}{~Seas of Change~}{
"Are you out of your God damn minds!" Reuben shouts, pointing towards us with a cigar in between his fingers. The air falls quiet while the sun shines down on Danny, Rusty, and I as we sit patiently waiting for what more he had to say. Reuben takes a drag from his cigar and then points at me, "And they dragged you into this, Doll Face?"
"Actually I agreed to it." I pipe up, switching my legs and recrossing them. It was a little funny to me to see Reuben so worked up. It was refreshing.
"What happened to the normal life you were gonna have? Get a husband, have some rugrats." Reuben snaps and all I can do is shrug.
"I still want that, but Rust said he needed help. Family first." I reply, but Reuben shakes his head at me.
"Are you three even listening to me? You're nuts! You're all fucking nuts for this!" He bursts out again. I roll my eyes and look out at the pool sitting a few feet away from us.
"Reuben, just listen. We-"
"No! I know more about casino security then any man alive." Reuben cuts Danny off, leaning on the small table. He peers at each of us through his thick rimmed sunglasses, "I invented it and it cannot be beaten."
"It's never been tried." Danny spoke up after a long silence. I carefully pick up my glass of lemonade and take a sip, the hot Nevada air making me uncomfortable. I had never been good with the heat let alone the humidity that followed it.
"Oh...it's never been tried...It's been tried." Reuben shakes his head and takes a fork full of his salad, "A few guys even came close. Do you know the three greatest robberies ever?"
We all sit quietly, knowing it was a rhetorical question. Reuben liked rhetorical questions only because he loved to talk. I loved it when he talked. It was a rant that went on forever about everything that popped into his head.
"This pencil neck grabs a lock box and got two steps closer to the door then anyone before him." Reuben explains and wipes him mouth of the Italian vinaigrette.
"That was The Bronze Medal." I spoke up, recalling this story Reuben had told me before.
"Right." Reuben gives a smirk and sets his fork down, "Next, this guy got to taste fresh oxygen before they got him. Ended up breathing out of a hose for the next three weeks. God damn hippie."
"The Flamingo; 1971." I laugh and set down my glass, crossing my arms over my chest. That was my favorite story out of the three. Mainly because of the way Reuben told it. He was very opinionated and it always made me laugh.
"Good." Reuben smiles at me and looks back at the boys, "And the closest any man has come to robbing a Las Vegas casino. He came. He grabbed. They conquered."
"Caesar's; 1987. The guy got shot in the back twice while he was running through the parking lot." I look down at the food on the table a pick up a strawberry, feeling Rusty and Danny's eyes on me. I look over at them and smirk, giving them a wink. I had a thing for listening to people, especially with something so interesting as nearly successful robberies.
"But what am I saying?" Reuben starts up again, grabbing our attention, "You guys are pros; the best. I'm sure you can make it out of a casino."
Reuben went back to his salad as I look over at the boys. We weresome of the best crooks, but then again there was a reason why we had never tried to rob a casino before. It was extremely difficult and required a lot of people and planning to pull it off. Years of planning and trustworthy people that were hard to come by in this line of work.
"Lest we forget though, once you're out the front door you're still in the middle of the fucking desert!" Reuben shouts, throwing his fork back onto his plate again. I look down at my glass that was sweating and sigh. I hate Nevada. Really hate Nevada.
"You're right."
"He's right." Danny and Rusty comment, looking at each other. I look over at them and watch as they set out to get Reuben involved, "Our eyes were bigger then our stomachs."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah...blah blah blah." Reuben returns with, keeping his eyes on his food. Rusty nudges me and signals that we're leaving. I wipe my face of anything that might be there and place the napkin on the table.
"Thank you for lunch." Danny announces as we all stand up.
"Sorry we bothered you Reuben." I apologize as he looks up at us, "Maybe I'll see you when I head this way on my tour."
"Yeah...maybe." Reuben pipes up dejectedly. Danny leans forward with his arm outstretched and shakes Reuben's, "Look, we all go way back and I owe you from the thing with the guy in the place and I'll never forget it."
Reuben shakes Rusty's hand next and nods at me, picking up his fork.
"It was a pleasure." Danny smiles down at him and then we begin the walk away, each of us knowing that Reuben just couldn't resist if we gave up so easily.
"You think he's going to take the bait?" I ask quietly from beside Rusty as we walk passed the pool. They both look at each other and then back at me, nodding their heads.
"Just out of curiosity," Reuben calls from his seat, causing us to stop and look at each other before looking back at him, "Which casinos did you geniuses pick to rob?"
"Uh...the Bellagio, the Mirage, and the MGM." Danny calls back to him and then we begin walking away once more. I hear the clatter of Reuben's fork on his plate and smile to myself, biting my lower lip to keep from laughing. Rusty and Danny had gotten much better over the years.
"Those are Terry Benedict's casinos." We stop again and look back at Reuben. He stares at us for a split moment and then jumps out of his seat, walking towards us, "You guys, what have you got against Benedict?"
"What do you have against him?" Danny retorts with as we all watch Reuben carefully. We already knew what Reuben had against the guy.
"He torpedoed my casino." Reuben answers slowly, putting his hands into the pockets of his swim trunks, "Muscled me out of it."
"What's he going to do with it?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest and squint from the sunlight. Benedict had plenty of empty locations he could have built things on. So, what was so special to muscle Reuben out of his?
"He's going to blow it up next month and make some gaudy monstrosity." Reuben stops and looks around at us carefully. Suddenly, his eyes narrow at us, "Don't think I don't know what you're doing."
"What are we doing?" Danny asks, trying to play off our little plan.
"You're going to steal from Terry Benedict you'd better God damn know." Reuben answers slowly, taking a small moment to look at each of us again as if pondering the possibilities, "This sorta thing used to be civilized. You hit a guy, he'd whack ya; done. But with Benedict...at the end of this he better not know you're involved. Not know your names or anything because he'll kill ya and then go to work on ya."
"That's why we have to be very careful. Very precise." Rusty states, pushing his hands into his pants pockets.
"Hm, well funded." Danny also states, looking from Rusty to me.
"Good equipment." I nod my head and look back at Reuben.
"Yeah, you gotta be nuts too and you're gonna need a crew as nuts as you." Reuben smiles and looks around at us, each of us knowing we had gotten him, "Who ya got in mind?"
I look up at Danny, a smirk on my lips, and then look at Rusty the same. I shake my head a little and give a small soft snort of a laugh. They had definitely gotten better over the years. Better then I was, that's for sure.
"Let's go sit down." I offer and walk past Reuben, heading towards the table. The boys follow behind me as I sit down in my seat again, plucking a strawberry from a plate on the table. I reach into my purse for the list I had written after we had confirmed the participants and pull it out. I open the folder and start looking through the portfolios I had put together on the crew, "The people we have in mind are plenty nuts as we are."
I hand the portfolios to Reuben, who quickly reads them over. A grin slowly replaces his smile as his face brightens.
"This could work." He grins as he looks up from the papers, "Who do we got for sure?"
Danny takes the papers from Reuben and looks at the first portfolio.
"Frank C. has developed a bad case of bronchitis and has requested to be transferred to warmer climates." Danny explains as he reads over the paper. I reach over the table and snatch the papers. I scan the names and then point to two separate papers I laid on the table.
"The Malloy's." Rusty speaks up, looking over the papers in my hands. I nod my head and look across the table at Reuben.
"I've never met them, but they're supposed to be good. They like to be called 'The Rough Drivers' since they're usually the getaways." I spoke up and look over at Rusty, "Did you call them?"
"I talked to them yesterday." Rusty continues, taking the papers from me.
"These the Mormon twins?" Danny asks, looking between Rusty and I. I shrug, seeing as I have no clue. I had never met them or heard of them before. I just did the research, called in a few favors, and was given these twos' names.
"They're in Salt Lake City, six months off the job." Rusty speaks up and I pick another strawberry off the table. Rusty watches me as I plop it into my mouth, "Supposed to be some of the best getaways in the last ten years."
Rusty pulls his gaze away, shaking his head at some thought he had had about me, and looks back at Reuben.
"I got the sense they're having trouble filling the hours lately." Rusty picks up a raspberry from the table and pops it into his mouth, leaning back in his seat.
"Then there's Livingston Dell; electronics. He's been doing freelance work for the FBI mob squad. Sam, did you get The Amazing Yen?" Rusty looks over at me and I nod my head, searching through the portfolios for the one I wanted. I pick up the paper and read it over.
"Yeah, he was doing a circus thing out in San Diego. You should have seen him. He's brilliant. Definitely the grease monkey." I reply and cross my legs, leaning on the table. I pick up another paper and smile, "Robbie and I found Saul out in St. Petersburg at a dog race. Rob, you got Tarr, right?"
"Yeah, he was out in L.A. doing a job that went south. Got him from going to jail though." Rusty finishes as I place the portfolios back into the folder and put it back in my purse.
"We may actually have a chance." Reuben looks to each of us and then smiles.
"They thought so." I nod my head towards Rusty and Danny, giving a little shrug. Reuben reaches into the rob he wore over himself and his swim trunks, pulling out another cigar.
"You don't?" He asks as he lights up, taking a long drag from it. I arch an eyebrow and stare at him with a steady eye.
"You're kidding right?" I ask finally and lean back in my seat, "I haven't been in the game for a while. Its like this whole thing is foreign soil to me."
Reuben gives a small laugh and nods his head, taking another drag from his cigar. He looks over at Danny and Rusty, giving another laugh at some joke I wasn't quiet sure of.
"What am I missing?" I ask, but was only returned with another laugh from Reuben.
"Getting into the game isn't the hard part, Doll Face. It's getting out that fucks you over." Reuben replies through another laugh. My face twists as I look back at Rusty and Danny. Both of them refuse to look at me, making me wonder what I was really missing.
We head out a little while afterwards and to Danny's favorite bar. I sit beside Rusty, who leans his head on his arms that are crossed on the bar counter, while Danny takes his others side. It was pretty much empty despite the few stragglers that walked in and out ever now and then.
"So Saul makes eleven." I try to strike up a conversation as I stare down at my hands on the counter. I was still a little confused about the what Reuben was talking about, but I was trying to let it go. Trying is the key word.
"You think that's enough?" Danny asks as Rusty and him watch the game on TV.
"I think so." I respond and wait for Rusty to reply. When I hear nothing from him I look to Danny. He gives me the same look and so I look down at Rusty, "You think we need one more?"
Rusty continues to sit silently, not bothering to look at either of us and stares blankly at the tv. I look back at Danny again and give a small nod, knowing what he was thinking.
"You think we need one more." Danny states and turns back to the game on TV, taking a sip of his drink. I look down at Rusty and pat his back back, "Okay, we'll get one more."
"Yeah, but who?" I ask and look back at the tv, letting my hand drop from Rusty, "We've basically got everyone who's anyone in this business."
Danny sets his glass on the counter and shrugs a little, "I've got someone in mind."