Riding The Line

Chaper One-Upstaged

***A.N.***
Hi guys, I'm super excited to be writing this! I've been thinking about writing it for a while and I finally decided to get started. This story involved mostly the criminal mastermind crew, but don't worry, everyone currently in AH will likely be making an appearance. I hope you enjoy!

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I was so unbelievably angry. No, angry didn't even begin to cover it. I was furious, seething with rage.

Months of careful planning, surveillance, and strategy down the drain in mere moments. Memories danced through my mind. I scrolled through them, looking for any possible moment that could've clued me in. How could this have happened on my watch? I'm used to my plans going awry, but this? This was different.

I stared at my computer screen with glazed over eyes, the words of my plan fading into the background. I did surveillance for weeks, how could someone plan something like this at the same time I did? What are the odds of that?

It occurred to me that I was clutching my mouse so tightly that at any moment I could expect it to explode into shards of hard plastic attached over the desk. I take a deep breath and let go. I turned towards the radio against the back wall of my tiny office that gave me the devastating news.

I waited to hear just two words to give me comfort, but they never came. Instead what I heard was 'officer down' and requests for back up over and over. My heart was sinking, and it was seconds away from hitting the bottom of my chest cavity when I heard what I never wanted to hear.

"Suspects have evaded capture."

I picked up the police radio and threw it at the opposite wall, staring blankly as it broke into several pieces. How dare these people just waltz into that bank and walk out with MY money. I slammed my hand down on my desk, the cheap wooden object shaking under my fist. I could've bought a new one with that money.

"They're not going to get away with this," I whispered to myself as I sunk further into my chair.

"I'm going to get that money if it's the last thing I do."

-- --

The bar was gross, loud, and way too crowded, but the guys didn't care at all. They were all far too high on success for their surroundings. The four of them had been at the bar for a few hours now celebrating the biggest heist they'd ever pulled off and now was the best part: getting wasted.

Gavin, Micheal, and Jeremy were all downing shots left and right, with Ryan, who would have to drive them home, drinking diet Coke. Ryan didn't mind being a DD. He'd gotten used to it over the years. It's not like he didn't like drinking, because that could be fun too. But most of the time it was more beneficial for one of them to be sober. He watched as the three men laughed and cheered, occasionally leaning too far over and nearly fell off the rickety barstools.

It had been a wild ride, and all of them deserved a night like this, and even though Ryan wasn't drinking, it was still definitely a break from the activities of the past few weeks. Ryan recalled how nervous the four of them were before this heist, especially Jeremy who has a particular knack for working himself up before jobs. His eyes drifted across the bar, seeing all the people who were likely quite a bit younger than him. Even his own team members trailed behind him by several years, not that it had ever bothered him. It was just strange sitting in a place like this surrounded by so many people so different than him.

As his eyes scanned the room looking for nothing in particular, Ryan caught a glimpse of his reflection in a mirror behind the bar. He saw the dark rings that remained around his eyes, and he rubbed them for a moment before giving up, remembering how much effort it actually took to get that stuff off. He wished he could find something that stained a little less, but if that was the case it'd be too difficult for it to stick under the mask. Even if it didn't go away, Ryan imagined it fit the image better that way.