Runa pretended to look towards a shop window to fix her hair, then used the reflection to check out the café on the other side of the street. She kept her voice low.

"Yea... she seems pretty interested. You might have picked yourself up an admirer, Frank. Could be a problem if she's noticed you checking out the house and then the place gets robbed. I think you've got two options here: the easy way or the hard way.

Easy way: I disappear and you go over to the cafe. Explain that I'm a friend's sister and you just took me out as a favor- I dunno, any story you want. Then lay it on her thick. Not sure what kind of girl she is: you can take her out to dinner or charm her, take her a hotel and give her the business, whatever. Get her on your side so she won't be a problem.

Hard way, you either threaten to hurt her, hurt her, or make her disappear. Depends on how much she knows or what she thinks she knows."

She glanced back to Frank.

"Either way, we can meet back here at 1:30. Hang around a bit, make sure we're clear, then hit the house."

Francesco glanced at Runa in surprise. The "hard way" hit him shockingly.

"Don't worry about her. She doesn't even know my name or anything about me. I'll take the easy way, at least I can enjoy it" he completed, with a smile. He stopped and stood in front of Runa, aware that Helen was still watching them, then he embraced her in an extremely fraternal way. "I'll be at that first alley down the street. Bring that gat of yours, uh? We never know."

Then he let Runa go and crossed the street, walking smoothly towards the Cafe. He sat on the usual table, and the waitress, Helen, immediately came to him. Francesco was good with women, it couldn't be denied. He quickly convinced her that the girl she had seen was just a friend of his sister who worked nearby. 

He drank his cup of coffee, as usual. Occasionally, Helen would come over to his table, to ask if he needed anything, and chat a little. Francesco asked her out one of these days. She said she would think. When he decided it was time to go - he still had a house to rob that night and should get ready for it -, his bill came with an address. Come and visit me one of these days he could read in beautiful letters. He smiled, left the money on the table and stucked the bill on his pocket before leaving. I will, girl, I definitely will, he thought, slyly.

The afternoon went away quickly and Francesco arrived at his apartment when the night was beginning, with plenty of time to get ready. He chose a dark heavy coat, which gave his body a more robust figure than it really was and donned a beret that was definitely bigger than his head. He sat by the window of his apartment and stayed there for some time, smoking and looking out into the street, his mind distant. After a while, he made a mental note that he needed to get a radio, and really soon.

A lot of cigarettes later, Francesco got up, went to his closet and picked up his pocket knife and a lockpick. The ideal kit for that night.

Some time later, some minutes before the 1:30, he arrived at the agreed location, entering in the alley through a parallel street. The alley was quite dark and Francesco leaned against a wall, careful, to be as silent as possible. Interestingly, he noticed that he was not nervous, at least not as much as the last time.

The street was very quiet. He just had to wait for Runa.

"Heya Frank."

Runa's soft voice floated down from above him. Francesco glanced up to see a pair of green eyes looking down at him from the fire escape. With a grin, Runa slipped over the edge and landed as silently as any feline. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail to stay out of her way, and she'd changed into a sleek black shirt, pants, and leather boots worn so well that they wouldn't squeak. She also had a black satchel over her shoulder with a revolver inside; her knife was on her belt. 

"How'd it go with your girl? Ready to get this done?"

Upon seeing Runa, Francesco's excitement began to rise, the adrenaline flooding because the time to do the job was approaching. He rubbed his hands togethe unconsciously.

"It's fine, the girl is fine. We won't need to worry about her. I'm ready. Are you?" Runa nodded silently. "Count one minute and then follow me."

After saying it, he turned and started walking with firm and fast steps, leaving the dark alley to the sidewalk. As he walked, his eyes quietly scanned the street and the windows of houses and establishments. The one minute thing was something he planned on his way from the apartment to the alley. It seemed like a good idea as it would offer Runa some advantage to act if something happened in that first part of the job.

He quickly reached the steps that led to the front door of the house and, without hesitation, went up and kneeled in front of the door. In the blink of an eye, the lockpick was in his hand and was trying to open the lock in the most silent way. He had checked the type of lock earlier and it was not supposed to be hard to open.

With relief, he heard the lock spin.

Carefully, he pushed the door just far enough for him to get through and entered. The closed curtains only allowed beams of moonlight to enter the room, making it very poorly lit.

Runa should be almost there by now, he mentally calculated, keeping the door ajar.

Runa usually blended in by playing a role, but she was almost as adept sticking to the shadows. She made no sound as she followed Francesco, who was kneeling down and picking the lock.

She glanced left and right and, not seeing anyone, darted forward into the house.

The place certainly seemed to be the home of someone wealthy. Already, she saw a couple pieces of value that could be fenced. But the real payday- the jewelry- would almost certainly be upstairs.

Runa closed the door behind her, then looked at Francesco with questioning eyes. Should they grab some of the stuff downstairs or look around? Or just head right up?

Francesco closed the door silently and turned around. As if he could read Runa's mind, he pointed the stairs with his head. He was not willing to risk too much time in that house. Instead, he wanted to go straight to the pot of gold. Down there, by the moonlight that invaded the cracks in the curtains, he could see a cupboard full of silver, fine stuff. They could pick them up on their way out, maybe.

Just when he was almost reaching the stairs, Francesco felt something under his foot. Immediately, he heard a long and painful meeeeow, and a frightened cat ran through the house, disappearing into the darkness of the other room, his growl becoming more and more distant. 

A chill ran down his spine. He turned to Runa, wide-eyed, as if asking what to do next.

"Thomas?", a sleepy but sweet voice echoed from upstairs, and three seconds later a light went on, escaping through the half-open door of the room. What a fucking light sleeper old woman, Francesco thought.

He then started running up the stairs, on impulse, without even waiting for Runa. The little old lady was adjusting her glasses on her face when she opened the door fully only to find the figure of Francesco standing in front of her. Before she could scream, Francesco was all over her, his arm wrapped around the poor lady's neck and the other hand covering her mouth so that the best she could do was very muffled moans.

Runa froze when the cat made a noise. She looked up at the stairs as the old woman's voice sounded out, then Francesco charged up. 

Runa followed close behind, entering the room shortly after Francesco.

Runa pulled the woman's glasses off her face and tossed them away, then held a knife under her throat- a safe enough distance away, but close enough to be threatening. Her voice practically growled as she tried to intimidate the old woman.

"Don't make a noise above a whisper. Who's Thomas?"

The old woman was terrified. Her bulging eyes showed something between dread and an imminent urge to cry. Francesco loosened her neck a little when he noticed that she was beginning to suffocate. Upon hearing Runa's question, she answered in a whisper.

"T-thomas is the name of m-my cat. I called his n-name without thinking...", she said, in a tearful voice.

Francesco kept his eyes on Runa, watching her reactions to what the woman was saying. He used his free hand to reach for his own knife in his pocket. Mrs. Roberts' room was much more illuminated by moonlight than the room below and he could see a heavy dressing table on a wall beside the bed. There was a box, similar to a jewelry stand on it. He pointed to it with his knife.

"I think our prize is over there. I'll keep the lady quiet."

Who the fuck names a cat Thomas? With a shake of her head, Runa followed Francesco's knife to the jewelry box. She cracked it open, seeing enough rubies and emeralds to plenty justify the trip so far. Clicking it shit, she slid the whole box into her satchel, then grabbed a couple loose pieces from the dressing table as well. Glancing around, she saw a wedding band on a nightstand. The bedroom was empty except for the three of them- she must be a widow. After a moment's hesitation, Runa left the wedding band. It wasn't worth much anyways.

"We're good. Time to get the hell out of here, I think."

Runa removed her knife.

"I'll cut all the phone wires on the way out and we'll grab anything else that looks like it'd fetch a good price. Time to move, though."

She glanced towards the woman.

"Look, you're gonna have a bad day, but you'll wake up tomorrow and things will be fine. Don't make it hard for us, or you might not wake up tomorrow at all."

As Runa finished talking to the old lady, Francesco threw her on the bed and she immediately raised her wrinkled hands, trying to protect herself.

"You heard her", he said to the old woman in a low but menacing tone, before leaving the room.

He then went downstairs, opened the cupboard where the silverware was and started throwing it in his own satchel.

After taking another look around while waiting for Runa, nothing caught his eye. He could see some pictures on the walls, but he didn't know if they were valuable and he didn't understand anything about art. In addition, they would be too clumsy to carry.

Runa finished pulling the valuables into the satchel, then moved toward the door, hissing at Francesco. Crossing the street would be the toughest part- but once they were there, they could disappear in the alleyways that they'd scouted out earlier. 

She glanced outside but couldn't see anything.

"Let's just go together. I've got a weird feeling."

Despite Runa's weird feelings, she and Francesco found no difficulty in leaving the place. They left through the same door they had entered and sneaked into the alley Runa had seen earlier, disappearing into the night. After making sure they were clear, both obviously headed to the Cat and Phoenix, to celebrate. It had been a very decent score, after all. Francesco knew a intermediary for the jewelry, and hopefully they would soon be seeing the color of money. 

~~.~~

When Thomas Roberts - guess what, Thomas was not a cat name, the cat was actually called Milo - arrived, there was already another vehicle on the scene. Mrs. Roberts, his mother, managed to ask for a neighbor's help - after recovering from the initial state of shock - who called the police immediately. There was already a patrol car not far from there, and they soon arrived to give Mrs. Roberts initial care and help.

Thomas barely waited for the car to stop before jumping and running towards his mother. He was a good boy, always had been. Still in his 30s, he was married and had a four-year-old daughter. The type of ideal male model: good son, good student, good husband and good father. Good cop, too. Too good to be true, some would think. He had joined the corporation at a very young age, following the footsteps of his late father - perhaps the only disgust he ever gave his mother.

The mother, Mrs. Roberts, was standing on the sidewalk, all wrapped up. The helping neighbor was at her side, with a hand on her shoulder. The other two officers were in front of her, one of them taking notes. Thomas ignored all of them and took his mother on his arms.

"Mom. Did they hurt you?"

The poor old woman allowed herself to fall into his arms, burying her face in his chest.

"Tommy, I thought they were going to kill me", she answered in tearful voice. Obviously it would take her a long time to fully recover from that trauma, the first of that kind in her long life.

Thomas bit his lip in anger, then looked at the two fellow officers at his side. His own partner, Albert, was still standing behind them. Thomas was well regarded and well connected in the police force, and everyone knew that he would soon be promoted.

"Steve. Mark." He nodded at them. "Thanks for the prompt support. I'll take over from here. You can continue to patrol, and please, keep both eyes open. I doubt that these...individuals are still around now, but if you see anything suspicious, don't let it slip away."

They both nodded back at Thomas.

"Of course, Thomas. Mrs. Roberts, everything is gonna be alright, don't worry. Good night", one of them said.

"And, Thomas, anything you need, just give us a shout", said the other, entering the police car.

Thomas watched the car slide down the street, before turning to the ones left - his mother, his partner and the neighbor.

"Let's go inside" he said to his mother, as he started taking her by the arm, carefully. "And Mr. Jameson, I also want to thank you, very much , for helping my mother tonight. I won't forget it. My mother is lucky to have such a good neighbor. I'll take care of her now, thank you, and have a good night" he said to the neighbor, clearly but politely dismissing him.

Inside the house, his partner, Albert, went to the kitchen to make tea for the old woman while Thomas sat with her in the living room. With the tact and delicacy that only experience brings, he made his own mother relive her moments of terror, but without putting too much pressure on her. The partner listened attentively from the kitchen, both officers looking for signs and details that would help them identify that "thief couple" - as Mrs. Roberts described them.

A couple of hours later, Thomas and Albert were already patrolling again and discussing the case. They had managed to extract a description of the said couple from Mrs. Roberts, nothing of much help if they were being honests, but something to start with, nonetheless. Thomas had not left his mother's house before making a promise: he would arrest those responsible for that.

And anyone who knew him would not doubt it.