Bracey took a sip of his whiskey. He hated the stuff, especially so early in the morning. Most of the time, he only pretended to drink it as part of his tough guy façade. “You can’t betray them. That’s a death sentence.”
“I don’t care,” Andy snapped.
“And neither do I,” Vince echoed. “I’m tired of being pushed around. I’m my own man, not the boss-man’s flunkey.”
Bracey didn’t say anything. He knew Vince was doing his best to goad Andy into making a suicidal decision. But why? What was in it for Vince, other than money? Both were hardened criminals, with rap sheets a mile long. Andy was more in control of himself than Vince, although he usually didn’t think things through before acting. Vince, on the other hand, was definitely bad news. Haddison knew his history. The man was a cold-blooded killer and the Bureau intended to lock him up for good this time. He was on their most-wanted list and had eluded law enforcement for years. Not only was he a loose cannon, but worse, he was a threat to those around him. The Bureau was uneasy about Vince being in this gang because the man could be so unpredictable — in the worst sort of way. He had a knack for negatively influencing people. Haddison could already see how easily he’d manipulated Andy.
“I agree. Let’s do it,” Andy said.
When the room got quiet, Bracey said, “Sounds like you two have made up your minds.”
“We have,” Vince said, smiling. “Now the question is, old man, are you with us?”
Yeah, he guessed he was an old man to them, since he was thirty-eight to their twenty-five. And most days, he felt the thirteen-year difference when dealing with them. They took chances most people wouldn’t think of taking. The thought of getting caught and serving time again didn’t seem to faze them. “What the two of you are planning to do is crazy.”
“I don’t give a damn what you think about it,” Vince said. “My question is, are you with us or not? Or will you snitch to the boss-man?”
Andy shook his head. “Bracey won’t snitch,” he told Vince. He then looked at Bracey. “I heard you got a good cut from your last job with that mob out in Vegas. Although some people got caught, and that cartel toppled over, you and a couple of others got away with some of the stash.”
Bracey didn’t say anything. Andy had heard just what the Bureau had wanted him to hear. As a routine, before sending him in anywhere, his bosses always carefully built up his reputation, using his last assignment. He was surprised no one had ever noticed that he never got caught. He would reappear a year or so later as the same person with a more devious reputation. And thanks to the FBI, he’d have an even more disreputable and dangerous past that could be traced, if necessary.
He’d only ever run into trouble once. Four years ago, during an assignment, Bracey’s duplicity had been uncovered. That’s when he had infiltrated the East Coast Connection, an organized crime syndicate that had set its sights on Vegas; specifically, the Grand MD Hotel owned by Lee Madaris and DeAngelo Di Meglio.
Lee’s wife, Carly, had been taken hostage and Bracey’s identity had been compromised when he’d helped her escape from her captors. The FBI had quickly reworked the narrative to make it seem that it was someone else and not Bracey who’d been the FBI’s mole.
That job, infiltrating the East Coast Connection, was to have been his last undercover assignment. However, the death of a fellow FBI agent, who’d been working undercover in the Connection, had changed the game for Bracey. Though it was risky, he’d been determined to find out who’d ratted out the FBI agent who’d lost his life in Miami, leaving behind a widow and two fatherless children. Especially since it appeared to have been an inside job. And sure enough, he’d discovered that there was a fellow FBI agent working for the cartel. In the end, the agent had been arrested and was now serving time.
After wrapping up the situation with the East Coast Connection, Bracey had taken a two-year leave of absence from the Bureau to determine if he was truly ready to leave the agency for good, or if he was just burned-out and needed some time off.
Those two years on leave from the Bureau had shown him just how exhausted he’d become. It was then that he’d decided to do one last assignment, and that would be it. So here he was, revising his role as Addison Bracey, a criminal more ruthless and deadlier than ever. But once this operation was over, and all the paperwork he needed to complete was done, he would walk away from the Bureau and begin living a normal life. He meant it this time.
“You think you know so damn much about me and my business,” Bracey finally said, snapping at Andy.
The man only laughed. “Hey, I heard you would turn on your own mother if the price was right.”
“Whatever,” he said, knowing he was giving them the impression that he would.
“So, are you in with us?” Vince asked, eyeing him crossly.
He waited a beat and then another, before saying, “Yeah, I’m in.”
“And just so you know,” Andy said, “I’m not waiting for tonight. I want to hit the bank today, in broad daylight.”
Broad daylight. That wasn’t Andy and Vince’s normal mode of operation. This wasn’t good. There could be people put in harm’s way. He needed to alert the Bureau with details the first chance he got. “Why?”
“That way the mob won’t link the hit to us when the robbery makes the news. As far as they know, we only work at night.”
“Are you crazy, man?” Bracey asked, knowing he had to talk them out of such an insane idea. “There will be cameras all over the place. There’s no way you won’t be identified.”
“I’ll take care of the cameras, as always. Besides, we’ll be wearing ski masks,” Vince said smiling.
Bracey wanted to slap the smile off the man’s face. “If we knock off a bank during business hours, there will be people inside.”
Andy shrugged. “Nobody will get hurt if they do what they are told.”
“And if they don’t?” Bracey asked. “I don’t particularly feel like killing anybody today,” he said, making his voice cold, as if taking another person’s life meant nothing to him.
Vince chuckled. “Speak for yourself. I don’t mind killing anyone. Hell, let me at it.”
Bracey reached for the coffee pot sitting on the table and poured some into his cup. He then took the plastic stick and stirred it up a bit, giving the impression he was considering the men’s proposition. Then he looked over at them. “Then count me out,” he said, narrowing his gaze at them. “I don’t like it when things get messy for no reason. I still got a price on my head with the Feds. You guys don’t.”
Bracey knew they wouldn’t count him out. They couldn’t risk him going back and telling the boss anything. And even if they had ideas of getting rid of him, they wouldn’t risk that either. He hadn’t just popped up on their doorstep one day without a purpose. The boss had sent him. That meant if any craziness happened, there would be a price to pay. And Vince and Andy knew it. If someone ever got caught betraying the boss, they wouldn’t live to tell about it. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind that in essence, he was doing that very thing.