Raphael laughed bitterly. “Oh, Charlie retaliated alright. He had people find the crew who’d smashed up the first gambling den and took his girls. Those guys were beaten to death. And then Kestrel burnt an entire brothel to the ground, killing about five of Charlie’s girls and injuring or scaring about 10. It’s been a back and forth for months now.” Raphael said.

  “And the others?” Lucian asked after a second, as if he was testing Raphael.

  “Dante’s been robbed a couple times. Some of her trucks and boats exploded mid-transportation. Though it’s risky to go against someone who deals with weapons for a living. As for Weston…” Raphael put his hands behind his head and whistled. “Kestrel’s just baiting him. Leaving dead initiates along the streets, attacking civilians who live in Weston’s territory, burning down businesses, sabotaging his transport jobs. Just to name a few.”

  “But why is Charlie the main target?” Jocco asked, his hand gripping his forearm.

  “He’s the easiest one.” Lucian said before Raphael could even open his mouth. “Dante’s an arms dealer and arguably the most terrifying person in the city, and Weston’s too involved with everyone else’s business. It’d be dangerous to make too much of an enemy out of him.” Lucian propped his elbows on the table. “Charlie isn’t known for his violence. He’s a businessman, albeit corrupt. He’s the least likely to retaliate in a way that would cripple the Lorenzo Cartel.”

  “So, he really is a nuisance to the city then.” Hunter looked at Raphael, frowning while opening and closing her fist as if she were about to punch somebody. “This isn’t just some stupid ploy so Weston can get his revenge.”

  Raphael shook his head. “Lucian, I think if you talked to Charlie and Dante, you’d learn they probably agreed to Kestrel’s assassination. His drug market has rapidly expanded outside the city since he became a Crime Lord, and not in a strategic way either. If he continues, not only could he start a war between the Crime Lords, he could be the final reason law enforcement decides to send a big group of soldiers with big guns and handcuffs to take down Othloh.”

  The room was silent while Lucian processed everything his hacker and informant had provided him. Kestrel was bad news for Othloh, but Lucian also didn’t like taking sides against a particular Crime Lord—it was bad for business. But if the Lorenzo Cartel had become this destructive, then it was Occisor’s duty as the sole “peacekeepers” of the city to set the balance.

  “Well, it seems as if we’ve got a lot of work to do.” Lucian said as he unlaced his fingers and opened up a notebook on his desk. “Raphael, I’ll need all the information you’ve gathered on Kestrel and the Lorenzo Cartel so far.”

  Raphael grinned and mock saluted, “Yes sir.”

  “Wait,” Hunter said, her eyes shifting between Lucian and Raphael, “we’re taking the job?”

  “Of course we are!” Lucian said as he started scribbling in his notebook. “I just wanted to make sure you all understood why.” He looked up at Hunter and grinned.

  Lucian Crow rarely showed any real expressions. He almost always looked like a stone wall and Hunter had a hard time reading him. But when he smiled, and it was barely a smile, it sent chills down her spine. It was a terrifying thing to see. Lucian’s grins were sadistic and dangerous. It made Hunter think of a shark watching a school of fish fall into a perfectly designed trap.

  “What’s our window of opportunity?” Lucian asked Raphael.

  Raphael scratched his chin before grimacing. “Not big. He’s leaving on a trip in about three weeks to meet up with some foreign criminal groups. I think he’s planning another expansion. It’s not totally reliable, but I’ve heard rumours he’s meeting up with some Russian arms dealers.”

  Lucian frowned only slightly before it vanished. Jocco and Hunter tensed at the idea of pulling off an assassination in so little time, but Scarlet seemed rather unfazed.

  “What are we starting with?” Scarlet asked as she cracked her fingers, smirking while she watched Lucian work.

  “I’ll need you to visit Mr. Fulani’s building to do some research.” Lucian said without looking up.

  “I’ve got some information about the interworking’s of that, but it’s a bit dated and I’ve got intel that says he’s updated his security.” Raphael said and shrugged. “It shouldn’t be too hard.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Scarlet said. She stretched her arms above her head and spun on her heels. “I’m going to head home to start getting ready. Raph, do you mind sending me some of that info too?”

  “Sure thing.”

  “Hunter, I’ll need you on stand-by just in case something goes wrong while Scarlet’s inside.” Lucian said, briefly breaking away from his writing to look at Hunter, who nodded. “Now hurry off. We have a busy couple of days and a short window to accomplish this.”

  Chapter 2

  The Lorenzo Cartel’s main base was hidden in a tall, grey, five-story building with dark tinted windows. It was impossible to see anything through them. It was at the heart of Kestrel’s territory in a high traffic area, despite most of the nearby buildings being under construction. The Lorenzo Cartel hid behind a pharmaceutical company called LC Pharmaceuticals. Scarily enough, they did provide medicine to local drug stores and clinics.

  “Are you just going to stare at the building or are you going in?” Raphael’s voice suddenly crackled through Hunter’s earpiece. She frowned and discretely glared at the empty, half-finished building across the street where he’d set up his station.

  “I’m mapping out exits.” She said under her breath as she looked over all the tinted windows. She couldn’t see any movement inside the building, and it was frustrating.

  “Sure.” He said, unconvinced.

  She sighed through her nose and crossed the street. Instead of going through the front door, she circled around the building and slid into an empty back alley. She found the locked back door. Overflowing trash bins that hadn’t been emptied in weeks hid her from anyone who walked by. She could still hear the traffic from the main street.

  “I turned the alarm off.” He said as she pulled out her lockpicking tools from her pouch. The lock itself wasn’t anything fancy or complicated, and it only took her about 10 seconds to get the door unlocked.

  “Is Scarlet in yet?” She asked. She closed the door and locked it again. She was standing at the base of the emergency staircase. There was a small camera pointed at the door, but the light was red.

  “I see you.” He said, and Hunter could imagine him waving at the camera. She flipped him off. “That’s not nice.” He laughed. “Yeah, she got through security no problem and is just arriving at her desk now. By the way, what happened to the employee who was actually supposed to come into work?”

  Hunter smiled as she pulled out a janitor’s uniform from her backpack and quickly pulled it over her black leggings and long-sleeved black shirt. “She’s fine.” She said off-handily, shoving on a navy-blue baseball cap with the pharmaceutical company’s logo on it. “She’ll wake up in six hours.”

  “That’s not at all reassuring.” He deadpanned.

  Scarlet was a master of disguise. While Hunter preferred blending into her surroundings, Scarlet created personas and carved out her own place. Scarlet usually hated impersonating real people, but they only had time to steal an identity.

  Lidiya Volkov grew up in Russia and recently moved to Othloh along with a handful of other people from Eastern Europe the Lorenzo Cartel smuggled in.

  Scarlet had gone into the washroom at the Crow’s Nest with short red hair, tattooed skin, purple eyes, and drawn-in eyebrows, but came out with flawlessly braided long, blonde hair, dark blue eyes, inkless skin and blonde eyebrows. She’d used makeup to alter her face. It was eerie how similar the two looked.

  She had a beige-coloured bodysuit that covered all her tattoos. It blended seamlessly with her skin. Whatever tattoos curled around her fingers or peeked along her neck, Scarlet covered with makeup. Without her tattoos, barely anyone recognized her.

  “Please stop talking unnecessarily.” Scarlet said, her voice coming through the earpiece. She was using a very realistic Russian accent. It wasn’t an accent she used often. She found it made her sound angry.

  “Yeah, yeah, sure.” Raphael muttered. “Are you on your floor yet?”

  “Yes.” Scarlet replied. Hunter tuned them out as she pulled an unmarked white card from the front of her bag.

  She left the emergency staircase, pulling her hat low to avoid any eye contact and walked into the main lobby. It was relatively empty with only a couple bored security guards and a preppy brunette behind a desk. Hunter didn’t pay them any mind and they returned the favour. The security guards only quickly glanced at her while the brunette didn’t even look up from her computer.

  “For a fake pharmaceutical company, their security on the main floor is really lacking.” Hunter commented as she pulled the generic white card from her pocket, making sure to keep it hidden from the security guards and the cameras.

  She’d stolen more than Lidiya’s clothes, perfume, and accessories. She’d also taken Lidiya’s key card and given it to Scarlet. Raphael had copied the key card onto a blank one and given it to Hunter. Unfortunately, Lidiya’s pass only had access to the first three floors, leaving the research labs, Kestrel’s office, and the main headquarters locked.

  “Yeah, they don’t really care about the first few floors since they’re just for appearance. Trying to get to the fourth floor is when it gets fun.” Raphael chuckled, but he didn’t sound amused. “Your janitor’s outfit won’t cut it up there.”

  “Try not to kill anyone.” Scarlet added, and Hunter frowned. She felt the weight of the knife strapped around her thigh and the gun she’d hidden in her bag.

  “No promises.” Hunter said after a few seconds.

  The door buzzed and she casually pushed it open, forcing herself to keep looking straight ahead. Once the door closed behind her, she dropped her bag and pulled out her lockpick again. The majority of the janitorial doors had key locks. She made a show of pretending to fiddle with the fake key ring she’d clipped onto her belt, looking at one before shaking her head and putting it back. Raphael had shown her the angles of the cameras and knew how to pander to them. She heard the lock click open. She pushed open the door and turned on the lights before shutting the door behind her.

  “Are these cameras still going?” She asked.

  “That was quite the show you put on. Bravo.” Raphael teased. She could even hear him clapping. “And yes, they are. Can’t have you coming through the door in one camera and disappearing in the next. That would be suspicious.”

  She muttered something about continuity before she took a quick look around. There were no cameras in the room, which she was glad to see. Her eyes then landed on a janitor trolley filled with indistinguishable cleaning products. She threw her backpack in the large yellow garbage bag attached to the trolley and started filling the blue trolley with cleaning supplies.

  “Okay,” Hunter said after a minute, “I’m going up.”

  “Have fun.” He said, knowing she hated it when people wished her luck.

  She wheeled her trolley out of the janitor’s closet and into the staff elevator. She pressed the button to get to the third floor, keeping her head low. She tuned out Raphael’s instructions and Scarlet’s banter. While they were working their way into LC Pharmaceutical’s computers, Hunter was trying to find a way onto the fourth floor and, if she was lucky, to the fifth floor.

  According to Raphael, there was a private elevator that led to the fourth floor and stairs leading to the fifth, but both were only accessible with specific key cards. The other method was coming in from the roof. Though she liked the idea of climbing down instead of up, it would be hard to get on top of the building in the middle of the day without being spotted. And until she could find a way to scale the five-story building and cut through the window, she wasn’t using that method either.

  “I’m on the third floor.” Hunter said as the elevator doors opened. She wheeled the cart out of the elevator, pulled out the white key card, and unlocked the door leading into the third-floor offices.

  “We’re almost done with the computers. Scarlet, see if you can get any information about Kestrel’s habits from the other workers.” Raphael said.

  “Copy.” Scarlet replied.

  Hunter looked around as she pushed her trolley. She didn’t see Scarlet anywhere, but the entire floor was divided into small cubicles made from thin felt walls. Well-dressed men and women were busy either on computers, phones, or walking around with stacks of papers and folders clutched against their chest. None of them paid her any mind as she walked past.

  She pushed her trolley to the far-right side of the U-shaped floor toward the windows and pretended to wipe them down as she looked around. There was a large wooden door in the middle of the far wall. She noticed a key card scanner beside the doorknob and two cameras on either side of the door. One was facing the office space while the other faced the door.

  “Scarlet, ask people what’s behind the wooden door.” Hunter said as she moved closer to what she believed was the fourth-floor entrance. “And I’m going to need a list of people with access to the upper floors.”

  “I have access to their general employee list thanks to Scarlet, but finding people with special clearance is going to take me some time.” Raphael said.

  “They think it’s a break room for security guards.” Scarlet said after a few minutes. “Though they’ve noticed certain people go in and not come back until the end of the day.”

  “The only security guards I’ve seen so far were the ones on the first floor.” Hunter said as she continued cleaning the windows, scanning the entire floor for someone who looked like they worked security. “And I don’t think they count.”

  “Kestrel is oddly very subtle with his security, seeing how he handles business.” Raphael joked.

  “I’m going down to level two.” Scarlet said, “People up here don’t even recognize the name Kestrel. They think I’m looking for someone who’s been fired.”

  “What?” Hunter’s hand stopped out of shock. She forced her brain to continue moving her arm in a circular motion. “How do they not know their own employer?”

  “No, it makes sense.” Raphael said, sighing. “He hires foreigners who just want to escape their countries and make a dime. They stay completely oblivious to the corrupt company they work for. After all, these people are just the face of the organization, they aren’t real members of the Lorenzo Cartel. The real ones are on those restricted floors.”

  “I’m in the staircase now.” Scarlet said.

  Hunter was about to start emptying garbage cans, hoping there was nothing but paper inside of them, when an unfamiliar voice filtered through the earpieces. “Lidiya! I’ve been looking everywhere for you. You didn’t come for our lunch date; I thought you might be sick.” A muffled male voice said.

  “Oh, this isn’t good.” Raphael said worriedly. “Hunter…”

  “I’m on it.” She said. She abandoned her idea of emptying garbage cans and pushed her trolley toward the elevator. She made sure to keep her pace steady, not wanting to attract any attention.

  “Um, excuse me.” Hunter’s head twitched toward the voice and her eyes glared at the petite girl who’d stopped her. She was a head shorter than Hunter and had long, thick, black hair, big brown eyes, and caramel-coloured skin. The employee’s eyes widened when she met Hunter’s gaze as she flinched away.

  “Yes?” Hunter asked through gritted teeth, her hands gripping the trolley so tightly her knuckles were white.

  “Remember, no killing.” Raphael said, his voice calm and soothing.

  “There’s no paper towel in the ladies’ washroom.” She sputtered, her hands tucked close to her chest as she leaned away from Hunter.

  “I’ll let someone know.” Hunter said before walking out of the office and abandoning the trolley as soon as the door closed behind her.

  “I’m bringing the elevator up for you now.” Raphael said. The doors opened a few seconds later as Hunter pulled her backpack from the trolley. She walked in and casually pressed the level two button and waited for the doors to close.

  “Kill the cameras.” She said.

  “Right.”

  “I’m sorry, I must have forgotten.” Scarlet said calmly. She excelled at talking herself out of bad situations. But this was different. She was pretending to be someone else, and she’d had so little time to perfect it. Anyone who knew Lidiya well enough would be able to see the cracks rather quickly.

  “What’s wrong with your voice? Did you catch a cold?”

  Hunter pulled her bag open, tore off the janitor costume, and tossed it in the corner. She ruffled through her bag for her gun and clipped the holster to her belt and tucked a knife into her boot. From the bottom of her bag, she pulled out a black mask. It always reminded Hunter of the plague mask doctors used to wear, if the mask was missing the top-half.

  “Ah shit.” Raphael suddenly said, making Hunter frown as she screwed on a silencer to her gun.

  “What?”

  “Lidiya’s boyfriend is one of Kestrel’s guys. And not the grunt type, the shoot-first-ask-questions-later type.”

  As if on cue, Hunter heard Scarlet scream, followed by a very angry male voice. “Who are you? What have you done to Lidiya?”

  “Position compromised.” Scarlet said, as if Hunter and Raphael hadn’t already realized. “This is why I hate impersonations.”

  The elevator doors opened just as Hunter had secured the mask over her face. She grabbed her bag and threw it over her shoulder before standing just outside the stairwell.

  “Are they still in there?” She asked as she pulled the white card out of her pocket.

  “Yes, but he’ll be on the stairs above you. Some of the other security guards are starting to move around, so you probably have about two minutes before your main exit is gone.”

  “I guess it’s downhill from here.” She sighed before she swiped her key card and pushed the door open.

 

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