The $17 Million Kiss

October 4th, 1997. Charlotte, North Carolina.

David Ghantt kissed his sleeping wife goodbye.

He took one last look at his mobile home.

He wouldn't be coming back.

Just another shift at Loomis Fargo. That's all anyone needs to think.

David worked as a vault supervisor. Every day surrounded by millions in cash.

Money smells, you know. The ink. Spend 14 hours with it and it just stinks.

My wife Tammy kept me on a strict budget. Couldn't even smoke in my own house.

Then Kelly asked me the question that changed everything.

What would you think... if we robbed Loomis?

I thought she was joking.

You'd be the perfect person to pull it off. You know every detail of that vault.

I have a friend who can hide the money. We split it three ways.

With that kind of cash, David... we could live however we wanted.

I started thinking about it. Really thinking.

I ran the numbers on my credit card debt. 30 years of payments to zero it out.

So I called Kelly.

Yeah. I'll do it.

Over the next few weeks, David studied everything. Security cameras. Key rotations. Staffing gaps.

Their security was good. They just didn't have enough people to cover all the spots.

That left me alone with all the keys. And $17 million.

Kelly's unnamed friend was Steve Chambers. A small time crook with big ambitions.

David never met him. Never even knew his name. That was the rule.

Steve recruited his cousin Scott and his buddy Eric for $100K each.

He got David a fake ID. A birth certificate bought for $50,000.

All David had to do was wait for the right night.

Saturday, October 4th. I was scheduled to close the vault. Alone.

This was the day.