Fragments of a Broken Timeline [Book 3]

Ch.11 Spiralling Out of Control

~Somehow, we all managed to survive and make it back to the hideout. Once there, Tennessee and Georgia gave us the lowdown -- how they were planning the bank heist that should've gone down in Cooper and Vixen lore as their masterpiece, only to have a mysterious new sheriff arrest them before they even reached the bank! Curiously, the robbery still occurred, and all the bank's gold was stolen. Tennessee and Georgia were charged, even though they were already in prison, and the gold was never recovered. Of course, they had a strong suspicion that it was Sheriff Toothpick himself who had stolen the gold and framed them for it. And after a little research, there was no doubt that they were right. Bentley was able to uncover plenty of information about the "sheriff." Although, he changed his appearance somewhat, Toothpick was a two-bit gangster from present day eastern Europe. According to his file, he'd grown up loving two things: Gold and cowboy movies. He eventually specialized in gold robberies, and for a while had mastered some of the largest scores around the world! Then, he abruptly vanished. The word was he had always thought of himself as a "gunslinger," and it looked like he found a way to make that a reality. The guy was a real lose cannon; we'd have to watch out backs if we were gonna steal back the missing gold and both Tennessee "Kid" Cooper and Georgia "Belle" Vixen's reputations as the greatest outlaws of the old west~

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"Okay, so the first order of business is getting Tennessee and Georgia their guns back." Bentley said, having called a meeting between everyone about their plan of action.

"Well, actually, hun, it's just the one gun now; we upgraded." Georgia cut in.

"But yeah, we need our shootin' iron back!" Tennessee chimed in.

"Uhh...agreed!" Bentley hesitated for a moment before continuing. "According to my sources, Toothpick closed this old gold mine several months ago, declaring it "unsafe." In fact, he's converted it into a storage facility for his stolen goods, including Tennessee and Georgia's guns. We'll need to take measures for this job as not to arouse suspicion, so employing a masterful disguise, I'll tail Toothpick to the mine's entrance and mark it with a homing beacon. Murray, you'll then use the beacon to find your way there. Toohpick's sure to have secured the entrance, so we'll need your...formidable skills to get it open. Then, once we have access, Tennessee and Georgia can get in and get their guns back, so let's get to work!"

With the mission run-down now finished, everyone got up from the table to get ready for their mission. When Rae got up, she went to grab a book that she could read for the time being, until Sly approached her. Her eyes flicked up from her book to acknowledge his presence, only for her to return back to her book as she flipped a page. Sly let out a sigh, placing his hand against his hip, not that Rae seemed to care though.

"You could at least say something, you know..." Sly spoke up.

"Why? What exactly is there to say?" She questioned, her eyes still trained on the book in front of her.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe a "Hi, honey, how was your day?" Something at least..." Sly replied, though a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

This caused Rae to let out a bitter chuckle though. "Yeah, that's funny."

Sly sighed again. "Just humor me, why don't you?"

Rae let out a sigh this time, though it was more annoyed as she closed her book and got to her feet. She then drew in a breath before she put on the fakest smile she could muster and spoke in probably the perkiest and most obvious, but sarcastic "humor me" voice she could manage. "Hi, honey! How was your day today? Is there anything I can get for you? Water, a "good job kiss," or maybe a sandwich?"