Stuart Woods - Naked Greed

“Banks are tough, Charlie,” Ryan said.

“This one’s a pushover. I know because I knocked it over a while back.”

“What did you get?”

“Over three hundred grand. There might even be more there Tuesday.”

“Tell us the plan,” Ryan said.

“We go in the front with shotguns — masks and coveralls — and go straight for the vault, don’t even bother with the tellers. We go out the back door, where I’ll have a van waiting, and we’re outta there. We change cars and meet at your motel.”

“It can’t be that simple,” Ryan said.

“You know how burglars work?”

“I’ve caught a lot of them in my time,” Ryan said, “when I was on the force.”

“They hit a place, then they give the owners a little while to replace everything with their insurance money, then they hit it again.”

“Yeah, that happens a lot.”

“Same thing here. I’ve got word from inside that after I hit the place, they installed two more cameras and added one guard.”

“How many guards did they have before?”

“One.”

“And you don’t care about the cameras?”

“They had cameras before. Everybody was covered from the head down.”

“What’s the split?”

“My backer gets half, I get a quarter, you two split the rest.”

“That’s not a lot for us.”

“This is just a stopgap — it’ll put some money in your pocket while we’re waiting for the horse parlor to get cranked up again. And you get some extra time on the beach. I pick up the motel rooms.”

“Vinny, what do you think?”

“I’m in, if you are.”

“Okay, Charlie, we’re in.”

Charlie ordered another bottle of wine.

Frank Riggs, né Russo, received Charlie in his office. “I heard what happened with the betting parlor,” he said.

“Don’t worry, Frank, we’ll wait a week, then we’ll take it. Meantime, we’ll do the bank again. I hear it’s ripe for the picking, and I’ll give you a quarter of the take, even though you don’t have to do anything for it this time.”

“When are you going to do it?”

“Tomorrow afternoon, one o’clock.”

“Have they beefed up their security?”

“Same as before, plus they’ve got two new cameras and one more guard — that’s it. We can handle it, no problem.”

“And you’ve got Gene Ryan and Al Parisi?”

“Al caught a bullet over the weekend. Gene brought a reliable guy with him.”

“Give me a couple minutes, okay?”

“Sure, Frank, take your time.”

Frank got up and walked down the hall to his partner’s office. “Charlie’s back. He wants to do the bank again, tomorrow at one.”

“What about the horse parlor?”

“It got raided, so it’s postponed for a week. Charlie’s brought in two guys from Jersey.”

“I thought we were going to do the horse parlor, then dump Charlie. It’s time. I hear he’s loose of the lip, spends too much money.” He thought about it for a minute while Frank waited. “Have you got a sentimental attachment to Charlie? I know you two worked together for a while.”

“Not a bit,” Frank said. “When we’re done, we’re done.”

“Tell him it’s a go, then.”

“Okay.” Frank walked back to his office. “It’s a go,” he said. “A quarter of the take is good.”

“Thanks, Frank.” They shook hands and Charlie left.

Down the hall, Frank’s partner picked up the phone. “Hey, it’s me. I’ve got a tip for you. Remember the bank west of here? It’s going to be hit again tomorrow afternoon at one, same guys. Right. And listen, in return for the tip, we’d like it if you made a clean sweep — no loose ends. Can you handle that? Great, handle it, then.”

Dino swept into One Police Plaza, shaking hands, waving at people, smiling, even though it hurt his head to smile, and doing everything he could to look healthy, hardy, and ready to run a police department.

His secretary beamed at him and took his coat. “Chief Harrigan is already in there,” she said.

“Oh, swell, I’ve missed him so!” Dino strode into his office, and Harrigan sprang to his feet. “Welcome back, boss!” he said, pumping Dino’s hand, which also hurt his head.

Dino swung into his chair, opened a drawer, shook a couple of aspirin into his hand, and washed them down with water from a thermos. “Okay, Dan, anything new since last night?”

“Not a thing, boss.”

“Then get the hell out of here. I’ve got work to do.”

“Righto. Oh, Public Affairs wants a photograph of us to show that you’re back in harness.”

“Jesus. All right, get ’em in here.”

Harrigan opened the door and beckoned the photographer and the deputy chief for public affairs into the room. The two men pretended to examine some papers on Dino’s desk, then smiled broadly for another one. Dino kicked everybody out and took off his jacket.

He flopped down onto the sofa, unbuttoned his collar, and mopped his brow with his sleeve. His heart was thudding in his chest, and he was exhausted. He picked up the phone on the coffee table. “No phone calls, no visitors. Tell everybody I’m up to my neck in catch-up work.” He hung up and closed his eyes. In less than a minute he was asleep.

Ryan and Vinny sat on the beach, clutching drinks with umbrellas in them.

“So,” Vinny said, “tell me about this Charlie guy.”

“Charlie and his partner, Frank, worked for Al’s old man, Gino, just like Al and me, only they always seemed to get the best work. You didn’t work long for Gino, unless you were reliable, and that meant doing whatever the hell he told you to do. If Gino thought Charlie and Frank were reliable, then they were reliable. That’s good enough for me.”

“So why isn’t Frank around?”

“Charlie said Frank headed west after Gino got hit. I guess they thought they were the chief suspects, and maybe they were. I didn’t know anything about it at the time, and I still don’t.”

“What are we going to do about Al when we get back?”

“I don’t know, what’d you have in mind?”

“How about torturing and killing Sean Finn? I’d enjoy that.”

“You think Finn did it?”

“He hasn’t got the stones. I think that dealer guy did it. He’s an iceman, and if he did it, he’s off back to Vegas, and I don’t want to fall in that can of worms. I don’t mind a bit doing Finn, though. Maybe we should do like burglars and hit him again on bank day.”

Ryan shook his head, and sweat rained from his hair. “Nah, Al said Finn was going to beef up his security the first of the year, so you can bet he’s already at it. He’ll be on his guard all the time, too. Best to wait a few months until he’s feeling confident again, then drive up next to him at a traffic light some dark night and blow his fucking head off.”

“I can put out some feelers about Finn and his habits,” Vinny said. “That might help.”

“No! Don’t you put a goddamned feeler out to anybody, anytime. That’s how you end up in the joint with a needle in your arm. You just keep your mouth shut, listen, and bide your time. You don’t ask questions, and you sure as hell don’t put out feelers.”

Vinny sighed. “I guess you’re right. What about this bank tomorrow? How you feeling about that?”

Ryan shrugged. “Sounds good to me. I like it that Charlie has already done the place. You just follow his lead, and we’ll do fine.”

“What about this horse parlor he keeps talking about?”

“Now, that worries me. Horse parlors are always run by the mob, just like bookmaking is. I think after the bank job, I’ll just drift back to New Jersey and enjoy my new apartment for a while, watch some TV, wait for opportunities to raise their heads. That’s what you should do, too.”