Evil's Root

Chapter 4

Sandra closed the bathroom door and turned on the TV before flopping on the bed. Something must be up because her lover Ted Hollinger never asked for lunch meetings. Great news, he'd said. She wondered what he would think if he knew she just received some great news from his boss last night, or what he might think if he even knew she was seeing his boss.

Sandra had given Barry's proposition a lot of thought; running off with him could be a lot better than schlepping away her life behind a beer bar and he had hinted at a generous payday if she agreed; it was just . . . Barry. Maybe too much Barry.

At eighteen, she'd walked out of her less than blissful home in the Midwest, caught a train to the coast and experienced what every rural teenager learns when they have no street smarts or support. Jobs were not plentiful and people were not kind and helpful - just the opposite.

Two years hooking for an escort agency sharpened all the smooth edges and filled her head with a tough, survivor's mind-set. Six years and dozens of jobs later, Sandra settled into bartending at the Bottomless Bucket, supplementing her tips with an occasional romp with a customer.

When Ted came along, she backed off the buffet circuit and with one or two exceptions kept herself in reserve for him; Ted was a decent lover and occasionally a good spender. The problem of course, was his marriage.

When his wife had walked into the bar, and without any preamble, told her to make bloody good and sure that she and Ted never became a public item, or that Ted knew that she knew of their affair, she had resigned herself to the fact that there would never be anything more than stolen moments, and one day eventually they would end.

Not a circumstance Sandra cared to consider. The wife, however, had really surprised her and after offering her a drink on the house, they had shared an oddly intimate half hour trading some personal details. Apparently the wife didn't want to become an item either.

A light knock at the door and she hopped off the bed to let him in. "Hey."

"Hey yourself." He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her hard to him.

They kissed and she backed away, patting his chest. "What calls for a nooner, this is something new with you?"

"I have a plan that absolutely needs you and if you agree we will be sharing lounges on a sandy beach where no one can reach us, and nooners will be the order of the day." He took off his jacket and tie, then sat on the bed and undid his shoes.

Sandra halted where she stood. Two offers of a similar type from two men in the same company within two days? Was this for real?

"You gonna get undressed? We can talk too." He rose up and slipped off his pants, folding them and setting them on the side chair.

Sandra nodded, forcing a smile. "What is this wonderful plan?" She dropped her skirt, slipped off her blouse and crawled up beside him on the bed.

"I need you to hire somebody to rob me." He laughed at her expression then bent her back onto the pillows and fumbled with her panties. 

The sun moved higher in the sky and with the blinds closed the room darkened considerably. Ted lay on his back grunting and scratching himself while Sandra sat with her knees up to her chest, rocking back and forth deep in thought. With all the questions and answers, the session had been rough and frantic, finishing with loud groans from both parties. Ted rolled over onto his back and simply asked, "Well?"

Sandra hugged her knees and answered, "I'm thinking." This is rich. Ted's going to rip Barry off for the same money she was just offered last night. She felt a laugh coming. Now she had the chance to get the whole thing. The clever part was, he was telling his wife the same plan, enlisting her in exactly the same way. The difference was, Gwen and her robber would be left with eggy faces and quite possibly the responsibility for the theft. This was too, too much.