LOVE AND JUST

CHAPTER 3 : A GOOD MISSION

WESTBROOK COUNTRYSIDE ~( 6pm)

"Today was a pretty good one," Damien said. As usual, the group sat outside in their small yard. The house stood behind them — a four-bedroom bungalow with faded green paint. They circled the bonfire to have a good meal.

"You should have seen the look on people's faces when you hit that camera," Vicky said to Damien.

He chuckled. "Good thing I'm not a cab driver. They're probably searching for the driver who broke the camera. Tsk, when I've got no car myself."

Belle giggled. "You've got some dry jokes, you know?" Julien said with a smirk.

"That wasn't even a joke," Damien sneered, which got the entire group laughing.

"Has any of you seen Eliza?" Caleb asked, concern in his tone.

"No, Prince. We haven't seen your princess," Marco said teasingly.

"You know today's catch got us a lot of money," Caleb said, switching the topic. "I wanted her to be here so we can all count the money together." They all nodded in understanding.

"Julien, go get the money. It's in the couch," Caleb ordered. He was more like the head of the pack. The most fierce and fearless.

"Don't go pulling out the papers," Damien said just to spite him.

"We all know you want attention, Damien. We're here for you. You don't always have to c***k those deadpan jokes," Marco said to him, ruffling his hair like a kid. The group burst into laughter.

"Get your hands off my head," Damien snapped, almost irritated. They loved making a mockery of him.

"You guys should stop messing around," Caleb said.

Soon Julien brought the money and together, they counted it. All the money they got was twenty-six million dollars in total, which they were to share equally.

"This will be good to cover some of our debt and give us freedom," Caleb said with hope-filled eyes. The group shared a knowing look and Caleb handed out the money. Each of them got their share.

Later that night, Caleb went to Eliza's room to check up on her. He knocked on the door. "Eliza, are you there?" He knocked again and got no response. It was past 8pm. He turned the door handle and creaked it open. The door opened, and he walked in.

She wasn't in bed. "Eliza?" Still no response. He moved to the bathroom door and knocked. "Are you in there?" The room remained quiet. He stood there for minutes. He then searched his pocket for his phone and called her. Once — there was no answer. Twice — it rang, yet no one answered. He became worried. He walked out of the room and shut the door behind him.

Heading toward his room, he heard the outside gate squeaking. He turned and walked to the window to find out who or what it was. It was her. Eliza walked in with slow steps.

Noticing his brother, she asked, "Brother, are you looking for something?" She asked when she saw him standing in the hall.

"Eliza, where have you been?" he asked, moving closer to her, his voice filled with a mixture of fear and concern.

"Went to see a friend."

"What friend?" Caleb asked again.

"Mrs. Bennett. I went to help her at her shop. You know her daughter went to college. I just went to assist her. It's been a while since we paid her a visit," she replied with her innocent smile, staring at her brother.

"Yeah, true. How is she doing?" he sighed with relief.

"Pretty good. Still on medication," Caleb asked.

"Sure. Hope you've had something to eat?"

"Of course," she replied. Mrs. Bennett was the mother of Belle — one of their friends. They'd all seen her as their mother growing up. Eliza had this bond with Mrs. Bennett, even more than her own daughter. She preferred having Eliza around than Isabelle. Eliza was a sweet girl, of course. She was easily loved by anyone she found herself around.

"Today was a good mission. Twenty-six million," Caleb stated and saw a grin on Eliza's face.

"Great!" she beamed, putting her hands into the back pockets of her jeans trousers.

"Alright, go to bed then," Caleb said to her.

With small strides, she got to her room and shut the door behind her. Leaning against it, she sighed in relief. If she hadn't made something up, Caleb would have been fuming by now, knowing where she went.

Looking up at her room's white POP ceiling, a single bulb hung at the center with an old fan turning slowly. She walked slowly from exhaustion into her bathroom. She took a cold shower and got out. Her towel was wrapped around her pale skin. She stood in front of her mirror. A thick c***k ran across it, which had been taped over with clear tape, with drops of water still dripping from her hair. She clutched the little knot of her towel on her chest, reminiscing on her meeting with the man she had just met today.

After the heist, they all came home together. While Eliza was putting down her weapons and changing her attire, she realized she had lost her other phone. She recalled something had fallen off at the bank while she was stuffing bundles of money into her backpack. She quickly left the house, without informing anyone. She sped off to the bank.

The place was still being inspected by the police, but she managed to get in without being noticed. Who would expect such a beauty to be a robber? She had changed into a different outfit and was without her face mask.

She was able to sneak in and get her phone back. It was still untouched, resting on the floor close to the vault door. She picked it up and left. Walking past the manager's desk, she bumped into one of the officers. His lovely face had its charm on her, until he spoke. Eliza was in a daze. She couldn't meet his beautiful blue eyes.

His voice was deep yet calm. She had to leave before the officer asked further questions. She did not want to reveal any information about herself which would later cause trouble for her friends. She managed to leave.

She was wondering why this officer's gaze had an effect on her. It made her nervous. Could it be fear of discovery? Or something more dangerous, like a liaison? She lay in bed, scenes of their encounter playing in her mind. She slept peacefully for the first time in months.

It was morning already when she heard a knock on her door. "Eliza, are you awake?" Julien's voice came from behind the door.

"Urrgh!" she growled, putting her head under her pillow and covering her ears. He knocked again.

"Can't I have some good rest?" Eliza cried out.

"Not at this hour, princess. Wake up, it's almost 8," he said, still behind her door.

He kept on knocking until she got out of bed angrily and walked toward the door. "What's your problem?" she asked him with blazing eyes.

Marco, pretending to be scared, pouted. "Just wanted you to eat breakfast on time." This only got her more furious.

"Really, Marco? Leave here already!" she shouted.

"Okay, okay. No need to shout," he said, raising his hands in surrender.

"Will you leave the girl alone?" Vicky said when she heard their voices.

"She's just overreacting," he said and turned away. Eliza rolled her eyes and shut the door behind her. He just ruined her sleep. She shook her head and made her bed. Marco seemed to care so much about Eliza that she saw him as a worry. He left to join the others and have breakfast. Eliza came out a few minutes after to join them.