Page 409 of Devil’s Disciples

I had no fucking idea what she just said, but I knew what she was doing. She was keeping Cash out of trouble. I tried to remain straight-faced, not wanting to give Baker the hint that she was lying through her teeth.

“What?” Baker snapped. “Update?”

“ECM,” she said matter-of-factly. “The Engine Control Module. BMW issues updates once a year or so for the air-fuel and smog control management systems. They typically self-load at night. They just happened to be loading when we were trying to go.”

“Sounds like we need a new getaway car,” Baker said. “We sure as fuck can’t have that kind of shit happening in the middle of the job.”

Tito cleared his throat. “I’ll disable the automatic updates on it. I should have done it a long time ago, but I hadn’t really thought about it until we were sitting there. I felt like a fool. I’ll do it in the morning.”

“You’ll do it before you go home,” Baker insisted.

Tito gave a nod. “Will do, Boss.”

Reno glared at Cash.

Cash glared back for a moment, and then glanced at Ally. While she sorted money, he gave her a quick once-over.

Baker sauntered in our direction. “Other than the automatic fucking update, I’m guessing it went well?”

“Really well.” I gestured to the piles of bills. “Look at this shit.”

Baker picked up a stack of hundreds, smelled them, and then tossed them onto the table. “Love the smell of success. You all did a good job.”

“Damned good idea to hit a bank in the ‘burbs,” Reno said. “She knows her shit, Boss.”

“Agreed.” Baker patted Ally on the shoulder. “No problems with the vault?”

She shook her head. “No, Sir.”

I admired Ally’s decision not to throw Cash under the bus. I expected everyone—short of Cash—agreed. It validated her willingness to work with others, ability to be supportive of the entire team, and her respect for authority.

Concealing Cash’s bad decisions and shortcomings suggested her level of respect for each of us, and especially for Baker. I sorted the stacks of bills wondering just what she planned if Cash didn’t apologize. She wasn’t one to make as bold of a statement as she made without a plan.

Reno looked at me, winked, and then got Baker’s attention. “Listen to this.”

Baker’s brows raised. “I’m listening.”

“We get off the freeway and roll up to a light. Fucker goes yellow to red in an instant. Ally does a short stop instead of blowing through it. Ends up two feet past the little white line. Fucking city cop rolls up beside us. Cocksucker starts eye-fucking us, like, ‘what the fuck are you clowns doing?’ Then, he gets that look on his face, like, ‘As soon as this motherfucker turns green, I’m going to pull your asses over.’ Ally realizes this fucker’s on the verge of being a dick. So, what does she do? Rolls down her fucking window, flashes her SDSU cheerleader outfit, and blows that prick a kiss.”

Baker looked at Ally and shook his head.

She grinned and shrugged her shoulders. “A girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do.”

“The light on Rosecrans?” Baker asked.

Reno nodded. “Yep.”

“I hate that fucking light. So, what did the cop do?”

Reno chuckled. “Fucking light goes green, and he waves back at her. Then, the fucker hauls ass.”

“Like I said. Good work.” Baker surveyed the table’s contents and smiled. “Any ideas on an amount?”

“Somewhere north of seven hundred grand,” Tito said.

Baker whistled. “Jesus.”

It seemed everyone was jumping on the “I like Ally” train, except for Cash. Knowing that sooner or later things would come to a head, I sorted the bills with some reluctance—hoping Cash would pull his head out of his ass before our work ended.