“They might be using Kanelos now to dump him later,” Nicole said. “No loose ends.”
“Quite possible. But for now, with the absence of their current address, we’re gonna need eyes on that bank.”
“Just out of curiosity, what’s the advantage of using this bank to begin with?” Bridge asked.
“Convenience. It’s mostly used by people who are either in a hurry, or want to hide their money. If you’re on the run and can’t take a large stash with you for whatever reason, you can deposit it there and come back for it later.”
“Any chance the money won’t be there?”
“None. It’s there. The bank has a stellar reputation—if you can believe that—in the underworld community. They do what they say they’ll do. They’ll hold your money for a fee.”
“What about this bank, Chief?” Steve asked. “You want us to hit it?”
“No. That bank has dozens of guards, both on the perimeter and inside the building. They’re prepared in case of an attack. I do not want any type of firefight in that area. We are not there to wage war on that bank.”
“Has it ever been hit before?” Bridge asked. “Just out of curiosity.”
“It has. Several times. You can imagine if the place is known, some people will think they can get an easy score and help themselves. And from the fact that it’s still there, you can guess what happened to the people who tried to hit it.”
“So if we see Dalton and the others go into or out of the bank?” Steve asked.
“Let it happen. Follow them. See where they’re going next. Whatever you do, make sure that you do not engage at that bank. If you do, you’ll not only have Kenny and Dalton firing at you, you’ll have the wrath of twenty other guards as well. And there’s no backup coming to help you. At least not in time to save you if something goes wrong.”
“Understood, Chief.”
“And with that, I’ll leave you ladies and gentlemen so you can have some time to devise a plan and strategy.”
“Thank you, sir.”
After Joe disappeared from the screen, Bridge immediately turned to Steve with some burning questions.
“Did you know about this bank?” Bridge asked.
“Yeah, but I had no reason to believe that’s what they were doing here.”
“What do you know about this place?”
“Pretty much what Joe said. It’s a very secretive place.”
“But you know where it is?”
“Yeah.”
“How much time we got?”
“It’s gonna be a drive,” Steve answered.
“So we’re already behind the eight ball.”
“For all we know, they’re hitting it as we speak.”
Nicole cut into the conversation. “So if this is what their plan is, what do they need Chris for?”
“My guess?” Bridge said. “They need him to take the place of his brother.”
“Why?”
Bridge shrugged. “Although this bank isn’t on the up and up, it sounds as if it still has some stringent rules in regard to using it.”
“That’s true from what we hear,” Steve said.
“So my guess is that either Gary deposited by himself, or with Dalton or Kenny, I’m not sure, but they need Chris’ face. Or a signature. Or something like that. Or maybe they cloned Gary’s fingerprint. But my guess is that they need Chris to get that money out.”
“If that’s the case, then at one point, Gary was with them,” Nicole said.
Bridge nodded. “I would say that’s likely. Now, whether he turned on them or decided he didn’t want to go through with it anymore, or they just decided to cut him out, or whatever the reason, they decided to cut bait and kill him. Now, they’re ready to take the money out, and they need Chris to do it.”
“Which also means that when they do, they won’t need Chris anymore.”
Bridge sighed. “Yeah.”
“Which means we gotta find them before they get out of that bank.”
“It’s unlikely they’ll do it right then and there. Whoever runs that bank isn’t going to look too fondly at a body being dumped on their doorstep, especially one that was just used to take money from them. They’ll most likely wait a while.”
“It ain’t gonna be too long, though,” Steve said.
“No, it won’t.”
“Sentiment’s still the same. We need to have eyes on them coming out of that bank. ‘Cause while they won’t kill him right outside of the bank, they’re not gonna wait hours either.”
“We need to gear up now,” Bridge said. “While we still have a chance.”
20
The bank, or The Brick as it was commonly called, was nestled in a remote area not too far from the border of Bulgaria. There was only one dirt road leading to it. It was a quiet area. From where the team was in Athens, it was roughly a nine-hour drive to get to it. Since trying to remain hidden was a big factor, only Bridge, Nicole, and Steve went on the trip. The rest of the team was either still in Athens, trying to monitor everything from there, and a couple were on standby notice not too far away. If something got hairy and Bridge and company needed a rescue, they would be there to lend a hand.
Without knowing exactly where guards were placed along this road, and their proximity to the bank, the team only travelled about halfway up it before deciding to get out and move amongst the trees, using them as cover. It took another half hour on foot before the building was within their sights. They got down on their stomachs, making sure they were almost completely concealed within the brush and foliage. They got out their binoculars to survey the building and the surroundings.
“That’s a bank?” Bridge asked, surprised about the appearance. “Looks more like the hunting quarters of some mountain men.”
“I think it’s supposed to look that way,” Nicole said. “That way if anyone stumbles upon it, they won’t know what’s inside.”
Bridge then looked at the armed guards stationed all around. “Yeah, ‘cause the men with guns won’t give anything
