Chapter 15

"We're out of amour, no knives, nothing" Valeria stated as they parked outside of a small farm shed, about 6 miles away from the city border. Oregon was a quieter place, the air was hotter in the mid July summer and the tension in their muscles coupled with the cramped style they sat in the small car and the heat was enough to drive anyone insane.
"We left the suitcase in the apartment, I totally forgot about guns and bullets in all that nonsense" Pete said and palmed his face angrily.
"Is this our last gig?" Valeria asked as he dabbed a wet towel on Moses' cheek gently, hoping and praying it would help him, trying her damnest to break his fever.
"I'll pretend I didn't just hear you say that" Pete replied in a slow tone.
"Then I'll say it again, Pete, is this our last gig?" She repeated.
"I decide when our last gig is"
"I decide what I am Pete, I decide who I am and what I am capable of doing, I am a con artist, a thief maybe, a cheat and an impersonator but what I am not and have never been is a murderer and a child kidnapper! What exactly are we doing goddamnit!" She snapped, hands hitting the leather head rest behind Pete's head.
Pete gave a dry chuckles and shook his head, the amusement not quite touching his eyes.
"Are you losing or have you lost your balls, Vee, huh?" He laughed humourless.
"Technically, I don't have balls, Pete, I don't see how I can lose what I don't have. But you have have lost your freaking mind to let us sink so deep into this rat shit! This crazy goose chase? What is this? A fucking James Bond movie? This shit just got real! Someone is dead and we are toast!" Valeria replied.
"Calm down girly, the deal will be over soon, the stack is one step to being cleaned out, all we need to do is__"
"That is what you said a week ago!"she cut in angrily, "And where the hell is Senator Tommy and why isn't he making demands for ransom? Why are we fucking around, playing mummy and daddy and running with a fucking baby all over the country?!" She snapped, cutting him short.
"First, you have no fucking clue how I got this deal! Or other deals for that matter and you don't know what it takes to make them work. I do the thinking and planning, I've always done that so it's best you leave me to it." He snapped and then took a deep breathe. "If we clean our stack - when we clean our stack, all of this will be worth it, trust me" Pete replied, trying hard to be calm.
"Trust you? Hell no! I don't know how I agreed to this madness but this of no idea how you talk to me into this nonsense or how you managed to make me go ahead with it for so long but listen to this Pete, this is my last gig, once the stack is clean I'm taking mine and I'm leaving" she stated.
"That's not happening"
"Let's not be hasty" Nick cut in.
"Hasty? I've given over ten years of my life to this team, sweated and slaved for everything we've gathered, ten years damn it! Is that hasty? Huh?" She challenged.
"There's a gig at North Central Europe, it's a an ancient tomb, the Intel is there's million worth of gold in there. Some ancient priestess" Pete stated, seeing the curious look in Nick's eyes, he continued. "We'll be in and out in two days tops. It's easy, a 10% finders fee for my contact and the rest is ours, then we can discuss what our last gig is"
"Really?" Valeria laughed, a dry angry bleating sound.
"We're tomb raiders now? Digging graves? Exhuming the dead? " She asked, unimpressed.
"Don't look at the job Vee, it's the pay, that is you've always told me that" Pete said.
"Nick, are you buying this? Digging graves? Isn't that madness? What are we now? Some fictional all powerful trio? Wake up guys! We're in a mess we've not gotten out of and here you are raving about exhuming dead bodies and stealing jewelries, really guys?" Valeria asked with in bewilderment.
Nick, ever the quiet one simply shrugged.
"This is my last gig. You two can find another pussy to join the gang" she stated.
"That's not how it works, you don't just up and leave when you have your feel, we're a family now, we have to complete this and the next gig before be decide how best to part ways" Pete advised.
"You don't own me Pete, don't fool yourself for half a second thinking that you do, you never have and never will, I say where, I say when and I say how. This is my last gig, deal?" She asked.
Pete turned to look at her, then Nick and back to her.
"No deal, Nick and I can't pull off the next deal alone and we can't go looking for a stranger for such a job" Pete replied coldly.
"I don't think you quite understand me Pete, this is the only bargain I'm making, I'm not some stupid man you can fraud, I'm not naive as you'd wish me to be and I certainly I'm not negotiating with you either, I'm staying a fact that I am leaving after this job, with my stack"
"Speaking of fooling Vee, don't fucking fool yourself"
"Really? You think I can't or won't leave? I'd love to prove to you just how seriously I take my words and how often I like it when people dare me"
Pete sighed, he of all people knew Valeria, the woman was as stubborn as a mule and as determined as a boxer in his last round. She rarely stood up to him but whenever she did, he knew from experience and the many years they'd worked together that she often if not always had her way at the end of the day. Maybe it was the whole pussy-power thing women always shouted about or maybe it was just some stupid determination bullcrap but she always had her way and he knew this for a fact.
But he also knew that she was an asset to the team. What was a criminal gang without a pretty face? He certainly could negotiate deals from over the phone and twenty miles away but Valeria was the face of the gang, she had met more clients than he ever had and ever will, she was easier to talk to, the men liked her, fell for her tricks easier and damn it if she wasn't a good impersonator, from a lawyer to a cook to a pregnant woman, just name it, she managed to pull off all her disguises as easily as any woman could put on a tank top and a pair of jeans shorts, it came so naturally that sometimes he wondered why she hadn't begun a career in Hollywood yet? The big screen would be pleased to have such an actress.
All in all, he knew she was an indispensable asset he didn't want to lose and without a doubt he also knew that this mission and the next was what would set them up for life, he was sure, he could feel a certain coldness in his soul that often told him something big was to happen soon, that coldness had filled him from the very day they arrived Capitol Hill and was staying all through the mission. This was their big break, he knew it, he could feel it for certain.
Pete turned to the mirror and glared at her reflection.
"This can't be our last gig" he replied, hoping his cold tone and dead stare had the effect it often had on her. The glare he got on return didn't need more words to communicate, she was determined like the witch she was.
"Suit yourselves, good luck explaining what two grown men are doing with a baby all alone, gay couples maybe?" She said and opened the door, grabbed her purse and stepped out, slamming the car door loudly behind her
"Vee!" Pete called out as he noticed she indeed was moving away at a very fast pace and without a glance back.
Stupid pride and stubbornness He mused angrily and then called out to her again.
"Vee! Okay... Fine" he called out to her.
Valeria paused and turned to stare at him, her brows arched and her hands akimbo.
"Fine. Last gig, but would you at least promise to give the Europe heist a thought, it is going to be hassle free, that is a fact" he offered.
"Fact my waxed ass, you know what Pete? your greed stinks, I can smell it all the way from here, you've got a hot mess on your hand and you're already excited about the next loot, how pathetic can you be?" she replied with a disgusted frown.
"Coming from a prostitute and a thief, that's rich, talk about greed" Pete retorted.
"At least I'm not whoring myself to you, you've only seen this pussy once and trust me that's the last you're seeing it, you scum"
"Enough guys! Enough!" Nick cut in from the drivers seat, his face wearing an impatient expression by all indications, worn out with their bantering.
"Last gig Pete" she repeated.
Pete cast her a long intimidating stare that did nothing to move the determined woman.
"Last gig" he confirmed.
"I get my stack cleared too" she stated.
"Deal. But after this job is finished, absolute done"
" And by absolutely done you mean?"
"I mean we're done with Senator Tommy and get whatever we need, until it's all over and we all get home, settle down and have a beer or two, that is the done I'm referring to" he replied
"Deal" Valeria said and returned to the vehicle with a wild swing of her hips.
"Where the fuck is he? Is he playing the 'nerve' tactics on us, huh?" Nick asked.
"Relax pretty boy, I'm sure he should be here any moment" Pete replied.
Just as he said this, a white Hilux van with an entourage of three bullet proof Jeeps drove in from the distance and parked a few feet from the shed they were parked. Nick killed his engine and looked at Pete who in turn looked at Valeria.