The driver just nodded. The hold that the old man had on them was beginning to fade. Over time he had become a bore, constantly meddling in everything they wanted to do.
“He thinks that place is all wired up with cameras and that we need to get out of town because that guy will recognize us if he sees us around.”
The driver looked at him and rolled his eyes and said, “Seriously?”
“Yes. Did you see anything?”
The driver hunched over the wheel and thought for a second. Finally he shook his head. “No. Nothing obvious, anyway. It’s not like that house is that nice. Why would he have it wired up?”
The leader exhaled loudly in frustration.
“That old prick is just paranoid. I guess the two of ‘em got into it at the meeting.”
The driver nodded. He’d witnessed it all.
“It makes no sense,” Travis thought out loud.
The driver nodded again, his face contorted into a tight grimace and said, “Anna better know what she’s into with this guy.”
CHAPTER 11
Bao was on the tail end of his route. The summer was coming to an end, but it had been a blistering hot day. He needed two Gatorades and an energy drink just to get him through the day.
“Hey Jerry,” Bao said, nodding to the store owner. He was a big man. Bao guessed that half the candy bars and sodas he used to fill the store’s machines were purchased by the owner himself.
“Hey Bao. Hot one eh?”
Bao nodded, wiping sweat from his forehead. He bent over and lifted a plastic tray full of soda bottles.
Jerry’s Electronics store was the best place to get electronics in Blue Creek. It had the biggest selection and the highest quality products. Jerry was originally from Florida and had been an assistant manager at Best Buy, so he knew the business well. Back in Florida, Jerry wasn’t likely to have climbed very high on the corporate ladder. The experiment had given him the opportunity he’d always waited for.
Bao usually just went about his business, filling the machines and collecting coins. However, there had been a push for more personal contacts. Bao hated this because he had to talk to people, which he hated, and he had to write reports, which he hated even worse. But it was his job and he needed to step up.
“Your shelves are almost empty, man.”
Jerry nodded and smiled with satisfaction. His store had been successful enough that he’d already expanded his floor space and nearly doubled his workforce.
“Business is booming, my friend. How about you?” Jerry asked, gesturing towards the stack of plastic totes Bao used to carry his stock.
“Ah, you know. People like their snacks and their drinks,” Bao said, then grimaced. He tried not to look at Jerry’s ever-growing gut. The man seemed to take no offense.
Jerry was a throwback to an earlier era. He was much like the immigrants that came to America at the turn of the 20th Century. They took jobs in factories and learned the operation inside out. Many of these workers either improved the process or the product, invented some new gadget, or saved and started their own business that then competed with their previous employer. It was how many millionaires were made. It was the beauty of capitalism. Like many successful businessmen before him, all Jerry needed was an opportunity.
“Business has been ridiculous, actually,” Jerry said. “These people out here can’t keep a dime in their pocket without it burning a whole clear through.”
“I’ve bought some stuff here myself, dude. What you sayin’?”
Dave grinned at Bao and hit the button for a regular Coke.
“And I do appreciate it. You’ve bought some nice stuff, but you’re nothin’ like some of these people. Today I have this customer come in. He’s all decked out in nice clothes, got the tats and a big platinum chain. Anyway, he says he wants a flat screen for every room in his house so he doesn’t miss anything,” Dave said, snickering. “I mean, seriously.”
“I know what you mean,” Bao said, now filling the candy machine. “A lot of that going around?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. They’re spendin’ all their money. And what they gonna have to show for it? I should be like what’s his name over at the pawnshop. That guy is gonna make a killing.”
Bao nodded, making a note of where he should place some vending machines.
“Who’s they?” Bao asked.
Jerry exhaled loudly. “Shoot kid. I wouldn’t be surprised if some people are already going broke. They got three or four cars, TVs, sound systems all over their big, fancy houses. You watch. You’ll see check loan joints, more pawn shops, bankruptcy lawyers. All that kinda stuff. When people are sufferin’ the vultures will circle,” Jerry said, making a circling gesture with his index finger.
“Damn. And I thought this was supposed to be Utopia.”
Jerry snickered and rolled his eyes.
“Bao, people are people, no matter how much you give them. Broke people are broke for a reason. Rich people are rich for a reason. I’m telling you kid, there’s gonna be some cheap stuff for sale all over town here in the next few months if this keeps up.”
Bao just nodded again. Duly noted.
By the time Bao was finished with his route he had even more information. Someone was pulling enough cash together to start buying people’s excess cars. Not many residents had gotten that desperate, but a few suffering buyer’s remorse sold unneeded vehicles for far less than market value. Bao went to the nearly empty car lot and talked to the owners. He asked them about putting some machines at their place, but he was really looking for more gossip.
Indeed, they had taken out a loan from one of two Blue Creek banks. They were anticipating an influx of new vehicles within the next few months. Would Bao want to buy one that they already had on the lot? Bao wasn’t interested, but he told them he would look in the future.
Contact led to contact and he followed as many as he could. Bao wasn’t the only Insight spy to hear the rumblings. Many residents were living extravagantly and without a way to maintain or rebuild their wealth. Collectively, the spies’ reports would paint a disturbing, yet interesting picture. But the predictive results shouldn’t have come as a surprise—when people have money, they like to spend it.
As Bao drove home that night, he saw a kettle of vultures circling high above what must have been some dead or dying animal. He shuddered involuntarily. Bao didn’t believe in omens, but his parents and grandparents sure did. He suddenly hoped that everything he heard today was just gossip.
Bao looked up at the ghastly formation of birds again before they passed out of his view. He shuddered again, hoping he would forget the sight the next day and especially what it portended.
Anna woke to the sound of him pulling up his pants. In all of the nights they’d been together, they’d never slept together until morning. Apparently he wanted to keep his emotional distance. Anna thought that was stupid—the two of them frequently engaged in the most intimate act possible. Still, she didn’t want to scare him away. She would give into this one idiosyncrasy. Anna looked at him through heavy eyes and asked what time it was.
“Two. Sorry I woke you,” he said, leaning down to kiss her forehead.
She smiled dreamily. He was such a jerk, she thought, but she couldn’t help herself.
“Why can’t you just come back to bed? I’m not going to bite,” she said, giggling sleepily.
“Not that I would mind that,” he said, grinning. “You know why. I like waking up in my own bed. Alone.”
She nodded, hating herself for not being able to bargain with him.
‘It’s us together or nothing,’ she could say, but did she really want more from him than she was getting? Probably not. She was much smarter than him. He stimulated her in many ways, but intellectually was not one of them. Still, he had “it” and it was the “it” that she and Charlie were looking for.