Chapter 5
The trio stopped in front of a large, pink-colored villa and Xander glimpsed out of the window to gaze in awe at the building.
"Wait…you're the Altos that people had been talking about the past few years?" Questioned Xander surprised at recognizing the place. "The Altos, that brought our island the first cars? The ones, who also organized a new electricity production and the growth of certain companies?"
"Have you been living behind the moon, boy?" Questioned Nick serious making Vita snort.
"Come, leave your sarcasm off for a while. It makes it easier for all of us with the training,"
"Alright. I see you were young at the time of our changes. I'm going right to our topic of the day. I'm expecting you to perform a little task for you. To avoid any trouble for all of us, we'll have to do it at my house. In case something goes wrong, none of us screws up," Explained Nick making Xander nod. "Your task is to figure out a way on how to get into the building without releasing the alarm. After you're in, you look for a medium-sized, red toy ball,"
"A toy ball?" Questioned Xander confused.
"Yes, a toy ball…..I'll let you know, that the reason we're using a ball and not any kind of jewelry is, that we had a certain Selena Savage do this task with Vita's jewelry and the person took the opportunity to escape our hands with them. This at least spares us some unexpected acts,"
"Okay, after I got the ball, I just get out of there?"
"Yes, you bring us the ball. We will see here on our laptop how you're doing on the inside and will notify you afterward how you've done and what you will need to work on. What do you think? Are you up to this task?"
"I was pretty good at parkours in school. I am sure I can handle this," Stated Xander confidently. Nick nodded, then Vita opened the door, while Nick took out his laptop to check the active room cameras and opened s different app with the timer, and looked at Xander.
"Ready…go!" Shouted Nick turning on the timer and Xander ran out of the car, making Vita shake her head at his first mistake.
"Remember! You gotta be secretive, this means you have to be slow and careful," Warned Vita, then Xander stopped and looked back at the woman, which nodded and gave the man a thumb up. Xander stood at the path, which led to the entrance, afterward, he jumped over the fence at the path and ducked down to follow his way to the window, then jumped with his hands at the ledge of the window to take a glimpse into the interior. Xander was impressed with the furnishings, then tried to open the window from the outside, but saw, that it was closed. Xander slipped down on the ground, afterward, he looked up at the second level to see two windows were opened back, making him ponder about if he had a possibility to getting there. He looked at the right side of the house, where the bureau of the house was located and around the octagonal shape in front of the windows it had a small gap forming a balcony, which served more as decor. Xander saw, that he could get on top of the fence and jump at another fence attached around a pillar and climb around to the open window. Hopefully, as Xander imagined the plan up there, it must work.
Xander jumped at the grides of the balcony, then moved up and shove his feet under the fence, and looked up at the second floor, he was meant to get in. Xander climbed on top of the fence carefully, then tried to balance himself there and eyed the pillar in front of them. Xander took the leap, managing to grab himself on the fence around the pillar. Xander varied a little unsteady and moved around the fence-blocked pillar to get closer to the window. Xander smiled from being closer to the window and swung himself there back and forth, so he could jump and he landed with one of his arms inside the window and the other hand over the ledge. Xander flinched his teeth at his landing, then looked back at the vehicle to see Vita sitting there looking from the vehicle at him. Xander looked around noticing the garage of the family and got impressed by seeing a large, German SUV there parked. Xander pulled himself into the building and landed there on his four, sighing in relief.
"Woah, I wasn't expecting to pull that off at first try," Xander commented to himself, then got up and analyzed the surroundings, then looked at one side to see the door of a bedroom, while the other side was just the hall that contained a treadmill and a music system.
"I believe, if someone would hide jewelry for real, it would be in the bedroom," Xander thought and walked a little slow along the hall to approach the bedroom door, afterward he entered the room to analyze the place. Xander spotted the red ball on top of a commode, afterward, he sneaked toward the object and took it.
"Well, that was a little too easy," Xander commented throwing the ball in the air, afterward he grabbed the ball and noticed a white plastic whistle in the ball, then squeezed the ball to hear it whistle. "That's a dog ball?" Questioned Xander, afterward the door beside the commode from the restroom got thrown back, making Xander jump and he saw from the bathroom a policeman step out aiming a gun toward the brunette man.
"Hands up in the air! You're arrested!" Warned the policeman making Xander gasp in panic at the situation. "You're coming with me," Announced the man who had his face half-covered with big sunglasses.
,"Uh….nope!" Shouted Xander hitting the man with the toy ball, afterward, he took it back to run off towards the stairs. The police followed the man downstairs and threw himself at the man to fall down along with him.
"For real?" Mumbled Xander and elbowed him in the middle of the nose, causing the policeman to cover his face in pain. Xander ran off passing through the unlocked door to cross the path back to the vehicle of the Altos. "I got it!" Announced Xander and looked back to see the policeman come along and point his gun at Xander again.
"What do you think you could do?" Questioned Vita then Xander in panic punched the policeman between the legs, causing him to yelp and squint red fluid from its gun.
"Oh that's a fake?" Xander asked noticing the red fluid, while the man held his hands down by the intimate area.
"All, but my waist!" Complained the police officer, then Vita Alto got out of the vehicle along with her husband, afterward, Nick took off the hat and the glasses from the man.
"Could have been worse, Don. Important is, that our new friend here did well," Stated Nick making Xander smile a little. "By the way, this is Don Lothario. He joined our team around four years ago. He's currently 27 years old I believe,"
"That's right, boss," Commented the man with beard making Nick nod. "Looks like we have fresh meat to chew on it," Joked the Italian man making Xander chuckle and accept Don's handshake. "I'm around in Riverview most of the times. Both our teams are actually quite small, but when theres a high score for one of us, we put ourselves together to obtain it. Nicks's dad was the leader of us in Riverview until he passed away recently. At the moment I and Bert help Nick out. At the moment we haven't decided who to make our next leader there,"
"I had high hopes for my daughter to take the lead after me, but she's not made of the woods for this," Commented Nick. "The upcoming years will bring us a solution for sure. Just wait for it,"
"I'm certain, boss," Commented Don, then Nick took out of the car the laptop and helped Vita out of it.
"Don, will you drive us to the warehouse? Vita has to go back to the town hall,"
"Of course, so uh….. what's your name again?" Questioned Don.
"Xander….actually Alexander, but everyone just calls me Xander,"
"Good. I'm Don. Short for Donatello," Introduced the man. "Follow me," Asked Don following the sidewalk to the garage along with Xander and the Spaniard heading to the black SUV. "As you see there, that's my car. A 2015er Q7. With the score, we made back a few years ago. I have blown up a great part of my earnings into the vehicle. With my recent score I changed the rims of the car to give it a better look," Explained Don observing Xander take a look at the vehicle.
"Man, that must have cost a fortune,"
"A basic salesman wouldn't bring the cash for such a car in less than ten years. Trust me, depending on what's waiting for us, you'll get one in less than two years, if the luck is on your side," The raven-haired man stated, then opened the back door to Xander for him to enter.
"I'm interested in an RS7 or something more sporty. With the salary of a fish monger…..well a former one, it's not quite easy to gather enough money to get at least a ride,"
"I know, what you mean. Hop in, we'll show you, where we're gonna meet up from now on. I'm sure Nick has some points for you, that you need to work on," Commented Don earning a nod from the newbie.
A couple of minutes later the trio arrived at a dark edge of the center, which was stocked with trees and a small building stood there, showing off to be quite old due to the lack of complete colors. The front had an old neon light with the title 'warehouse' and the door was a newer large, metal one with a display on the side of there with a code input. The trio parked the SUV at the front of the building, then got out to approach the door.
"Ok, the important number you have to keep up in your head. 5846. That's the code you need to get in. Later on, you'll get a badge, which you can pass over the display. Put in the code and you see, it works too," Nick explained, then Xander inserted the code inside the display and watched it turn green, followed by hearing a sizzle, after that the trio watched the door open up.
"Very well, now get in. I'm going to show you around," Nick stated following the corridor into a large room, which contained various sorts of furniture earning the attention of Xander, which observed the filled room.
"Those are the furnitures we have taken with us after several houses had been given away by their previous owner due to various reasons. We deliver the ones that are needed to Twinbrook or Bridgeport to a second-hand store, which sells them to other customers. The rest we keep here or bring them to a furniture shop, which takes care of the rest, maybe redesigns it or something else. We barely have any customers come to us and if we do, they only get to see this room. Up top we have a few small offices and down is the cellar, where we work on our plans or practice for a future heist or for self-improvement," The leader explained making Xander nod, then Nick remembered something and looked at Xander.
"You don't have a problem with dogs, don't you" Questioned Nick making Xander shake his head.
"I'm not really interested in domesticated pets to be honest," Responded Xander making Nick nod.
"Ok, you won't have much to do with him, but just for him and you to know each other's presence, I will at least introduce each other," Announced Nick making Xander nod, which watched Nick whistle.
"Milo! Come here, boy!" Shouted Nick, then heard a loud bark the trio looked around for the dog and spotted from behind a commode a black Doberman race by to jump at Nick's arms. "Good boy!" Commented Nick patting the dog on the head, which panted at glimpsing at his owner. "Look, this man here is Xander. He's one of us now," Said Nick watching Milo sniff Xander on his arm, afterward he barked at the man, which grinned.
"Seems like a good guy" Commented Xander making Nick nod.
"Just don't take him on dates with chicks. A good chunk of the girls only fall for the dog…..eventually, we had a second issue with him and Nick won't really let anyone of us walk the dog off on other days,"
"Why not?"
"Milo is not neutered and he happened to have impregnated a bitch from the high society and this was one of the most annoying court sessions I have ever been in," Mentioned Nick making Don nod.
"You know in the USA everything is possible. That' person assumed you could prove in court, that your dog got pregnant against her own will. Of course, her story was so ridiculous and the judge happened to be married to a vet, so she had knowledge about the animal world as well,"
"Nowadays that's another way for easy money making….what happened at the end of the story?"
"We won obviously, the owner got fed up and abandoned her dog a few days later at a kennel. One of my daughter's friends happened to find her in the kennel and we took her home," Nick told making Xander nod.
"What a dramatic turn. She's now well?"
"She's at the town hall among the co-workers of my wife. We have an eye on her, cause soon or later she might go into labor," Commented Nick.
Milo barked upon hearing a voice, then Xander paid attention as well and tried to figure out what he heard.
"Did anyone hear that?" Questioned Xander watching Don follow the nose and notice, what Xander meant.
"It must be Ayesha. She's often here in the cellar training on the dummy," Responded Don. "You know a sort of karate puppet. I think we could get to know her too," Suggested Don. "She's around your age so far I remember," Stated Don making the blue-eyed man nod.
"I think one of my roommates knows her," Stated Xander following Don across the room, then followed behind a large piece of furniture the stairs down to encounter a door, which was half-open. The room was slightly smaller than the one above and contained on the edge next to the stairs a foosball table. Across it was a couch with a whiteboard on the wall and one cardboard with notes on it. The middle of the room contained a few architectural pieces of artwork and vice versa to the entrance stood a tan-skinned woman in sports clothing practicing on a training puppet.
"She looks like the girl from the images," Commented Xander upon looking at the raven-haired woman using arms and legs to fight the dummy.
"What images?" Questioned Don watching Xander shrug his shoulders.
"I don't know. I think it had something to do with night school and it was at the beach, that one image I remember,"
"So then that's her," Stated Don looking back at the woman with Xander watching her jump in the air to kick the arm of the dummy followed by a groan.
"For someone, who specializes in a warehouse, she's pretty skilled at whatever that fighting type is," Commented Xander slightly turned on by the sight of it. Don chuckled and placed his arm behind Xander's back.
"She's great, isn't she?" Questioned Don watching Xander nod. "Bad luck, we're married," Responded Don, then Xander felt embarrassed about the discovery.
"Oh uhm….I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…..look like a hungry wolf or anything," Said Xander, then Don began to laugh, making Xander frown believing he just had been trapped.
"Just kidding. We're both single. If you want to know, I have no chance with her. All in here know, including many ladies from out of town know my reputation. I have never intended to stick in a relationship for so long," Explained Don making Nick nod, which interrupted the two.
"What Don is trying to say, he has an issue with women and is often found with other ladies in the same boat. He's for short, a womanizer," Nick added making Xander chuckle.
"With that face, I'm not even surprised," Commented Xander making Don feel proud.
"And this face HAD many good-looking chicks going after me," Confessed the man making Xander chuckle.
"If you ever going to have in-laws, I will feel bad for them," Confessed Nick and looked at Ayesha, which was working on her skills.
"I heard in the past she has relationship trouble according to her friend Emma," Mentioned Xander, then Nick shook his head while Don tilted it confused.
"I think that's a lie she told to keep our business a secret. Actually, she had run off and informed me, that cops were after her," Mentioned Nick.
"She's wanted?" Questioned Xander making Nick shake his head.
"Legally she's not. There's no proof of any crime, that could be connected to her in the past years. None at all,"
"Ok, but how does it come, that she has…trouble?"
"There was once a man she fell in love with in the past. One thing she did not know. He was a policeman and she of course was here with us," Nick began explaining. "Knowing that Vita and I had our years of a long-lasting relationship she asked me for advice. Knowing that he was a cop, gave me a bad feeling so we had a plan B in mind that we could follow, in case something would happen. About two months later the unexpected happened. We happened to have an assault on a museum. Her ex, knowing about her criminal side assumed she was going to return to her home to hide the score. Short after her arrival, the police appeared and surrounded the building where her apartment was. She informed me about it and I instructed her to leave the building from under the cellar and we took her with us to disappear. This all happened back in Twinbrook,"
"That's bad luck, but…..why was she dating a cop?" Questioned Xander making Nick shrug his shoulders.
"You know, love doesn't have limits. It happens when you less expect. Perhaps even with the people, you don't even want at all,"
"Love comes in all shapes and forms. Take a peek at all the couples all over our region. Some are alike, some have a few differences, and others are the total opposite. Most of them have been working well with each other. It's a two-way road and certain issues couples need to work on it together. Ayesha did this. She loved that guy, she was willing to do anything for him, but sometimes…."
"Doing many sacrifices end up in sufferment….." Added Don making Xander feel sad about it.
"You know, I have not had many relationships in my life. Mainly because I fear that it might not work out," Xander confessed making Don nod. "I have just lived my life through the years in the way of as it was my last day. I have never thought about what to do in the future. I kind of still don't know it. Some people I know already have their family, others have their first home and I have been living my life,"
"Things will come with time. If you're the last one of your friends to reach what you want it doesn't matter. What matters, is if what you're doing makes your life fulfilled," Stated Don making Xander nod.
"Come on boys, enough chatting for now. Let me introduce you two," Announced Nick walking towards the woman, which noticed him approaching and stopped. "Already showing off your skills for the newbie I see?" Questioned Nick watching Ayesha raise her eyebrows confused, afterward she noticed the new face and understood, what Nick meant.
"Oh, I had no idea we had a new member," Mentioned Ayesha adjusting her hair, then Nick got beside the woman.
"This is Alexander Clavell. One of Vita's friends suggested him to her and Vita showed me his profile. He's done well at sports. He's also well-built as you see. Not overly exaggerated but well enough for what we need. The rest he will figure out with the time he's here with us,"
"So you're into sports?" Questioned Ayesha watching Xander move his hand vertically showing insecurity in the answer.
"More something in between. I just know I'm useful," Commented Xander making Ayesha nod.
"He actually showed before at the test, that he used to do parkours before. How to handle an actual robbery he's unfamiliar with, and he could use some learning in melee fighting at least," Nick commented making Ayesha and Xander nod.
"Perhaps I would have done it better if I knew about Don,"
"That's true, but we all need to be prepared for everything. Our enemies could be a step ahead of us. We have to make sure, it's the other way around," Mentioned Nick making Xander nod.
"You're right, sir," Commented Xander, then Nick placed his hand behind Xander back pushing him against Ayesha, which took a step aside to avoid him crashing into her.
"Good, Ayesha will show you how to work with your hands in case of a hand to hand combat. I'll check up on you two back at 11. I have to meet Bert," Informed Nick Alto. "Is this good for you two?" The duo nodded, then Nick clapped on Xander's shoulder again."Be smart, you saw her fighting. One bad thing and there going to be a lot of pain," Warned Nick watching Xander nod, then watched him leave along with Don, which wished the new friend good luck.
"I think I know you from somewhere. Aren't you a friend of Emma Hatch?" Questioned Xander making the woman nod and turn around to look at him. "She's…"
"Good that you brought your sports clothing" Complimented the woman making Xander chuckle.
"That's actually my day outfit. I usually wear a jacket and other shorts for the gym," Corrected Xander making Ayesha nod.
"Alright, that's fine to me. Have you ever done any sort of fighting sport before or I don't know, fought somebody at school with your bare hands?"
"Uh I was once in a fight with Jared Frio, It's a funny story, we….."
"Okay, alright. I want you now to fight me with your fists,"
"What?"
"Yes, punch me anywhere on the body…come, we're just practicing,"
"You know…..I don't like to hit women," Commented Xander making Ayesha shake her head, then she balled her hand into a fist and punched him in the stomach. "Hey! You didn't tell, we had started!" Complained Xander, afterward, Ayesha repeated the move and Xander grabbed her hand and chuckled in victory. "Ha!" Ayesha used her other hand to grab Xander and push him against her to throw him above her against the floor.
"Ha what?" Questioned Ayesha making Xander puff, then he got up and put his hands together to crack his knuckles quite silent. Xander moved his fists against the woman, which blocked his attack, afterward he began to repeatedly move his fists against the woman, which deflected all his attacks with her arms by slapping him away from her.
"The first step is good, but can you hit the spot?" Questioned Ayesha, then Xander tried to hit Ayesha from the side and she dodged it as well, making Xander groan annoyed.
"Seriously?!" The man questioned annoyed, afterward, he jumped aside and punched her from the side, making her yelp. Xander raised his fist in success, then watched Ayesha stop and place her hand on the side groaning a little about it. Xander got worried then approached her, wondering if she was alright. "Are you alright?" Questioned Xander, then got elbowed on his stomach by the woman. "Ouch!" Ayesha got up with a smirk, then watched him look up at her annoyed.
"Not bad, but one important note when you're fighting a random villain out there. Not all will play by the rules or better, no one will ask you if you're hurt or anything. They just will have you back in jail. It's hard for you the first time, I know. I'm doing my best to prepare you for the outside world of ours," Commented Ayesha making Xander nod.
"I have no idea how many times you've heard this, but you really can kick ass for your….body type," Complimented Xander, then he held out his hand at the woman, which made her confused, afterward she sighed and gave the man her hand afterward Xander pushed her down against him and Ayesha reacted in time to punch him on the face, making him immediately regretted his idea. Xander got up and moved his fist against the woman, which got down on the ground to throw Xander off with her leg.
"Are you serious?!" Complained Xander making Ayesha chuckle at his low patience. Xander used his legs to throw Ayesha down, afterward he packed her holding her tightly. "I won for now!"
"Congratulations, what would you do now, if this was a real deal?" Questioned Ayesha watching Xander get distracted with his thoughts, afterward she head-bumped him against the nose and he covered his nose annoyed.
"Gees and I thought fighting Jared was challenging," Complained Xander and Ayesha got down to look at the man.
"Alright. It wasn't so bad for now, but I think for now we should use the training dummy. It's more for karate, but I'm certain for boxing its sufficient," Ayesha spoke watching Xander remove his hand from his nose, which didn't get any injury. "Your nose is good. Take a small break, then get in front of the dummy and I will instruct you how you should fight. Perhaps this will help you with the start," The raven-haired woman said making Xander nod, afterward, Ayesha got up to analyze the puppet, while Xander sat back watching the woman with a rather surprised face from getting a picture of the woman he definitely hadn't imagined from his roommate.