HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN⎪OCEANS ELEVEN

the plan

All the cons that had been gathered and brought together by Iris, Rusty, and Danny were standing around in Reuben's Garden, sharing conversation and finger food that had been supplied. Stepping out of Reuben's house, Iris made her way towards Rusty wearing a wine coloured, skin-tight, low cut, scoop neck, mini dress with spaghetti straps and a pair of black Prada kitten heels, an outfit that made Livingston look like he was about to have an aneurysm and Rusty glared at anyone who dared look below her chin.

"Gentlemen." Danny greeted them with a smile, "Welcome to Las Vegas. Everybody eaten? Good. Everybody sober? Close enough. Alright, before we get started, nobody's on the line here yet. What we're about to propose to you happens to be both highly lucrative and highly dangerous. If that doesn't seem like your particular brand of vodka, help yourself to as much food as you like and have a safe journey. No hard feelings.  Otherwise come with me." Danny turned to walk back inside the house, Iris and Rusty followed behind him with their arms linked, sharing small smiles and words as they walked up the stairs.

Everyone else quickly followed the two up the stairs and into Reuben's house, leaving Linus by the pool and Reuben himself outside. 

"You're Bobby Caldwell's kid, huh? From Chicago?" Linus looked up at the Hugh Hefner look alike that was smoking, a probably illegal, Cuban cigar.

"Yeah." Linus replied.

"It's nice there, do you like it?"

"Yeah."

"That's wonderful." Reuben stated, "Get in the goddamned house." Linus looked up at the man and stood shakily from his seat and followed the already settled group into the house to listen to Danny's plan.

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"Gentlemen." Danny started, "The 3000 block of Las Vegas Boulevard, otherwise known as The Bellagio, The Mirage, and The MGM Grand. Together, they're three of the most profitable casinos in Las Vegas. Let me see."

"This is the vault at the Bellagio. It's located below the strip," Danny explained, changing the screen to a floor plan of the vault, "beneath 200 feat of solid earth. It safeguards every dime that passes through each of the three casinos above it and we're gonna rob it."

"Smash and grab job, huh?" Linus said, making his presence known. Iris turned to look at him, causing a blush to return to his face.

"Slightly more complicated than that." She contradicted before turning back to Rusty and her brother, both wearing smiles.

"Well, yeah."

"This is courtesy of Frank Catton." Danny said, looking at the screen, "The new blackjack dealer at the Bellagio." Frank nodded at the rest of the group.

"Okay. Bad news first." Danny started, "This place houses a security system which rivals most nuclear missile silos. First, we have to get within the casino cages, which anybody'll tell you takes more than a smile."

"Might be a different story with Iris around." Someone said under their breath, but neither Rusty nor Danny heard them which probably saved them a black eye.

"Next," Danny continued, "through these doors, each of which requires a different six-digit code changed every twelve hours. Past those lies the elevator. This is where is gets tricky. The elevator won't move without authorized fingerprint identification-"

"Which we can't fake." Rusty interjected.

"And vocal confirmation from both the security system within the Bellagio and the vault below." Danny said.

"Which we won't get." Iris said as she turned and looked at the group.

"Furthermore, the elevator shaft is rigged with motion detectors."

"Meaning if we were to manually override the lift," Iris began to explain to the people who were less tech-savvy than the rest, "the shaft's exit would lock down automatically, and we'd be trapped."

"Once we get down the shaft, though, then it's a piece of cake." Danny continued with a smug smile on his face, "Just, two more guards with Uzis and the most elaborate vault door ever conceived by man. Any questions?" Danny is met with complete silence as each man processes and swallowed their questions. No one wanted to be the one to point out the several large holes in the plan. Finally, the amazing Yen spoke up, only Rusty and Iris understanding.

"No." Rusty began, "Tunnelling's out." Iris continued, "There are sensors monitoring the ground a hundred yards in every direction." Rusty picked up, "If a groundhog tried to nest there, they'd know about it."

"Anyone else?"

"You said something about good news?" One of the Mormon twins said.

"Yeah," Danny replied, happy someone had asked, "The Nevada Gaming Commission stipulates that a casino must hold in reserve enough cash to cover every chip at play on its floor. That means, on a weekday, by law, it has to carry anywhere between sixty and seventy million dollars in cash and coin. On the weekend, between eighty and ninety million. On a fight night, like the one two weeks from tonight, the night that we're going to rob it, a hundred and fifty million without breaking a sweat." Danny finished as he glanced around the room at the faces of his stunned team.

"Now, there are twelve of us, each with an equal share." Iris started, "You do the math." Someone whistled in the back of the room.

"Exactly," Rusty said, pointing at Virgil.

"I have a question." Saul began, as Danny and Iris turned to look at him, "Say we get into the cage, and through the security doors there, and down the elevator we can't move, and past the guards with the guns, and into the vault we can't open."

"Without being seen by the cameras." Rusty interjected.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Danny said, "I forget to mention that."

"Yeah, well, say we do all that." Saul started again, "We're just supposed to walk outta there with a hundred and fifty million dollars in cash on us without getting stopped?" Iris and Danny looked at each other and smiled, their matching, sure of themselves grin. The one Danny used on Rusty, the one he hadn't been able to deny then and the one the guys won't be able to deny now, especially with two of them. There was pause.

"Yeah." They replied in sync.

"Oh." Saul said, his face falling, "Okay." He finished nodding, face contorting in pain as his ulcer flared up, while popping a Rolaid in his mouth. Then sitting with his head on his hand trying to reassure himself and hold an image of comfort simultaneously.

"Alright, here's how we'll begin." Danny started, "First task: reconnaissance. I wanna know everything that's going on in all three casinos. From the rotation of the dealers to the path of every cash cart. I wanna know everything about every guard, every watcher, anyone with a security pass. I wanna know where they're from, what their nicknames are, how they take their coffee. Most of all, I want you guys to know these casinos, they're built as labyrinths to keep people in. I want you guys to know the quick routes out."

"Second task." Iris carried on, "Power. On the night if the fight, we're gonna throw the switch on Sin City. Basher, it's your show."

"You want broke, blind, or bedlam?" Basher asked. Iris turned to him with a slight smirk on her face as she thought about it, with a quick glance to her brother she looked back at Basher.

"How about all three?"

"Right. It's done."

"Third task." Danny took over once more, "Surveillance. Casino security has an eye and an ear on everything, so we want an eye and an ear on them." Danny turned towards the one person who knew how to do this better than anyone. "Livingston?"