Lila walked to the front door and opened it, holding it open for Juan.

Juan nodded and followed Lila out the front door, she locked the door behind him and got into her car. He was still wearing his hoodie, but seemed to be in a much brighter mood after a meal. He climbed in next to her and she got ready to drive off.

Lila turned to Juan;

"So then, Where to first?"

"We’ll need to go and pick up some supplies."

Lila nodded and drove out onto the main road, heading for the nearby store.

"Like what, masks and stuff?"

Juan nodded “Exactly! We’ll also need a crowbar and bolt cutters just in case, but I have some lock picks that can be used for the door of the van”

Lila frowned;

"Is it okay just to go into a shop and buy this, couldn’t this kind of stuff get reported in. How will we get this without being spotted?"

"Simple, you're just going to go in and buy them whilst I watch."

Lila frowned and raised an eyebrow;

"Oh really?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Because I don't want to end up in jail."

Juan shrugged;

"Trust me, you won't. The cops can’t arrest you just for purchasing workshop tools. Besides, you can always say that you're a cosplayer."

Lila laughed and shook her head, she was definitely not a cosplayer.

"Right, and who would believe that? Me, the owner of a coffee shop, cosplaying as what exactly?"

Juan grinned and held up a finger;

"A burglar, and not just any burglar, a superhero burglar. The kind that fights crime."

Lila sighed and rolled her eyes at Juan's joke, not really wanting to argue about this. She pulled up into the parking lot of a nearby store.

"Fine, I'll go in and buy what you need. But if I end up in jail, you're going to have to bail me out."

Juan laughed and nodded.

"Deal, and if you do end up in jail, I'll come and visit you every week."

Lila groaned and got out of the car, walking into the store. Juan got out and waited outside, leaning against the hood of the car and smoking a cigarette.

A short while later, Lila came back out with a plastic bag in her hand. She got into the car and handed Juan the bag.

"Here, I got everything you asked for. Tools, some gloves, a ski mask, a roll of duct tape, a pair of bolt cutters, and a flashlight. Oh, and a few bottles of water and snacks too."

Juan smiled, and took the bag to rummage around;

“See, that wasn’t so bad. Bet the guy at the counter didn’t even question you one bit”

Lila didn’t deign to answer that question, and just looked away. Juan was completely correct, the store clerk was on his phone the whole time and didn’t even look up at what she bought. Ignoring the subject she continued;

"You're welcome, and yeah, let's get going."

“Oh, hey did you get some pocky sticks? I love these things!”

Lila started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

"I did, but they're mine. Get your own."

Juan chuckled, box in hand, and took a bite of the snack.

"Don't worry, I will."

The two drove back to the house, and once inside, they sat down in the living room and began to discuss the plan with David.

Juan got straight down to business;

"Ok, we're going to need to scout the parking garage before we break in. We need to get an idea of surveillance and security."

"I've already hacked in and have got full access to all the cameras. The cameras inside of the garage are just standard CCTV units, easy to hack."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

David brought up several video feeds on his laptop and showed Juan the footage;

"There, that should give you a good idea."

Lila looked closely at the video, there was a single camera aimed at the door and a few other cameras around the garage. She spoke;

"There's a guard there, see him at the entrance?"

Juan peered closer;

"Yep, He's standing at the guardhouse and keeps an eye out for who enters and exits."

Lila frowned, this could prove to be tricky. David nodded;

"I know, this isn't going to be easy, but I have an idea"

Juan asked;

"What do you have in mind?"

"I'm going to hack into the camera's software and play some old footage. This way you two can just sneak in undetected."

David was incredibly pleased with himself and smiled at them;

"Simple right?"

Lila raised an eyebrow sardonically;

"How are we supposed to just sneak into a guarded parking garage? Those men are not going to be that dumb. They'd notice that something is wrong with that footage right away."

David shrugged;

"You can't say it wouldn't work, the footage will be looped anyway. So nothing would change."

Lila wasn’t completely convinced;

"I guess it could work. But it doesn’t feel right"

Juan pointed to the screen;

"No, this could really work. And once we're in, it's easy enough to avoid the guard inside of the garage itself. They’ll check anyone coming in, but if you’re going out you only need to press a button right?"

David nodded;

"Exactly, the guard will only check people entering. He's probably not paid enough to do more than that"

Lila was still hesitant;

"How do we sneak the box out if we only have a car?"

David spoke up;

“We’re not going to drive the car into the garage, we’re going to drive the van OUT of the garage”

Juan grinned, that plan would really work. David looked at Lila as he explained his plan;

"Simple, we'll break the camera while driving the van out, then dump the van and make a clean getaway."

Lila shook her head slowly, this was all sounding too easy;

“That’s it? You said these guys seemed smart… This seems almost too easy?”

David raised an eyebrow;

"They ARE smart. They have a guard checking all of the vehicles, so he will focus entirely on them and pay less attention to anything else. Plus, don't underestimate technology. Hacking these cameras isn't easy even if you think it is."

David tapped his keyboard, and Juan nodded.

Lila sighed;

"Look, I get it. But do we really have to resort to this?"

David stopped typing and shook his head;

"If you have any better ideas, feel free to share them."

Lila sat in silence, she really didn't have any other plan. Juan spoke;

"Look, This is the simplest way and the easiest way for us to pull it off, plus it has the highest chance of us getting out of here without raising suspicion. So, Lila, are you in or out?"

Lila reluctantly conceded;

"Ugh fine, but I'm going to have a hot shower once all of this is finished."

Lila rubbed her head, and leaned back against her chair, closing her eyes and relaxing a little.

David handed both of them small Bluetooth earpieces and she drove them all to the parking garage. They eventually pulled into a large alleyway David had picked out as a good location to make the swap.

"Wear the earpieces and we can all talk to each other whilst you go inside and I’ll stay out here on lookout."

Lila was impressed, her father knew a lot more about this stuff than she thought he did. Thoughts went back to her mother, and she imagined that there was more to this story than what she knew. She would confront him about this later, but they had something to do. She plugged her earpiece in and tested it. Juan also put his earpiece in;

"Test, can you both hear me?"

The other two replied with a positive response, and David added;

"Ok, It will take me a few moments to switch out the camera feeds and loop them. You two head over to the garage, let me know when you get nearby and I’ll loop the feed. Afterwards, on the right side of the building is a staff entrance. I already have the electronic gate, so just let me know when you are there and I can open it"

Lila confirmed this and the pair walked from the alley and towards the parking garage. Juan checked the alley to the right of the building coming up in front of him.

"Alright David, we are just outside now. Ready to go"

David confirmed, and in just a few moments;

"Camera's looped and the staff gate should be open. Be quick, the camera loop will only last 20 minutes."

Lila and Juan sprinted over to the staff entrance and pulled it open, it was unlocked. Once they were inside Juan asked;

"David, we’re through the staff entrance, which way do we go now?"

The reply came a few seconds later, muffled by the ear piece;

"Left along the corridor, you're near the employee change room. Watch your step, there should be another camera close by. Give me a few moments and I will loop that… Done”

Juan peeked around the corner. A man sat lazily in an office, talking on his phone. The window to the office overlooked the corridor;

"Ok, It looks like there's an office with a man inside, looks like another security guard"

David spoke;

"Shit, Ok that changes things a bit. The cameras are looped, but I don’t have anything for the guy in the office. Can you get past?”

Lila piped in “He’s being pretty loud, I bet if we crouch under the office window he won’t notice anything”

Juan looked back to Lila and nodded silently. They both ducked down, and following Juan’s lead they both moved under the open window without the guard noticing them. They turned the corner to see a hallway;

"Ok David, past that guy. I see some stairs in front of us, is that where we’re going?"

Lila could hear typing over the ear piece followed by a sigh;

"Dammit… no not the stairs, there’s someone coming down them right now."

Lila looked around panicked;

“David, there’s nowhere else to go… This is a one way corridor”

David swore over the earpiece.