CROSSED ROADS

by Gruber Kurz

Three armoured trucks drove in convoy down the road. They turned onto the crossroads of 7th and Wilson. When all three were in the open, the air was torn by the thunder-crack of a sniper's rifle.

The lead truck swerved across the road and blood sprayed over the fractured windshield as the .50 slug opened the driver's head. It crashed into the wall of a coffee shop on the corner. The guards in the back fell from their seats. One bashed his head against the lock boxes and lay down, dazed, his head bleeding. The two following trucks stopped immediately, and the guards got out, guns in hand. They looked around frantically, trying to spot the shooter, terrified more gunfire would follow. The guard in the crashed truck tried to open the side door to get out, but it blocked by something he couldn't see.

Four figures — all wearing ballistic vests and grotesque clown masks — emerged from an alley behind a convenience store. Armed with assault rifles, the clowns fired on the exposed guards before they could react, eliminating them with a cold efficiency.

The guard inside the lead truck froze when he heard the gunfire. As panic set in, he crept to the truck's rear doors, straining to hear anything outside. He heard a voice with a British accent speak.

'Fuck sake, lads, I thought there were only meant to be two of these bastard trucks!'

The voice was muffled when heard from the truck. Another voice, this one American, deep, and grizzled, spoke next.

'It doesn't matter, just get the C4 in place, we have seven minutes until first response.'

'We've only got enough charges for two trucks. Unless you've got a fucking drill up your arse we're not getting into that last one.'

'We leave it. It's not worth dying for.'

The guard went cold as he listened. He rushed back to the side door, knowing that it wouldn't open but trying it anyway.

His colleague groaned from the floor. 'Wha's happ'ning?'

The guard heard a series of beeps from the rear of the truck. Not knowing what to do, he grabbed his colleague and they huddled as far from the rear door as they could get.

It wasn't far enough.

#

'Fucking hell, I'll never get used to how loud C4 is,' Hoxton said when the ringing in his ears went away. The rear doors of the front two trucks lay in the road, twisted and blackened.

'Stay focused. Cover Chains,' said Dallas.

Chains had already ran into the back of the middle truck, saw in hand. He worked quickly, opening the lock boxes filled with cash and other valuables.

'Clover, signal the van. Hoxton, Chains, clear the other truck. I'll bag this shit up,' Dallas said. The crew did as instructed.

Clover ran to the entrance of the alley they'd come from and waved to the van driver. He pulled out and parked alongside the trucks. Clover threw the rear doors open just as Dallas tossed the first bag to her feet. She moved it into the van.

Hoxton kept a lookout while Chains jumped into the crashed truck.

'Ah, shit, look at these two. Must have been caught in the explosion,' he said.

Hoxton looked in. 'Fuck me, they're still moving.' He raised his rifle.

'Hold up, look at them. They look like they're on another planet. And check out their ears. See the blood? They can't hear a fucking thing. Ear drums must've been blown out by the C4. No reasonto kill these guys, they won't be any trouble.' Chains hoisted the saw up and got to work on the lock boxes.

Dallas and Clover came over.

'What's taking so long?' said Dallas. 'The cops'll be here in three minutes.'

'Alright, keep your knickers on. We're nearly done here,' Hoxton said as he bagged a stack of crisp hundred dollar bills.

'Why the fuck are there still guards in here?' said Dallas. He put a bullet in each of their heads.

'Hey now, there was no need for that.'

'No witnesses. We don't leave anything tying us to the job. Get that cash to the van, we need to leave.'

The crew moved the cash and valuables to the van. Chains put the saw into a bag and Dallas closed the doors once they were all in.

'Let's get moving,' he shouted to the driver.

'Sucks we couldn't get at that third truck,' Chains said as the van pulled away.

'You get what you can and you get out,' said Dallas. 'Greed gets you killed. Nothing is worth dying for. Not money, not family, not anything.'

The last thing the crew saw as the van turned a corner was the shimmer of blue and red lights approaching the crossroads.

#

'Two point eight million dollars. Not bad for ten minutes' work,' said Chains.

The cash had been laid out on the floor of the safehouse and counted.

'You could build a little fort with that,' said Hoxton. 'Put up a sign: NO COPPERS ALLOWED.'

'Build what you want with it, as long as you do it in the vault,' said Dallas. 'I need to go meet with Vlad. He has a job for us. And he still owes us for the mall last week. I'll be back in a few hours.' Dallas left.

'Sorry, guys, but I gotta go, too,' Chains said as he changed out of his suit and into jeans and a t-shirt. 'My brother is doing his first rap battle tonight and I promised him I'd be there. Good work today.' He followed Dallas out the door.

Hoxton turned to Clover. 'Just you and me, sweetheart. I'll bag the cash up, you get the vault open.'

When the cash was stacked in the vault, the two of them stood back to appreciate it.

'I'll tell you what, this is building up nicely,' said Hoxton. 'We've made in a year what most buggers never see in their entire lives. I've got half a mind to buy a paddling pool and have a swim in my share.'

'Just a paddlin' pool? Are you a child or what?'

'Can you imagine how long it'd take to get it all back out of a full-size pool? I couldn't be arsed with any of that bollocks. A kiddies' pool would be fine for me.'

Clover scoffed. 'Whatever. I'm goin' back upstairs.'

For the next hour they played a game of cards, waiting for Dallas to return with news of their next job.

'That's one, two, three aces, and one, two, three, four nines. I win again,' said Hoxton, laying his cards on the table.

Clover tossed hers into the middle of the table with a grunt. She hadn't won a single game in an hour.

'Now now, no need to be a sore loser. We can't all be brilliant at three-of-one-four-of-the-other. Some of us are just naturally gifted.'

'It's not the cards. It's... Is this all there is?' Clover said abruptly. 'Pulling heists and then waiting for the next one?'

'What are you on about?'

'I've just been thinking about what Dallas said, about nothing being worth dying for. All that shite about having no attachments, being able to walk away from your whole life at a moment's notice. It's pretty bleak, don't you think?'

Hoxton looked at her, trying to decide if she was being serious. 'I suppose so, yeah. But that doesn't mean you can't have those things. Look at Chains and his brother. And Bonnie's fucked off to Scotland to see her folks.'

'No, she fucked off to Scotland to hide out while things die down after the bank job. She's seeing her ma and pa while she's there, but that ain't why she left. And what happens if Chains has to go on the run and he can't see his brother no more? Is he just going to forget him, like? And what about you? Who do you have? No family, no girlfriend, no one but us, and we could all disappear at any moment.'

'Hey now, what's brought all this on? What the fuck's up with you today?'

Clover sighed. She shook her head slightly. 'I'm just feeling blue lately, is all. I don't remember the last time I did something for fun, you know? Every thing's either been prepping for heists, pulling heists, or waiting for bloody heists. But there are other things I want, like...' She looked away from Hoxton. 'Like, a bloke, for example.'

'Oh.'

'I don't mean like a boyfriend. Just a bloke, you know? Some human contact once in a while.'

'Yeah. I know what you mean.'

Clover looked up at Hoxton. 'How about it, then? While we've got the place to ourselves.'

Hoxton frowned. 'What? You and me, here and now?'

'Why not?'

'Well... It might not be the best idea for two of the crew to get... I mean, for them to be all... involved with each other.'

'I'm not wanting you to love me or some shite, I just want to fuck someone for a change, is all.'

Hoxton was taken aback. He looked at Clover now with different eyes. He'd never thought of her as attractive, but she wasn't ugly. Now that he was looking at her, he noticed her full lips, the colour in her eyes, the sheen of her hair. He tried to picture her naked, his thoughts lingering on her wide hips and how big her arse would look when she bent over. He was getting hard thinking about her.

'Sounds good to me. Should we go get on one of the beds?'

'The couch'll do fine,' Clover said as she stood up, took off her jacket and began unbuttoning her shirt.

Hoxton started to take his clothes off, watching Clover as he did so. She took off her shirt and pants, then unhooked her bra and let it fall to the floor. Her tits hung low on her chest, round and full. She had dark nipples, and they were hard and large. She took her underpants off, revealing a neatly trimmed bush of dark red hair around a soft pink slit. Hoxton could see it getting moist.

'Fuck me, you've got a nice set of tits on you.'

Clover gave a one-sided smile. 'I can tell you're excited.'

She was looking at Hoxton's crotch. He was naked now, too, and his erection was full and prominent. 'You're bloody right I am. Now, what do you want to do with this?'

Clover stepped towards Hoxton and stood so close her nipples pressed against his skin. She reached down and took hold of his cock and stroked it gently, pulling the foreskin over the head and then pushing it back. She looked Hoxton in the eye, then looked at his mouth and kissed him. She kissed him again, and Hoxton put his hand on her face, holding her to him for longer. Her tongue parted his lips and entered his mouth. He moved his other hand down to her arse and squeezed a handful of the soft flesh.

Clover pulled her face away from his. 'I hope your cock's as nice as your tongue.' She knelt down in front of him and pushed her hair from her face. She licked her lips and slid her mouth over his cock. She ran the tip of her tongue around the head, and then sucked as she pulled her head back. Hoxton began breathing deeply as she sucked on him, her head bobbing back and forth, gaining speed. He placed a hand gently on the back of her head. She stroked him as she went, and cupped his balls with her other hand and started to play with them.

'Oh fuck, that feels good. I can tell you've done this before.'

Clover smiled up at him. 'Once or twice,' she said before putting him back in her mouth.

Hoxton tensed up, about to cum. He breathing was deep and slow and his grip on Clover's head tightened. She slowed down and grabbed one of the short hairs growing from his balls. She pulled it out, and stepped away.

'Argh! What the fuck was that for?'

'I don't want you blowing your load too early. I'm not done with you yet.'

'Fuck sake, you didn't need to rip a pube out. Christ, I'm not bleeding am I?'

'Stop being such a big child about it. Sit on the couch, there.'

Rubbing his balls, Hoxton sat down. His erection had softened a little, but hardened once more when Clover stood over him and spread her pussy.

'Don't you dare cum inside me, mind.' She lowered herself onto him, taking him in slowly, inch by inch, until he was completely inside.

'Don't worry, I'm sure you'll just rip a bollock off before I have the chance.'

'Hmm, maybe I will.' She rocked her hips back and forth, feeling him inside her and savouring it.

She rode him for a while, lifting herself up and dropping herself back down on his cock, while he grabbed her arse and thrust up when she came down, going as deep as he could. Her tits bounced invitingly in front of his face. He took one in his hand and licked the nipple, sucked it, gently bit it. Clover's head rolled back in pleasure, and she ran a hand down her body and to her clit. She rubbed it in circles, feeling the heat move through her body as she came closer and closer to climax. Hoxton squeezed her tits and closed his eyes, so close to cumming all he could think about was his cock inside her.

Clover held onto Hoxton's shoulders as she moved against him, like a piston, feeling the lightning of her orgasm spasm through her.

Hoxton's veins were visible in his neck. 'I'm going to fucking cum.'

'Not... Not inside me,' said Clover. She slid off Hoxton and knelt down, putting her mouth on his cock, tasting her warm juices on him. He lasted seconds before he erupted in her mouth, filling it with his hot spunk. All of his energy seemed focused in his dick as he shot his wad into her.

Clover licked the last few drops off his shaft and then swallowed it all with a little grimace. 'Never get used to that taste of that.'

'You know you love it.' Hoxton leaned back on the couch, watching his cock gradually soften. 'That was fucking fantastic.'

'You weren't bad,' Clover said, smiling. 'I was better.' She went to the bathroom to clean herself up.

'Huh, you can stick to a vibrator next time, then, do the job yourself.'

Clover poked her head around the bathroom door. 'How could I get off without my team to help me out?'

THE END