“Look, you’re sitting on a pile of cash now, don’t get greedy. If you start a crime wave in South Florida, your chances of getting caught will go way up. You’ve already got three law enforcement agencies trying to get at you as it is.”

“Three? Who?”

“The local cops in the town where the bank is, the state police, and the FBI. It was a bank job, remember? That’s federal. Where are you living?”

“I’m in a nice motel a couple of miles from here.”

“You’d be smart to buy yourself a condo while the market is still favorable.”

“Yeah, I guess. How much would that cost me?”

“At least two, three hundred thousand. You can spend a lot more, of course. My point is, you’ve got to establish yourself as a solid citizen, somebody no one would ever suspect of doing bank jobs. Might be a good idea to buy a small business, use it as a cover.”

“Good idea.”

“And stop doing jobs for a while—let things cool off. If the cops think there’s somebody new in town, knocking off this and that, pretty soon they’ll have a task force hunting you. You know how burglars work?”

“I was never a burglar.”

“They case a place, do it, then wait for the owner to replace all his goods, then they do it again.”

“You mean I should do the same bank again?”

“Why not? Give it three, six months, let things return to normal, then repeat. They’re not going to have any more security than they had before. They’ve already got cameras, alarms, an armed guard. What else are they going to add?”

“I see your point.”

“I hope you see my point about letting things cool—you’ll stay out of the joint that way.”

“I hate to pass up the one I’ve got in mind.”

“It’ll still be there a few months from now.”

“You want to hear about the job I have in mind?”

Frank shrugged. “I’ll pay a finder’s fee or a percentage.”

Charlie began to explain, and Frank thought it wasn’t half bad. “Let me talk it over with my partner, and I’ll let you know. In the meantime, take a vacation. You ever been down to the Keys?”

“No, but I hear it’s nice.”

“It’s better than that. Take a drive. I’ll be in touch.”

“You’re right, Frank, I’ll take your advice.” Charlie shook his hand and left.

Frank began to think about Charlie’s job; it had possibilities, he thought.

Chapter 38

Gene Ryan woke on Saturday morning, his mouth dry, his head hurting and very fuzzy around the edges. It took him a minute to realize that it was his cell phone that had awakened him. “Hello?” Ryan croaked.

“Hey, Gene, it’s Al. How you doin’?”

“What time is it?”