"That was a great story, but we've got to hurry." Darling smiled.
Amelia was still stuck in a daze.
"Are you done reminiscing, or will we start the heist next week?" Elise snapped her fingers in front of Amelia's face.
"I'm ready," the young woman came out of her trance and responded tersely. She slung her water bottle crossbow over her shoulder and attached it to her waist. She took a pocket knife from one of the shelves on the right and put it in her pocket. "Have you got your weapons?"
"Darling refuses to lend me her comb—" Elise glared at her earpiece— "so I'll have to use the Sig Sauer and Glock 17 you showed me last time." The woman also put a taser and a rope in her pocket. She handed Amelia a pepper spray.
"Great choice." Amelia nodded approvingly. "One last check over there in the control room?"
"All systems are checked and ready to go," Darling answered confidently.
"The armory is located on the first floor. You'll have to walk up the back staircases to reach Governor Lau's chambers on the fifth floor. I'll keep you posted from the control room and watch the cameras to tell you if there are any adversaries or obstacles. Since it's two a.m., I don't think many guards will patrol the area. Turn right, and give me a heads-up when you exit the arsenal," Darlin informed the pair.
Amelia nodded and prepared to open the door. "Elise, are you ready—"
"Wait!" Elise grabbed the young woman's arm. "This is for you." She held a small weapon in her other hand.
It was the pistol from the training room—the one with the Bauhinias' flower insignia carved into the handle. Its existence had slipped from Amelia's mind, for she'd been too occupied with planning the heist. She used to stare at it longingly during training sessions, but now it was—returned? Given?—to her.
"You can return this to your father after we incarcerate mine," Elise suggested.
Amelia took the pistol and gave Elise a soft, close-lipped smile. "Thank you," she whispered. "I don't think I'll be going back to the Bauhinias, though."
Elise was taken aback. "Wait, what?"
It was too late. Amelia had already opened the door to the armory and slipped out into the inky blackness of the hallway.
***
The pair slinked along the side of the corridor, pressing themselves against the walls. The carpet on the floor muffled the sound of their footsteps, but the two still tried to be as silent as possible, only speaking in the barest of whispers. They ducked under the golden-framed paintings that had become invisible in the darkness, but Elise almost bumped her head on one.
"Aren't you supposed to be familiar with the residence's hallways?" Amelia reprimanded Elise. "You should be able to identify where obstacles are in a familiar environment."
"That's because I walk around the residence in the daytime," Elise retorted harshly. "I can't see anything in the dark."
"That wasn't how I was trained," Amelia mumbled and continued onward.
Soon enough, Elise and Amelia reached the back staircases. With a crackle of static, Darling's voice came through their earpieces. Elise jumped at the sudden noise.
"Once you reach the second floor, look out for the night patrol guards. Use your weapons to take them down, then you can proceed to the ballroom. Walk to the grand staircases and ping me when you're in a safe spot on the third floor," Darling instructed.
"On my count, you'll start walking upstairs. Give me a minute to dismantle the second-floor security cameras." Elise and Amelia heard the furious and frantic clicking of keys, and Darling spoke again in seconds. "Go, and hurry! You have five minutes."
Amelia quickly glanced at Elise and began to sprint up the stairs. "Tread lightly," she advised. The stairs were not carpeted, so the clicking of their boots resonated in the narrow passageway.
Elise was slightly out of breath once the pair reached the top of the stairs. "No resting now," Amelia sighed as the two ducked behind a potted plant. "We have to tackle a couple of brutes first."
And tackle a couple of brutes they did.
The security guards were heavily built and obviously trained for combat. However, Amelia and Elise had more petite statures, giving them the upper hand regarding agility. Still, the duo proceeded with caution. There were three guards and only two of them.
Amelia looked at her pistol—the one Elise had handed to her. Maybe it was time to put that to good use.
The young woman silently aimed the black pistol at a sleeping guard's head, but her gaze faltered ever so slightly. It was appalling how much she'd changed in a decade.
I blame Ah Ba, Amelia thought resolutely. Exposing Governor Lau is for the greater good, so one kill will be worth it.
"What are you doing?" A horrified Elise looked at Amelia with wide eyes.
"I'm taking down one of them," Amelia whispered. "It'll be easier for us."
"No way." Elise glared at Amelia menacingly. "You will not kill my father's employees. They are innocent people with their own lives and families to provide for, understood?"
Amelia lowered the pistol. What difference does killing these guards make from killing Cindy Tian's bunny? If they're innocent, then their lives should be spared. If they aren't directly involved in a mission, they should be spared. Of course, there are exceptions, like when the innocent is a specified target or...
"Three minutes!" Darling warned the duo. Amelia shook her head. There would be more time for evaluating her moral conscience later.
"I'll take down the guard on the right, and you take the left. I'll also taser the sleeping guy," Amelia directed, and Elise nodded. They sprinted off to both sides of the corridor.
Amelia snuck up behind a guard, pepper spray at the ready. She swiped the guard's baton and gun into her sling bag of weapons using a sleight-of-hand trick. Then, Amelia tapped the man on the shoulder. The guard instinctively whirled around and reached for his baton and gun, but Amelia was quicker.
The guard stumbled back with a shout as the pepper spray entered his eyes. On the left, another guard convulsed with agony on the floor—Elise had successfully tasered him.
"Catch!" Elise threw the taser gun in Amelia's direction. The woman received it with her foot and kicked it into her hand. She tasered the guard she'd pepper-sprayed, just in case.
The sleeping guard had awoken and was advancing toward Amelia. "Watch your back!" Elise shouted frantically, and the man stopped.
"Miss L—" The security guard began to speak, but Amelia tasered him, and he dropped to the ground, writhing in pain.
Amelia gestured to the ballroom doors on the other end of the hallway and ran toward them. Elise followed her, not before casting a sympathetic backward glance at the three security guards.
"One minute!" Darling shouted into her earpiece. The pair picked up the pace, and Elise threw open the (surprisingly unlocked) double doors of the ballroom.
The doors closed with a bang, reverberating within the ballroom. Amelia winced at the noise but continued to bolt toward the grand staircase. Elise followed close behind.
The pair ran up the grand staircase as fast as they could, and Elise entered the passcode to get into the third-floor hallway. The automatic doors opened with a soft 'beep,' and the duo stepped inside.
Amelia felt a wave of exhilaration wash over her. She hadn't felt so lethal in a while, not since she'd had to run from the police after stealing the precious necklace for a Bauhinia client. That mission already seemed like eons ago.
"This way," Elise whispered to Amelia. This hallway was illuminated with lights, making navigating the passageway easier for both women. Amelia followed Elise as she ran to the end of the corridor, pushed open a door, and sat down on the first step of the back staircases.
Elise panted heavily, both out of exhaustion and relief. "This spot is safe. Let's take a short break here—"
"And time!" Darling announced from the control room. "The guards on the second floor are unconscious. Great job, girls."
Amelia smiled ruefully. "They'll still live to tell the tale, though. Two women dressed in black viciously attacked them with tasers and pepper spray—with a little bit more evidence-gathering, the law could probably trace it back to us."
"That's why I've also erased the records of you opening any electronic doors. While you both were running, I also turned off all security cameras on the third and fourth floors. I'm still figuring out the last ones on the fifth floor—the technology is more advanced there, so it's harder to intercept," Darling explained. "Thanks for buying me some time."
"No problem," Elise smirked. "Like we're not the ones getting our hands dirty and actually getting the artifacts back—"
Amelia rolled her eyes. "Now's not the time for arguing," she interjected.
"Alright, get a move on," Darling said. "It's two thirty in the morning, so you might want to speed things up if you want to get everything done before Cantonesia wakes up."
"I'm ready." Amelia stood up quickly and began walking up the stairs. Stay focused, she told herself.
"Where to?" Elise asked Darling.
"Continue up the stairs until you reach the fourth floor. The security cameras have all been disengaged, but buy me some time by walking a bit slower. I need to figure out the password for the back staircase doors to get to the fifth floor," Darling answered.
Elise gave Amelia a look and began to tiptoe up the stairs. The two women proceeded noiselessly. One was preoccupied with her thoughts, and the other focused on not making too much noise with her boots. Nevertheless, they both continued at a steady pace and reached the staircases after a few minutes.
"We're waiting for the passcode," Amelia spoke into her earpiece once the duo reached the fourth-floor door.
"I still can't figure it out," Darling sighed. "I've tried all the codes I know. Governor Lau has very advanced security technology, and I don't think I can hack into the software."
Elise put a hand to her chin and looked up at the ceiling. "There must be an easier way. My dad's not good with setting passcodes, and they end up being très obvious."
"What's one of his commonly used passcodes?" Amelia asked. "Maybe we could start with that."
"We don't want to risk a failed attempt. I can't erase records in this software." Darling was slightly agitated.
Elise peered at the digital lock. Three asterisks blinked at her, and the keypad's blue lights seemed to taunt her. "He usually puts his birthday as a passcode—that's how I got into the safe with the blueprints—but I don't think it will work this time. I believe this is a three-digit code."
"A three-digit code," Amelia mused. "So simple yet seemingly impossible to deduce."
"I have an idea!" Darling shouted, and both Amelia and Elise winced at the volume. "There's one thing the older generation loves to do: look back at their past. Like many Cantonesians, Governor Lau probably holds Hong Kong as a special place in his heart. So the code may have something to do with three digits that are special to Hong Kong!"
"Three digits, special to Hong Kong," Amelia repeated. "Three digits..."
"I know!" Elise's face lit up with glee. "I'll try Hong Kong's area code."
The hopeful young woman hesitated for a split second, then entered the digits one by one.
8. The keypad shook. One green light.
5. The keypad shook again. Two green lights.
2. The keypad shook once more.
"Three green lights!" Elise and Amelia cheered and heard the door open with a click. Amelia pushed open the door.
"Let's get up to the fifth floor, pronto."
***
"This is the back staircase, right?" Amelia confirmed with Elise. "How is it so ostentatiously decorated?"
All Amelia could see were dragons. Dragons of different shapes, sizes, and colors—mostly red and gold, though. Their beautiful and intricate scales were painted on every single stair and covered the wall. The lifelike yet mythical creatures frolicked in the cobalt blue background that emulated the sea. It was fitting since dragons were mythical creatures in Chinese mythology that brought rain. It was also suitable for Governor Lau—a dragon, especially a golden one, symbolized undisputed and absolute power.
Amelia stared at the dragons in contempt, returning their piercing gazes. Ah Ba had a golden dragon statue on his desk as well, and it also seemed to be stitched onto his suits. She'd always found that confusing since they were the Bauhinias, not the Golden Dragons. Amelia surmised that, ultimately, power triumphed over cultural significance.
Amelia and Elise looked around at their surroundings once they reached the fifth-floor landing. Elise began to walk toward a set of large, wooden doors at the end of the corridor, but Amelia pulled her back. They ducked behind a pillar, and Amelia pointed in the other direction.
"Guards," she simply whispered.
There were a few security brutes—five, to be exact—awake and alert, patrolling the hallway just to the left of the doors.
"We are severely outnumbered," Elise hissed into her earpiece. "Darling, we need a distraction."
"I can't get into the software!" Darling exclaimed helplessly on the other end. "I can try and cause an intentional security breach, but they might track my computer down and arrest me for trespassing. My aim for this heist was not for anyone except Governor Lau to end up in jail!"
Amelia looked at her crossbow. "Maybe this could help?"
Elise smiled slyly and nodded.
***
A black arrow whizzed over the heads of five security guards. They split into eagle formation in the corridor, just like they'd been trained.
"Who goes there?" Ah Bing, the leader, questioned.
There was no response.
Amelia and Elise stifled a giggle.
"Show yourself!" Ah Bing spoke gruffly but softly so as not to wake Governor Lau. He had a reputation for having a bad temper.
Amelia looked at Elise and raised one, two, three fingers. Then, she shot two more arrows in the guards' direction.
Ah Bing and his pack fanned out along the hallway. Amelia and Elise could hear their heavy footsteps drawing nearer, nearer, nearer...
"Found y—AH!" Elise tasered Ah Bing before he could finish his sentence and delivered a swift kick to his face. Amelia fended off two other guards with her pepper spray and did a roundoff to land behind the two. With a quick motion, she acquired two new batons and pistols—more additions to her weaponry collection.
There were two remaining guards, but they looked slightly frantic. Elise smirked. "Newbies."
The young woman subsequently pirouetted over to the guards, landed, and did an arabesque. "Oops," she exclaimed as her foot came in contact with a guard's face.
Elise tossed Amelia the taser gun, and the other guard was electrocuted from behind. Both brutes fell to the floor in anguish.
"And to finish," Elise remarked as she surveyed the corridor, "a grand jeté!"
The young woman gracefully leaped over the guards—a strange situation in the direst circumstances. Amelia let out a soft chuckle.
Once the pair checked that all five guards were unconscious, they continued on their way.
"Your ballet moves were impressive." Amelia looked at Elise approvingly.
"Thanks," Elise answered. "I've been learning since I was two. My parents forced me to take it up as an extracurricular, but I grew to love it."
"It's funny how both of us turned out under our parents' so-called 'guidance,'" Amelia remarked. "You're doing just fine and being a compliant, obedient daughter who's a stellar example of an eligible maiden while I try not to talk back to my father so I can stay at his headquarters for the night."
"I'm sure we're not that different." Elise shook her head. "My father never thinks I've done enough to please him."
Amelia nodded and hummed in agreement.
Once they reached the double doors at the end of the hallway, Elise quickly pulled them open. "Father never bothers to lock any doors," she explained in a hushed voice. "He thinks that his security will cover for his safety."
"Well, his security has evidently failed tonight," Amelia scoffed.
"Pick up the pace, girls!" Both women heard Darling's voice in their earpieces. "We have about an hour and a half left. Turn right and stay near the edge of Governor Lau's bed. The hidden room should have a keypad on the door. I've decoded eight out of ten digits to unlock the artifacts room."
"I thought you couldn't get into the software just now," Amelia murmured, tiptoeing around the bed of the sleeping Governor and Mrs. Lau.
"You both bought me some time," Darling replied through the earpiece. "Put in the digits one by one, in this order."
"We're ready to hear it," Elise whispered as they reached the keypad, poorly disguised as a night light.
Governor Lau shifted in his sleep, and Elise's eyes flashed with alarm. "Quickly!"
"12, 23, 34, 45, 56, 67, 78, 89...." Darling recited the numbers, and Elise entered them into the keypad. Eight green lights blinked, slightly illuminating the dark room for a split second.
"Wait a minute." Amelia held out her hand. "I see a pattern." She typed the digits 9 and 0 into the keypad, and the ninth light flashed green.
"What's the next number?" Elise asked hurriedly.
"91," Darling answered.
"That was fast," Amelia replied with a sigh of relief. She keyed the digits into the pad, and the tenth light flashed green.
"Like I said, you both bought me some time." Was Darling's swift reply.
Amelia pushed open the door, and it locked with a buzz.
***
"How can you afford to line the walls with actual gold bars?" Amelia looked around the room in half disgust and half awe.
"Ask my father." Elise shrugged. "Maybe he sold one or two of these artifacts."
Amelia facepalmed. "We might have to track those down after this heist."
"Focus on this task first," Elise said. "We have many things to move down to the truck."
Amelia surveyed the assortment of artifacts in the room. Porcelain and jade items were arranged on the left side of the room, and golden dragon bracelets rested on the top of gangs, the barrels made out of china. On the right, Amelia saw old copper coins littered on the floor and some ancient Chinese costumes. A few bamboo scrolls rested in a corner—some were half open, their pages slightly bent. Amelia grimaced—how could one be so careless with such precious treasures?
"Don't these all come from the National Museum of History in Cantonesia?" Amelia mused.
"Darling and I suspect they're from all over China," Elise answered. "Take a look at the labels in front of the artifacts. My father's meticulous, so he should have written down where he'd taken them from."
Amelia scanned the room. "I don't see any labels," she responded.
"Check that brown book in the corner—I swear I've seen it somewhere!" Elise pointed to a leather-bound tome lying face-down on the side of the room. Amelia picked it up and leafed through its pages—sure enough, there was a list of where Governor Lau had attained all the treasures.
"Never leave a paper trail." Amelia looked at the book in her hand and shook her head.
"Now, how to get out?"
"Use the window," Elise suggested. She took a circular blade and stood on her tiptoes to cut out the stained glass. She knocked the glass back into the room, caught it with her hands, and placed it in her bag. "Even though we're wearing gloves, let's not risk it by leaving any evidence."
Amelia gave Elise a thumbs-up to show her approval. She looked at the crossbow, her two remaining arrows, and the rope in her bag.
"I think I know how we can make this more efficient."
***
"Give me the all-clear, Darling, and I'll use the back staircases to run and get the truck in the basement," Elise spoke into her earpiece.
She heard a moment of frantic typing, a terse "All good!" from her best friend, then wordlessly left Amelia to do her work.
Once Amelia heard the door shut, she untangled the rope and tied it around one arrow tip. She notched it, aimed it at the ground, and shot a hole through the floor. One side of the rope was now secure.
Taking the other end, Amelia repeated the same motion. She tied the rope around her last arrow tip and notched it. The young woman carefully aimed a few floors down at the side of the building in front of her. She wished for good luck, then let the arrow fly.
Thankfully, nobody caught the arrow this time around. The tip shot straight in between the cracks in the brick wall. Amelia hoped the end of the rope was close enough to the ground.
The young woman bent down to secure her end of the rope even tighter. The plan was to use the rope as a zip-line and send the artifacts down one by one. Amelia pulled out more rope from her bag and tied a few strands of copper coins onto the zip-line.
When she looked out the small window again, Amelia saw the truck's headlights being switched off. Elise jumped out of the driver's seat once she'd parked the car. The young woman seemed to blend in with the night sky in her all-black jumpsuit, but Amelia could still see Elise giving her a thumbs-up: the all-clear. It was time for the most crucial part of their heist.
"Sending the first few items down now," Amelia spoke into her earpiece.
Amelia waited for Elise to position herself at the end of the zip-line, then pushed the ring of coins down. Elise swiftly caught them, and both women breathed a sigh of relief.
Next were the bamboo scrolls. Amelia bound all of them together carefully with a bit of rope and secured it to the zip-line. With a push, the bamboo scrolls slid down the zip-line and into Elise's arms. She unloaded them into the truck.
Both women continued in this fashion, with Darling periodically reminding them about the time. In fifteen minutes, the artifact room was empty—all except for the largest gang. It reached up to her hips, and Amelia gave a resolute sigh. It was going to be hard work moving this artifact.
With a burst of effort, Amelia heaved the gang to the windowsill. She cut off the frayed end of the remaining rope with her pocket knife.
I hope I'm not missing anything, Amelia thought as she scoped out the room. This is my last bit of rope. It had better be able to carry my weight and the gang's.
"No time like the present," Amelia whispered to herself. She used one hand to steady herself against the wall, then climbed out the small window. She hoisted the large gang out of the room with her free arm. At least all that weight training Ah Ba had made her do paid off now.
Amelia kicked against the wall, which sent her flying to the other end of the zip-line. She held on to the fraying rope for dear life, hoping and praying the gang would stay in her arms. She could feel her palms accumulating sweat and the string threatening to break.
This heist may as well cost me my life, Amelia thought as she bit back a scream.
Elise watched fearfully as Amelia braced herself for impact. The young woman on the zip-line extended her legs so they'd hit the wall first, making her bounce off the wall.
Elise rushed to take the gang from Amelia's trembling right arm, then almost fell to the floor. "Gosh, this is heavy." She winced.
Amelia jumped off of the zip-line. "Now, for the last part." She wiped her palms against her legs. "Load the last of the artifacts into the truck. I have to scale this wall to get the other end of the rope back."
Elise looked at Amelia with wide eyes but said nothing.
In a matter of minutes, Amelia was back with the rope. "There's nothing left in the artifacts room except for four shiny walls made out of solid gold and a window missing its glass pane."
"I'm not even going to ask how you got back so quickly." Elise closed the trunk of the truck silently.
"Let's tell Darling we're done," Amelia commented. "She has to come with us to the museum to return the artifacts—unless you have a better plan."
Elise shrugged and tapped her earpiece. "Darling, the heist was successful. We'll be waiting for you at the car park entrance of the residence."
The pair waited a few moments for a response.
There was none.
"Darling?" Amelia spoke. "She's probably in the bathroom. We'll wait for her outside the residence—it won't make much of a difference, anyway."
Elise shrugged. "Alright. I'll start the car."
***
Elise and Amelia drove in silence to the iron fence of the Lau residence. The gates opened noiselessly as if they had anticipated the truck's arrival.
Amelia raised an eyebrow in curiosity while Elise shrugged. "That's just one piece of equipment that's made our lives easier here."
After they had parked the car, Amelia tried to reach her accomplice in the control room. "Darling, we're parked outside of the residence. Call us when you can."
There was no answer—just static.
Elise sighed. "We might have to go to the museum without her."
Suddenly, a soft yet high-pitched whining noise filled the air.
"Wait," Amelia frowned. "Why do I hear sirens?"
"Sirens?" Elise repeated. "Maybe Darling told some police officers to get the artifacts from us so they can take care of them for us."
"I need to hide," Amelia replied fearfully. "If they see me, I'll be arrested."
"It's too late," Elise shouted over the approaching sirens, roaring at full volume as the police cars sped toward the girls. "They're already here!"
A police officer at the back of the procession stepped out of his car and took out a megaphone. "Miss Elise Lau and Miss Amelia Yeung, please step out of the vehicle with your hands up. I repeat, step out of the vehicle now with your hands up."
Amelia gasped.
"Don't resist," Elise advised. "I'll explain the situation to them."
The pair followed the officer's orders, but Elise spoke up as she exited the truck. "Listen," she pleaded the official, "we were just delivering some stolen artifacts—"
Then, both their arms were forced down behind them, and they felt the click of metal handcuffs surrounding their wrists.
Amelia looked at Elise helplessly and confusedly. "What did you say?"
"You have the right to remain silent," the police officer with the megaphone announced. "Anything you say or do may be used against you in the court of law...."
No. Amelia thought. She'd never felt so desperate before. The young woman bit back an anguished cry. Please, don't let this happen to me. I was just about to gain my freedom!
"Why are you doing this to us?" Elise shouted at the policewoman escorting her.
"Ask her." the officer pointed her chin toward the first police car in the procession.
Out stepped none other than Darling.
Word Count: 4561
(A/N: Oh my goodness - thanks for over 500 reads! Sorry for the late update btw. Hope you enjoyed the action in this longer chapter - comment here if you were surprised by the plot twist! XD)