The Agent and The School Teacher

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Face Cards

I rang Aaron's doorbell, a brown paper bag in one hand and two cups of coffee in the other. Charlotte and Sadie were spending the day with their dad, so Aaron had invited me over to his apartment to spend the day with him and Jack. The lock clicked and the door opened, revealing Aaron in a Navy blue t-shirt and black sweatpants.

"Breakfast has been delivered." I said, holding up the stuff.

"Thank you." He leaned forward, kissing me briefly.

"Yeah, of course. I just wanted to drop of breakfast first, um, but I have to run to the bank and it opens in a few minutes, so I'll go there and then come back."

"Ok, sounds good." He took the coffee and bag from my hand when Jack came into the room, a blanket tied around his shoulders.

"Ms. Bartlett!" He shouted. "Come look at our fort!" He grabbed my hand, pulling me into the next room to show me a pile of chairs, pillows, and sheets.

"Wow! Look at that! I'm very impressed, you guys are some architects aren't you?"

"Yeah!"  He got down, pulling me to the ground with him. I looked up at Aaron.

"Where's your cape, Super Dad?" I asked.

"Um, I'm wearing it." I smiled, crawling under to fort with Jack. Aaron crawled down on the other side. "We slept in here all night."

"That sounds like a blast! I'm almost jealous, because this is pretty cool."

"We're going to do it again tonight, right, Dad?" Aaron asked.

"Sure Buddy. No problem."

"Could Elizabeth sleep over?" My eyes widened.

"Since when do you call me Elizabeth?" I asked.

"Your Daddy's girlfriend. That's what he calls you."

"Well, sorry bud, but your Dad's not in my class. But...I think maybe outside of school, i could let it slide."

"Could she?" I laughed.

"I..."

"I will let you answer that question, and I am off to the bank. I'll be right back."

"Ok." I crawled out from under the fort, grabbing my keys and heading for the door.

~~~

I walked up to the counter, handing over my check.

"Hi, I'd like to cash this please." I told her. She opened her mouth to ask me a question, when someone yelled,

"HEY!" Then there was a gunshot, causing everyone in the bank to scream. I whirled around just as the security guard fell to the floor. A separate security guard gave the guy and the girl that were with him a plastic mask.

"I wanna see hands in the sky!" The man yelled, putting his mask on. "NOW!" he walked over to the window I was at, shoving me out of the way. "Try to trigger any alarm, or give me any dang dye packs and you're dead, you understand? DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

"Yes!"

"Cash in here. Cash in here. Go buddy! Come on! Time?"

"1:45. Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, we are the Face cards, maybe you've heard of us." The woman said harshly, waving her gun around. I felt my phone in my back pocket, and began to run through how I could send a text to Aaron without being seen. "Get your faces on the floor already. I see eyes, you see bullets. Get it?!"

"Get down on the ground! Get down on the ground." We all sank to our knees, and I used the sudden movement to grab my phone,  laying on top of my arms so that it was concealed by my body. I laid my forehead on the floor, finding Aaron's name in my contacts. Once I found his name, I could use muscle memory to find the keys and type out a message.