Episode #3: Jaclyn at the bank heist

Mar,13 2026

<-#2: Tilly at the Practice

I walk in with my documents. Mrs. Tellerman is happy to see me. That will not last.

"Jaclyn Meyer, so happy to meet you. Shall we go to my office?"

"My pleasure"

As I get into her office, I see that Jack just entered the branch and is in line to deposit a check.

We have only a few minutes before Vexx enters.

I sit, and I am offered a chocolate. I take it, if only to waste some time. My primary goal is to keep the assistant branch manager in her office until the operation is well underway.

I didn't expect to be a part of the operation. I went to the compound just to see the repetition, but I ended up volunteering to be the distraction.

As a widow, and a woman, I was more credible to be in need of protection from Mrs. Tellerman than Jack.

I do miss my husband, but I wonder how he ever got the nerve to go into the line of fire. I mean, his father was a crook, so I guess it runs in the genes, which is why we decided not to have kids.

"What can I do for you, Mrs. Meyer"

"Well, I now have the life insurance settlement for my husband's death, and wanted to use it with a loan to buy some sort of commercial property in the city."

"Oh, I can help you with that. Which kind of commerce?"

"I don't really know, which is why I wanted to go over the options with you."

I took out my documents, and as planned, I let all the papers fall on the floor. I apologize, and she gets up from her seat and gets in front of her desk to help me pick them up

As planned, while the two of us are on the floor, I bump my head against her just at the right time.

"Sorry", I said.

"No, sorry, I bumped into you. Are you ok?"

"A little dizzy. Would you have some ice?"

"Sure, in the kitchen. Stay here; I'll bring it back"

Just in time, because Vexx and his team barge in the branch just as Mrs. Tellerman is closing the door to her office.

She is grabbed by one of the goons; I can't tell which one due to the heavy uniforms they wear.

"...not hurt anyone, other than the bank itself. Everyone will go home, and I would give you money, but the police will get it back when they interrogate you," he says, while laughing.

I hear the goons running in the bank. I hide in the office and wait. It feels like forever, but that's the adrenaline acting up.

I grab my water bottle from my purse and drink it up. It's important...

I hear the confirmation that the safe deposit box is opened. It's Vexx who tells a quick knock-knock joke, which isn't funny at all, but which gets the attention on him, as the goons begin to leave the bank with bags of money, including the document we need.

"Thank you all for your audience, and remember, Vexx only kills heroes. Victims are safe with me", he says, laughing as he leaves the bank with his last goons.

The police arrive minutes after they are gone, but Mrs. Tellerman comes to find me with a urine-soaked pair of pants and vomit on my documents. Ipecac works wonders!

I am shaking and probably pale, and Mr. Tellerman reassures me. I notice that she no longer has her chain around her neck; it's most likely where her key was.

"Are you okay, Ms. Meyer"

"Is it over? I was so scared?"

"Did you see anything?"

"No, I laid down on the floor and panicked. Sorry, I made a mess... I just lost my husband violently"

"It's okay, I'll help you with the police"

Thanks to her intervention, the police let me leave quickly. The police just took my fake ID, which will check out and let me go.

I walk a few blocks, and I am picked up by the car service. They know nothing, and I end up dropped at our shopping mall, where another car will drive me home.

To my surprise, Cassian is waiting for me at my house with Catherine, my therapist.

"Is this an ambush?"

"We just want to make sure you are okay, Jaclyn"

"I am. Can you please give me time to undress and shower? I am soaking in urine and the smell of vomit"

"Sure, we'll be here"

I take my time in the shower after putting all of my clothes in the clothes bin.

It's actually attached to the house, so I can drop them in, and the cleaning service can pick them up from the outside. It's rather neat. What's annoying is that they won't give them back. Instead, I need to go ask for clothing.

But I get it. The idea is to keep everything secure. It prevents an agent from placing a bug in my clothes while I am away.

I don't go out; I open the door. It's all they need.

I give them towels to sit at my table. But I don't need one; it's my chair, and it's made of wood. I don't mind if they judge me.

It's Catherine who speaks up.

"I mainly want to see if you got any PTSD or triggers from your experience"

"Well, every time I vomit, I panic, but this time, I knew I would. I still don't fully understand why I needed it, but I trust Cassian"

"It's so you are presenting as more distressed than useful for the police"

"Right"

"And I can answer any questions about the operation, but right now, we are mainly concerned about you"

"I'm ok. I don't know how you can do what you do, but I am okay with my part"

"Good", Cassian says.

"What's my next task?"

"Don't have one. This was one and done!" says Cassian.

"Cassian, I need to do my part."

"You are. You are a gardener and keep this place looking great"

"Cassian, come on"

Catherine speaks up. "Jaclyn, I understand your need to be a part of this. Would you be open to a non-criminal-facing role?" she says.

"What do you mean?" I ask

It's Cassian who replies. "Well, we need people taking inventory, we need people working for the resort, we need people working in our various legitimate and money-laundering businesses, and we need people to help with training. Do whatever you would like to do"

I think.

"I proposed a few business ideas to Mrs. Tellerman. Perhaps I would like to do that", I say.

"Open a new business?", Cassian says, curious.

"Yeah. For whatever makes sense. For cover, for money laundering, for information. I think being a boss and working while wearing clothes would help me accept living here more"

"I could move you elsewhere"

"No, I think it's the never leaving part that was bothering me. Could I open a florist?"

"With deliveries?" says Cassian.

"Why not?"

"It would help us move things around.", he says.

Catherine stands up. "I will let you two brainstorm, but I am available at a moment's notice. Just use your watch... which you didn't put back on"

"Oh, right", I say, going to my kitchen counter. We do not bring our smartwatches when on an operation.

I put it on. Thank her, and soon enough, I am just with Cassian.

"I didn't hear any gun shots"

"No guns were fired"

"You usually fire empty shells"

"Not always. If I use blanks, the police are tipped off about my plans. If I use real bullets, that gun can never be used again"

"What if you are killed on an operation," I tell him.

"Then I die, but my mission continues"

"What do you mean?"

"Vexx can never die. There are plans for who will replace me."

"Who?"

"I can't tell you that"

"Because it's secret"

"Because I don't know"

"But you know everything about us"

"No, I don't. I don't pry into the private lives of my people. I have people for that, and they do not tell me anything unless it's a security risk"

"Like, when you killed my husband?"

"I told you. The day you want to know what happened, you will."

"I don't want to know"

"And I will respect that wish"

"Why don't you want to know who will replace you?"

"Why don't you want to know why I killed your husband"

"Right. I prefer not to know how or why he betrayed you"

"And I don't want to know the plans for when I am not here, in case it affects how I treat who my successor is"

"Aren't you afraid they might kill you to move up?"

"No, because even they don't know they are my potential successor"

"So who does?"

"That, I can't tell you, but I do know who it is. It's just a secret," he says, smiling.

Is it wrong for me to have feelings for the man who killed my husband?

He is charming and so charismatic.

He makes sure I am okay one more time and leaves.

It takes less than 20 minutes for Sabrina to knock at my door.

I always saw her as a bimbo. Thin legs, thin arms, big boobs, long blonde hair that almost drops to her knees.

I used to hate that my husband looked at her when she was tanning at the pool, and now, she is in my house.

"So, I heard you wanted to open a florist?"

"Perhaps, why are you asking?"

"Oh, I am the director of legitimate business development"

"Wait, that's what you do? But I often see you just tanning"

"Well, sure, but often, I am lost in my thoughts on how to address a problem, and the sun helps me concentrate. Plus, when you don't see me, I am often on-site. At our car wash, or our grocery store, or our pharmacy"

I laugh. "The pharmacy that gets us our medication"

"Yes, and the carwash with the lifts to bring cars to our underground garage"

I think.

"Could my florist shop be an access point for the tunnels?", I say.

She thinks.

"Perhaps. Why?"

"I would love to commute on foot"

"No, we would need you to still commute by car. For the cover. But if we build your florist next to the car wash, we could have people enter our yoga place, get into a secret door in the changing room to the back store of the florist, where the tunnel would be. That could work"

"Why not there?"

"We need two distinct addresses, you know? For search warrants? If they search the yoga place and find the secret door, they need a second warrant for your place. By then, the floor will have been sealed up."

"I see. Ok, I would like that"

"Good. It will be a few months for the tunnel to be completed, but we could have your florist set up perhaps in a week?"

"That soon?"

"Hey, when money isn't a problem, things move fast"

I thank her, and I realize that, yeah, I like her. I was wrong for blaming her for what nature gave her.

<-#2: Tilly at the Practice