The Shape of Water

After The Robbery

"Yes, keep walking, carry on like this," Giulia said to herself as she got off the bus, "as if you don't know anything."

And she continued walking to the entrance; at least everything looked normal; her other coworkers didn't seem to notice; for them, it was just another day at work.

"The same for you; you don't know anything," she continued. Giulia knew she shouldn't be nervous. They hadn't left any clues incriminating them; besides, she had Guido's protection, and he had made sure to erase all traces.

Confident that all would be fine, she walked through the gates; and there realized the mess she had made.

The lobby was full of guards checking the cards of all the employees. There was one in every corner, and they were practically impossible to avoid.

"All staff, present your ID and access card," called a voice from the overhead speakers.

"My God! What the hell...?" exclaimed one of her coworkers.

Now there was a guard in front of the identifier. Giulia took out her card and handed it over; he checked it, then looked at her; the girl understood what she wanted and took out her citizen card. After checking it, the guard passed it through the scanner. After the beep, he nodded.

"Next," he said.

Giulia didn't wait for him to repeat it, and she entered. The best thing would be to act natural, so she went to the girls' dressing rooms; as she walked, she didn't notice Ercole or Ciccio behind the secretary's desk. Ercole wanted to check the entry process, thinking he would catch the thief if he saw him. He was sure he knew the profile the spy should have.

"In my opinion, it's a highly trained group," he told Ciccio, "I think it's possibly special forces or something similar."

"Do you think the Red Army is back?" Ciccio asked, scared.

"Possibly, highly trained soldiers, an elite group with plenty of financial resources."

"We found the van they used to escape a few miles from here," Ciccio mentioned.

Ercole stared at him.

"Something we can use?"

Ciccio shook his head.

"They blew it up; when our men got to the place, everything was burned, and the tracks buried in the snow."

Ercole cursed inwardly.

"And the man who was driving the truck?! The guard said he saw his face clearly!"

Ciccio nodded, feeling hopeful for the first time.

"Oh, yes, the man's face was burned; no one goes unnoticed with that detail."

Ercole laughed mockingly; Ciccio was a specialist in stating the obvious.

"The sketch artist is drawing a profile as we speak; soon, we'll have 'wanted' posters all over town," the blond continued.

Ercole crossed his arms; at least they already had something, and he looked forward and noticed Giulia.

"She was the only employee who had access to the lab," he recalled, "could it be that-"

Ercole laughed mockingly; what was he thinking? Spewulia couldn't even win a children's race; how could she steal two sea monsters from them? Besides, that job would take men, not a frightened little girl.

"We must be careful; from what you have told me, Ercole, we are dealing with efficient, ruthless men with pinpoint precision. It took them less than five minutes to infiltrate. I calculate that the attack unit was at least ten men."