Day 3 – noon

It took them a while to get out of bed, but finally they managed it. She felt how they were in sync again as they got dressed, stopping for little touches or kisses between buttons and belts. They sat down in front of the desk together and flipped through the different camera images inside the Mint, but everything seemed under control. Through the radio, they heard the police prepare for the release of the hostages at two o'clock: making sure ambulances were standing by, clearing an interview space, listing questions to ask the freed hostages in order of importance. Finally, they heard Angel say:

"We should eat something before the hostages get here."

"I'll go and get us something", Elena said. "I have to get out of here for a minute. What do you want?"

"A sandwich", Angel said. "From Benizo's, maybe?"

Sergio shot Raquel a look. "Do you mind…?"

"What's your plan?"

"Just to bump into her at the sandwich shop."

She sighed. "Fine, go."

There was no stopping him anyway, and she was glad that he at least checked in with her this time. He quickly got up and put on his jacket.

"At least get us some lunch while you're out", she said.

"I will", he said. "I won't be long."

He bent down to kiss her, and she grabbed his hair and pressed her lips against his, kissing him deeply, passionately, for several long moments. He looked dazed and a little breathless as he straightened again.

"Oh…" he said, "well… that was… wow."

She smiled in satisfaction as he pushed his glasses up his nose, shook himself, then walked towards the door, looking over his shoulder at her several times. Let him go meet Elena now – he wouldn't easily forget her after that kiss.

Indeed, Sergio's thoughts were entirely on Raquel as he walked the few blocks to the sandwich shop, but as soon as he saw Elena come out, his mind snapped back to the heist and he couldn't help but smile in anticipation as he walked up to her. They'd only met twice before, but she'd been quite friendly, especially the second time, and he was fairly certain that she liked him. There seemed to be a natural understanding between them, and Sergio hoped he'd be able to exploit that connection.

"Oh", she said as she spotted him. "Hello, Salva."

"Hi, Elena."

"What a coincidence to run into you again."

He shrugged. "Not really, I told you my brewery is only just around the corner, so I always get lunch either here or at Hanoi. How are things going with the hostage situation?"

She smiled. "Good." She hesitated, but she seemed too excited to keep quiet. "You'll hear this on the news soon anyway: at two o'clock, eleven of the hostages will be freed."

"That's great!" he said. "Well done!"

She waved his compliment away. "There will still be more than fifty inside, but at least it's progress. Sorry Salva, I really don't have time to chat now, we have to prepare."

"I understand", he nodded, then eyed her carefully as she walked away. She seemed to be in a very good mood – he decided to take a risk.

"Elena!" he called after her, and she turned. "Do you… do you want to get a drink tonight? To celebrate?"

She considered him for a moment. "I'm not sure at what time I can get off work. But you can come by the tent around nine and see if I'm free."

"Alright", he said eagerly. "I'll see you tonight then."

He smiled broadly as he turned and walked back to the hangar. This was excellent – if she joined him for drinks, they'd have at least an hour to talk. He was already looking forward to the conversation: no matter how it went, he knew it would be fascinating. And on top of that, she'd invited him to come by the tent – if he asked for her, maybe they'd even let him inside. His heart started beating faster at the very thought of being right inside the lion's den without them suspecting anything.

When he got back to the control room, Raquel frowned at him.

"Where's the food?"

"Oh!" he said. "I totally forgot."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, go back and get it, then."

"I will, I'm sorry."

"Did you talk to her?"

"Yes", he said, "but only for a moment."

"Well", she shrugged, "better luck next time."

He hesitated, but decided not to tell her about his planned drink that evening. Even though she'd agreed before to him bumping into Elena at the sandwich shop, he doubted that she would approve of him spending an entire evening with her, and after the closeness they'd just shared, he really didn't want another fight. He'd tell her later. He felt like he'd made the right decision when he came back with two sandwiches and they ate them companionably in front of the screens. The police were still busy preparing for the release of the hostages, so they could talk, and she was clearly in a good mood, teasing him, making him laugh, often leaning in for a kiss.

After lunch, he turned to her with a more serious expression.

"What do you think I should do about Berlin?"

She frowned. "I've been thinking about that too. Do you want to go back to Toledo and remove his DNA from the house?"

"I'm not sure", he mused. "Even if Mónica didn't die, Berlin still disobeyed my orders. I feel like there should be consequences."

"Revealing his identity is quite serious, though. And, well, he'syour brother. Apparently."

"Yes. I don't want to punish him. I never did, but he forced my hand."

"I think he was just testing the limits he could go to. I don't think he'll do that again – the conversation I had with him yesterday should keep him in line."

He eyed her carefully. "What did you say to him?"

She waved the question away . "It doesn't matter. And another thing, Sergio. If the police know his identity, it will make it harder for Berlin to get out of the country – and if he'll be traveling with us, that puts us at risk too."

He nodded. "That decides it then. I'll go back to Toledo to remove his DNA."

"I think that would be best, yes."

They waited until two o'clock, when the hostages were released without incident. Then Sergio left Raquel to listen to the police interviewing the hostages, while he got on his bike and drove back to Toledo.

For the first hour, Raquel listened intently to the questions Elena and Angel were asking the released hostages, but after a while they became quite repetitive and she had time to think things over for the first time all day. She smiled as she savored again the revelation that Mónica was still alive, and on top of that, Román seemed to be recovering well from his surgery. She allowed herself to hope – very, very carefully – that perhaps they'd be able to limit the human cost of this operation after all. Yesterday had been a terrible day, but today things were looking up again. She let her mind wander back to the other big revelation of the day, and she shook her head. She still couldn't quite believe that Sergio and Berlin were brothers – they were such different people. But now that she really thought about it, she realized she should have seen the signs: he was close to Berlin in a way he wasn't with anyone else – even admitting to her that he'd asked him for romantic advice – and why else would he have wanted Berlin to come live with them on Palawan? She was still a bit annoyed that Sergio hadn't told her sooner, but he was so rigid sometimes, his rules so important to him, so she tried not to be too bothered. He was just a bit unusual, his mind working in ways that often differed so starkly from hers. She knew she had to accept that about him, and she was perfectly prepared to do that.

She remembered what Berlin had told her yesterday: I'll be dead within the year. She hadn't cared that much then: she'd never had any particular fondness for Berlin – sexist, arrogant sociopath that he was – and the distaste she'd always felt for him had only worsened now that she knew that he was capable of killing innocent people just to assert his power over others. And yet, and yet… Sergio must love him. If Berlin was dying, that would be hurting Sergio deeply, and while she didn't really feel for Berlin, she did feel for Sergio. She wished he would have agreed to talk to her about it, instead of waving her concern away and bottling things up. I'll be dead within the year, Berlin's words echoed in her head again. I've got myopathy. Genetic, incurable. She'd never heard of myopathy before, but it must be serious. Genetic, incurable. Suddenly, she froze. Wait… wait. Genetic. Berlin is my brother. She felt a terrible realization dawn. Genetic. Genetic. Incurable. Sergio.

She shook her head, her thoughts racing. No, no, he would have told her if he was sick, he would have told her! Yet a small but insistent voice in the back of her mind was saying: would he? After all, he hadn't told her about Berlin being his brother. What else had he not told her? Suddenly, things were coming back to her, things Sergio had told her over their months together. I was very ill as a child, always in and out of hospitals. Her heart started beating frantically as she remembered how he'd started shaking yesterday when Berlin told him Mónica was dead. Was that a symptom? I would have told you about Berlin after the heist. Had he just been waiting for the right moment? Raquel, if something happens to me… No, she thought, closing her eyes tightly. My life doesn't matter. No, no, no. And yet, didn't it make sense? Wasn't this why he was risking everything in this operation, now? Wasn't this why he hadn't told her about Berlin being his brother? Wasn't this why he had refused to talk about his brother's illness that morning? This isn't the right time, we're in the middle of a vast operation, I don't want to think about… that… now. Berlin's words came back to her with a new significance, hitting her like a hammer blow. I'll be dead within the year.

She hadn't panicked once during the past few days, but she was panicking now. She had to talk to Sergio, now. With trembling hands, she picked up the phone and dialed his number, holding her breath as it rang, then her heart sank as it went to voicemail. She checked her watch – yes, he was probably already on his way back on the bike, which meant he couldn't answer his phone. It would take him about an hour to drive back to Madrid – too long, much too long. She put down the phone and immediately picked it back up to call Berlin in the Mint: if Sergio was sick too, his brother would know. The next moment, though, she hesitated. If Sergio really was sick, there was no way Berlin would tell her that – this secret was Sergio's and only Sergio's to share, and she was sure Berlin, with his strong sense of honor, would understand and respect that.

She slammed the phone back down and buried her face in her hands. I'll be dead within the year. It couldn't be – fate couldn't be that cruel, to let her find him only to lose him again? But fate had dealt her blow after blow in the past year, and she had no faith left in life's fairness. She tried telling herself that Sergio might not actually be sick, but she had no idea of what the chances were of both brothers having inherited the same genetic illness. Then she tried telling herself that even if Sergio was sick, he might not be in a critical stage like Berlin was – after all, Berlin was a few years older. But even if they had a few more years together, it wasn't… it wasn't enough. She didn't just want a few more years with him, she wanted decades, she wanted a lifetime.

Over the past few months, she'd tried so, so hard not to think about the future too much. She had tried to take things one day at a time, to enjoy what she could in the moment, because the past year had shown her that fortunes could change in a heartbeat and nothing was certain – especially not their future after the dangerous, unpredictable operation they were planning. In moments of weakness, she had allowed herself to imagine herself on a beach with him and Paula, but she'd never let her thoughts construct a more elaborate picture of their life after the heist. And yet… now she suddenly realized that, despite her best efforts, she did have expectations, hopes, images of the future, carefully hidden away underneath a layer of conscious repression. Now that that future might be snatched away from them, she suddenly saw it so clearly: living with him in their own house, raising Paula with him, growing old together. She wanted it so desperately, and the thought that they might never have any of it was simply unbearable.

She realized with a sudden, breath-taking clarity how much he meant to her. Of course she'd known that he was important, of course she'd known that she loved him, and that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. But this possible death sentence made her conscious of so much more: that, in a few short months, so much of her world had started to revolve around him, that he was the rock on which she was building her new life, and that his disappearance from her life would leave a hole she would never be able to fill again. She was having trouble breathing as the realization dawned on her: he was the love of her life. And she might lose him.

It was the longest hour of her life, waiting for him to come back. She watched the seconds tick away, simultaneously wanting him to walk through that door as soon as possible, and dreading the moment when her worst fear might become a reality. She tried researching myopathy, but there were so many different kinds that it was impossible to know what symptoms Sergio might develop if he had it. Finally, after a goddamn eternity, the door to the hangar opened and he stepped in. She ran to him.

"What's wrong?" he said as he saw her face. "What happened?"

"Are you sick?" she said urgently, grabbing his jacket. "Sergio, are you sick?"

"What?" he frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Berlin!" she said. "He's sick and he's your brother!"

"What?"

"He's your brother!"

He took her by the shoulders. "Okay, calm down and tell me what's wrong."

She took a breath. "Berlin told me his illness is genetic, and now you told me he's your brother. The illness, the myopathy… do you have it too?"

"Oh!" he said, comprehension dawning on his face, and she held her breath as she looked up at him with frightened eyes. Then…

"No", he said simply, and she felt herself go weak with relief. "No, I don't have it."

"Really?"

"Really."

"You're not just saying this because we're in the middle of the operation, right? You're not waiting until after to tell me?"

"No, Raquel, I swear I don't have it."

"So… so you're not dying?"

He gave her a crooked smile. "I have no immediate plans, no."

She rushed in and hugged him, hugged him, hugged him, so tightly that he spluttered:

"But that can change very quickly if you don't let me breathe."

She didn't let go of him. Silent tears were streaming down her cheeks, and when he noticed, he gently wrapped his arms around her and pressed a tender kiss to the top of her head.

"It's alright", he said. "It's alright, I'm not going anywhere."

"Berlin said he only had one year left to live. I thought… I thought… and you're so important to me, Sergio. What would I do without you?"

"Oh, my love", he said, hugging her tighter. "No, no, don't worry. I'm perfectly healthy, really. Don't you think I would have told you otherwise?"

She gave him a resentful look. "You didn't tell me Berlin was your brother either."

He grimaced. "Alright, fair point, I see how that might have made you doubt me. But I promise you I'm not hiding anything else from you. No more secrets."

"You really promise?"

"Solemnly."

They stood holding each other for a while. When Sergio opened his arms again, however, she didn't stop hugging him.

He smiled. "Can you let go of me now?"

"No", she said, pressing her face against his shirt, breathing in the comfortingly familiar smell of him. "I don't think I can."

He chuckled. "But we have to get back to the screens."

"I don't care."

"Alright…" he said thoughtfully. "Seems like we need a compromise."

The next moment, he'd bent down and picked her up, and she laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck instead. He walked over to his usual chair at the desk, then sat down with her on his lap.

"How's this?"

"Perfect", she sighed, nestling herself close to him and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"How were the interviews with the hostages?"

"Fine", she said, kissing his cheek again.

"Did they say anything we didn't anticipate?"

"No", she said, nuzzling his ear.

"Are they still interviewing them?"

"Yes", she said. "They ask everyone the same questions, and the answers are more or less the same every time."

Oh, she just couldn't stop touching him, running her fingers slowly through his hair, then stroking his shoulders. He wasn't sick, he was strong and healthy and so handsome, and he would be hers for years to come. She leaned in and kissed his neck.

His mouth twitched as he tried not to smile. "Don't."

"But I feel like we should celebrate."

"Celebrate what?"

"That you're not dying."

"I was never dying in the first place."

"I didn't know that."

"Well, you know it now. I'm not dying."

"Prove it", she whispered, then bit his earlobe. He shivered.

"I get the idea that you have a very specific kind of proof in mind."

"I do", she murmured, kissing his neck again.

His voice became a little strained. "I assure you I'm very much alive."

She smiled as she shifted her hips and felt him hard underneath her. "Yes, I can feel that."

He groaned. "Raquel, our agreement…"

"We already broke that earlier."

"Exactly, and we said we wouldn't do it again!"

"Just five minutes…"

"I resent that", he laughed. "I last longer than that."

"Ten minutes then."

"We can't leave the screens again, we took such a risk earlier."

"Nothing happened."

"That doesn't mean nothing will happen this time." He put on his sternest expression. "No, I'm putting my foot down."

She stroked his beard. "Hmm, I like it when you're all firm like that. Do it again."

He suppressed a smile and frowned at her. "It's not happening!"

She bit her lip. "Oh, very sexy."

He raised his eyebrows. "Raquel, I'm not getting out of this chair."

She grinned. "I can work with that."

The next moment, she was astride his lap, her arms around his neck, her hips pressed against him, and she smiled when he wrapped his arms around her without thinking, looking longingly at her lips. She brought her mouth very close to his.

"I think you want to kiss me", she whispered.

He cleared his throat. "You're entirely mistaken."

"I think you want to undress me."

"Not even a little bit", he mumbled, but his eyes flicked down her body.

"I think you want me."

He swallowed hard. "What… what gave you that idea?"

She pressed her hips against him, feeling him hard between her legs, and he closed his eyes and grimaced.

"Oh… that."

She brushed his lips with hers for just one fleeting moment, and he sighed with longing.

"So…" she said softly, "do you want to kiss me?"

"Yes", he whispered.

Another brush of her lips against his.

"Do you want to undress me?"

"Yes."

She brushed his lips a third time.

"Do you want me?"

"Hell yes," he said, then he grabbed her hair and pressed his mouth hard against hers, kissing her deeply, the kind of kiss that never failed to turn her on, and she felt an immediate tingle between her legs. She kissed him back just as enthusiastically, both of her hands in his hair, then she sighed as he started kissing her neck. Oh, she wanted him, she wanted him so badly – she moved down her hands and deftly undid the button of his pants, and he groaned as she drew him out. She started stroking him, and he leaned his forehead against her shoulder, his eyes tightly closed.

"Oh", he sighed. "Oh, that feels so good."

She gripped him tighter and he gasped.

"We can still stop if you want", she murmured teasingly in his ear.

"God no", he groaned, his breathing uneven. "Take off your pants, now."

She eagerly got off his lap and kicked off her pants and underwear, then she sat astride him again and guided him in. They both moaned as she sank down on him, and he closed his arms around her and pulled her close as she started riding him. She set a fast pace, enjoying the feeling of his hard length filling her up again and again, and soon they were both breathing hard, their faces flushed, their eyes closed. He pressed his mouth against the sensitive skin of her throat and she sighed with pleasure as he kissed her there, then she leaned back a bit as he started kissing her chest, then sought out her nipples, which were hard and visible even through the fabric of her top, to nip at them with his teeth. The sensation sent little jolts straight to her center, and she felt the tension inside her begin to build, build, build until she was gasping. She moved a hand between them and touched just the right spot, and when he bucked his hips to take her deeper, the feeling inside her was so delicious that the tension peaked and broke with a hot, electric tingling that made her moan and moan against his mouth as she tensed and trembled in his arms. He was only a few seconds behind her – even before she'd ridden out the aftershocks, his arms tightened around her and he inhaled sharply, then shuddered his release.

They leaned their foreheads together, their arms still tight around each other, as they took a few minutes to catch their breath. Then she kissed him, slowly and sensuously.

"That was amazing", she whispered, and he nodded his agreement, smiling.

They didn't dare leave the screens unattended for any longer, so she regretfully got off him and he flicked through the different channels of the cameras inside the Mint as she dressed.

"Everything alright in there?" she asked him as she let herself fall back into her chair, feeling warm with relief, happy and satisfied.

"Yes", he said. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

The smiled at each other, then turned up the volume of the radio and listened in on the police interviewing the hostages.

They spent the rest of the afternoon and the early evening together in front of the screens, keeping an eye on the Mint and their radio attuned to Angel's bug. When nothing interesting was happening, they talked softly, their heads close together. They kept reaching out to touch each other, keeping a hand on an arm or a knee as they talked, and he kept postponing telling her that he was seeing Elena again that evening – she still felt a little fragile and he hated the thought of upsetting her again. After he went out to get them dinner, though, he knew he couldn't keep postponing it forever.

He took a deep breath and said:

"I'm going out to see Elena."

She frowned. "Again? You just saw her this afternoon."

"That was just for a moment, we barely talked. I asked her if she wanted to go for a drink tonight and she told me to come by the tent at nine to see if she's free."

"Whoa, wait, you're having drinks with her now?"

"If she has time."

"Sergio!" she said, aghast.

"It's really not a big deal."

"You're going to spend an entire evening with this woman?"

"Well… yes."

"But that's so much time for her to figure out who you are!"

"How could she possibly? No, this is the perfect time for me to finally get some insights into her, find a way to unbalance her."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you sure that's the reason you want to have drinks with her?"

He frowned. "Why else?"

"I think you like talking to her."

"So?" he said defensively.

She gave him the most exasperated look. "She's not your friend! She'll throw you in jail for the rest of your life if she has half a chance!"

"Then I won't give her that chance."

"You can't keep her from suspecting you!"

A thought struck him, and he raised his hands.

"Wait, calm down, think about it for a moment" he said. "What if it had been you?"

"What?"

"What if you had been in charge of the case, and I'd approached you. Would you have suspected me of being who I am?"

To her credit, she really gave it some thought.

"I think I would have thought you were a journalist."

"And if I managed to convince you that I wasn't? Would you have suspected me of being the Professor, just walking up to you to talk to you?"

She was visibly calming down.

"No", she said. "No, I'm fairly sure it wouldn't even enter my mind."

"See", he smiled. "And you have such good instincts, Raquel. If you wouldn't have suspected me, why do you think Elena will?"

She shot him a dark look. "I thought she was so much smarter than me?"

He shook his head. "I said that in a moment of anger, I didn't mean it. Besides, she's smart, but you have much better people skills."

She sighed, and he saw something close to anxiety in her eyes.

"But Sergio… I think I would have fallen in love with you if I'd met you, even in those circumstances. Especially if you took me out on a date like you're now doing with Elena."

That made him laugh. "This isn't a date!"

"Does she know that?"

"Of course!"

"Then what does she think this is, tonight?"

"She thinks she's making a new friend."

She raised an extremely skeptical eyebrow, but he glanced at his watch and realized he didn't have much time left to argue. Either he should go now, or he shouldn't go at all. He looked at her, her arms crossed, her brows furrowed, and he remembered the look on her face when she'd thought he was dying. The trembling in her voice, the panic in her eyes… he'd never seen her like that. All of this fighting was only because she cared about him, she worried about him. He felt like he couldn't just dismiss that – not again.

He sighed. "Look… if you ask me not to go, I won't go."

There was such a look of relief in her eyes that he almost stopped there, but he felt like he still needed to try, so he went on:

"But I feel like I'm so close to getting her to trust me. Tonight could reveal crucial information. I just… I just want one clear shot at her, just give me this one chance to make a difference. After tonight, I'll never go see her again."

She hesitated. "You'll never see her again?"

"I promise."

"And you won't take any stupid risks tonight?"

"I'll do anything I can to persuade her to trust me, Raquel, there are no risks. The worst that can happen is that she asks to see my brewery, and then I can take her to the back-up location."

She sighed. "Fine. Fine, go. Do what you have to do so I don't have to have this goddamn discussion ever again."

He rushed to her and kissed her, and she wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head against his chest rather sadly. He felt a stab of guilt, but he managed to push it away as he kissed her hair.

"I won't stay out too late."

He sensed her reluctance as she let go of him, so he put his fingers under her chin and lifted her face.

"Hey…" he murmured. "I love you."

She gave him such a sad look. "I love you too."

He tried to kiss the sadness away, but there was still a trace of it left in her face as they broke apart and he put on his jacket.

"I'll be back before you know it", he said as he walked towards the door.

She simply nodded, then turned around to sit down in front of the screens.

She felt a curious mixture of resignation and frustration as she sat down at the desk and flipped through the channels. She might have agreed to let him go, but she still wished he hadn't wanted to go. She knew she was probably over-sensitive to him taking risks right now, after her earlier scare that he might be dying, but she still knew – objectively, rationally – that he was taking a risk and she didn't like it. If she was completely honest with herself, she also didn't like that he was so eager to take that risk, simply to see Elena again, and it frustrated her that he was out having a good time while she was stuck in this stupid hangar, alone, for the entire evening. God, how she was already starting to hate this room, hating the fact that she couldn't leave for even a minute, dreading the fact that she would have to spend another eight days here.

She kept going through the camera channels from inside the Mint, one by one. Everything seemed calm and normal, the presses working at full force, making them richer by the minute, the hostages either working or resting. She pressed a button to change channels again, moving on to the camera in the boiler room, where the cops and the guards were tied up, and suddenly she froze. The camera was showing her that one of the hostages had freed himself – and not just freed himself – he was freeing the others too. Her shock only lasted for a split second, then she immediately launched into action, grabbing the phone and pressing the button for the Mint.

"Come on, come on", she muttered as the phone rang, staring at the empty breakroom on her second screen, willing someone to show up. Then, to her immense relief, Nairobi entered and picked up the ringing phone.

"Yes?"

"The hostages in the boiler room are free!" Raquel shouted. "Stop them!"

Nairobi lost no time: she banged down the phone, grabbed her gun, and raced out of the room. Raquel followed her progress through the building with bated breath, keeping one eye on the camera feed of the boiler room, where she saw the guard, Jacinto, free one hostage after another. Nairobi picked up Denver and Oslo on the way, and together they ran down the stairs, where Raquel lost track of them because there were no cameras. She took up her cellphone and called Sergio, then cursed loudly as his phone went straight to voicemail. Meanwhile, on the boiler room camera feed, all the hostages were now free, and clearly discussing what to do next. Raquel felt almost unbearably tense as she kept staring at the door behind the gathered men – then, it suddenly burst open and there were Nairobi, Denver and Oslo, aiming their guns straight at the hostages.

The men dropped to their knees immediately, their hands in the air, and within minutes, they were safely tied up and Raquel could breathe again. As Nairobi, Denver and Oslo made their way back upstairs, Raquel tried calling Sergio again, but once more, it went straight to voicemail. She cursed in frustration – it looked like she had no choice but to handle this herself. She waited until she saw Nairobi come back into the breakroom, then she called the Mint again.

"Everything under control", Nairobi said upon answering.

"I know, I saw", Raquel said. "Well done. How did they manage to free themselves? We have to make sure it can't happen again."

On the screen, she saw Nairobi hold up some tools. "We found this on the floor."

Raquel frowned. "Where could they have gotten those?"

"No idea."

Raquel was thinking fast. After a few seconds, she said: "Clearly something isn't right, and we need to get to the bottom of this. I want everyone gathered in the breakroom, Nairobi. Except Oslo and Helsinki, let them guard the hostages for now, and I can talk to them later if need be."

Nairobi nodded and left the room. Raquel tried calling Sergio again, but the result was the same. She was starting to feel worried, but on the screen, she saw the team enter the breakroom, so she pushed the thought away – she'd deal with Sergio later. She picked up the phone and called, and Berlin answered.

"Berlin, we need to figure out how the hostages got hold of those tools. I've rewound the video, and the head guard, Jacinto, had them taped to his body – he must have picked them up somewhere when he was let out of the boiler room. Where did he go?"

"Those hostages are only let out to use the bathroom", Berlin said.

"How can he have gotten tools in the bathroom?" Raquel said.

"No idea", Berlin said unhelpfully.

Raquel took a moment to think. There was only one option.

"Another hostage must have left them there, a hostage with access to the tools. Get me a list of names of the hostages who worked on the tunnel this afternoon."

"Helsinki was supervising the tunnel today, I'll go get him."

"Let Moscow replace him to guard the hostages."

Berlin and Moscow left the room, and Nairobi took over the phone.

"Nairobi", Raquel said, feeling more like Inspector Murillo than she had in months, calm and in charge of the situation as she reconstructed this crime. "Who last took Jacinto up to the bathroom?"

Nairobi asked the question to the team, and Denver raised his hand.

"Denver says Jacinto requested an extra bathroom break half an hour ago and he took him up."

"Does he remember which cubicle he used?"

Denver thought about it, then Nairobi said:

"He thinks it was the second-to-last."

Meanwhile, Berlin came back with Helsinki, who took over the phone.

"Which hostages worked on the tunnel today?" Raquel asked, and Helsinki proceeded to list them.

"Did any of those hostages request an unscheduled bathroom break this afternoon?"

"No", Helsinki said.

Raquel cursed. "Ask the others if anyone else requested an unscheduled bathroom break in the last two hours."

Helsinki asked the question, and Rio took the phone.

"Arturo Román requested an unscheduled bathroom break about an hour ago."

"Cubicle?"

"Somewhere at the end of the row."

Raquel frowned. "That's consistent, but where would Román have gotten the tools? He's resting from his surgery, right?"

Helsinki took the phone again. "I see Román talk to the boy, Pablo, often times today. Pablo work on tunnel earlier, he could take tools and give them to Román."

Raquel felt a cold satisfaction. "Looks like we have our tool-provider, then. Hand the phone back to Berlin, please."

Helsinki did so, and Berlin came back on the line.

"So, Arturo Román, huh?"

"Yes", she said, feeling anger rise inside her. "Berlin, I think Mr. Román has caused enough trouble for one heist."

"Agreed. Do you want him shot?"

"Goddammit Berlin, no!"

"He should be punished, Lisbon. We can't let this pass."

"I agree, but we're not killing hostages, not now, not ever!"

"Then what do you propose?"

She hesitated. "Let me try to reach Sergio."

"Where is he?"

"Out", she said curtly. She tried calling him again, but he still wasn't answering his phone. She squared her shoulders. "Alright, Berlin, you'll have to follow my orders on this and we'll see if Sergio wants to make any changes when he gets back."

"Fine."

"Please isolate Mr. Román, tie him up, blindfold and gag him, then put him in a locked room for the rest of the heist. He will only be allowed out to go to the bathroom, under armed supervision. When one of you goes in to clean and rebandage his wound, there will always be a second armed person in the room. We're not taking any more risks with this guy, he clearly thinks he's some kind of hero."

"Do you call that 'punishing him'?"

"We're making sure he can't do any more damage. That's enough."

"I don't agree."

"You're not in charge, Berlin. I am."

There was a short silence on the other side of the line, and Raquel felt clearly that he was not convinced.

"Berlin", she said, her tone soft but clear. "When Sergio is not here, I am in charge. And I warned you what would happen if you disobeyed orders again. If Mr. Román is hurt in any way, I will order Oslo and Helsinki to tie you up and put you right next to Román in that locked room. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly clear, Lisbon, as always. What about Pablo? He's the one who actually stole the tools."

"He's a kid", Raquel said. "You don't touch him."

"But…"

"You don't touch him."

"Lisbon…"

"Berlin", she threatened. "I told you what will happen if you disobey orders. Don't make me repeat myself."

"I'll want to talk to the Professor when he gets back."

"That's fine", she said icily. "But for now, you'll do as I say. Isolate Román, and tell Pablo the same will happen to him if he pulls another stunt like that."

Berlin nodded and put down the phone, and Raquel leaned back in her chair with a deep sigh, rubbing a hand over her eyes, suddenly exhausted. She tried calling Sergio yet again, but again there was no answer, and now that she had time to think about it, she was starting to feel really worried. What if Elena had figured out who he was? What if she'd arrested him? Before she could start panicking, however, she took a deep breath and tried to think about it rationally. She suddenly realized that his phone wasn't even ringing before going to voicemail, which meant that he wasn't just not picking up… his phone was turned off. If Elena had arrested him, the first thing she would have done would have been to confiscate his phone. Even if he'd managed to turn it off first, the police IT people had ways of turning it back on – they'd want to access it immediately. So, she concluded, the fact that his phone was off pointed towards him not being arrested.

The second option would be a dead battery, but she'd seen him unplug his phone from the charger only an hour ago, so that couldn't be it, either. Then there was only one reasonable assumption left: he'd deliberately turned his phone off. She frowned, dumbfounded. Why, why would he turn off his phone, making him unreachable in case of an emergency? Was he that keen on not being disturbed during his 'not-a-date' with Elena? Why? The uneasy feeling she already had about his fascination with Elena deepened. He seemed to like her… so much so that he was willing to take big risks to talk to her – so much so that he was willing to have fight after fight about it, that he ignored her concerns and worries and went anyway. And now he'd turned off his phone. She looked down at her own phone, but there were no calls, no messages, nothing, and she hit the desk in frustration. What the hell was going on?!

When Sergio left the control room, he felt rather guilty about going out when Raquel was so reluctant to let him go, but he knew, he knew that he needed to do this. They needed eight more days to complete their mission, and Elena would never give them those eight days unless he got under her skin somehow. Having a drink with her tonight was the perfect way to find out how, and he felt an eager sense of anticipation as he walked towards the Mint. It would be such a challenge to try and get her to open up to him, either about herself or about the operation – either would be a win. He would have to approach her with the utmost delicacy.

When he turned the corner to the Mint, he stopped and just looked at the building for a moment. His team was in there, risking their lives to execute his plan. He felt a shiver run down his spine – they were so close… Then he shook himself and walked up to the tents that had been set up at a safe distance. There was police tape separating the general public from the command center, and he went to stand in front of it, his heart beating rather fast at the thrill of being so close to the enemy. Two uniformed police officers walked towards him, and he was just about to ask after Inspector González when they came to stand on either side of him and one of them took him by the arm.

"Could you come with us, sir?"

"What?" he said, alarmed. "Why?"

They didn't answer, simply lifted the police tape and steered him underneath it and towards the smaller of the two tents.

"Where are you taking me?" he asked urgently.

The officer holding him by the arm gave him a cool look.

"Inspector González would like to ask you a few questions."