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FIVE MONTHS PRIOR TO HEIST
CAYETANA VASQUEZ HAD HER FOREHEAD LEANED AGAINST THE WINDOW OF THE OLD-FASHIONED CAR. Her eyes warily drifted to the man in the drivers seat every few seconds. She wasn't vapid, quite the opposite actually, but found herself in the passenger seat of a stranger's car, who she had met only an hour prior. He introduced himself as 'The Professor,' and knew an absurd amount of information about her family. She was unconvinced about the words that came out of his mouth, not wanting to believe some stranger over her own parents. That was until he pulled out a folder, filled with transcripts, reports, phone records, bringing the deceit of her family name to life. Her last name would be tainted in her eyes from now on. A surname that had an intense amount of power in Madrid.
'Are you some kind of fucking Russian hacker? How do you have these?' She remembered asking the man, to which he nervously laughed, and shook his head in response.
The young girl had always been good at seeing through people. It was something she had realized in early adolescence. The first thing she had noticed about him was his intelligence; he had a clever way with words. She felt a pull to him, a connection she couldn't quite understand. He oddly felt almost familiar to her. His benevolent smile and awkward personality made him seem harmless. He wore a black suit, a pair of circular rimmed glasses, giving an almost pedantic look to him.
"Where are we?" Cayetana questioned, feeling a pit in her stomach. The only thing she could see were trees, mountains, and not a single house was in sight.
"We're almost in Toledo." 'The Professor' answered, glancing over at the jittery girl beside him. Her eyebrows scrunched up at his response, a dumbfound expression overtaking her features.
"What's in Toledo?" She asked, looking over at him for a brief second. The girl had never been to that particular city before, making her anxiety start to increase. The thought that she might actually be getting kidnapped started to fill her mind.
"You'll see." He responded, giving her an awkward smile. She crossed her arms over her chest, letting out a deep sigh. A nauseous feeling started rising in her, which happened often when she was in a vehicle for longer than fifteen minutes.
"Can you turn on the air?" Cayetana requested, a hint of frustration in her voice. The Professor nodded, and nervously started fiddling with the air condition controls. The girl let out a chuckle at how fidgety he was.
The car ride to Toledo felt like hours, even though it had only been around forty minutes. Her eyes landed on what seemed to be an old, capacious mansion. The exterior made it seem abandoned, judging by the overgrown weeds and the distressed look of the walls. No other houses seemed to be around it, leaving them the privacy they would need.
