6 Chapter 5: Heist

It was only after I decided to leave that I realized the street was still wet from the heavy rain that morning.

I was about to call a taxi but changed my mind quickly. I turned around and walked back to where I left him.

I saw him walking near the cafe beside the building. Barefoot.

People were staring at him in awe. That wasn't the only striking thing.

What struck me was the fact that he was walking with someone.

As I watched him escort that same old lady to the cafe, maybe to feed her, I started thinking whether that man deserved to be used as a means towards my goal.

Or was I being too cruel to someone who didn't even have a single involvement at the root of my grudge?

My feet wanted to go to that cafe. My reason was battling between using an innocent man and prioritizing my mission.

But...

I turned around. At the end of the day, he was still Mirando's son.

--

"So you're here, Rathna, because?" Geraldine asked me cross-legged with a naughty grin on her face.

"I already told you I need to earn the prince's trust. Tell me how to do it."

"At least give my pretty ass a reason to help you. No free lunch, baby."

I hated her. She had this annoying confidence that could really get on my nerves.

I kept asking myself every day, why the heck was she my best friend? Just how on earth did it happen? I had no idea!

"We're a team, you freak!"

"A pretty freak at least," she retaliated. "I thought you said when it comes to men, you were better than me?"

I rolled my eyes. Damn this brat!

"Can you just fucking say if you want to help or not?"

She threw her head back laughing.

I heard a faint thump from outside.

"Baby, why so—"

I covered her mouth with my hand. It was barely audible, but I know I heard something.

'Is someone eavesdropping on us?'

Geraldine looked at me, eyes confused. I quickly went out of our room. Just in time, I saw someone scuffling away after eavesdropping.

"You! Stop there!" I yelled.

He was wearing a Somaro training uniform. Odd.

He stopped but did not face me.

"Turn around," I ordered again.

Geraldine was now by my side. She pinched my waist a little.

"Let him go. He's just another Somaro who wants to take a peek at our beauty. You should be used to it by now."

I elbowed her.

'I don't freaking know how she became part of Team One if she is this dense!'

The man turned around to face us. He looked unfamiliar.

It had been years since I stopped training with the others, but still, I knew the faces of every Somaro. Something very obvious was off with this man.

"Do you know what time it is?" I asked.

Geraldine finally got the hang of what was happening when she heard the secret code.

"It's past noon," he answered.

At that instant, I sprinted and chased the intruder along with Geraldine.

He was supposed to salute. That was a secret code in the camp to identify non-members.

"Ring the alarm, you brat!" I screamed at Geraldine.

She slowed down and left me chasing that man. Seconds later, the camp alarm went off insanely.

I chased the stranger as he ran across the corridors of the camp rooms. He turned to the left, which led to the back part of the camp. He must have entered the camp rooms from there.

"How did you know he's not one of us?"

I turned my head to Geraldine, who caught up with me. A fast brat. She was the best runner among us.

I was out of breath, but I still answered her. "He's wearing the training uniform," I replied, breathlessly.

"As a soldier should."

I couldn't help but groan in frustration. She was infuriating.

"Moron! There is no training today."

"Oh! Right…" She let out a laugh and ran faster.

Maybe it was because she had long legs that she could run faster than any of us. She ultimately caught the intruder.

The stranger fell to the ground, and Geraldine kept him in check.

"If you didn't ask the code, I wouldn't know," she said while still catching her breath.

"Like something is new with that," I sarcastically said.

I looked at the intruder.

"Who are you," I demanded.

He smirked. I forcefully grabbed his hair down to make him stare at me directly.

"I'm not in the mood to have mercy, so answer me properly."

I grabbed his hair harder, and that made him groan. "Who sent you here?"

His hand moved quickly and was now holding a knife, ready to attack. Geraldine immediately kicked him.

He rolled away from us, still holding the knife. We thought he was aiming for me, but we were wrong. He was aiming for his throat.

"No!"

Before I could even go near him to stop what he was about to do, he already slit his own throat.

"Shit!" I cursed out of frustration.

Blood gushed out of his throat as he lay on the ground. I ran to him and covered his wound with my hand to stop the bleeding.

Geraldine did the most Geraldine thing to do at that moment. She took off her shirt and gave it to me.

I wasn't in the right situation to scold her for her R-18 show, so I focused on the nearly dead guy and used her shirt to minimize the bleeding. Whoever ordered him made sure he wouldn't leave any trace if caught.

Captain Mauro was the first one to arrive. His eyes shuddered in horror when he saw Geraldine's state. She only had her bras on, for goodness sake!

The Captain removed his jacket and tossed it to Geraldine without a word. The brat naughtily grinned.

"What happened?" He asked me and took over applying pressure.

Soon enough, the man's heart stopped beating.

When our Commander heard about what happened, he arrived at the scene with his soldiers. His face was grim and furious.

"Get the soldiers from the border. Now!"

"Yes, Commander!" The captain of team three replied.

"What happened?" Gulu and Loor came to Geraldine and me, whispering.

"An intruder," Geraldine answered.

"No way!" Loor shouted in silence, eyes wide, looking at the dead body on the ground. He couldn't believe the news.

As soon as the soldiers from the border arrived at the scene, they were made to kneel in front of the Commander.

Being a soldier in the camp was, in many ways, brutal. We had to do our jobs properly. We had to complete our missions. Otherwise, we would experience the harsh consequence of neglecting our duty.

The Commander made the five teams gather at the headquarters. He looked anxious as he paced back and forth in front of us. He had reasons to be.

If someone sent a spy, that implied that someone from the outside already knew about our re-existence.

"Let's not tell the Chief about this, not yet," the Commander stated in finality.

"Sir, this is a serious problem. He has to know," Captain Mauro debated.

He received a slap from the Commander. Although I stopped myself from flinching, I flinched. My cheeks felt the cramp, though I wasn't the one who was slapped.

"Shut your mouth, Rosales."

Geraldine and I only exchanged looks.

After the commander dismissed us, our team gathered.

"Are you okay, Captain?" I asked out of concern. That slap must've hurt.

He did not answer.

"Sleep early. Your body needs rest. We have a bank to rob tonight," he said and left us without another word.

Geraldine immediately followed him, which piqued my curiosity. I didn't know they were that close.

Isagani briefed us again about each of our roles tonight, excluding the captain and Geraldine.

"For whom do we rob tonight?" Loor asked innocently.

"A quarter of the funds will be donated to PWDs Charity Foundation," Isagani answered.

A quarter only? It was usually half-half.

We donated to charity foundations under the name of the person we stole from.

Ironic, eh?

We did that so that they wouldn't be able to report the theft. They took the credit for the good deed. That was how we maintained the secrecy of our organization.

"Why only a quarter?" Gulu enquired curiously.

"The camp needs funds," Isagani simply replied.

'We have a heist tonight. And it's gonna be fun!'

--

We were going to rob Riganda Bank. And why this bank?

Well, its operations were inhumane, so...

It offered loans to desperate people in exchange for ridiculously high-interest rates. In nature, this was a loan shark business, but they laundered their income to make it look like they were operating legally.

Riganda Bank was one of the biggest banks in the city, infamous for money laundering.

Even so, the police couldn't touch them because money laundering was hard to prove. If the palace was not doing anything, we had to step in.

I looked up at the building.

It was peacefully resting with its lights turned off. Only one security guard was guarding the place.

Unfortunately, we were about to disturb its peaceful rest. My role tonight was surveillance.

I was assigned outside the bank. I stayed inside the car to guard the place while Geraldine, the captain, Gulu, and Loor were already inside.

Isagani was assigned to guard the bank entrance, and he was the one who took care of the guard's body after the captain made him unconscious.

Gracia City was still alive even at midnight. Therefore, we shouldn't do something that might alarm anyone about this heist.

However…

I heard faint sounds of shattering glasses. I contacted my team but they weren't responding.

My nerves became fully alert. In the back of my mind, I was already calculating the consequences if we failed that night.

Then finally, something happened again inside, and this time, it made a thunderous shattering sound.

Immediately, I looked around to look for signs of anyone ever hearing that booming sound.

A car that passed by drove backward.

Oh no!

"What's happening there?" I asked my team through my in-ear.

No one received my call again. I was already sweating.

"Gan! Do you copy?"

"They are not responding, Paul," Isagani answered.

A man stepped out of the car.

"Gan, position. Someone's in front of the bank," I alerted Isagani.

I took my gun and went out of the car. I slowly approached the man who was curiously looking at the bank.

'Man, just leave. For your own fucking safety, please don't do anything and just leave!'

I really hoped the man wouldn't do anything so that I wouldn't have to hurt him. Unfortunately, he took his phone, scribbled something on it, and then put it on his ear.

Oh, no...

"I see him, Paul. I think he's calling the police. I will shoot him," Isagani declared.

With each centimeter closer, I was slowly getting the whole figure of the man. My heart was about to burst out. I couldn't believe who I was seeing.

I threw my gun away and ran towards him as fast as I could. I pounced at him. I heard a gunshot before we both landed on the ground.

I inspected his whole body to look for a wound. And thank goodness there wasn't any!

"Run," I breathlessly said and held his hand.

We both ran away as fast as we could. I heard a few more gunshots, but we managed to dodge them.

"Was that you, Paul? You saved the man?" I heard Isagani speak from my in-ear.

I subtly removed my in-ear and threw it somewhere so that Neuron wouldn't see them. We stopped running in an alley, both catching our breaths.

The loudness of my beating heart was deafening. When I realized I was still holding his hand, I immediately let it go.

"Rathna," he called my name. "What were you— the bank—"

He was confused and out of words. He hadn't realized yet that he almost died from that gunshot.

I didn't know how to explain to him why I happened to be in that place at that moment. And how I happened to save him.

He stared at my face and asked me a normal question, but it made me so nervous that my knees trembled.

"Who are you?"

'What should I say? How will I answer him?'

Rather than answering him, I circled my hands on his nape and kissed him on his mouth. It was the only diversion I could think of.

I expected him to push me away. So my body shivered from an unexpected heat as he circled his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to deepen the kiss.