A History Of Violence - Violentine AU

Chapter Fourteen: Blood Money

"So what's your deal?" The man, who Clem learned was named Vince, asked her from across the van.
"Excuse me?" She responded in an irritated tone.
"It's just that, aren't you kinda young to be on a job like this?"
"I was doing this at seventeen."
Vince's eyes widened, he nodded slowly in surprise.
"Damn, mind if I ask why?"
"Yeah actually."
"Alright look, I'm gonna give you some advice. I used to be like you, early twenties, thought I was smarter than all those chumps paying college tuition to go and work themselves to death in an office. Figured I'd get into crime, it pays well and they don't catch you if you're smart. But now I'm older, I'm smarter than I was then but I don't know anything else. I've been to prison so nobody's gonna hire me, so I gotta keep taking scores to make a living."
Clem looked at him with her eyebrows raised, he paused for a moment before clearing his throat and continuing.
"My point is, get out while you still can. You don't wanna be here for the rest of your life." Vince said earnestly.
"I don't wanna be here now." Clem sighed under her breath.
"I don't give a fuck what she does with her life after this, she better pull her weight today." Andy St. John interjected.
Clementine scowled at him.
"I'll do my job, same as you."
"Good, because I don't like it when people get between me and my money."
The slot covering the small window to the cab was slid open and Axel, the driver, turned around to speak to them.
"Couple'a minutes out, get your asses ready."
The truck finally came to a stop in the driveway of an old farm. There was enough trees on either side that it would mask the van from a distance, the guards in the armoured truck wouldn't suspect anything until it was too late. Everybody piled out of the van, Clem slung her rifle around her neck and under her arm so it was in front of her for easy access, just how she had been taught as a teenager.
It surprised Clem how much of it came back to her, like all her criminal knowledge was simply lying dormant, waiting for her to use it again.
Vince pulled the rolled up spike strip from the back of the van and ran up ahead to place it on the dirt road. He held one side and tossed it across, the strip unfolded itself and the rest of the crew got to work at burying it.
"Now for the fun part, waiting in the bushes." Vince chuckled to himself.
Clementine knelt down on one knee, watching the horizon line of the road, waiting for the armoured truck to arrive. The sooner they had those bonds, the sooner she could go back to her normal life. She pulled the signal jammer out of her pocket and turned it over in her hands.
"Once that truck's crashed, you gotta be quick with the jammer, you follow me?" Axel said.
"I got it, relax."
They all perked their heads up at the low rumble of an engine far off in the distance, it got closer with each passing second.
"Alright, that's for us. Masks on." Vince announced.
Clem pulled her balaclava over her head, concealing her face.
"Codenames only from here on." He added.
Clem remembered the stupid codenames Joan had assigned them earlier, all themed around birds, hers being 'Finch'. 
The truck finally came into view, it's image distorted by the ripple on the road in the distance.
Clementine put one hand on the grip of the rifle, resting her finger on the outside of the receiver above the trigger guard. She took slow deliberate breaths to calm her racing heart, it was the exact opposite kind of racing to when she had kissed Violet on the roof.
The truck sped down the empty road before a loud popping sound let her know that the spikes had done their job. The truck tires burst and it swerved from left to right, the driver fighting for control against the traction-less wheels. The truck banked and went off the side of the road, crashing into the wooden fence and coming to a stop in a slight ditch.
Clementine and the rest of the crew sprinted over to the downed vehicle, she pressed the green button on top of the signal jammer and affixed it to the side of the armoured truck with the help of a magnet.
Andy St. John approached the cab, yanking open the door and strong-arming the driver while his brother, Danny, grabbed the passenger.
"Don't try nothin' stupid." Danny shouted, shoving the muzzle of his gun into the passenger's face.
The passenger was a younger man, in his mid twenties, Clem guessed. Despite his Kevlar vest and holstered gun, he was shaking in fear. Danny ripped the pistol from the passenger's holster and tossed it far away into the field.
The driver's weather beaten face was contorted into a scowl as Andy went to take the gun from him.
In one swift motion, the driver's hand shot towards his holster. He pulled out his revolver but didn't get any further before the ear splitting report of Andy's rifle rang out. He fired three shots into the driver's chest at point blank range, tearing through the body armour. The driver's eyes widened in shock as he tumbled backwards, landing face up in the grass. He wheezed and coughed for a moment before falling silent, the look frozen on his face was one of pure confusion.
"Told ya, you dumb son of a bitch." Danny grumbled, prodding the passenger with the muzzle of his rifle.
"We were meant to do this clean. No bodies, that was the plan." Clementine hissed to Andy who was looking down at the corpse of the driver, unimpressed.
"He was going for his gun, you're welcome." He said nonchalantly.
Clem shook her head and stormed off towards the back of truck. Danny shoved the passenger towards the back doors and pointed the rifle at the back of his head.
"Open it."
"W... what?" The passenger stammered.
"I said open it!" Danny repeated more aggressively.
"I don't know the code!"
"The fuck do you mean, you don't know the code?"
"It's my first day, Brian had the code, not me!" He panicked, pointing a finger at where the driver's body lay.
"Fuck.." Clementine breathed.
"Shit, plan B then." Vince said, taking out the brick of C2.
He stuck it to the door, pressing a button on the primer attached to the brick.
"Stand back, this is gonna be loud."
Clementine ran around to the side of the van, out of the path of the explosion. Vince held up the detonator and pushed in the button. There was a high pitched beep followed by a deafening blast.
Clem moved back to the truck's doors, her ears ringing from the explosion. The four guards inside the truck were in various states of disarray. Two of them covered their ears, having dropped their guns on the ground. One had a shallow head wound that was bleeding down her face, and the last one was unconscious right by the door. She and Vince forced the rest of them out of the truck, using zip-ties to secure their hands behind their backs.
As Clem lined the guards up against the side of the truck, she found herself reading their name tags. The one with the head wound was named Eloise, the other two were Alex and Murray, and the unconscious man was Kaleb.
She felt awful, she had a part in what would likely be a traumatic experience for these people. She was complicit in the death of Brian, and despite not pulling the trigger, it felt like there was no difference.
Andy St. John approached the line of detained guards, sizing them up. He suddenly stepped back and shouldered his rifle, aiming it at Eloise.
Clem saw what he was about to do and rushed him, she grabbed the barrel of his rifle and shoved it to the side. Andy let off a shot that struck the truck at an angle just inches from Eloise's face and ricocheted off, kicking up a spray of dirt in the paddock next to them.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" She growled, still holding his weapon.
"You best back off, girl." Andy threatened in a deadpan tone.
"I'm gonna ask again, what the fuck do you think you're doing?"
"They're witnesses. Smart thing to do is to get rid of them."
"If you fire that gun one more time, I will put you in the ground, got it?" Clem leaned in, glaring at him.
Andy scoffed.
"You believe this bitch, D?"
She heard the rattle of Danny's gun behind her, she didn't have to look to know he was aiming at her.
"Don't believe it at all. Want me to shoot her?" Danny replied nonchalantly.
"Hey! All of you, cut that shit out right now!" Vince shouted loud enough to startle the restrained guards.
"Finch is right. If you kill anyone else, we're gonna have a fuckin' problem. And Crane, lower that fucking gun."
"Whatever you say, Ibis." Danny said sarcastically, pointing the gun downwards.
Clem let go of Andy's rifle and stepped back, keeping one hand on her own weapon just in case he tried something.
"Finch, get in the truck and grab those bonds." Vince said.
Clementine sighed and jumped up into the back of the armoured truck. There was a large box with a combination lock on the outside. Clem knelt down, pressing her ear up to it and holding her breath. She slowly turned the dial, listening to the soft clicks of the mechanism until it caught on the correct number. She repeated the process twice until the safe finally clicked open.
She began grabbing stacks of the bearer bonds and stuffing them into a duffel bag. When the safe was empty, she jumped out.
"That's everything."
"Good, let's get the fuck out of here." Vince groaned with a shake of his head.
They made a beeline for the van where Axel was waiting, throwing the bag into the back and piling in.
Throughout the entire drive to the rendezvous, Andy and Danny scowled at her. Clem scowled right back, she was sick of everything about this. She was sick of the St. Johns, she was sick of having to hurt people and she was sick of Joan acting like she owned her.
In spite of the guilt and stress that hounded her, she was glad that it was over now. If Joan kept her word, Clem could go back home and forget about them forever. All she wanted to do give AJ a hug and to kiss Violet, to just return normality. What she did today, it didn't feel real. It was like stepping back in time to her old life, and she wanted desperately to be free of it.

The van arrived at its destination, an abandoned garage out of town. They got out and Clem carried the bag of bonds inside. A middleman was waiting for them in a chair, reading a pocket sized book. He put it away and stood up from his chair, holding out a hand to her. She gave him the duffel and he nodded. It was typical of Joan to get somebody else to do her dirty work.
"This is a good haul, congratulations. You'll all receive your cut, it'll be wired to your accounts within the month." The middleman said after inspecting the contents of the bag.
He clicked his fingers and pointed to the large oil drum through the back door.
"Dump your coveralls, boots, masks and gloves in there. Guns go over here, put them away first so you don't get fingerprints all over them." He spoke monotonously, as if he had been through the same routine countless times.
Clementine carefully placed the rifle on the table, making sure the safety was on and it was unloaded. She stood by the oil drum and began taking off the heist clothes, leaving her in the plain t-shirt and pants she left the house in that morning. Everybody else followed suit, dropping their clothes in the drum.
Once they were all done, the middleman came over to where they were holding a Jerry can. He doused the contents of the drum in gasoline and struck a match, dropping it in and stepping back as a pillar of fire erupted into the air.
He handed Axel a set of keys and gestured to the other car parked in the garage. They all piled into the hatchback, Clem made sure to ride shotgun to avoid being near the St. Johns. Axel drove them all back to the warehouse where Joan herself was waiting for them.
"Well, it seems everything went smoothly. Nicely done." She said cheerfully, arms crossed over her chest.
"Whatever. I did what you wanted, we're even. Now you're gonna keep your word, don't ever call me again and don't come near my family." Clem said dismissively.
She desperately wanted this conversation to be over.
"Of course, unless you call me that is."
A smug grin grew on Joan's face, anyone who didn't know her would have assumed she was being very polite, but Clem knew better.
"That's not gonna happen."
"If you say so, dear."
With a wave of her hand, Joan sauntered off, leaving Clementine to her own devices. She headed for the office to retrieve her boots, but her path was blocked by the St. John brothers.
"Got a problem?" She snapped, folding her arms.
"Yeah, I got a problem. I got a problem with a loud mouthed little bitch thinkin' she can pull shit like that without consequences." Andy glowered at her.
Clementine maintained her steely demeanour, keeping a bored expression on her face all the while.
"Grow up, St. John." She rolled her eyes and began walking around him.
Andy and Danny moved to the side, blocking her once again.
"You best hope I don't see you again, because if I do, you're gonna be dead."
"Well, it's a good thing I don't intend to be anywhere near you then." She retorted, moving past him and into the office.
With her boots on her feet, she left the warehouse and headed back to the nearest urban area on foot. From there, she hailed a taxi to take her back to the apartment.  Clementine took the key from her pocket and went to put it in the lock. She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. She exhaled and pushed the key into the lock, turning it and stepping back into her home.