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[Marcus]
Once he was out of sight he took off his mask. The envelope had a list of names and pictures attached to the profiles of each individual. He flipped through some of the pages and stopped. Tondo. No special features. Except for the scar across his left brow, there was really nothing special about him. The file revealed his location and centre of operation. It was about eight blocks away from his apartment. Small world.
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It was just after ten in the evening. He already had a plan. He walked past his apartment building. The girl he encountered earlier wasn't in the alley where he first saw her. A few more feet and there she was. Sitting on the steps of a rundown liquor store with its red and green neon lights blinking on and off like a spasm. Her face lay on her laps and arms crossed her bended knees. The Mad Crow was singing in the distance, playing another one of its elegant melodies. He walked over to her till he was only a few steps away.
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"I can assure you that you won't find any customers around here." He started.
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She remained silent and kept her face on her laps. Didn't even bother looking at him.
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"What's your name?" he asked her.
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She took a moment before answering, "Scarlet."
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"Scarlet? I mean your real name."
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She looked up at him puzzled. "Why?"
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Marcus slipped his hands into his pocket and replied. "Lets just say that I'm not here for Scarlet."
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Her face, still puzzled. "It's Cassandra, but everyone calls me Cassie."
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"Well then Cassie, I'd recommend you get yourself a check-up." He began stretching his neck. "There's a clinic just down the street owned by a Dr. Klitschko . His office is open day and night. Just let him know that Marcus sent you, he'll fix you up." He walked away.
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She watched him walk away till he was out of sight and noticed next to her was a handkerchief.
_________
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Three men were gathered round a table in a dimly lit room with a single lamp suspended over the card table.
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"Gentlemen, show your cards." The dealer announced.
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The first man tossed his cards on the table.
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"Flush. Ace, King, Queen."
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The second man grinned and threw his in as well.
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"Full house. Eights full of Aces.
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The third man took a peek at his cards and placed them on the table.
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"A higher full house. Aces full of Sixes. Tondo wins the pot."
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Tondo let out a loud laugh as he scraped up his prize. "You must be kicking yourself for not walking out when you could. I told you, nobody beats me at poker. Especially not you old geezers!"
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Some men in the background chuckled.
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"What are you laughing at, huh?" One of the players turned and asked the men who immediately kept silent.
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"Oh come on Billy, don't blame the guys. Your game is just too weak!" Tondo retorted.
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"Shut up Tondo." Billy replied.
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"Hey George! Get us a drink willya. My throat's dry as the Sahara." The other player called out.
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"Sure thing Frank, coming right up." The waiter responded.
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"How about it fellas, another round? You might just get lucky." Tondo baited them.
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"No, I'm done for the night." Frank replied.
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"What? There's someone keeping ol' Frank up tonight?"
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"Wait, I thought you were married?" Billy looked at Frank.
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"What is this, an interrogation?" Frank snapped back.
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The waiter brought the drinks in and laid each glass next each person on the table.
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"Thank you George." Frank took a sip and placed the glass back on the table.
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"You know, back in our day people your age would show a little more respect to their seniors." Billy glanced at Tondo.
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"When was that, the stone age?" Tondo smirked.
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"You see what I'm talking about Frank. Its these kids of today! No respect whatsoever!"
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"Times are changing Billy. Nothing lasts forever."
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"Respect and loyalty. For people like us it means something and it has to mean something! Cause without respect and loyalty you're not a man, you're a piece of trash. It has to remain constant." He turned towards Frank. "Frank, you remember my uncle right?"
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"Which one?"
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"You know the one, the gangster."
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"You mean Nino?"
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"Yeah, my uncle Nino." He turned back to face Tondo. "His name was Gambino Matteo, but everyone just called him Nino. He was probably my biggest role model when I was a kid. He respected his seniors and he never ratted out on anybody. His one dream in life was to die in the street with a gun in is hand, if that's not being proud of being a gangster then clearly I'm in the wrong profession. He did what we used to call 'wearing it', and he wore it 24/7. If you saw him in his bath robe, he was wearing it. He'd have the dark glasses on and he'd have the bath robe on and it was him, the life became him, he never changed."
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After a while Frank stood up, put on his coat and announced his departure, motioning for Tondo to follow. Once they were outside and out of earshot they began talking.
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"So what'd you want to talk about Frank?"
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"Nothing too exciting, I just wanted us to have a little chat before I left." He reach inside his coat towards his breast pocket and pulled out a pair of gloves which he straightened out and began putting on. Before he covered his left hand he briefly stared at the ring from the back of his hand and gently caressed its gold embroidery. "This ring belonged to my wife, my first wife, Sarah. Many years back, when I was a much younger man, Sarah disappeared. Folks said she just ran away, away from the kind of lifestyle I was getting myself into." He slid his hand into the glove making sure his fingers fit perfectly. "But I knew. I knew she didn't just run away, that wasn't Sarah. No, she was taken from me."
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"What happened to her?"
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"That's a story for another occasion. You know Billy was right about one thing. To us, respect and loyalty is everything, it is who we are. If we don't stand by these rules, then nobody's safe."
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Tondo kept his silence and nodded.
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"You heard the news about Chen's nephew?" Frank asked.
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"Of course, news travels fast around here."
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"Was it you?"
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"Jesus Frank! This is Chen we're talking about, I wouldn't touch any of his business let alone whack his own nephew!"
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"I've got a business, and I don't have to tell you what it means when shit like this starts up."
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"I understand."
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"I had a shipment recently bring in some of the product and had them delivered to your warehouse. You received them?"
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"Yeah."
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"Make sure they get to where they need to be."
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A car drove by and halted. One of the men opened the door and Frank got in. He gave Tondo one last glance before his vehicle and two others drove off into the night.
_______________
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"Did you hear that?"
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"Hear what?" James asked.
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"Ssshhh....!" He put his finger his lips and motioned for James to check the main door.
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He went to the door and peeked through the spyhole. There was no one there. He placed his ear on the door and listened. Nothing.
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"You must be hearing things Liam, there's nothing out there."
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"Well did you go outside and check?"
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"No."
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"Go out there and check dammit!"
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He opened the door then suddenly someone came out from the darkness and forced his way in aiming a gun at James' mouth.
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"Open up." The man said in a low chilling voice.
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James opened his mouth and the unknown assailant shoved the barrel of his gun into his mouth.
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"If it leaves your mouth, I pull the trigger. Capisce."
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He nodded frantically almost pissing himself.
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"James! Is anyone out there? James!" Liam called out to him.
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There was no reply. Liam called out for everyone in the warehouse to arm themselves and close in on his location. Suddenly the lights went out and gunshots rang echoing throughout building. His men shot back into the dark as one by one he heard loud groans and the sound of bodies falling onto the floor. He immediately dropped to the floor, ducking from the crossfire and crawled through the darkness to find cover.
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After a few minutes of feeling his way around on floor he managed to find one of the cubical offices and frantically felt around for the telephone on the desk. He picked up the handset, placed it by his ear and began dialing like a madman. Only after a good thirty seconds had passed did it dawn on him that the power was out and the telephone was dead. At the same time a terrifying realisation had come upon him. It was quiet, too quiet. There was no sound of gunfire or his men. He pulled out his gun and held it close to his chest, closer than he had ever held any woman. His teeth rattled like an empty tin can. He could feel the warmth of his every breath and his heart rate was having a marathon. His eyes darted from one corner of the room to another searching for sign of movement.
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The power suddenly came back on, and with it some infinitesimal source of relief. He once more reached for the handset and began dialing. It rang for a few seconds and an emergency operator answered.
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"911 what's your emergency?"
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"I need help! Somebody's trying to kill me!" Liam shouted into the receiver in a cold whisper.
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"Alright just stay on the line sir, I'm gonna connect you with an officer."
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"Alright." He could barely hold his breath. Those few seconds felt like an eternity.
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The call finally went through. "This is Detective Luka Quinn, how may I help you?."
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"I need help. I'm..."
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He stopped talking, or rather he couldn't. He felt a cold sharp steel object resting against his throat. An arm had reached out from behind him and slowly placed the blade right on his jugular and he could feel a trickle of blood flowing from where it rested.
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"Hello? Hello?" The detective was still on the other end of the line.
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"I'm..." Liam tried to speak but the blade dug in deeper. "I'm gonna have to call you back."
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He hung up the telephone, knowing that that was his last and only chance.
_____________________
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He had just finished taking care of some of the listed profiles at the warehouse. But Tondo was not among the body count.
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"You sure know how to have fun, don't you?" A voice came from behind him. It was a young woman. "Mr. Smiley I presume?"
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She stood by the doorway of one of the cubicle and seemed to be chewing on some gum. He didn't recognise her face from the profile list. Was she with them? Regardless.
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He pulled out his gun and fired. She was still standing there. Impossible! Did he miss? Did she dodge it? He fired several more rounds and she ran straight towards him unscathed. How? How was she doing this? Within seconds she was right above him holding a long blade that was about to cleave him in two. No time to think! He instinctively pulled out his knife from its sheath and blocked the swing that would have definitely cut his profession in two.
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However. Something felt wrong. He looked at his abdomen. A knife was sticking out of him. The mysterious woman had swung her long blade with her left hand and used her right to drive the knife into him. She was good, but this was not the time to be complimenting his opponent. He had to find a way out of this situation, and fast. He kicked her and she took a few steps back. He was breathing heavily and he needed some space. It had been a long night.
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They began circling each other. She made another dash towards him but this time he was ready. He dodged her swing, caught hold of her arm and threw her over his shoulder. He too tried for a swing with his knife in his right hand but she quickly caught hold of his wrist. He dropped it to his left hand and swung. Missed. This was ridiculous. He couldn't even lay a scratch on her.
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"Too slow Smiley, too slow." she chuckled. With lightning speed she kicked the knife out of his hand, turned round to gain momentum and knocked his face with the heel of her boot. His mask came off. He was bleeding all over the place. The veins in his temple were throbbing. His vision was blurred. This wasn't normal. She wasn't normal.
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"Well now." she grinned. "Behind that mask you're quite the looker Smiley."
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He had to get out of this situation and fast. There was no way he could continue fighting in this condition, and he was losing a lot blood. He quickly scanned the room for any distraction he could use. Anything. Tables, chairs, tyres, boxes, cylinders. Gas cylinders! It was either a chance at them or her. He fired his last rounds at the cylinders stored in a fence at the corner of the warehouse and a huge explosion erupted, the building was immediately engulfed in flames.
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