Chapter Seven

The young couple started out by checking the cities that were located in a hundred mile radius. They sipped diet sodas and munched on chips and pretzels. Neither had wanted anything more than juice and a coffee for breakfast. They were contemplating a lunch break but pressed on.

The choices were rather slim. Bakersville was forty-five miles away and Dundan was a little over sixty. All of the rest, according to the yellow pages had a single bank and a few stores.

Bakersville had three banks, a couple of small jewelery stores and several store front businesses. Dundan was almost three times the size of Bakersville and had several banks and stores. It even had a loan company.

Billy called Ace Loans pretending to be interested in applying for a sizeable loan. His conversation included enough information that opened several doors. He asked how long he would have to wait for the money. He also checked on security with questions like how much was in the building over night? When the armored trucks made a pick up.

During his friendly chat, he discovered that there was actually a pick-up route. He was surprised to learn that the truck start was about twenty miles from their home. Most communities had their previous day intakes picked up along the route. This meant that at the end of the day all the towns and cities were picked up and deposited in Dundan.

It was time for lunch, time to take a deep breath before they started the next phase of their search. Chicken noodle soup and toast appeased their appetites. They both felt that they would have the required information for Abby in a total of five days, instead of the assigned two weeks. They were rather proud of themselves.

Starting with the closest town they planned to leap frog through the communities. They established profiles on each business. It was easy to determine if the business was part of the route or if they did a local bank deposit.

Sally was a financial geek and knew just where to check for monthly incomes. She had been in her last class when she met Abby. She had shown Billy the shortcuts and loop holes, so they were able to work independently.

At four pm of their second day they shut down. This was the time for a much needed break. They had covered a little under half of the list. Thus far the numbers were amazing. Who would ever guess that the business they checked were so profitable.

They went out for dinner. It was a simple meal at their favorite burger joint. Although it was considered a hole in the wall, it was home to the best bacon cheese burger. The meal was rounded out with fries and shakes. Normally they would take it home, but tonight they splurged and ate at the restaurant.

Sally enjoyed simple cooking and Billy was assigned clean up, since he was rather useless at the stove. For intense meal planning she called Henry who was willing to guide her through her adventure. Billy still cleaned up.

When they got home they cuddled and watched a movie, it had been a long day and they were indeed brain tired. Tomorrow was another day.

"I think I just figured it out, babe. The highway runs through all these places. A lot of the business we checked today are tourist traps. So we will be like Robin Hood," he laughed "We will rob the robbers."

Sally was so tired she simply smiled and commented 'Yes, dear."