Ace II

Ace 2

Gin Rummy

         Bright halogen lights lit up the shops and restaurants along the crowded Seattle sidewalks as people absentmindedly pushed past one another in a hurry to reach their destinations, their reflections warped and twisted in the store windows, seemingly creating a mirror image of the inner-selves for all to see. Devon Sharps looked down on the people from atop one of the lounge roofs, he was becoming impatient with the man he was supposedly rendezvousing with, the meeting was supposed to have begun twenty-three minutes ago which by Devon’s standards counted as both time lost to him and money now owed
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         He swung his head sharply and caught sight of the man he had been waiting for as he entered the lounge that Devon laid upon, a few moments later the man stepped onto the roof, carrying with him a black folder and briefcase. As he approached Devon he walked with the folder held in front of him, a wary look in his eye, and the briefcase now even more tightly gripped close his large athletic frame. Devon snatched at the file and met resistance as he tried to pull it away from the man’s hands.

“So I don’t even get hello these days. Damn you used to be so accommodating” the figure said lightheartedly

Devon sneered and wretched the folder from the man’s hand

“Hi, hey, hello, now give me the briefcase, and then fuck off… oh and by the way you were late as all hell "General" and could you try not looking so obviously out of fucking place when you’re out in public, or at least when you’re meeting with me, you’ll get yourself killed and I don’t feel like wasting bullets on whoever shoots you.”
         
The General laughed lightly “ Well you’re still as detached and cold as ever, amazing you managed to keep a relationship going long enough to be married, by the way how are your wife and kids doing”

Devon looked towards the man with a glint of anger in his eye “You can ask God about how my kids are, and the devil about my wife”

The General’s face faltered for just a moment than reset itself “I’m sorry to hear that, was there an accident, some sort of murder suicide thing, just assuming since you said to ask both God and the devil”

Devon looked with a faint smile on his face “Nah , it’s just that my kids were angels and my wife was an unholy pain in the ass.” The General smiled, “And still with your shit humor too, do you know who did it and where’s your weapon smar?”

Devon interrupted him by swinging a M24 sniper rifle through the air, just missing smashing the side of the general’s skull in, “I’m guessing you were asking about this, and I think I know who did it, I've been doing a bit of research here and there, now it's time to begin hunting season"

The general never flinched as the butt of the weapon nearly went for a collision course with his cranium,

The General's face flickered for a moment before resetting “I see, well happy trails, but I heard you were going to be switching models soon, but this is the same thing I saw you with before, where’s the new one”

Devon laughed lightly “My new toy hasn’t been put to use yet, and unless you want to be its first friend I suggest you quit asking questions.”

The General nodded “I see well good luck with your target… Oh and by the way you seem to have garnered some attention, a kid named Jack or Mace or Jace, some such shit seems to know about you.”

“You know his name quit bullshitting, I can’t stand that little whelp!”

The General laughed “Neither can I, but he’s still damn good and he has been keeping a nice track record.”

Devon peered into the shadows at the man “Where did you last see him anyway, I know you don’t generally like to be overly interested in us.”

The General continued to keep himself cloaked in the night for the most part, keeping Devon from viewing his face “I watched from a distance when the robot assassination unit was deployed to stop him from taking an artifact from some important people.”

Devon’s voice held a hint of confusion when he spoke next “What the hell, since when does The Organization use robots?”

The General smirked a bit at having elicited a new response from the man “It was a new project that we had been working on to lessen the load on instructors for training.”

Devon’s voice quickly went back to normal “So how did the unit do?”

The General grimaced in distaste “It looks like we’ll be shutting the project down.”

Devon snickered under his breath “That good huh, oh well no use in crying over spilled milk.”

Devon’s attitude shifted as he held the folder open in his hands, his eyes shifting quickly as he flipped through files and envelopes. The General handed over the briefcase filled with credit and debit cards connected to half a million dollars in different accounts, placing it by Devon’s feet and began to walk away, he thought to call back and say something, but knew that the man he had spoken to a moment ago was no longer there, what was behind him now made him wish for mercy on whoever’s name was in that folder.

Devon stared intently at the contents of the folder. Studying the three names listed on title page of the report, as he continued on he felt the hairs on his body standing, he quickly threw his body to the ground and looked through the scope of his M24, just as he turned his view to a building diagonal to himself he saw a glint, the bullet he had been anticipating finally flew through the air connecting perfectly with the spot where his had been when he was standing before striking the ground behind him.
         
Devon turned his eye to the man in the window, a small smile creeping across his face, and pulled the trigger, the bullet left the guns barrel in slicing through the silencer and raced through the air ripping into its target and leaving a spray of blood across the back wall of the room that the man had been in.

“Goddamn idiot made me get the folder dirty.” Devon said as he stood and broke down the rifle, he placed it inside the briefcase shoving its pieces against the line of money loaded credit cards and picked both the briefcase and the files back up on his way from the building‘s roof.

He walked from to the stairwell and went into the lounge building, the ambient lighting barely illuminating his features, his crème skin and russet hair changing to soft pastels in the light as he walked by different tables, his black overcoat, midnight blue button up and pants seemed to meld in with the rooms’ darkness, Devon sat at a table across from a young woman and smiled as she looked up surprised.

“Sorry I’m late, I’m Devon uh… your blind date from the website.”

She put her hand out and out and he took it in his, “I’m Gloria Fabarm, it’s nice to meet you, I hope you don’t mind but I already ordered something to drink”

He shook his head and began speaking to her, a waitress came to their table and put Gloria’s drink down on the table, quickly turning to him as she did so with her full charm on.

“Sir would you like something” Devon nodded and ordered a bottle of Chardonnay to the table as Gloria smiled at him.

“I haven’t even finished my drink yet, and you're ordering a whole bottle“

Devon let a grin cross his face “Maybe I’m trying to get you loosened up for some fun tonight.”

Gloria blushed as her cell began to ring, a look of panic and embarrassment quickly spreading across her face

“I’m so sorry, can I hurry and take this ?”

Devon gave a quick nod and let her go. The moment she was gone from the table he pulled out a small capsule from the lining of his overcoat, breaking it open quickly and let the contents fall into the remainder of her wine, Gloria returned a few minutes later and finished her drink, he broke open the Chardonnay and poured them both a glass, after half the bottle was drained, he placed a tip on the table and left the bottle there.

They walked out the doors together, he kept her in one arm and his briefcase in the other, Gloria began to clutch at her stomach and chest trying to suck in breath, and blood dribbled out of her mouth as they turned next to an alley, Devon pushed her off of him and walked away sliding behind a dumpster as blood continued to run over her lips.
         
A man ran from in the back of the alley and grabbed to help her, pulling her deeper into the darkness, Devon strode  up behind him and swung his briefcase hard, the man’s head bounced off the wall of the building and he crumpled unconscious, Devon looked at Gloria as she sputtered dying, giving her last breath away.

2 hours later

Devon watched as the man woke, jerking and struggling in the chair restraints he now found himself imprisoned in. A needle was driven into his hand and embedded further a moment later as a hammer drove it through.
         
“Michael Cimmaron, Gloria Fabarm, and Perry Browning” Devon pointed at the man, the hammer still in hand, and the folder held in his other “You’re Browning correct, no lies needed I know you are, asking was just.. a kind of formality. Now, you all came to kill me, along with a fourth person, however I don’t know who the fourth person is, because your partner saw fit to make me drop my file, I didn’t even notice that one of my papers fell into a damn puddle until I got back in, so I need the name of the last person from you."

         Browning looked at him with fury and contempt, “What the fuck makes you think I know who you’re talking about, I don’t know any of these people” Devon walked forward and a hammered needle into his other hand, 

“Don’t lie to me, I already know you and Cimmaron worked together as a team, yet Gloria was new and she didn’t work how she does normally, generally she uses a shotgun, is both in and out of the area in moments and never allows herself to be caught. She was subdued and quiet, trying to lure me into a trap, outside with either you or your partner to take me out, I know someone gave you a file on me and told you how to try and take me out, but it didn’t work."

         Browning laughed, “So you killed them both and you expect me to think you’re going to spare me“ Devon looked at him with a hint of amusement,

“No, I expect you to tell me, before I kill you”

He walked up to Browning and drove a needle into each knee,. “Now who is the last person?”

Devon held a needle ready to drive it into Browning’s crotch, Browning's gaze shot downward as he stuttered out the information

“Trish, her name is Trish, I don't know her last name, now let me the fuck out of this, I‘ll help you get to her, I'll tell you who sent us, anything you want, please you already killed my partner and murdered Gloria in a fucking back alley, you can at least let me go!”

Devon looked at the man sniveling in the chair, as his body was being racked by pain

“3 things, I killed your partner quickly and painlessly, he was lucky, and I didn’t murder Gloria in an alley, I killed the bitch in the lounge, she just finally fell apart in the alley, and I already know who sent you.”

Devon began walking away from Browning and up the stairs, Browning sucked in a breath as his chest heaved. "What’s happening to me, are you gonna let me go"

Devon looked back at him “The needles I drove into you were coated in a powerful toxin,  that I like to keep in a powdered and liquid state each one contained a small dosage, but the amount I nailed in is enough to kill you, Gloria had the pleasure of taking a full dose in the powdered form, and you got the liquid. It’s working its way through your body right now actually.”

He turned back for a moment and sat on the staircase looking into the man’s eyes

“I said your partner died painlessly, a single shoot directly through the brain, he barely knew it was coming. For you though, I said nothing at all about letting you go or about a painless death for a sniveling coward.”

Devon stood again and continued away as the man’s screams echoed through the room.