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It had taken three days of non-stop planning and then an impromptu 12-hour flight, but it seemed like everything had gotten back on track, as Louie and his team hauled up their luggage filled with equipment into the hotel room that would act as their base of operations for the next 72-hours, Louie breathed a sigh of relief.
"You okay Louie?" - Lucy questioned, gently placing a case filled with Amelia's electrical equipment down.
"I'm fine." - He answered, flashing her his signature smirk. - "Just glad to be back."
June dropped a container containing something heavy, evident by the loud thud it made when it hit the ground. - "You're calm for someone who is hours away from invading 'Fort Lennox'."
"Why should I worry? Life's too short for it."
"No, Louie." - Amelia chastised. - "You should be worried. The Lennox Compound is an extraordinarily risky target. It makes Fort Knox looks like a Funsos."
Louie tutted. - "Don't knock Funsos' security. Landed me in the local jail when I was thirteen."
"I thought you said you'd never been caught before Spain?"
"Louie Gold may have only one incident on his rap-sheet, but Louie Duck has one a mile long, luckily, having a rich famous relative makes it so that the crime never happened." - The thief remarked, turning to meet Tommy.
Maria entered the hotel room, carrying her own suitcases. - "So, you haven't always been the master escape artist that you've claimed?"
"To be fair, I've always been slippery, I got away with a lot as a kid. The only times I got caught was when the McDucks dragged me into something that I knew was stupid." - He shot back. - "Anyway, that's enough talking about my history, we have seven-hours till we enact one of the most dangerous heists we've ever planned."
The other five teenagers gathered around the Duck, as he begun one of his famous motivational speeches. Noticing their undivided attention, he stood upon the Hotel room's coffee table, revelling in their captivation.
"But we will pull it off, and it will be perfect." - He insisted, gesturing as he did so. - "It will make us big, bigger then big, and wealthy beyond our wildest dreams."
Maria laughed. - "It sounds like you're gearing up for a celebration Lou. Don't get cocky now."
"Can't help it, part of my charm." - He shot back, stepping down from the table, earning a giggle from Maria.
Amelia, Lucy, Tommy and June watched the two flirt, with reactions ranging from discomfort to disgust. It kept going until June cleared her throat.
"Shouldn't we be getting ready?"
Louie nodded, taking a step back from Maria. - "Okay than... Amelia, I need you to do a final check on all equipment Maria and I will be using, I want there to be zero percent chance that anything fails. Lucy, go make sure that the escape car and the utility van are both fuelled up and ready to drive." - He spun to meet Tommy and June. - "Tommy contact the buyers and make sure that our false documents are in order, I wanna be flying out of this country before the Cops even get called. June, surveillance. Make sure there are no surprises for us. Everybody understand?"
"What about you and Maria?" - Lucy questioned, raising her hand.
"We will be going over the plan, escape routes, rendezvous points. We all know that the Lennox Compound is outfitted with communication jammers to prevent bugs working. We will have no outside support."
"What happens if something goes wrong?"
"If, and that's a very small if, something goes wrong. You probably will have no idea, if neither me nor Maria makes contact within an hour, you all disappear. Now let me repeat, does everyone understand?"
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The sun had set, Lennox and his Wife, Sofia, were out at the Opera, their young and only child, Hanna was spending the night at a world-class babysitter and an entire platoon of guards had called in sick, due to outbreak of Flu.
It was the perfect time to strike.
Louie and Maria surveyed the Compound from down the street, admiring it as they did so.
Comprised of ten thousand plus square foot, the main residence was a grand Castle, that could have been ripped straight from a fairy-tale. Built from bricks that lightened in colour the further upwards it went and topped with rose-coloured roofs and window frames. It was a sprawling complex of arches, towers, crenulated walls, and according to blueprints which Tommy had managed to snag, secret passages.
It had belonged to an 1800's Polish noble by the name of Count Claudias Kowalysk, who according to legend, was an acute Paranoid. So much so that it led him to kill off all his children and his wife before dying of Tuberculosis.
The castle had passed between owners after that, but then had fallen into disrepair and was subsequently abandoned in the early 20th Century.
It stayed like that until Lennox's father, Arthur Mazur had bought it for his son as a Wedding present.
Arthur, like Count Kowalysk was paranoid. Though a lot less so. Replacing the crumbling stone wall with a modern, defensive one and had cameras and a high-tech security system installed. He also hired several dozen goons to act as his family's security force as well as to protect the considerable fortune in priceless artefacts that the house contained.
One such treasure and the target of the heist. Was the crown of Sir Samuel Lampart.
Though they had no definitive answer to where in the Compound, the crown was stashed, the blueprints had noted a sizeable bunker underneath the middle of the castle. With a hidden passage running from it to a hidden wall in the main room.
"You know Louie, while the jacket looks nice, it's not very practical for a stealth situation." - Maria commented, as Louie lowered his pair of binoculars. Having just spotted the guards by the front entrance change position.
Louie shrugged. - "It's a nice jacket. Also has a lot of pockets." - He reached inside and pulled forth a pair of piston goggles. - "Here." - He remarked handing them to her, before equipping his own pair.
"Thanks."
"No problem." - Louie set his watch for an hour and activated his comms. - "Amelia send out the drone."
"Sending out drone." - She dictated, from the utility van a street away from the Compound. - "Good luck, Louie."
"Thanks Amelia." - He acknowledged. - "See you in an hour. Going dark." - With that, he shut off his comms and pocketed it, before turning to Maria. - "Ready?"
She nodded. - "Ready."
The two teens sprinted up to the perimeter wall. Waiting till the guards had passed to do so. They waited for a moment till they saw a device that was the same size and shape of an egg floating above them. While practically invisible, the goggles they were wearing made it much more obvious.
The drone's purpose was to uncover the hidden security features the Castle boasted. It scanned the wall, lighting up the many built-in sensors and triggers in red, as well as marking the guards via the chips on their ID badges. This was all communicated to the two through receivers built into their goggles.
Louie calculated a route through the many switches, before flicking his wrist, his grapple-hook shooting upwards and catching at the top of the barrier. He held his hand out for Maria, who gladly took it.
The two zipped up the wall and leapt over the side, landing on the other side with a roll into a ducking position.
As Louie slowly stood up, he saw how many invisible security system stimuli littered the grounds. It was a thieves' hell, and that wasn't even counting the numerous and well-armed guards that were patrolling. Even with at least seven out sick, there was still at least twenty outside, and another twenty in.
Louie turned to Maria and nodded. With no word between them, they ran in perfect sync from their position by the perimeter wall all the way to the castle's front door, passing by a few of the most beautiful gardens in Poland as well as many coy ponds surrounded by rainbow pebbles.
The Castle's front door, which while appearing as solid oak, was really made of sturdy metal designed to look like wood and was connected to a fingerprint-scanner.
The two kept low to the ground and away from well-lit areas in the case that a guard noticed something out of place, as Louie reached into his pockets and drew forth a plastic container the size of a matchbox.
Opening it, Louie took its contents, which consisted of a single rubber glove and slipped it onto his left hand.
Maria stepped closer. to him - "Little late for gloves, Lou." - She whispered and Louie had to bite back a snicker and put his non-gloved index finger up to his beak in a universal sign of silence.
Putting his gloved index finger up to the fingerprint-scanner, Louie waited till the little box attached, lit up green and there was a quiet click, signalling that the lock had opened, once that had happened, the two opened the door a crack and slipped through, the drone following, before gently shutting it behind them.
The foyer of the magnificent home was a large circular room decorated with white and gold striped wallpaper and a polished Mahagony floor. It branched off into three separate hallways and had an engraved silver circular staircase situated in the middle.
"Which way do we go?"
Louie pointed straight ahead. - "That way." - He whispered back, before taking off down the specific hallway.
The two kept quick and quiet as they moved, dodging every sensor and stopping at every turn and hallway junction to check for guards before continuing.
Soon arriving at the heart of the Castle, which was the main living room where all hallways begun and ended, the two teenagers were taken aback by the level of cliche in the room.
A massive crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, basking the room in a warm glow. Bookcases covered the far wall, and large, cushioned armchairs sat in the middle, surrounding the currently unlit fire, many hunting trophies were littered across the room, from deer heads plaques to a fully stuffed taxidermy bear.
"C'mon." - Maria whispered as she crept towards the bookshelf. - "Where's the access panel?"
Louie cleared his throat, before pointing to a light-switch that seemed a little off compared to the others in the room. With a little force, it slid to the side, revealing another fingerprint-scanner.
Once more, Louie placed the index finger covered with the special glove into the scanner and waited for the beep of confirmation.
Seconds later, the middle most bookshelf sat along the far wall retreated, before sliding into its specific slot, creating an opening just wide enough for the two to pass through.
The opening expanded into a tunnel and the tunnel led to a large metal door, which again was connected to a fingerprint scanner, but also a card reader. Luckily Louie had obtained a phony security-card ages prior when he had cloned Lennox's phone.
With a quick swipe, the door slid open, revealing to Louie, one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen in his life.
"You know who some religions have those afterlife's where each are tailored to a specific person?" - Louie questioned, as his eyes roamed the room. - "I think I'm getting a glimpse of mine."
Treasures. The entire room was overflowing with priceless, one-of-a-kind treasures. From paintings by artists long dead and buried, to artifacts which belonged to civilisations so ancient that their languages had become indecipherable.
"Don't even think about touching that," - He warned, as she eyed up a small gold totem, locked in a small glass case. - "That is definitely attached to an alarm."
Spotting Lampart's Crown sitting on a throw cushion on top of an engraved marble pillar located not too far from the door, Louie allowed himself to smile.
"Looks like we did it." - Maria chimed, grinning herself. She stuck her left hand out. - "Put her there, partner."
Louie gladly shook her hand. - "Let's get out of here."
"Woah, woah, woah!" - The girl protested, waving her hands frantically. - "Louie, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, we're probably going to be the only people on Earth who will ever get to loot a tomb this valuable. What you're suggesting is like breaking into a candy-store and stealing one gumball!"
He attempted to protest, but she cut him off.
"C'mon Lou, there's gotta be something else small enough for us to take with us, let's have a look around.
So filled with euphoric joy, Louie was blind to the mistakes he was making.
Placing the crown back on it cushion, he began to look through the many artifacts for something else small. Stopping only when he spotted an emerald, the size of a juice carton.
"Hey," - He began, spinning around. - "What ab-" - He stopped mid-sentence. - "Ari?" - He questioned quietly.
The girl had snatched the crown back off the pillow and hand ran back to the door.
"Sorry Lou," - She smiled back. - "But we'll always have Belgium." - She remarked, before tossing what looked like one of the coloured coy-pond pebbles at the golden idol's case.
Louie felt time slow, watching as the stone flew faster than he could stop it, before slamming into the case and ricochet off. For the fraction of a moment, it looked like it had done nothing, till a small crack appeared.
A small crack that quickly grew into a large crack.
A large crack that resulted in the case shattering.
Before Louie could do anything, a deafening alarm had sounded, sending Louie to the ground. As he struggled to his knees, his hands clamped firmly over his ears. He watched as Maria slipped through the door before it slammed shut and lock.
A cloudy gas was pouring into the room through the vents, and Louie felt as if someone had set fire to his lungs.
He ran for the door and tried hopelessly to open it. There was a fingerprint and card scanner on the inside as well, but it seemed the crown wasn't the only thing Maria had taken with her in her escape, she had also taken his faux fingerprint glove.
Louie collapsed to his knees, coughing violently, as he continued to breathe in the gas.
It seemed his paradise of priceless treasure would instead be his tomb.
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Thanks for reading Ch.21 of Legacy, this will probably be the last chapter I post for a while as school is restarting soon, but don't give up hope. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and also hope you comment, vote, follow me and read Ch.22 - MM