THIEF! Chapter 19
A Long Night Part 4: Unanticipated
"Ok, the first car's here, two people getting out." The chief nodded at his radio, then said: "Alright, good job. Keep us informed on the arrivals." Then he turned to his son, wearing the headset Liana had given him. "Do you suppose we should tell her?"
Dream shook his head, a tad sourly. "She knew we were here ahead of time, so odds are she will know about this already too. At the very least, they'll be alerted when the front door opens."
"Noctowl counts 2 bozo's from car number one," Bobby told them, holding up two fingers for emphasis. "They're coming up to the house….they're in." Only two of them heard the door open, but everyone heard it slam loudly shut.
"So what's the plan?" Dream asked his father. "Do we go in as soon as they all get there?"
Now it was his father's turn to shake his head. "We're not completely set up yet, and I'd like to see if we can't get some incriminating evidence. The presence of those kids there changes the equation a bit."
"But wouldn't it be better to go in at once? Before the kids have a chance to get into trouble?" the senior tech representative asked.
"Like I said, we won't be ready yet. And that's why we have Dream, here. He's going to try to keep them in line, aren't you?"
"I'll do my best, but that girl's pretty unstoppable."
"Alright, I think they're all here. The same number as the first time, plus one more. That was fast."
Liana nodded. "Thank you, Bobby. Dragon, give them ten minutes to get settled in, then you're up." The girl nodded, and released Mightyena, and they all waited on edge. When five minutes were almost up, Liana's headset beeped, causing everyone to jump. "Hello?" Liana answered after a moment.
"Liana, this is Dream. I just wanted to check what you were up to."
She smiled. "We're just beginning the first step. Oh, but don't worry," she told him, before he could say anything. "There's little-to-no risk involved in this one."
"Wait, Liana, don't do this!"
"It's already done." Liana motioned Dragon to leave with her hand. The girl nodded and picked up her back, and together with her pokemon, left the room. "I'll call you with the results." She hung up. Then she took off the headset and gave it to Angel. "He's going to call back. Silence it please, so it isn't distracting."
"She cut me off." Dream grumbled, though he had expected it.
"Well, try again. What did you learn in the mean time?"
"She's starting 'step one' whatever that is." He tried again, only to find that it wasn't responding. "Dammit!"
They were just about to get sit down and get started, when the door suddenly opened. That little girl popped her head in curiously. A Mightyena head was visible to her side, and its mouth seemed to be slightly open. "This isn't the kitchen…" she started, then saw them all there. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry for interrupting."
He was about to speak, to direct her towards the kitchen, when she went on breathlessly. "Oh, you all look like high-ranking businessmen. I want to make it big in business too someday," she practically gushed at them. "I wonder, would it be lucky if I could shake all your hands? Please let me shake your hands!" The little girl practically bubbled with euphoria.
He scowled in annoyance, and was about to tell her that they were busy, when one of his colleagues, obviously overwhelmed by her flattery spoke up: "I don't think it would be much trouble to indulge the young lady. Perhaps some day we will meet you over a table such as this one." He smiled paternally at her. Others nodded agreement, all with various degrees of bemusement on their faces.
"Really? Thank you!" She beamed at them all, then entered the room. She wore the same clothing as before, and was carrying her shoulder bag, slightly open. As she reached the first man and extended her hand, however, her Mightyena shot forward and tackled him, knocking him to the floor. "Mightyena!" the girl called out in exasperation. "How could you do such a thing to the nice man? Apologize!" The wolf appeared to wilt under her chastisement. "Now go stand in that corner until I shake everyone's hands." Hanging its head, the pokemon did as ordered. The girl then turned to the man on the floor. "I'm really, really sorry," she said, helping him up. "Mightyena has the worst manners. Are you alright, Mr.-?"
"Raltan," the man answered, getting to his feet. "Felix Raltan. And no, I'm fine."
"Oh, that's good." She brushed him off a bit before shaking his had firmly. She then proceeded to each of them, always shaking hands with a firm grip. When she had finished, she thanked them again, and whistled to Mightyena at the door. The wolf turned away from whatever it was looking at in the corner, and followed her out. He came with her, to show her where the kitchen was, and the girl obtained some food for their group. Thanking him one last time, she ascended the stairs with her pokemon.
"Well?" Bobby asked as Dragon came back into the room. "How did it go?"
"Major score." The girl grinned, then began emptying the bag onto the bed. First came a dozen or so pokeballs. Then, gingerly, Dragon took out a knife, and a gun. "I got these from the esteemed Mr. Raltan." She told them. Then, for the final prize, and to many cheers, the girl produced a bag of tortilla chips!
"I'm starving!" Jenna exclaimed. "Hey Angel," she called, already munching on a chip, "how's the reception coming?"
"Just getting it all hooked up now. We can contact Dream any time you want to, Liana."
She nodded thoughtfully. "Now seems as good a time as any. And after this, I'll get into position."
"Don't you mean 'we'?" Everyone's voice chorused.
"No, just me. I've been thinking, and Dream's right. I can't put you guys in danger here. It's my vendetta." They tried to argue with her, but she overrode everything they said. Finally, Liana settled it with a simple "End of discussion. Now, get Dream on the line."
Dream jumped when his headset started ringing. He had been just about to call again. His father was around, investigating a sound they had heard, not caused by their own teams, so he was alone. He answered. "Liana? What happened?"
Her voice was cool and casual, as if it were a social call. "Be advised that among them, the men in that meeting had a total of 14 pokemon. Also, Mr. Raltan had a gun, and a knife."
Dream blinked hard. "How do you know that? Wait, did you say 'had'?"
"Yes, had." Her smugness was evident. "Because we are in possession of them now." Dream gaped. "Also, from now on, I don't want you to use this to try and talk to me. Instead, we'll be giving you a live audio feed from the conversation of the conspirators. It should give you the incriminating evidence you need to move."
Dream by now was very shocked, and could do little more than splutter. "What? How did you? Please explain."
She laughed lightly at his confusion. "Later. Right now, all you need to know is that I will be joining the take down. I'll know when you move, so you can't keep me out of it. Here's the audio." The sound cut off for a moment, and then he could hear the voices of men talking to one another. Dream slammed his fist down in frustration.
"That's it. I think we can go in now." They had patched the live conversation into a computer, so Dream's father could hear it as well. "Remember, that girl's got some way of watching the outside of the house, so be as covert in your approach as possible. We want to keep her out of it if we can." He received appropriate responses on his radio from his team leaders, and Dream and his father began to move forward too, swiftly and silently. Dream thought he saw a gleam of light once, very close to the house, but it was gone as quickly as it had come.
Each of the kids, save for Liana, had been clustered around Angel's computer, listening intensely to the conversation that had to be kept hushed for the obvious reasons. Bobby stood up straight, and turned. "They're closing in. Liana, you'd better get moving."
Jenna reached out towards her friend. "Are you sure we shouldn't come? We'd be stronger together…"
Liana nodded to Bobby, and shook her head at Jenna. "I don't want to take the risk for you. Only for myself." She released her Kirlia and Flaafy, and the three went hurriedly out the door.
"Freeze!" The door was suddenly flung open, and men wearing protective armor entered, brandishing guns all over the place. "Surrender now and you will not be harmed." The words came from the mouth of the chief, fully bedecked. Most of the men did exactly that; they froze. A couple reached for their waists, including Mr. Raltan, and looked confused and appalled.
"Looking for something?" Liana's form teleported into the room, along with her two pokemon. "Don't bother. My friend relieved you of them earlier." She looked at them smugly, and strode forward, and her pokemon with her.
Behind the line of officers, Dream gaped. They could have never stopped her from teleporting in. She had thought things out, very cleverly. He was impressed.
He had had his hand in his briefcase before any of the commotion had started, to retrieve some documents. Now, his hand curled around that something else though, gripping it tightly. And that girl, that girl with the blazing eyes, she hadn't thought of this had she? Nor had the littler one. As she walked forward, her eyes were directly on his, and they burned once more. She was getting close. Too close. His eyes narrowed, and in one sweeping movement, he grabbed her and pressed the gun to her head, using her body as a shield from the police. This girl was now his hostage.