He knew it was the best time for the robbery. If he wouldn’t steal it right now, then Tafadzwa would do it some other day. Waylon moved like a cat inside the house. He had spent years and years training himself for the moments like these.

Waylon walked by Tafadzwa’s painting. He could not escape the discomfort the painting’s eye was putting him through. Those seemed to follow him no matter where he was standing.

I must steal the cipher before sunrise. Waylon thought and dared to enter inside the room where hundreds of papers were laying. But he knew which one to look for.

Under the glass slab on the table, there was an old paper. An unlit lamp was above the paper. Writing on it seemed familiar to him, but he had no time to keep on thinking. Waylon took out the cipher, folded it and slid it inside his pocket.

With half of his work done, he was now looking to escape. Waylon left the room and went to the same passage. This time the painting did not trigger odd sensation in his brain.

He did not want to see shortcomings of his training. But he had been spotted. A man who looked like he had just woken up from sleep was looking straight at him. Waylon was equipped for such a scenario. He pulled his gun from his waist and pointed at the man. “Who are you?”

“I am Roderick.” The man raised his hands. “Don’t shoot me. I can explain how I got here.”

“Sssshhhh…” Waylon hushed.

“Show me your teeth.”

Roderick grinned, exposing teeth upto his moral. Waylon came forward and carefully looked at his teeth but did not lower his gun.

“No gold tooth. You are not Tafadzwa’s man.” Waylon said, “Did you come here to steal the cipher?”

“No.” Roderick said, trying to see if Waylon had a gold tooth or not, “I was looking for a way out.”

“Come with me.” Waylon said.

“Who are you?”

“Waylon. Now shut up and follow me without making any sound.”

They descended from the stairs, making no sound. Sitting room was just a turn away from there. Roderick kept on following him to the turn and stopped when Waylon did.

A dog bigger than them was sleeping infront of the door.

Damn! This was not here when I came in. Waylon thought.

“Isn’t here a window around?” Roderick asked.

The dog opened its eyes after hearing Roderick’s voice. The dog stood up to see who those men were. It did not recognize anyone of them. The dog got ready to bark.

Roderick caught the rope attached to its collar and wrapped it around its mouth by climbing on his back. The dog still had managed to leave breath out some barks. But now its mouth got shut.

Its mouth was closed, but its legs were free. The panicked dog whimpered and jumped everywhere, breaking whatever came in its way.

“Quick.” Waylon broke the door open. The lock picking wire he had used to break in was worthless for now. The theft had lost its cleanliness ever since Roderick had appeared. Regardless, they ran out from there. Waylon had some sense in him to close the door, even though it was of no use.

Tafadzwa’s man woke up after listening to the sound in the living room. He walked towards the dog, which had untied its mouth by its paws. The dog stood near broken vases and kept on barking.

The dog became silent when it saw the man whom it was familiar with.

“This is not how you demand food.” Tafadzwa’s man said, “See, you broke your bowl. I guess you will be eating from floor from today.”

Dog barked, telling about the intruders, but no human could decode its language.

In his room, Tafadzwa also woke up because of loud barking.