Dissolving

Chapter 22 - Shady Deals

"Are you sure this is the right bus?" Noah asks.

His eyes are glued to the map that is printed on the inside of the bus, above the windows. It is only partially readable because people have used it as a drawing board. Almost half of it is covered with random words that have been put there in thick, black marker. Whoever the "artist" was, he or she sure liked four letter words.

"Yes, Noah, stop freaking out. I know what I am doing," I reply confidently.

It is a bit disconcerting to see him act so nervous because there is no reason for that, as far as I am concerned. At least not yet. Being on a bus definitely is the easiest part of what we are about to do.

We don't use public transport very often. Or hardly ever. There are simply too many members in the family who own a car, or at least who can drive one. There is normally no need to use a bus. And the very few times we have done it, it was to go downtown from our place, with one of our older brothers, like Sam or Ben. Never Alex, for reasons that escape me. Also, sometimes we take a bus back if we have walked too far along the beach and we are too tired to walk all the way back to the car.

All in all, the only thing that makes this journey different today is the fact that we have never been on a bus going into the more run down area of our town. The part where Finn lives – or used to live.

"This better be fucking worth it," Aidan grunts from behind me.

Noah has let me take the window seat and has slipped in next to me, leaving Aidan to spread out on a double seat one row further back. I turn around to look at him and notice with satisfaction that his nose is no longer buried in his phone. Instead, he observes our surroundings like he is trying to remember every little detail.

He looks relaxed enough though, to anybody who doesn't know him well, but I can tell that he is a bit on edge, too. Not dissimilar to Noah, who is bouncing his knee up and down next to me, making me all fidgety myself.

I wonder if the twins act like this because we tricked Jack. It would surprise me though if that made them have a bad conscience. It's not like they have never broken rules before. But I am a bit remorseful so maybe they feel the same. It is never nice to deceive someone you are close to. I only did it because I think the end will justify the means. 

It was surprisingly easy to get rid of Jack at the mall. I pulled Nora aside after we had somewhat aimlessly wandered around for about ten minutes. I told her that I thought we would be more efficient if the five us split up.

Also, I suggested that she and Jack could need a bit of one-on-one time. Like, they could go have a coffee and some cake, or do whatever loved-up couples like to do to spend time with each other. Probably stuff that I prefer not to know about. I almost suggested that they go see a film in the theater but I luckily caught myself in time. That would have instantly raised a red flag with Jack and he would have figured out that something is not quite right.

Anyway, Nora instantly agreed with my assessment of the situation. She looked happy at the prospect of spending a bit of alone time with my brother. Ever so sweetly, she talked him into giving us some space. I have to admit, she was pretty convincing and very charming. Jack had literally no chance to say no to her.

He told us to meet back by the car at 5:30pm. That gives us just about one and a half hours, which is a bit tight but will have to do. I have done my research and found out that the bus ride should take about 20 minutes each way, if we were lucky enough to catch one that ran directly all the way to the estate. If we needed to change bus lines, however, it would take at least 25 minutes.

All in all, that now leaves us with roughly half an hour to find Kolinsky, make our case and convince him to give us the money.

I suddenly feel Noah tense next to me and he grabs my hand, which confuses me.