Chapter Text
PART 1
Prologue
Raquel was tied up. She called out weakly across the hanger. “Hey… help please…”
Sergio hung up the phone and walked over to where she was. “What’s wrong?”
She gasped slightly for breath. “I don’t feel well… I feel pain in my chest.”
Sergio quickly adjusted his glasses. “Could be an anxiety attack. Want to take a pill?” Raquel nodded.
He quickly found some medication and a glass of water for her. But as Sergio approached Raquel to give her the aspirin, she lashed out and bit him hard on the hand. He fought her then fell to the ground as the glass he’d been holding smashed. Raquel stood with her hands still tied high above her head, her chest heaving as Sergio slowly recovered and got to his feet.
He turned slowly, nursing his injured hand. “It would have been a lot easier for me too, if none of this had happened, Raquel,” he told her. “It was the only, only crack in otherwise perfect plan. But no longer, and you know why? Because even if this all goes well… Even if it all goes well… I’ll be fucked anyway because I’ll never see you again…”
As soon as he’d said that, Raquel knew she felt exactly the same way. There was no denying it - she was hopelessly in love with him. She was completely fucked too, because she’d never see him again. Even if Sergio got away with all that money, there were no winners in this game – not for either of them because it meant that that had lost each other.
Sergio then went on to tell Raquel how it was never in his plan to fall in love with the inspector in charge of the case, and that he was not a bad guy, no not at all. Following that, he told Raquel all about how the European Central Bank had printed more money out of nothing that went just into the hands of the bankers. Direct from the Mint and straight to the rich. He spoke of escape, escaping everything. Don’t you want to escape? he’d asked, pleading to her. Somehow his impassioned speech touched her heart and the blindfold which had been over her eyes at all the corruption and injustices in the world was lifted. She could see exactly what he saw about the world around them and she believed him.
Just at that moment, her phone had rung – Angel on the other end. He had awoken from his coma. When Sergio was about to answer the phone, she stopped him, warning him that her phone had been tapped. Quickly, Sergio retrieved another phone and Raquel called Angel back, promising to come to the hospital straight away. But the thought of letting Raquel go launched Sergio into a wild panic. Raquel pleaded with him, trying to convince Sergio to let her go so she could stop Angel revealing where he was at the hanger. But he didn’t believe her.
“Sergio…” Raquel suddenly called out, causing Sergio to stop and turn around to look at her. She’d used his real name properly for the first time. “I’m with you…”
Her words struck him, moved him to his heart. But he didn’t know if he could trust her, but she asked him to come closer. Slowly he approached, cautious after the last time she’d attacked him.
Then she lurched forward and kissed him. A deep and incredible kiss that was full of passion and full of emotion. After only a second of hesitation, Sergio responded, kissing her back deeply and fully, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her body closer to his as their kisses intensified. With her arms still tied high above her head, she couldn’t reciprocate his actions, but she pressed her body against his, kissing him back with everything she had as he urged her closer towards himself. As they kissed, they practically devoured each other: mouths and lips moving wildly and frantically together, tongues dancing and invading each other’s mouths. The emotion of the their mutual love cascading out like a torrent, both wanting and needing each other urgently.
Finally parting, both breathless and gasping for air, they gazed into each other’s eyes and Sergio knew with absolute certainty: this was it - she was really with him and she would never betray him. Ever.
Sergio let her go, then grabbed the key to the cuffs that were holding her wrists. He unlocked them, causing her arms to suddenly fall to her sides after being tied up for so long. Sergio watched as Raquel rubbed her sore wrists and instinctively, he reached out and slowly moved his own hand along her red, raw skin, soothing it. Raquel raised her eyes to lock with his.
“Sergio…” she breathed, not quite knowing what to say as she still gazed into his eyes. She wanted to tell him everything that was in her heart, but words escaped her.
“It’s alright,” he whispered back. “I know.” At once, he kissed her again and now that her arms were free, Raquel was able to wrap her arms around his neck, her fingers entwining in his dark locks as they kissed, their tongues swirling together as they deepened their kiss. Once again finally parting, they each gave the other a little smile before Sergio inclined his head towards the door.
“You need to go,” he told Raquel. “Angel is waiting.”
“I know,” Raquel nodded and she took a step towards the door before she hesitated and turned back to Sergio. “I’m not ever going to see you again, am I?”
Sergio shook his head sadly. “No…” He knew that within minutes, the gang would start bringing the money through the tunnel from the Royal Mint of Spain and as quickly as they could, they would be escaping the country.
Raquel swallowed hard and looked down, reluctantly accepting his answer, wishing things could have been different between them. Sergio saw the dejected look on her face and before he could stop himself, he said, “Unless…”
“Unless?” Raquel repeated, raising her eyes to meet his.
“Come with me,” Sergio asked seriously, taking one step towards her and taking her hands in his.
“Come with you?” Raquel repeated in disbelief. “No… that’s crazy…”
“What’s so crazy about it? We’re in love, Raquel… We dreamt about it together, remember? Let’s escape together, escape the absolute shit of this corrupt government and society, escape everything… don’t you want to escape, Raquel? We could make a wonderful life together…”
Raquel opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out. It was tempting, so tempting. But all the reasons why not overcame the reasons why. She shook her head. “No, Sergio. I can’t. I want to, but I can’t. I have my mom and my daughter to think about, and I can’t go on the run with you and leave them behind.”
“We can take them with us. I promised you before that we could. Cross an ocean with a daughter and a grandmother? Raise your daughter at the beach…? It sounded nice, didn’t it?”
Raquel nodded, a tear slowly trickling down her cheek. “It did and a few days ago, I couldn’t think of doing anything else, it sounded so wonderful.” But then she shook her head. “I’m sorry, Sergio. I can’t. I know you’re right about the injustices and corruption in the world, and I want to fight it just as much as you do. But I can’t just leave with you. My place is here. I think I can fight the injustices better here as a cop where I can make a real difference, than become a criminal on the run with you.”
Sergio looked at her hard, wanting to make some sort of rebuttal to try and convince her. But then he thought better of it. Reluctantly, he nodded. “I understand. It’s too much to ask of you…”
Raquel nodded slowly. “It is a shame though. I think we had something really special. We were pretty good together. You’re right, we could have had a wonderful life together, if it wasn’t for the obvious…”
Sergio couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. “That I’m a criminal mastermind, and you’re a cop?”
“Yeah, something like that,” Raquel laughed too. There was a pregnant pause before Raquel said, “I really should go.”
“You should,” Sergio agreed. But as she turned again, about to leave, he called out to her again. “Wait.” Raquel froze before twisting her head back over her shoulder to look at him.
“Maybe there’s another way…” he said, the words tumbling out of his mouth, while his brain was racing to keep up.
“Another way for what?”
“To be together.” He took a step towards her again and once again took her hands in his. “You won’t have to leave the police, your family or your life here. It’s crazy, a totally crazy idea and I can’t believe I’m even suggesting it. But if you’re willing and you’re prepared to take the risk, it might work.”
Raquel frowned. “What? Sergio, I don’t understand…”
He looked intensely into her eyes. “Meet me. Once all of this is over. We can meet in secret, to have time to work this out, to find a way forward for us… if we can.”
Raquel opened her mouth, about to protest, yet the idea somehow seemed tantalizing. She knew with absolute certainty: She wanted to meet up with him again. She could feel her heart starting to race. “Tell me,” she whispered, wanting to know more.
Sergio nodded faintly, his mind whirring as his new plan was coming together. “You’ll leave here now and go to Angel in the hospital. I don’t know… keep him from talking to the police; from telling anyone where I am for as long as you can. But I suspect at some point you’ll be tracked down then you’ll be arrested and accused of conspiracy with me. Now Raquel, this is important if you’re going to save yourself. Eventually you’ll have to co-operate with them. You’ll have to tell them exactly what they want to know, otherwise, they’ll threaten you with anything and everything they can think of: with taking your daughter away, with losing your job, with jail… So you must co-operate. All I’ll ask of you is to hold out as long as you can before you reveal this location to give me and my gang enough time to escape.”
Raquel nodded slowly as Sergio continued. “After this is over, they’ll be some sort of inquiry into the heist and you’ll be questioned about your involvement in everything – from the decisions with the hostages, the negotiations, and most especially your relationship with me. Hold nothing back, except what has gone on here between us just now.”
“What then?” Raquel asked.
“They’ll have no choice but to clear you. You can blame it all on me if you like – I played you and deceived you, but it wasn’t your fault. Even with the various mistakes and errors of judgment along the way, they won’t have enough to fire you. I predict the most you’ll get is a suspension which will probably be served in the time period from now until the inquest.” Raquel nodded. She knew the police protocols as well as Sergio, if not better and she knew what he said was true.
“And then?” she asked.
“Well, after the inquest – I suspect it’ll take three or four months at least, you’ll request some time off, a much needed vacation after all the stress of the heist and the following inquest. You’re a workaholic, Raquel, you rarely take time off and so you have a countless number of annual leave days stored up, so many that they won’t be able to deny you some time off. Take a holiday, just on your own. Time for yourself. You need it, you deserve it…”
Raquel nodded, seeing where this was going. “So how do I find you?” she asked, her lips curling slightly, the thought of finding him and seeing again seemed so enticing.
Sergio gave her a sly smile. “I’ve already left you a way to find me…”
Raquel narrowed her eyes, trying to work out what he was meaning and until suddenly a memory stirred.
“Raquel, sooner or later all this will end, then you and I will meet on a beach, but you have to choose which one.”
“Ok, I just didn’t have any time. How about we choose together?”
“That sounds great.”
“Choose one.”
“Such a responsibility. Ahh, let’s see… Palawan.”
At once, things clicked into place. “The postcards?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper. “Palawan?”
But Sergio shook his head. “Not Palawan, not this time, but you’re on the right track. Go and check them out. I hope you haven’t thrown them away.”
She shook her head; she hadn’t thrown them away. Even though she’d been furious at him when she’d discovered that Salva was actually Sergio Marquina, the Professor, she’d kept the postcards safe in a book in her bedroom – a memory of the life they’d dreamed of together before her world was shattered. But she knew without a doubt that she’d be using them to find Sergio as soon as she could.
“I’ll be keeping tabs on you here,” he continued to explain, “and I’ll be waiting for you when you come to find me.”
Raquel gave a small smile. But then a thought crossed her mind. “But how do I hide where I’m going? I may be tracked. I don’t want to lead them to you.”
“Don’t hide it. The best thing you can do it to be honest and upfront about everything you do and everywhere you go, therefore you won’t raise any suspicion. Hiding in plain sight is the best tactic to avoid detection, funnily enough. Let me do the hiding. I’m good at it.”
Suddenly, the phone on Sergio’s desk rang, rousing them both from their thoughts and back to the present. Sergio glanced towards his desk quickly then back to her. “That’ll be the gang. I need to take it. And you need to go.”
Raquel agreed but before she turned to leave, she flung herself at Sergio once more, kissing him deeply. He grasped her tight as he kissed her back passionately.
“Sergio,” Raquel said breathlessly as they parted. “I want you to know something. Whatever I say about you publicly, is not what I think privately. Don’t believe anything I say about you in the media. Just know that I love you too and I’m with you, no matter what.” She kissed him again fiercely, like her life depended on it. “I’ll see you when I can,” she breathed as she pulled out of his embrace, then she was gone.