They all stood around on the side of the road. "Hey guys come here." John said and they gathered around each other, each one with their own bottles of wine.
"I want to propose a toast. To us." John said. They lifted their bottles and clinked them together before taking a gulp.
"And I want to propose a toast to Charlie because we just stole $35 million worth of gold without even holding a gun, because he planned this down to a 'T.' Nobody else could have done that. Nobody." John said.
"Charlie!" They cheered toasting their bottles again and taking a gulp.
"Thank you." Charlie said.
"So come on gentlemen. Shopping list," Left started.
"Who's doing what? Spare no dirty details." Susie said finishing her friends' thoughts.
"Come on, you guys. Take a lesson from an old man, don't spend it. Invest." John said.
"In what?" Left asked while laughing.
"In gold." John said and they laughed.
"Let's figure out how to get out of here first, all right?" Charlie said as John walked away and he soon followed.
"What are you getting, Rob?" Left asked.
"I don't know. There is a lot of things you can buy with a lot of money. You know I am just thinking about naked girls in leather seats."
"When aren't you thinking of that?" Susie asked and took a sip from her bottle. He nodded.
"Obviously. See?" Left said.
"Suppose I get the Aston Martin Vanquish?" Rob said. Susie sucked in her breath.
"What?" Rob said.
"Thief! That's my car."
"There is not a lot a girl won't do on the passenger seat of one of those things." Rob said.
"It's the same with guys."
"I'm going to get a NAD T770 digital decoder with a 70-watt amp and Burr Brown DACs." Lyle said and they all looked at him like he was nuts. "It's a big stereo. Speakers so loud they blow woman's clothes off." Lyle added.
"Now you're talking." Rob said clinking their bottles together.
"35 million dollars and you can't get more creative than that man? What about you, Sue?" Left asked her next.
"Vanquish and vanish. Get me my blue baby and get the hell out." She said, then added, "I'm thinking England, maybe." There was a look shared between her and Handsome. "What about you Left Ear?"
"I'm going to Andalusia, south of Spain right there. Get me a big house, get me a library full of first editions. Get a room for my shoes. What about you Steve?" Left said.
"I don't know. I haven't decided yet." Steve said.
"You haven't decided yet? Come on man is it the mountain air, just...? " Left said.
"I like what you said. I'll take one of each of yours." Steve said.
"Well, well, two of everything for Steve then." Left said and they clinked bottles together again and laughed. They started to walk to the car.
"Hey! Let's go- I'm freezing my ass off." Steve said as the others got into the van.
XXXXX
"You should've seen Rob behind the wheel of that boat. He was like Don Johnson." Lyle said as they started driving over a tall bridge over an icy river into Austria.
"Oi, yeah, from Brixton." Left said teasingly.
"What the hell do you guys know about Brixton?" Rob sounded like he was going to go into a long story that they had heard time and time again.
"Aw, shut it, Handsome," Susie interrupted from behind him. "We've all heard about how great Brixton is, so stow it."
"Look at this idiot right in the middle of the road," Rob said noticing a truck coming up to them. Speed turned around and saw there was someone behind them. The car in front of them stopped and Handsome hit the brakes.
"They're after the gold," Speed muttered to John, who also realized what was going on.
"Who the hell are these guys?" Handsome said as the men in the other cars got out. Steve pulled a gun out and pointed it at Handsome's head. The guys that were following us opened the back and started to grab the gold.
"Take your hands off the wheel." Steve said to Handsome.
"Steve." Charlie said.
"Don't even think about it just do it." Steve continued.
John opened the side door, but Steve caught on and jumped out of the passenger's seat to face John with the gun.
"No, no, no, no, John." Steve said.
"Steve, what the hell are you doing?" Charlie yelled.
"I made a few plans of my own." Steve said.
"There is nowhere you can go where we won't find you, Steve. You know that." John said.
"I think that's probably right, John." Steve said as he shot John twice in the chest.
We all started screaming.
"DRIVE! DRIVE! DRIVE!" Speed's was the only voice Handsome heard and hit the gas, driving off the bridge, through the ice, and into the water.
The van started filling with water as soon as they hit the surface, like a million frozen needles at once. One could still hear gun shots but as the car filled up they soon became muffled. Charlie swam behind the back seat and got the scuba gear. There was only one air tank left, so everyone took turns breathing, one by one. Bullets still rained down into the water and they muffled grunts and yells as they rained closer, one hitting Speed in the leg. Johns' body floated up to the top so Steve would think they were dead and leave.
When they heard the muffled noise of the cars driving away one by one they all floated to the top. Lyle helped Susie swim to the shore as Charlie went after John's body.
XXXXX
Charlie was holding John in his lap, crying for the loss. Rob helped Susie tie up her leg where she'd been shot and walked over to Charlie. "Charlie, we have to go," he said comfortingly. Charlie looked up at him with a tear streaked face and nodded.
They left the body there. There was no way they could bring him back to America. Rob pulled Susie to her feet and then helped her limp alongside the rest of the guys.
"We're gonna need to find Steve once we get back to the states," Charlie said as they walked into a hotel in St. Anton.
"First, y'all need to strip out of those wet clothes and get under some lukewarm water," Speed said authoritivly, her natural Southern accent shining through. "Will not have y'all getting sick and dying before we steal that gold back."
Charlie sighed and looked at her leg. "First we need to get you to the hospital to get that leg looked at."
"Showers first, my leg second, and no more arguing. Doctors' orders," Susie looked at him, daring him to talk back to her.
Charlie opened his mouth to tell her otherwise but Left cut in. "You're gonna go against our Southern Medic?"
Charlie bit back his comment with a grumble and handed out key cards.