HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN⎪OCEANS ELEVEN

the pinch

"Saturday day is yours." Rusty told the crew, "Do with it whatever you like."

"Call is at five-thirty." Iris began, "Makeup and costume. Saul's package arrives at seven-fifteen, and Linus grabs our codes. All goes well there and we're a go. Seven-thirty Virgil and Turk deliver Yen and we're committed. From that point, we have thirty minutes to blow the power, or he suffocates." She finished as the group sat around a small table that had a miniature vault on it.

"Once the electricity goes, all access points to the vault and its elevator will automatically lock down for two minutes." Rusty explained, "That's when we make our move."

The entire group watched in silence as a guard wheels in a cash cart, leaving it in the middle of the room before marching out. They closed the metal door behind them, when the vault clicks to signify it's locked, every eye is on the cash cart.

The false top of the cash cart springs open to reveal Yen folded neatly inside.

"Okay." Rusty shouted to Yen, "It puts you in the middle of the room, ten feet from everything. You have to get from there to the door without touching the floor. What do you do?"

"Ten says he shorts it." Turk stated, dressed in a security guards' uniform, the rest of the group standing next to him.

"Twenty." The rest of them answered, never looking at him. the group watched Yen as he set himself up to jump. He took a deep breath and jumped. He landed perfectly on top of the cages surrounding the room. The group applauded, as Turk stuck up his middle finger and reached for his wallet before clapping with them.

"Window or aisle, boys?" Basher shouted, making his appearance known. The entire group turn to look at him, concerned. The con was supposed to happen the next day and a problem had just presented itself.

"Yeah. We're in deep shit." He said, walking closer to the group before coming to a stop. Iris, who stood closest, inhaled, and gagged, smelling him from four foot away. Danny looked at her worried for a second, before noticing the smell himself and nodding. Linus picked up the hose and began to hose him down, holding it at an angle so he didn't have to get too close.

"That poxy demo crew haven't used a coaxial to batten the main line, have they?" Basher shouted, accent thick and angry after how his afternoon had been spent. "They've only nosed up the mainframe couplet. Nosed it right up!"

"You understand any of this?" Reuben asked as he leant towards Livingston and Iris.

"I'll explain later." Livingston replied.

"Listen, they're so ponied that they've gone and blown the backup grid one by one like dominos." Basher, calmer now, continued complaining.

"Basher, what happened?" Iris asked.

"They did the same what I would've done." Basher started, "Only they did it by accident. Problem is now they know their weakness and they're sorting it out. They're fixing it."

"So?"

"So, unless we intend to do this job in Reno." Basher snapped at Danny, "We're in Barney." The entire crew looked at him in confusion.

"Barney rubble." Basher tried again, but they still had a blank look on their faces.

"Trouble." He shouted, frustrated that they didn't understand what he was saying.

"Well." Danny said, before turning to Rusty, "We could always-"

"By tomorrow?" Rusty asked and shook his head.

"Hang on a minute. Hang on." Basher started, smiling again, "We could use a pinch." Rusty shrugged and Danny looked confused, neither of them knowing what a pinch is. Whereas a look of understanding dawned across Iris's face, and she started smiling as well.