Venice; Money Heist

The Breakthrough

TUESDAY, 5:41 P.M.

HOUR 103 OF THE HEIST

...Our guardian angel didn't let Tokyo down. In the form of five Serbians, he orchestrated an ambush on the van she was in, dressed her in police gear, and had her ride on a motorcycle with a flip phone to a rendezvous point where she was supposed to contact him. But he wasn't there. He had arranged it all. If he had organized her rescue, how could he not be there? On that October afternoon after she escaped, we deployed Operation Cage. It might sound familiar from terrorist threats. The police cut off all the exits to the city at once. Everything came to a standstill, and you were trapped. You could only hide. Her problem was that her hideout was the hangar. And the person who had to let her in was the Professor. But she was never good at waiting. She drove nowhere, frantically... until in a fraction of a second, she knew where to go. The problem was... it was the most guarded place in Spain. Have you ever heard the expression "to enter the lion's den"?...

"Rio..." I stand in the doorway to the common room and see him holding a phone. "What are you doing?" I had intended to talk to him to dispel the unspoken tension between us. I can't stand it when we fight, and the moment with Nairobi reminded me why we're doing all of this. He turns to me, about to say something, but I cut him off. "Listen, I wanted to talk to you about what happened and apologize—" I can't finish speaking because at that moment, the phone in his hand starts ringing.

"Yes?" he answers.

"What are you doing?" I ask him, confused.

"Where are you? Wait! They can hear us... Yes, love. Of course, I remember. What about it?... I love you too..." The call ends.

"Rio, who was that? What's going on?" His hopeful look tells me it could only be one person. He ignores me and walks toward the window, looking down at the police below. "Rio, talk to me." Still no response. "Rio... Anibal!" Suddenly, he shoves me aside and rushes out of the room. Confused, I look down and see a police motorcycle heading toward the door. Shit! I run after him. That crazy cow! That damn crazy cow!

"Tokyo is coming back!" Rio shouts into the room and runs to the door.

"On the ground!" Helsinki shouts to the hostages as I follow Rio to the door.

"We have to open the damn door!" he yells at Denver and runs to the door, opening it.

"Rio, damn it!" I continue to run after him, gripping my rifle tighter as I remove my mask. The door opens, and Moscow and Denver stand beside me. "Rio, get the hell away from that door!"

"No! We have to cover her, damn it!"

"Shit!" I run through the door with him, rifle raised, providing cover. As soon as we're out the door, the police start firing at us, and I barely manage to take cover behind one of the pillars. "Denver, close the fucking door!" I shout at him. If he presses now, the door will close once Tokyo is inside. "Rio, get the fuck inside!" He runs back in, and Moscow and I provide cover for him and Tokyo. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Moscow flinch in pain and rush to him, pushing him through the door while continuing to fire. Once the door closes, Nairobi and Berlin come running, and Moscow collapses. I manage to catch him just in time, but his weight brings us both to the ground. "No, no, no, no... Shit! Moscow!" Tears fill my eyes as the adrenaline rushes through me, and I see Denver yelling at the two of them. He cradles Moscow's head in his lap as I open his suit to assess the wounds. Nairobi goes to Denver, trying to calm him down so we can help Moscow, while Berlin kneels beside me, helping me inspect the wound. Helsinki and Rio also come over, but they stay a bit further away, while Tokyo sits heavily on her motorcycle, breathing heavily.