Everything was going smoothly—or at least that was how things were for Scarlet at the lounge. Her in-ears were hidden under her raven hair, which also appeared to have been disabled by the controls under West's orders.
"Turn Scarlet's transmitter off. We don't want her to lose focus, and there is nothing that we need of her at the moment," she could imagine West as he gave out the order.
She was nervous. Too much was resting on her shoulders, and it had to be done in 30 minutes. Fifteen minutes had passed, and now she found it hard to breathe. If everything went according to plan, then her in-ear should start transmitting again in five minutes, and then she would head to the room on the 7th floor, where Julian and the others were going to be ready for her next step.
She glanced up at the clock; time was going by slower than she found comfortable. With every passing minute, she felt as if she had lost a nerve. Adrenaline was pumping into her veins; she hoped that this wasn't shown on her face. But thankfully, Naomi was still under the impression that Scarlet was a fragile girl, so she tried her best not to push her too hard.
The fact that the others were still communicating through the channel that Allen had made for them was sickening her stomach. What if something went wrong and she was still here enjoying the beverages and orchestra while the others were being dragged by the guards?!
What made it all worse was that she would never be informed because no one would open their mouth—that's what they all vowed. If one falls, he makes sure that he falls alone. She took a deep breath and glanced again at the clock.
She began the countdown to the last minute. Her heart was throbbing in her head as she clenched her dress.
5…
4…
3…
2…
1…
She held her breath, but nothing came through to her ears. What the hell?! This thing works right on time. Why the hell was she still disconnected? She felt herself out of breath. This wasn't her first job, but the nervousness still felt like the first one. Somehow, her body managed to work through her ravished mind and nerves. This was what kept her going all this time.
Whatever fear crept all over her, there was no letting it grab hold of her. She had to keep moving according to the plan. No, you wait till West gives the word, a voice inside her stated.
She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly and in phases as she forced her head to clear up. Time was crucial. Even if there was a delay from the others, she knew that that wasn't an excuse for her to wait for them.
She turned around to look for Naomi, who was busy laughing with another girl who seemed to be in the same class as them. "Hey, Naomi, I think I will head to the bathroom," she said, catching Naomi's attention.
"Do you want me to go with you?" Naomi offered.
"No need, I will be right back," Scarlet said before she turned on her heels, making sure not to cause a commotion. But thank God she was the last one to gain attention amidst all these nobles.
She squeezed her mind to remember the floor plan of the building. Down two flights is the electricity panel, she thought, bringing a hand to feel the pump in the pocket of her dress. She specifically chose this dress because of this. The feeling of the cold metal against her sweating palms was helping her calm down.
There was still nothing from the in-ear. FUCK THE IN-EARS! she yelled inside her, keeping a poker face. This was what she was trained for—to keep moving forward no matter what.
All the guards were either busy complaining or helping the other nobles. Now her only problem was the CCTV cameras that were on every wall around her.
"If the security cameras were turned off right before the power went off, no one is going to suspect it," West told her over the floor plan that was spread on the rusting table back at the warehouse. "Avoid the cameras manually for as long as you can before you use this."
He handed her something that looked like a walkie-talkie, but it wasn't. "What's this?"
"It will disrupt the signals of every camera and phone line within that building," he said.
She snapped back to the present moment. Fortunately, it was easy to stay low and away from the cameras and guards due to the crowd that was only getting thicker by the minute as more came in through the door.
She spotted the door with the emergency exit on it. She turned around. No one paid her any attention, and she saw no reason why anyone would if she simply walked past that door. She took a deep breath and approached the door.
The moment her hand came in contact with the cool metallic handle, she heard static in her ears as the transmitter came back online. For a moment, she halted at the door.
"Lead 1, do you copy?"
The comfort of hearing West's voice was real; she felt the blood settle in her veins as she finally breathed properly and realized that she was standing at the door. She grabbed the door handle and got inside quickly.
There were cameras where she was standing, but she could see one at the end of the flight that she was going to make right now. "Lead 1, do you copy? This is base, over."
"This is Lead 1. I copy, over," Scarlet stated as she dipped her hand in the pocket of her dress. It was time to use this.
"Everything is ready; we are waiting for your turn," West confirmed.
"Engaging signal disruption now," she said as she pressed the button. She felt nothing, saw nothing, though she hoped that it was working.
"It's working; now move it!"
She heard someone say, and she made it out to be Allen, who was the one responsible for all the technical parts in the jobs. She was going to make her way down the first flight and down to the basement just as planned before she heard footsteps coming her way.
"What are you doing here?"
She halted.