Chapter 3

The ordinary taxi van pulled into the mansion's drive of one David Rossi. Rossi opened the door with Derek behind him to see a group of people that looked like they didn't belong anywhere near an Italian don.

"What, did you guys get a group rate or something?" He asked the rag-tag group.

They walked through his house and out the back door to the pool area. Parker was building something using playing cards with Derek watching intently. Others were talking; either catching up or discussing business.

"So, you ever been to Santa Barbara?" Eliot asked Gideon.

"No, not really." Gideon replied.

"You should, they have some nice activities and businesses there."

Gideon looked at the younger man. "I'll hold you up to that."

At that moment, Spencer Reid came out to the pool area.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Las Vegas," he said. Everyone stopped talking and started to pay close attention to him. "Has everyone eaten? Good. Everybody sober? Close enough. All right, before we get started, no one's committed yet. What I'm about to propose is highly crazy, highly dangerous and highly illegal. If that doesn't seem like your typical kind of vodka, eat as much as you like and have a safe journey home; no hard feelings. Otherwise, come with me."

Everyone except Ashley got up to go into the house and Rossi noticed and walked over to her.

"You're JJ's Little Sis," he said. "From Chicago?"

"Yeah, yeah I am," replied Ashley.

"It's nice out there, do you like it?"

"It's okay." Ashley was fidgeting with her fingers.

"That's wonderful. Get in the goddamn house." Ashley was a little taken aback at what he said but did as she was told anyway while Rossi smirked. No one wanted to get on his bad side.

R11*R11*R11*R11*R11*R11

"The 3000 block of Las Vegas Blvd.," Spencer began. He was standing beside a large flat-screen TV that showed the layout of what they were about to do. "Otherwise known as the Bellagio, the Mirage and the MGM Grand. Together, they're the most profitable casinos in Las Vegas." Garcia then changed what was on the TV. "This is the vault of the Bellagio, located below the Strip beneath 200 solid feet of earth. It houses every last dime that passes through the three casinos above it; and we're going to rob it."

"Smash and grab job, huh?" said a smirking Ashley.

"Slightly more complicated than that," Gatsby replied.

"Oh. Right."

Spencer continued: "This is courtesy of Derek Morgan, a new dealer at the Bellagio." Derek nodded from his place next to Parker. "Okay, bad news first; this place houses a security system that rivals most nuclear silos. First, we have to get into the casino cages, which anyone will tell you, takes more than a smile. Next, through these doors, each of which require a code that is changed every 12 hours. Past those, the elevator; this is where it gets tricky. The elevator won't move without a finger print I.D."

"Which we can't fake," Gatsby said with an almost robotic voice. She wasn't used to this many people in one place. Rossi put his hand on her shoulder and she relaxed somewhat.

"And vocal conformation from the system within the Bellagio and the vault below it."

"Which we won't get."

"Furthermore, the elevator is rigged with motion sensors."

"Meaning, if we were to manually override the lift, the exit would lock down and we'd be trapped." Gatsby said with finality.

"Once we get down the shaft, though, it's a piece of cake. Just two more guards with Uzis and the most elaborate vault door ever conceived by man. Any questions?" Spencer asked the last question brightly and Rossi smirked.

"Can't we tunnel underneath the vault?" Parker asked.

"No, tunneling is out. There are sensors monitoring the ground 200 feet in every direction. If a groundhog were to nest there, they'd know about it," Gatsby said. "Anyone else?"

"You said something about good news?" Shawn asked.

"Yeah," said Spencer. "The Nevada Gaming Commission requires that a casino must hold enough cash for every chip on the floor. That means on a weekday, it must carry between 60 and 70 million in cash and coin. On the weekend, between 80 and 90. On a fight night, like in two weeks, the night we're going to rob it…160 million without breaking a sweat. There are 11 of us each with an equal share. You do the math."

Eliot whistled.

"Exactly." Gatsby said.

"I have a question," Gideon said. "Say we get into the cage and through the security doors and down the elevator we can't move and past the guards with the guns, into the vault that we can't open…"

"Without being seen by the cameras," Gatsby added.

"Yeah, I forgot to mention that," said Spencer.

Gideon shook his head. "Yeah, well say we do all that…are we just suppose to walk out of there with 160 million dollars in cash on us without getting stopped?" Everyone looked at Spencer.

"Yeah," he said it like it was no big deal.

"Oh," Gideon said it like the world had gone topsy-turvy. "Okay then."

R11*R11*R11*R11*R11*R11

"Alright," said Spencer, "here's how we'll begin. First task: Reconnaissance. I want to know everything that's going on all casinos, from the dealers' rotation to the path of every cash cart. I want to know everything about every guard. I wanna know where they're from, what their nicknames are and how they take their coffee. Most of all, I want you guys to know these casinos. They were built like mazes to keep people in; I want you guys to know the quick routes out."

Shawn and Eliot were sitting at the table, examining a cash cart going into the back of the casino.

"There, he went in at 10:25," Shawn observed.

"It wasn't 10:25, it was 10:34," Eliot objected. "Get a watch that works."

"No, it was 10:25."

"No, it wasn't!"

"Okay, who's the better observer?"

"Obviously, not you."

The two brothers kept arguing about this all the way to the hotel room.

"Second task: Power." Spencer said. "On the night of the fight, we'll throw the switch off Sin City. Hotch, Ziva, that's your job."

"You want Broke, Blind, or Bedlam?" Ziva asked.

"How about all three?"

"Cool, it's done." Hotch smirked evilly.

"Third task: Surveillance. Security has an eye and ear on everything; so we want an eye and an ear on them. Garcia?"

"Well, it's not the least accessible system I've seen but it's very close," the eccentric hacker said. "I don't suppose they have a closed-circuit feed that I can tap into?"

"Nope," replied Spencer.

"Then it's definitely a Black Bag job. Do they employ an in-house technician?"

"Two," said Gatsby. "And one of them is lonely."

R11*R11*R11*R11*R11*R11

The technician was so mesmerized by the nurse stripper's boobs that he didn't even recognize the fact that his security badge was stolen by this charming vixen. After her 30 minutes were up, Charmaine went outside of the Crazy Horse Too and gave the badge to the young woman standing next to the Lexus.

"Thanks, Charmaine," said Gatsby. "I'll have this back in an hour. Say hi to your dad for me."

"Say hi yourself," Charmaine replied. "He'll be on in ten minutes."

Gatsby shook her head to get the mental picture out of her mind.

R11*R11*R11*R11*R11*R11

Shawn was walking through the Bellagio casino holding a bouquet of balloons

"Watch it, Bud!" said Eliot as his brother walked toward him.

"Who you callin' bud, Pal?" he retorted.

"Who you callin' pal, Jackass?!" Eliot shouted.

They started to argue and the bouquet of balloons floated up to cover a security camera.

"We have a visual impairment on the casino floor," said a security guard.

"Copy that, I see them," said the guard on the casino floor and he left, leaving the door wide open for Penelope Garcia to do her job without having to answer questions.

R11*R11*R11*R11*R11*R11

"And we're up and running," Gatsby said as the computers came on in the hotel room.

"Why do they always paint hallways that color?" Spencer asked.

"They say taupe is a very soothing color."

"Oh, no," Spencer said as Penelope looked a little lost. Suddenly, a security guard started to follow her.

"Excuse me, miss?" He called out.

Penelope quickened her pace and headed for the door when the guard stopped her.

"Miss, you left this." He handed a small roaming device to Penelope.

Penelope sighed in relief. "Oh, thank you sir."

"How's the quality on those things?"

"Excellent. You have a good day."

Spencer sighed in relief as he watched Penelope make it without being caught. "I thought I was going to have a heart attack."

Gatsby just laughed at her friend.

R11*R11*R11*R11*R11*R11

Fourth task: Construction. We need to build an exact replica of the Bellagio vault." They were all in the warehouse getting materials ready.

"To practice?" asked Gatsby as she carried two paint cans.

"Something like that. Fifth task: Intelligence. We need those codes, Ashley, from the only man who has all three."

"Who, Doyle?" Ashley asked incredulously. He had never done a job that big before.

"Learn to love his shadow," Spencer replied.

"Wait, all I get to do is watch the guy?"

"You gotta walk before you can crawl."

"Reverse that," Gatsby snickered.

"Whatever. Sixth task: Transport."