They drove in silence. Izzy wanted to send Matthew a message to let him know she had them, but a large part of her plan hinged on the two brothers not knowing she wasn't completely alone, and she didn't want to risk anything, especially not so early on. Chris and Ollie, meanwhile, appeared to be busy getting over the shock she had caused them. Izzy knew they were both wondering how much they should blame themselves for the death of the little girl she had killed, and while she could have relieved them of their guilt by assuring them that she would have had to kill someone anyway - lest one of the onlookers mistake her for some sort of hero - she decided to let them wonder, at least for the time being; it would make them easier to manipulate later.
A couple of cop cars passed them early on, racing for the bank they had just left, but since the three of them were hardly booking it, they were passed by unnoticed. Izzy sincerely hoped the two brothers had at least prepared a place for them to stop and regroup in the event that they had had to leave with the cops on their heels, but she was careful not to set her expectations too high; after all, they were clearly idiots.
Sure enough, the place they came to was far from a halfway house. Izzy said nothing until they were inside.
"Seriously, boys?" she asked mockingly once they were in. "No safehouse or anything? You two really have a lot to learn."
"So teach us," Chris said, almost matching her mocking tone. "You think you know the way things should be done? Tell us what we're doing wrong."
Izzy smiled. "Well, first of all, your pre-game needs work," she told them. "I was staking that bank out for two weeks - you boys were only there for two days before today."
"You noticed us?" Ollie asked.
Izzy chuckled. "Of course I did," she said; "I was paying attention. If you two had been paying attention, you would have noticed me, too. That's another thing - when you're scouting out a target, pay attention."
"We've done this plenty of times before, you know," Chris sneered.
"Yeah?" Izzy asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "And how many times have you two been arrested? More than once, I'm guessing."
Neither of the two brothers could meet her eyes at that. She smiled, but didn't push it.
"Second, your entry was pretty weak," she went on. "I mean, considering the fact that neither of you actually fired your guns, you did okay - bursting in and yelling is the next-best way to get everyone's attention quickly. Still, it doesn't make much of a statement. You need the crowd to be scared of you."
"Well, how would you do it?" asked Ollie.
Izzy smiled wickedly. "I don't burst in and shout," she answered; "I go in quietly, mingle for a minute…and then, out of the blue, I murder someone."
Both men blinked.
Izzy chuckled. "It sends a very strong, clear message," she said, shrugging. "Now, murder isn't for everyone, I know that - and like I said, you boys probably couldn't make yourselves fire at a rampaging grizzly bear. Still, firing a gun - even if you're just shooting into the air - has a much better effect than just yelling. Like I said, the crowd needs to be scared of you, and if you start out by firing a gun, people will be less likely to think you'd hesitate to shoot if they tried something." She crossed her arms. "You don't want to give them any reason to think you'd hesitate to shoot to kill - not even if you would hesitate. In fact, especially not if you would hesitate.
"Third," she continued, "having everyone put their hands in the air isn't very effective, especially if it's a dense crowd - it's too easy for someone to sneakily put a hand down and try something if there's a whole sea of raised hands for you to keep track of. The best thing to do is get everyone face-down on the floor - that makes it so that it would take anyone several whole seconds to get in a position to do something, and it'll be a lot easier for you to notice any movement.
"Fourth - and I know we just went through this, but seriously, boys - check the money before you go," she told them in an exasperated tone of voice. "That's bank robbing 101 - everyone knows to do that. Even I have to do that, and I start off with a murder, so they couldn't be more scared of me. All banks have emergency protocol, even the smallest ones, and they'll at least toss a dye pack in, even if they don't fill the rest of the bag with fake bills.
"Lastly, set up a halfway house in case you have to leave with the cops on your heels - it was sheer dumb luck that you didn't find yourselves in that position today. Set up a place to switch vehicles and regroup - a place with an alternate exit that you can get to without being seen. You can't lead the cops back to wherever it is you're going to be staying."
The two brothers were speechless for a minute, and Izzy knew she had gone a little too fast - she had basically criticized every aspect of their heist. Still, she hoped the damage wasn't irreparable.
"Is there anything we did right?" Ollie finally asked. "I thought you said we had potential."
"You do!" Izzy reassured them. "You have guts, and you have the right attitude - that's what got you as far as you got. The way you acted - your assertiveness - is more than enough to frighten the average person into thinking you two would ever actually fire a gun. In small banks, like the one you just tried to hit, that's…almost enough on its own." She sighed. "What you two lacked was know-how," she told them. "Considering you were basically stumbling through that heist with barely any idea what you were doing, the fact that you almost got what you wanted - without getting caught, no less - is pretty impressive." She flashed her evil, sexy smile at them. "With know-how, you two could easily make a name for yourselves, even be famous." She thought for a second, then added, "In fact…I think you could even make use of professional advice above and beyond the basics."
"Like what?" asked Chris.
Izzy chuckled. "The sign of real skill is efficiency," she told them. "Acting on my own, I can always manage to be in and out in four minutes flat, if not less. If you two are coordinated enough, then working together, you could probably be in and out in three."
Chris tilted his head, apparently considering Izzy's words.
"And, ah…what about three people working together?" he asked her finally.
Izzy had to work hard to keep her smile from too obviously being a smug smirk. "That depends on exactly what you mean," she replied with mock nonchalance. "If you're just talking in general, a trio isn't much better than a pair - if you split up the responsibilities among too many people, things get over-complicated. If you're talking specifically about the three of us working together…" Her smile widened. "I'd say we could be in and out in two," she told them wickedly.
"Are you asking to join us?" Ollie asked her.
"Are you offering?" Izzy bantered.
The two brothers looked at each other for a minute, and Izzy knew she had them.
"Sure, you can join us," Chris said. "Let's get one thing straight, though-"
"Don't tell me," Izzy said; "you're in charge."
"Damn right I am," Chris said.
Izzy smiled and shrugged. "That's fine by me, boss," she lied; "I can take orders, and I'll just give advice if you need it. I don't need to lead."
Slowly, Chris smiled back. "All right, then," he said, holding out a hand; "we have a deal."
Izzy shook his hand, then Ollie's. "One thing, though," she said. Without giving them a chance to ask, she stepped forward and yanked their ski masks off. "There is no way in hell I'm robbing a bank in a black ski mask," she told them, tossing the masks aside carelessly. "Seriously, boys - it's not just cliche, it's laughable."
"We have to hide our faces somehow," Ollie pointed out. "What do you use?"
"I just wear this," she answered, gesturing at her disguised face.
Both brothers blinked.
Izzy smiled nastily at them. "You can't tell, can you?" she said. She touched her fake hair. "This is a wig," she told them, "and this face is mostly just makeup. I go everywhere in disguise. I'm not saying you two have to do the same, but really, let's do something more creative than black ski masks."
"You got anything in mind?" Chris asked.
Izzy chuckled. "Give me a day, and I'll think of something," she replied teasingly.
"Deal," Chris said.
"Okay, then," Izzy said with a smile. "Will I be able to find you boys here tomorrow?"
"Got somewhere to be, sweet-?" Chris caught himself as Izzy gave him a pointed look. "Uh…Iz?" he asked instead. "Do you mind if I call you 'Iz'?"
Izzy shrugged. "Anything other than 'sweetheart' and 'girl' is fine by me, boss," she told him.
"How come?" asked Ollie.
Izzy smiled at him. "It's a long story, and quite frankly, it's none of your business - no offense," she replied. She turned to Chris and added, "And yes, I do have somewhere to be." She let her smile turn nasty. "I know you were hoping I'd stick around for the rest of the day - maybe all night - but unfortunately, I have plans. Maybe next time?"
"What are your plans?" asked Chris.
"You don't want to know," Izzy replied in a tone of voice that left no room for doubt.
Sure enough, Chris backed off. "Okay," he said. "You, uh…go keep whatever appointment you've got. We'll be here tomorrow."
"See you in the morning," Izzy said, giving the two brothers a charming smile. "Goodnight."
She started to walk away, then stopped and turned back to them as she remembered.
"Oh, and, don't worry about that little girl I killed today," she told the two brothers; "that's not on you. I was going to have to kill someone no matter what happened." She smiled wickedly at them. "I mean, I couldn't risk someone in that crowd mistaking me for some sort of hero."
Chris and Ollie blinked, too stunned to reply.
Izzy's smile held as she turned back around and left them.
This is gonna be fun, she thought.
~X~
It was already past nightfall when Izzy finally got back to the room where she and Matthew were staying.
She walked in with a smile on her face.
"Mission accomplished, baby," she told Matthew, stepping into his arms.
"You got them?" he asked her as she hugged him back.
"Baby, I've got them wrapped around my little finger," she replied nastily. "These two are a piece of cake…and put together, they have about as much brains as one."
They both chuckled.
"So tell me about them," Matthew said after a moment.
"Their names are Chris and Ollie - short for Christopher and Oliver, I'm guessing; I didn't ask, since it doesn't really matter," Izzy said. "They're brothers, like you called it, and they are complete idiots - I have never met anyone as gullible as these two. I wasn't even very subtle, and they still think that me joining them was their idea - Chris is the older one, and he really, seriously believes he's in charge! What's more, they completely lack any know-how, so they need me, and they know it." She smiled wickedly. "We couldn't ask for better help, baby," she told Matthew.
"So the plan's foolproof, then?" Matthew asked, smiling.
"We may as well already be past endgame," Izzy replied, smiling back.
"And what do they think of you?" Matthew asked.
Izzy chuckled. "Well, like any men I put my mind to seducing, they're practically drooling over me," she replied. "I also scare them a little, but in the end, that just makes me that much more alluring to them."
"Do they know you're a sadist?" Matthew asked, smiling again.
"Not yet," Izzy said nastily. "I'm going to delay letting them know about that as long as I can. Once they find out, they'll be more than a little put off."
"Don't be so sure," Matthew said. "Remember you thought the same thing about me, and I didn't mind at all."
"Yeah, well, they're not you, baby," Izzy said; "they're just a couple of petty thieves."
"And I was a killer waiting to happen," Matthew finished.
"Well, in the end, everyone's a killer waiting to happen," she bantered, "but pretty much, yeah."
They laughed
"So what happens now?" Matthew asked after a moment.
"Well," Izzy replied, "now I spend all of every day teaching the two idiots how to rob a bank, and I spend all of every night teaching you how to make a bomb."
"Not all of every night, hopefully," Matthew teased.
She laughed. "That depends on how fast you learn," she teased back.
He chuckled. "Speaking of bombs, did you get any money out of their heist today?" he asked her.
"Unfortunately, no," Izzy replied, and she gave him a quick recap of what had happened at the bank.
The first thing Matthew said when she finished was, "You murdered two people today?"
Izzy shrugged. "Hey, the girl volunteered, and she was old enough," she said casually. She rolled her eyes and added, "And then her mommy wouldn't stop whining. I couldn't hear myself think, so I shut her up."
Matthew looked at Izzy for a minute. Then, he pulled her close, and kissed her deeply.
"Sometimes I forget just how cruel you can be," he murmured.
"Is that good or bad?" Izzy teased.
"Define 'good or bad'," Matthew bantered.
They laughed.
Matthew sighed. "I love you," he told Izzy.
"I love you, too," she replied. Then she smiled nastily and added, "Speaking of which…"
Matthew returned her nasty smile; he knew where this was going.
She grinned. "I kinda murdered two people today," she said mockingly. "I've been working hard not to think about it, but it's starting to become a strain. Would you mind giving me a little relief?"
He grinned back. "My pleasure," he said.
She laughed until his kiss cut her off.
o~X~o
For the next few weeks, Izzy left Matthew first thing in the morning and didn't return until after sundown. He hated having to be apart from her for so long, so frequently, but he accepted the necessity of it; after all, Izzy had to seem to the two brothers like she didn't have anything better to do than teach them how to steal.
At night, until they went to bed, Izzy started teaching Matthew how to make the huge bomb they were going to set off for endgame on their fourth anniversary. They had no money to buy any explosives supplies just yet, so she could only teach him what words could convey for the time being, but Matthew listened to every word intently; after all, this was going to be his revenge.
While Izzy didn't tell Matthew what exactly she and her two puppets were doing every day, she assured him she wasn't sleeping with them. Knowing what a cruel tease she could be, Matthew didn't doubt her, though he knew that she would have to do them at some point; after all, Chris and Ollie had to trust her fully and unquestioningly by the time they reached endgame, or a lot of things could easily go wrong. The fact of the matter didn't bother him - he knew that the two brothers were no competition for Izzy's heart, which was what really mattered.
Finally, the night before the thirtieth day after Izzy had hooked Chris and Ollie, she returned to tell Matthew, "We make our first move tomorrow."
"They're ready to go?" Matthew asked.
"We're ready to go," Izzy said; "we've already hijacked the surveillance cams and everything. We'll be all over the news tomorrow…" She smiled. "We'll be long gone before the cops arrive - in and out in two minutes tops."
"Two minutes?" Matthew repeated, surprised.
Izzy's evil smile widened. "Yeah," she said; "I know I'm usually in and out in four, but since I'm going to divvy up the responsibilities with a couple of greedy numbskulls, we should be able to cut that time in half."
"Divvy up the responsibilities, huh?" Matthew said. "Who's doing what?"
"Chris is the one who's actually going to handle the money and deal with the bank tellers," Izzy replied. "I'm in charge of crowd control and keeping an eye on the clock, and Ollie's my backup for crowd control and also our lookout…though again, we won't really need a lookout, we'll be done so fast."
"Crowd control…" Matthew repeated with a smile.
Izzy grinned wickedly. "You know," she said; "killing someone, shouting commands and threats, scaring everybody, firing a gun…my favorite parts of the job."
They both chuckled. Then, Izzy sighed.
"I wish you could be there to see it," she said sadly, stepping up to Matthew and wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Me, too," he said, hugging her back, "but I have to stay out of the way for now, you know that."
"I know," she said, "but I wish you could be there."
"I'll see it on the news with you tomorrow night," he promised.
"And then enjoy it with me after?" she asked teasingly.
"Hell yeah," Matthew replied with a grin.
o~X~o
Izzy, Chris, and Ollie all went into the bank separately. They mingled for a little bit before regrouping near the back of a line of people waiting to make transactions.
Izzy checked her watch. "You ready, boss?" she asked Chris softly.
"Ready when you are, Iz," he replied.
Izzy smiled and watched the second hand tick to the start of a new minute. "Three…two…one…"
In the blink of an eye, she pulled out her gun, took aim at a random person, and fired.
As the man fell, the response was immediate, dramatic, and predictable: People screamed and scattered, and the crowd quickly turned into a panicked mob.
Chris quickly pulled out the masks Izzy had chosen for the three of them, modeled after the king, queen, and jack of diamonds in a standard deck of cards. It took them a few precious seconds to cover their faces, at the cost of the crowd crossing the line from panicked to virtually uncontrollable.
Once they had their masks on, Izzy pointed her gun in the air. "Hey, quiet down!" she shouted, and she fired.
The gunshot plus the command managed to still the crowd.
"Do as you're told or you're dead, too, hear me?" she snapped. She quickly swept her eyes across the crowd to make sure she had everyone's full attention.
She did.
"Okay, everyone, face-down on the floor, now!" she ordered. "I see eyes, you see bullets, understand?"
Everyone scrambled to obey. Izzy smiled behind her mask; if there was one thing she enjoyed more than mass chaos, it was making terrified civilians do her bidding.
Once everyone was down, she checked her watch. "Eighty seconds, boss," she informed Chris.
"Okay," he said, turning on the tellers and tossing a black bag on the counter, "one hundred grand, in the bag, now! Any dye packs or fake bills and you'll regret it! Let's go!" He waved his own gun at the unfortunate bank employees to emphasize his point.
Izzy and Ollie paced through the rows of people on the floor while Chris waited for their pay. After a few moments, Izzy checked her watch again.
"One minute!" she called to Chris.
"Come on, what are you doing?" he shouted at the people behind the counter. "I said, move it!" Then, he did something that actually surprised Izzy: He turned his own gun skyward and pulled the trigger.
Several of the people on the floor made terrified exclamations at the sound of the shot; one person even turned his head to see what was going on.
Izzy fired at the offender, careful to hit a spot right beside his head. "I said, keep your face down!" she snapped.
The man yelped, terrified, and quickly pressed his nose to the floor.
"One more slip-up from any of you, and the next bullet goes in that person's brain, got it?" she snarled at the crowd.
Five more seconds passed, and Izzy suddenly had an inspiration.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are the Face Cards," she declared. "Consider yourselves privileged to be the ones to witness our debut…and, if you're lucky, live to tell the tale," she added nastily.
The fear of the crowd was almost tangible, and Izzy drank it in - never before had she been at leisure to so fully enjoy the terror she caused a group of people, and she liked it. It's almost a shame I'm going to have to kill these two idiots during endgame, she thought remorselessly.
"Hey, babe, come check this for me, would ya?" Chris called to her suddenly.
"Stay down," she ordered the crowd.
"I've got 'em," Ollie assured her.
Izzy nodded and walked over to Chris. She took the bag he was holding out to her and glanced inside, then sighed and pulled out one of the wads of cash.
"Look at this, boss," she said, holding the wad out to Chris.
Chris took it, flipped through it for a split second, and found the dye pack.
"The hell?" he snarled at the bank employees. "I said no dye packs! You got a death wish?" He raised his gun.
Izzy checked her watch and blinked.
"Boss, we've got fifteen seconds," she told Chris. "The rest of the money's good, so there's no point in toying around. Let's go."
"You bastards got lucky," Chris spat, tossing the dye pack to the floor. He headed for the door, Izzy and Ollie right behind him.
Izzy paused and looked back, glancing quickly at the man she had shot before turning on the crowd again.
"Everyone, stay on the floor, eyes closed, count to a hundred, and don't even think of moving until you get there!" she commanded. Then, just for fun, she waited two seconds, then fired into the air again. "I said, start counting!" she shouted, and with that, she followed Chris and Ollie out the door. Seconds later, they were in the van and driving away, careful to obey the speed limits.
Ollie took of his mask and let out a deep breath. "That was too easy," he said.
Izzy chuckled. "Not used to having this much control, are you, boys?" she teased, setting her mask aside.
"No," Chris said, removing his own mask. "I take it you're used to things going this smoothly?"
"Compared to what I usually pull, this was sloppy," Izzy told him; "but considering it was your first time going in with an actual plan, I'd say it went pretty well."
"You were scary back there, Iz," Ollie said, turning around to face her.
"Aw, thanks," Izzy said, smiling indulgently at him.
"No, seriously," Ollie said; "the way you handled the crowd back there was the scariest thing I've ever seen." He chuckled. "I may have nightmares about it."
Izzy laughed. "I do try," she said nastily.
"What was that thing you said about us being the Face Cards or something?" Chris asked.
Izzy shrugged. "Hey, we can't really make a name for ourselves if we don't have a name," she said. "I don't know, it just kinda came to me."
"Well, I like it," Chris said. "'Ladies and gentlemen, we are the Face Cards'…I like that. Do that every time."
"You got it, boss," Izzy said with a wicked smile. She thought for a second, then said, "Hey, you actually fired your gun today. I mean, you didn't hit anyone, but still, you pulled the trigger. How did that feel?"
"It felt good," Chris replied, smiling at her in the rear-view mirror.
"You actually surprised me," Izzy went on; "I didn't know you had it in you."
"Neither did I," Chris admitted. "I guess you must be a bad influence on me."
Izzy laughed. "Happy to help," she teased.
Chris laughed, too, as did Ollie.
"Now, are we done talking?" Izzy asked. "I wanna relive that whole thing…"
"Go ahead and savor it, Iz," Chris said; "you've earned that much and more."
Izzy chuckled, then closed her eyes and leaned back, calling up the image of the man she had shot, and what she had seen of him just before she had walked out the door.
He had still been moving.
Still alive after two minutes - probably still alive even now - and what was more, conscious. He was aware of what was happening to him, dying slowly and painfully…
Izzy moaned aloud with pleasure at the thought.
Two seconds later, she heard Ollie say, "Izzy?"
She opened one eye and looked at him. "Yeah?"
"Are you okay?" he asked her, looking mildly concerned.
She smiled the nastiest smile she could muster. "Never better," she said wickedly; while this was technically a lie, neither of the two brothers would ever be any the wiser for it.
"You sure?" Ollie asked, his brow furrowed. "You're acting kinda weird…"
She gave an evil chuckle. "Did you see the guy I shot while we were walking out of there?" she asked. "He was still moving. He was still alive, and awake…"
"I thought you always started a heist with a kill?" Chris said, slightly confused.
"I do," Izzy said. "I know where I shot him - he's as good as dead. He's just not dead yet." She closed her eyes and leaned back again. "It takes a while to die from a bullet to the gut," she said, smiling with relish. "It's a very slow, painful death, and he's gonna be awake for every moment of it…" She moaned again.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Ollie asked.
She opened her eyes again and gave him an evil smile. "What's the matter, Ollie?" she asked mockingly. "Haven't you ever met a sadist before?"
Chris slammed on the brakes and pulled over.
"You're a what, now?" he exclaimed, turning around in his seat to look at her.
"Keep driving, boss," Izzy said; "we're not quite in the clear just yet."
Chris blinked, then turned back around and started driving again. "But seriously," he said, "you're a what, now?"
Izzy chuckled. "A sadist, and proud of it," she said. "I don't just kill for power - I kill for pleasure."
Ollie shook his head. "And here I thought you were just a cold-blooded killer," he said.
She laughed as nastily as she could. "More like a hot-blooded killer," she said huskily. She tilted her head. "Does that bother you, boys?"
"Uh…" Chris said, "well, yes, Iz, quite frankly, that does bother me."
"Me too," Ollie said.
"Oh," Izzy said mockingly. "Well, that's a problem. I mean, I kinda can't help it - I can't not get off on the kill, it's just the way I am." She pretended to hesitate. "Is there any chance you can let it go, or will I have to quit?" she asked.
The two brothers were silent for a minute. Izzy wasn't worried.
"Look," Chris said at last, "as long as all our hold-ups go as well as that last one did, you can enjoy whatever the hell you want."
"Thanks, boss," Izzy said. Then she took on a very sexy tone of voice and asked, "Wanna party when we get back?"
"Er…no thanks," Chris said.
"Oh, come on," Izzy taunted; "is it really that bad?"
"Look, I said you can enjoy whatever the hell you want, and I meant it," Chris said, "but please…just…leave us out of it. Okay?"
"Ollie?" Izzy asked.
"What he said," Ollie said.
Izzy sighed. "Suit yourselves, boys," she said mockingly, and she went back to enjoying the thought and memory of her most recent kill. She didn't worry about whether or not she'd be able to enjoy it with Matthew that night - she could always milk it, and the more she freaked out the two brothers now, the longer it would be before they'd feel comfortable hitting on her again. As it stood, she estimated that she had already put off having to continue fending off their advances for at least three months.
Too easy.
o~X~o
"Honey, I'm home," Izzy said sarcastically.
Matthew smiled and stood as she came in, carrying a promising black bag. "Everything went well?" he asked.
Izzy smiled. "Piece of cake," she said, dropping the bag in a chair and stepping into his arms. "Everyone was my puppet today - Chris and Ollie are putty in my hand, and the heist was more fun than I've ever had." She pouted slightly and added, "The only thing that could have made it better would be if I had been able to share it with you."
"Yeah, well…" Matthew gave her a quick kiss. "You can't have everything," he murmured.
She chuckled. "I don't need everything, hotshot," she teased; "just you."
"Oh, you," he said, smiling.
They hugged each other tightly.
"How much did you get?" Matthew asked after a minute.
"Thirty grand," she replied with a shrug, pulling back slightly.
Matthew blinked; she normally went for more than three times that amount, and while he knew she'd had to split up the profits with Chris and Ollie, he hadn't expected such a small figure.
"Yeah, I know it's not much, but I have to seem like I'm not in it for the money," Izzy said; "the idiots can't have any reason to be suspicious of me having any bigger plans. I had to take the smaller cut."
"Would they give you more if you gave them something in return?" Matthew asked teasingly.
She laughed. "Oh, they're not so interested now that they know what turns me on," she said wickedly.
Matthew smiled. "You told them?"
"I showed them," Izzy said nastily. "They're slightly terrified of me now, and very freaked out. I'd say I have at least three months before they start hitting on me again - more, unless I turn out to have the worst luck in the world. Hopefully, I'll even be able to delay until endgame."
"You need them to trust you completely before we reach endgame," Matthew felt the need to remind her.
"Which is why, if they manage to get comfortable with my…ah…preferences, before we reach endgame, I'll have no choice," Izzy acknowledged; "I know. I'm just hoping that there's a chance that it won't come to that."
Matthew didn't push the matter.
"Now, if we ration it right, thirty grand should be more than enough to sustain us until endgame," Izzy said, stepping out of his arms and taking on the professional tone of voice she used when she was going over her plans. "That's priority one. Priority two is getting the materials I'll need to make the bombs to blast my way to freedom after the heist during endgame. Priority three is getting the materials you'll need to make the massive bomb you'll use to get your revenge. Any money we have left over after that goes towards the safehouse we'll set up in the event that we won't be able to leave D.C. right after we're done." She thought for a minute. "We may have to cut a few corners, but even at this rate, I think we can make it."
"You're the expert," Matthew said.
She grinned. "Yes I am," she said proudly.
He smiled back, then thought of something. "You said the heist was more fun than you've ever had?" he asked.
"Oh, turn on the news!" she exclaimed, virtually lunging for the TV. "I hope we didn't miss it!"
They hadn't. Mere minutes later, the story was on.
"Earlier today, a bank robbery took place in a small bank in the greater D.C. area," said the reporter. "Witnesses say three masked individuals - two men and one woman - started firing on the crowd to get everyone's attention; one man - 43-year-old Jacob Madison - was killed by one of the shots. The trio of bank robbers stole one hundred thousand dollars from the bank and left long before police were able to arrive on-scene, leaving virtually no clues behind; however, witnesses agree that the woman told them, quote, 'Ladies and gentlemen, we are the Face Cards. Consider yourselves privileged to be the ones to witness our debut - and, if you're lucky, live to tell the tale.' Police say they have no leads as to just who these 'Face Cards' might be, or where they might strike next."
Izzy turned off the TV.
"Beautiful," she said with relish. "They even got my entire quote."
"So you actually said that?" Matthew asked, mildly surprised.
She smiled at him. "That's what I said, word for word," she replied.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "'The Face Cards'?" he repeated. "Really, Izzy?"
"Well, yeah," she said, shrugging; "you know, like the king, queen, and jack in a deck of cards."
Matthew kept his eyebrow raised.
Izzy rolled her eyes. "The masks I picked out for the three of us are modeled after the diamond face cards," she told him. "I mean, it fits - two men, one woman."
"The masks you picked?" Matthew repeated, raising his eyebrow a little higher.
"Hey, a girl has her pride," she said defensively; "there is no way in hell I was going to rob a bank in a black ski mask - or, for that matter, be seen robbing a bank with partners wearing black ski masks. Chris said that if I came up with something more creative, he'd go with it, so I did. Besides," she added with a shrug, "we can't really make a name for ourselves if we don't have a name."
Matthew conceded.
Izzy grinned. "We're gonna be famous," she said proudly. Then she frowned and added, "I wish you could be part of it."
"I am part of it," Matthew said; "I'm just…behind the scenes." He chuckled as he thought of something. "I'm the joker."
Izzy laughed.
Matthew smiled at her. "So I guess this makes you the Queen of Diamonds, huh?" he said.
She smiled back. "I guess it does," she agreed.
They smiled at each other lovingly for a minute. Then, Izzy's smile turned nasty.
"Now then, hotshot," she said wickedly, "I have a fresh kill that I've been waiting to enjoy all day. Care to join me?"
He laughed, pulled her close, and kissed her hard.
~X~
Time passed. Every month, like clockwork, the Face Cards struck again. After two more heists, Izzy had enough money to get all the supplies for the escape bombs she would use during endgame, and she was able to teach Matthew more about bombs while she worked. One job later, they had the money to start getting his supplies, and he was left with things to tinker with all day while she went and manipulated Chris and Ollie some more. They still had to spend all of every day apart, but again, Matthew understood the necessity of it.
Then, the night after the second-to-last heist before endgame, Izzy didn't come back.
Matthew tried not to worry, but he was painfully aware of the seconds, which became minutes, which became hours, that passed after she should have returned, and during which he heard nothing from her. He watched the news that night to make sure she hadn't been caught; the most recent attack by the Face Cards was reported, but according to the news, there had still been no arrests, and the police still had no suspects.
Finally, at midnight, he couldn't take it anymore.
Where r u? he texted her.
He held his breath as he waited for a response. After five minutes, he got one.
On my way.
R u ok? he asked, dizzy with relief.
Ten minutes passed before she replied.
C u in 5 min.
That's not an answer, he thought, worried once more. He couldn't think of anything else to say, though, so he decided to just wait.
He paced around their room, essentially worried out of his mind. Five minutes passed. Then another five. Then another five…
Just as Matthew was seriously contemplating running outside and searching the city for her, he heard someone at the door. He turned to see if it was her. It was.
"Izzy!" he exclaimed, running over to her and hugging her tightly. "My god, I was so worried-"
She didn't return his embrace; instead, she pushed past him without even looking him in the eye.
"Izzy?" he asked, worried again.
She unslung the black money bag she was carrying from over her shoulder, dropped it in a chair, and took a few more steps away from him, her back turned.
"Are you okay?" Matthew asked, feeling sick with worry. He took a few steps towards her. "Did something happen?"
She gave a humorless, almost hysterical laugh. "Oh, something happened, all right," she said bitterly, still not turning to face him.
"Izzy, what's wrong?" Matthew asked softly. "Talk to me."
She sighed miserably. "As of today, I am officially a slut," she said in a hollow voice.
Matthew blinked, then slowly smiled. "You didn't," he said.
"I did," she said, sounding utterly miserable.
"Which one?" Matthew asked.
She sighed again. "Both of them," she replied, sounding on the verge of tears.
"And that's where you've been all this time?" Matthew asked, still smiling.
"No!" she exclaimed indignantly, whirling around to face him. "Of course not! How could you think that?" She sighed again and shook her head, turning away again. "I've been wandering around outside for the past few hours, trying to work up the nerve to face you," she told him quietly.
"'Nerve'?" Matthew repeated. "What, did you think I'd be upset?"
She quickly turned her face back up to look at him, tears in her eyes. "Aren't you?" she asked softly.
He smiled at her. "Izzy," he said, taking a step closer to her and putting a hand on her shoulder, "we both knew this would have to happen sooner or later. You did what you had to. Of course I'm not upset."
She looked away again. "It felt so wrong," she whispered, sounding like she was about to cry. "I didn't want to…"
"I know," Matthew reassured her. "You only did what you had to to control them."
"I'm so sorry, Matthew," Izzy sobbed, meeting his eyes tearfully.
"It's okay," Matthew told her firmly, putting his arms around her and hugging her gently. "To be honest, I'm not as offended by you screwing them as I am by the fact that you thought I'd be mad at you." He pulled back slightly to look her in the eye and smiled. "I understand that trust isn't something that comes easily to you, but when will you learn that I'm not going to turn on you?" He cradled her face in his hands. "I'm not going to leave you, Izzy," he told her. "Nothing will drive me away. I love you."
"I love you, too," she whispered, still tearful. "I love only you."
"I know," he said firmly. "I have no doubts; I mean, we've been through so much together, and these two guys don't even know you! I trust you, Izzy."
She looked at him for a minute, then hugged him tightly, burying her face in his chest. "I'm sorry I doubted you," she said softly.
"It's okay," he told her, returning her embrace; "I understand. After everything you've been through, I get that trust isn't easy for you." He chuckled. "Honestly, though, I'm proud of you."
She pulled back to look him in the eye, smiling slightly. "You're proud of me for cheating on you?" she asked teasingly.
He smiled back. "It's not cheating if I know about it and am okay with it," he told her. "And I'm proud that you were able to do it in spite of…you know…everything."
Izzy blinked, and her eyes widened. "I…didn't even think of that," she breathed.
"You didn't?" Matthew asked, surprised.
She shook her head, looking shocked. "No," she said; "I only thought of you. I mean, I was only able to do it by focusing on today's kill, but what made it feel wrong was just…the thought of you. I didn't even think of…my past."
"Didn't either of them say something about your scars?" Matthew asked.
"They didn't see them," Izzy replied. "Plus, I made them use condoms; between that and the fact that they're complete idiots, they didn't feel them, either. Neither of them has any idea."
Matthew nodded.
Izzy sighed. "I can't wait until we get to kill them," she said. She looked up at Matthew. "Do you want to be the one to do it?" she asked.
"No, that's okay," Matthew replied; "they're all yours."
"Even though both of them had sex with your girl?" Izzy countered.
Matthew chuckled. "Well, when you put it that way…" he teased.
They laughed.
"How about we take one each," Matthew finally suggested; "you can kill Chris, and I'll take Ollie."
"You sure you don't want Chris?" Izzy asked. "He went first."
"No, you take Chris," Matthew said. "When it gets right down to it, you're the one who deserves payback; I'm not upset."
Izzy hugged him again. "I don't deserve you," she said.
"That's up to me to decide," Matthew told her.
She chuckled.
They hugged each other for a minute. Then Matthew asked, "Did you get a bigger cut this time?"
Izzy laughed. "Yes, actually," she replied, pulling back slightly to look at him; "they let me take a full fifty grand away."
"So they're under your complete control now," Matthew said; it wasn't even a question.
"Yes," Izzy answered, looking somewhat smug. "I mean, I'll have to do it again a month from now, but…yes. As of now, they are literally nothing but my puppets."
"And that's what's important," Matthew said. He sighed. "I'm just sorry it means I can't be with you tonight."
"You can," Izzy told him, suddenly stern. "We can be together tonight. Hell, we will, damn it!"
"But if you've already gotten off on today's kill twice-"
"Stop," Izzy said, putting her finger over his lips.
He stopped.
"If controlling those two idiots meant that I couldn't be with you at the end of the day, I would never be able to forgive myself," she told him firmly. "Maybe I couldn't get a third time out of a kill for just anyone, but I can milk it for you." She gave him her evil, sexy smile. "I will milk it for you, hotshot," she said nastily. "Better hurry, though - it only gets less fresh with every second that passes."
Matthew decided not to question it. He didn't even say another word; he just kissed her deeply. She kissed him back, her jacket dropping to the floor.