Honor Among Thieves

Dacio stared intently, the house was quiet and the lights were out in all but the furthest bedroom on the second floor and yet he felt uneasy. The only sounds were the occasional dog or gust of wind echoing through the darkened street, where they sat quietly waiting in the car. But the uneasy feeling would not let up, like a lingering afterthought niggling at the back of his mind, but it had to be done, even if it was only because of a matter of pride and reputation. “This is a bad idea Dacio; I heard the stories about you, y’know? But this? Stealing from one of Valencia’s most notorious drug lord’s right from under his nose? You’ll need a miracle for that.” Dacio only glared his distaste at the boy and he was silenced. The poor boy, Sebastian if he recalled correctly, the guild had sent him here for ‘training’ but Dacio could already tell the boy didn’t have the stomach for it. It was a sad thought, considering what became of those who couldn’t make it as muscle, thieves or wetboys, Dacio put it from his mind, he needed to focus.

The house appeared to be empty other than the top room and they needn’t go there, there was only a small window of time Alonso would be gone he had left at around eleven and it was now nearing the end of midnight, it was now or not at all. He closed the car door quietly and signaled the boy to bring him his pack as he scanned around the street, it was as silent and still as before. Before them stood a solid concrete wall at least six foot with spiked metal fencing atop, guard dogs, an unknown person inside, along with the challenges of not knowing the exact location of the property in question and no doubt a hefty top of the range safe, all on the second floor. He inhaled a deep breath of the cool night air before pulling on his façade. He was the infamous Dacio Castillion, this would be nothing.

He pulled out the first rope from his pack and looped it, throwing it over the spiked fencing, tightening it he began to climb slowly up the wall gripping the rope fiercely as he pulled himself up the fence, when he reached the top he ushered the boy to do the same as he scanned the yard. He was correct in his assumptions, two large and aggressive looking dogs lay but a few meters from the fence. He moved his hand instinctively to the two blades that rested either side of his hip, the boy also had a firearm but no one in the guild ever used one unless absolutely necessary, it was considered in bad taste and really just rather simple. Blades required finesse and dedication and that was highly valued in his line of work. He scaled the distance before reaching to the pack the boy had handed him after he climbed beside him, he revealed a simple steel cable with a large hook on one end, and with a fair throw he managed to hook the cable to the balcony. Dacio tied the steel cable taut to the fence; this would be their way in and out without having to deal with the canines below. Everything seemed to be going well, and that’s of course where things went wrong.

Dacio had clambered onto the cable, and began shimming along when he had that sinking feeling as one of the dogs, stirred and then it became apparent it noticed him. The other joined in and they began barking and trying to jump and tear him and the boy off the cable. The boy quivered “Dacio, they’re making too much noise, someone’s gonna hear us!” He urged, but it wasn’t the noise that made Dacio move quicker along the line but the fact the dogs jumped higher than anticipated. “I would not be so worried about that my boy, be worried that they don’t bite your backside no?” The boy visibly tensed, just as one of the beasts made a try at his rear, Dacio however was no so lucky, one of the dogs managed to grab the material of his shirt and was now pulling the line to the ground, he tried to shake it with no avail, thinking quickly and laughing all the while Dacio let his arms go slack and his black shirt slid off taking the dog with it.
They hastily reached the other side and no one was any the wiser despite the dogs protests. Dacio smiled to himself, the situations he got himself in never failed to crack him up. Here he was half naked in a powerful drug dealer’s home, about to steal from him something which he very much valued, or so he was led to believe.

“Dacio, it’s true what they say about you back at the guild, you are definitely insane, I can’t believe we made it.” He said breathlessly, the boy’s eyes were no joke, wide with astonishment, or fear, or possibly a mix of both. Dacio grinned ludicrously back at him “Good, because if I wasn't, this would probably never work.” And with that Dacio covered his hand with the pack breaking the glass near the handle and entered the house. It was a mix of smells, sour chemicals and cigarettes were most prominent, it was like a wave that hit you as you walked in, the boy covered his face with his shirt eyeing Dacio warily. “At least we know we are in the right house.” He chuckled glancing around the poorly lit room, lines of white powder rested on the coffee table, “Or are we…” He snickered to himself as he dipped a finger in one of the lines and tasted it, it was most definitely cocaine he surmised, they were in the right house.

“Are you crazy?!” The boy retorted, Dacio grinned when something caught his eye. Lying on the table in front of them were bags upon bags of white powder each stamped with a logo, the outline of a Blue Fox and a V encasing it. Normally Dacio would not have taken much notice but the logo itself was striking and seemed distantly familiar. He wanted to ponder it further but time was short and he didn’t fancy getting caught by the man who was a proprietor to such. First was the safe, the safe had been pinpointed to him by his contractor, the second floor, room furthest to the East. That was his payment and all good thieves know payment is foremost to everything. They reached the door and the boy presented him his lock picking tools, he waved him away. “Don’t you need these? The doors locked isn’t it?”
Dacio smiled “Why waste good tools and precious time?” With that he kicked the door down, the hinges were very old and worn, and time was of the essence now. “We can’t waste time; someone might have heard that, stand watch at the door.” The boy complied.

He grasped the torch he had neglected in his back pocket and shone it around the room, sure enough in the left corner sat a hefty looking safe and yet it only had a padlock, surprising for a man with so much other security. It was simple enough to pick, it took all of five minutes before the safe was pried open and they were pushing bank notes into the pack the boy was carrying. Ten thousand or so he’d been told, there was no time to count but it looked fair enough. Dacio stared at the digital clock resting on the table adjacent, it was half past, they needed to get out soon Alonso was due back at around 2am but he had been known to be early. Now he had his payment Dacio knew he needed the item for which he was sent, a laptop. He didn’t know what it contained but it was to be delivered to the guild and then the contractor immediately. Dacio figured it was most likely bank details or something as sinister. It appeared luck returned to him as he spied a laptop under the clock, even luckier was the fact it matched the description.

He made a grab for the laptop but in his haste knocked the alarm off the table, and set it off. It was loud, louder than the door being knocked in and the dogs combined, Dacio knew they were in trouble, footsteps clambered down the hall, he grabbed the laptop and they both bolted up the hall to the window they had entered in. But they weren’t quick enough, to Dacio’s surprise a young woman froze before them as she realized what was going on. She was not the most attractive woman, but she wasn’t anything awful either, she stood there staring at them both. Dacio froze also waiting for the inevitable clutch of a pistol from some ridiculous place, like her breasts or panties, or screaming, but she made no moves, in fact she just continued to stare as the alarm blared angrily. Laced with confusion and possibly a small hit of cocaine Dacio continued to stand there dimwittedly waiting for something to happen.

Then it struck him, she was staring at him, like really. He was often one to brag, but to be honest he had the confidence and the body to do so. He was lean and tanned with a nice set of muscles, something one acquired from such escapades as his; he had numerous tattoos, mostly tribal designs with different meanings, none more striking then the jagged lines that curved down his left cheek. He ran his fingers through his blonde hair in confusion. Strands fell around his face ever so gently and he stared at her, green eyes as soft as they were hypnotizing, he was attractive even to the most discerning woman, though he never had he thought to use his rugged good looks to get out in such a fashion.

With a wicked smile he made a move towards her, “Go!” He uttered to the boy as he grabbed the strange woman in an amorous hold and kissed her, he pressed his body to her as pulled her into a deeper kiss, pressing his hands along her back, she didn’t squeal or try to even resist which may have been due to the surprising nature, but Dacio preferred to believe it was his allure alone.

Out the corner of his eye he could see the boy was halfway across. He let her go, and they both stared in bewilderment, Dacio smirked at her as he removed his belt from his pants seductively, she looked even more bewildered and yet didn’t make a move, but stared intently at his actions. He grasped her hand and kissed it gently in a chivalrous way before jumping over to the window.
“Wait…” She muttered softly “Who are you? Why are y-”
He cut her off “It would never have worked between us darling, adios my sweet blossom.” And without any delay he hoisted his belt over the line and slid down to the fence flawlessly.
The boy was there waiting and they both jumped off the fence and bolted to the car. “You are a… Master! How on Earth do you come up with these things? Or do you make it up as you go?!” the boy looked at him excitedly.
“All in good time.” He smirked knowingly. And for a moment Dacio thought everything had worked out for once. And once again things went wrong, as they reached the car.

Out of the shadows he heard a familiar voice that sent electricity up his spine. He felt someone grab him from behind, he managed to break the grapple, and fend off two other men. Before Alonso stepped into the streetlight, with a gun to the boys head, Dacio stopped fighting and met Alonso’s gaze coldly. “Well, well, well is that the legendary Dacio Castillion? Interesting that you have stooped so low as to petty thievery, bit of a low swoop for a man that was heralded by the guild as an ‘assassin’ don’t you think?” It was Alonso, he must have been tipped off no doubt, Dacio cursed at his carelessness but remained silent. “And how do you live with that Dacio? The lives you’ve taken? Or are you all talk and action?”

“Why don’t you let the boy go and find out?” He glowered.

Alonso laughed long and heartily, “I am no fool Dacio, and since when do you form attachments?”
Dacio glared back “I don’t.” Alonso twitched, Dacio almost saw a glimmer of surprise or was that fear, but he was mistaken.

“Then you won’t mind if I do this!” The gun fired and Dacio closed his eyes, he really didn’t need to see more death, he saw enough of it to last a lifetime already, but to his surprise he heard the boy cry out, he opened his eyes, and sure enough Alonso had shot him in the shoulder. He didn’t have the guts to put a bullet through the boys skull, Dacio should have known.
Alonso glared at Dacio “Still don’t have any friends, and you still have that distinct lack of humanity,” he paused and then smiled, Dacio felt uneasy “Good, because I have a little task for you.”

“I don’t do ‘little tasks’ anymore Alonso, not for anything.”

“Good because I’m not offering ‘anything’ I’m offering you your life.” He said nonchalantly as he threw the boy to the ground. “If you don’t complete my request I will kill you, maybe not now, but I will, we will, we will hunt you down like the dog you are and put a bullet in you. That is a promise." He paused "Details are on this and the deadline is set.” He muttered as he handed him a piece of paper. Dacio clutched the paper angrily, squeezing it as if it were Alonso's throat, if there weren’t five guns on him, Alonso would be a dead man. But there were and he wasn’t.

“One more thing Dacio, don’t try to run, remember what happened when you tried to run from me last time, remember what happened to your little pet, she was so beautiful, such a shame.” Alonso and his men walked across the street and into the gate, Dacio watched every move.

He felt a burning rage build up inside him at the mention of her, he wanted to kill Alonso more than he wanted anything at that very moment, but then the sadness welled up in his chest and he felt heavy. The hopelessness set in. He pushed it all aside, there was no place for emotions in his life anymore. He opened the crumpled paper.

Dacio, your target is Arista Valli. She is a young American citizen on holiday with her father in Barcelona for approximately one week. Kill must be discreet. Her father is the real target in this, however we do not want him killed, we need to send him a message. Do well and I won’t carve my name into your corpse for attempting to steal from me.

Begrudgingly he submitted to his fate, to Barcelona it was.