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****P.S I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT OR ANY CHARACTERS IN IT****
Chapter 14
Damned if you do, Damned if you don't
2008 – Kauai, Hawaii
There's a saying that every narcissist loves, 'If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.
My father loved using that quote, ever since we were kids he'd find some way to insert it into any argument or lesson, those words struck a chord in James, he practically lived by the words until they were practically his last.
Thinking back now to when he was alive, although the phrase embodied his true persona, it isn't those words that pop into my head when I think of famous last words, rather a contradictory quote I've come up with myself, 'You can try to execute something perfectly and still fail.'
No matter how well of job you think you've done, how perfect of a plan, you can always-still-fail.
It was pitch black outside, dark enough that I could barely see my hands in front of me.
The moon, which usually shone bright, was hidden behind clouds. I couldn't smell anything from behind the mask I wore but the wind on the back of my neck gave way to the possibility of rain. I heard the trees shaking furiously and the water crashing hard against rock.
No, not rain…a storm.
Some would call this a bad Omen.
"This is a bad sign" for a second I thought I had said the words aloud but it wasn't my own voice that continued, "Bad baaaad sign"
Not that I was a particularly invested in the science of bad omens but if I were, this would surely be it.
James clicked a button on his watch and little green lights illuminated the time, 2:00 AM. The only light in the darkness.
"Honestly can you see a single thing? Because I am quite literally blind" the voice belonged to a kid named Richard but everyone called him IQ because at the ripe age of 15 he already had and IQ of 171. He worked as a programmer for one of the biggest conglomerates in the state at the age of 17 and by 18 he was scouted by the FBI to lead his own team in the hopes of catching some of the world's biggest dark web criminals which he politely declined. Now he's just some guy who works IT at the Casino.
James looked at his watch for a while before turning towards me, his eyes were bloodshot, probably from lack of sleep but between the blue and the red, a hint of hesitation creeped on his gaze. I imagined that's what he saw when he looked into my eyes, a nervous wreck. I half hoped he would change his mind, call it off and say we could just go home.
I hoped instead we'd go to the nearest mart and buy a couple of beers, laugh about what a crazy idea it was, what we were about to do.
I would give anything to be anywhere but here, but rather than reading the clear reluctance on my face James put the hood over his head and turned.
"Show time"
1 month prior:
After the day at the pier, James opened up to me about his gambling addiction. It was as hard for me to hear as it was for him to say. He owed a lot of money to very dangerous people, people who could make his life very very miserable or worse, nonexistent. The implications of owing money he did not have affected all of us, our clueless parents included but according to James, he had a plan.
"We're going to rob Arlo's Mansion" James said as he spread a roll of blueprints of a house across the kitchen table.
I halted when the blueprint unraveled. The leg I had propped on the table dropped unconsciously to the floor. I stared at James dumbfounded and waited patiently for him to burst into laughter or tell me he almost 'got me' and yet for the next minute he remained tight lipped and stern, his eyes burying into me making the joke less amusing. His hands rested on the corner of the table, tightly holding on to the edges.
"You're kidding, right? Arlo fucking Cross? "I blinked zombie-like at him before looking down at the prints and chuckling, "There's no way."
"I've studied the prints Ed. I know the in's and out's like the back of my hand"
I chuckled again except this time it felt forced. "They have cameras, 24/7 security, not to mention you'd be stupid to think a guy like Arlo doesn't have a state of the art safe. Where in your master plan is there a high tech safe opening device?"
"Don't be so damn condescending, do you have a better idea?"
Arlo Cross was the owner of the Islands biggest Casino, a self-made billionaire who owned a vacation home at the edge of the Island. The man was rarely home, rather he spent his days traveling and spending his fortune on hookers and cocaine. Not only did James want to steal the money he owed but he wanted to steal it form the richest most dangerous guy on the Island.
He was quiet, still burying his gaze through me. I shook my head and pinched the bridge of my nose, "This is fucking insane, you're nuts" I mumbled.
"I know a guy" he finally said as he moved towards me, I threw my hands up in disbelief "Oh! you KNOW a guy? What guy James?"
He continued, ignoring my sarcasm "Someone we can trust, he's familiar with the safe and the house, he can get it open" He stopped halfway, "This guy is a genius"
My hands dropped to my thighs, "and why on earth would he help you?"
"Because" James answered calmly and matter-of-factly,
"Because?" I was annoyed at the lack of information he was giving me and his nonchalant way of handling this, he expected everyone to risk their lives for him without ever questioning him.
James was silent for a while, his arms moved from the table to crossing across his chest. Every noise around us seemed deafening.
"Well?"
He sighed and with it his response, "Because I promised him some of the money, okay?" it wasn't a question really, James wasn't asking on whether it was alright to do this, or whether it was okay to give a stranger a share of his winnings, he was just being kind and letting me believe I had a choice in the matter.
I stared blankly at him, how long had he been planning this, it couldn't have been a spontaneous thing if he had already mentioned it to this genius guy.
"You were going to do this regardless of the money you owed, weren't you?"
His eyes then locked with mine, his icy blue gaze un-wavering. He didn't answer, but his silence was enough of a response.
The mansion was empty just like James had predicted, he knew when the guards were switching shifts so that the moment we decided to sneak inside we were the only ones in the house.
James was fightenedly very informed on all the aspects of the house and how we would enter without being noticed, although this shouldn't have surprised me, it still made me uneasy. I followed him inside the house, for a moment staring at the back of his head. I could not help but feel like James was different, something about him had changed ever since that day at the boardwalk or maybe I was the one who didn't know him like I thought I did. It felt as though he had been wearing a mask in front of our parents and I, pretending to be the ideal student, son and brother. Who was he really and when had he become this person? Or rather, why?
My eyes stayed fixed on the back of his head as he led the way into the house and I felt a feeling of uncertainty, I needed to keep my eye on him.
The wood creaked under our weight as we quietly made our way through the foyer. Arlo's mansion sat on the edge of a mountain, perched on an isolated spot. Extensive glass windows displayed the most spectacular view. I imagined the sunsets from this living room, watching the warm yellows and orange fold into each other, listening to the sound of the waves breaking as they hit rock. I gaped at the luxury of it all, the large leather green sofa that could fit a whole football team or the nook that fit the glass fountain whose flowing water filled the room with the calming sound of water. The lights were off but the moonlight bathed us through the glass and illuminated the way.
"This place is incredible" I whispered to myself,
"Incredible? It's big and cold, I'd get tired of it quick" IQ mumbled and wrapped his arms around himself, rubbing up and down to simulate warmth "and it smells weird too"
"Yeah" I scoffed and rolled my eyes "That's what a clean house smells like"
"What are you trying to say?"
"I don't know IQ, just seems to me like for someone with such a reputable background you sure lack common sense"
I hadn't been able to see his full face because he had chosen to wear his balaclava from the moment we met, claiming he didn't want his identity revealed in the case I was caught but his raven hair peaked from under his balaclava, long enough to reach his shoulders.
One of his hands reached out and gripped my shoulder, "Who do you think-"
"Hey!" James hissed "Will you two idiots quit talking, we have exactly twenty five minutes before they do their rounds inside the house and you're both so damn loud we may as well tell them we're robbing the place"
IQ's green eyes glared daggers into mine, we stood still for a moment before I shrugged my shoulder and let his arm fall at his side.
"Come on, his office is this way" James motioned to follow and we moved quietly up the stairs. I gripped the handle of my baton as we moved down the long hallway to the office. I stopped suddenly, and looked at the other end of the hallway. I thought I had heard very faint music coming from that end. I tried to focus all my attention on any sounds outside from our own.
"Ed?" James hissed, "What are you doing, let's go!"
"I-I thought I'd heard music from the end of that hallway"
"Music?" IQ held the door ajar while James who was inside poked his head out of the opening, they looked at each other with uncertainty "There's no way, the house is totally empty"
I scratched the back of my head and waited for a moment but there was only silence. I speed walked towards them with a shake of my head, "Sorry, I haven't slept much" I said as I stepped inside and closed the door.
The safe was just as I'd predicted, state of the art quality with what IQ introduced to us was a bomb door with a retinal scanner.
"Meaning?" James asked,
"The retinal scanner takes photos of the owner's iris as a way of opening the safe" he paused "It's quite impossible to break into it" IQ said as he unzipped his backpack and withdrew a small tablet.
"Impossible? I thought you knew what we were up against" I asked,
"I said quite impossible not impossible" he said condescendingly as he brought up the small tablet to the safes computer and connected a cable from his tablet to an output on the safe.
I rolled my eyes and turned towards James who was frantically looking around the bookshelves, "What are you doing?" I asked, one book after the other falling to the ground in his rampage.
"Looking for a book"
I lifted the bottom of my mask up above my nose, "Why?"
"It's a copy of William Shakespeare's first folio and it's worth a couple of millions" he opened one of the books only to close and throw it aside "I heard Arlo bought it in auction several years ago"
I scoffed "You think he'd keep a copy of that in his vacation home"
His watch beeped, he quickly looked down at it and clicked it off "10 minutes"
My eyes darted back to IQ, his fingers were tapping rapidly into the table on his hand, "It's ready" as he said that the safe opened with a sound similar to exhalation, as if it were just as relived as we were to be opened. My face lifted with excitement and James expressed his by taking off his balaclava and rushing towards IQ, grabbing his shoulders and lifting him to his feet into a tight embrace.
"You son of a bitch, you did it!"
They both laughed with excitement and released each other once I stepped forward and opened the safe. I could almost hear the sound of angels singing when I saw the contents inside. Bad omen, what bad omen? I don't think we've ever gotten this lucky.
James came behind me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, "Screw the book, look at this brother" he dropped his arm and went inside the large safe, it was a small bright room. He brought a gold bar over to where I stood, handing it to me with the utmost care. "Is this not the most beautiful thing you've ever seen!" and it was, it was the definitely the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.
"We have to hurry" IQ said, stepping inside.
In a matter of minutes, we had our bookbags and duffle bags filled to the brim with wads of cash and gold plates. We stepped outside into the hallway as quietly as we could, I followed James and IQ with a cheesy smile on my face. As my eyes lifted up ahead, I noticed James had forgotten to put his mask back on.
"James" I whispered "You're not wearing- "
Suddenly something none of us expected happened, our eyes moved towards a light at the other end of the hallway that suddenly illuminated the dark path. We all watched in shock and fear as a young woman, stepped out into the darkness, her long blonde hair glowing with the light that spread from the room and out into the hall. She looked at us for a moment in as much disbelief as ours, frozen in fear.
It all happened in slow motion, I shook my head as the word 'no' left my mouth. To me it sounded almost as a whisper but in reality I knew I shouted the words. IQ reacted quickly by darting down the stairs with his share. I watched as he disappeared into the darkness, the girl screamed, her yell was quickly muted when she ran back into her room, James following close behind.
I could feel my heart in my throat beating in slow motion just as the scene unraveled around me. I looked down at my hands, noticing I was still gripping the baton. My hands, shaking and now coated with a film of sweat made the weapon slip and fall to the floor and I could almost feel the vibration of it as it fell with a hard CLANK.
Bad Omen.
In a flash I was running towards the room. The first thing I saw was his face, James expression was contorted with fear as he looked up at me when I entered the room. His head was shaking as were his hands.
His hands.
I looked down at his hands and found them painted red, blood. My eyes slowly trailed the blood to the source and found the baton on the floor near the girl. She was faced down on the floor beneath him, immobile. Her hair covering her face, the golden mane now coated in the red liquid.
"What have you done" I whispered as I looked up at him.
