I never tell anyone the whole truth, and neither does she. Takes a liar to recognize a liar. Besides," Vivan got up and put the compact back in her purse. "We're going to need Aaron to make this work."
*** *** ***
They took the subway to Central Park. After that, it was an easy walk to the zoo and then to the gorillas. Vivian was in the front with Sam, while Seth, Chris, and Redjack supervised Leigh. "Sam, got a cigarette?"
"Sure," he pulled one out for her. "So why are you bringing her along?"
"We might have to negociate with Aaron, right? Let's bring a bargaining chip."
"Ouch," laughed Sam. "The old Vivian wouldn't have been that cold. Prison wasn't very good for you, was it?"
"Why do they call it white-collar crime?"
"What?"
"White-collar crime. That's all I did, really. And yet I was put in jail for a blue-collar crime." She looked thoughtful. "And yet, I'm a blueblood, so bluebloods commit white-collar crimes. Isn't it odd?"
They reached the gorilla cages. Chris leaned over to check the cage. "He did say gorillas, right?"
"Yes."
"No monkeys?"
"No."
"Lemurs?"
"Jeez, leave one detail out, and no one lets you forget it..."
Without any hint of arrival, Aaron's voice came from some hidden corner. "Well, looks like the rejected A-Team showed up."
Aaron had found a shady spot with a few benches. The area was covered in foliage and statues, so no one would notice them all talking. "Gather round, gather round."
They all found a place to settle. Seth and Redjack continued to watch Leigh, and Vivian sat closest to Aaron. Vivian had her speech all planned. "Well, there is honor amoung th -- "
"Shut up, Vivian." Vivian shut her mouth. "Now, it's my turn to talk.
"See, I've been trying to figure out what the hell happened. The second you got out of jail, you gathered everyone that you've dissed or ignored or dumped back together for a criminal pow-wow. So I did a little snooping."
Now, Aaron raised his voice, so that all six of them could hear him clearly. "Several years ago, after you and Seth left me for dead, you began working for Ramos, a crime lord of great notoriety. I'm sure we've all seen the nice big articles about him in the newspapers. Hard to miss, really. Sam was with you at the time."
"Everyone here knows that much," said Seth. "Keep going."
"Go peel a banana Seth. Anyways, Ramos was very good to Vivian and Seth. He sent Seth all around the word on assignments, and he had Vivian run the finances of his casinos. Both the legal and the illegal ones. And Ramos filled their little cups almost as fast as they emptied them.
"So, flash foward a few more years, and suddenly, Sam's not with you anymore. Turns out Ramos didn't like Sam's style, and wanted him to leave. For some odd reason, he picks Vivian to take care of Sam. We all know what happened. A very nice Jaguar XK was killed, and Vivian was never asked to do 'field work' again."
"What can I say? I like the office atmosphere." Aaron gave Vivian a cold stare. "Shutting up."
"A few months afterwards, Vivian gets the idea that the millions that she makes isn't enough, and begins skimming money off of Ramos. The plan was for her and Seth to make a fabulous escape. But, according to sources, Vivian decided to leave by herself, and was caught with over twelve million dollars. Ramos attempted to kill her, but failed. Drugs were planted, and the rest is history."
"Correction. It was eleven-point-eight million dollars."
Sam said nothing. His attention was focused on Aaron. Vivian claimed they needed him so badly, but there was something spooky about a guy that knew that much.
Chris, however, was not as suprised. Aaron had a reputation for his collection of contacts. Some people joked that almost every crime lord owed him some favor or another. Granted, Vivian had been an fool to think no one would notice her release -- but Chris had the sneaky suspicion Aaron would have found everything out anyways. He was just that good.
"So," said Redjack. "The goal is -- what, money?"
"Eight million dollars."
"Yeah, but once you split it -- "
"No, I mean eight million dollars each."
No one said anything at first. Even Seth hadn't expected that. Only Leigh seemed awake. She pulled out of Seth's and Redjack's grips, and took a few steps forward. "Yeah, and she'll get all your asses killed in the process. You do realize she cares more about making Ramos miserable than making you guys rich -- or keeping you alive?"
