The Lock Artist

Mike is reunited with the crew in Los Angeles. Gunnar is planning his highly dangerous hit on the infamous poker yacht. The others are leery, but they cooperate because “[i]t was just too much money to turn down” (281). Ramona makes up elaborate gift baskets that they will pretend to be delivering to the yacht; Mike will then crack the safe, and they will steal the cash. Lucy acts “strange” and “distant” to Mike after their tryst. The logistics of the plan change at the last minute, and the group almost abandons the undertaking, but they revise the timing and plan to go early the next morning when the yacht will be docked in San Diego.

Ramona and Lucy are scantily dressed to charm any security guards. The gang finds out that the boat they will burglarize is not the same yacht they have been on—the man in Detroit bought a new vessel. They worry their unfamiliarity with the boat might pose problems, but Gunnar is blindly enthusiastic, so they proceed. Once aboard, they break into what appears to be the master bedroom and find the safe, but it is electronic and has no gears, so Mike does not know how to open it. The gang is dismayed and admits defeat. They deliver the gift baskets to various rooms. Mike then notices a can of fancy talcum powder in one of the gift baskets. He realizes he can dust the safe’s keypad with powder to find the combination numbers. He discovers fingerprints on four numbers and works through the combinations. He quickly unlocks it. To his surprise, he finds what appears to be $8 million—twice what they expected.

There is apparently a party in progress on the yacht’s deck. Gunnar is distracted by the fact that a man at the party was flirting with Lucy. The three men slip down to the bedroom and shovel the cash into wine crates. They box up $6 million. Gunnar instructs Julian to go retrieve the car while they box up the remainder of the cash. As they prepare to exit, they see Sleepy Eyes and the man from Detroit exiting two limousines on the gangway. They are trapped. Gunnar decides the only way they can escape is by jumping overboard, but Mike has a mortal fear of water because of his childhood trauma. He jumps anyway, letting go of the crate. “I taught myself to swim, right there on the spot,” he narrates, “because it was either that or die” (294). When they are safe, Gunnar swims back to retrieve the crate.

Back at the house, the crew waits for news. Evidently Gunnar’s contact on the boat is planning to blow up the yacht. Gunnar gets a call with good news. Mike feels the thrill of freedom wash over him. The next afternoon Mike returns to the house from an outing and finds Julian and Ramona shot to death in the bathroom. He finds the cell phone in his pocket and dials Banks, the only number stored in the phone. Banks answers and Mike simply leaves the phone on, saying nothing, so that Banks can trace the call. Mike then finds Gunnar by the safe. Sleepy Eyes is there, holding him at gunpoint. It becomes clear that Gunnar was working with Sleepy Eyes to choreograph this entire stunt. The man from Detroit is indeed dead. Sleepy Eyes instructs Mike to open the safe. Then he shoots Gunnar in the head. He threatens to shoot Mike in the legs until he opens the safe. When Mike is about to unlock the safe, Banks appears behind Sleepy Eyes and instructs him to drop the gun. Both Mike and Sleepy Eyes are arrested.