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Ethan parks his truck at the back of the abandoned warehouse we’d found months ago. Right off the freeway between Silver Falls and Stoneview, closer to the billionaire town than Silver Falls.
We’re meant to meet Kay here, all leave our cars, and get in the van. Then after the robbery, we’ll leave the van here, split back into two cars, and meet back at the brothers’ house.
Kay is already here, arms crossed, leaning against her sleek black Mercedes A Class. A baby she bought for herself when she made a deal with the Wolves.
“I always forget you have a nice car,” Elliot says as we jump out. “Self-made women in our town make a lot of money, don’t they?”
She cocks an eyebrow at my boyfriend.
“Emma drives a Range Rover now. Did you know?”
“What? A fucking Rover?”
“SE too. That shit costs a hundred k, at least.”
Kay’s mouth twists, clearly unhappy. “She can’t have bought that herself. Someone got it for her. And I’d bet my life it’s the same person who’s been giving her info on us.”
“The Lucianos?” Elliot suggests.
I scratch my throat. “Can we focus on what we have to do and talk about Emma Scott’s car once we’re finished robbing a goddamn bank.”
Ethan chuckles beside me, holding my hand and squeezing hard. “It’s 8:30.”
Kay grazes the pad of her thumb against her bottom lip, still lost in thought. “We’ll go over the plan in the van. Let’s go.”
She talks again once we’re on the highway back to Silver Falls.
“Right, let’s go over the plan one last time. The cameras will be cut off until 9:30, but the bank opens at 9. Elliot, you’re walking in at 9 sharp. Natasha is the manager on shift. That’s when all your work from the last few months needs to pay off. You convince her to get you to the safe. Make sure to open the fire exit in the basement too. You remember from the pictures Carla showed us. The back door is not too far from the safe, so after that, you’ll need to move somewhere else with Natasha. Ethan and I will be waiting there at 9:15. Not one minute early, not one late. Clear?”
The two guys are sitting at the back, and I glance in the mirror. Elliot is already looking at me. He winks. “Crystal clear, boss.”
I smile at him, despite the uneasiness in my stomach.
“Who’s Carla?” I ask.
“She used to be part of the Kings. Watched my kids a lot. Then she got a job in a bank, and I let her go. She owed me one, that’s why she’s helping. She’s the one who told us about the work being done and the cameras being cut off.”
I nod, my eyes back on the road.
“Ethan,” Kay carries on. “You and I will have exactly thirteen minutes to move the money. First, we’ll pack all the money in the bags. I’ll bring the first two outside by the security door and stand guard while you bring the rest. You keep doing the back-and-forth. You’ll have eighteen bags left to carry. Thirteen minutes. Got it?”
He lets his head fall against the headrest and smiles at me through the mirror. “Got it.”
“Jade, I want you to leave your exact spot at 9:28. There is absolutely no way in hell we’re letting a van wait in front of the bank, or we’ll have the cops on us right away. Fifty-nine seconds, which then leaves us a minute to put all the bags in the van and be gone. Does anyone have any questions?”
“Isn’t someone going to see you putting the bags in the van?” I ask, my hands tightening around the steering wheel.
My stomach is twisted, my head pounding. This is the most dangerous job any of us has ever done because it’s not on the North Shore. We have no control over the South Bank. People there are not NSC or Kings, and they’ll call the cops at the first unusual thing they notice.
I don’t want to deal with cops ever again.
“The door leads to a back alley. The van is the exact size to fit in there, but it does have cameras, hence why we need to be gone before 9:30.”
She searches through a plastic bag at her feet and comes out with four masks. She keeps the simple balaclava for herself, then shows us the others. One of them is a mask like the movie Scream. One is the kind with green crosses instead of eyes and a big green smile.
“That’s mine,” Elliot grabs the green one and passes the ghost mask to Ethan.
How fitting for a serial killer.
