An Angel's Vice

Chapter 33 - We All Fall Down

February 15th, 2009
Kendall, Miami

"Yo. You still in Miami?"

Lauren keeps her eyes fixed on her hands as she puts on black leather gloves over the nitrile ones. She has a burning cigarette hanging loosely between her lips with clouds of smoke wafting around her eyes, and an earpiece device she uses her burner phone with. She leans against a brown electrician service van, where her heist crew is currently setting up for the first phase of the robbery, and trusts that they aren't missing anything on the checklist that should be marked off. As she listens to her brother on the other line, she lifts her ponytail so she may place the voice changing neckband around her neck, which will be in use once in the ultra-famous music manager's home.

"I know how you can make this right for me. We can be on good terms again...if you do this one thing for me," Lauren closes her lips and pulls on the cigarette. She takes it out of her mouth and chucks it at the ground without stomping it out. "There's a guy I need to be taken care of immediately. I'd do it, but I'm all tied up right now. And I can't send any of my guys because he knows all of them—which leaves me you. I sent him the address of a spot to meet up at in Cutler Bay where he will be waiting for you to give him some very important intel. Wear blue and white and a cross around your neck for this meeting so it doesn't trace back to me. When you arrive at the location, get into the ninety-six Chevelle and finish him. That's it. Think you can do that?"

"Bichota," Raúl slaps the car door from the opened passenger seat window. "Estamos listos." (Boss, we're ready.)

Lauren smiles at both Raúl and Chris's response over the phone. "Perfect. I'd rather you call a taxi cab and have the driver help you into your wheelchair; keep this meetup a secret and tell nobody or else you'll blow my cover. Once he's dead, I'll have one of my guys already pulling in to go get you. Understood? Great. See you soon, Chris."

She heads over to the back of the van, kicking the tiny rocks on the dirt ground with the tips of her stealth tactical boots, and leaps into the open space where there are weapons, bags for the cash and other valuable finds, extra tools needed for the heist, and a small section for Sasha to manage the police radio scanner and the computers and surveillance consoles that'll hack into the security systems and aid them during the heist. Negro skips into the back of the van and hunches over as he stomps toward Lauren, handing her the last of the stopwatches they'll use to keep time. She catches him before he can leave, and properly adjusts the fake, full-face beard he wears beneath a fake nose so that it sits more naturally. His brown eyes are covered in blue contacts, and he is wearing heavy makeup to further his disguise, given that his face will be seen. He and Raúl are wearing wigs and facial disguises that make them unrecognizable.

"You are a steady Southern man from the most Hispanic part of Texas, you have a wife and five kids, you are a devout Christian who cannot shut up about the good news, and you know all about technology and hardware. Stay in character, you hear?" Lauren grabs his shoulders, holding intense eye contact.

"Yeah. I've been working on my accent. Pretty good, right?" Negro smirks.

"Sure. But it counts for nothing if your dumbass slips and says the 'N' word. This ain't the streets, and you're as professional as they come. You fuck this up and I'll bury you," she states and then nudges him out of the van. "Go, get out of here."

After Negro closes up the back doors, they get moving and the operation officially commences. Lauren and Snake grab their ski masks from the floor and briefly go over their roles in the plan to sneak around, loot valuables, break into the safe, and leave undetected with the goods. They are all supposed to get away scot-free, without additional troubles. In the event that a fuck up occurs, everyone has to die—every witness.