The car was double parked, but that was the least of Niko’s worries. Rapidly tapping his gloved fingers on the steering wheel, he kept an eye on the rear view mirror. Shouldn’t be long now. He took a deep breath and looked at the time. 8:36AM. He glanced in the mirror again, at the front door of United Savings & Loans. There they were, just as planned. Two men in ski-masks ran towards the car, both with Berettas in one hand and lugging duffle bags in the other.

Niko started the engine and shifted into drive. The two men rushed to the rear passenger doors and pulled the handles. Nothing happened. “Unlock, unlock, unlock!” shouted one. Niko hit the button and both piled into the back seat. The driver hit the gas. Rubber on pavement squealed as the car lurched into motion.

“How much we get, Lucas?” Niko asked, zipping through green lights as he’d practiced the week prior. His heart beat a mile a minute.

One man pulled his mask off, revealing a shaggy mop of red hair. “Holy shit! I can’t…believe…fuck, what a rush!” He panted, a grin reaching ear to ear in the rear view mirror. He unzipped his duffle bag. “There must be…a hundred-fifty grand here. How much you get, Cody?”

Off came the other’s mask. Cody wiped the sweat off his clean-shaven head and quickly scratched his blond beard. Unzipping his own bag, he let out a hoot of excitement. “‘Bout the same for me, too,” he said.

“That’s…a hundred large for each of us,” said Lucas.

“Not bad for a day’s work,” laughed Cody.

Lucas grabbed the sleeve of Cody’s shirt and shook him in excitement. “We did it! Just like we planned.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Niko’s stomach tightened as he drove down side-streets and back alleys. Police sirens echoed a few blocks behind them. “Should be at the safe house in five,” he said, tucking a hand into his hoodie pocket. Trying to drive casually. “Keys for the new cars are under the driver’s seats.”

“Where you guys going with your share?” asked Lucas. “I’m thinkin’...Key West sounds nice this time ‘a year.”

“Nice,” replied Cody. “I’ve got a girl in Atlanta I’m thinkin’ about getting back in touch with.”

“My man,” replied Lucas. “What about you, Niko?”

“Just a sec,” replied Niko, turning the car into a defunct shopping plaza. He guided the car around back, behind all the shuttered storefronts. The car pulled to a stop behind three parked cars. A pickup and two compacts. “Me?” asked Niko, turning around in his seat. “There’s only one way I’m goin’ now.” The car doors locked. “Rogue.”

“What?” Lucas looked up to find Niko pulling a snub nose .38 from his hoodie pocket. There was a loud bang, punctuated by a hollow point tearing into Lucas’ chest. Cody’s eyes reminded Niko of a horse’s, when they see a snake in the wild. A primal fear for survival before the hollow point ripped an exit wound in his back and embedded itself in the seat’s upholstery. One more round for each and Niko stepped out of the car, ears ringing.

Opening the rear passenger door, Niko grabbed the two duffle bags from the back seat and dropped them next to a nearby dumpster. Beside it sat a red, plastic gas can he’d placed there earlier that morning. Removing the stopper, Niko drenched the driver’s seat in gasoline, then dumped the majority on the slumped bodies in the back seat. The last bit of gas made a trail leading away from the car, then the container was tossed on Cody’s lap.

Niko removed a matchbook from his front pocket and struck one. Igniting the rest of the matches at once, he let it fall. Flames raced up the trail to the car, quickly engulfing the interior. Grabbing both duffle bags, Niko ran over to the parked truck just ahead of the inferno and tossed the bags in the passenger’s seat. Pulling the keys out from under the driver’s seat, slotting them into the ignition, he looked in the rear view mirror. Smoke and flames billowed out of the open rear door of the car. “You were right, Lucas,” he muttered. “This score did change our lives."