Sergio can feel Raquel's nerves as she digs deeper into the heist and anticipate her former colleagues' moves. He knows she has a degree in psychology and she's playing on her field but he can't help but notice the toll the planning is taking on her. She barely sleeps and she's smoking more frequently. She's stressed and it's not good for her. The gang has warmed up to her and started showing admiration towards her intelligence but none of them can see the exhaustion. He can. Every night in bed, she's always tensed. He does everything in his power to loosen her up, make her relax but when he wakes up in the middle of the night, she's not by his side.
"What are you doing up at this hour?" he asked when he found her inside the classroom reviewing the files for the nth time.
"I cannot move on from this one. He will a big problem for us", she answered, her eyes still glued on the paper.
Sergio walked towards her and looked at what she's staring at. It's the picture of Gandia, head of security to the Governor of the Bank of Spain. He remembered his brother warning him about the same man. Now, Raquel is warning him as well.
"We will get him out as soon as we can. He will be the one to carry the state secrets outside", he said.
Raquel shook her head in disagreement.
"He will not do such a thing. He's way smarter than that. He will remain inside the bank to do his job. It's his personality", she argued.
Sergio can remember the way Andres emphasized how they need to kill Gandia before the heist starts or he will kill them all.
"…even if it means he'll get to see his family again? I think family is a big motivation", he asked.
"…even that. Look at this", she answered and then handed him another file. "He used to be in service before he was assigned as security for the Governor but look at the dates", she pointed out.
"There are gaps between the years", he realized.
"Yes and it can only mean one thing. He was recruited in secret ops. My file at the force got the same gaps during my service at the CNI after I graduated from the academy. If I am right, and I am sure that I am, he's deadlier than we anticipated. He will not just follow orders from the others or wait until the heist is over. He will make a move. If he managed to break free inside the bank, everyone is dead", she explained.
It is a problem if they have a trained assassin inside the bank and if Raquel is right and he refused to go out with the state secrets, their lives are in danger inside the building.
"What do we do?" he asked her.
"Frankly, nothing if we want to keep our hands clean. Eliminating him before the heist is the logical solution but we don't do that so we stick to the plan but we need to be more prepared to defend ourselves. He's extremely trained and he has the advantage of being familiar to his territory. We're not. We need to train the others", she answered.
He knows a place where they can freely use firearms without raising suspicion from the others and Marseille can arrange for their supplies. He can volunteer and teach them basic self defense techniques. When it comes to guns, Marseille and Raquel are the best instructors they can have. Training won't be a problem.
"I'll arrange everything at sunrise", he agreed.
Sergio proceeded to do just that. He made a few calls and everything was setup. Marseille has been briefed about the training and he's very eager.
"What's the lesson for today, Professor? Why are we in the field?" Nairobi asked.
"Today isn't going to be a lesson about the heist. Today, you will learn how to defend yourself and keep yourself alive inside the Bank of Spain in case things go wrong", Sergio answered.
That raised a lot of eyebrows.
"We know how to fire guns, Professor. Plus, we got the big guys here", Denver reasoned.
Marseille removed the cover of the firearms on the table. They all noticed the targets placed few meters away from them.
"What is this? What's the problem?" Tokyo asked sensing an upcoming danger.
Sergio weighed in whether to tell them the truth or sugarcoat it. He doesn't want to risk scaring everyone but he doesn't want them to be clueless as well.
"There will be a trained assassin inside the bank with you when you go in. His name is Gandia, the head security of the Governor. We know the plan is to flush him out early but there is a great chance he won't cooperate and when that happens, you need to watch your backs carefully. He's not afraid to kill", Raquel answered for him.
He turned to her direction and nodded in thanks. He cannot bring himself to let them know that there's a possibility that they might die inside the bank.
"Why don't we just kill him now before we enter the bank? We will save ourselves a lot of trouble", Martin asked.
Sergio turned to him and saw the same look Andres gave him years ago.
"I would prefer that to be completely honest but I am no longer part of any secret ops. I am part of this group and I am sure I didn't join a group of coldblooded murderers so that option is no longer available", Raquel answered bluntly.
Martin still thinks it's the best solution to their problem but he admired Raquel's resolve and her moral code. He can see why Sergio fell for her in an instant.
"She's right. We're not murderers. We're doing this to put balance in an imbalanced system and get Rio back. That doesn't mean we cannot be prepared. We're not going inside that bank defenseless", Sergio agreed and turned to Raquel who took charge.
"Alright…let's start the training session", she declared.