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interim. But his eyes gave him away. He surrendered without a fight.
"I'd caught my first bank robber, " Mike Magan remembered. "I thought,
Hey, this is going to be easy. It's pretty sweet, making arrests like
this, if they all go down this way." They would not all go down like
that, Magan didn't know it then, but chasing bank robbers was about to
become his job, his hobby, and his obsession. Being a bank robber had
been Scott Scurlock's job, hobby, and obsession for more than two years
by the time Mike Magan arrested the Mukilteo bank robber. Scott's first
bank robbery had been a thrill, a pure adrenaline rush that made jumping
off cliffs and meeting up with boy-soldiers in Nicaragua seem as
innocuous and unchallenging as the mornings he and Kevin used to steal
pies in Reston. In a sense, it was as if Scott had spent his whole life
searching for the kind of thrill he experienced when he walked into the
bank on Madison Street in Seattle. There had been next to no chance that
he wouldn't do it again. Just as Shawn Johnson and Mike Magan loved what
they were doing and never considered other careers after they became
working lawmen, Scott Scurlock had discovered if not a career, a
challenge that seemed to satisfy his need for excitement and danger. He
had carried off six successful bank robberies in 1992 and escaped all of
them with enough money to last him for a long time. However slapdash
Scott might have been about some areas of his life, he viewed robbing
banks as an intricate venture from the very first. He learned from every
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robbery, and he grew more accomplished each time. Who helped Scott after
his first robbery with Mark and Traci? It couldn't have been Steve
because Steve hadn't moved from Chicago until August, and then he had a
torn tendon that kept him on crutches. It couldn't have been Kevin, or,
rather, it wouldn't have been Kevin, Kevin had let Scott know what he
thought about illegal activities and his disapproval had bounced him
right out of Scott's inner circle. The accomplice might have been one of
Scott's women, but, if it was, no one ever saw her.
Mark Biggins had been in Montana until he came back in December and
pulled his own clumsy and very lucky bank robbery. After that, he stayed
in California. Indeed, Mark didn't see Scott for most of 1992, and would
not for all of 1993 and 1994. It had been a year since Scott's last
robbery on November 19, 1992. He had no more money for Steve to
"launder" in Nevada. In a year's time, Scott had managed to spend more
than $300,000. It was time to begin again. Scott was totally unaware, of
course, that this time he would be pitting his skill, brains,
experience, and strong athletic body against a whole task force of
menand women who were just as smart as he was. Maybe smarter. It would
never again be as easy as it was the first year.
Once again, Scott Scurlock needed an accomplice. His first choice was
Bobby Gray. Bobby was still living in Florida, working hard to keep his
concrete business growing. Scott figured that he was temptable.
Bobby had known trouble in the past, he'd seen the inside of a prison
after a drug conviction. And he owed Scott.
Bobby's dream of having his own concrete operation had come true because
Scott had loaned him $25,000 to buy his first concrete pumper.
It was a used rig, but it worked fine. Now the time had come, as it did
with almost all of Scott's "loans, " and he called it in. Bobby fit the
profile that Scott envisioned as an ideal accomplice, savvy, agile, and
smart. Scott called Bobby and offered him more money than Bobby had ever
had all for a few hours work. After listening long enough to Scott's
persuasive argument that this would be a fail proof operation, Bobby was
convinced.
Scott immediately sent him a round-trip ticket to Seattle. But, as Bobby
would recall later, he was on his way to the airport when he passed a
Toys R Us store. He caught a glimpse of a rack of new bicycles outside.
Like the friends Scott had recruited in the past, Bobby Gray had a
daughter whom he adored. His little girl wanted a bike, but he hadn't
yet seen his way clear to buy her one. Now, he thought, It things go
wrong, I may never see my daughter again. But I can at least leave her
something that will make her happy to remember me by. He wrenched the
steering wheel and turned left into the Toys R Us parking lot. He bought
the bike and headed for home to give it to his daughter. But when Bobby
got home and looked at his family, he had a searing glimpse of reality.
His daughter didn't need "more money than you've ever seen", she needed
him. He picked up the phone and called Scott.
"I'm not coming." Scott was stunned, and then furious. "You get out here
on the next plane, " he said menacingly, "or else ..
." and he slammed the phone down. Bobby stayed up all night, worrying
about what forces Scott was about to call down on him.
Nothing happened. The next day, he called Scott, and said, "Or else,
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what? I'm still here, and I'm not coming to Washington." Scott had
cooled down. He apologized and said he hadn't meant the threat
literally. Bobby was never sure. Bobby Gray stayed in Florida and worked
long, punishing days in one of the hardest areas of the construction
business. By 1996, Bobby would own four concrete pumping trucks and he
was well on his way to becoming wealthy. Even so, the tragedies that [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]