We Could Get Away With It

The moment Mitch Connor came into the room and saw Della's face, he knew something was wrong. 

" Hey, what's the problem? You don’t look so hot. " He said, dropping the food supplies in his hands to the floor. 

" Nothing! Nothing at all, " Della said in a small voice. She was tall and broad-shouldered with blue piercing eyes, blonde hair, big breasts, solid hips, and long straight legs. She was very beautiful and was aware of what her beauty could do to men. 

He regarded her suspiciously. Aged twenty-six, Mitch was of average height and powerfully built. He was ugly with a square-shaped face, green, uneasy eyes, dirty dark hair, a broken nose, and small pert lips, which can easily curve to a sinister smile or a snarl. As he studied her, he had a feeling she was hiding something from him. There was fear in her eyes that frightened him. 

He looked around the room. The T.V set was on. There was a sitcom program showing. The room was neat and tidy, just the way he had left it before he went out that morning. The only thing that was amiss was Della. She had looked perfectly alright before he had left the house. Now, she looked as if she was going to be sick. What the hell is going on? He asked himself. He came to where she sat and stood right in front of her. 

" What the hell is up, baby? Will you tell me? " He snarled. 

Della did not say anything. She continued to stare at him, her blue eyes glittering with terror, her lips were trembling. She feared Mitch greatly. He was a violent, dangerous man, and he was crazy in the head. Even though she knew he loved her, the thought of what he would do to her if he finds out what she had done sent a cold chill through her. All of a sudden, she covered her face with her hands and began to cry. Mitch had had enough of this girly behavior. 

" Will you tell me what the hell is up ? ' he bawled. " I will break your pretty neck like a goddamn stick if you don't do some talking. " 

" No, Mitch! I can't say anything! " She whimpered. " Oh, God, you won't believe it. It's something bad, Mitch! Something awful" 

Mitch felt a tightness across his chest. His heart was beating wildly against his ribs now.

" Will you tell me what's wrong? " He screamed at her. " I'm about to go crazy around here, you know." 

"You won't like to hear, it Mitch. " she wailed. " I tell you, it's something bad. Something really bad," and she began to cry again, loudly this time. The anguish in her voice jeered on his nerves. He raised his hands and struck her hard on the face. She screamed as she fell from the sofa and landed on the ground. He picked her up by her arms and shook her vigorously. 

" Will you talk before I beat some more sense into you " he yelled. Just then, they heard the voice of the announcer on the T.V set ;  

"Good evening, welcome to the 6:00 news. We are pleased to announce that the Miami Police department had had a little break in the Cedar Hill Jewelry store robbery investigation. Earlier today, a woman was captured on surveillance camera, paying in cash with the money stolen from the Cedar Hill store, which is regarded as one of Miami's biggest jewelry stores. She had bought a floral dress in a women's clothing store and had paid in cash with the stolen bills, which might have been unknown to her to be marked. Before tomorrow morning, we’ll believe the police would have her full description. Stay tuned " 

" How? How could this be? " Mitch mumbled. " We took the whole money. Nothing was left. Who is this woman captured on the surveillance camera? " At that moment, a sudden realization hits him. He swung around to look at Della. But she was looking away from him, her eyes staring hard at the ceilings, in cold terror. 

" Della! Are you keeping something from me? " He said sharply. " Say something! "  

Della drew in a long, shuddering breath. 

" It was I, Mitch. I spent out of the money. I'm the woman captured on the surveillance camera." 

An invisible fist hit Mitch like a sledgehammer. He was so stunned at that moment that he thought he would faint from shock. He stared at Della in utter disbelief, his throat paralyzed. 

" I'm so sorry, Mitch. I didn't mean to do this. I guess I got greedy." 

Mitch stared hard at her, his green eyes glittering like wet pebbles. 

" You got greedy? " He gasped. " You got greedy so that you can ruin a whole good plan ?. is that it? Okay, tell me what happened " 

Della clenched her fists in fright. 

" I didn't mean to, Mitch! I swear I didn't mean to spend out of the money. " 

" Will you tell me what the hell happened while I was gone before I break every goddamned bone in your body. " There was a murderous glint in his eyes now.

" I'll talk, I'll talk. " She babbled. " While you went out to get some supplies, I was bored, so I switched on the T.V set. There was a fashion show program showing at that moment. Lots of beautiful dresses were displayed. At that moment, I felt ashamed. I had no beautiful clothes. Not even one. " She paused to stifle a cry, and then she went on. " Then, I had an idea. Why couldn't I get a beautiful dress before we went away to France ?. At least, just one pretty little dress, I said to myself. So I went into the room, opened the suitcase, and took out a few dollars. I went out and got a dress. It was when I got back to the apartment that I realized I had done something stupid. I remembered how you had warned me about not touching that money, and somehow I had the feeling I've put us in trouble. But it was already too late. There was nothing I could do about it. I wanted to look pretty for you, Mitchie. I guess that's why I bought the dress in the first place. But I now realized I was greedy and stupid too. Believe me, Mitchie, I sure wanted to look pretty for you." 

For a moment, Mitch stood there, staring at her. Then he crossed the room to the liquor cabinet. After all, he had heard, he knew he needed a drink. He fixed a whisky and tossed it down his throat. It stiffened his nerves, and he felt great. He fixed Della a drink and took it over to her. 

" Take this. You need it," he snapped. 

 She wanted to say no, but seeing the deadpan expression on his face, she took the glass from his hands. Mitch sat down beside her. 

" Listen to me ! " he snapped at her. " Are you listening? " 

  Della nodded vehemently. 

 " Yes, I'm listening. " 

 " Good! I want us to quarterback this whole thing. Yesterday, before we robbed the Cedar Hill store, I told you some things; we can rake as much as two hundred dollars from the stick-up, their bills are always marked, making it difficult to spend the money, and most importantly, they've got no security outfit cause they believed no one would dare robbed a store that is famously known to mark its bill. Because of this assumption, which I considered stupid, they don't even bother to use a surveillance camera. I explained all these to you, yes or no ? " 

" Yes! " Della said evenly. 

" Good! We've got some money already salted away for our getaway to France. " Mitch continued. " We don't need to spend the money gotten from the stick up here in Miami. We were going to do all the spending in France where the cops cannot get to us. I told you all this, didn't I? " He asked. 

Della nodded her head. 

" Yes, you did. " 

 " And when I told you all these, what was your response ? " 

" I told you that it was a brilliant plan and that we could get away with it." 

Mitch inclined his head and went on. 

" That was what you said, alright. Anyways, we robbed the store yesterday night. It was a nice, clean job. No problem, no fuss. We wiped out the whole safe. Nothing was left in it, and I made sure of that. We came back here with a suitcase loaded with cash. We counted the money. It totaled one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. We congratulated ourselves for a job well done, and we made love. This morning, before I left to get some food supplies, I told you one thing; don't touch that money while I'm away. Stay away from that suitcase as if it got the plague on it! As long as we don't spend out of that money, the cops can never get us. I told you all this, didn't I ? " 

" Yes, you did! Everything you've said is the truth. " Della said in a small voice. 

 He stared at her with painful intensity. 

" Now, why in God's name do you touched that money, Della? " He growled. 

" I'm sorry, Mitchie. I swear I didn't know what got into me. The idea of getting a dress got me really hard. " 

" You've put us in a jam, Della. A pretty bad jam. I'm afraid I don't even know what to do." 

" We can still get away while we still can. " She wailed. " I'm pretty sure the police might not get my description until tomorrow. They might not even get it at all. We could still get away with it." 

Mitch shook his head, miserably. 

" Della, if you believed that crap you just spewed, then I'm afraid you are even more stupid than I thought. I mean really stupid," he seethed out. " For Christ's sakes, girl, you ruined our plans. You've ruined the whole thing. There's no France for us anymore. " He made a helpless gesture with his hands. " Before tomorrow, we'll become fugitives. The police will be on our ass, and we'll be chased all over the country until we are caught. Then we'll be given a jail term to have a long stretch inside the pen. All this because you couldn't keep your dirty hands off that money. You could not control your damn greed." 

Della stared at him, her lips trembling. 

" But surely we could still get away now, Mitchie. We'll leave right now. Just say the words, and we'll go, " her blue eyes pleaded with him. 

" There's nowhere to go but down, baby. It's like you still don't get it. We won't get as far as the airport before the cops give out your full description. I can assure you of that. These cops are like dynamites. They will never rest until they fix you. We don't even have a plan B. So why run when we know we'll eventually be caught? The only thing to do is wait for the late-night news, broadcasting at 7;34pm. The broadcast will decide our fate. But I can assure you; we are in a hot jam; you just don't realize it yet." 

The hopelessness in his voice was so palpable that it hit Della across the face. She dropped her face down on the sofa and began to sob. Mitch regarded her, his face expressionless. She had ruined their plans all because of a stupid dress. A violent rage gripped him. At that moment, he felt like bashing her skulls in. He pulled himself together and looked at his G-Shock. It was 7: 33.

" Hey, stand up. " He snapped at Della. " The news! " 

 She raised her head instantly. Just then, they both heard the voice of the announcer ; 

" The description of the woman connected to the Cedar Hill store robbery had just been sent in. Her name is Della Valley from Miami, Florida. Witnesses had seen her in the company of a man who fitted Mitch Connor's description, who the police believed his her accomplice. Mitch is believed to be dangerous and has a history of mental illness. The Miami police want him on account of various felonies ranging from burglary, murder, kidnapping, and car hi-jacking. Anyone who had seen this man or woman is asked to notify the police immediately. Miami Police, 4422. Be advised; Mitch is violent and mentally unstable." 

A silence that you could hang a hat on erupted around the room. The two of them sat stunned for some time, looking like hypnotized rabbits. Then Mitch suddenly came to life. He stretched out his long arms and caught Della by the hair. She screamed, her voice rolled around the room. 

" You bitch! " He yelled, pulling her to him. " You fixed us! You sure fixed us because of a pretty dress! " 

" I'm sorry. " Della wailed. " I'm so sorry, Mitch. Oh….God...please don't hurt me. Don't hurt me." 

Mitch did not say anything. He pulled her to him and slid his arms around her, bringing her close. Then he did something which shocked Della. He bent his head and kissed her hard on the lips. His kiss was hard and demanding. At first, she resisted, beating hard on his chest with her fists. But after a while, she relaxed in his arms, and he deepened the kiss. His hands cupped her breasts and moved lower to grab her buttocks. They were like this for some time; then Mitch pulled away. She looked into his eyes and saw something in it; a kind of demented glint, but she wasn't sure. 

" We are in this together, Della," He was saying to her. " I know we are going to jail this time. I've run from the law for so long. I can't run anymore. The stick up we did yesterday was the only thing I was counting on. It could have saved me. But I can kiss all that goodbye now. The cops will be looking for us now. We can't escape, Della. We might as well end it now. " 

" End what? " Della asked, perplexed. " What are you talking about? " The look in his eyes frightened her. 

Mitch grinned. It was not a friendly smile. He pushed her away and went into the room. A few seconds later, he came back into the room. He looked wild and demented. In his hands was .38 automatic. He pointed the gun at Della. 

She stared at him; her face was white as a fresh fall of snow. The cruel expression on his face, the evil glint in his eyes, and the tightness around his mouth told her he was going to shoot her. She shuddered violently. 

" Please…..Michie…don't," she babbled. " I love you, my darling. We could still get away with this, " the pleading look in her eyes sickened him. 

Mitch shot her. 

The sound of the gun rolled around the room. A red-stained appeared between Della's eyes. Her mouth hung open in disbelief. Slowly, she pitched forward, fell on her side, and rolled over on her back, her skirts coming up over her thighs. 

Mitch knew she was dead. He was sure of it. He stared at the gun in his hand for a long moment. He thought about the thousands of dollar bills inside the suitcase in the bedroom, and he grinned sadly. It was all a waste now. Anyway, it was better to end it this way. He put the muzzle of the gun against his temple and blew his brains out.