12. Fake ID and the Key (1/2)

chapter twelve – the fake id and the key

squall didn't have time to hang around after rinoa had left them. it was time to make their plans reality and pull off the greatest heist ever recorded. he had four vehicles in four locations in the city. he had a black car stationed at the airfield across the zepher river and a red motorbike in the town, parked in some garages not far from where the heist was to take place, a silver bike in the underground car swap, and a

and new car that he had traded for his old silver car. all of them were ready and waiting to pick up anybody left behind at the scene and to take them to wherever they needed to be.

the getaway engines were in place, but his team seemed a little unmotivated. after setting their home alight, everyone realized that they had nowhere to go and couldn't turn back. squall felt this, too. it was an infectious fear that was swallowing them all. if they were caught tonight, they would spend the rest of their lives in prison, but if they succeeded, they would spend the rest of their lives in luxury. there was no longer any middle ground, no empty warehouse to hide in.

there was only one question on everybody's mind, and that was, would they succeed? rather than call in favours from people, they had all taken taxis to their various locations. squall had loathed the idea of letting strangers see them so up close on the day, but he was more afraid that those he

ibed would give them away. he was hoping the taxi drivers would be too busy thinking of their fares and not thinking about them.

quistis had the longest journey to make. she was going out to the airfield where she would later use the car that zell had parked there to collect zell and

ing him, and the stolen item to the airplane. she was setting up her equipment inside the plane. this way there would not be a mad scramble at the last minute to pack the stuff away, in order to not leave any evidence behind.

the pilot of the plane was paid by their boss, cid, so there was no need to disguise themselves in front of him, which was lucky because quistis soon realized that she'd never be able to hide what she was doing to an outsider.

selphie had managed to perfect the earpieces in the short time that was available to her. they all worked via radio to quistis' computer. she was the one looking at all the video cameras, the road traffic, and had also hacked into the police alarm system, so that she would know exactly the moment that their alarms were triggered. she could send all this information to the gang by speaking into a microphone; they would receive it through their earpieces.

irvine was dressed in the most convincing business suit that they could and would afford--nothing too flashy or cheap looking. he had to appear wealthy and important and not seem too rich for a business man. in his hand, he carried a suitcase, and, instead of being filled with what it was claiming to be filled with (information for the important meeting), it in fact contained every fake id that the gang could manufacture or buy.

he was standing outside of the building when he phoned quistis, looking up at the many windows and wondering if he would ever get inside and if they would ever pull this off, as it looked a long way to the top from the ground.

"hi, irvine. i'm still setting up. you got there already?" after a long pause of silence, which had made irvine worry the call was being intercepted, quistis spoke to him again. "the others haven't checked in yet, but they can't be far. the roads look pretty calm. hold on, i'm getting another call…"

the line went silent for a while, and irvine remained looking up at the building with a sick feeling in his stomach. the line buzzed and quistis was back.

"they're all ready and set, so you can begin whenever you like. the foyer is pretty crowded, so it's perfect for slipping by unnoticed. so what would you like to know? i've got the cameras working."

"how about...is it a man or a woman on the desk?" irvine asked. he had a feeling he'd have better luck with a woman.

"it's your lucky day, irvine. it's a girl. now, no flirting, as we need to move quickly, got it?" quistis reminded and answered him.

irvine rolled his eyes and hung up. quistis could be annoying sometimes, especially now when she announced over the earpieces that 'irvine was in the building' and 'irvine was at the desk.' he supposed the others needed to know, but it was slightly alarming to be so watched and monitored.

the girl on the desk looked flustered, like she was having a bad day, and irvine was only slightly sorry that he was about to make it ten times worse. she looked up at him and told him to wait a moment before he had even said anything. finally she stopped tapping on her computer and looked at him wearily.