Chapter 3: The Volt

Robert P.O.V

The ice melted inside the glass as I swirled the glass of my drink slowly while looking out at the busy street of Chicago.

“What are you thinking?”. I looked to my left , sitting beside me was my younger brother Riccoda, observing me closely .

“Just thinking”. I put the glass down.

“About?”

My other brother , Dante groaned and said from the other side“The guy is going to be the new capo of the Italian mafia tonight, what else does he need to think about? ”. His head was resting on the back of his seat with his eyes closed. He had been working for three straight nights with very little sleep. His grumpy ass has been giving me a headache since morning.

“Not everyone is like you Dan. Grumpy asshole . I just wish Nick was here”. Saying Lily turned to look outside of the window. My grip tightened at the mention of my brother. Nick and I have not seen eye to eye over a decade. He hated this life and wanted nothing to do with it. He cut all his ties from the mafia when he left for college.

He made a choice that day and I made mine. Once you are, you stay in the mafia till the day you die. He was not the only one who wanted out of this life but not everyone is fortunate.He left and my other siblings decided to bear the burden with me when they had the opportunity to leave. If I stepped back from becoming the capo of capos then Chicago will see wars between the mafias like never before .

The Limo came to a sudden halt bringing me out of my train of thoughts . Both the car doors opened as we were about to step out of the car by the bodyguards as they escorted us to the main hall. We put on our masks before the lights shined and the camera started flashing on our faces . Like the same old story . The room was almost dark, we stepped inside the hall when the light turned back to normal. All the eyes turned towards us . Chicago's most well-known people have been invited ,from politicians to businessmen .

My gaze was moving from one person to the other when I saw her. Standing there with a group of women was the black hair woman in a red sleeveless dress that amplified her curves . The dress was hugging her chest tight tight, it flew down her waist like a waterfall. Her mask was covering half of her face. She broke our eye contact and started moving. Something about this woman intrigued me even though there were many other beautiful women. She abandoned her companions and started walking in another direction.

Nora P.O.V

Crawling through the AC ducts was no jock. After I left the party I went to the washroom and then inside one of the stalls after locking the washroom door I took off the dress along with the full body sleeveless shapewear underneath that ends above my knees and hide them inside the toilet tank .Under my flowy dress and shapewear I was wearing black colour one piece full body fit joined pants and top ,a pouch was connected to the belt of my waist that had all the things I required along with some explosives . Just hoping those explosives do not get activated while I will be crawling through the AC ducts, otherwise Fourth of July and New year will be celebrated tonight .

I pulled my hair back in a ponytail and left the stall . There was a knock yet to come.

I opened my bag , pulled out my multi purpose pen and pressed its back . The tip of the pen changed into the tip of the screwdriver. The walls of the women's washroom were covered with metallic square tiles and behind one of those tiles was the old AC ducts that lead directly to the room that has the vault. I began to knock against the metallic squares to check for the tile which had a hollow space behind it .Our men had already done their job on the other side . Half of the catering staff were our people. If anything goes down we have to be prepared for it. We are covering most of the perimeter and our back-up is ready. So far everything is going smoothly.

When I found the metallic tile I began to unbolt the bolts followed by opening the old grill of the AC ducts .I unlocked the door,the hall was deserted , I closed the door but did not lock it , came back , lifted the grill and the tile , placed inside the duct then grabbed the opening of the duct , pulled myself up and climbed inside it. I placed the tile back on the opening and fixed the nut bolt. After fixing the grill I pulled out my bluetooth earphone for my pocket and placed it in my eyes . No sooner had I powered it on than my boss's voice came through it.

“Agent 64 can you hear me?”.

“ Yes sir. I am inside the AC duct”.

“ Good . I am going to forward this call to Cyber. He is going to give you the direction ”. The line beeped for a second and then it connected to Cyber’s.

“Nora, you are in the east direction of the hall and the room is in the centre. Go straight ahead . The path is going divine into two paths. Take the right then go straight ”. I followed Cyber's direction, already sweating like a pig in a furnace .

His voice came through the bluetooth earphone again.

“You are one minute away from the location. There is another turn before you reach the vault room”. Then he mute the line.

I rolled my eyes and grumbled “ Try once to crawl upon five inches of dirt on your hands and knees then tell me why don't you?”. After crawling for a few more minutes my bracelet started vibrating , informing me that I am close to the location . After a turn. I saw a sticker wallpaper on the opening of the duct and removed it . I checked the nuts of the metallic tile followed by me clicking the button of my earpiece while already starting to remove the screws . The nuts were fixed to the tiles and only the screws were moveable .

“ I have reached the room and so far I am removing the tile”.

“Your three minutes will start in five seconds’’. I loosened my third and fourth screw.

“Go”. I pushed the plate , it fell off on the floor. Luckily the room was sound proof. I climbed out and placed the wallpaper back on its place and subsequently the tile.

“The cameras are in auto mode. You have two minutes and fifty seven seconds before I have to turn back the security system to normal”.

I hope everything goes according to the plan.