Finding out his pregnant wife Jen needs a heart transplant, and he needs $10,000 for her aftercare Tommy turns to a life of crime. He robs houses, selling the stolen goods for cash. He and his two friends are in the middle of a job when the owners come home. Tommy is taken to the station for questioning then released. He tries to rob a house on his own when a dog attacks him. When he finally makes it inside, Tommy discovers three dead bodies. He grabs the money and runs. The neighbor sees him leaving and informs the police. He's taken to the station for the second time. With an Alibi for the time of the murders he's released. The doctor tells him that Jen needs to have the operation within a week. In desperation, he asks his old boss, a Mexican drug lord for his job back. Having a drug addict mom and an alcoholic father, he had to work for Hernandez to support himself until he was old enough to get a legitimate job. Meanwhile, the police find Tommy's prints at the murder house so they want to question him again.  

Vinnie and his crew were planning another robbery, on the way back from their first, and Tommy is hoping to be a part of it. He knows he should lay low for a while, but figures he needs to gather as much money as he can before he gets caught. It'll be worth going to jail for, knowing Jen will be alright, he thinks as he walks across Vinnie's yard. Vinnie opens his door as he starts to knock.

"Hey, Tommy, whatcha doing man?"

"I came to see if you guys are still doing your heist."

Vinnie looks back at his crew and chuckles. "Told you guys." He turns back around. "That's where we're headed now."

"Do you mind if I tag along?"

"Not at all. Follow me, I'll fill you in on the way." He drapes his arms around Tommy's broad shoulders.

"Where is this place?" Tommy questions as they cross the yard.

"It's the big mansion on Douglas Street."

"The Goodman place?"

"That's the one, I even have a key and the code."

Tommy turns towards him, a puzzled look on his face. "How'd you manage that?"

Vinnie smirks. "My sister gave it to me."

"Your sister, when did she become one of us?"

"She hasn't, she just wants revenge."

"Revenge for what?" He couldn't imagine someone so sweet, wanting to harm anyone.

"The Goodmans canned her for no good reason. No warning or nothing, just tossed her out with their trash."

"That's cold, man, really cold."

"After twenty years, too. I figure my sister deserves a little extra for all the time she put in, don't you?"

Tommy thinks back to when he was a child. Mr. Goodman found him cold and hungry, hunkered down in a cardboard box. Knowing about the child's home life, he offered to take him in. Tommy first thought the man was a saint until he revealed his plans. The perverted old bastard deserves to lose everything for what he did. "I say she should get a hell of a pension." Slapping Vinnie on the back, he climbs in the car.

The crew finds the streets dark and deserted when they pull up to the house a few minutes later. Hopping out of his car, Vinnie takes a quick look around.  
"Ok, guys, let's go." The crew nervously heads toward the back.

"Remember to wait for my cue." Opening the door, Vinnie quickly disables the alarm. "Ok guys, start looking. Remember, to only take what we can sell on the streets."

The gang excitedly scatters through the house, hoping for a big payday. Tommy is searching the living room when he catches something out of the corner of his eye. He turns and sees several cruisers headed their way. "Cops," he yells, running towards the back.

***

Jerry and his crew trudge into the station, aggravated they didn't find Tommy. With patrol positioned along the front and all sides, they were sure they had him cornered.

Finding the sergeant at her desk, Jerry shuffles towards her. "I have some bad news, sergeant."

Rachel glances up from her report. "Where's Tommy?" she asks, quickly glancing around.

"That's the bad news. He'd already left by the time we got there. I have an undercover watching the house in case he comes back."

"We still have a trace on Jen and Jimmy's home phone and all three of their cells, right?"

"Yes, we've been trying to track Tommy cell to pinpoint his location. He hasn't made a call in the last six hours and every time we call the number it goes straight to voicemail."

"So it's either off, or the battery is dead."

Kirk walks up to the desk. "Patrol just called, they said Tommy's friend, Jimmy is visiting Jen at the hospital."

"I wish we could get ears in her room, find out what's going on."

"You don't think Judge Barkly will give you a warrant?"

"And violate HEPPA laws? I seriously doubt it."

"What if we sneak a bug in."

"Everything we discover would be fruit of the poisonous tree, so it won't do us any good."

"Not if what we use can be classified as inevitable discovery."

"Now you're splitting hairs."

"What if we use a roving bug and only use the information we gather when they're in areas, where there's no expectation of privacy?"

"We're still splitting hairs, but go on, explain what this roving bug is."

"It's where we use their cell phone as a listening device. It'll catch the conversation in the near vicinity."

"So I'd be like a portable bug?"

"Exactly, all we need to do is get a warrant and contact their carrier."

"Talk to their providers see what you can do, and I'll work on a warrant."

"Copy that, sergeant."

"Oh, and Kirk, have an undercover keep eyes on Jimmy."

"Will do, Sergeant."

Jerry hangs up the phone. "Sergeant, dispatch just called, said there's been another robbery over on Douglas Street. They said they're in pursuit of the suspects now."

"I want you to get everyone you can in on this chase."

"Yes, sergeant."

***

Jimmy watches the horrifying expressions on Jen's face as he explains what he's been told.

"Tommy tried to rob a house and now he's wanted for murder?" she gasps.

"That's what he said."

"What was he thinking, robbing houses? I oughtta..." She pounds her hands against the bed.

"Jen, Jen, calm down."

"I don't want to calm down I want to beat the crap out of him for being so damn stupid. Putting our family in jeopardy like this. I bet he's working for Hernandez too, isn't he? Isn't he?"

"Well, I..."

"Just wait until I see him again, just you wait." She punches her mattress again. "He knows how I feel about this crime shit, and about Hernandez and his goons." She starts to punch her mattress for the third time, Jimmy grabs her arms to stop her.

"He did it for you, he did it for you, to pay for your aftercare."

"He put his life on the line for me?"

Jimmy nods. "He said he wants to make sure you're taken care of."

She starts tearing up. "This is all my fault, Jimmy. It's all my fault. Me and my damned heart," she sobs. Dozens of thoughts start racing through her head when a similar situation suddenly comes to mind.

The year is 2010 a group of young teens had been arrested for underage drinking and were waiting to be released to their parents.

Jen notices the fury in her dad's eyes when she steps into the lobby. "Just wait until we get home," Frank hisses, his nightly liquor lingering on his breath. He grabs his daughter's arm and drags her across the station. Jen glances back, hoping someone would save her from this violent man, but no one seemed to notice.

"I said come on," Frank says, dragging her through the door.

The wintry mix pelts against Jen's warm, moist face as she's being yanked across the pavement. Her mind drifts back to the beautiful snowflakes falling all around them as she and Tommy said their final goodbyes. I'll never forget you, Tommy, ever, she sobs, wiping a tear from her cheek. Images of all their fun times quickly flash through her mind. Why did our love have to end like this, why? Her small, frail body crashes against their car, jolting her back to the present.

"Get in," Frank orders. Jen sees her mother weeping in the front seat, bruises strung across her pale, bloodied face. He beat her because of me. What did I do, what did I do? she thinks as tears continue to stream down her cheeks.

Frank notices her staring at her Margaret. "That's just half of what you're going to get." Shoving her in the vehicle, he closes the door behind her. Please help me get through this, please, she prays as her father's car door slams shut.

Frank waits until he's out of the parking lot before he begins."What were you thinking, huh, what? Out drinking with a bunch of hoodlums in the middle of the night."

"They aren't hoodlums, Daddy, they're my friends."

"Some friends they are, getting you into trouble. I bet Tommy had something to do with this, didn't he, didn't he?" he screams, slamming his fist against the steering wheel.

"He wasn't even there."

"Don't lie to me, Jenifer Ann, I saw him being hauled away."

"It's not his fault, Daddy, I went on my own."

"I'm ashamed of you, Jenifer Ann, ashamed. I don't even want to claim you as my daughter."

"Please don't say that, Daddy." She bawls.

He recalls all the hell his sister put the family through. How she sent his parents to an early grave. That's not happening to me. "I want you to pack up your shit and leave."

"No, Daddy, no. Please don't kick me out, please. I won't do this anymore, I promise." She sobs.

"Look out, Frank." Margaret warns.

Spotting a wreck up ahead, Frank swerves to the right. The front tires hit a patch of black ice. They slide across the road, landing in a deep embankment. Her parents were pronounced dead at the scene.

I cause catastrophes wherever I go. First my parent's and now this. When will it end, when will it end. She sobs. Jen grabs for her chest as a look of horror spreads across her paling face.

"What is it Jen?"

"I... I can't..." Her monitors start beeping as she collapses against the bed.
 

Characters
Tommy main conspirator in the crime
Vinnie, Larry Tommy's friends
Jen, Tommy's wife
Salois brothers, Andy, Jeremy, Jack career criminals.
Frank and Margret, Jen's parents.

Berryville PD

Kirk, detective.
Rachel, sergeant
Joe, captain
Jerry detective