Eileen pulled Raiden into the alley with her as the heel of his boots cracked down on the gravel, creating a sharp crunch through the air. She winced as it carried to their target. Thankfully Raiden had enough sense to stay silent, grey eyes following hers as they watched the man gnce sharply backwards.
The breath in her lungs stalled. Eyes locked onto the mobster’s still frame as he gnced in either direction. She could see the way his right hand lingered on the pocket on his belt, a shiny bck grip pointing out from it that poked into his skin lightly.
She felt Raiden shuffle slightly behind her, but kept her focus on the man as he slowly tilted his head to the side. In the mplight around him she could make out a tinge of red in his dark brown eyes. An undertone of colour that brought malicious light into them. Eileen noted that it seemed to lighten as the scrunch of them eased.
Muted in a sense as he gnced towards the clock tower behind him before shifting upright again. With a light shrug he turned and began walking again. For a moment the air around them stilled. The tension remaining even as he was near the other end of it.
“That was close,” Raiden whispers to her. “I thought we’d been caught for a moment there.”
“Hmm,” Eileen gnce back to see his face slightly pale. She gives him a small smile. “So did I. But we didn’t. Let’s go after him before he gets too far.” He nods, footsteps slightly more hesitant know as they follow him at a distance.
They’d already followed him from the busy city streets into the less developed area of the town. The stone they walked on looked like it hadn’t been taken care of in over a decade. The wall around them having a dusty look to them and spshes of red she couldn’t be certain wasn’t blood.
There was no need to guess why there wasn’t anyone else around them. No need to wonder why it was such a contrast to the merry ughter and loud conversation in the distance. It had only a small amount to do with the te hour.
Normal people did not belong here. Not when the streets themselves screamed they weren’t welcome. Eileen could sense the same sort of quiet hostility around her as she’d seen in violent fights. The silence around them was fragile and not one she wanted to test with Raiden next to her.
He’d done a great job of trying to hiding it, but she could tell it unsettled him. Yet, he’d still followed after her through the dirty streets. Still stayed right behind her even when his pale face showed the shadows unsettled him. She’d thought about staying back for a single moment before coming to the decision it would be useless.
Winding streets and thrown gnces ter, they came to a stop. The man had stopped at the door of a rge building that seemed out of pce in this neighbourhood. For one it was very tall, at least three floors that she could see. For another, it looked far too new to belong. The top floors were shiny in a way that the buildings and streets around it simply weren’t.
Eileen shared a gnce with Raiden as the doors closed behind him. There were guards at the door. Both of them knew it wouldn’t be easy to sneak past them. They’d be caught immediately even if they tried.
“So?” Raiden asks, leaning forward from where they were crouched behind a car. “What’s the pn?”
She gnced back at the door again. What would Aren do in a situation like this? He’d probably tell her to look for any open doors or windows at the back of the house. But…Would there be any open windows? She somehow doubts it.
That leaves the tried and true method of knocking them out. It had served them well in missions and wasn’t likely to give them any clue of their identity. She could easily knock them out with the tools she always had on hand. Yet, she hesitates. It would also draw far more attention to them then she’d like.
However, what other options did they have? The only other tools she currently had on hand in her ring besides weapons was rope, masks she had yet to empty out, and a bag of gold. She internally cursed. If she had known she’d have get into a building, she’d have put a teleportation disc inside as well.
“Kiran?” Raiden’s voice breaks her out of her thoughts. “We do have a pn, yes?”
Her mouth scrunches up and she’s about to suggest they knock them out or come back another time, when inspiration strikes. A smile spreads over her mouth that she quickly smothers before gncing at him over her shoulder.
“Yes. We have a pn,” she tells him, pulling out the masks from her space ring. “Put this on and give me anything that might give away your identity.”
“And what does this pn pertain?” Yet even with the slight undertone of apprehension in his tone, he readily hands over his watch and broach with the Redthorn insignia. “What are the masks for? This is hardly a masquerade.”
She rolls her eyes lightly, handing him the pin masks with feathers around the eyes that cover the rest of the head and a filigree pattern that disguised the other features. “The masks will help keep our identities somewhat hidden when we go in there,” she subtly points to the door.”
The rising of his brows can be made out even with the feathered headdress. “We’re going in there?”
What did he assume they were going to do after coming this far? Eileen truly could not make out the thoughts that went through this man’s mind sometimes. “Yes,” she tells him simply, putting her own mask on and putting their things in her ring. She hesitates for a moment as she makes to stand up.
Maybe…Yes. She reaches into the ring again and pulls out a smoke signal and one of her tasers. “Here,” she says, holding them out. “In case something goes wrong or we get separated at any point.”
He takes them but doesn’t immediately put them into his jacket pockets. Instead, Raiden holds them up to inspect. “Is this one of the tasers I’ve been hearing so much about?” Grey eyes flicker to meet hers, brows creasing. “I’ve heard they cause a lot of damage.”
“They do. But this one has just enough power to knock someone out without doing too much damage.” It’s more of a safety measure than anything else. Eileen isn’t about to give a civilian any weapon beyond self-defence. For more reason than one.
“Oh,” he says on a sigh, a relieved smile spreading. “Good. I know I agreed to help, but…”
“But you don’t want to hurt anyone in the process,” she finishes with a nod. “I assumed as much. Like I said, those are for if the situation gets out of control.”
“You think the situation might get out of control?” He adjusts the mask again, tools safely hidden out of sight in his inner pockets.
“Well, that depends,” she tells him, making to stand up and smoothing down her suit.
“On what?”
Eileen shoots him a lightly mischevious smile over her shoulder. “On how good your acting is.”
They move to the side of the building first, before walking out like they have nothing to hide. She makes sure to be just slightly in front of him in case something goes wrong, and she needs to knock them out after all. Grandpa does always tell her to be prepared for any outcome.
“Hello,” she says, walking straight to the guards. “We’re here for the meeting.”
“What meeting?” One of them, a tall, muscled man with dark hair and a speckling of a beard asks. His cool blue eyes are narrowed towards them in suspicion. “I haven’t heard of any meeting. Have you?”
His companion, a simirly muscled man with auburn hair, shakes his head and joins his friend in giving them a narrow-eyed look. Eileen doesn’t let it phase her, giving them both a wide smile instead.
“Why would you?” She asks, shrugging as if its obvious and leans forward. “It’s not like we can risk it getting out to people who shouldn’t know about it.”
“Know about what?” The red-haired man asks curiously. Eileen moves her face into an expression of hesitation. Making a show of tilting her head in question towards Raiden. He shakes his head as they’d agreed.
“Sorry guys,” she says in mock resignation, “can’t tell ya. Secrets you know?” She shrugs her shoulders in a ‘what can you do’ motion.
“I don’t believe you!” The dark haired man scoffs gruffly, “you don’t look trustworthy at all with the masks. Shifty more like.”
At that Eileen tilts her head questioningly again, a wry smile spreading over her lips as she blinks at them slowly. “Who in this business is?” She chuckles as he blinks. “But tell you what, I’ll tell you what the fuss is about if you let us in after.” A pause. “We do have a meeting to get to after all.”
“I don’t-”
“Alright,” the red-haired man says quickly, a spark of interest in his eyes. “You’ve got a detail.” Oh. That one is most definitely the weak link. Good to know.
“The fuck are you talking about Kyle?” The dark haired man turns a gre on him. “We don’t even know if they’re legit.”
“They seem legit enough to me, Sean,” Kyle says with a shrug. “Besides, don’t you wanna know? The bosses don’t tell us anything.”
“Oy!” Sean hits him over the head, “Don’t tell them that!”
“Ow!” Kyle gres at him. “It’s the truth, isn’t it? This might be our only chance!”
The looks that pass through them in quick succession in the next minute are both amusing and a little baffling. Despite his words, Sean doesn’t really seem to think of them as a threat if they can so easily turn their backs on them. Eileen still doesn’t change her expression as she takes it all in.
Eventually Sean seems to relent, sighing heavily before turning towards her. “Oh, alright. Tell us what the fuss is all about and you can go in.”
“Wonderful,” she says, widening her smile and then leans in conspiratorially, “The Ezim national casino is up for grabs,” she tells them. “Heard the old man got caught up in some legal trouble.” She makes a show of waving her hand flippantly, giving them a shark-like grin. “Just means someone else gets to be on top.”
“What!?” The surprise is warranted. It’s basically an open secret that the capital’s main casino is a prime meeting spot for the underground. Whoever controls it gets monopoly of the town and a shitload of money.
“Well?” She leans back to appreciate the shock on their faces. “That enough for you to let us in?”
Both of them huff a ugh, moving to the side for them to move through. “You bet!”
“Thank you, gentlemen,” she says, lightly nudging Raiden to follow as they make their way in. Once the rge oak door sms shut behind them, the smile on her face fades.
“Thank fuck that worked,” Raiden mutters as they move down the secluded corridor into an empty space.
“I told you it would,” she says in answer, eyes scanning the room for the man.
“Yes you did,” Raiden concedes, “but you also had a back-up, so…”
“It’s always good to be prepared,” she shrugs. No sign of him. “Now where…” Her eyes linger on a board at the centre of the wall. A closer inspection shows it’s filled with photos. “Huh,” she huffs with a smile.
“What is it,” Raiden asks, coming to stand next to her.
Her finger moves to the photo, “I think I’ve found the man we’re looking for.” She taps her finger on the pque. “And he’s the one with the biggest picture too.”
“Leo Conner,” Raiden reads aloud, eyes searching the picture again. “I feel like I’ve heard that name before, but I can’t quite remember where…”
So had she. But that wasn’t what was important right now. “We’re running on limited time,” she reminds him, “The name can be investigated ter.”
“Hmm,” he says in assent. Then a mischevious grin spreads over his lips. “I think I saw a room with that name on it on our way here.”
Eileen blinks. “You did?” She hadn’t really paid any attention to them, searching for Leo Conner. The inside of the building reminded her of a hotel mixed with a mansion.
Raiden nods, motioning for her to follow him back the way they came to the second floor, and points towards a room near the start of the staircase. Sure enough, there’s a gold pte that has ‘Leo Conner’ written on it. This only adds to her theory that the building is more than likely a renovated hotel.
“It’s locked,” Raiden tells her when a turn of the handle doesn’t have the wooden door opening inwards. In what amuses and annoys her in great measure, he looks at her in anticipation. Does he see her as some sort of lockpick who can make it open?
She can of course, but it’s still a little rude. Faint noises at the end of the hallway tell her that the building is in the middle of a meeting. Probably, part of the reason the guards believed her so easily. It hasn’t been that long since Leo Conner walked in, so she doubts they’ll be done anytime soon. Good.
“Move aside,” she whispers, taking a lock pick from her ring. “This doesn’t seem that complicated, but there’s always the risk of something going wrong.”
“Alright,” he nods, “I’ll keep watch in case someone comes out of that meeting early.”
“Thank you,” she tells him softly, before getting to work.
Someone in the building must have experience picking locks, because it’s a little more complicated than one she’s seen before. She has to take another of the tools Damien had insisted she keep on her at all times so the cogs don’t swivel back in pce before she can get the door open. There also seems to be an arm on the door judging by the slow ticking sound she can make out.
Eileen grits her teeth, taking in a stabilising breath and releasing it slowly. Alright. The lock pick holding the winding mechanism in pce stays where it as she turn the lock with the other. She thinks it will come out without triggering the arm if she takes it out like this. However, moving to pull down the handle will trigger it at once.
A wry smile spreads over her face. Fortunate then, that she’s not alone. “Raiden?”
“Yes?” He turns a gnce over his shoulder to meet her gaze.
“My hands are currently preoccupied, so I need you to pull down the handle of the door. Otherwise, it’ll set of the arm.”
“Sure,” he says, walking forwards. The handle turns and the door swings open. Raiden freezes as soon as it does.
Eileen pulls the lock picks out and is about to ask him what’s wrong before she finds herself freezing as well. Eyes widening as she sees it. At the very centre of his wall, in clear sight and the first thing to be seen when anyone comes in is a rge board, with a single photograph. Knives embedded all around it.
Some of them are skewering the picture to the board. The curly dark hair barely visible through the sheer volume of knives in it. Someone has clearly been using it to release their frustrations if the cuts around it are any indication. However, what has her frozen is that she recognises the man.
Would recognise it even without the crest on his clothes and the newspaper articles dispying his name also stabbed into the wall. She releases a breath, pulls Raiden in behind her and slowly shuts the door, locking it behind them. Leo Conner has a knife throwing board with her father’s face at the very centre.
Well. If she hadn’t found him suspicious before, she certainly does now.
