Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan Read Free Book Online

Jem took a mouthful of beer and gargled it. "Think of Gloansy's shower drain trap, all gooey and hairy-- that's Cheryl's tonsils."
     
     
"For Christ!" protested Gloansy, choking down his food.
     
     
Desmond Elden entered the rink, muscled though not to the extent of Jem or Doug, but with an added bookishness, thanks to his thick-rimmed Buddy Holly eyeglasses. He wore lineman's boots, fading jeans, and a denim work shirt with the Nynex logo over the pocket, his fair hair matted down from wearing a phone company helmet all morning.
     
     
Dez gave Cheryl and her posse the courtesy of a Howzitgoin' before mounting the bleachers, his insulated lunch sack in hand.
     
     
Jem said, "I should dock you just for being polite."
     
     
Dez sat down one riser below them. "What, you didn't even say hello?"
     
     
"Fuckin' softie," said Jem. "Anything with chicks."
     
     
Doug said, "Where'd you put the truck?"
     
     
"Foodmaster parking lot. Cruiser there, so I walked the long way around, just in case." Dez unzipped the nylon bag between his knees and pulled out a thick sandwich wrapped in wax paper, smiling. "Ma made meat loaf last night," he said, then bit in big. "Gotta snap to. I'm due in Belmont in like forty minutes, install a ISDN line."
     
     
Jem took a long pull on his beer and pointed at Dez. "That's why I hadda swear off work. Too many commitments."
     
     
Gloansy toasted that. "Amen, brother."
     
     
Doug cracked open his Mountain Dew. "So let's do this."
     
     
Jem ripped a burp and none of the kids on the ice even turned their heads. Doug liked the rink for its awful acoustics. He was worried more and more about surveillance around Town, but no bug could outwit those rumbling refrigerators.
     
     
"Not much to say," said Jem. "Looks like we're out clean. Newspapers got everything wrong, as usual. Nothing went sour until the end, when everything did."
     
     
Gloansy said, "Duggy, man, you said banks train their people not to hit any alarms until after."
     
     
"They do. It's a safety issue. Plus banks carry kidnap and extortion insurance, and shit like that voids it."
     
     
Jem shrugged. "So the homo pissed himself. Thing is, it shouldn't of happened. Could of been real fucking bad. Time to settle up now, and these things get counted. Gloansy, my friend, it's time to pay the piper. You're docked."
     
     
Gloansy's face fell, his open mouth full, looking at Jem. "What the fuck?"
     
     
"It was your watch. You knew Monsignor Dez had to leave the vault and teller bells hardwired."
     
     
" I'm getting fucking docked? Me? "
     
     
"All you had to do. Keep the citizens down on the floor and away from the bells."
     
     
"Fuck you." Gloansy was teary, he was so shocked. "Fuck you, all I had to do? Who boosted the work van? You think you fuckin'... think you walked to and from this job? And who torched the rides after the delayed switch?"
     
     
"Who was watching that kid at the ATM instead of the bankers at his feet?"
     
     
"Fuckin'... so who delayed the switch? You're the one that brought the manager along. Why'n't you dock yourself?"
     
     
"Plan to. Same as you. A hundred-dollar whack to the each of us."
     
     
"A hundred-- " Gloansy's face relaxed, pulling back into a fuck-you frown. He punched Jem's left triceps hard, saying, "Fuckin' ass munch."
     
     
Jem smiled tongue-out and slapped Gloansy's cheek. "Fuckin' this close to bawling, Shirley Temple."
     
     
"Fuck you," said Gloansy, shaking it off, all better now, taco-ing another sloppy slice into his freckled mouth.
     
     
Doug took a bite out of his sandwich, so fucking tired of the whole fucking thing.
     
     
"So, the magic number," said Jem, tearing open packets of salt over the closed pizza box. "This is per, now, and net expenses." With his finger he traced out a five-digit sum: 76750.
     
     
Gloansy worked on the upside-down figure until his eyes grew big.
     
     
Dez nodded, a smile flickering before he checked on Doug.
     
     
Doug