Intermission
Decades of putting up a façade and acting like a fool had prepared Paloma for nearly anything, except being told that The Benefactor would be waiting on them to hand-deliver the artifact. She had already shared her belief that the artifact was important with Ignacio, but this only confirmed it. It had taken Paloma a few hours to get back to the hotel. She used the excuse that it was too dangerous to go directly back with everything going on. When she had finally arrived, Melissa delivered the news to her and Curtis.
“What about Ignacio? Shouldn’t we at least see if we can tag along with the rescue team?” Curtis pleaded.
Paloma could tell that he was concerned. The two had met years ago shortly after Curtis had been cleared to operate without a chaperone. Over the years, she’d met many like her, all through jobs set up by The Benefactor. More often than not, their personalities were two-dimensional, simple. They had a simple backstory that, if asked about, they could easily deflect. Some were made to be obsessed with something. Baseball cards, chess, computers, movies, airplanes, or helicopters.
“If The Benefactor is sending a team to intercept, then we should carry on with the job. Ignacio is tough; I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Paloma touched Curtis’ shoulder. It wasn’t uncommon to receive commands to befriend a human or another of them, so Paloma wondered how genuine the friendship between Curtis and Ignacio was. And if there was some of that between him and Melissa.
“She’s right. We need to push on with the mission. The Guardians can sometimes be unpredictable, but we know they came for Ignacio. The thought that they might come for us is not one I want to entertain.” Melissa said, taking a seat in the lone chair. “We need to move fast. We’ve already lost a day, so let’s make up for it.”
“What do you suggest?” Curtis raised a brow.
“Paloma?” Melissa looked at her and pointed at Curtis with her head.
“Right,” she said, taking a seat on the bed taking out a laptop. This one was different than the one used to help Ignacio. “Before the mess with the Guardians, I was able to locate the schematics for the penthouse. Before Lady Elaine moved in, she had the penthouse remodeled. Ironwill, a Trent Security subsidiary, was in charge of the remodel. They specialize in making fortress’. This one specifically was made to be airtight.”
“Airtight as in, lots of locks and doors or…?” Curtis waited.
“Airtight as in, poison gas can fill the room, and none will escape.”
“Poison gas?” Curtis shook his head, “I’m guessing the artifacts in the glass cases are protected. Alarms connected to gas releases.”
Paloma nodded.
“You got a way to disable the alarms or the gas?” He asked.
“I do. The gas itself is held in tanks on the floor below the penthouse. That room also has surveillance 24/7.” Paloma turned the laptop and handed it to Melissa and Curtis. They clicked through to the blueprints while she continued, “We could hit the surveillance room first and knock out the cameras. But the alarms are connected directly to the gas tank. We could save time by splitting up. One of you can go after the gas while I go for the cams.”
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As the voices came over the cellphone, Ignacio focused on clearing the noise in the background to make it feel like he was in the room with the group.
When he first entered the medieval-themed love hotel a few hours ago, he couldn’t wait to sleep. Laying on the bed, he closed his eye, thinking that an hour of sleep awaited him. Instead, he fell into what felt like a paralyzed state. His mind was alert, but his body wouldn’t move. What was concerning was that he wasn’t panicking, nor did he feel afraid. It was like stepping away from the world that is his body, only to find himself in the control room of his mind.
When the cellphone that Paloma gave him rang, he shifted his attention to his body to answer the call. On the other end was Paloma, who told him about her plan to have him listen in on her meeting with Melissa and Curtis in a few hours. He agreed that it was a good idea, and she said she’d call him back before hanging up.
In the meantime, he dropped back into the bed and went back into his own control room. From that point, until Paloma called again a few hours later, discoveries were made. Traveling back towards the beginning, he was amazed at everything that was hidden away. Things he had done, places he had been, people he had met – all of it just covered by a veil. Every bit of joy, sadness, pain, hate, and fear was welcomed. He experienced it all, as easy as breathing.
Ignacio continued going back until he reached the beginning. And as he approached that which appeared to be his first moments, he stopped. He was taking the final bite of an egg salad sandwich. The Spanish music on the radio ended, and there was an announcement for the 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Living life backwards had been a strange sensation. It was like rewinding videotape, but everything made sense. Hitting play only meant that what was on the video was going in the right direction. And even though he knew what was coming because he was going backward on a road he paved, Ignacio was still surprised at what happened. He knew he would be going to that Le Mans because he had already passed that memory, but the emotion that came from the excitement was fresh.
After the sandwich was finished, he continued going back. He didn’t have much further to go. A few more weeks and he found himself at a bus top in Mexico City. From Ignacio’s current point of view, a man in sunglasses had put him in a car and was driving in reverse to wherever he had come from. A city disappeared from in front, then a dessert appeared and disappeared into trees until he reached the beginning. These were locked and buried. There were no emotions that carried on, only familiarity in muscle memory.
Pride in discovering the truth so soon filled within him. Who knew he’d find the identity of The Proprietor so soon? If Ignacio planned on meeting them again, he wanted to be prepared. He returned to his control room and began making some changes of his own.
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Paloma pointed at the screen of her laptop. “There's an employee elevator here. It connects to the underground garage and subway station. The doors are locked at night, but I can make us a master keycard.”
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Melissa turned to Paloma, “I doubt the elevator leads us all the way up.”
“You’re right on that, but it does get us close. We’d be one floor lower, but stairs exist.” Paloma smiled. She hoped Ignacio was paying attention.
“Fine work,” Melissa smiled back. “Go on to your hotel and clean up. We leave in 30 minutes.”
“Thirty minutes?” Paloma said worryingly.
“The Benefactor wants the relic, and like Curtis, I want to go after Ignacio too, but this job,” Melissa paused.
“It’s slowing us down, dove,” Curtis said.
Paloma looked into Melissa's eyes. Was there something she was missing?
Curtis leaned close to Paloma and whispered loudly, “Don’t tell me you never noticed that she’s mad for the lad?”
Paloma looked at Curtis, then at Melissa. A human falling for one of them wasn’t news by any means, but Melissa knows that they are. Knows what he is. How could she fall for him?
“You’re team leader, Melissa. If you think we should go tonight, let’s go tonight.” False loyalty to The Benefactor’s commands had brought her this far, and it could take her further still. Regardless of any curveballs thrown at her. “What about Lady Elaine? We have no intel on if she was in the city or not.”
“She’s not,” Melissa assured. “That was a piece of info I was withholding. If she was here,” Melissa’s voice went quiet, “then I would’ve had a second job to take care of. You’re not supposed to know, so keep it to yourselves.”
Paloma and Curtis looked at each other.
Melissa stood up from her chair, “Go get ready. I’ll get us a car and meet you outside of your hotel.”
Paloma and Curtis walked out of the hotel together down the street to their hotel. She reached into her pants pocket where her other cellphone was. She pulled it out and saw the call time was still going. Good. She turned her attention to Curtis.
“Can I be honest with you?” He said, keeping his eyes forward.
“Of course.”
“I don’t think Ignacio got snatched by the Guardians. Even if they’d got the drop on him.”
Paloma squinted while listening to Curtis. It was odd to hear that he doubted what the team leader had said. Any orders given to them by Melissa were like they were coming from The Benefactor. They could deviate slightly, but only to fulfill the orders. To them, The Benefactor’s word was the only truth.
“Why do you think he wasn’t caught?”
Curtis stopped walking and moved closer to a building, stepping away from the sidewalk. Paloma followed him. He had his hands in his jacket pockets, and his head stayed on a swivel as he spoke, “Because he’s the best at what he does. He never gets caught unless he wants to, he doesn’t go down unless he’s about to shoot back up – and I’m expected to believe that the Guardians took him?” Curtis raised his jacket up along with his hands. “Something’s off.” He said, shaking his head.
Maybe that friendship they built over the years was cutting deeper than any code or command sent by The Benefactor. Paloma pressed further with a whisper, “You think that maybe, they lied to us?”
“That’s the thing,” he shrugged his shoulders, “they’ve never lied to us before. Should we be concerned if they’re lying now?”
“If they are, and that’s a big if, then they have an important reason for it.”
Curtis hanged his head and sighed, “You’re right. Forget what I said. Let’s hurry and get geared up before Melissa shows up, and we’re not ready.”
Paloma agreed and led the way to the hotel. She thought about Curtis's doubts and wondered if they were commands or signs that also led to thoughts about retirement. She was surprised to have never seen this happen before.
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Paloma tapped away on her keyboard in the back seat of the car. Melissa had arrived in a black Suzuki Stacia. It’s one of Japan’s kea cars. Small, fuel-efficient, and extremely common. Curtis had to slide his seat as far as possible to fit comfortably.
“We’re nearly there. Are you almost finished?” Melissa asked.
Paloma continued tapping on her keyboard. “Just, about, done.” She swiped her hotel key card on a magstripe reader and handed it to Melissa. That card was wiped and recoded for entry to the parking garage under the building and all doors. She quietly swiped another card and put it in her pocket. Setting the laptop aside, she reached into her bag and pulled out a hip holster, affixing it to her side. Going into the bag again, she brought out a Walther P99 and double-checked to make sure it was loaded and ready, putting it in the holster.
All three were dressed casually aside from their STF-Kevlar vests and weapons. The idea was they could dump their gear to blend in if necessary.
“Before we get there, I want to remind you all that even though Lady Elaine is away, Trent Security is still in the penthouse. Rules of engagement are simple; we won’t open fire on them unless they open on us first. Understood?”
“Got it.” Curtis gave a thumbs up.
Paloma looked at Melissa through the rearview mirror, “And if we run into the Guardians?”
Melissa made eye contact with Paloma before looking back to the road, “Shoot on sight.”
Curtis turned to look at Melissa, surprised – then he turned to look at Paloma before facing out the window, “Understood.”
“Understood,” Paloma repeated after him.
A minute later, they arrived at the underground parking entrance. Paloma checked the cell phone, and it appeared that the call was still going. She sent a quick message.
[U there??]
Melissa parked the car in reverse, facing the exit. She tossed the keys into the glove compartment and got out of the car, after which she opened the back door to grab her gear. Paloma could see her taking in their surroundings as she walked around to the back of the Suzuki.
“You coming?” Melissa asked, tapping Paloma's shoulder from behind.
“I am. Just going over everything I need to do in my head.” She looked down at the cellphone. There was no message. “First, we get to the surveillance room and neutralize the security there…” she sent another message.
[r u there?]
Paloma continued, “Then we get to the gas tanks and shut off the gas. After that, we get the artifact and other loot. Is that everything?” She asked, staring at the small screen, and a message popped up.
[i’m here]
Paloma sighed with relief.
“Almost. The Benefactor has set us up with another car. To reach it, we’ll move through the subway below.” Melissa tapped Paloma’s shoulder again. “Just in case,” she said, handing over a gas mask.
Paloma took it and grabbed her things.
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Ignacio watched as the black Suzuki Spacia pulled into the garage. The car parked in reverse, and Melissa and Curtis emerged from the front. The phone in his hand vibrated. He wrote his message and pressed send.
Paloma exited the car, and he heard her voice as clear as day, “Alright, let’s get going.”