Ashe looked down at the picture on her phone, the message from Todd contained the man’s name and address. He wasn’t anyone special, a former football player at Halsey High, turned frat boy at Jericho’s community college. By all accounts, he should be living in the dorms, unable to afford a house, but that was where his drug trade came into play.
Business seemed to be doing pretty damn good, especially since he wasn’t paying up his cut to Todd, thinking he could intimidate the kid into letting him get away with it. Too bad for him, he had no idea who was backing Todd in his new dealings.
Elizabeth, one of the drug runners among her girls, was their driver for the evening, her hair was cut to just above her shoulders. She had headphones in and was singing along animatedly to some Spanish pop song that honestly did sound catchy as hell.
She would need to ask her to post the song on their group chat after they were done with all this. Up ahead, the house came into view, a few people were milling about, smoking on the front porch. Ashe frowned.
Two options, they could either drive right up to the front door and make a statement, see what happened. That screamed stupid, especially if the prick had given orders to shoot on sight. No, something more subtle was needed.
“Stop here,” she said. “Riptide and I will get out and approach on foot.”
The van pulled over, the cheerful girl just rolling along with things without a care. Ashe and Crystal shared a look before shrugging and sliding the side door and jumping out. They would be immediately recognizable to anyone that followed the gang scene in Jericho. Those that earned names usually added something to their outfits to stand out, to make it clear who they were. Yet, nobody was stupid enough to make full on costumes.
Every few years someone would get it in their mind to dress up like someone from a comic and go out, trying to fight against the criminals, or make a name for themselves like she was. Those people tended to end up dead within their first week. Hell, there was one guy that was clearly tripping balls that insisted he could fly right on a city wide broadcast.
Turned out that he absolutely couldn’t.
“Sneak around back?” Ashe whispered, moving into the shadows. “Should be easier than trying to walk in the front door.”
“Fan of the back door, are you?” Crystal snarked, but followed along. “I’ll admit, I am too, especially with this view.”
Ashe groaned. “Come on, we’re on the job.”
“Yup! And you’re nervous as fuck about this so I’m lightening the mood.”
Well, Crystal had her there, she was helping get her mind off of what she was about to do. An example needed to be made, one that made it clear to all that crossing Inferno wasn’t going to be tolerated. It would reveal Todd’s ties to those that looked closely, but he didn’t seem too concerned about it. He’d already cemented himself as a supplier, and most buyers wouldn’t actually care where he was sourcing his drugs from as long as he kept them coming.
Looking over the fence, the backyard was cast in long shadows from the street lamps, all of the windows sporting blackout curtains that barely showed a glow. There weren’t any signs of someone watching from the inside, or a posted sentry for that matter. Well, that would make it easier at least, which didn’t make it any better for her. She’d almost rather go in there guns blazing just so she could justify the coming brutality as a firefight.
Before she could talk herself into doing just that, Ashe vaulted the fence and walked quickly over to the back door, her footsteps soft on the packed sand and sparse grass. Crystal arrived a few seconds later, a gentle hand on her shoulder to let her know that she had her back. It was a comforting presence, knowing she had someone there that would be there through anything.
It was almost funny that premeditated murder was making her wax philosophical.
Right, no more distractions or putting it off. Head in the game, Inferno up front, it was time to make an example out of someone. She reached up, gently turning the door handle, and was surprised to find it unlocked. What was even the point of posting sentries out front if they weren’t going to secure the building properly?
Shit, it was almost as if the guy was asking for someone to break in and end his life. She pushed the door open and strode inside, false confidence carrying her along each step. The chatter of inane conversation was coming from a nearby room, so Ashe moved towards it. She stopped just before the entry at the end of the hall and took a deep breath.
She let the conversation wash over her for a moment, but it was just a bunch of guys bragging about different girls they had fucked recently. Nothing useful, not really, though one of them was getting onto another for paying for a prostitute in Sutton, which was probably one of her own girls. Interesting, but not important. She drew her gun and screwed one of the salvaged suppressors onto it.
Time to see how it played out.
Ashe stepped around the corner, gun in hand but not immediately raised. Nobody noticed her at first, and it was obvious how easy it would have been to clear out the room in a matter of moments. Would he even make for a good example if this was how he managed things? Was he simply overconfident because Todd’s supplier was new?
Whatever, she had a point to make, so she was going to make it. She identified their target and walked right up to his chair from behind. At least one other noticed her as she did, but didn’t even say a word, or try to warn the others. He just stared at her with wide, bloodshot eyes. Right, of course they were all sampling their own product!
“Adam,” Ashe said, her mouth just inches from his ear as she pressed her gun to the back of his head. “Any idea why I might be making a house call?”
He must have given some sort of signal, because one of the others started to move, only to freeze in place as Crystal walked into view.
“None of that, fucknuts,” she said, her gun up and unwavering. “Now answer the nice lady’s question, dipshit.”
“Uh, you heard I sell the good shit?” he asked.
“Of course you do,” Ashe said, forcing a smile that carried into her words. “You’re selling my product after all. There’s just one, tiny, little problem.”
He swallowed, hard. “What’s that?”
“Where’s our cut?”
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She’d pressed the gun harder against his head, punctuating each and every word spoken. He whimpered, and she could fucking hear him pissing himself, which meant she would be smelling it too before long. Fucking hell. She hadn’t even shot the man yet and he was already on the verge of voiding his damn bowls.
“Ask Todd!” he said, almost frantic. “I passed him the money three days ago!”
Ashe could only sigh at the most predictable lie she had expected. It wasn’t me, the check is in the mail, so on and so on. Deflect blame, sow doubt, he couldn’t even come up with anything original or entertaining.
“First attempt,” Ashe said. “There won’t be a third, now try again.”
“It’s the truth!” he yelled. “I was supposed to—”
Ashe pulled the trigger.
Even with a suppressor, the gunshot was loud in such a small room. The bullet burst his head like a melon, spraying red across the room. The other two seated in their chairs jumped, Crystal already positioned in a way to limit how much of the gore got on her. Adam jerked forward from the force of the blow, falling out of the chair as several muscles twitched and flailed from having their control system violently rearranged.
That was something not everyone realized, that headshots were rarely the clean kills that movies portrayed them to be. Bodies twitched and flailed as signals fired off at random. Ashe’s stomach churned at the sight, her second execution kill, the first delivered with a gun. She might even argue it was her first, what with the other having been the tainted coke she tossed that one guy.
Regardless of what was and wasn’t the truth, she now had two witnesses to her crime to deal with. She turned her gun onto the one Crystal wasn’t covering and the guy jerked in his chair, flailing his arms and whimpering out several pleading requests to spare him.
“Then tell me where he was keeping my money,” Ashe said, her voice strained. “I won’t ask again.”
“Bedroom!” he shouted, pointing off behind her.
“Riptide, cover them, you know the drill,” she said, turning to go inspect the room.
“You got it, Inferno,” Crystal said, waving her gun almost casually, never once wavering from covering them. As Ashe walked into the back bedroom, she heard Crystal’s voice come across with some cheer. “So, who wants to play a game?”
Well, mind games definitely counted. Ashe looked around the room and just had to blink, the bed was covered in loose bills of all denominations, packs of coke and weed were just sitting out for anyone to find, and she was pretty sure that was a fucking sex doll sitting in the corner, one of the expensive ones at that.
Any indecision she had about torching the place went out the window. She pulled the rolled up duffel from her pack and quickly set about filling it. Once the bulk of things were packed inside, she opened the closet and recoiled. Another doll, only this one was half covered in mold and fungus.
There wasn’t enough accelerant in the city for her taste. At least there wasn’t more money or drugs hidden away. She knew what she had wasn’t enough to make up for how much he’d been given to sell, but she just wanted out of the cursed building. Digging out the bottle of charcoal fluid, she gave the room a quick dousing and tossed the bottle atop the bed. Then she tossed a match and shut the door.
Sure, there might have been more shit elsewhere, but Ashe didn’t want to stay a second longer than she needed to. The message had been delivered regardless, she exited back into the living room, even as the flames quickly grew behind her.
Ashe hadn’t expected to see a grown man in tears with a pistol pressed to his crotch while Crystal was sitting there, far too amused with herself even through the mask.
“We’re leaving,” Ashe said. “I left something for the two of you in the bedroom, since you were so cooperative.”
The two guys shared a look as Crystal hopped to her feet and came to stand beside her.
“Torched the place?” Crystal whispered.
“Well, you heard me, move!” Ashe shouted.
The pair scrambled to their feet and vanished down the hall just as Ashe turned to leg it out of the building. Crystal chuckled as she followed along, into the kitchen. As she passed back through, Ashe stopped just long enough to turn all the burners on without igniting them.
“Oh, someone’s pissed,” Crystal said, following her back into the yard and over the fence. “Want a massage when we get back?”
Tossing the bag of loot into the van, Ashe took her seat once more with a weary sigh. “That would be lovely.”
“Consider it done,” Crystal said, hopping in the back with her. “Liz, take us home.”
She flashed a thumbs up just as a giant fireball burst from the rear of the home. Those out front stumbled and even Elizabeth ducked down momentarily before she broke out into nervous giggles and put the car into drive and pulled away.
“Dios, loco es,” Liz said.
Ashe couldn’t help but smile at the colorful descriptor. Her Spanish was still ass, but she was getting better at it thanks to being around so many people that spoke it. She was half convinced that Brie was adding more and more Spanish to their interactions on purpose just so she would continue to improve. That, or someone put the idea in her head.
Whatever.
A shiver ran through her, but she couldn’t let it show. She had to keep it locked tightly away until she was safely back in their apartment. Only then could she break down, away from prying eyes and spreaders of rumor. It would be one thing to show emotion over a member of the gang that died, it was completely different to lose it over someone that by all accounts deserved his fate.
At least in the context of a gang.
After the day she had just had, Ashe wanted nothing more than to get home, hop into a scalding hot shower, then curl into bed where she could try to forget the sight of a man’s skull exploding just because he had stiffed her. It was distressing just how easy it was to settle into the persona of a gang leader, to make the hard calls that resulted in lost lives.
Hopefully that wasn’t too much to ask for.
“Liz, can you put that song back on?” Ashe asked. “It was catchy.”
Elizabeth chuckled. “Sure thing, Fuego.”
She didn’t comment on the nickname, content to focus on the song as it played and Crystal leaned against her, holding her hand the whole way. The ride back was thankfully uneventful, without even a trace of a siren or flashing lights. Pulling into the parking lot, she was more than looking forward to the warm embrace of Morpheus when something caught her attention. Across the lot, someone had just exited a vehicle. Someone wearing heavy armor and carrying a weapon.
“Eyes up,” she said, looking directly at the man as he approached.
“Oh fuck,” Crystal whispered, drawing her own pistol and doing a hasty check on her ammo and backup mags. “What are the odds he’s just here to talk?”
“What are the odds that Brie puts on a suit and gets a proper job?” Ashe snarked, trying to make light of the fact that someone so prepared was coming for them. “The instant he starts even looking at us funny, unload on him.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Crystal said. “Try not to die, I kinda like having you around.”
“Likewise Riptide,” Ashe said. “Liz, the second we open these doors, you get out and make a beeline to the front door and sound the alarm.”
“Si.”
Another deep breath, and Ashe held her gun close, and pushed the rear door open. The man stopped his approach as she did, and made no effort to lift his gun. She hopped out, her own weapon just a flick of the wrist from being on target and her finger was already on the trigger.
“What business do you have with us?” she demanded.
At her question, something dropped loose from his left hand, a lengthy bit of white cloth, which he then held up. Was that a… He’d brought a damn white flag to meet with them? What if their spotter up on the top floor hadn’t just decided to put a bullet into his skull? They kept a sniper rifle up there for just that reason!
“I bring word from Alejandro,” he said, his voice distorted by some electronic filter. “He brings news of the Iron men and their plots and wishes to speak with you of them.”
Well, so much for a relaxing evening.