A Murder's Hunt, page 6
“Well,” Lucian said as he looked around the room, “this should do just fine.”
“So, what’s next?” Scarlet asked as she threw her head back and sighed heavily. “We’ve got nothing right now.”
“I have most of the information with me right now,” Raphael said, motioning to the laptop bag he always carried with him, “and we’ve got stuff back at my house. I can get some of my people to pick it up.”
“And like I said back at Josephine’s,” Hunter added, “most of the plan is done. I’ll just need you to pick up some stuff up for me.” She said, looking pointedly at Scarlet.
Scarlet pouted. “Why me?”
“You’re the best negotiator.” Hunter pointed out “And if I sent Raphael to Dante, she’d just demand more secrets in return.” She added. She cracked her knuckles and looked over everyone in the room. “We’ve got about four days to plan this. We don’t have much time to waste. We have a building to break into and a man to kill.”
“I mean, if he was kind enough to knock on our front door, the least we can do is knock back.” Raphael said, a sinister smirk pulling at his lips.
“Of course,” Lucian said, chuckling. “Because at Occisor, we’re considerate people.”
Chapter 5
Hunter’s favourite time was in the middle of the night. She loved how all the colours were muted and the only thing illuminating the streets were flickering lamp posts in desperate need of maintenance. It was easier to hide and go unnoticed once the sun set. In a city with so many tall buildings, it was hard to see the stars, but she could see them through the clouds gliding lazily through the sky, obscuring the moonlight, from on top of Kestrel’s building.
“I’m in position.” She said over the earpiece as she tightened her harness; triple-checking to make sure the rope was properly secured before adjusting her mask.
“You’re clear.” Raphael said after about thirty seconds. He was again in one of the adjacent abandoned buildings with Jocco.
“I unhooked the zip line so Jocco can pull it back whenever.” She said while walking to the very edge of the LC Pharmaceuticals building so her toes were off the edge and turned her back to the city.
“I’ll let him know.” Raphael said.
She took a deep breath and fell backwards, holding tightly to the rope. She stuck out her hands to stop herself from slamming into the concrete wall. She slowly lowered herself past the fifth floor until she was dangling in front of the fourth-floor office windows. She shifted her body to hang upside down and pulled out a laser from her bag. She turned the laser on and started cutting through the glass.
“Is Kestrel still in his office?” She asked after about five minutes. She was halfway through cutting the circle.
“No one’s seen him leave the building yet. He’s been staying at the office late most nights in preparation for the Russian meeting.”
“Great.” She muttered. She spent another five minutes finishing the circle before pulling an industrial suction cup from her bag and using it to carefully remove the glass without shattering it. She secured the suction cup and slowly pulled it away from the perfect circle she’d carved, removing the glass so she could slide through.
“Jocco says you’re clear to drop it.” Raphael said.
She nodded to herself before releasing the glass form the suction cup. She was high enough that she didn’t hear the glass shatter when it hit the pavement.
While still hanging upside down, she grabbed the edge of the circle she’d carved and pulled herself forward. She moved her gloved hands higher up on the interior of the window until she’d pulled her body through the hole. After she got her legs through, she unhooked her harness and let it hang outside and put the suction cup back in her bag.
She took a second to breathe and look around. She was in an empty office, perched on an organized wooden desk. In front of her were a door, a wall made of frosted windows, and a small camera in the far-left corner. “Cameras are looped.” Raphael reassured her as she climbed off the desk and half crawled toward the door.
“Anyone outside?” She asked, trying to catch any movement from behind the forest glass.
“No, you’re clear.” He said. “Also, what happened to scaling the building being impossible?”
She unlocked the door and slowly opened it, looking left and right before she slithered out and quietly closed the door behind her. “That was during the day. And I didn’t think his roof would be so poorly protected.”
When they were reviewing the plans Raphael and Scarlet had stolen, he’d noticed there were no alarms on the roof.
“His cockiness is going to be the death of him.” He sighed sarcastically.
“That’s true.”
He snorted while she crept down the hallway. The upper floors had fewer security guards, but more biometric and key card locks. Though they’d been forced to finish their infiltration early, Raphael was able to get into some of their systems. He had access to the cameras and the elevators, though she’d have to get through the biometric and key card security on her own.
“Kestrel’s office is inside the lab, but there are two guys standing in front of the first door.” He said. “And you’ll need a handprint.”
The fourth floor of LC Pharmaceuticals was strangely laid out. On one side of the floor, there were five offices for the scientists working inside the lab, and on the other was the elevator to the third floor and a staircase leading to the fifth floor. The lab was in the middle of the room, behind thick walls and biometric security. There were no windows looking into the lab. The front doors were in direct view of the elevator doors but hidden from some the offices farther down the hall. Inside the lab was a second door leading to Kestrel’s office.
“This is going to be a pain.” Hunter muttered as she pulled out her knife and crept along the floor. “Scarlet still with Lucian?”
“Yep. They’re making sure the other Crime Lords are aware of what’s going on. They always want to be involved.” Raphael said and she could almost hear him rolling his eyes.
She reached the edge of the wall and carefully peeked around the corner. There were cameras in either corner, and two tall men standing stoically in front of a set of heavy metal doors. They looked much more refined than Weston’s guards. Their guns were tucked safely into their holsters. The man on the left had skin the colour of the midnight sky and obsidian black eyes. He was bald and looked vigilant. The second man yawned as he stretched his arms over his head. He had a gruff reddish-brown beard and long braided hair. He was the shorter of the two and was closest to Hunter.
She ducked back behind the wall and pulled the second knife from her boot.
“Cameras are looped. You’re good.” Raphael said.
She didn’t waste much time and silently sprinted toward the two security guards. The taller one noticed her first and, without blinking, turned to face her as he went to draw his gun. The second one, however, took a split second to stare wide-eyed at the masked figure in black running toward him.
She, however, was faster than both of them and threw her knife as the dark-skinned man wrapped his hand around the hilt of his gun. The knife wedged itself between his eyes and his fingers went limp, his gun falling out of the holster and onto the ground along with his body.
By the time the second security guard finally attempted to pull his gun, she was already in front of him. She flipped the knife in her hand so the blade was pointed outward before she slashed at him and slit his throat. The wide-eyed body tumbled to the ground, blood spilling and soaking into the carpet.
“Beautiful, as always.” Raphael said. She could hear him clapping through the earpiece. “Use your phone to scan their passes. I’ll let you know if they have clearance to get into the lab.”
Hunter quickly looked around to make sure no one else was on the floor with her. When she was satisfied, she crawled back over to the first security guard and rummaged through his pockets until she found his security pass.
She pulled her phone out of her bag and scanned the security pass. She looked at the door in front of her and grimaced. It was large, metallic, and looked very sturdy. Beside the handle, there was a place to scan the security pass and a fingerprint scanner. It would be very hard to break through without the proper security clearance.
“The pass you pulled is good. You won’t have to fake any fingerprints.” Raphael said.
She sighed in relief and crawled back toward the dead security guards. She grabbed the security guard’s wrist and pulled but he barely moved. She was dragging almost 260 pounds of dead weight and the younger security guard was in the way. She glared at the scene in front of her.
“If I cut off his hand, will it still work?” Hunter asked as she pushed the second security guard with her foot. He moved slightly, but not much.
“What?” Raphael asked, half-laughing in disbelief.
“Can I cut off his hand?”
“No! You can’t just—” He sighed. “It’ll take too long and it’s too messy. Drag the body. You’ll be fine.”
She glared at the camera and then at the body she was dragging. She hadn’t bothered to learn his name even though it was printed on the name tag. Sighing angrily through her nose, she gripped the collar of the security guard’s jacket and pulled as hard as she could.
She was strong for someone her size. She’d spent the majority of her childhood running through dangerous streets and jumping rooftops. As a mercenary, she spent a lot of time climbing buildings and hanging by her fingertips. Still, dragging a dead body was hard.
It took her over two minutes to drag the large body five feet. By the time she got the body close enough to put the hand on the scanner, she was annoyed and wanted to stab someone. She wasn’t breathing hard, as Raphael had pointed out she was strong enough, but she’d expended more effort than she wanted to.
“See? That wasn’t so hard.” He said.
“I’m going to stab you.” She said through gritted teeth. “I want to cut off his hand just to spite you.”
“Please don’t. That would waste so much time.”
Muttering to herself, she grabbed the security guard’s hand and placed it on the scanner before swiping the security pass. The door buzzed and she heard the lock click open. She pocketed the security card and slowly pushed the door open.
“There aren’t any cameras in this room. What are you seeing?” He asked.
The door closed softly and the little light pooling in from the hallway was abruptly cut off. “An empty drug lab.”
She pulled her gun out as she walked in further, looking around the dark room. Despite it being empty, there were dull overhead lights that gave the room an orange hue. She could make out cupboards along the walls and counters beneath them. In the middle of the room were two long tables filled with scientific equipment she didn’t recognize. As she breathed in the air, she was thankful for her mask. It minimized the sterile smell that lingered in the room.
In the far right corner, she spotted a door, but there wasn’t any light coming from within the room. She frowned as she crept forward, keeping low to the ground and her back toward the wall. “And a dark office.”
It was quiet over the earpiece.
“What do you mean ‘dark office’?” Raphael sounded calm, but she recognized the slight quiver of worry in his voice. It only came out when he was afraid his plan was in danger.
“Hold on.” She said, approaching the door cautiously. She noticed it wasn’t protected by biometric locks and pulled out her lockpick, ignoring Raphael’s pressing questions. After a few seconds, she heard the lock click. She took half a step back and pulled out a smoke grenade from her bag. She pulled the pin, opened the office door and threw it inside before ducking back behind the door.
Once she heard it go off, she pulled a pair of goggles from her bag, put them on, and rolled into the room. She hadn’t heard any gunfire, but not everyone was stupid enough to spray bullets in a large smoke cloud.
She barely stepped a foot in the room before something pierced the back of the neck and, in a few seconds, she crumpled to the ground. It felt as if her body was shutting down as she started to lose feeling in her legs and arms.
She couldn’t clearly see anyone through the smoke until a pair of black combat boots stepped in front of her face.
“Position compromised.” She whispered. Her body felt too heavy to move and she just looked up at the smoky figure. As the person got closer, she noticed he had a cloth wrapped around his mouth and wore gloves.
“What’s going on?” Raphael asked worriedly. She wanted to answer him, but she felt too tired.
Her eyelids grew heavy as the gloved hand grabbed the beak of her mask and pulled it off of her face. Though the smoke was clearing, her vision swam.
“A girl,” the gloved man said. “I never would’ve guessed Lucian’s favourite crow was a girl.”
Her eyes started to close involuntarily. She’d never been caught before and no one had ever seen the face behind the mask. If she ever got out of this alive, she’d have to kill everyone who was in the room with her.
“Hunter, answer me!” Raphael pleaded. Her thoughts were muddled, and she could barely put together a coherent sentence in her head.
She felt a hand grab the back of her neck and lift her head up. She forced her eyes open and looked straight at Kestrel Fulani. His profile was fuzzy and she could barely make out any details, but there was no one else it could be.
“Hunter Ross, it’s been such a long time.” She saw the blurry silhouette of Kestrel stand. “We’ll have to catch up later. I have more crows to catch.”
Her mouth opened slightly but she couldn’t form any words. She was so tired, and everything was heavy. Her eyes closed again, and she worried it could be for the last time.
Chapter 6
When Hunter woke up, she noticed her hands were bound behind her back and she was lying on the floor. Someone also stripped her of her weapons and equipment, including her earpiece and her mask. They’d left her clothes and her boots.
She couldn’t hear anyone and slowly opened her eyes to look around. She was in a windowless, grey room with hardwood floors. There was an empty bookshelf along the far wall and a tidy wooden desk with a computer on the other side of the room.
There was no one with her. And there were no cameras.
She lifted her upper body off the floor and brought her arms in front of her. She was still sitting on the floor when the door swung open and three men walked in.
She recognized the man in the middle instantly. She hadn’t seen Kestrel Fulani up close in many years, and, outside of a few grey hairs, he hadn’t changed much. His black hair was greased back and he seemed wide-awake for someone who’d most likely been up all night. He wore a nice black, silk vest with matching black pants, and his dark brown eyes sparkled with excitement as his eyes landed on Hunter. He grinned as he closed the door behind him.
“I’m surprised to see you’re awake. It’s barely been thirty minutes.” Kestrel walked farther into the room, keeping his distance from her.
She didn’t say anything and eyed the other two people who’d walked in. The older one had the same shoes as the person who’d pulled off her mask. She could now see he was a tall man with coffee-coloured skin and dark brown eyes. He had a snake tattoo on his bald head and symbols tattooed on his knuckles. The other man was younger and looked nervous. He had medium-length dirty blonde hair that was pulled back into a small ponytail. He looked like a lower ranked member, and Hunter had no idea why Kestrel had brought him.
“I always wondered who I’d find beneath that mask. Lucian and his mercenaries have always been a thorn in my side.” Kestrel leaned forward so his face was about a foot away from hers. “To think it would be Weston’s younger sister. I’m surprised; I didn’t know you worked for Lucian.”
She bared her teeth. “I’m not the same person I was ten years ago.”
He laughed. “Yes. I suppose you’ve graduated from being a petty thief.” He leaned back and pulled a gun from inside his jacket. “And now that I have you, you’ll answer a few of my questions.”
It was her turn to chuckle. “Good luck.”
His grin wavered and his eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Without looking away from her, he motioned for the tall, tattooed man to come closer. The tattooed man walked over while cracking his knuckles. She clenched and unclenched her fists. Whatever was coming was definitely going to hurt.
“Maybe we’ll soften you up just a little.” Kestrel said, just as a large fist hit Hunter across the face.
Her ears started ringing and her vision went dark for a second. Her jaw pulsed painfully and she gasped. Nothing was broken, but she could taste blood in her mouth.
She’d spent so long being invisible and avoiding people that she hadn’t been beaten to hell in a long time. The last time she could remember was before Weston started Minosea, before she’d become a mercenary, and just after Weston had killed their father. Her first few years as a young orphan in the streets of Othloh had not been kind to her.
But she knew pain. And she was confident she could withstand it.
She felt a foot slam against her chest, knocking her to the ground. Her head slammed against the floor hard. The tattooed man grabbed the collar of her shirt and lifted her off the ground so she was face to face with him. She spat blood in his face.
His face contorted in anger and he wiped the spit and blood away. He punched her in the gut without letting her go, knocking the wind out of her. She gasped and tried to curl on herself, but she couldn’t move much because her feet weren’t touching the ground. He punched her in the face again and let her go at the same time, slamming her body to the ground. She felt a cut on her lip bleeding and figured her nose was probably broken.
He slammed his foot into her stomach angrily. It felt as if he was trying to squish an insect beneath his boot. She groaned and tucked her knees close to her chest. She didn’t want any of her ribs to break.
