The first day on the job was a night and day difference from the usual pickups. In the daytime, she would be on a twelve hour shift to ride along with Isamu while at nights she would swap out with another guard. The first night had been Andrew, but for the second night somebody else would be taking over. It was a lot of money for so little, but Isamu had been quite clear about the fragility of this operation.

When she tried to kill him years earlier, she understood getting him out of the picture gave every other crime boss in the city even more reach. There was no way the police would be able to help, nor did she expect him to go to them about his situation. It was going to be up to her to ensure that he was able to continue living day to day.

By now, she was already nearing the end of her shift on the second day. The night before she had spent a few hours taking a bore brush and an absurd amount of cleaning solution to her pistol to make sure it could fire—if it came down to that. She could not bear the weight of guilt against dishonor.

It’s them or me, she thought again. The night of the second day had rolled around and the skyline of Paradiso had started to come alive. Friday night was going to be a busy at the Hinobu Castle, and she would expect the party tomorrow to completely fill the establishment.

She had been at Isamu’s mansion across town for the majority of today. Neither of them had left the house. For most of the day, Isamu had been between phone calls while Kari kept guard. Every delivery to the house had made her uneasy, but she remained calm and tried her best to keep her anxiety at bay.

It was obvious that the person he feared going to get her was not herself. There were several others just like her from before and she knew that any of her old crew would spring towards the opportunity to reap the rewards. The end of her shift had started to draw near, and she found herself struggling to keep her eyes open. She had been sitting in the same chair for hours—still dumbfounded that Isamu had been able to deal with the business side of the organization for hours on end.

“Isamu,” Kari said to him as she peaked her head into his office. “I was going to head out whenever the next shift comes on. Is there anything that you needed from me?”

“Hold on,” Isamu said quietly into his office phone before turning to her. “What’s that?”

“Who is taking over for me?”

“Fabricio should be here already, are you leaving?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “Is there anything you need from me?”

“Yes, I do have something,” he said before patting his hand against his chest for his breast pocket. He had pulled out a small notepad before thumbing through the pages. “I know I’ve been working you, but I really needed somebody to do a few pickups. Do you think you can do that?”

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” she started to approach him. “Where at?”

“Two places I have across town,” Isamu ripped the paper from the binds around it and handed it over to her. “Hiiragi Pachinko, it’s popular in the Japanese Village area. There’s a strip club nearby, address on the paper.”

Kari snatched it from his hand and started to read off the establishments. She had noticed the third and final stop was Hinobu Castle.

“You’re doing a pickup before the party?” she asked.

“That’s how it goes. There’s going to be a lot of people there, so let’s just say we’re clearing out the safe,” Isamu replied. He turned his head to her and smiled. “We need to make some room for tomorrow.”

Kari snickered before tucking the paper into her pocket. She gave him a nod and started to make her way downstairs to the vehicle she had been assigned. On the way, she had ran into Fabricio—or at least she assumed it was him. It was her first time seeing him, but she had only given him a nod. He returned with a quick wave before heading up to the office.

She stopped just before grabbing onto the handle of the front door before looking back at him. The man had walked into Isamu’s office only to be greeted by Isamu’s booming voice. Some laughter had followed, putting her at ease. The lawn outside had a green glow under the manor lights, containing the large concrete walkway leading towards her car. She walked down it only to be greeted by the sounds of a few of the dogs in the backyard.

There had always been somebody posted in the office while a few guards had patrolled the outskirts. It was doubtful that the men stuck patrolling received the same amount she was expecting. She was not going to ask any question about the amount. Right now, she had to hurry and get the pickup done.

It didn’t take her very long to leave the manor lawn and head towards the first stop. She tried to read off the first address—Isamu’s handwriting was not the most legible. Eventually, she found herself in the “Japanese Village” as they called it. For a Friday night, she was expecting there to be a lot more foot traffic. However, the area seemed to be desolate with only a handful of pedestrians walking the streets.

The Pachinko parlor had been wedged between a sushi house and another bar. Every window on the outside had been covered with an assortment of colorful anime girls and other deformed—but somewhat cute—creatures. It did not strike her as any place she would expect to see adults. However, the moment she stepped through the front door she had seen dozens of middle-aged men puffing away at their cigarettes as they played.

“Hey, are you the lady?” a voice had called out to her from behind the front counter.

“Me?” Kari asked. Nobody had ever called her out directly during a pickup. The man working the front had taken notice of her handbag.

“Sorry,” he said again. “Around back.”

“Oh,” she replied. Out of the corner of her eyes, she had noticed a blue sports car creeping past the front door. She shook it off and said, “Normally they give me a lot of trouble.”

“Oh, that’s Tina. She’s a real cunt.”

The word had tilted her, but she tried to force herself into smiling while the man started to laugh. Kari waved him off and continued into the building. Seeing the blue car pass by did not raise any red flags at first. By the time she had completed the first pickup, she had already started to plan out the next part of the trip.

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The man up front had helped point her to the next location—which was barely a few blocks away. After stepping out into the alleyway and towards her car, she felt uneasy after hearing some squealing tires in the distance. She got into her car and went over to the strip club. The second pickup was just as smooth. The late Friday pickup was never on her schedule, but one that she would be willing to take up if she got the chance.

While driving away from the strip club, she had taken notice of the same blue car from earlier in her rear-view mirror. Her bag was starting to get weighed down and she was getting the feeling that this was more than a coincidence. Both of the vehicles had continued on through town. A few miles down the road, she was starting to grow nervous after realizing the same vehicle had been on her tail.

“Are you following me?” She asked herself out loud, still fixated on the light in the mirror. By this point, she had completely taken her eyes off the road and away from a truck that had whipped out in front of her. She managed to realize her error at the last moment and slammed her foot into the brakes.

The tires let out an awful squeal as she tried to steer out of the way. At the same time, the blue car from behind her had honked its horn and sped past her. She came to a stop and took a moment to catch her breath and try to keep calm.

You’re not being followed; you need to calm down. She tried everything to keep her mind focused on the road. By the time the truck had started moving, the worry began to subside. There was only one more pickup on her list. The hardest part now would be trying to navigate through the Hinobu Castle lobby.

Just like before, she had pulled into the car garage only to be waved through by the guard. The only change was every single spot—including the handicap—had been filled. She was stuck having to park near one of the top levels. Not too far from her car was an elevator. Already feeling the twelve-hour shift taking her toll, she felt herself starting to lose her guard and opted to take the elevator down.

She still had a feeling that she was being followed despite there not being anybody in the area. The following walk into the Castle had barely put her at ease, but she took some solace in seeing a lot of foot traffic. The only person crazy enough to try and make a move in a crowded area was her.

Once again, she had made her way to the front door and into the front lobby. Every single slot machine and table had been filled by now. The music had kept the dance floor on the other side of the building crowded. She tried to squeeze her way through the crowd and towards the bar near the edge. Standing behind the counter tonight, she had spotted a familiar woman with curly red hair.

“Hey Tina,” Kari shouted over the music. She leaned up against the bar before waving her hand to try and get her attention. “I’m here.”

“Kari, my favorite person.” Tina replied once she turned to her.

“I’m on shift tonight.”

“Oh,” Tina laughed. “Are you working the bar?”

“You know what I’m here for,” she shook the bag over her shoulder. “Where do I need to go?”

“It’s not ready,”

“I’m not in the mood,” Kari cut her off short. “I’m in a hurry.”

“Calm down,” Tina lifted her hands as she tried to keep her demeanor as sincere as possible. “I’m not joking, it’s the count room. You can’t just walk in there. I’ll ping them and they’ll call you back.”

Kari shook her head before tapping the counter and taking a seat. She felt a little sour from her last meeting but soon had felt out of line raising her voice. The music over the loudspeaker had started to fade out. She had overheard some laughing on the other edge of the counter.

The laughing had only caused her to take notice of another familiar face sitting in a stool. It was Joutoro. He had been choking back a drink while going back and forth with the waiter. She was not sure why he had come out of hiding, but knowing his background was in theft and robbery, she remained guarded.

“Joutoro,” Kari said after walking over to him and giving him a tap on the shoulder. He turned to face her before being hit with shock.

“What’s going on?”

“Mel!” Joutoro blurted out.

“It’s Kari,” she replied after doing a quick double take. “I heard you disappeared.”

“Who told you that?”

“I hear things, you know me,” she laughed before sitting next to him. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m in the neighborhood for the night.”

She knew well what he was up to. Joutoro was the thief of the group and the only person crazy enough to attempt a robbery in the middle of a party. He had accumulated a few more tattoos since their last meeting and from the looks of it had lost a few more teeth.

“Are you looking for somebody?” she asked.

“Not necessarily.”

“I’m working here now,” she was certain that he was there to bang them out of whatever was in the safe. After brushing her finger across her nose, she said, “Did you try across the street?”

“Oh,” his eyes parked up as he spoke. “I’m just looking for my buddy Carl.”

“Carl?”

“Yeah, Carl.”

“I haven’t seen him; I think he’s gone across the street.”

“You mean to tell me he’s out?” Joutoro seemed to go into a panic, but he kept it together and continued his drink. During the entire conversation, he continued to leer at her handbag.

“I think I saw him heading that way,” Kari said after pointing her finger over towards the front door. She tried shifting the bag to her side to break his focus. “He’s definitely not here.”

Joutoro glared at her as he began to slurp up the rest of his drink. The two only continued to stare each other down—not much had changed.

“It’s been nice seeing you,” Joutoro said with a bright grin, showing off a few golden teeth in his mouth. “This is a nice place.”

“It’s nice seeing you too.” She replied, undaunted by his passive aggressive remarks.

“Best of luck with the place.”

Just like that, he stood up from his seat and pulled a twenty-dollar bill out of his pocket. Once he tossed it on the counter, he gave her a quick wave and started to make his way across the club.

What the hell was that all about? Her suspicions of being watched had seemed less like paranoia as the reality of the situation settled. Joutoro was going to try and make a move soon.

“Hey grumbles,” Tina called out to her. “It’s ready.”

Kari continued to watch Joutoro up until he had stepped through the exit. She then turned back to Tina and gave her a nod. The next pickup was just around the corner, and the sooner she could get this over with the sooner she could finally park it for the night.