Page 78 of Tito

“He’s got a good point,” Ally said. “Each job puts us out there. We almost got it on that bank job in—”

Cash spun to face her. “Oh, Jesus. You, too?”

“We don’t need the money,” she explained. “I’m doing this because—”

“Big fucking surprise that you don’t need the fucking money,” Cash snapped, his tone expressing irritation and jealousy. “Ghost left you a multi-million-dollar home and who knows how many millions in—”

Goose shop up from his seat. “Hold up a minute, motherfucker.” He puffed his chest. “I’ve got what I’ve got because I’m responsible.”

With his eyes locked on Goose, Cash lifted his chin slightly. “And I’m not?”

“No,” Goose said. “You’re sure as fuck not.”

“Fuck you,” Cash spat. He looked at me. “And, fuck you.” He glanced at Baker. “You don’t have anything to say about this bullshit? If the little man says we should stop working for a living, we just stop?”

“I haven’t had an opportunity to get a word in edgewise,” Baker complained. “I was going to—”

“Fuck this shit,” Cash muttered. “Whatever you’ve got to say, you can say to my back.”

With those words, Cash stomped toward the door. As we all stared with open mouths, he got on the elevator and rode it to the basement.

Before we had a chance to continue the conversation, the sound of Cash’s motorcycle being started echoed off the building’s walls. Then, the muffled drone of the engine accelerating faded into the distance.

I looked at Baker. “Everyone here can decide for themselves.” I glanced at Goose, Ally, and Reno. “Short of me, everyone here has a family outside of this family. They’ve got a family they have created or are in the process of creating. The tattoos on our back spell it out clearly: family over all. Things have changed. Our family is no longer contained within the limits of this room. I feel like we’re all on borrowed time, and I don’t like it.”

Baker put his hands on his hips. His gaze fell to the floor. A long breath escaped him before he looked up. “I’m not disagreeing with you, Tito. It’s just. I wasn’t really prepared for this. You took me by surprise. I can’t say it isn’t something that I’ve thought about from time to time, especially after that job up by Torrey Pines.”

“I’m not asking for an answer right now,” I said. “I want this to be addressed after everyone’s had time to think about it. Being incarcerated for our crimes isn’t something I want to have to worry about any longer.”

Baker looked at everyone else. “Why don’t we all give this some thought. Like I said, I wasn’t prepared. Now that its’ been mentioned, I’m afraid if I don’t act on it that I’ll be destined to be reminded of why I should have.”

Reno nodded. “I’m with Tito. We’ve been on borrowed time for a decade, Bake. We’ve been nearly caught a dozen times or more. We have been caught once. Luckily it was by a dirty cop. If a dirty cop can catch us, a clean one can, too. When that day comes, we’re toast. I like thinking this can last forever, but it ain’t likely that’ll ever happen.”

“Agreed,” Goose said. “The chances of another dirty cop catching us and letting us go are slim to none. The next cop that catches us is going to either shoot us or handcuff us and take us in. I’m not interested in doing time.”

Ally tugged the bill of her ball cap low on her brow. “I’m doing whatever Goose is doing.”

Reno’s look hardened. “I’ll warn each of you now. When I go out, I’m going out in a blaze of gunfire. They’re not locking me up in a six-foot by eight-foot box, that I can guarantee you.”

Baker glanced at each of us. “I’ll get a timeline put together for this job before next week’s meeting. We’ll plan on doing it next Thursday. The coin show is on Saturday. On the other matter, I’ll have a talk with Cash.”

Reasoning with Cash was never easy. To succeed, a person needed to convince him that all ideas discussed were his own. In this circumstance, doing so would require Baker to be extremely creative.

In short, it would be nearly impossible.

“Good luck,” I said. “Because you’re going to need it.”