Aurum Regium

(I)

Oliver was standing in the middle of a long queue. He had slicked his hair back with the help of gel and ditched his glasses for colored contact lenses. He was looking around sharply and spotted Michael at once, he was standing at the entrance of the back gate, from where the staff was supposed to enter. He could be seen instructing the guard to attach something to the ankles of the staff. This was unexpected, and Oliver hated surprises. The moment he saw that the device being attached to the ankles of the staff was a GPS tracker, he felt his pulse quicken. This was an unforeseen obstacle, to say the least, and he did not have much time to think of a way around it.  The queue was moving at a good pace, and it would not be long before Oliver’s turn would arrive. Every moment was crucial and being stuck in the middle of a large group of people made it difficult to do anything unobserved. Oliver looked around him with a desperate scan and saw nothing that could help him. He was very close to the entrance now and that meant he had a clear view of the device being attached to the staff’s ankles. Oliver cursed under his breath. It was one of the trackers that would send a signal to the feds if they were taken off before being deactivated.

Oliver had no option but to resort to causing the one thing that he hated the most – chaos. Chaos was one of the things that were not difficult to achieve, but controlling it was a task that required effort. But it had to be done discreetly, Oliver did not want to attract attention to himself. He looked at the man in front of him, he was tall and buff, the two qualities which almost certainly guaranteed a fiery temper, something that would be very useful in the situation. Oliver braced himself and after a moment, he hurled himself straight towards the man in front of him. The series of events which followed can be explained best by calling them a domino effect. The first man was hurled towards the man in front of him and so on. Very soon there were a lot of impolite words being spoken and some sleeves were being folded. The man who had been pushed by Oliver turned with a menacing expression on his face, but he saw himself staring at Oliver’s back.

“What do you think you are doing, huh?” shouted Oliver at the man behind him and gave him a rough push.

The man, enraged by the manhandling, took a wild swing at Oliver’s face, which was exactly what Oliver wanted. He ducked at the last moment and thus, the punch, which was aimed at his nose, smashed against the jawbone of the man standing in front of him. Oliver conveniently excused himself from the line just as Michael began trying to control the commotion. As soon as Michael and the guard abandoned their respective posts to separate people from each other, Oliver walked briskly up to the gate, blocked a wild punch that was aimed his way, and avoiding the field of the camera by sticking to the wall on one side of the gate, he entered the property. The game had begun with a bang.

(II)

Jefferson was viewing the commotion on the monitor in front of him. He was seated in a van parked near the house and the moment he had turned his attention to the cameras which faced towards the staff entrance, the first thing he saw was the live demonstration of a fistfight.

“Sam! Go over to the back gate and help Michael,” he instructed through the Bluetooth earpiece.

“Copy that,” said Sam and rushed towards the back gate.

The two agents and five guards soon managed to calm the crowd enough to warn them that if they didn’t watch their behavior, they would get into a lot of trouble. The threat had little effect and the men decided to act like civilized people only when Michael shouted at the top of his lungs that none of them would be getting a penny for the job if they didn’t stop.

Sam said, “What a start to a party!”

“Yeah right,” said Michael and quickly began sending the staff members in.

Michael had doubled the speed with which the staff was processed, this was because valuable time had already been wasted in trying to regain order and the first guests would soon start arriving.

Twenty minutes later, the first luxury car pulled up on the porch and the party began. Melodious tunes could be heard coming from the direction of the live orchestra and the laughter and chatter of people mixed remarkably well with the same. The party was very well organized, but it was a shame that none of the agents were able to enjoy it. But that was not what could be said for the ex-cons, they were doing justice to the splendid champagne and finger-licking starters.

“Jefferson,” came Brandon’s voice in Jefferson’s ear.

“What is it Brandon, do you see anything?”

“Have you tried the champagne yet?”

“What?”

“It’s excellent!”

“Focus on the job.”

Michael and Sam were trying to keep as sharp an eye on the crowd as possible. Every time someone even went in the general direction of the safe, they tensed, but then relaxed when they saw that the person’s intentions were not menacing.

A waiter came up to Sam with champagne. “Sir, would you like a glass of champagne?”

“No thanks.”

“I insist, sir.”

After giving the waiter an odd look, Sam refused. The waiter then proceeded to move towards the table where Olivia and Brandon were seated and placed drinks on their table.

Michael was having a tough time concentrating on the job with glasses full of champagne being offered to him, but then he saw Sam staring at him and found the courage to resist. On the other hand, Jefferson, who was seated in the van, was having a hard time trying to monitor all the guests, even with the help of two additional agents.

The only people who were glad of the presence of the FBI agents were the Williamsons. For the first time since the thieves had arrived in their lives, they felt safe. At least until Harold’s phone vibrated and he took it out of his pocket. One look at the display confirmed his suspicion that something was wrong, very wrong.

(III)

Calvin was not at the party, in fact, he was quite far away from the venue of the same. While his partner was busy serving drinks to guests, Calvin was sitting in a car and eating a sandwich. The sandwich was not great, but Calvin was hungry, so, at that moment, the sandwich was delicious. Calvin looked at his watch and then looked out of the window. Oliver had given him explicit instructions not to act until the right time. Had it not been a matter of money, Calvin would not have listened to a word that Oliver said, the reason for the same was the short notice on which Oliver had informed him of the change of plans. Initially, he had been under the assumption that they would be robbing the collection together, but then Oliver had given him a separate assignment, one that he had in mind from the very beginning but was a surprise for his partner.

Calvin crumpled the plastic wrapper in which his sandwich was packed and looked at the watch once again. Soon. He then leaned back and took a black bag pack from the back seat. The bag contained something which surprised Calvin even more than the change of plans. Just before he had departed, Oliver had handed him the bag. Upon opening the bag, Calvin saw that the contents were none other than a gun and an extra magazine for the same. When Calvin had expressed his surprise, Oliver had just told him that he might need it.

Now, taking the gun in his hands, Calvin checked the lock, the magazine, and the firing mechanism. The gun was in top condition, there was no doubt about that.  Calvin was not an expert with guns, but experience had taught him how to fire and reload, and that was enough.

Calvin looked at his watch one last time before opening the door of the car and stepping out of the car. He ran a swift eye on either side of his car before he looked at his target – The Williamson Residence.

(IV)

Oliver was standing patiently and scrutinizing his surroundings. There were no rules against enjoying a little while working and he had indeed enjoyed himself when he had offered drinks to Sam. He was staring at Brandon and Olivia as though he had seen them for the very first time, which was true to a certain extent. This was the very first time that he had seen the thieves in person. Suddenly he saw Harold Williamson pull out his phone from his pocket and give it a look. Immediately, Oliver saw the businessman’s expression change. Tension was visible on his face, and he looked around him with an air of desperation. It was obvious who he was searching for. Oliver knew exactly what was going on and he was ready and willing to play his part in it.

(V)

Harold’s hands were shaking. He had just received a message, a message that shook him from within. He was frantically searching for the FBI agents when he saw one of them. Michael was standing a little distance away with his back turned towards the businessman. Harold briskly walked up to him, weaving through the guests expertly and courteously. He tapped Michael sharply on the shoulder and the latter instantly turned around.

“What is it, Mr. Williamson?”

“Look at this,” said Harold turning the display of his expensive smartphone towards the agent.  

Michael’s eyes widened. He began speaking urgently into his microphone and an instant later, the family and Michael were standing outside the surveillance van with Jefferson.

“What was so important that you risked exposing the entire operation?” asked Jefferson.

“There is no operation to expose, we’ve been deceived.”

“What do you mean?”

Michael showed him the message which was displayed on the screen:

Hope you’re enjoying the party because a surprise awaits you at home!

“Does it mean what I think it means?” asked Michael.

“Yes! It means that they are going for the designs! We must stop them at all costs!” Harold shouted.

“What designs? It doesn’t make any sense,” said Michael.

“Yes, it does. Michael, alert Sam and the other two; leave two FBI agents here and the rest come with me. We’re heading to the Williamson residence. I’ll tell you about the designs on the way.  The thieves made a fool out of us.”

(VI)

Oliver saw Sam say something to Olivia and Brandon and the three of them left the party in a hurry. Oliver knew exactly where they were going, after all, he was the one who had sent the message. It was easy to see that his words had the desired effect. The agents were under the assumption that they had been fooled and thus, they had panicked. They would soon be speeding their way to the Williamson residence, unaware of Oliver’s real intentions.

Oliver kept down the tray which he had been holding and walked over to the entrance of the house. He peeped out from one of the frosted glasses in the designer doorframe and saw Jack exchanging a few quick words with his father. Both of them were agitated and after a minute’s conversation, Harold sat in a car and sped off, while Jack lit a cigarette. Oliver heaved a sigh of relief, for a moment it seemed like Jack would also leave the party and that would have created a problem, but seeing that he was staying behind meant that Oliver could proceed with the next part of his plan. He quickly went to the kitchen and exited through the back entrance after showing the guard his pass. He then proceeded to walk briskly towards a sedan parked a block away and sat in it. Opening his laptop, he connected to the network of the CCTVs of the property. With the FBI surveillance Van no longer on the premises, the two agents and guards were the only ones who stood in Oliver’s way. They were a hindrance, but now that the FBI was not actively monitoring the footage, Oliver could hack the cameras.

He typed furiously and for a moment, he felt as though he was typing out his own destiny.

(VII)

Calvin was tip-toeing his way to the upper floor of the house. His mind was alert to even the faintest of sounds and the shadows of movement but so far, he had not faced any trouble. He had been able to get into the house by following the steps that Oliver had laid out for him. It appeared that somehow, he knew everything about the house’s security systems and the layout of the guards. He had asked him how he had obtained this information, but Oliver had given him the standard reply – it was none of his business. 

Initially Calvin, like the feds, had believed that they were robbing the collection of animal skins and other wildlife-related items but then Oliver had told him that it was a bluff, a diversion to make sure that the FBI didn’t get a whiff of their real plans, and it had worked. The FBI, as well as the majority of the guards, had been stationed at the venue of the party and that meant that gaining access to the residence was not much of a challenge. The plan, as Oliver had revealed to Calvin, was to rob the safe in the Williamson residence. The safe had quite a large amount of cash and Jewelry, enough to get them out of the States without having to sell the diamonds. But that was not what they were after. In addition to the money, the safe contained the plans for the latest machines designed by the engineers at one of the companies owned by Harold Williamson. It was stipulated that their company had managed to create a machine, a generator, which created energy with such efficiency that it could power up a small city by using just half the number of resources that were usually required for such a task. It was simple math, if the number of resources required were halved, then the profit would double. Calvin had no interest in the energy business, but even the most foolish person would realize the value of such a design in the black market. The truth was, it had no value, it was up to them to quote any price they wanted.

Calvin had been enraged for being kept in the dark, but now he understood why Oliver had changed the strategy, why he wanted to get the plans and sell them off as soon as possible. He realized that it was the best idea to leave the States forever, they had made quite a stir and, in their profession, remaining anonymous was the greatest prize one could hope for. Although he had been quite surprised how Oliver knew of the designs, as he had not even heard of the invention of any such machine, but he reminded himself that any company would try to keep a breakthrough of this magnitude under wraps until they were sure of the abilities of the creation.

So far everything had gone smoothly, none of the guards had seen him and he had not tripped any alarms, he expected no company. Oliver was keeping an eye on the agents at the party, which meant that if anything went sideways, he would inform his partner at the earliest. Calvin cracked his knuckles in a confident manner, he could easily manage the job at hand, after all, he was cracking safes since he was a kid. Calvin entered the bedroom of the Williamsons and saw the painting which Oliver had mentioned. According to Oliver, the safe was behind the painting, a safe whose specs had been provided by Oliver. It was not a job that would take a long time, but one that had to be done with caution. He kept his bag on the floor and with his leather-glove clad hands, he moved the painting to one side and saw the safe. But something was wrong, the safe was not the one that Oliver had provided the specifications for, it was different, harder to crack, and impossible using the tools that Calvin had.

Calvin could not understand what was going on, Oliver never made mistakes, but he was staring right at one. Suddenly the faint sound of police sirens reached his ears. He quickly looked out of the window of the room and saw FBI agents exiting cars and rushing towards the house. Now Calvin panicked, the first thought that came to his mind was that he had been betrayed, that Oliver had tricked him. But then he realized that Oliver had given him an escape route in case something went wrong, and it was the very route that Calvin decided to use to get out. He took out a black suit jacket and black pants from his bag and changed with miraculous speed. He could hear the guards and the Feds entering the house and that meant he did not have much time. He stuffed everything else into the bag and clipped his gun to his belt.

Calvin was going to use the biggest advantages he had at the moment – the sense of confusion and the fact that the agents did not know his face, or so he thought. He was going to blend in with the property guards and no one would even know who he was. At first, everything seemed to go well, he ran out of the room and began searching the other rooms and shouting “Clear!” just as the other guards were doing, but then, when he descended the stairs and came into Michael’s field of vision he saw a sense of recognition in the man’s eyes and that was when he realized that he was doomed.

Michael whipped out his gun and pointing it straight at Calvin, he shouted, “Freeze!”

Calvin did the exact opposite of what he was told. His fiery temper took control and taking his own gun into his hands, he fired a shot aimed towards Michael and ran towards the back exit of the house. Jefferson saw him and he and Sam both fired and missed, but Michael was hot in pursuit of the criminal. He ran towards Calvin, while the latter turned and shot at Michael.

Just as Calvin was about to shoot again, the sound of a single shot rang out in the air and the bullet which had escaped Michael’s gun pierced Calvin’s heart. In the last seconds of his life, Calvin realized the truth. He understood why Oliver had changed the plan, why he had given him the gun and why he had told the FBI agents where he was. He realized that Oliver had done to him what he had been planning to do to Oliver all along. Calvin realized that he had been betrayed, just as he closed his eyes for the last time and fell into an endless slumber.