---
9:00 AM
---
Michael sat in a diner in East Los Santos, staring at scrambled eggs he couldn't eat. The coffee was bitter and the waitress kept asking if everything was all right.
Everything was not all right.
He'd driven past his house twice this morning. Amanda's car was gone. The kids' windows were dark. A locksmith's van sat in the driveway.
She was serious about keeping him out.
His phone showed twenty-three unread messages from Dr. Friedlander's office. Missed appointments. Concerns about his mental state. Questions about recent behavioral changes.
Michael deleted them all.
A text arrived from an unknown number: *Final equipment check at 1800 hours. Don't be late.*
Someone was watching. Always watching. Michael paid his bill and left without touching the food.
---
11:30 AM
---
Franklin closed his third car deal of the morning and tried to feel normal. A young couple buying their first sedan. Clean financing. Standard warranty. The kind of transaction that built legitimate businesses.
But his hands shook when he signed the paperwork.
"You okay, boss?" Lamar appeared beside his desk. "You been jumpy all morning."
"I'm fine."
"No, you ain't." Lamar sat down. "You look like someone who's about to do something stupid."
Franklin filed the sales contract and avoided eye contact. "I got work to do."
"Franklin." Lamar's voice dropped. "Talk to me, man. What's got you spooked?"
"Nothing I can discuss."
"Try me."
Franklin looked around the showroom. Customers browsing vehicles. Salespeople making calls. Normal business activity that might disappear after tonight.
"If something happens to me," Franklin said, "make sure my mom knows I tried to go legitimate."
"Nothing's gonna happen to you."
"You don't know that."
---
2:15 PM
---
Trevor test-fired his assault rifle at targets set up behind his compound. Three shots, tight grouping, center mass. Muscle memory from military training that never faded.
Chef watched from the trailer doorway, drinking beer and shaking his head.
"You planning a war?" Chef asked.
"Maybe."
"With who?"
Trevor reloaded and fired again. "People who think they can manipulate me."
"What people?"
"Rich people. Powerful people. The kind who use guys like us for dirty work then throw us away."
Chef crushed his beer can. "So why do the job?"
Trevor lowered his rifle. "Because they made it personal."
His phone buzzed. Michael's number.
"Yeah?"
"You ready for tonight?"
"Always ready."
"This feels wrong, Trevor. The whole setup."
Trevor walked away from Chef, speaking quietly. "Everything feels wrong when you're scared."
"I'm not scared."
"Sure you are. You're thinking about your wife and kids."
Silence on the line.
"They'll be safer with you gone," Trevor said. "Clean break. New life."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"It's supposed to make you focus."
---
4:45 PM
---
Michael drove through Rockford Hills and parked across from his children's school. Tracey's theater group was rehearsing in the auditorium. He could see her through the windows, practicing scenes with other students.
His daughter wanted to be an actress. Following her dreams while her father planned crimes.
His phone rang. Amanda.
"Stop calling the house," she said.
"I haven't called."
"Then stop driving by. The neighbors are getting nervous."
Michael gripped the steering wheel. "I wanted to see the kids."
"They're not here."
"I know. You sent them away."
"I protected them."
"From me."
Amanda was quiet for a moment. "From the choices you're making."
"What if I changed my mind?"
"About what?"
"About tonight. About everything."
"Can you? Really?"
Michael watched Tracey rehearse her lines. Young and innocent and believing the world was a safe place because her parents had made it so.
"No," he said. "I don't think I can."
"Then goodbye, Michael."
The line went dead. Michael sat in his car until security asked him to move.
---
6:20 PM
---
Franklin locked his office and walked through the dealership one final time. His business. Built from nothing with honest work and smart decisions.
Tomorrow it might be gone.
Lamar met him at the front door. "You leaving early?"
"Got errands to run."
"What kind of errands?"
Franklin looked at his friend. Lamar had been with him since childhood. Through gang life and legitimate success. The one constant in a world that kept changing.
"The kind that might get me killed," Franklin said.
Lamar stepped closer. "Then don't do them."
"It's not that simple."
"Yes, it is. Whatever debt you think you owe, it ain't worth your life."
Franklin pulled out his keys. "Some debts can't be avoided."
"This about your old crew?"
Franklin didn't answer. He walked to his car while Lamar called after him.
"Franklin! Don't throw your life away for those crazy motherfuckers!"
But Franklin was already driving toward his appointment with exactly those crazy motherfuckers.
---
8:00 PM
---
Trevor met Michael and Franklin at a 24-hour truck stop near the tunnel entrance. They sat in a corner booth while diesel engines rumbled outside.
"Final check," Michael said. "Equipment?"
"Ready," Trevor replied.
"Escape routes?"
"Mapped and memorized."
"Contingencies if everything goes wrong?"
Franklin looked up from his coffee. "We improvise and hope we don't die."
"Reassuring."
Trevor studied both men. Michael looked haunted. Franklin looked resigned. Neither looked ready for what they were about to attempt.
"Last chance to back out," Trevor said.
"And go where?" Michael asked. "Back to our normal lives?"
"What's normal about any of this?"
Franklin pushed his coffee away. "Nothing's been normal since we started working together."
"Then let's finish what we started."
They drove to the tunnel entrance in separate vehicles. The access point was hidden beneath an overpass, concealed by construction barriers that looked permanent but moved easily.
Trevor descended first, checking for tripwires and surveillance. The tunnel stretched into darkness, ankle-deep water reflecting their flashlight beams.
"This is it," Michael said. "Point of no return."
Franklin activated his radio. "Comms check."
"Copy," Trevor responded.
"Copy," Michael said.
They moved into the tunnel system beneath Los Santos, three men who'd already lost everything they'd tried to protect. The water was cold and the darkness was complete.
---
11:30 PM
---
Michael checked his watch as they reached the staging area beneath Maze Bank Tower. Thirty minutes until infiltration began.
His phone had no signal in the tunnels. No way to call Amanda. No way to apologize or explain or say goodbye properly.
Maybe that was better. Clean breaks hurt less than prolonged farewells.
"You good?" Franklin asked.
"Define good."
"Focused. Ready. Not thinking about anything except the job."
Michael looked around the tunnel junction. Their equipment spread across makeshift tables. Weapons checked and loaded. Communications tested. Escape routes confirmed.
"I'm ready," he said.
Trevor emerged from the water wearing diving gear. "Access tunnel is clear. Current's stronger than expected, but manageable."
"Time to completion?"
"Fifteen minutes to reach the elevator shaft. Another ten to bypass security and reach the server room."
"Twenty-five minutes total exposure."
"Plus extraction time."
Michael nodded. "Let's do this."
They synchronized their watches and checked weapons one final time. Three criminals about to attempt something that would either make them rich or get them killed.
Michael thought about Amanda sleeping alone in their bed. About Tracey and Jimmy safe in Arizona. About the normal life he'd traded for one last score.
Then he focused on the job. Because everything else was already gone.