Chapter 24
Regina stormed down the brightly lit hallway with Belle following quickly behind her, their high heels click-clacking rhythmically with the speed and force of a horse's hooves. Her feet guided her to her destination automatically while her brain tried to comprehend this latest disaster.
Someone was robbing her!
The whimsical black and white forest soon disappeared only to be replaced with the glass walls of the security center, the largest and most elaborate of its kind on the East Coast. Surely her team was already aware of the situation and handling it. That was what they were paid for, after all.
She expected to find her men working furiously over their keyboards, receiving commands from law enforcement and giving orders to the guards on the floor. She expected to see the quiet, discipline of the managers she had spent a fortune developing and resilient self-control of their charges.
Instead, she found them all laughing hysterically as Gaston replayed security footage from the Convention Center of a metal chair being thrown at her head!
"Look how it hits the HBO guy!" guffawed Gaston. "She'll never get another TV spot! Let's watch it again!"
"What the hell is going on in my vault?" she demanded angrily as she threw open the door.
Sidney Glass bristled under her ire and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Nothing, Regina. Everything is fine downstairs."
She pointed to the main monitor, which was now on a loop of her ducking, and snapped her fingers. "Show me."
With the press of a few keys, the main screen divided into two images; that of the two guards conversing in the hallway and also the secured vault. Nothing was out of the ordinary.
"As you can see, ma'am," said one of the underlings. "All is well."
Regina brought the mysterious cell phone back to her ear. "I'm afraid you're mistaken," she said darkly to the unknown caller.
"Are you watching your monitors?" he replied. "Okay, keep watching."
Almost seamlessly, the images changed, eliciting gasps and cries from around the room.
Her two heavily armed security guards lay crumpled to the floor. As they were bound and gagged she assumed they were still alive, but they were of little concern to her, of course. Her eyes were now completely focused on the second image; that of her precious vault!
Two men, dressed in black, their faces covered by black ski masks, were moving quickly around the room, gathering the stacks of bound bills. A mountainous pile was being created in the center of the vault, next to several large canvas bags.
"In a casino, your luck can change just that quickly."
~8~8~8~
Belle knew that voice. It was a voice she hadn't heard in almost two years but she would know it anywhere.
The voice, the vault, the bound but unharmed guards…it all made sense now!
Her mind flashed back to the restaurant bar. Had it really been only a half hour since Danny had come to say goodbye to her? She remembered his soft hands caressing her face, the feel of his warm embrace as his arms had encircled her waist. Her waist…where her purse had hung loosely from her shoulder!
He must have slipped the phone into it. It was the only explanation.
Her husband was behind the robbery.
Of course he was! she thought bitterly. He was always up to something! He hadn't come here to say goodbye at all! She was merely a means to get to Regina's money!
He was a liar and a thief! How could she have been such a fool?
Everyone had warned her that Danny Gold was nothing but a greedy, immoral capitalist but she had always vehemently defended his honor! There was good in him.
She had seen it.
"Belle, perhaps you should…" Gaston dismissively cocked his head towards the door.
"Perhaps I should what?" she demanded. He wasn't seriously kicking her out of here?
"It would be best if you weren't around to witness this," added Regina darkly. "Go back to your quarters and stay there. That's an order!"
Regina then turned to Gaston and whispered, "Find out how much money we have down there. If they steal a single dime from me I want their throats slit and bodies dumped in the ocean by morning!"
Belle slowly backed out of the security room, seething. She had never realized just how dangerous Regina and Gaston could be if pressed. Perhaps Danny was right about them. But they were most certainly right about him!
She was tired of being lied to!
She was tired of being a pawn in this stupid chess game!
She needed someone to tell her the truth for once and there was only one person in this casino that would.
She had recognized that voice on the phone. And not only that, she had heard the distinct trilling from the slot machines in the background.
Baelfire was in the casino. And it was high time she had a chat with her step-son.
~8~8~8~
Once Belle was safely out of earshot, Regina picked up the phone once again and snarled into it. "All right. You've made your point. You've managed to sneak past all of my defenses and break into my vault, something no one else has ever done. Congratulations…you're a dead man!"
"Maybe."
"Maybe?" she scoffed. Did this imbecile not realize who he was dealing with? "May I ask how you expect to leave? Do you really think I will allow you to just walk out of my casino with my money?"
"Yes. As a matter of fact I do."
"And why would I do that?"
"Take a closer look at your monitor. As your manager is probably informing you right now, you have a little over $124 million in your vault tonight." She snatched a piece of paper from Gaston's hand, showing a hastily written number of $124, 357, 650. "You may notice we're only packing up about half of that. The other half we're leaving in your vault, booby-trapped… as a hostage."
~8~8~8~
Belle removed her ridiculous high heeled shoes so that she could run faster through the labyrinth of halls. She didn't have much time before Regina's men would catch on to the mysterious caller's whereabouts but she wanted to make sure she got to him first.
She had to get to him first!
She burst through the steel cage door and looked around frantically. The casino was quite large with several wings. It would be hard to locate him throughout the mob of gamblers.
Or at least, it should have been.
Leaning casually against a marble pillar directly across from the cage doors, speaking quietly into a cell phone, was Baelfire. He was dressed completely in black; black pants, black shirt and shiny black boots. He made no effort to hide despite the fact that he was currently committing a serious crime.
In fact, he almost looked as though he wanted to be found!
"You let our $62 million go and you can keep yours. That's the deal. You try to stop us, we blow both cash loads."
He looked up to meet her blank stare and his serious face immediately transformed into a roguish smile. He looked relieved to see her. "Ms. Mills, you can either lose $62 million quietly or $124 million publicly. The choice is yours."
He covered the small mouth piece with the palm of his hand so that Regina could no longer hear and leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Hi, mom."
~8~8~8~
The temperature in the security room had chilled by several degrees. No one dared to breathe loudly, let alone speak.
Regina's temper was legendary. It was not unheard of for her to fire an entire department because of inept actions of one employee. And having her state-of-the-art system breached was not something one wanted to bring up willingly.
Regina stared furiously at the phone in her hand and all Gaston could think of was how relieved he was that her icy glare was not directed at him for once. Whoever was on the other line definitely had balls to up against her! Or at least, a death wish!
"Gaston?" She held the phone tightly against her thigh so that the man on the other end could not hear her. "Make the call."
He nodded and swiftly picked up the security room's main phone line. After only a single ring, the call was picked up.
"911 emergency response," answered a female voice.
"We have 2 men with explosives, who have taken over our vault."
"Don't worry, sir. I'm sending over a team right now."
~8~8~8~
Belle ached to give her beloved step-son a hug but she was too emotionally drained. "Where's your father?" she demanded instead.
"Papa's fine," he replied smoothly. "He requests that you go upstairs and watch TV."
Belle frowned as she tried to find any hidden meanings in Bae's words. What did he mean by watch TV? They both knew she despised television. Why not request she read a book? "Oh he does, does he?"
"Please trust me, Belle." Baelfire gently tucked a loose tendril of hair behind her ear and wiped a stray tear from her heated cheek. "Everything will be all right. I promise."
She could hear Regina's deep voice get back on the phone. "All right. You have a deal."
"Fantastic!" said Bae, as he blew Belle a kiss goodbye and turned towards the exit. "Here's what you do…"
~8~8~8~
"My men will exit the elevator carrying our half of the money in black bags. These bags will be rigged with explosives that will kill not only them, but any security guards or guests that gets in their way. And trust me when I say that they would rather die than go to jail. Once I have confirmation that my men and the money are safe, I will provide you with the explosive's deactivation codes for your half of the money."
"All right. I am agreeing to your every request and now I have a request of my own." Her voice dropped several degrees to be at its most chilling. "Run and hide, you bastard. Run and hide. If you get picked up next week buying a castle in Europe I am going to be extremely disappointed. I want my people to find you. And when they do, rest assured that we are not going to hand you over to the police. I want you to suffer! So, my advice to you again is this: run and hide. Because I will destroy you if it is the last thing I do!"
There was no response, nor had she really expected one.
She could hear nothing but the sounds of the busy streets of Storybrooke.
~8~8~8~
"Hello?" Belle called from her open doorway. "Is anyone here?"
She cautiously entered her hotel suite and flipped on the overhead lights. She let out a deep sigh when she realized that, sadly, there was no one there.
What had she been expecting? For Danny to be there waiting for her, begging her to run away with him? That wasn't his style.
Daniel Gold did not beg. Not for anyone.
She tossed her shoes roughly to the floor and collapse tiredly on the couch. So much had happened today. She needed time to think!
Why on Earth would Danny want her to watch TV? It simply made no sense! But if there was one thing she knew for absolute certainty about Danny Gold, it was that he never did or said anything without reason.
She resignedly picked herself off the plush couch and made her way to the mahogany armoire which housed the rarely used entertainment system. She pulled open the double cabinet doors and gasped.
Sitting neatly on the shelf next to the Blue-Ray player was a tea cup.
Not just any tea cup, she realized with a shock. It was the chipped cup!
She picked up the delicate cup and reverently ran her thumb over the ragged edge. She had broken this cup on their first date, forever marring his antique set. She had been so nervous that he would be cross with her and kick her out of his beautiful Victorian house before dinner had even been served! But he wasn't. He had been so kind, more worried about her cutting herself than the destruction of his priceless heirloom.
"It's just a cup," he had said soothingly, before lovingly kissing her knuckles and helping her up off the floor.
That was the moment she had fallen in love with him.
But what was it doing here?
She turned the cup around in her hands and was surprised when a folded sheet of thin paper fell out. She picked the note up off the floor and sat down to read the familiar spindly writing.
My Darling Belle,
You once told me all I'd have is an empty heart and a chipped cup. I want you to know that my heart can never be truly empty because you will always be in it. Please take the cup and know that I still, and will forever, love you.
Sincerely,
Daniel Gold
P.S. Please turn the TV to channel 88
She quickly grabbed the remote and turned the TV on to the correct channel. There was nothing there. She checked the note again and slowly typed in the number. Still nothing.
The screen showed nothing but a bright blue screen.
Clutching the precious gift to her chest, she sat down on the couch and waited for something to happen. If she knew Danny, it wouldn't take long.
~8~8~8~
Regina paced fitfully back and forth in front of the monitors. She continued to track the thieves' progress as they finished dividing her money and were now piling their half into bags.
Their half, she thought disdainfully.
She still hadn't seen any sign of explosives.
These two men were obviously very fit. For their sake they had also be very fast runners.
She was about to call their bluff.
"S.W.A.T. is here," announced Sidney, interrupting her musings.
She checked the time on her diamond encrusted watch and was surprised that only a few minutes had passed. "Hopefully they are as efficient as they are expedient."
He pointed to one of the monitors that showed a black cube van with the word S.W.A.T. written across it in bold, white letters. Several officers emerged, dressed in black riot gear, their heads covered by dark helmets, carrying heavy bags of weapons and equipment. She watched as Killian Jones met them at the doors and led them through the casino cages.
He came jogging into the security room a few minutes later, panting heavily, and handed her a radio. "This will connect you to the S.W.A.T. leader. His team is repelling down the elevator shaft as we speak."
"This is Regina Mills, owner of the Casino," she growled into the walkie-talkie. "I don't care you what you have to do or who you have to kill. Just get me my vault back! Now!"
"Understood, ma'am. We are approaching the elevator doors now."
Nobody dared to breathe as they listened to the police officers cock their weapons. Nobody but Gaston, that is, who quietly hummed the theme song to S.W.A.T. to himself.
"Night goggles on," S.W.A.T. leader ordered his team. "Ms. Mills? Prepare to cut the power."
She nodded to Sidney who swiftly pressed several keys. "I'm ready," he replied.
She picked up the walkie-talkie. "We are cutting power now."
The two monitors went black except for a short message that flashed across the screen informing them that the Video Feed has been lost. "What's happening?" she demanded crossly. "Why can't I see anything?"
"The power to that entire section of the building has been deactivated. Even if we still had video we wouldn't be able to see anything. We don't have infrared cameras."
"Breaching elevator doors now," said the S.W.A.T. leader. "We have two guards, bound and unconscious. Wait a minute…"
"Someone's here! Someone's here!" cried a panicked voice in the distance. "Take them down!"
Regina jumped as she heard the distinctive sounds of gunfire being fired in the small area. Suddenly, it wasn't just bullets exploding. A loud boom echoed off the metal walls.
Someone had just detonated a bomb in her Casino!
"Lights!" cried the S.W.A.T. leader. "We need lights! Now!"
Sidney worked furiously over his keyboard to bring power back to that section. Once the monitors flickered back to life, they saw two of the officers undoing the bindings of the guards and helping them to sit up.
The monitor for the vault however, showed nothing but grey smoke and flying charred paper.
"A highly explosive incendiary device has been detonated," said S.W.A.T. leader grimly. "Repeat, has been detonated. We are searching for survivors now."
Regina pounded her fist on to the desk with enough force to shake the monitors. She turned her icy glare to Sidney and Gaston. "I'm going down there! As for you two idiots, FIND OUT HOW THE HELL THEY BROKE INTO MY SYSTEM!"
~8~8~8~
Regina forced her way past several of the officers in the hall just outside the elevator doors and approached the two guards who were rubbing their newly freed wrists. "Did you get a look at their faces?" she demanded darkly.
"No, Ms. Mills," responded one of the weakly. "We didn't see anything. We're so sorry…"
"Save it," she replied with a sneer. She marched into the ruined vault without giving them a second glance. "Who the hell is in charge here?"
A tall man, completely indistinguishable from the others with his helmet on, approached her promptly.
"Ma'am, our search has found no suspects, nor have we determined at this time how they entered or exited the premises. It's as though they simply…disappeared."
"Take your men out."
"With all due respect, ma'am, I highly suggest you stand outside until the bomb squad has a chance to…"
"NOW!"
"It's your vault." He turned to his team and shouted. "Blue Team! Moving out!"
They picked up their equipment and made their way back to the elevator shaft, a few nodding respectfully to her as they passed. She didn't want them in here. She needed to be by herself to think.
This wasn't right. None of this made any sense!
Not only had the perpetrators escaped but they had somehow made off with all of the money!
She looked around her ruined vault with disdain and snatched one of the singed pieces of paper that continued to rain down upon her. While watching on the monitors, she had assumed that the paper had once been her money.
In fact, they were nothing but flyers; flyers for the strippers and hookers over at the Enchanted Forest, the gentlemen's club on the other side of town. A raven haired beauty, who looked surprisingly like herself, was the featured girl in most of the pictures. Karma's scarlet lips smiled seductively at the camera, her hands barely covering her nubile body.
Regina screamed as she tore up the two-for-one special and threw it into the air. She grabbed a blackened, twisted shelving unit and pulled it crashing down, barely noticing the heat still radiating from the hot metal. She then picked up the charred remains of Mrs. Lucas's now empty briefcase and slammed it down upon the floor.
She collapsed onto her knees next to it and sobbed. She was ruined! Completely and utterly ruined! The entire business world would ridicule her! She would be laughed out of Storybrooke!
Wait a second! she thought suddenly. Storybrooke?
Wiping the tears away with the back of her hand, she picked up the walkie-talkie and contacted her security room. "Gaston?"
Something in the back of her mind was twitching to get out. She had to be sure.
"Yes, Regina?"
"Bring up the robbery on the monitor."
"Yes, ma'am." After a few seconds of typing, he replied. "We are looking at the image now."
She kicked away some debris from the entrance of the vault, where the word Storybrooke was engraved onto rich, black marble. "Does it say 'Storybrooke' on the vault floor?"
"Um…no. No, it doesn't. I don't understand."
"I had it put on Tuesday," she spat. "The images we saw of those men robbing us were a recording."
"A what?"
"It was staged, you moron! Someone made a duplicate of my vault and what we saw on the monitor wasn't really happening!"
"I don't understand!" the useless cockroach repeated. "What happened to all that money?"