Arly and Kyran did everything they could to seal the heavy backpacks they’d brought with them before closing the safe. She made sure nothing had been left behind for the guards or police to find before ushering Kyran out the door. They needed to get back to the conference room immediately, before the guards made it up to their floor. She wished she’d remembered to take her phone out of her purse so Tom could keep them updated on the positions of the guards, but it was too late for her to worry about those things.

On the same floor, Tom worked quickly to unplug his computer from the system. He didn’t know where the others were or if they would make it back to the conference room before the guards came to alert them, just like last time. He jumped noticeably when the door opened, turning to face the entrants with his hands raised in surrender. “Dude, it’s just us,” Kyran told him. However, the larger man had no doubts he’d be just as jumpy. “Where’s Benny?”

“He’s not with you?” Tom asked, his eyes going dark. “He should’ve been back by now.”

Arly dropped her backpack and kicked it under the conference table, ignoring their protests as she opened the door to go find Benny. She couldn’t let him take the fall for everything they’d done. She promised she would be back as soon as she could, as soon as she found Benny. What she didn’t know was just how close Benny was, colliding with the man almost immediately after she stepped out of the room. “They’re right behind me,” he coughed, chest heaving after he ran up the stairs.

They weren’t sure if the guards had seen Benny and focused on settling in around the conference table. Arly sat down beside Benny who was trying to catch his breath and took hold of his hand. Whatever happened, they would deal with it together. The others were just starting to scribble down some answers on the fake study guide they’d brought, waiting for the guards to come by. When one did open the door, it was clear they weren’t suspicious of the group. “Stay inside this room and lock the door. We’re on lockdown,” he told Benny.

Benny nodded, looking back to his friends with a smile. For now, they’d gotten away with it.

One Week Later

Arly was surprised, in the days that followed, how divided the media was over the robbery at Johnson United Manufacturing. So many local news stations were arguing that the company deserved to pay for the things it had done to people like Joey Miller. What nobody knew, what she hoped no one would find out, was that a sizeable anonymous donation had been made to the Joey Miller Healthcare fund set up by the family. She knew it made a difference for the family because she’d seen it, and that made everything better. One little boy was receiving the treatment he deserved without bankrupting his family.

Of course, those hopes were squashed that night, one week later, when Benny brought her over to their house so that she could meet his father. She arrived a few minutes early so Benny could show her around, only to find him pale and shaken when he opened the door. He ushered her back to her car, insisting that they had to leave immediately. They needed to find Tom and Kyran. While she worried about everything Benny was mumbling about, she agreed to do what he asked. They just rolled onto the college campus, joining their other friends when Benny calmed down enough to utter a few simple, terrifying words: “He knows it was us.”

Benny went on to explain that he went to warn his father that Arly was coming. His father invited him to sit down and poured them both a drink. While they shared a drink for the first time in months, his father explained how he came to learn that a massive anonymous donation was made to the Miller family. He mentioned knowing Arly, the girl Benny was fascinated with, worked at the hospital. He also knew that Arly and two other students were there the night of the robbery. It wasn’t hard to put the pieces together.

Knowing they were caught, Arly slipped her arm around Benny. She didn’t know what to do, because they’d accomplished what they wanted to do. “I’ll turn myself in. It was my idea and my plan,” Arly told them, rubbing Benny’s arm to comfort him. “You guys shouldn’t be arrested for something I convinced you to do.”

Kyran and Tom protested. They didn’t want her to take sole blame for the decisions they made. “We knew what would happen if we were caught. You aren’t going to do this alone,” Kyran interrupted her.

The three continued to argue while Benny considered everything they had to say. They still had a decent amount of money left, and his father hadn’t called the police yet. Maybe it was time that they showed his father why he shouldn’t pick on the little guy. The thought made Benny smirk and he interrupted, “We shouldn’t give up. If anything, I think we should go bigger.”

“What do you have in mind?”