Adam certainly liked to make an entrance. I would have to have been blind to miss him and his gang of groupies moving through the middle of the district. He had boundless confidence when he was surrounded by other people – but probably couldn’t fight for shit himself. He didn’t even notice me lurking in the dark as they passed by.

It had been a while since I had to tail someone. I never liked doing it. I had planned ahead though, and wrapped a piece of cloth around the edge of the helmet hanging from my belt to stop it from making too much noise. I stuck out like a sore thumb but Adam wasn’t going to get the chance to see me. The stealth skill didn’t just unlock some neat abilities and techniques, it was a representation of years of hard work and experience.

Anything short of an empty field in direct sunlight, I could hide in. Urban jungles like this were my bread and butter. I slipped into the crowd and followed closely. With any luck he’d be heading to my target area. First, he stopped by a local store and purchased a bag of groceries. Then he spent several minutes speaking with another gang member who was passing by about the next fight meet.

After that was done, we headed deeper into the district. Adam peeled away from his guard escort and hurried up the steps of a house’s back entry. He retrieved a key and unlocked the door, ducking inside and disappearing from my sight for several minutes. When he returned, he was one bag lighter. He must have deposited his purchase inside. That was all I needed to see.

The gaggle left through the opposite side of the alleyway. I manoeuvred around the drizzling drainpipes and huddled in front of the door. This was Adam’s house, or at least his fake house. I slipped my gloves off and hung them from my belt, before retrieving two of my lockpicking tools from their pouch.

The lock was nothing impressive. Even an amateur could break through something like this. The average person didn’t take home security very seriously – and some of the sophisticated materials and techniques to build locking mechanisms from my old world simply didn’t exist. A vast majority of them could be opened easily with some care and attention, and a rare few didn’t even require that much effort. You could jam a wiggly piece of metal into there and jiggle the damn thing open in a second.

Adam had changed the lock recently. The metal was brand new, the combination was trickier and had rudimentary protection against raking-attacks. Still – he wasn’t breaking the bank with his purchase. It’d keep away the average crook, but I wasn’t the average crook. I was raised picking pockets and breaking into buildings just like this one.

I felt around in the interior mechanism and slowly pushed upwards on the pins until I felt them click into place. I settled down onto one knee to make things easier, peering through the hole to try and co-ordinate my fingers. It took me a minute; until the door suddenly gave way and swung gently into my face. I tucked away the tools, but didn’t bother to put my gloves back on. If Adam had a safe I’d be taking them off again in due time.

The back door led into a tiny kitchen. It was so narrow that two people wouldn’t be able to stand side by side in it. The bag had been left on top of the single countertop that was afforded someone living on such a tight budget. I ignored it and passed through the archway into the main living space. This was the room where all the magic happened. It had the log fire, the window looking out onto the main street, and a stairway on the right that led to the second floor.

My first impression of the front room was that there was no way Adam was actually living in there. There was a fairly dense layer of dust on top of every available surface, and what little furniture had been left behind wasn’t enough to live comfortably even alone. A few sad, lonesome chairs stood ominously in the middle of the floor. Some empty crates were also left piled up. He must have used it as a safehouse or storage area before. It was a sad state of affairs, an old and abandoned home that was being used for little more than criminal set dressing. How many of his people really knew what was in here?

Adam had another home. This one was just to keep his credibility up with the boys.

The secret to finding a ‘hidden’ stash of cash or private effects was to remember that people aren’t as smart as they think they are. Second floor, under a piece of furniture, in the floorboards or hidden on top of something. That was my first thought and it rarely proved me wrong. I hustled up the stairs and into the second-floor hallway.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

There were three bedrooms crammed in. Two of them could barely contain a single bed, while the master bedroom dominated the allocation of liveable space. Again, this place hadn’t been used as a home in a long while. The sheets were jumbled into a pile at the foot of the bed. I walked over to the wardrobe and pulled it open, only discovering a pile of discarded masks and disguises at the bottom. I threw them around and found nothing.

I paced back around the other side of the bed and nearly lost my balance as one of the planks gave way. Under my feet was a cheap rug, made from sheep’s wool and bought for pennies from the market. I whipped it away and found the culprit. One of the boards had been left without a nail. I slipped my fingers between the gap and pulled. The old, rotting wood easily cracked under my immense strength and revealed the hidden face of an iron safe.

Floorboards it is, I mused. Adam had a serious lack of imagination.

I’d seen this model of safe before. It was nothing special. It had a thick iron door and riveted metal, adorned with swirling patterns that resembled branches. There was no dial or combination lock, just a heavy handle and rough-cut keyhole. Even a cheap safe was very expensive, you were paying for the weight of the metal it was made from. Adam couldn’t afford anything better or more secure. This model, produced by a Stallin owned manufactory in Blackwake – was a popular seller for the low end of the market.

It did provide the basics though. The screws and connecting joints were cleverly hidden from access and sealed tight under protruding edges. You also couldn’t blast through the dense metal plating using magic, not unless you wanted to risk spending catalyst powder that was more expensive than what was inside. Unfortunately for Adam, my knowledge of this safe was extensive. The moment I saw it looking at me from its hiding place I had to stop myself from celebrating. I didn’t need to find his spare key.

They came with a few different configurations. I needed to determine which cylinder this one was using. I pulled my weapons of espionage back out, starting with the rake. The lock came with a few false gates, designed to mislead newbie lockpickers. I could judge from the subtle differences in pressure which were real and which were fake. Then, based on that information, I could recall the exact combination needed to open it properly. The lock rattled and whined as I abused it with the pointed edge of my pick. I counted the fakes under my breath to keep track.

Two, three, six.

I replaced the cruder entry device with my tension and pick. This was entirely a formality now. I knew exactly which variety of lock they had installed on this one. It took me less time than the front door to open once I had the gates figured out. I pulled down on the handle and smirked as it responded to my force.

“Shit, you gotta’ be kidding me.”

I shook my head. Inside of the safe were two gold bars! If this was just Adam’s sideshow, what the hell was he keeping in his real house? So much for donating to the local orphanage. I reached down and eagerly slipped them into my pouch. He probably wouldn’t miss them. Tucked underneath those bars was the object of my ire. I unfurled the faded papers and studied them to make sure I had the right ones.

There it was, plain as day. William’s enlistment records from when he joined the Sull army. A red wax seal had been stamped onto the top left corner, featuring the coat of arms of the Sull military. They were a step below the knights and the like, but were still paid rather well and respected by the people who lived in the kingdom.

Part of me wanted to destroy them then and there but William had changed his request. He needed to see them before he paid out. The paranoia of them potentially still being out in the wild had played on his mind. He wanted to be extra sure that they were burnt to a crisp. I put them into my pocket and left the rest. Whatever superfluous material he had in there wasn’t my problem.

Just as I was putting everything back the way I left it – a huge explosion in the distance caused me to leap to my feet in shock; “Fucking hell!”

It was so loud and so powerful that the windows were rattling. Was somebody starting a mage battle in the middle of the damn city? Bad news. Real bad news. That was more heat for me that I didn’t want. I ran back down to the back door and tumbled out into the alleyway, closing it behind me and locking it again.

I needed to make myself sparse, ducking behind a corner as a mob of gang members rushed to the scene. What crappy timing. If somebody was picking a fight it would mean that all of the gang members would be on high alert. I was nearly knocked over as another group of four powered around the corner, but they were too focused on the fight to worry about me for the time being.

They’d start asking questions soon enough. I was an outsider who’d worked Vincent for information. They were pretty stupid, but not that stupid. The sheer noise coming from a few streets across was incredible. I could hear men screaming as if they’d been set alight. I was very familiar with that sound, as much as I wished I wasn’t.

When I navigated my way out of the alleys and back onto the main avenue, I came across a pair of dead bodies. One had been stabbed in the stomach, while the other had been eviscerated, nearly cut clean in two by an underhanded swing. Someone was taking umbridge with the gang. I wasn’t going to stick around to find out who.

Neither had any of the other residents living there. The streets were completely empty. I double checked to make sure that I had everything I needed and ran out of there. I needed to show William the papers and destroy them as soon as possible.