at a table, but the place had a low-key and dull vibe. Music tried to force its way out of old speakers mounted on the walls, and the lights were dim. All in all, it was a pretty dreary place. Farrell went to the bar whilst Archer walked to a table away from the bar so they could talk without being overheard. The bartender pulled the cap on two beers, and Farrell dropped a ten on the bar and carried them over, taking a seat.
Silence followed. Archer didn’t feel compelled to speak. He was waiting for Farrell to start. There was a television mounted on the wall behind the bar, but it was showing some kind of sports show, nothing interesting or eye-catching.
‘Feels strange, that I’m leaving this city,’ Farrell said eventually, taking a long pull from his beer. ‘Lived here my whole life. Born in Queens, been here ever since. Never even left the goddamn state before.’
Archer nodded, drinking from his own bottle. The beer was good, just about the only thing that was in this place.
‘You know getting out of here isn’t going to be straightforward,’ Archer told him. ‘You said you’re taking all kinds of heat from the cops and feds. The FBI won’t just let you go or forget what you guys have done.’
Farrell nodded.
‘Yeah, I hear you. But we’ll make it. Trust me. We’ve run circles around these assholes so far. We’ll keep doing it, all the way to the cabanas.’ He paused. ‘Anyway, I can’t stay here, man. I’m two strikes in the hole. If I hang around, they’ll find a way to put a third on me. That puts me away for life. And I’m never going back to jail.’
He paused.
Archer drank from his beer, and said nothing.
‘We pulled another job yesterday,’ Farrell said, his voice low. ‘Took two hostages. First time we’ve ever done that.’
‘Seriously? Did you kill them?’
Farrell shook his head.
‘Tate was the one who held them,’ he said. ‘Once the job was done, he just walked out and left them be.’
‘Could they I.D him?’
‘He was wearing a hockey mask. And he also told them what would happen to them if they tried.’
‘You ever kill any cops?’ Archer suddenly asked. He couldn’t help himself.
Farrell looked over at him. Paused. Then he shook his head, taking a long deep pull from his beer.
‘No. Not yet. Haven’t needed to.’
Archer read his face. He wasn’t lying.
‘What about feds? Surely robbing banks puts you in their crosshairs?’ he asked.
Farrell nodded. ‘Of course. If it came down to it, then yeah, we’d probably have to take some of them out. But I try to make sure it never comes to that. Not because I’m a pussy. Because if you kill a cop, you get the entire damn NYPD on your ass. You better leave town immediately and never come back. And if you kill a fed? That’s even worse. Don’t be fooled, guy. We may be fighters, but we ain’t dumb. Last thing I need is an army of pigs or feds tearing apart my gym looking for answers.’
Archer drank from his beer, thinking.
‘You mentioned a dead fed the other day? You said if I talked I’d join him and Brown. Who was he?’
‘I don’t know. None of us put a move on him.’
‘Then how’d you hear about it?’
Pause.
Archer’s face stayed expressionless, but inside his common sense was screaming at him to shut up.
He had to be careful.
He was getting carried away and asking too many questions.
Farrell turned to him. ‘I can trust you, right?’
‘Of course.’
‘We had some inside help.’
Archer managed to hide his expression behind a pull of beer.
‘The cops?’ he asked.
‘No. Bigger. The feds.’
This time Archer couldn’t hide his shock.
‘Who?’
‘Someone on the Bank Robbery Task Force. They tipped us off. Telling us what to look for. That’s the main reason why we’ve been so successful. That’s why they couldn’t get near us and build a case.’
Archer blinked.
‘You still working with them?’ he asked.
Farrell shook his head. ‘No. Not anymore. I cut them out.’
‘Why?’
‘They got greedy. Wanted a bigger cut. So I told them to go screw themselves and that was the end of it. We always met in secure locations and checked for any wires or recording equipment so they didn’t have anything they could put on me. If anything, it was the other way round. I said I’d go to the other feds and tell them there was a rat in the Task Force.’
‘When was this?’
‘Six weeks ago, give or take.’
‘You haven’t been