“It’s a good thing this parking lot is here, it is going to make getting out a breeze. I don’t know why all these banks have these lots close together to the buildings like that. It’s almost as if these banks want people to find and spot ways to outsmart them. I don’t know; I don’t get it. But, we will each park own own separate getaway vehicles through there, and the same way we left from ‘First Savings’, is the same way we are going to leave here. It’s not any different.”
Russell then taps Brian on the shoulder, and gives him a one-hundred-dollar bill.
“Brian, I need you to go study as much as you can with the bank. Victor and Jesse don’t need to walk in, it’s fine. They are only going to be lookout. I already know this bank well enough, but you don’t. So try to get a feel of how everything is setup and situated for tomorrow.
Unlike in the previous heists, this time the men cannot use Kevin’s technology tools. Most of which were able to help them achieve success towards the heists. They do not have to implement things like that to pull off a successful heist, but it would allow for things to blend at a smoother rate. On the other hand, it was from using these tools, which caused the disastrous and unfortunate result between Kevin. Now that the men can only use their common sense, and strategic planning in this heist, they must work together at an even harder level. Brian starts to exit out of the car. Russell watches Brian walk towards the bank, and runs his fingers through his hair with his head, pointing down towards the ground. Even though Russell is more alert at this point, he is still quite hungover and tired. He is trying his best to not drain himself in front of the other guys. Russell looks over at Jesse, who is reading a “Cosmopolitan” magazine. He also watches Victor listen to several Beatles songs in the car stereo, perfectly singing along to the words; using the dash console as a drum to beat against the music. Russell is happy that the other men are feeling well, but he currently isn’t. He feels tired, lightheaded and disorientated. You would never assume this though, because Russell is being strong with his outward expressions. The last thing he wants, is for them to feel scared because of how he is acting and feeling.
Russell has a terrible headache, and the pain is becoming much too difficult for him to bear. He reaches in his pocket, and grabs the aspirin that Victor gave him shortly before. Russell scans across the area, looking for a convenience store, drug store, bodega, or something similar to that. There are many commercial office buildings, but not that many corner stores in this particular area. Russell feels there has to be one, and finally locates a place down the street. He feels satisfied and plans to quickly run over there, getting back before Brian returns. While Brian is inside casing the bank, Russell plans to go and get himself a bottle of water, so he can take the aspirin pills. He positions himself to get out of Brian’s car, and opens the door. Before he gets out, he speaks to Victor and Jesse.
“I’m going to go to that store over there, do you guys want anything at all?”
Victor and Jesse both shake their heads at Russell, and Russell gets out of the car. As he is walking to the store, Russell shockingly sees Detective Henderson, walking with a female investigator. The detective is simply on his lunch break. Russell hides behind a column, not wanting to be noticed by him. Russell remains hidden behind the column staring at the Detective, and observing his every move. Russell knows that Detective Henderson is in charge of investigating bank heists, and although Russell is not in Detective Henderson’s radar at all with possible suspects, he starts to panic nonetheless. Detective Henderson walks away from the scene with his colleague, a minute after that. Russell once he no longer sees the detective, stops hiding himself from view.
Russell then proceeds to walk towards the convenience store, to get himself some water. Once he’s inside the store, even though Victor and Jesse said they didn’t want anything, Russell wants to surprise the rest of the guys anyways. He sees a bag of “peanut M&Ms.”, Victor’s most liked candy. He also sees a bag of “Flaming Hot Cheetos” chips, and he knows that they are Jesse’s favorite. Russell as he continues to walk through the store, grabs some “Skittles” candy. These happen to be Brian’s most liked confection. Continuing to walk around the store, Russell sees a bag of “Famous Amos” cookies. These particular cookies were the ones Kevin favored the most. Russell decides to get these for himself. Finally, he walks over to the refrigerators of the store, and gets four water bottles. Russell then pays for all of the items, and departs from the store.
Brian is inside the “First Federal Bank of Los Angeles”. Like with “First Savings and Trust”, this bank is relatively old as well. Inside the bank, you can see gothic and colonial inspired designs around the walls, and the architectural theme is also quite detailed. The building has a contemporary classic feel, and you would think the bank came straight out of the Victorian era. This bank along with practically every bank the men have hit, does not have the most modern options available when it comes to security. The bank is setup in way, that the tellers are completely exposed, and can be targeted from the way their terminals are positioned. In addition, if carefully planned, the vault can easily be accessed from the way it’s positioned as well.
The bank has a somewhat ambiguous entrance of mirrored glass doors, being positioned on the far end of Grand Ave. The entrance gives an illusion of not being noticed by others. The entrance is also adjacent to a large unrelated public parking lot; someone who is clever enough can make a fast escape. Brian notices how the bank has only one way in, and one way out. His knowledge of banks doesn’t come close to Russell’s, but he feels that a bank large as this, should have at least two entrances on either sides of the street. The area facing the parking lot which they plan to escape in, is obstructed by a decorated wall in the bank. If it weren’t for this wall, getting around this bank for a heist, would not be as simple. Brian doesn’t see a security guard on duty either. What he doesn’t know that come tomorrow, there will be an armed guard standing at the door. The men are going to have to find some way to work around this obstacle and hurdle, the best way they can. Brian sees that the few security cameras look worn out and old, and they are also no cameras in areas that they should be in. From this current value he’s able to observe, this heist shouldn’t be any problem for them to manage.
The line inside the bank isn’t that long, and Brian makes his way to the bank teller. He hands the woman the money Russell gave him, as she proceeds to open her cash drawer, to give him change. Brian gets a test run of the area he’s going to be at the following day, and is comfortable with how the layout of this area is. As the teller hands Brian the cash bills, he notices that there is a red button on the side of the cash terminals. This happens to be an obstructed silent alarm, which from the way it’s placed on the terminal, is not easy to recognize at first. This was something he hasn’t noticed the other banks they were at, implement. Feeling happy that he was able to catch this important detail, Brian exits out of the bank, and returns to the car with the rest of the men, around the corner.
Russell is now walking back to car as well, with the items he purchased from the convenience store. He gets into the car, and hands Victor the bag of “M&M’s” and a bottled water, and hands Jesse the bag of chips and a bottle of water, which Jesse takes from him reluctantly, and angrily stares back at Russell. After opening the package of aspirin, Russell pops both of the pills in his mouth, and drinks some water. Russell then starts to eat some of the cookies he bought. Shortly, Brian returns to the car. Once Brian is inside, Russell hands Brian a bottle of water, and the candy which he had gotten for him. Brian grabs both of the items, and begins to eat some of the candy. They men all quietly sit in the car for a few minutes, and Brian as he’s eating the candy, starts to explain to Russell what he noticed while observing the bank.
“You were right; this bank is good. It’s a big bank yes, this is definitely the largest one out all the ones we’ve been at. That doesn’t bother me though, as we got this. Hey guess what, when I was at the terminals, I sa
w these very small red buttons. They are silent alarms attached to the terminals. It’s a good thing I was able to catch that, so I know to tell them not to push it.”
Russell nods his head at Brian, and eats several of the cookies. He responds to Brian.
“I know John is going to be working tomorrow too. I can’t wait to see how he’s going to react to this. He always feels indestructible to everything. He’s not, this is going to show him. This heist will be for Kevin, and this time for sure will the final countdown. I’m ready.”
Brian laughs at Russell. Brian looks at the clock on the dashboard of his car; the men are running slightly late for their last day of work. Brian starts the ignition, and beings to drive them all to work. As this happens to be a Thursday, the men have to clean the “Porter Professional Building.” Being that both this and the “Wittberg Law Offices” are run by the same company, and were also built by the same engineers, the layouts of all the buildings are nearly identical and the same. When he gets to the building, Brian parks in the underground parking structure, and the men immediately get out the car, and walk inside. The last day of work, is somehow feeling like the first day of work. The men are excited because this is their last day, and they do not have to come back. But not slacking off with their work because of that either. For some particular reason, it is much harder to finish the tasks today. It’s is indeed interesting how their final day working, is proving to be the most difficult and hardest day they have worked. The aspirin that Victor gave Russell, seemed to be what he needed. Russell now feels energized, and his head is no longer bothering him. While Russell is mopping the floor, he can’t stop thinking about how around this time tomorrow, the men will be doing their final heist.
Russell is glad that he will no longer have to clean buildings anymore. The other men in addition to that are also feeling glad this charade is about to come to an end. For the past few weeks, they have cleaned buildings, and have organized a couple different heist plots. Unfortunately, Kevin had to be the odd man out, and they are doing this one final time to avenge him. The men finally make it to their break time, and they all head up towards the roof to smoke a cigarette. Russell sits down on a bench, looking at the cloudy overcast sky, feeling calm. Brian, Victor and Jesse are feeling calm and confident as well. They continue relaxing for several minutes on their break, being quiet to each other. Their break comes to an end, and the men promptly return to their final work day.
Russell begins to clean all the office buildings one last time, and makes sure he does the best job he can do. He won’t return to cleaning this building ever again, so he wants everything to be spotless. Brian, Jesse and Victor have the exact same agenda. This is their last day, but it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t treat this like any other day they are scheduled. All of their tasks still have to be done, and their work must still be done properly. Brian power mops the floor for the last time, and makes sure the floor is the cleanest he’s ever had it. Jesse and Victor give out the same results. For the last time, the men start to wrap up all of their tasks, and finish their work day.
Russell returns to the main floor, and sits down on a chair in the lobby feeling tired. He watches Brian who is exhausted as well from power mopping the floor. Brian finishes the task, and starts to put the power mop away in the supply closet. When Brian returns, he walks over to the lobby where Russell is sitting, and sees that Russell has closed his eyes, and has taken a nap on the chair. Brian begins to play with Russell’s hair and goatee, and this causes Russell to awaken. He gives an agitated glare towards Brian, and Brian laughs and walks away. At this time, Victor and Jesse have finished their tasks, and join the rest of the men in the lobby. Russell quickly gets up from the chair, and signals the men to follow him. They walk towards one of the rooms in the top floor of the building. Once they have all gotten inside, Russell locks the door, and opens the curtains. As it was cloudy earlier in the day, the night sky gives out an interesting bright red color. The city lights go against the clouds, and a lovely glow shines through. While Russell is staring out the window at this fascinating view, he smiles to himself. He then speaks to the rest of the men.
“This is it, this time tomorrow, all of us are going to be done with all of this. This whole entire experience was really something. Ordinarily, I would never in my life think I would ever work with a bunch of guys like you, but here I am. I wanted to see this one last time.”
Brian gets up from the table, and stands right by Russell. He also glares out the window as well observing the panoramic view. He pats Russell on the shoulder, and starts to whisper.
“Might as well right, if this going to be our last day, might as well take all of this in.”
Russell nods his head, and they both continue to look out the window. Brian then speaks.
“Hey, I want you and Jesse to sleep over with at my place tonight. I don’t want a repeat of this morning, and you acting the way you did. I don’t know what happened to you, and don’t care. I just don’t want to do any of that tomorrow morning. I want to be safe and watch you, so you and Jesse can stay with me. That way when tomorrow morning comes, we will be ready.”
Brian pats Russell on the shoulder again, and Russell laughs to himself. Brian then starts to walk away from the window, and Russell whispers something out to Brian.
“Can I stop and get something at my place first? It will only take a minute. I have to grab something really important.”
Brian silently nods his head, and starts to walk towards the door. Russell then walks away from the window. Victor and Jesse for a minute look out the window as well, observing the view for the final time. All of the men then leave out of the room, and Russell locks the door. Brian and Russell for the very last time, lock up all of the doors inside the building. Russell hands Brian his set of keys to both of the buildings, as he no longer needs them. Brian locks the front door of the building, and puts his and Russell’s keys, inside a plastic bag to give to Max later. They all proceed into the parking structure, and drive away. Brian immediately heads to Russell’s residence, and Russell hands him the card key to get inside the parking structure. Once Brian is parked, Russell steps out of the car.
“I’ll be right back you guys. Jesse you stay here; I’ll only be just a minute. Hold on.”
Russell runs inside the complex, and heads straight up to his apartment. As he gets inside, he walks over to his kitchen, and grabs Kevin’s bag of marijuana. He then locks his apartment up, and runs back down to the parking structure. Russell doesn’t explain what he exactly grabbed from inside his apartment, and the men don’t pester or bother him about it either. Brian then drives away from the complex, and heads to “Home Base”. Right before stopping there, Brian goes to “Carl’s Jr.”, a hamburger drive-thru located not far from the unit, and gets food for all of the guys. After getting the food, Brian then pulls up into the unit, and parks his car outside.
Brian walks to the door, and unlocks it. When all the men are inside, Brian sets the food down on the table in front of the sofa area, and Victor and Jesse take a seat. Brian then walks over to his bed, and Russell taps Brian on the shoulder, waving a bag of marijuana in his face. Brian gives a disappointing looking smirk towards Russell, and rolls his eyes. Brian then snatches the bag from Russell. Victor and Jesse watch them both this entire time. Russell grins at Brian, and Brian hands Russell back the bag. Russell then walks towards the sofa area with Victor and Jesse. He takes a seat, and starts to open the bag of marijuana. Russell then struggles to roll the joint.
“I can’t do this as well as Kev. He would do this like nothing. He could roll these in like five seconds. It’s taking me a minute to get everything all together, I’m not even at the rolling part. I believe this is how you do this. I don’t know everything, but I do know some stuff.”
Victor laughs at Russell, and takes the bag away from him. Victor then asks to see the tabloid magazine Jesse is reading, and Victor sets it on this lap. He then softly speaks to Russell.
“You’re doing that completely wrong. Watch and learn.”
Russell hands Victor the bag of marijuana, and Victor begins to roll a joint. He licks the rolling paper and folds it halfway, and starts to put marijuana inside of it. He lays the joint on top of Jesse’s magazine. Victor then asks for a pair of scissors, and Brian hands them over. Brian then turns on an internet radio station on his phone, and connects it to the stereo system hooked up in the unit. Victor uses the scissors to cut through the marijuana, so it fits nicely in the paper. Russell smiles and shakes head while watching Victor, amazed at what he’s doing. Victor then carefully rolls the joint together. He hands it over to Russell, and Victor immediately begins to roll a second joint. Victor very quickly assembles the second joint even faster, and this one he hands to Jesse. Brian hands Russell a lighter, and Russell lights his marijuana joint. Jesse uses the same lighter, and his joint is lit as well. Once they both take hits from it, Russell passes his joint to Brian, and Jesse passes his over to Victor. Brian then walks over to the refrigerator, and pulls out several “Bud Light” beers. He gives one to each man, and takes one for himself. The men all sit with each other, relaxing and feeling comfortable. Tomorrow, this whole attitude needs to be quickly changed. Going onto the heist, with this being the heist strictly based on revenge. The heist they will take to make up for losing Kevin. Russell using this heist to get back at all the mistreatment that John who is manager of the bank they are targeting, gave to him. After tomorrow, each of them will return to their regular lives, and no longer be considered outcasts. Still remaining friends, and keeping in touch. Brian takes a hit of the joint, and starts to talk to the men.
“So. I’m very curious. What are you guys doing to do with your share of the money? I’ll guess I’ll start. I don’t know. I kinda want to start my own luxury car modification business. I know what you’re thinking, I do all that shit now. Correct, but more like the real deal though. Doing high profile stuff, like Lamborghini’s, Ferrari’s all that shit. Yeah, that’s what I want.”
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained Page 51