Rain “Rebel” Crawford
Robbing banks wasn’t something I planned on doing forever, but I couldn’t front, I was damn good at the shit.
Every job made me a little richer and a little closer to leaving that life behind.
My real dream wasn’t stealing money. It was building my own tech company from the ground up.
Computers had always made more sense to me than people ever did.
The problem was dreams like that weren’t cheap.
Between buying equipment, securing office space, hiring the right people, and everything else that came with starting a legitimate business, I needed a whole lot more cash than I had buried away.
But I was working with a financial advisor who was helping me build a legitimate financial portfolio so I would be ready when it was time to launch my tech company.
She was helping me invest my money the right way, establish legitimate income, and make sure everything looked clean on paper.
Every meeting brought me one step closer to leaving this life far behind.
Although I was getting close, hitting Ross Savings & Loan would set me up for good.
It had always been the plan. For years, the three of us talked about that bank knowing it was the final mission.
I was glad Dice and Kash still wanted to see it through.
Truth be told, all three of us were doing just fine financially.
None of us were hurting for money anymore, but we all knew Ross would guarantee we would have financial freedom for the rest of our lives.
Just thinking about that bank made me laugh.
That motherfucker wasn’t a bank. It was a damn fortress.
The place looked like somebody took Fort Knox and gave it a corporate makeover.
Armed guards patrolled every entrance twenty-four hours a day.
Bullet-resistant glass separated customers from the tellers.
Cameras covered every hallway, every vault door, every parking lot entrance, and damn near every blind spot a normal bank would’ve missed.
And that was just the physical security.
Their cybersecurity was just as ruthless.
Facial-recognition software tracked everyone who walked through the front doors, while license plate readers logged every vehicle that entered the property.
From everything I’d gathered, they had an entire team monitoring the bank’s network around the clock, backed by AI systems designed to detect suspicious activity before it ever became a problem.
Plenty of crews had convinced themselves they were smart enough to pull it off.
None of them succeeded. Some got caught before they ever reached the vault.
Others made it inside only to find themselves trapped behind reinforced security doors until the police arrived.
A few never made it out at all, becoming nothing more than chalk outlines baking on the pavement outside.
Most people would’ve heard all that and walked away.
We weren’t most people. We knew taking on Ross meant putting together the right team.
One mistake would’ve gotten us all killed or locked away for the rest of our lives.
That’s why every person involved in this job had earned their place.
Nobody was there by accident, and nobody was expendable.
We trusted one another with our freedom, our futures, and our lives.
Kash’s husband, Declan, was our ace in the hole.
Ross Savings & Loan was in the middle of a massive renovation, and nobody suspected one of the people working on the project was secretly feeding information to a crew of bank robbers.
As our inside man, Declan had access to updated blueprints showing exactly where the new vault would be built, how the security corridors were being rerouted, and where the weak points would exist before construction was complete.
Information like that couldn’t be bought.
It had to be earned, and Declan was risking everything by putting it in our hands.
Of course, blueprints alone weren’t enough. Ross’s security wasn’t something one hacker could dismantle by herself. That’s where Crow came in.
Crow and I handled every piece of technology tied to this job.
While I focused on penetrating Ross’s network and exploiting weaknesses in their cybersecurity, Crow built the tools we’d need to stay one step ahead.
From custom electronics and surveillance equipment to modified devices that could bypass security measures, if it involved technology or engineering, Crow was the man behind it.
Between my hacking skills and his engineering mind, we planned to beat a security system that had embarrassed every crew before us.
Technology could only take us so far. Every crew needed muscle.
That’s where Oats came in who was a kingpin by using his crew.
Ritz’s best friend still had one foot planted firmly in the streets.
While the rest of us were planning our exits, Oats was still living that life, and because of his reputation, people thought twice before crossing us.
He wasn’t officially part of the crew, but if we needed bodies, transportation, distractions, or somebody to make a problem disappear, Oats had our backs without asking questions.
We prayed none of it would come to that.
Because if this job went sideways, it wouldn’t just affect us.
It would pull Ritz back into a version of himself he had fought hard to leave behind.
Most people knew him as the successful casino owner these days, but before the tailored suits, the money, and the legitimate businesses, there was Radar.
And Radar was the kind of man who solved problems with violence long before he ever considered having a conversation.
The streets still remembered that name... and so did I.
None of us wanted to wake that man back up.
Especially not if Dice was the one in danger.
Ritz loved his wife like she hung the damn moon.
If anything happened to her, Radar wouldn’t think twice.
He’d come back swinging, and by the time he was done, there’d be bodies stacked high enough to remind everybody why the streets once feared that name, which meant one thing.
This robbery had to go exactly as planned. We weren’t walking into Ross Savings & Loan because we needed another payday. We were walking in because this was the finish line.
Before I could start obsessing over Ross Savings & Loan again, my laptop chimed, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I glanced down at the screen and smiled.
It was Sarah, my financial advisor. Since I was sitting in Crow’s office, killing time while he finished up in the garage, I answered the video call and leaned back in the chair.
“Good afternoon, Rebel,” Sarah said with her usual warm smile.
“What’s good?”
“So,” she said, returning my smile, “I reviewed your portfolio again this morning. Everything’s moving in the right direction.”
“That’s what I like to hear.”
She clicked a few keys before another chart appeared on the screen.
“I shifted some of your investments around to put you in a stronger position long-term. It’ll help once you’re ready to launch your tech company.”
“I appreciate you looking out.”
She smiled again.
“That’s what you hired me for.”
Truthfully, I didn’t know shit about stocks, mutual funds, or any of that Wall Street talk.
That’s why I’d hired Sarah in the first place.
She came highly recommended, had an impressive résumé, and always seemed to know exactly what she was doing.
Every meeting left me feeling more confident that I was getting closer to walking away from this life for good.
“So,” she asked, “any big plans this weekend?”
I shrugged. “Same old shit. Work.”
She laughed. “You work too much.”
“I’ve got goals.”
“I know you do,” she replied. “And we’re getting closer every day.”
I smiled. “That’s all I needed to hear. “I’ll check in with you again next week,” she said.
“I’ll be here.”
We shared one last smile before ending the call. I looked up as Crow’s receptionist strolled into the office holding a mug. She scanned the room before her eyes landed on me.
“Oh, I didn’t know you were in here... Rubbel.”
I tapped the REBEL tattoo on my neck.
“The name is Rebel, hoe. Read it again.”
“My apologies... Rebel.”
“See? That wasn’t so hard.”
From the way she was looking, she was either fucking Crow, or she used to. Either way, it wasn’t hard to read between the lines. Since I never passed up an opportunity to be petty, I kicked my feet up on his desk like I owned the damn place.
“Where’s Crow?” she asked. “I wanted to bring him his morning coffee and order his breakfast.”
I took another bite of my bacon before answering. “Too late,” I said with a smug grin. “He brought our breakfast.”
Her smile faltered as she lifted the coffee mug a little higher.
“Well, I brought him his coffee.”
I glanced at the cup in her hand and shrugged.
“That’s a shame. He likes mocha.”
Kerri looked down at the coffee for a second before her eyes found mine again.
The fake smile she’d walked in with was hanging on by a thread, and I had to fight not to laugh.
Messing with her was way more entertaining than I expected.
Just then, Crow finally strolled in from the back.
One look at the two of us, and he already knew something was off. His gaze landed on his receptionist.
“Everything good, Kerri?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” She held out the coffee with a bright smile. “Here you go. I made it just the way you like it.”
Judging by the way she looked at me instead of him when she said it, that comment wasn’t for Crow. It was for me. He grabbed the cup with a nod. Then he took a sip, then frowned at the cup in his hand.
“Kerri... this ain’t mocha.”
Her smile faltered.
“I—I thought you wanted vanilla today.”
Crow shook his head. “Nah. I only drink mocha.”