Page 3 of Rio's Release

Rio—

Six of us crowd around the small table in the cheap motel room.

I point at the drawing I’ve sketched out illustrating the layout of the Las Cruces First National Bank. We’ve been scouting the place for a week now. Too much is riding on this plan to take any chances without knowing exactly what we’re walking into. “Behind the lobby is a room with a copy machine and some other office equipment. It’s just off the vault, and it’s where they prepare the teller cash drawers in the morning. But that’s not where the real money is.”

“We hitting the vault? Aren’t those on a timer?” Bagger asks.

“There’s another room here.” I point to a back section and tap the spot. “It’ll be easier to access and there’ll be big money there.”

The men lean closer.

“If it’s not the vault, what is it?” Mauler asks.

“It’s where they load the ATMs. They’ve got two. One is a walkup outside the entrance, and one is in the drive-up lane. They’ll be closed for Sunday and Monday for Memorial Day. This branch is high traffic, so they’re gonna have those things loaded with a ton of cash over the holiday weekend. That combined with what’s in the teller drawers and we should be able to cover our loss.”

“How the hell do you know all this stuff?” Mauler folds his arms and rocks on his heels.

Zig leans over the drawing, his palms on the table, but he cuts his head to Mauler and answers for me. “Since he used to date a bank teller, shithead.”

“We hitting them on Saturday morning?” Bagger asks.

“Yeah. We know their routine,” I continue, and Zig finishes for me.

“They arrive at eight. Saturday morning, they’ve got three tellers, a manager, a loan officer and a guard.”

“The old guy,” Mauler fills in. “Should be easy to take him out.”

“We’re not hurting anyone. We’re just after the cash.” My gaze goes around the room, meeting each of my brother’s eyes. “Is that clear?”

I get a few curt nods.

“We’re gonna need a distraction. Get the cops as far away as possible,” Zig murmurs.

“Exactly. We need them to respond to a call. Something big. Any ideas?” I look around the room.

Bagger drags a hand down his jaw. “An explosion?”

Zig straightens. “We just said we’re not out to kill anyone. Pulling off something like that… there’s no guarantee someone won’t get hurt.”

I tip my head to Bagger. “He’s an expert. Right, Bagger?”

“I’d have to scout a location, one that won’t have anyone on Saturday morning.”

“It’ll have to be timed perfectly,” I murmur.

“Even if we pull them to the other side of town, it’ll only give us a few extra minutes of time if someone sets the alarm off,” Zig says.

“I know that. Like I said, timing will have to be perfect. We’re in. We’re out.”

“I’d feel a lot better if we could find someplace to do a run through.”

“When we were leaving Santa Theresa, there was an old boarded up savings and loan on the edge of town.”

“No way.” I shake my head. “Too risky.”

“We go out in the desert and mark off the layout with some spray paint,” Zig offers.

“That could work.”

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