Utopian Day by C.L. Wells

us, so
speak quietly. We have to decide what we are going to
do.”
    J.T. took a sip of wine before he continued.
    “ I know that Nick has offered you
each a lot of money to go along with his plan. I think that we need
to look at all of our options and decide together what our next
move is going to be. Whatever we do, we need to do it together.
First off, I’m not entirely certain that Nick won’t decide to kill
us all. However, if he doesn’t and he keeps his word, then we need
to think it through. If any one of us decides to go back to the
states and turn ourselves in, then we should all go. Otherwise,
those who don’t go back will be hunted down all the more
quickly.”
    “ Wait just a minute,” Laura
interrupted. “What do you mean, turn ourselves back in? Like Nick
said, if we turn ourselves in, there is no guarantee that we won’t
get even more jail time tacked on to our sentences. And even if we
don’t, we all have long sentences to finish, regardless. If I have
a million dollars to live on, why do I want to go back and turn
myself in?”
    “ Well,” J.T. responded. “There are
a few things you need to consider. First off, if we don’t go back,
there is the fact that the FBI takes a very dim view of escapees.
We are all likely on the most wanted list by this point, which
means that a team of FBI and other law enforcement officers are
looking for us this very minute. If they catch us, and they often
do catch those on the most wanted list, then we are all likely to
end up with more jail time than we can shake a stick at, and in a
maximum security prison.”
    “ If they don’t catch us, then we
are going to be looking over our shoulders for the rest of our
lives, waiting for the moment when someone might. I don’t know
about you, but that is not the way I plan to spend the remainder of
my life on this planet.”
    “ So what do you suggest we do?”
asked James.
    “ I’m not suggesting anything just
yet. Let’s just put all the cards on the table first and see what
kind of a hand we’ve got. Let’s consider what happens if we go
back. Turning ourselves in is easy enough. We show up at the United
States Consulate in George Town and tell them who we are and that
we want to surrender. What happens after that is debatable. We will
likely each get interrogated separately for as long as it takes to
convince them that we are telling the truth. If we tell them the
truth, then any money we have been given by Nick will be forfeited.
Next, we get shipped back to prison – and likely NOT Utopia, to
serve out the remainder of our sentences. Unless, of course, they
don’t believe us and decide to revoke the contracts we signed, and
put us in for the remainder of our original sentences and then
some. If we try to lie and pretend we didn’t get any money, then
we’re depending on them not finding out that information. If they
catch Nick, then he will tell them outright we have the money and
we’re on the hook for lying to the FBI – not a good
idea.”
    “ So you’re saying we’re screwed
either way,” Laura lamented. “There’s no way they are going to
believe us. We’re three convicted felons! It’s not like we’re all
paragons of truthfulness or anything.”
    “ Listen to me,” J.T. continued,
“I’m not saying I have this all figured out either and I’m
certainly not suggesting we decide tonight. We have almost two more
weeks before we’re going to be cut loose, whatever that means. All
I’m saying is that we should begin to consider our options and come
up with a plan together. Can we agree on that?”
    After a few moments of silence, Laura responded,
“I’m willing to talk about it, but that’s all I’m going to commit
to at this point.” She took a long drink from the wine glass,
wanting to rewind to the good feeling she’d had after dinner,
before she was so abruptly confronted with the reality of their
situation.
    J.T. looked over at James, who had been silently
considering