𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐡 ᵖʳᵒᶠ ˢᵉʳᵍⁱᵒ ᵐᵃʳᵠᵘⁱⁿᵃ

07

HOUR 20 OF THE HEIST

SATURDAY

06:25 A.M.

The streets in downtown Madrid were closed. Every TV channel reported live, 24 hours a day. The police threw their procedure manuals out the window and didn't know what to do about those bastards trying to print their own money. But actually, many other things happened that nobody remembers, things that changed everyone to the point of not knowing the difference between the bad guys.. and the good guys.

The phrase 'time is money' had never been more appropriate. And it was a lot of money. Every hour, they printed eight million euros, 1,400 sheets of money from which they cut 140,000 50-euro bills.

~~~

Everything was so calm in the early morning, it seemed like the plan was going smoothly.

The Professor was their Big Brother. He controlled with the help of Edinburgh the police radio and 18 cameras, so if somebody wanted to screw them over, they'd know about it well in advance.

Sergio sat down on his chair by the desk, leaning back and looking over at Atlas, who was playing with the straw of her water. She smiled at him once she saw him entering, in his hand a little bag with two sandwiches inside.

"Hi."

"Hey."

He took the sandwiches out and handed one to her, Edinburgh muttering a quiet thanks to him before they both started eating in silence. It was nice and comfortable to have the other one around, there wasn't any sign of discomfort or tension in the air.

Back in the Mint, they took turns watching the hostages, the entrances, and, of course, production. After only 20 hours, the presses had already spit out 52 million euros.

So at that point, they all thought it was possible. 

But that quiet was just the calm before the storm. Things were going to get so screwed up, they'd be close to losing the game.

And if you asked Tokyo why, she'd say it was because of a little love story. Or two. After all, love is a good reason for everything to go wrong.

 ~~~

"They're opening the doors."

Slowly the doors of the Mint opened, and outside stepped seven men, armed with M16s. The police had their weapons pointed at them while one of the masked men took off their mask, revealing her gold locks and her face. 

The one next to her, who was Berlin, gave her a paper with a speech written on it while he held the megaphone in his hands.

"I'm begging you not to shoot, please. My name is Monica Gaztambide. I'm just here to read a statement. I'm speaking on behalf of the robbers. There are 67 hostages. All of us are in perfect health and well cared for. There are no victims or wounded. We're all dressed the same way and it's impossible to tell us apart from the robbers. So any attempts at a raid... could cost innocent lives.

Monica turned to look at Berlin, who nodded slightly before everyone slowly turned around to go back inside.

~~~

Sergio stood by the coffee table in his white shirt and beige pants, a vinyl playing in the background while he was making himself and Edinburgh a coffee. The sun was shining through the windows from outside, so they didn't have to turn on the lights.

Atlas was sitting on the couch in the corner, a book in her hands with her glasses resting on her nose. He looked at her in the corner of his eye for a second, admiring the woman. Her blonde hair had an even brighter color in the sunlight, and her eyes were radiant green.

The familiar phone ringing broke both of them out of their thoughts. The Professor picked both coffee cups up, walked over to the vinyl player and stopped the music. She stood up, placed her book on the cupboard and walked over to the desk, where Sergio was already sitting, his black coat over his shoulders again, drinking his coffee while waiting for her so they could pick up the phone. 

Atlas sat down next to him, giving him a quick smile before both placed the headsets over their heads.

Sergio smiled at her for a second, or two, even three, and picked up the phone, turning it on speaker before he grabbed one of the yellow papers and started folding.

"Aren't you surprised by this special connection we have?"