Jake went over and snipped Andy’s ties. As soon as her hands were free, her attitude changed. She shoved Jake when he tried to help her up.
“Fuck you.” Andy spat blood on the ground. She threw a fierce look at Matt, tears pouring down her cheeks. “And fuck you, too. This is s-s-some psycho bullshit right here!”
“Psycho bullshit is what separates the men from the boys.” Matt winked. “It’s what gets you into a crew like this, Andy. Being able to prove yourself if you have to. You cried like a little bitch, sure, but you held your own just now. I could use you.”
“What do you mean, ‘use’ her?” Ben rubbed his wrists. “We’re not— No. No. Matt, you can’t.”
“We need another man on Borr Storage.” Matt shrugged. “Engo’s right. If she’s not in on it, it’s another wrench in the works that we just don’t need.”
“I can’t believe this.” Ben held his face in his hands. Jake’s sniff drew attention to him. He rubbed his nose on the back of his wrist, tried to hide his eyes.
“Poor ole Jakey,” Matt chuckled. “He’s got a big heart. You want a tissue, baby boy? You want a cuddle? Come here for a cuddle. Come on.”
“This was too far.” Jake turned away, stared out the dark doorway at the night. “One of these days you’re gonna pull something like this and—”
“And what, you’re gonna have a cry and shit your pants?”
Ben was numb, going to the wall, putting his hands on it to steady himself. He couldn’t look at Andy. Couldn’t look at any of them. He heard Andy storming outside, sobs still racking her body.
“She can’t be on the crew.” Ben shuddered when Matt came over. “She can’t, Matt.”
“I’ve made the decision already. We need an extra guy for Borr Storage,” Matt said. “Engo and I have run the numbers. It doesn’t work without a fifth man. When she came to him last night, telling him she was crooked as all hell, and she wanted onto the crew—he thought the same thing I did: either she’s a cop, or she’s the answer to all our problems.”
“Matt, we can’t—”
“Don’t argue with me.” Matt put a big palm up, patted the air in front of Ben’s face. “This is neater. It means we won’t have to have her babysat doing crowd control while we’re trying to pull a heist.”
“You’re crazy. You don’t know her.”
Matt shrugged. “I like her, though. I’m not sure I even know why. There’s just … something there. It’s like when I came across your sorry ass over at the Forty-Second. I knew you had a couple of brain cells. Andy’s got something we can use.”
“She’s manipulating you,” Ben said. The words just fell out. “She wants you to believe that. She’s wanted it from the start.”
The boss shrugged again. “It worked.”
“But she’s not in the life.”
“What?” Matt looked him over. “What she told Engo, though … About the bags of cash. About her being crooked.”
Ben had nothing.
“She didn’t tell you?”
“No.”
“Oh man.” Matt reached up and gripped his shoulder and shook it. “Man. You gotta sit that woman down and have a confession session. She told Engo she’s dirty before she told you. That’s sad as sin.”
“She can’t be on the crew.”
“She’s perfect for the crew,” Matt said. “And it’s the perfect time to use her. This is our last job. We don’t need to trust her long-term. We get through this, and any heat comes on? We just dispose of her.”