Five Beautiful Boys

Everything Goes According to Plan - But Whose?

Stepping out of the car, Frank paused as if something had suddenly occurred to him. Shooting a quick glance at Gerard as he was pulled from the car, he frowned deeply and nodded to Ray.
Gerard gasped in surprise as he was once again pushed back inside his car. Mikey's head turned in surprise at the sound and as Frank slammed the door on his side, Mikey wondered what was happening – what on Earth had Gerard done to annoy them this time?

"So," Frank began, as he eyed Gerard coldly. "Tell me again about the bunker."

Gerard felt the heat of panic rush through him as Frank voiced his concerns.

"I..." Gerard paused as Ray returned to the passenger seat and eyed him with suspicion.

Gerard was lost for words; with no real clue as to what Frank was alluding to, he was reluctant to say anything that might, potentially, work against him.

"A security code on a nuclear bunker?" Frank scowled, angry with himself that he had almost missed the unlikely explanation.

Gerard's fears were realised; he had to think fast. The only way to get out of this, he believed, was to act dumb and pretend it had never even occurred to him.

"What about it?" he asked managing to force a puzzled expression.
"An electricity powered door code?" Frank half asked, half stated.
"I... er... oh..." Gerard stammered convincingly. "I never thought about it before."
"Really?" Frank frowned.
"I've never needed to," Gerard shrugged his shoulders, "it's not like I give it that much thought."

Frank narrowed his eyes as he gave the reply some thought. Was it conceivable that he had never even considered how ridiculous it sounded?

"I guess they added the code lock later," Gerard offered, suddenly thinking of a plausible reason. "After the Cold War ended. So they could use it as an extra vault or storage area, maybe?"

Frank's expression softened. Gerard's reaction had seemed genuine enough and the whole story put together now sounded quite reasonable.

"Okay," he nodded, glancing at his watch, frowning as he realised that a few more precious minutes had been lost. "Let's go."

*

With all the security systems now switched off, thanks to Ray's programme override of the time sensors, accessing the bank was a simple matter of unlocking the door, just as Gerard would do every morning. Keeping Gerard and Mikey ahead of them, but under close guard, the three thieves slipped inside and closed the door.
Entering through the staff entrance, the five men found themselves standing in the corridor leading to the back offices, staff room and kitchen. Even here, security cameras would normally sweep the area, but on turning his eyes up to the security camera high on the wall, Ray smiled with satisfaction as he saw that it was static with the operating light clearly not illuminated.

"Good job, Ray," Frank congratulated him and flashed him a broad grin, "as ever."

Ray accepted the praise graciously with a brief smile and followed Frank as he pushed Gerard towards the vault room. Mikey followed silently and easily with Bob bringing up the rear.

Mikey knew that Frank was asserting his control over Gerard to press the point and to keep him in line, and Gerard, being Gerard, was fighting him at every step. It was painful to watch, but Gerard was being exceptionally stubborn and it seemed that he was on a mission to self-destruct. All he could do was hope that Gerard would realise that his brother had the greater level of experience dealing with these men and defer to him. As it was, Frank was growing angrier with each passing minute. Mikey stared at Frank before realising he had been watching him all along. His brow furrowed as he realised what he had been doing and wondered if anyone else had noticed. He knew Frank would have an explanation as to why he thought Mikey had been staring, and he knew it wasn't true. There was a much simpler explanation than the one Frank would believe. There was, he knew there was, there must be. Wasn't there?
Mikey pulled himself from his daydream as he realised they had entered the vault room. Finally focussing on what was happening, he noticed that Frank had caught him staring and offered a shy smile; gentle, unassuming and demure. Mikey averted his eyes and stared intently at the floor, surprised and despite the consideration he had given the matter, embarrassed and a little unnerved. Was Frank right? No. Mikey almost shook his head as if to convince himself. He was concerned though. Worried. As much as he wanted to be freed or escape, he didn't want Frank to be arrested. Of course this made no sense. Or, at least, it shouldn't have made sense. The confusing contradictions he felt ate away at his confidence and certainty. Right now, the only thing Mikey knew for sure was that he was uncertain.