Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

by Brennen Tammons

  Victor and Jesse remain in the lobby aiming their guns at everyone in this area. Russell over by the vault area, is starting to tire. He did not expect to struggle with the lock this badly. He then decides to ram the drill inside the lock in a zig zag pattern, nearly damaging the end steel bit of the drill. This remarkably seemed to work to his advantage, as the lock of the vault has now been jimmied enough for him to open the gate. However, the drill bit is stripped, and unless he’s extremely careful, the entire drill will possibly break. Russell opens the vault, and starts to drill a safe box, making sure he doesn’t damage the drill further than it already has been.

  Kevin who’s keeping his eye on the front door of the bank, notices that the detonation software on his computer, is asking if he wants to set off a round of detonators. Kevin is puzzled, as he already set off the diversion, and doesn’t understand why the program is asking for him to do it again. He ignores this warning. During this time, Kevin begins to feel hot and uncomfortable with his mask and disguise on. He feels he no longer needs it, as the men are more than likely going to be running out of the bank within the next few seconds. Kevin quickly starts to undress himself, wearing his regular clothes under the disguise. Kevin then turns his head back to the bank entrance. Back inside the bank, Russell is able to open up a safe box, which contains quite a bit of cash inside. He doesn’t hesitate at all, and empties stacks of cash from it inside the other duffel bag quickly. Russell then decides to open one more box, before running out of the vault. Brian is now heading over to the second teller. She is a female with long curly red hair. He starts to yell at her.

  “Empty your drawer right now! Empty everything out of it into the bag now!”

  The teller out of fear and shock, immediately begins to take out all of the contents of her drawer, and places it into Brian’s bag. Once the teller has emptied her drawer, Brian continues to aim the gun at her, and threatens the teller with more instructions.

  “I want everything from the cart! Empty everything and put in the bag! Empty it!”

  Brian aims his gun at the teller, who is now dumping all the cash from her cash cart, into the duffel bag that Brian is holding. Victor and Jesse stay in the lobby as backup to both Brian and Russell. Russell who is in the vault, opens up the second safe box. He empties it, and there is nothing inside. Russell then becomes angry over that, and decides this time for sure, to only open one more box. If the box is empty, then he will leave out the vault regardless. Russell takes the drill and sticks it into another safe box. Kevin who’s in the van, acts as a lookout outside of the bank, checking to see if there is anything he should alert the guys inside about. Kevin looks at his computer screen, and notices the same message he disregarded before, is again resurfacing. The message is telling him that there are active detonators ready to fire. Kevin still is confused over this. He is not remembering the discarded detonators located directly right behind him. Kevin brought four detonators to the heist. Two of which he used as a successful diversion at the courtyard, located a short distance away from the bank. The other two, which Kevin was going to calibrate so they gave off a very mild smoke explosion. He was originally planning to give them to the other guys, to plant inside the bank to scare the people inside. Russell later told him not to, so he never used those particular detonators. Kevin is forgetting that these detonators are behind him in the van. He is mistaking this message, as a glitch directed at the diversion at the courtyard. In actuality, the detonators behind Kevin have somehow been activated by mistake. Due to Kevin’s lack of knowledge on how the software operates, he accidently set off these detonators. Kevin also didn’t calibrate these discarded detonators. If they were to go off, they would give off a powerful explosion. Kevin closes the program, and ignores it.

  Back inside the bank, the teller has finished emptying her cash cart. Brian aims his gun at her, and as he did with the first teller, grabs her back and directs her to the lobby.

  “Stay down! Stay down on the ground!”

  Russell is able to get another safe box open with the drill. He opens the safe up, and it contains a moderate amount of cash inside. He sticks the money inside the duffel bag quickly. Russell notices that one of his duffel bags is full, so he uses the drill bag to put the rest of the cash in. He stuffs the drill inside the other duffel bag, and runs out of the vault. Russell continues to run to the lobby of the bank, and Brian, Victor and Jesse run along with him. When they exit the lobby of the bank, heading into the main vestibule, Russell and the rest of the men hear a loud explosion coming from outside the bank. Upon hearing this explosion, Russell who is still running, feels as if his heart has stopped beating. He doesn’t know where this explosion came from, but the sound made his heart immediately stop. The men continue running out of the vestibule, and Victor opens the door to the bank leading outside. Something inside Russell’s head told him to look across the street. Russell for a split second turns his head across the road, and notices that the black van Kevin was in, has exploded. The detonators located inside the back of the van somehow went off. The explosion killed Kevin instantly.

  Russell stops outside the entrance of the bank for a couple seconds. The rest of the men instinctively look at the demolished van, and the flames surrounding it. They are all fully aware of what happened, but cannot afford to stop and lament over it. Brian then screams at Russell.

  “Man, fuck! We have to go now! We can’t just stand here! We gotta move!”

  The men continue to run towards the parking lot behind the bank. As they reach their vehicles, they all get inside, and speed off. Russell and Jesse take their masks off, and Jesse notices Russell crying; he notices how red Russell’s face is, and Jesse begins to cry as well. Russell then starts to laugh. Jesse who is continuing to cry, stares at him. Russell proceeds to drive, laughing and crying.

  Chapter 17

  NOTHING EMPTY, NOTHING FULL

  The completion of the second heist brings much disappointment and sorrow; and many answered emotions and questions as well. With this intending to be their final heist, the men gave a more daring performance than they did previously. This was supposed to be the final curtain call, and the men were going to finish this heist with impeccable style. Inside the bank, the men were able to exhibit a stellar job. They acted very swiftly, using techniques and tactics that they didn’t use during the original heist. In the case of Kevin, some of these decisions have left them with disaster consequences. Upon exiting the bank, the men saw the van Kevin was in explode. Not fully understanding why that happened, and whether or not Kevin was sitting inside. With Kevin being killed by the explosive devices, the men have to now deal with the results from that.

  The men assume that Kevin was killed by the explosives, but they are not entirely sure. At this point, not to undermine Kevin’s position, they need to escape from the heist. Although they completed the heist without any issues, the men can’t help but feel tense and concerned over Kevin. They begin pondering that one of the worst things that could possibly happen during a heist, has most likely happened. Having to fully understand that a member of their group is possibly dead, this is something that none of them would ever imagine to occur. This is something that many of them would refuse to accept or agree with. A situation such as this sprouting out, is not anything they wanted. With the men not entirely sure if Kevin was inside the van when it exploded, they need to carry on and exit themselves away from the vicinity of the bank.

  With a multitude of thoughts running in their minds, the four men drive back to “Home Base”. Not knowing whether Kevin is alive or dead. The men, especially Russell have a feeling that Kevin sadly did not exit out of the vehicle. Russell feels extremely hurt at this current time. He is hoping that Kevin is safe, but is already preparing himself for the worst. He knows that the explosive devices were the reason the van exploded. Russell feels guilty, as he egged Kevin on to use them during the heist. The men are all quiet, under too much high stress to talk or speak. Their main objective for right now,
is to head towards “Home Base”. They will then direct their attention towards Kevin, once they have all settled back at their hideout. Russell looks in his rear view mirror, and sees that Brian and Victor are right behind him. Both of the men are travelling at a normal rate of speed at this point.

  As they are getting closer to the unit, the men become more worried over Kevin, and they are curious as to what exactly happened to him. Russell continues to cry as he’s driving. He cannot control his tears or emotions. Jesse is also crying, due to being concerned over Kevin as well. Brian and Victor in their vehicle, are crying as well for virtually the same reasons as the rest of the men are. They stay on the highway heading towards “Home Base”; evading the authorities once again, and having a clean getaway.

  The police investigation towards the heist, now begins. A string of 911 calls over the explosion at the diversion point, witnesses who saw the robbers run out of the building, and those who saw the van explode. Police officers and investigators swarm the “First Savings and Trust” bank, the area over at the diversion point, and the area at the van. Each of the areas are heavily barricaded by police. News outlets are also swarming these settings in addition to that. Civilians are also observing all the proceedings. At the diversion area, the impact of the detonators didn’t cause any immediate or heavy damage. According to all of the witnesses, thankfully there wasn’t anyone that was hurt as a result from the diversion. It only caused a loud distracting bang to those that were around when the detonators went off. The investigators ask individuals that saw the explosion, if they were able to catch anyone suspicious looking in the area. Unfortunately, the witnesses could not give any details in this regard.

  The investigators do not have any details as to who planted the detonators. With there not being any security cameras located outside of this courtyard, the identity of this person remains difficult to achieve. Investigators are at first puzzled over a motivation as to why someone would do a thing such as this. They continue their investigation in the area, until they finally come across the partial remnants of the detonation devices, which caused the explosion. The investigators using their expert logic, are correct by assessing that these were the detonators used.

  Following this, the investigators all gather the detonators from inside the shrubbery, and add them to the collection of their evidence. While they are still searching for a motive for this situation, many of them have a strong possibility that this has much to do with the heist over at “First Savings and Trust”. With there not being anything else to examine at this setting, the investigators move on.

  The black van which was engulfed in flames due to the explosion, is extinguished by the fire department. The van is completely totaled and wrecked. Only a few pieces of the vehicles frame exist. Firefighters as they clear the vehicle, notice Kevin’s body sitting in the driver’s seat. The coroners quickly arrive and take him away. Most of the evidence inside of the van, except for the detonators, have all be incinerated. This can make the investigation quite difficult, as the materials that Kevin used in the van, are burned from the explosion. Kevin’s computer case with the software used to control the detonators is destroyed. The disguise Kevin was wearing is burned to ashes as well. Detective Mike Henderson arrives, as he is called to investigate the robbery. Other investigators join him as well, and he is informed on the findings at the diversion area. Detective Henderson starts walking towards the area the van was in. The power of the detonators severely damaged two other vehicles that were in front of, and behind the van. Luckily, there wasn’t anyone inside the vehicles. The explosion also caused damage to two street lights, and a palm tree in the same area. The detective carefully scans through the destroyed van for evidence. He then notices remnants of the detonation devices, and talks with the other members of his team. They piece together the detonators from the diversion point, and they match. He at this point knows the explosion which happened at the diversion point, and explosion which happened towards the van, are connected. The next order of business, is to find out how they were. The detective continues to stay in this area putting together both of the events.

  His original theory, is that the bank robbers used the detonators to distract the police while they were in the bank. This was able to work, as a couple officers did report to the diversion area, and were not aware at all of the heist that was congruently taking place at the “First Savings and Trust” bank. However, he couldn’t exactly explain the detonators exploding the van, and the deceased body located inside of it. Witnesses couldn’t explain exactly when the van pulled up to the corner. Likewise, with the area surrounding the diversion point, there are no security cameras which can display this particular information. However, witnesses explain that at the same time which the van exploded, they noticed several men running outside of the bank across the street. Detective Henderson then believes the robbers inside of the bank, were aware of the van exploding, and perhaps intended for it to explode. The events happened too close from each other for this to not be the case. He believes the detonators in both of the areas, were controlled by an unknown outside source.

  Another theory that the detective has, is the deceased person in the van, was a possible hostage victim. The van was possibly used as a getaway vehicle, with a hostage inside. The detonators have either accidentally or purposefully went off, killing the hostage inside. With the possible hostage being killed as a result of the robbery, the detective doesn’t understand why that had to be the case. He becomes extremely saddened that a life had to be lost during this ordeal. Detective Henderson however, is completely unaware that this man wasn’t a hostage at all. This man was one of the individuals involved with the heist in some shape or form. Due to the lack of evidence they have, any theories they can think of which slightly make sense, are the ones they will use at this particular point and time. With many plausible theories on the table, the detective is still not ready to give any concrete accusations.

  Detective Henderson puts the detonation remnants from the van, into their evidence collection. He stays in this area, trying his best to come up with reasons explaining all the events which took place. Detective Henderson fails to come up with any additional evidence at this scene, and it causes him to become frustrated. He decides that there isn’t anything else for him to examine, and he proceeds to walk inside the “First Savings and Trust” bank.

  As the detective enters the bank, he quickly spots muddy shoeprints in the vestibule area. One of the robbers stepped into a dirt patch right outside the entrance. From the heavy snow shows they were wearing, it made a clear impression towards the freshly mopped floor of the bank. Something like this, is a big break towards the investigation. The shoe prints look familiar to Detective Henderson, as they should. The shoes the robbers were wearing, were the same kind they used in the previous heist. Detective Henderson takes the print of the shoe into evidence, so it can be compared to the others in their evidence collection. He continues to walk around the bank, as the patrons inside are being cleared to leave. The employees then give accounts to the events which conspired.

  Looking around the bank, the detective angrily takes note of the poor security layout of the bank. The banks which display horrible security, are the ones most at risk of being robbed. The “First Savings and Trust” bank, is quite an old building. It continues to use older methods of bank security. Many areas inside the bank are not secure as they should be, and he’s surprised this bank and many others, are able to pass federal security regulations. The bank doesn’t have a security guard hired either, this is something he also thinks is odd. As he looks up towards the ceiling, the detective sees very few security cameras; he is fearful that the surveillance system will yield him from getting any positive results.

  From the witness statements in the bank, there were four robbers that were present. Two of the robbers remained in the common lobby area of the bank. One robber was taking care of the bank tellers. The remaining robber used a powerful drill to break into the v
ault and safe boxes. None of the witnesses know which direction they came from to enter the bank, and which direction they left out of. The men entered and exited the bank, by leaving the parking structure located behind the building, and running through the courtyard on the side of the bank, making a sharp turn towards the entrance.

  However, the investigators cannot be sure this was the exact method they used. There are no cameras situated in the private parking structure behind the bank, and there aren’t any cameras located in the courtyard next to the bank either; which the men were running from. With the evidence they have, they are more leaning towards that the robbers arrived at the bank using the van which exploded, and ran across the street. The men were present in the bank, for two minutes and ten seconds. A slightly longer time than their first heist, but they still managed to get in, do their job, and leave without any hassle or issue.

  Detective Henderson was adamant that the individuals behind his heist, have done this before. The detective was glad to find out that everyone present in the bank, was unharmed; despite the fact the robbers used guns. From further investigating, the security alarms in the bank were disabled and hacked from an outside source as well. Based on this evidence alone, he knew very well the “United Farmers Savings” heist, was connected to this one. Detective Henderson was hell-bent that this was the same group of men involved with this heist. No matter how obsolete the alarm systems in banks are, it’s is uncommon for people to have knowledge and resources to disable the alarms. He also knew that they carefully planned how they would execute everything as well, down to every detail and movement.

  Detective Henderson requests to see the surveillance video immediately. As he already suspected, the video quality makes it difficult to view certain elements of the heist. But Detective Henderson is ninety percent sure, the same group of men who pulled the “United Farmers Savings” heist, are the same group involved with this heist. Only going by their body types from this surveillance video he’s watching, he has hunch that they are the same men. He wouldn’t have a correct guess to this until he puts the evidence together, but he is positive towards his observations so far.