Late 1971: Part Three

Before Annessa could do or say anything, she heard shouts from the front door, followed by a stream of gunfire. She turned to look in the direction of the sound. Seeing the bullets headed straight for her, she jumped backwards, doing a back hand-spring, flipping out of the way.

Her heels hit the floor with a tap and she stood up, straightening her shirt and pulling the side of her coat back, revealing an array of knives and guns. She turned towards the shouting and the sound of heavy feet hitting the floor as the front-door security guards made their way towards her. Annessa smiled evilly and pulled one of the throwing knives out of her coat, aiming it at one of the guards and tossing it with ease. The knife hurtled towards the guard, flipping over in the air until it finally made contact with the guard, piercing his neck.

The guard was too stunned to stop, seeming to have not realized until he collapsed to the floor wheezing. The other guard yelled something at her as he crouched down to take a closer look at his friend.

"Poor choice," Annessa grinned, grabbing another knife. The guard saw the movement and stood up again quickly, firing his gun in her direction once more. Annessa chuckled and began running in his direction, dodging each bullet as it came her way. Before the guard could react, she was right in front of him.

Holding the handle of the knife so that the blade was away from her, she raked it through his chest, ripping the skin and making him cry in agony. Before he could fall to the floor, Annessa tossed the knife in the air; catching it in her other hand she stabbed him in the area of his heart. She punched him in the stomach with her other hand and he fell over.

Annessa stood up, still smiling, and spun around, staring again at the red haired clerk, who hadn't moved an inch. The clerk stared at Annessa not blinking.

"Hello?" Annessa yelled in indignation, making her way towards her, pulling out her revolver again, clicking down the hammer as a warning.

"How may I help you?" The clerk said finally, her voice shaking. Annessa continued to walk towards her, her grin fading, turning into a scowl. She could tell that the clerk was nervous by the beads of sweat running down her forehead. Finally the clerk looked away, blinking the sweat of her eyes. She only looked up again once Annessa's face was but inches from hers.

"H-how may I help you?" she asked again, stuttering, now physically shaking.

Annessa smiled again. "First of all," she said, "If anyone calls the police, they're dead." She glared around at all the clerks and accountants who were avoiding her gaze, minding their own business or pretending that nothing happened. When nobody answered she smiled back at the red-haired woman. "Second of all," she continued, "Are there any security guards around the vault?"

The clerk's eyes widened in surprise but she nodded anyway. "Well," Annessa grinned, "If I were you, I might want to check on that."

With that she smiled fully, winking, and walked to the center of the room to sit on one of the many waiting benches. The red haired woman continued to stare at her, before walking towards one of her avoidant co-workers, whispering to her before sending her to go look at the area around the vault.

As she sat, Annessa could hear nervous whispers scatter through the rows of desks before she heard a scream coming from the area of the vault. She grinned as she realized what had just been discovered and knew that Victor had finished the second stage of the operation. She remembered how Victor had told her how he would open the vault from the inside, killing the guards as a signal for his being done with his part. She smiled and stood up from the bench.

She almost skipped in the direction that the clerk had gone, her boots lightly tapping on the floor as she made her way to the elevated carpeted area. She walked down the hall turning a few corners until she saw the door to the vault. It was wide open, two more guards crumpled on the ground in front of it, the young clerk huddled in the corner shaking.

Annessa saw Victor as she turned got closer. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, and his usual wicked grin playing across his face.

"Hey there," he said as she reached him, noticing his pockets, bulging with what appeared to be Rolex watches and gold necklaces. She also noticed the pair of brand new metal suit-cases sitting on the floor next to him.

"Hi," she said, stopping and gasping for breath slightly as she looked up at him. Then, without warning, Victor leaned down, forcing a passionate kiss on her lips. She sighed into his kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. He pulled away and laughed.

"I think we need to move," he said and looked around cautiously. She nodded and followed him back into the vault, noticing the large hole in the wall and all the drawers on the far wall thrown everywhere; she stared intently at the sturdy safe in the center.

Annessa smiled with pleasure as she began to crack the code of the safe; using the small bit of paper she'd pick-pocketed from Yun Hee's desk. She glanced up at Victor once in a while to check that he was still watching out for anyone. The safe finally clicked open as Annessa heard shouts coming from the main hall, followed by the sound of heavy foot-falls. She grabbed the wads of cash from inside the safe and handed it to Victor, who added them to his already-full pockets.

She grinned and stood up, kissing him on the cheek before dashing over to pick up the suitcases. "Let's go," she said, running towards the hole in the wall. Victor smiled and nodded, following her out.

As they turned the corner on the outside of the building they could hear police sirens in the distance. They kept running down the street for a short while, until they could see the street corner that marked where they had parked their car.

"They'll be on our tails too soon," Victor said with a grin, running past her. Annessa smiled and grabbed his hand as they continued to run around the corner to where Victor had parked their car.