by Holly Chavez
She is on my watch list from The Boss, who wants her dead, buried, and forgotten, but this is the first time we have ever encountered each other in person. It’s been long past due. I have to deal with her at some point. In fact, I have a trap already set in the hope of catching her, but it isn’t the first trap I’ve set and so far she never fallen for one. Still, now that she’s working within the same ring, I need to be more aware of her. It was easier to ignore her when she was working further away; her attention on smaller targets. But now she’s working closer and actually taking out some of my own guys, she’s becoming a problem for Liberty and we can’t afford it. Depending on how deep her connection to the Underground is, she may be an ally or someone we can convert over to our side. I won’t know for sure until one of my people can speak with her face to face. No matter how things turn out, I am grateful for rescuing my friends today.
I try to stand again. This time I’m more successful. I shout out ‘help’ a few times in an attempt to gain someone’s attention. I don’t want to appear as if I don’t want out or as if I let her take me down, which… I did, but I need it to look like I was overpowered and now that I’m awake, dying to get out of this cell to send a team after them. However, the falling and hitting my chin part was not a part of the plan… nor the chloroform… that could have gone completely wrong if I hadn’t helped them. Most of the chemical in there can kill a person with limited contact.
In truth, I did expect her to disable me. I was hoping with the limited time available to her, she wouldn’t decide just to kill me. A huge risk, but I took it based on her reputation to only kill targets and others only when necessary. I just had to hope my position as the enforcer wasn’t too tempting to surpass. I’m sure if I was in her position, I probably would have taken the extra minute to remove my head, making me feel incredibly lucky.
It takes a while, but someone finally wanders down. “Sir? Is that you?” He stops to give me a once over.
“Keys.” I point to the spot on the floor. He follows the direction of my finger to retrieve the requested item.
Digging through the key ring for the right one, he asks, “Why are you in there? What happened?” I ignore his questions for now. Finally, he unlocks the cell. Picking up my sword, which still rests on the ground, I sheathe it and begin giving out orders.
“Get a search party together. The Girl of Shadow was here and she helped the prisoners escape. I want the surrounding streets searched in case she’s still nearby somewhere.” I’m certain she’s long on. I want to catch her as a part of Liberty not as the enforcer so I’m crossing my fingers with the hope she’s far away from here.
“Yes, sir. I’ll personally see to it.” He follows me up the stairs, overeager to prove himself capable of such a task. He’s a newbie and young. Soon, he’ll understand the reality of his position and he’ll do one of two things. Either, he’ll embrace the ugly and become one with it or he’ll end up completely miserable. I can always tell the newbies right away because they look just like him; young, dumb, and hopeful. They believe they have landed themselves a great job. That they can make a difference. The reality is much different.
“Also, find out what happened to the guards who were supposed to be guarding this door. They weren’t here when I went down to the dungeon. As soon as you know, report back to me.”
I leave him to gather his search party while I seek out The Boss.
I have a story to sell.
Stopping by the kitchen, I grab a pastry and say a quick hello. The kitchen is packed with staff at this time of morning and most usually greet me, but since Harold’s execution yesterday I haven’t been too popular. Still, I remain friendly, trying to rebuild the broken bridges. I get a wary smile here and there, only the cook actually greets me normally. She would though, she is a full-fledged member of Liberty and knows the whole story. Not wanting to linger, I leave and devour the pastry in two bites.
I expect to find The Boss in his room at this time of morning. The sun isn’t even up so he should be in bed, but the men guarding his room tell me he’s been with Alroy in his study all night. Not good. With a sigh, I hunt them down already knowing the sight I’ll be in for.
I find them slumped on the couches in the study. It appears they stayed up and drank the night away. A blonde hooker, half-dressed is asleep on a couch, I wake her first. She looks at me confused before giving me a smile. I ignore it and hand her the clothes thrown on the floor.
“Time for you to go.”
“Are you sure you don’t want anything from me before I go?” She goes to reach for me, I step back.
“No. I don’t need to pay for what I can get for free.”
“Who said I’d make you pay? A man like you and a woman like me can have a lot of fun together.”
“No,” my tone becomes harsh, “now I’m going to give you one minute to get dressed before I have you thrown out without pay.” She scrambles to get dressed. “Thirty seconds.” She throws on her shoes. I open my wallet and pass her some bills. She doesn’t bother counting them. I’m sure it’s the most money she’s seen in a while. She scurries out the door without another word. I feel bad for her, but she is only one among the many of very desperate. The money I gave her might keep her off the streets for a month, maybe two, but at some point she’ll be back at it, too hungry to quit. But at some point misfortune will find her. Prostitutes don’t live very long on these streets.
Turning back to The Boss and Alroy, I let out a sigh of frustration, before I work on waking them up.
Alroy is the easier of the two. I know from personal experience. Plus I will need him to help with The Boss. I give him a shake and he jerks himself into an upright position as if he accidently fell asleep during a meeting.
“What is it?” Alroy pushes his glasses back into place. He takes stock of the room and see the empty bottles. Groaning he asks, “What time is it?”
“It’s still early, but I have important information that can’t wait.” I point to The Boss. “Help me wake him up.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea…” Alroy was punched in the throat the last time we did this. Obviously, he hasn’t forgotten.
“If it wasn’t important, I wouldn’t bother, but we’ve had a breach in our security.”
“Oh! Is everything alright?” Alroy pushes out of his chair.
I know he’s referring to Mirna. “She’s fine.”
He nods. “What do you need me to do?”
“Give him a good shake from the back and I’ll meet him at the front.” Alroy and I have done this a few times over the past few years. The Boss occasionally overdoes it and it requires two people to safely wake him. However, occasionally we catch a punch, but it’s still much better than one on one.
Alroy stands behind The Boss, his body leaning slightly over The Boss, ready to leap back as needed.
I take in my employer slumped in his chair, his clothes are disheveled, his zipper still open, and from the corner of his mouth he’s drooling. Its times like this, I think about how easy it would be to eliminate him. A quick slash across the neck. Simple. Quick. Clean.
Ineffective.
With a sigh, I signal Alroy to begin. He grips his shoulders and gives him a good shake while talking to him. “Time to wake up! Darick needs to speak to you.” As soon as The Boss begins to stir, Alroy takes a big step back and I take over. The Boss’s eyes pop open and the yelling and swinging fists start.
“What the HELL is going on! What does a man need to do to get some sleep around here?” His fists fly, I take one to the gut, but manage to avoid the rest because Alroy has gripped his shoulders to pull him back. Again, once The Boss is seated, Alroy moves back, gaging his reaction. The Boss settles down after a moment and rubs his hands over his face before looking at me. “Darick, what do you want?”
“Sir, there’s been breach in security. The prisoners escaped…”
“What! How?” The Boss moves to stand and nearly falls over as his pants slide
down, I catch him up on one side while Alroy takes the other side. He quickly zips himself up, not appearing embarrassed at all. He’s still a little unstable so we both remain at each side of him just in case. “The Girl of Shadow, sir.” We walk him over to his desk and place him in his chair. Alroy takes a nearby seat, but I remain standing at his side.
“La Ragazza di Ombra. Tell me everything.”
I share the events from my perspective, only changing a detail here and there; better to stick as close to the truth as possible.
“As soon as the guards are located, I want you to interview them. Find out how she got through them and then give me a report. Tell my sons to get out of bed and help in the search. Put a guard outside of Izabel’s door.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Boss looks out the window for a moment. “One more thing Darick.”
“Yes?”
“There was a terrible explosion at the Boshan’s house last night. A real tragedy... the whole family and some lingering guests were all causalities.” My face pales, “Make sure the papers do a write up on it this morning, make them hold the paper a little longer if they need to, but I want to see it published today. They need to include the party from the night before and make sure Izabel’s name is included in connection to the party.” I nod in understanding.
I barely make it out the front door before one of my men informs me that the body of one of the night guards was just found. The cause of death: slit throat. Apparently his replacement couldn’t find him when it was time to release him. With all of the commotion this morning, no one thought anything of it, assuming he had been pulled in for the search.
I leave him with orders to properly take care of the body and notify the family. Spotting Daytin with a few of his men, I approach him.
His men all stop and stand at attention, “Sir.” I acknowledge them, then Daytin and I move just out of earshot. “I need you to find Brigham. Between the two of you, I need you to account for all of the men working inside and outside of the building. Include anyone who has worked in the last twenty-four hours. A guard was found dead this morning, I want to make sure there aren’t any others. See what the two of you can come up with by lunchtime. If you can’t find someone, send an on-duty guard to their house, then if they haven’t turned up, have a few guards search their route. If they’re still unaccounted for after that, then come find me.”
“I’ll get right on it sir.”
“Good. I need to be on site at a location where a bomb blew last night.” Taking a handheld notebook from my pocket and a pencil, I scribble the address down. “Here. If you need me for anything you can find me here for the next hour, otherwise, you’ll be able to find here.”
Feeling exhausted, I ride my motorcycle out to the bomb site, hoping all the reporters are already there so I can give them all a statement at the same time. I’m not in the mood, nor do I have time this morning, to hunt them down one by one.
Chapter 24
IZABEL
“...And you, you better run because I’m going to destroy you for what you've taken from me.”
― Samantha Young
~~~
I’m tired, but I can’t sleep… I get out of bed, seeking my mother. I open the door to her room. It creaks softly. She’s reading a book in bed like she does most nights. She looks down at me, smiles, and pats the spot next to her. I climb in bed ready to cuddle and hear her soft voice as she reads to me the words on the pages, but the sound of men yelling and heavy footfalls ruins the moment. “Mother!”
My mother flies out of bed, directing me to hide behind her heavy blue curtains. I’m afraid because she’s afraid, but I manage to do as she says. My eyes plead with her to join me. “You be brave my girl.” “I’ll be brave.” Close your eyes and don’t make a sound no matter what you hear. Promise me.” I nod. “Good. You are such a good girl. Don’t ever forget who you are.” I begin to cry, but she stops me, reminding me to be quiet. The footsteps are closer now. She goes to stand in the center of the room. I squeeze me eyes shut…
Blood everywhere. “Blood. Mother! No! Stop! Father?” His hands drip with her blood. “She’s dead. You killed her.” I watch the blood drip on to the carpet, running off the tips of his fingers… then he’s gone and I’m in his place. I look down at my own hands and they’re dripping blood. A mirror appears before me and there’s blood everywhere; all over me. On my lips… the color of my favorite lipstick, and I start choking. I grab my throat, it’s too late. I can’t breathe. I’m drowning in red…
I wake to a loud bang, a few tears on my face. I choke for a moment, still feeling like I have blood in my throat, until I realize it was only a dream. I wipe the tears away as I try to process what’s just happened. It’s my door. It was slammed open. Instantly, I’m alert, rolling to the other side of my bed, posed to attack. A short knife in hand, I stand perfectly still watching my morning intruder.
Whoever it is, takes the time to light the lantern at my door. The light illuminates the intruder’s face. It’s Darick. I almost let out a breath of relief, but I stop myself when I realize I have no idea what he’s doing here, in my room, at this time of morning, after last night’s events. Could he possibly know? It could be a coincidence.
“Darick?”
He stays where he is. His body stiffens when he asks, “Did you have anything to do with it?”
“With what?” I feel a moment of panic. He must have recognized me downstairs. I take a quick inventory of my weapons just in case he attacks. Until then… deny, deny, and deny some more.
“Last night, after we left the party. The Boshan’s house blew up. Apparently your gifts were a message.”
“Wait! What? Justin’s dead?!” I have to balance myself against the bed post. His information completely blindsides me and I can’t think clearly. Never before has The Boss used me to deliver a message. I feel sick inside. My previous concern forgotten.
“Yes, and his parents, his little sister, their guards and serving staff, along with a few party guests. I just got back from the wreckage and the body count stands at thirty-one people so far with numerous more people injured.” He seems to be taking in my reaction, trying to determine if I was a part of a plan to massacre an entire household of people.
“Oh my god! Mirna… she and Justin… I have to tell her.” I go to move around the bed, but Darick’s next words stop me.
“No. No one is supposed to know yet. I just couldn’t help but wonder…” He couldn’t bring himself to say the words out loud. It cuts me deep to know he thinks of me that way.
I finished the thought for him, feeling sick at his suggestion. “If I was a part of it? If I purposely brought bombs into the home of the boy Mirna loves?” He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t need to. The question is written all over his face. “No. I. Did. Not.”
He looks at me like the little girl he used to know, back when we were friends. “Izzy, I’m…” He moves to comfort me. His tone is apologetic. It’s the first time he’s called me by my childhood nickname in years. Mirna is the only one that still does.
I hold up my hand to stop him. I don’t want his comfort. “Don’t. I get it. Just get out.”
He makes no move to leave, but he doesn’t approach either. “You can’t tell Mirna anything yet. You have to wait until it’s in the papers. Otherwise…” He shoves his hand through his hair, looking tired and older than his twenty-one years.
“Got it. Now go.”
He gets to the door, trying one more time to apologize, but I’ve heard enough. I launch my knife in his direction. It lands a few inches to the right of his ear. His surprise is evident on his face, but he’s not afraid. He’s never seen me throw like that. It was stupid on my part, but Darick makes my blood boil like no other. Still, he doesn’t question it, too distracted with other things.
“Get the message? Leave me in peace!”
Before Darick steps out the door, a question forms in my mind. A question I have to have the answer to. “W
ait, Darick! How come you didn’t know about those bombs?” As the enforcer, it’s his job to hand out punishment. He knows everything about The Boss’s plans. How could he possibly not know about this?
“I don’t know.” I believe him. He walks away and I let him. I need to be alone with my thoughts.
Retrieving my knife from the wall, I make my way back to my bed a bit overwhelmed by it all. The Boss has a lot more schemes I don’t know about. Darick seems just as lost as I feel which can’t be good. A rebel group has infiltrated my house. And Fernando is ordering hits more frequently than ever before. I feel like everything is coming to a head. Things are changing and they are changing fast and somehow I need to keep up with it all; keep up with a double life.
I slip back to sleep after a while, too tired to properly process everything going on around me; it’s such a tangled mess.
Chapter 25
MARGERY
“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”
-Saint Augustine
~~~
I sit with Izabel in the early morning hours, waiting for an opportunity to listen in on her dreams. It wouldn’t be suspicious if I was found here since it’s only about an hour or so after sunrise. The chance of me catching anything useful is slim, but right now it’s my best chance of getting information.
I sit folding laundry quietly in the corner. A good excuse if I’m caught even if it’s not a task I normally do. I’m still a maid doing maid’s work. The majority of the staff wouldn’t question it. I fold another wash cloth and stick it on top of the others and grab another item when Izabel begins to twist and turn in her bed.
Finally. I put down the clothes and move to the side of her bed, watching her twist around beneath her sheets. A few tears flow freely from the corners of her eyes. She begins to mumble, but I can’t pick out anything very clear other than the words ‘mother’ and ‘blood’. I lean in a little closer, trying to catch the words she’s whispering. They send a shiver down my spine and for the first time ever, I feel a small amount of pity for the girl in front of me.