The Heist

by Leopold Borstinski

  “What d’ya mean you’ve eaten already? I’ve cooked us a meal. I’ve cooked you a meal. Paella, your favorite.”

  “Thanks but, as I said, me and Pete caught a burger in a diner on the way back from Philly.”

  “No, you didn’t say. You didn’t call. I mean, you had enough time to stop at some grease joint to eat but you didn’t have enough time, apparently, to call me and let me know not to waste my time at the stove.”

  “Wait a minute.”

  “No, you wait a minute, buddy. Why the hell didn’t you call me? You knew I was going to cook. I mean, you knew that, right?”

  “Yeah, but.”

  “No, buts. You knew I was going to cook, right? So why didn’t you at least phone to let me know?”

  Silence. Brian’s molars were grinding, but he said nothing. Partly because he had a beer or two inside him and partly because Andrew was just plain right. He should have called, but it didn’t cross his mind when he and Pete walked into Lucy’s diner.

  Andrew stared at him, glaring into his eyes, flaring his nostrils. Then he turned his back on Brian, went back into the kitchen, dished himself up a big bowl of paella, sat down at the kitchen table and ate by himself.

  What a fucker, he thought, chewing on a prawn. It’s not much to ask. And why would Brian choose to spend time with Pete instead of him? It doesn’t make sense. That homophobic prick. If Andrew got the chance, he’d kill Pete. Not for taking Brian away from him this evening, but because of Martin and the way Brian was so easily manipulated by Pete to eat a burger with him. He couldn’t trust Pete. And so Andrew decided to slice the motherfucker’s stomach open and let him bleed out. Period.

  10

  A week on and Frank was pleased with himself. The half tumbledown factory was a perfect location for the group to meet. Mainly because no-one would be stupid enough to suddenly walk into the place because it was tumbledown and so obviously empty.

  The other reason he liked it was because he had been here many times before and was quite comfortable squatting among the rubble and broken bits of machinery, which were slowly rusting into oblivion. And this meant the others would be less comfortable and, like him the first time he was here, would want to get the fuck out as quickly as possible. So there shouldn’t be too many dumbass questions either. He wanted this job to go well, which meant he led and they followed.

  For their first time all together, Frank decided to run through the whole plan with the group and leave it at that for now. When they hooked up again, they could pick at the plan and find the holes in it. For now, they needed to know their part and see where it fit in the grand scheme of things.

  Frank and Mary Lou had arrived nice and early as a welcoming committee for the others. As soon as they get out of the car, Mary Lou complained if she’d known the state of the building she would have worn flats, not heels.

  Soon after, Uncle Frankie turned up with Luigi and Paul. The two stayed in the car and Frank gave his uncle directions to the room he had cleared to use for the meet up. Lagotti mumbled something under his breath about a room at a cheap hotel. He proved his point when he scuffed his shoes on the way into the building past the rubble and broken machinery. Frank stayed outside to make sure everyone found their way in okay.

  Andrew and Brian appeared next. Then finally Pete the Wheels showed up in a loud, mean motor machine.

  “Good to see you, Pete, but Jeez, could you have picked a vehicle that was more likely to get you noticed?”

  “Sorry, man. Sweet ride. I’m going to drop it off for a friend after we leave here.”

  “Shit. Park it round the side, you asshole.”

  Pete gave Frank one of his trademark looks but Frank was far from impressed. Antics like that land them in jail and Frank had no intention of going back there. Including the two year stretch he finished three months ago, he’d spent a total of eight and a half years behind bars and that was without the year in juvey. More than enough time. This haul was going to be the last. He wasn’t like Uncle Frankie; he was more muscle than brains but he had his dreams and he’d figured out a way to get that to happen. Unless pricks like Pete drove brand new cars to secret bank robbery meetings. Asshole.

  ◆◆◆

  When Frank caught up with the group, they were standing around talking to each other in a three-sided room on the side of the building. The fourth wall had fallen down when the termite infestation really took a hold. Not good for a food packaging plant.

  Mary Lou was clearly hoping there was a gentleman in the room to offer her his seat but she was wrong. Frank had dragged in the only chair in the factory from a nearby room so his uncle wouldn’t need to stand for the proceedings. After all, he was the big bankroll.

  The truth was Lagotti really didn’t care about the details of the plan. Who was going to do what, when and where was beyond his interest. He only cared about what would happen to his money and if his investment would be safe. So he turned up today to show his faith and support for Frank to the people Frank had picked for his team. Without this, Lagotti would have stayed at home. Besides, Frank Senior knew the key person in the scheme wasn’t even in the building: the bank clerk who was actually going to get the contents of the bank vault for Lagotti.

  Frank went through the assault on the bank itself, the drive away by Pete. Great driver that guy. Flakey as hell, but a great wheel man. Then talked about the real getaway from the town.

  The most important thing Frank omitted to talk through was how the contents of the bank was going to get into Lagotti’s hands for laundering. Simple reason: the two of them hadn’t discussed it yet. Frank hadn’t thought through that piece at all, hadn’t mentioned it to his uncle once. Lagotti was waiting to see how long it would take for Frank to get round to covering this off. Without it, Frank would have nothing but bags full of paper he couldn’t spend.

  Brian had heard of the money lender and investor ever since he first entered the business, but had never met him. Of course, almost every job he’d been on had been funded by Frank Senior. He didn’t look that special to be honest, mused Brian. I mean, he’s not that much to look at. Quite an ordinary looking guy in his late forties. He was flanked by two dudes who never said a word. Clearly his enforcers. Respect to him for that, thought Brian.

  Frank drew out a plan of the area in the dirt on the floor. Then he started talking about how they were going to get in, who was going to handle crowd control when inside the bank, - Brian and Andrew - and then how they were going to get away. All eyes turned to Pete, but he remained silent.

  They all listened intently as Frank described the bank layout, furnished by Mary Lou, and the overall plan to get in early just as the bank was opening, hit the vault for cash, notes only if possible, and then get the fuck out of town using a diversion to slow the cops down to a crawl. Simple, effective.

  Frank started going through the plan in more detail, covering each element piece by piece so everybody knew what was expected of them and what they’d be doing for the others. While they didn’t have much time to figure it out, they needed to see themselves as a team. Only trouble was: they couldn’t hang together for very long before the job because they’d be seen together and that was a no-no.

  “How’re we going to split up when we’re in the place?”

  “It’s cool, Brian. You, me and Andrew will be inside. Andrew and I will go to the vault and your job will be to keep the civilians in check. I don’t need to remind you that you need to keep them calm, keep them quiet and keep them still.”

  “Then don’t,” retorted Brian. Frank smiled.

  “No offense intended. But we both also know if you need to, waste one of them if they step out of line.”

  They were all silent for a spell because murder in the progress of a bank job raised it from a state crime to a federal crime. And that was a whole pile of shit none of them wanted but now they knew how serious this job was. If it fucked up the Feds would be after them, not a bunch of tinpot cops from the metropolitan distr
ict. And now Brian knew how far he could go with them: as far as he needed up to raping a child.

  ◆◆◆

  In the basement, Andrew’d crack the safe if anyone had slammed it shut during the furore. They’d have no more than three minutes between entering the joint and leaving, so they’d need to shake their tails to get the money into their bags and out the back into Pete’s getaway vehicle.

  Andrew calculated if he timed it right, he could take some cash out to the car early, gut Pete and get back in for the second round before the other two knew what’d happened. And he could drive the car: he’d been the driver in previous jobs so that didn’t phase him. Besides, in the heat of the moment, neither Frank nor Brian were going to argue over who was behind the wheel.

  Mary Lou was an interesting broad to Andrew: Frank had done well for himself there. She still had her looks and, although her clothing was more whore than nun, she might have been classy once. Judging by her body language, she was clearly besotted with Frank. Eyes all over him. And Frank obviously trusted her enough to put her in with the bank manager guy.

  That dude was the weak link to this caper. Some bank employee who would make sure the safe was unlocked. Well, if he didn’t do what he was told, bad consequences ensued. Given Frank’s reputation for dropping people out of tall buildings, the appropriate motivation was being applied: fear and, presumably, a not inconsiderable dose of lust. That Mary Lou sure cut a slender figure in those jeans. But Andrew questioned her judgment on picking stilettos for today in an old crumbling ruin of a factory or whatever it once was.

  ◆◆◆

  “And what about security guards, cameras, access, the whole thing?”

  “I was coming to that, Brian. We know a lot about the interior of the bank’s first floor but we are still working on the basement where the safe is.”

  Frank half glanced at Mary Lou, who stood by his left side, and placed his hand on her ass and squeezed and stroked it with his thumb, all the while talking to Brian and pointing at the map of Lansdowne town center drawn on the dirt of the floor. He felt warm inside standing next to her and touching her. Not warm near his dick like when he felt horny but warm in his stomach from an emotion.

  “Who’s the mark?”

  “Some assistant manager that Mary Lou’s got under her thumb and we’re gently teasing the information out of him. If there’s anything in particular you want to find out, let Mary Lou know.”

  “I bet that’s not the only thing she has under her,” muttered Pete and Frank stared daggers at him, while the other men smiled and hid sniggers behind coughs. Frank could feel Mary Lou’s butt tense in his hand and her face had gone red with embarrassment.

  “Fuck you, Pete. Let’s focus on the job at hand and no more smart ass remarks, fella.”

  Pete’s eyes gazed down behind his shades and the group came to order when Frank Senior quietly intoned a second later: “Back to business, gentlemen.”

  There would be one old guard, called Joe, who lets the staff in through the front door before the bank opens and then usually stands between the door and the Stars and Stripes on the left. He packed a piece, but they’d have no argument from him because he was pure showcase. The man was seventy if he was a day and wanted to spend his time with his grandkids. No way was he going to risk his life for someone else’s bag of money.

  There were two tellers, the assistant manager and a deputy manager. They were all trained to cooperate with robbers because the money was insured and the bank didn’t want to get sued by the next of kin. So they wouldn’t be a problem. No, it was the civilians you had to watch. You never knew when one was going to put their panties over their stockings and act like a hero. If one of those types was in the room, there’d be blood.

  11

  Finally Frank stopped going on about the vault and the civilians and started to talk about the getaway. Pete’s ears pricked up.

  “So Pete’ll meet us by the rear entrance, down the alley. Okay.”

  “Sure thing, boss.”

  “And we’ll use that car with the four us to take the loot out of town.”

  “Gonna by notes only or coins too?”

  “We’re not planning on coins so the load shouldn’t be too heavy, but there are safe deposit boxes in the basement and if we have time, we will lift them too. There’s maybe fifty of them but I’d rather take bearer bonds and cash than grand mom’s jewelry.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me. The more paper, the faster we get out of there.”

  “I know. I know.”

  Frank explained Mary Lou would be in a second car, nothing fancy, as she’d be the one to set the C4 off. The idea was to make some loud bangs by the junction outside the bank and cause a bit of chaos and confusion by felling a couple of telegraph poles. If the explosive was placed on the correct side of the pole there was a good chance when it landed, it would fall on the road. This would stop most law enforcement in their tracks and would mean there’d only be one way out from the bank. And Pete would need to take that fast.

  Mary Lou would leave town before Frank, Andrew and Brian entered the bank. Then they’d rendezvous outside town and split into three groups. Pete would drop the others off. Andrew and Brian would go in a second fast car and head west. Frank and Mary Lou would first head south but then make their way east. Frank would hold the take until it was safe to fence or spend the proceeds. Everyone knew they could trust him because they all trusted Frank Senior, who stood quietly without showing any emotion on his face.

  By this time, Pete had stopped listening again. So three speedsters and a small van, he thought. Might need two of them to have a reinforced floor. Just because Frank doesn’t want jewelry doesn’t mean he won’t grab any gold he finds along the way. Better be cautious and not trash the suspension of the one and only car they had to get out of Dodge. Make that mistake and they’d each by looking at ten years minimum in a high security cell. Fuck that. Reinforce the floors and, if necessary, swap out the engines for something beefier. He’d need a discrete lockup to hide the cars and to work on them in relative peace. So we’re talking an oxyacetylene torch and a load of other kit. There were going to be expenses to claim, for sure.

  ◆◆◆

  Mary Lou was quite worried about the explosives. Frank had explained to her the C4 was safe until it had a lit fuse inside it, but the idea still sounded deeply scary. And without the telegraph poles blocking the roads, there was a near-zero chance of Frank and the money getting away safely. So this meant the success of the whole caper rested on her shoulders. Not only was she taking a huge risk every time she hooked up with Carter and went to the bank with him, but now she was expected to put her life in danger setting explosives in the middle of Lansdowne.

  That said, there wasn’t anyone else that Frank would trust to do this. He trusted her and she was going to be able to share in his dreams: they’d be living the life out west. In California or Las Vegas or wherever. It didn’t really matter that much. She’d have Frank and the money and a pretty great life. They’d have a pretty great life together and that was something Mary Lou had not been able to contemplate, let alone articulate, at any other point in her life.

  All the guys walked away at that point to get back to the land of the living, but Frank held back for a moment. Mary Lou stayed by his side, but he patted her on the butt and said: “I’ll catch up with you in a min, hon’,” and turned to talk to Frank Senior who hadn’t moved either.

  Mary Lou made a face and stumbled her way slowly through the rubble back to Frank’s battered old jalopy. The bastard hadn’t given her the keys though, so she was left leaning against the car until he appeared ten minutes later.

  Lagotti watched as Frank spoke with Mary Lou. Seemed a good kid with a fine pair of tits and a great ass. No idea why she’d stuck by Frank all the time he was in the joint, though. I mean, thought Lagotti, with a figure like that she could have had her pick of any man who walked past her, more or less. So why stay with Frank?

  L
agotti had heard a story Mary Lou was so besotted with his step nephew she’d got a tattoo on her privates of his nickname for her. But that was just rumor. And it still didn’t explain why the fuck she stayed with him when he was in the can. Lagotti’s train of thought was interrupted by Frank.

  “Now they’ve all gone, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

  “Where’s your girl? She was here a minute ago.”

  “What, Mary Lou? I told her to wait for me by the car. I wanted a private word.”

  “Well, here we are.”

  Frank looked round and saw they were alone.

  “Once we’ve got the cash from the vault and we’ve driven out of town...”

  “Yes?”

  “Well. What do we do then?”

  “You fuckin’ kiddin’ me, right?”

  “No, not at all. I’ve been spending these first couple of months thinking through everything up to the point we leave Lansdowne behind us. After that, I’m a blank. All I know is somehow I’ve got to get all the money together and over to you so you get your tribute and we get some clean money to spend. Then we keep our heads down until the heat dies away.”

  “My boy, it’ll be fine, there’s nothing to worry about. A day or two before the job, I’ll give you the location for the drop. We won’t meet on the day because you’ll be far too hot, but you must make sure I get the money on that day. Fail to do that and you fail me. Every minute you hold the cash is another minute you can get stopped by the cops red handed.

  “So at the drop, you leave the proceeds for me and I’ll have left some spending money for you and your girl. You can go off and play hide the salami for a month or two. Somewhere quiet and keep your heads down. Nothing fancy, nothing flash.

  “Then I’ll get word to you when it’s all good. You come back to the east coast and get the rest of your winnings. Then you divide up the spoils as you see fit with the rest of your crew.