So we started casing houses over in Long Island. It was easy. The owners are hardly ever there, always on vacation in the Hamptons or stuck in some office in the city. Bypass the alarms, avoid the places with guard-dogs and it’s Christmas. We hit four of them in a row. Take the stolen goods and valuables and trade them for cash and you’re laughing. Just like that, we made close to half a mil, easy.’
Archer nodded, glancing up at Ortiz. She sipped her water whilst watching him closely. The harsh naked light from above was accentuating her rock-hard cheekbones and the muscles on her arms. Her dark eyes were expressionless under her brow as she stared down at him.
‘That was so easy that we decided to step it up,’ Farrell continued. ‘Armoured trucks, on their way to the city, running through Long Island on the I-495. Pay off someone on the inside to give you the rotas and personal info on the guards and hit them out there on the road, in the countryside, all alone. Pull up a road-block, take out the tyres, threaten their families, use their names to show you know who they are. All it takes is a bit of background work, planning and some balls and the stash is yours. Doesn’t matter how secure that truck is, you tell the guy inside you’ll kill his family if he doesn’t open up, you bet your ass he’ll open that door.’
Archer nodded.
‘So then we stepped it up again. We started hitting banks.’
‘In the city?’
He smiled and nodded.
‘Not around here. Not our own neighbourhood. But let me tell you, taking a bank, that shit’s harder. But it’s possible. Managers and tellers are ordered by their bosses to comply with any thieves’ demands, which gives us an edge. We know co-operation will happen. Make sure we’re tooled up, disguised, get the bank when the lock on the vault is off, avoid the dye packs and bait money, take the security tapes and we’re home free.’
‘What about the getaway car? Surely you have to ditch it? That’ll leave tracks?’
‘Once we get the money out and into a switch car, Tate takes the bent one over to JFK and parks it in the long-stay parking spots. Right now, there are eight of them in there, all over the lot, amongst all the other vehicles. No one’s gonna find them for months, and there’s no DNA inside that could lead back to us. We make sure of it.’
Archer nodded.
‘How do you clean the money? Surely it’s still traceable?’
‘Once he ditches the car, Tate meets back up with us then does a trip down to Atlantic City with the stash. He stays there for a couple days, trades the money for chips in the different casinos, plays the table for peanuts, then cashes out. Untraceable. The feds and cops figure the money will reappear somewhere and they can trace it back to us. But if they try to track any of the bait money, they’ll end up tailing some fat housewife from New Jersey or some asshole with a gambling problem living in a motel on the A.C water-front.’
Archer nodded.
‘Clever. So how many jobs have you pulled in total?’
‘Thirteen. Four houses, five trucks, four banks. We’ve made almost five million.’
‘I’m impressed.’
Farrell nodded.
‘But we’re running out of time,’ he said. ‘There’s a shitload of heat coming in from the FBI. They’ve taken us all in, trying to work us over, find a weak link, something they can use. The lead agent is a guy called Gerrard. He’s a real asshole. Sooner or later, they’ll be waiting for us or he’ll find something to pin on me.’
Archer glanced up at Ortiz, who was still staring down at him, her face expressionless. He pictured her striking the pads upstairs, and shifted his gaze back to Farrell.
‘So why not cut your losses? Get out while you’re still ahead,’ Archer said.
‘That’s exactly what we’re doing,’ Farrell said. ‘Come Sunday night, we’re leaving this city forever and never coming back.’
He paused.
‘But we’ve got a big weekend coming up first. This one will go down in the record books. It’ll be legendary. Saturday is fight night at the Garden. There’s some big concert going on the night before. We’re gonna take the joint just before the fight and clean the place out.’
‘The Garden? As in Madison Square Garden?’
‘The very same.’
Pause.
‘And you know what Sunday is?’ Farrell added.
Archer shrugged. ‘What?’
‘End of the first week’s play at the U.S Open. The