The Sour Lemon Score (1969) – Gold Medal

A Parker Job (#12)

Also published as Blood-Money Heist in For Men Only magazine, July 1969.

___Parker was the last one into the bank. Andrews had gone first, getting out of the car again and walking down to the bank, going in just as two men in suits and with clipboards came out of the bank to meet the men from the armored car. They’d conferred out in the sunlight a minute, studying their clipboards, and then all four went inside again.
___That was when Weiss moved. Getting out of the car, he clutched Parker’s shoulder and muttered in his ear, “George is okay.” Parker just nodded, and Weiss got out, just as the two uniformed armored-car guards came back out of the bank. There was a little mix-up at the door, and then Weiss was in and the guards were out. They went over and knocked on the rear door of the armored car.
___Parker and the others had cased this one for three weeks and they knew the system cold by now. The coins went in first, in gray canvas sacks. The olive-green strongbox went in last, carrying paper.
___He watched the guard inside the armored car hand out the sacks of coins to the two outside. One of the men with clipboards had hurried out after them and stood beside them now, pencil poised, checking things off.
___The grenade was on the seat between Parker and Uhl. Parker patted it and said, “You remember how this works?”
___“I’m all right now,” Uhl said irritably. “I had a touch of the jitters. It never happened to you?”
___“Never,” Parker said. He opened the door and got out of the car and walked down to the bank.

Buy it here:

Gold Medal, 1969 (PB)
TBS/Gold Lion (UK), 1973 (HC)
Allison & Busby, 1985 (PB)
University of Chicago Press, 2010 (PB)
E-Book, 2011
Audio Book, 2012