Phoenix

Chapter 14

In & Out
Phoenix's POV
_ "Essence, it's 10 minutes to six we gotta hurry." I rush as I unscrew the cap outside of the Italian hideout. The sun had already set, only a few strands of warm ruby remained as the gray evening began turning black.

I finally opened the sewer cap and practically threw Essence inside as I heard the gates creak open. Just in time the lid closed shut, and we were immersed into darkness. Barely a few seconds later, roaring of about six cars' engines swooshed above us, and then vanished. The gates creaked once again, indicating they have been shut. I turn on a flash light and inspect the tunnel we were in. Down there it stank of human waste, fungus, and deceased animal corpse. The rushing contaminated water carried foul detritus as it burbled through the underpass and condensed liquid dripped from the ceiling, emitting a plink that echoed among the walls as the droplets rippled the gushing sewage. The tight passage was stained with mold, crevices and webs. To say the least it was abhorrent. I was surprised Essence didn't complain, instead she squinted into the tenebrous sewer, deciphering what path we should take.

I check the clock, 7 minutes till six. Leading the way, I walked northeast feeling Essence following close behind. We finally found the other end of the sewer which lead behind the wall, and by the time I unscrewed the cap, it was already 6 sharp.

I slightly lift the lid, checking if the guards had already left. I motioned to my teammate that the coast was clear and helped her up, as she pushed herself off my knee into the warehouse's court. I prep my hands on either side of the hole and hauled myself up. 6:02. Making sure to close the lid behind me, I ran behind Essence who had already made her way into the building. We had previously hacked the security cameras, so they would disactivate at exactly 6. We had maximum a 10 minute interval before someone would become suspicious or turn the cctv back on.

Essence's POV
The door into the building itself was open, but a guard had already taken his position there. I barely noticed how Phoenix crept up behind him, and knocked him out without emitting a single sound. He dragged his body into the nearest empty room and stripped him out of his clothes, putting them on. He could now pass as one of the guards.

I fix the beanie I was wearing so it completely concealed my hair and threw on the hood of my jacket. We walked further down the hall we emerged into, guns in hand. We made our way up the stairs where we assumed the boss's office would be. We were right. The last door in the corridor led to an immense office. From an office desk in one of the corners to a conference table and a collection of expensive rums, the bureau was definitely the one we were looking for.

_ "That's the right place alright." Phoenix rolls his eyes pointing at a big painting of the Italian Capo himself. What a conceited prick. "The safe should be hidden somewhere in here. Let's get searching." He begins rummaging the room.

I pull at the books in the bookshelf hoping for it to reveal a secret room, but after moving every last book on these shelves, nothing happened. I move on to his desk, maybe I could find something. Nope, nothing. I begin to get frustrated. It was only a matter of minutes before the guard would be found knocked out and the others would find us.

_ "Found it!" Calls my teammate. I look over at him. He had dismounted the painting off the wall, revealing the metal depository behind it.

It took us a while to crack the code without actually damaging the safe itself, but when we finally opened it, we had hit the jackpot. The blue prints lay there along with some stashes of cash and diamond embedded guns. Phoenix takes them out and inspects them, while I head over to the computer to check if there had been any copies of the maps or any other crucial information that could be used against the academy. I plug into the computer this device that quickly scans all files as to not take forever to go through every individual folder myself. A few second later, a copy of these blue prints pops up and I waste no time before deleting them. Just as I was about to shut the computer off, my partner pointed at another document on the desktop.

_ "What's that?" He asks. I open the file, and as we both read through it, I could feel Phoenix's presence close behind me, and his warm breath fan my neck. What we were reading now was a contract to be signed with Eugene Koh, a powerful businessman in Singapore, that stated that the Italian's would be providing some of the most exclusive TRAA weapons to the Koh enterprises in the capital.

_ "Huh..." scoffs Phoenix, "funny how he's so confident he'll be able to get his hands on our arsenal. Hasn't even possessed them yet, yet he has already started trading." He mumbles the last part. Suddenly, footsteps were heard from the hall. Shit.

Grayson's POV
Once again I wake up to a silent house. It had been this way the whole week. Marino was either tucked in bed reading a random book, or roaming around somewhere, nowhere to be seen. Phoenix and Essence's case was almost the same. Only they would disappear early in the morning, and come back late at night, every day together. It was something to be skeptical about, but Marino says they're probably just hanging out, site seeing, eating good food and probably making out.
...I think I vomited in my mouth...
Whatever. I'm just glad today is our final day in this freezer.

Phoenix's POV
_ "l'ufficio è chiaro" I nod towards the two guards heading towards us, as I walked out of the room, Essence close behind me.
(Translation: The office is clear)

As to avoid suspicion, I utter no more and start walking down the hall, in a way which would conceal Essence's face.

_ "aspettare!" one of the guards calls out.
(Translation: wait!)

_ "sì?" I glance back.

_ "sei sicuro?" He yells.
(Translation: are you sure?")

_ "puoi controllare se non mi credi" I chuckle, and with that we were already walking down the stairs.
(Translation: you can check if you don't believe me)

Just like we made it in, practically unnoticed, we were already out. Leaving wasn't as easy.
The guards wouldn't switch until the next morning, and we weren't going to stick around here any longer. We had a flight to catch. As the security cameras were still off, the rest of the staff began panicking, and almost everyone headed inside or to the gate to search for the intruders or get ready to receive them. Meanwhile, my team mate and I slipped back into the sewer and out the other side.
We made it back to the cabin just in time to collect our belongings, and with a blink of an eye, all four of us were on a plane back to T.R.A.A.