Chapter 6
Phone calls
Squall drove down to the lake and sat staring out of the window at the large white birds landing on the water. The Heartilly girl was driving him nuts, and what was worse, he didn't know how much she knew about them. She could know everything, or she might only be guessing. Either way she needed to be silenced.
The next raid was to be the last, and he'd be damned if he'd let some girl mess it up for them. This life of crime that had been fun when he had been young was now, at 25, beginning to take its toll. He'd become a fluent liar, barely ever telling the truth to anyone, not even his friends, and was constantly looking over his shoulder. Finally, there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and now that it was in reach, he was going to push everything out of the way to reach it.
What Cid had proposed was going to take every ounce of, and recklessness that he could muster. It seemed as though every raid that they had ever been on had only been practice and every skill learned had been leading to this moment. The diamond stealers were about to take their biggest prize ever.
Squall didn't return until sunset, and upon his arrival he found the place empty. Standing in the middle of the large warehouse, Squall looked around at the bare walls and peeling paint. Something wasn't right.
"Hello?"
"You're back then? I thought...well, I hoped, you'd driven off a cliff," Rinoa said from the direction of their makeshift kitchen. Squall smirked at the newspaper in his hands, and looked up.
"Why, thank you," he replied, pulling his jacket from is shoulders and throwing it onto a chair. "Are you here alone?"
"Hmm, it would seem that way, wouldn't it? Irvine and the rest of them went out," she answered, flicking on the main lights and causing a whirring sound to emit from the ceiling. "Probably looking for you," she added, smiling falsely.
"Oh," Squall said, walking towards her and placing the paper on a table. "You're on the front page."
Rinoa faltered and turned her back on him.
"I was on the T.V yesterday. I get around, don't I?" she replied sarcastically. "Don't you trust me to be alone here? Don't worry; I've already seen everything on your computer."
"Yes, well, we need to a little chat about that, don't we?"
Rinoa smiled to herself. Although last night Rinoa had found herself face to face with the darker side of Squall's personality, Rinoa had soon realized that he wasn't always like that. In fact, he mostly seemed quiet and thoughtful.
"So, exactly what did you see?" he asked once Rinoa had finished washing up the dishes in the sink.
"Maps of buildings, lists of jewellers, phone numbers, bank details, car garages..." Rinoa listed, watching Squall's expression grow graver every second. "But not that it matters because I won't be telling anyone--that is, if you don't kick me out."
"Do you really expect me to believe that?" Squall asked, pulling a chair out from under the table and sitting down. "I know I said you can stay, but is that really all you want?"
Rinoa frowned, confused at what he was asking.
"I don't understand. I don't want you to give me anything, if that's what you mean. I just don't want to go back to the life I had," Rinoa said, her eyes flickering over his face and then away. Unsure where to look, she stared at the soapy water.
"I fail to see what was so terrible about being the general's daughter. Maybe you're just a spoiled brat who's trying out the whole running away thing. Is it fun yet?"
"Well, you would think that, wouldn't you? Who are you anyway? You're no one. I wouldn't expect you to understand," Rinoa said, pulling the plug from the sink and watching it drain away. Her face was contorted in frustration, and when she finally did look back around Squall was smiling.
"Yeah, what would I know?" he answered, a smirk on his face. "Ever lived away from Daddy before?"
"No," Rinoa retorted angrily.
"No," he repeated, looking intently at her. "No, I think you have no idea."
The doors opened before Rinoa could speak, and Selphie and Zell appeared laughing and pushing one another into the room. When they spotted the two at the kitchen, they smiled and headed towards them.
"Oh, boy, did you miss some fun, Squall!" Selphie said, seating herself next to him and wrapping her arms around his middle. "Hmmm..." she began muttering before giggling hysterically into his shoulder.
"Has she been drinking?" Squall asked, catching her before she fell off the chair.
"Yeah, too much if you ask me. Come on, Selph, you need to go to bed," Zell answered, pulling her off her chair and away from Squall. Selphie stumbled off the chair and went to her room as instructed. They heard her giggle as she jumped onto the bed, and then there was silence. Zell peered in after her, and when satisfied that she was alright, he went to bed himself.
"I so wasn't hitting on that waiter, and I wasn't blushing either," Quistis said as she walked into the room. She smiled at Squall and headed to her computer. Squall could see instantly that she was the only one who hadn't been drinking.
Irvine headed towards the kitchen with a bucket of what looked like fried chicken. At his arrival, Rinoa had turned a light shade of red. Squall looked from her to Irvine with a scowl on his face.
"Hungry?" he asked, placing the bucket down and making sure to brush by Rinoa as he did so. She blushed even harder and smiled shyly at him. Catching Squall's eye, he stopped smiling. "What?"
"I'm going to bed," Squall said firmly. If those two wanted to flirt with one another, he wasn't about to be a witness.
Rinoa's flushed face suddenly turned a pale shade of grey. Clearly she hadn't expected to be left alone with Irvine so soon.
"I will, too. I'll see you tomorrow," she said hastily, walking past Squall and heading to the bedroom.
Irvine made an approving noise at the sight of her leaving them, but stopped when he saw Squall looking at him again with that disgusted expression on his face.
"Aw, come on, man! She's, well-fine, what's wrong with you?" he asked, as if Squall's reaction to his admiring was a sign of some horrible disease. Squall just scowled and headed to his room.
"Just leave her alone, alright?" he warned, walking away.
"Oh, so you are interested!"
"No," Squall said quickly. "It's just that keeping her here's dangerous... Let's just not make it any more complicated."
Seifer placed his half-eaten bacon roll on his desk and looked at his wall chart. Twenty-four raids. One wasted DNA test on a cat hair. Useless partial fingerprints. Cid Kramer and the newly named UCM.......and one missing girl. Something else was missing, and he couldn't see what it was. Sometimes he wished he were back in the army; all you had to do there was follow orders. What he wouldn't give to have someone think for him, even if it was only for a little while.
This Cid Kramer--that had been so easily betrayed by Mr. Cray--didn't seem to exist. But just because there were no records of him ever existing in society, didn't mean he didn't exist at all. Cid Kramer was most likely a self-given name, something like a code, and therefore must belong to someone. The man they had arrested clearly could tell them very little more. According to him, he never met with the same man more than once, and they had all been working for this Cid.
This information had chilled him throughout his entire body. If what he was unveiling was to be believed, then it meant that every crime that had ever been committed, since whenever, were all connected. This thought had clearly only occurred to him, and until he had more proof, he wasn't about to announce it. Something this big and organized would be hard to believe, and he didn't want the men in his office to think he was losing his mind, especially since he was depending upon them so much right now.
"It's too quiet now. Do you think they've stopped?" Smith asked as he doodled a picture of a bird onto an envelope. Seifer smiled grimly.
"No way. They've a real taste for it now, and they're getting better. Why would they give that up?"
"I don't like this waiting around, Boss. It's making me jumpy."
Seifer rubbed his face with his hands, making his tired eyes turn red around the edges. Smith began his doodle once more, and again there was silence.
Rinoa awoke to find her clothes missing, and a dressing gown in their place. Frowning, she scrambled out of bed and wrapped it over the shirt she had been sleeping in. Wondering what had happened to them, she opened her door and collided with Squall.
"Sorry," she mumbled, tugging the belt of the gown closer to cover her bare legs. Squall looked at her and then shrugged.
"Quistis is washing your clothes. She'll bring you some new ones soon," Squall said, stepping back from her. Rinoa held together the top of her gown with her good arm and blushed. Nodding, she began to walk towards the bathroom. "Wait. Do you want to drive with me later? I need to go and see some people, but since you know all about us, maybe you'd like to come with? You know, get some air."
Rinoa stared at him for a moment. She didn't like him, and she certainly didn't trust his temper, but if it got her out of this prison for a while then she was willing to risk it.
"Sure, ok," she answered unsteadily. He seemed to be fighting to get some words out into the uneasy silence, but remained silent.
"Good, ok," he said, before leaving her standing alone.
Rinoa frowned and then shrugged it away.
Sitting in the stationary car waiting for him, Rinoa wished she hadn't bothered. They had stopped at a petrol station, and he'd been paying for the stuff for twenty minutes. Aware that she couldn't get out of the car in case somebody saw her, Rinoa folded her arms and waited. This was why she didn't like him, she decided. This and his constant tricky questions about her motives. Not that she had any motives, or at least she didn't think she did. All she knew was she was not going to return home.
"You blindfold me for ten minutes, and then you make me wait in a petrol station. What's next? Because, you know, I can't wait! This trip has been really fun," Rinoa said sarcastically as Squall finally returned to the car. He looked at her as if he'd forgotten she was there.
"I didn't say it would be fun," he answered turning the key. "You made that up by yourself."
"Well, I would have expected more from a criminal,"
"I'm only a criminal when I'm working," Squall replied before pulling out of the garage and onto the busy street once more. "I have to go do something; I won't be long."
"That's what you said about the petrol."
"Yes...the petrol," Squall muttered, not quite believing that she thought he'd only been getting petrol. Most of his time had been spent making phone calls to make sure he was expected at his next stop. "I need you to stay in the car."
"Fine."
Squall stopped outside a small rundown house, and stopped the engine. Rinoa looked out of the window in interest, and wondered why he had brought her here. Suddenly a thought ran through her head that maybe it had all been a trick, and he was planning on pulling her out of the car and leaving her here in this strange noisy neighbourhood.
Saying nothing to her, Squall stepped out of the car and locked the door. Walking up to the house, the door opened for him, and Rinoa caught sight of a young woman with only a t-shirt on. The woman gave him a grin before Squall instructed her back inside. He wasn't long, and five minutes later Rinoa found herself started out of her thoughts at the sound of his key in the door.
"What an interesting place…" she muttered as he drove back along the way they came. "Interesting friends, too."
"I use that place to call overseas phones. They don't ask me questions, and I don't ask them any. Money buys you everything, Rinoa--even interesting friends," Squall said, driving faster now, and Rinoa sensed that they had come to the end of their journey. "Sorry it wasn't fun," he said after a long silence.
Rinoa suddenly felt guilty. It wasn't his fault that they were in the situation that they were in, and he was clearly trying his best. The only problem was, he wasn't very good at it.
"I'm guessing you haven't had many girlfriends," she said, looking at him as she waited for an answer. He smirked.
"No, not many girlfriends," he answered as if it was a joke. "It's not a very good idea in my line of work."
"No, I suppose not."
Rinoa slept the entire night and awoke to find car engines running not far from her. Clambering out of her bed and padding to the door, Rinoa peered out to find herself greeted by a sight of three cars and two motorbikes parked in the warehouse. The usual tables and television had been moved out of the way, and in their place a man was talking to Squall about a noisily revving car.
When Squall looked up and saw her, Rinoa ducked back into her room quickly. This must have been what his phone calls had been about, but as Rinoa tried to peer through the keyhole she wondered what he was going to do with them all.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but now that I've finished my exams updates should be more regular. Lots of hugs to Bianka-Chan for beta-ing.