“Is anyone concerned with how many innocent people we are involving?” Edie demanded.
Her question went unanswered.
“How much time will we have to work with?” Frances asked.
“A couple of hours,” Joan said. “If he’s drunk, maybe longer.”
Marcy was shaking her head. “I don’t know. This seems really bad, you guys. You want me toroofiehim? That’s illegal. And it’s super dangerous. Won’t he know that I did it?”
“Roofying him is bad but stealing millions is okay?” Frances snapped. Her anxiety and the steroids were apparently kicking in. But now was not the time for the faint of heart.
“First of all, it’s not a true benzo,” Joan explained. “It’s mushrooms. Second, we’re open to other ideas.” She looked pointedly at Marcy and sounded like she sincerely wanted another idea.
Predictably, Marcy shook her head, then shrank in her chair.
“We’ll be in your ear the whole time,” Edie assured her.
“How does that help?” Marcy asked morosely.
“Just make sure he drinks,” Joan said. “Like, a lot. The trick is to get him to think he did it to himself. We’ll do the rest. Does anyone have a sedative?”
Frances raised her hand.
Marcy looked like she was on the verge of tears. She stood up and tried to leave the room, but Frances caught her hand before she could. “Remember the number one rule.”
“Keep quiet?” Marcy asked.
“Try again.”
“Keep my eyes peeled.”
Jesus.“No. The number one rule is Don’t fall for the mark.” Frances shifted her gaze to Edie. “Right, Edie?”
Edie glared back at Frances. “Right, Frances.”
“Okay, we all know the things we must do today,” Irene said. “Take your vitamins,eatsomething, and don’t forget to hydrate! We don’t need any delirious old ladies not knowing their names.”
No, they did not need that.
Thirty-two
Joan’s smoke bombs were creating some concern in the house because they worked a bit too well.
“What the hell is that smell?” Frances asked, walking into the kitchen. She couldn’t see the sink for the smoke.
“Smoke bombs,” Joan said. “I was a little worried that I couldn’t get the smoke just right. But I’ve been tinkering with the recipe and they work.”
“For what? When?”
“In the vault hallway,” Irene answered, emerging from the smoke with the blueprints of the casino she’d printed. “There are a couple of guards there.” She went into the living room with her blueprints. “Open some windows!” she called to Joan.
They had honed their plan, and it was simple enough. They had learned during one of their first jobs that the more basic the plan, the better chance they had of succeeding.Girl, keep it simple, they would say to each other.
“My guy came through,” Irene announced. “The power outage is set for five minutes to midnight tomorrow night. Within five minutes, the generator lights will be up. Security will be focused on the floor to keep anyone from making off with chips ormoney in the dark. A smaller security team is dispatched to the vault. I have access to Mark’s system and will turn off the motion detector.”
“So, Edie and I have five minutes to get into the vault?” Frances asked.
“Yep, before it locks up again.”
