"Play it again," Lou says as she continues to study the computer screen, silent and angry.
Nineball presses a button, and it plays again.
On the screen shows another angle of the surveillance camera as Debbie walked out, looking cool effortlessly as always, holding a yellow envelope.
Two masked men appear from the bottom left corner of the screen and grab her as if she didn't weigh much heavier than a feather. A white van then appears on the edge of the screen, and as Constance and Nineball watch her get stuffed and carried away again, Lou stands up abruptly and walks away.
Tears. Tears were falling from Lou's eyes.
Lou Miller doesn't cry. She didn't cry when her only companion, her faithful mutt Bandit died when she was six years old, she didn't cry when her gang leading father kicked her out when she was fifteen, after he has found out she was attracted to girls; she didn't cry as a teenager when she had nowhere to go, with no family or friends to turn to.
But now, after learning that her partner and best friend had been kidnapped, she felt as though someone reached in her body and ripped her heart out.
After all, it was Debbie.
2002
It was a Thursday afternoon in July. Lou was on a job in Las Vegas, the scalding Nevada weather was over a hundred degrees, the sun burning Lou's bare and pale arms. It was like hell.
As she wiped off a drop of sweat from her forehead, Lou entered the cold, air-conditioned lobby of the MGM Grand hotel. She walked to the bar and ordered a gin & tonic. She had a high tolerance to alcohol and doesn't get drunk easily, so she could've ordered a bourbon or scotch, but this job required her absolute focus. This could be her big break.
After her father had kicked her out when she was fifteen, Lou stayed with a high school friend until she became legal. She had dropped out of school during her senior year, and even though others thought of it as foolish, she had her reasons.
And now, at age 31, even though she had a semi-successful con business going on, Lou still felt incomplete. Her love life was almost non-existent. Sure, there were girls, there would ALWAYS be hookups and short flings for Lou Miller, the charming heartthrob, but she often wondered if she was ever going to find the one woman that will spend the rest of her life with her.
Focusing on the job, Lou holds a newspaper over her face, looking over at her left, where Danny Ocean and his sister—Donna or something—walked in from the hotel entrance.
She was going to do something almost none had done before—beat Daniel Ocean at his con. She was about to become the most successful con man in history.
Or in her case, the most successful con woman.
It's been roughly 10 hours since they first saw the surveillance footage, and as each minute passed, Lou couldn't stop imagining what Debbie could be going through at the moment.
Thoughts went through her head, ones of Debbie getting beaten or tied up, screaming for help.
Lou shuddered. She couldn't afford to think. She couldn't afford to waste any more time. She needed to find her.
Her alone time was cut short when she heard the heavy clank of her metal door close. Lou looked up to find the originally absent members of the team—Tammy, Daphne, Rose, and Amita, standing next to the couch she was sitting.
"Constance and I called up the ladies last night," Nineball said from the other side of the room.
"We came as quick as possible." Tammy said. The other three women nodded in agreement.
Everyone walked towards the other room, where Nineball was now at, leaving Lou alone in the living room, once again occupied by her thoughts.
"Oh, in case anyone was wondering about sleeping arrangements, I brought extra sleeping bags, in case the beds here can't fit us all," Tammy pointed to the large box beside the door. Constance guessed there could have been about thirty sleeping bags in it.
"Well, Ebay hoarder certainly came in handy," Daphne chuckled. "But I still prefer the good ole' thing they call a mattress."
Amita rolled her eyes and smiled. "Of course you do, hot shot."
The tense atmosphere from hours ago seems like it vanished, leaving a more warm, homey feeling in the loft. But the upsetting fact was still there; Debbie was still missing.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Lou straightened her back as she started toward the group of women. She suddenly felt a rush of energy surge through her, giving her a little motivation.
She cracked her neck just before speaking to the six women with confidence.
"Let's get to work."
