The Palace Crumbles

Robbery

Quebec, Canada
$632.83
$33.56 (Canadian dollars)

The only bad thing about choosing to go to sleep is that when we wake the next morning, we are dreading the day ahead. I fantasize about staying in this bed all day, resting my weary body, having you share memories with me in the hopes of bringing something back- but that can never be. We have money to collect and a flight to buy.

"We're going to wait for the middle of the day, when the city will be the most crowded," you say as you slip on your clothes. "I think we should spend the morning getting some supplies, stuff to cover our faces. Ski masks, probably. It shouldn't be too suspicious, especially somewhere so cold. If anyone asks, we're traveling."

"We shouldn't waste money on new clothes. We should have enough dark clothes here to throw something together."

"I agree." You examine yourself in the mirror. "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually jealous of American gun laws right now. It would be so much easier to get a gun down there."

"We don't need a gun. Too messy, too loud. Too easy to trace." I shake my head, pulling on a sleeve of my jacket. "Do we have any sort of weapon? So we don't have to buy anything?"

"I might have a pocketknife. Hold on." You kneel down to look through your bag. "I know I had one on me the day that you broke out of the hospital. I knew I'd be traveling near you, and I didn't know what you were going to do."

"That's reassuring news about my character."

"Come on, do you really think either of us are worth redemption?" You quirk an eyebrow, pulling a folded switchblade from the front pocket of your backpack. "There we go."

"That should be enough. Especially if there's two of us to corner them."

"You used to work out. I don't know if there years in prison did much for your muscle mass."

"Something tells me that I worked out anyway. Knowing how this Hannibal guy sounds."

You laugh. "I wouldn't be surprised." You slip the blade into your pocket. "Ready to go skiing?"

--------

We take advantage of the complimentary breakfast at the motel. I eat light. Knowing what's in store for today makes my stomach churn with nerves.

We evade suspicion by purchasing the masks at separate times, entering different stores at completely different hours. It's better for us to avoid being seen together, given that our main claim to fame is our relationship.

We don't need them now, however; the sun is still shining high in the sky. It's approaching lunchtime, when everyone will be crowding the city streets, and I can already see huge crowds gathering around the beautiful buildings of Quebec City. I hear a healthy smattering of French, but there are also plenty of tourists- those are the people we want to target.

The two of us relate the plan to each other one more time, and then we set our sights on a middle-aged woman in sunglasses, carrying multiple shopping bags. I stride towards her, ready to turn on the charm.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I say after I've taken my place next to her, both of us gazing up at the magnificent castle. "A marvel of human design."

She nods, giving a gummy smile and saying something about her hometown. I block her out, instead focusing on maintaining eye contact and drawing her attention through precisely placed movements. A tilt of the head here, a brush of the jacket there; the action draws the eye.