Careful Planning

As Ben Wade got into his black SUV, he looked at the list in his hand. Almost groaned. "Damn!" he thought to himself. "Plannin' a robbery is a helluva lot easier than plannin' a weddin'!"

It was less than three weeks now until March 20th, and there seemed to be still a ton of things to do before the day of the surprise wedding he was planning for Liana. The list on the seat next to him contained-among other things-talking to Mrs. Meridius and Ahnna about the flowers, talking to Toni about being the maid of honor--and he still needed to go into Coffs with Miss Peeg to order the wedding dress and see about a suit for himself!

At least Dan was getting the catering seen to with the folks at the tavern, and discussing some wedding pictures with Max Skinner's wife. Skinner. That was someone else in town he and Dan needed to get around to discussing business with soon.

Skinner was openin' the first bank in the Glen, and it sure would be nice havin' one so close to home. They needed to see about openin' accounts for the ranch, and for the house, as well as personal accounts for he and Liana.

Ben wondered about the chances of the bank being robbed. Found himself wondering about how well-protected it would be. What the security would be like. Then grinned to himself. "You're outta that now, Wade. Remember?" he thought. Couldn't keep himself from thinking about it anyway.

How many security cameras would there be? What would be the setup? How many guards and how well armed? And the security codes? How hard would it be to get them?

Banks had never been his forte as a robber. He preferred armored cars. With them, you could pick your spot. Wait for them to be in a less-crowded area. Fewer men to deal with and no unnecessary killing because there were no innocent bystanders around.

Ben Wade had never liked killing the way some people thought he did. He killed when it was necessary to do so. When there were guards standing between him and what he wanted. When there were witnesses around who might possibly be able to identify him. He got no enjoyment from the act. Neither did he shy away from it. There were simply times when it was a necessity. Like eating food when you were hungry. Like putting gas in the car when it was empty. When it needed to be done, he did it.

Ben saw killing as a natural, necessary part of his life. He knew others didn't view it that way. Knew the law didn't see it that way, unless cops did it in the line of duty. He knew that Liana didn't see it that way.

Yet, she didn't condemn him for it. Didn't up and run when he told her he'd done it. Hadn't left him when he'd been so close to doing it, that day at the picnic. Why? That was something that puzzled him about his wife. He knew she didn't see killing his way. But she didn't seem to see it the way the rest of the world did either.

Would she leave him if she knew their first wedding hadn't been legal either? He doubted it, but he wasn't taking any chances. Everything was going to be wrapped up all nice and smooth on March 20th. He wasn't gonna lose her.