Museum Robbery (The Heist)

"What's taking so long?" Luciano whisper-shouted to Frederico who was struggling to crack the museum's vault of valuable artifacts.

"I'm trying my best, boss!" Frederico twisted the wheel in the directions he memorized but to no avail. "I think the combination is wrong."

"Out of my way." Aria, who was keeping guard at the vault hall entrance, pushed Frederico aside to try her hand at the lock, making him stumble.

"Hey, watch it!" Frederico scowled at her.

"Bao said it was 12, 15, 7, 21, and he's never wrong." Aria rotated it in that pattern.

But nothing happened.

"What?!" she slammed her fist against the metal frustratedly. "Open, god damn it!"

Luciano grabbed her arm gently. "Stop, you'll alert the guards."

Aria unclenched her fist and nodded. "Right, my bad..."

Ernest placed a steadying hand on Aria's shoulder. "It's a high-security lock so its not gonna be simple left-right rotations."

Ernest examined the vault for clues, his eyes landing on the brand name engraved on the bottom left. "It's a Perfectlock, so try going right twice then left once then right again."

Aria took a deep breath, composing herself, then did as Ernest instructed.

Click.

The vault hissed open.

"It opened!" Aria clapped her hands and high-fived Ernest who reluctantly reciprocated. "Who knew your hyper-fixation on locksmithing could be useful."

Ernest shrugged. "You should have at least some knowledge of it in this line of work."

"Yea, some. Not a whole section in your brain dedicated to it." Aria chuckled, punching his shoulder. Ernest winced.

"Nice going." Luciano patted Ernest and Aria's backs. "Keep watch, you two. I'm heading in."

He stepped foot inside the vault first with Frederico close behind, glaring at Aria who was smirking at him tauntingly.

The vault room was filled with gold, precious gems, and paintings worth millions. At the center, elegantly resting on a sealed platform was what the gang had come for—the coronet of noblewoman Trinity Salveer, the former duchess of Sussex, England.

"Take a look at this beauty." Luciano approached the bejeweled crown that was more valuable than all the other artifacts combined.

He examined the seal, making sure the lasers were turned off as planned. "I'll never understand how Bao is able to do this."

"That boy's a tech genius." Frederico whistled praise as he peeked over Luciano's shoulder. "Seems clear to me."

Luciano nodded in agreement and reached for the case, hands slowly inching towards it. He curled his fingers around the edges and steadily lifted it. Frederico grabbed the crown through the opening that was created, pulling it out, then Luciano lowered the case back down just as carefully.

...****************...

The two of them exited the vault, successfully swiping the crown.

Aria and Ernest gathered around Frederico to admire the treasure in his hold.

"Gosh, the way it sparkles is just...ethereal!" Aria's eyes glimmered as she gawked at it.

"Those are genuine blue diamonds, valued at $4 million per carat." Ernest examined the rare gems adorning the coronet. "There should be about 150 carats by the looks of it."

"Woah, that's like...a lot of dollars." Aria clasped her hands excitedly.

"You'll be able to appreciate it as much as you want once we get out of here." Luciano grabbed the crown and slipped it into his duffle bag. "Let's go."

At Luciano's order, the gang pulled up their hoods and snuck back to the staff entrance where they had come from.

Just as they were about to exit, a flash of light peeked around the corner. Luciano pulled them all back and hid behind the wall.

He signalled that there was a security guard by the door.

Frederico gestured toward the front entrance, but Luciano shook his head. It was certain to be packed with even more guards.

Everyone paused, trying to figure out what to do. It seemed like the only option was to take the guard by the staff door down.

They each looked at each other and nodded. Aria snuck to the other side of the archway, peaking over her shoulder to watch the guard's movements until she sees an opening.

As soon as he turned his back, she gestured for them to rush in. Ernest stealthily ran to the guard and wrapped his arms around his neck from behind, squeezing as the man struggled and scratched at him.

He let out a silent gasp before losing consciousness.

The others hurried toward the exit, except Luciano who knelt by the guard's limp body and ripped the small rectangular device off the shirt pocket.

"Can't leave any evidence behind, now can we?" He crushed the live-feeding camera under his foot.

Just then, a flash of light illuminated his face. "Hey, you! What're you doing here?"

Another security guard had wrapped around the corner. His eyes landed on the body, and before they could return to Luciano, he was already gone.

"Oh, shit." The guard rushed to sound the alarm.

To be continued...

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