Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7
----------------
Loved ones
People fail to appriciate the importance of relationships precisely when it is needed the most. Convincing themselves that leaving their loved one and following the road to misery, going on a "so called mission", is their calling....is their destiny. And when those cold nights become too hard to bear....when lonliness and isolation gives one the much needed time to think things through, one begins to wallow in their self pity and grieve over how much they loved that cherished person....How they had wronged them and broke their heart......and did much much worser still.
"David!" Ray cried, exhasparated. "How many times!!! I told you not to put the food in the refrigerator just cuz you don't feel like eating it now!"
David looked at his wife sheepishly and mumbled,
"I hate lettuce salad."
"What was that?" Ray snapped and he winced and coward.
The silence that followed was uncomfortable and seemed to demand David to Appologize. Ray was sorting things that lay on the table.
"Na Ray," David started.
'We're not having Pizza for dinner." Ray replied without looking at him.
"you didn't know I was gonna say that!" David said, outraged.
"Oh?" Ray said, turning to look at him, folding her arms infront of her as he stared at him without blinking, an eyebrow raised. "Then what was it you were gonna say?"
"That....that was...." David mumbled again. He Hated how much she resembled his mther when she stood like that.
"hmm?"
"I wasn't gonna say pizza specifically." He said atlast.
Ray sighed. David was a simpleton through and through.
"Look, lets go out and eat something fancy okay?" David said, his face all red.
A pink patch appeared on Ray's cheek. She had not expected this of all the things that David would say.
"Oh."She said after a while. "Okay."
"Good then." David said, matter of factly. "I'll come home early and we'll go to a resturant of your choice."
"Ray, Ray wake up!"
Chie was calling her for a while. She sat up and looked at her.
"wassamatter?" She asked, groggily.She was still sleepy. But even then she could see Chie's look of panic and concern.
"You tell me!" She said."Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine...Just tired." Ray managed to say that before heaving a huge yawn. She brought her knuckles to rub her eyes when she found that her face was wet with tears. She was crying.
"wha....what's this..." She said, astonished. She couldnot stop her tears. Chie just gave her an understanding smile and left her to herself. She went by the window and stared outside without saying a word for a very long time. The she spoke, mostly to herself.
"It must be a beautiful feeling," She said, "Being in love."
"Have you never...."
Chie shook her head in answer. Then she turned and smiled. Ray returned it and saw Chie's face change into a look of concern.
"you musn't go there every day." She warned her. "David might be your husband, but we are wanted criminals there now. You can't just walk into the hospital like that and leave him flowers. It would look suspicious."
"I don't Barge in!" Ray retorted hotly. "I go in disguises. Sometimes I leave it by the staff reception for them to take it to him. No one has noticed me."
"As of yet." Chie corrected her.
"I wish this whole thing gets over already!" Ray said, pumelling her pillow."Any news from Zena?"
Chie shook her head and the two women sank back in there thoughts.
**************************
"So what does that mean?" Lisa asked, staring at Kite.
The two of them were by the river bank, supposedly watching the sunset. But in reality, they were having the heavy discussion Kite had wanted to prop up a million times before.
Kite said nothing and pretended to be staring at a waffer floating on the water for as long as he could. He could feel Lisa's gaze. It was piercing his face, wanting to get inside his head and heart to find out what it was that he wanted to do.
"It means what I said Lisa," He said finally, when he could no longer pretend to be interested in the waffer. "What I am about to do is dangerous and I don't want to get you involved."
"You think I'd get in your way?" Lisa asked. "Is that why? But Kite, I never try to stop you from doing what you do! So why now? I told you before! I don't mind you chasing after your sister if that's what gives you a meaning to what you do!"
"Its not that simple!"
"Well then uncomplicate it for me!" Lisa cried. "Please....Please....let me in. On your pain, sorrow.....worries....let me in!"
Kite turned away.
"You got it wrong Lisa." He said quietly. "I don't need you is all."
Another pause and then,
"Thats a lie!" Lisa shouted, staring at the back of Kite's head. She did not cry.not yet. She was hoping it was one of those cliche moments Kite had which was so closely associated with him thinking he needs to do everything alone.........but it was only a matter of time before the wall broke.The wall of her courage.
Kite turned to look at her, his eyes glazed and dead, his face stoney.
"You're such a pain Lisa." He said,sneering at her.
Lisa stared at him.
"Just because we dated, just because we spend some time....honestly, are all women as stupid as you?"
"What are you talking about?!"
"Get off my back!" He told her coldly. "Get a life and stop being so pathetic!"
"What are you talking about?!" Lisa asked again.
"Don't make me repeat myself." Kite told her. "This is the end for us."
Then he turned and walked up the bank, like always, leaving her in his wake. The sun hadn't fully sunk yet. The last of its rays were were touching the water gently and casting a crimson shade all over it.
"I'll wait." Lisa called after his reatreating back. He didnot turn around. Tears had started to fall from her eyes, but this time, it was okay. She could cry. He would not see her undignified self. She could be fragile and emotional, he wouldnot notice. He never did notice. If she had sense to spare, she would've felt Kite's tormented soul that was hurting more than her's as he walked away from her. But she was only human........She needed to console herself.

***************************************

"It was my bad, I'm sorry." Fai appoloised to the harried nurse. He was helping her pick up all the case files he ade her drop as he walked into her in his hurry. Rain had sounded strange when she had called him over.
"I'm sorry." Fai said again.
"Just watch where you're going detective!" She said sternly, got up and took off. Something about her looked fimiliar, but he put that topic out of his mind for the time being. Seeing Rain was priority now.
*******************************************
"I thought I had told you never to bring anyone in this apartment Ri." Julie said sharply to her sister Adriane.
"It was late at night, he had nowhere else to go." Adriane apologised.
It was morning and Julie and Adriane were having a talk about Zaran.
Julie raised an eyebrow.
"What about the hotels in town?!Are they doing buisness that good?!" She said sarcastically.
"He didnt have any money." Adriane explained.
"I wont tolerate any outsiders in my house Ri, espcially penniless tramps. could be a damn thief for all we know." She said scathingly and went inside the room to tend to Zena's wounds.
The other night, Julie had turned up at the doorstep of her apartment in a different town with a bleeding Zena. She had walked in to face Zaran, who was wiping the floor. He had looked unsurprised and let Julie walk in and go about her buisness without making a single comment. Something didn't seem right about that fellow. She let matters slide for the time being, in the face of healing Zena. Now however, she thought she needed to give Adriane a peice of her mind.
"Don't mind her," Adriane mumbled an appology to Zaran. "She's just worried about me."
Zaran only smiled.
"Its okay." He said wisely. "I'd have done the same if I were your sister."
"Hear that Ri," came Julie's voice from the next room. "Even he agrees. So maybe he'll leave and stop being a freeloader. I'll keep my hopes up."
The two of them outside sweatdroped.
"Cu'mon." Adriane whispered. "It's best we leave her till her mood gets better."
Zaran nodded and the two of them stepped outside of the building and walked towards the tavern Adriane worked in.
"Julie's not a bad person." Adriane said abruptly.
"I know." Zaran replied, smiling.
"Do you?!" She heaved a sigh of relief.
"Offcourse I do." He said, grinning. "Sure, I could do with her temper calming down a notch, but she only does what she does to protect you. I hope." he added, laughing.
Adriane seemed happier and went inside to change. When she came out, The tables were already set upright and Zaran was cleaning the chairs before the crowd came in to have breakfast.
"I'm sorry I'm having you do all these for me without pay." Adriane applogized again.
Zaran shook his head.
"I'm grateful you gave me a roof to sleep under." He said.
"Do you plan on leaving soon?" She asked, in what she hoped was an offhand manner.
"Yes." Zaran replied. "A friend of mine asked me to lend him a hand regarding some work. He is very dear to me."
"Oh." was all Adriane could manage to say. Her face fell. In the last two weeks, she had gotten used to having him around.
***********************************************************************
The sunlight flitted brightly through the slits of the thick curtains. The clock chimmed two o'clock and Julie heard a stirring in the bed.
"You're awake." She said lowly.
"Don't sound so depressed." Zena replied.
"Who's the male?" She asked, trying to prop herself up.
"You shouldn't do that." Julie warned her. She was smoking her pipe and was lost in thoughts.
"tch..You sound just like her," Zena scowled.
"Naah," Julie said, grinning. "She was worse."
The two of the had a moment of laughter as as they had their brief relapse of memory.
"We gotta move." Zena said.
Julie nodded and said,
"and fast."
"Any news?"
"Soon."
And silence fell between them. There was no need for talk. Atleast not at the moment.
*************************************************************************
Fai burst inside the ward uncerimoniously. The nurse screamed at him for making such a rukus. Fai didn't care. His eyes saught the sight of his best friend. Finally, they met eye to eye and his face split into a wide grin.
"How're you holding up in there?" He asked, taking a seat beside his bed.
"Not so good, your wife's planning to murder me." David replied, grinning back.
"And I will too!" Rain's stern voice came from the doorway.
Fai looked quizzically at his wife.
"Pass me a cig." David inturrupted.
"You know I can't do that." Fai grinned.
David scowled and mumbled something about "supposed to be my friend."
"Now now." Said Rain, who was stooping over David to fix his saline wires. "Lets not get grumpy."
David scowled some more and the other two laughed. David had never been a happy patient. He had had three major accidents in life so far and several small scale injuries and noone has ever seen him change his attitude about staying in bed.
"You know, you being grumpy wont heal you any quicker." Fai told him exhasparetedly.
"You should cheer up". Rain told him. "Look at all the flowers your well whisers are sending you."
She pointed her finger to the shelf. There were around six or seven pots of them. David's eye got stuck on the white lilies.
"Who sent those?" David asked tonelessly.
"I dunno." Rain replied. "But it has come for you every single day since you were here. They're so pretty, don't you think?"
She hummed as she fixed the flowers in the shelf.
A brief and hazy memory....or was it a dream...passed through David's mind.
"Happy birthday Ray!"
"Lilies?"
"The most beautiful flowers for the most beautiful wife in the world."
"ahahahaha.....David!"
and the two of them had kissed.....
"David?"
David started and stared at Fai, who looked at him with concern.





To be contd................

Fallen chapter 6

Fallen
Chapter 6
-------------------
HEAT

The steady gunfire echoed around the abandoned building. It took only a short time to get rid of the twenty or so men inside.
"What do we do with the bodies?" Sam asked, staring at the corpses. "We can't possibly burry all of them. There's not enough time! They must be sending backups any second now!"
"We leave 'em for the cops to find." Kevin said simply.
Sam's jaw dropped in horror. "Is this guy for real?!" is what ran through his mind.
"Oh yes, thats a fantastic idea." He said sarcastically, moving over to his little brother's side.
"Are you alright?"
The boy nodded his head and clung on to Sam.
"How's your arm holding up?" Kevin asked Zena, his eyes on the steadily spreading blood in her left side. She was clutching it tightly.
"I've been better." She said grimly."Kevin, take them and get going."
Kevin nodded. He turned towards Sam and motioned him and his brother to walk with him.
"What happens to her?" Sam asked uncertainly, pointing a thumb back at Zena.
"She's got it covered." Kevin said, shortly. Kevin's mind was racing.
What are you thinking Zena, this is quite a gamble you're playing! If words go out to HQ, they'll have you snuffed out nomatter what your tallents are!
The engine of the car made him snap out and step on the accelarator. In the rear view mirror, they could see three black sedanes entering the warehouse, but they were steadily moving away from there.
"Is Zena going to be okay?" Sam asked him from the back seat.
"She should be yes. She has her own back up comming too."
Sam stared at the back of Kevin's head. His mind was racing. Why was he worried about Zena?! She was a wanted criminal in the police list, dead or alive! If she died, then it'd be an acomplishment in itself. He'd be able to live a normal life and his crime records'd vanish forever. But what was a normal life? He'd get chased around by one gang or the other till he was dead too. Then they'd go after his father and then his brother.......Zena just risked her own life to protect the two of them.....Fai had promised the same too.......This was quite a predicament to be in.

*********************
"Darn it," Zena thought to herself, staring at the empty gun in her hand. this was cutting things too close for comfort. "Where ARE you!"
All the time, she could hear the footsteps of the enemy getting closer. "Enemy?" She thought and grinned, "Thats quiet a way to put it."
and then she herd it. The unmistakable sound of a mechinegun piercing its bullets mercilessly through its victims. For a few minutes there was just the sound of guns and screams and splashes and heavy thuds of the victims falling to their death. then there was silence. Absolute silence. the one of the kind one hears after a storm. Then a voice spoke. A familiar one.
"You in here Girl?"
Relief broke over her. She was saved in this journey.
"Yep." She called back to Julie.
"How you holding up mami?"
"Barely." She answered back, poking her head from behind a pile of crates.
"Sit tight, I'll be right over."
A half of an hour later, Zena was tucked in behind Julie's truck. The wild and bold colour made Zena's eye water and she blinked several times.
"WOW." was all she could say as her eyes traveled from the bright red paint and white polka dots all over the car.
"You like?" Julie said smugly. "This is my baby charolette."
"It certainly packs a punch." Zena muttered. Her eyes were going out of focus from the steady bloodloss.
"You just sit comfy Mami, I'll take you to a hideout. Lets go treat them wounds." Said Julie.
Zena nodded.
"That'd be welcome."
**********************************

The black cadillac stopped in the parking lot of the station. The three people inside, got out. "Here, this bag has everything." Kevin told Sam, handing him a rucksack. "Fake IDs, Address to where your Father is. Appointment letter to a local consultancy firm, Your brother's new school....everything's there. Cover your tracks well! This is where we say goodbye."
Sam stood there, numbly aware of taking the bag.
"What will happen to Zena?" He felt like he was asking the same questions again and again, but he didn't know why.... Perhaps, it was because he was worried about her since she saved his little brother......was this gratitude? or was this concern for an unlikely friend?
"The next few hours will tell." Kevin said grimly, opening the door of the car.
"Why?" Sam asked atlast, unable to stop himself. "Why did she go to all that length to do this favour for us?! she knew I was a spy from the start! She knew I was going after her!"
"Its as she said. She didn't want unwanted obstructions.." Said Kevin, and he smiled looking at the scowl on Sam's face. "This is not your war to fight Sam, And she didn't want you involved anymore than you already were. With these prepearations we have done for you, you will be able to live out of this war. I'm sorry I couldnot arrange for all of this earlier."
"Say, something's kinda stuck at the back of my mind all this time." Sam said slowly. "I think there is a mole in the Police HQ."
Kevin gave him a look and put his arm on his shoulder.
"We know." Said Kevin. "Which is why Zena is doing all she's doing."
He got inside the car and within minutes, he was gone. Sam stood there for a while, debating with himself what he should be doing. Then the last call for passengers to board the train came and he grabbed his brother's arm and made towards the train.



*********



"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"Stop screaming mami, it'll be over in a bit! I can't believe after all you've gone through, you're still squeemish about this bullet operation." Julie snapped at her when Zena screamed.
"Its you damn cat biting my toe that hurts Julie." Zena said through gritted teeth.
"huh?" Julie blinked and turned back to see her cat "bones" was viciously biting Zena's right toe, apparently very happy.
"Get that fleebag away from me or it goes." Zena said, thrashing her left arm about to find her gun.
[An hour later]
"How's she doing?" Adrian asked as Julie walked out of the room.
"Gone to sleep." Julie replied, "I think I overdid it with the anesthetic." She said, thoughtfully.
Adrian sweat dropped.
"Which reminds me," Julie rounded on her sister, "Who's this flee bag and what's he doing in our apartment, goading on free meals??!"
She was staring at Zaran and he stared back at her, half of the bread he was eating, stuck out from his lips as he tried to smile and say Hi.

to be contd.....

Fallen chapter 5

CHAPTER 5
-----------------
One's own choice.

Rain clouds had started to form again over the mundane looking town of Shanjia. Weekend turned into Monday without much change in the weather. Dull pewter gray clouds formed overhead as the weather reporter on TV announced the expectations of another heavy downpour around midday.
Fai turned off the TV glumly and picked up the morning paper from the bedside table. He scanned through the headlines frowning slightly, occasionally stopping and reading some of the stories that caught his fancy. "POLICE BLUNDER IN SOUTH CITY", "TRIADS OUT OF HAND AND AT LARGE" was among the few. His eyes skimmed past a certain movie star caught by airport security over some illegal drug possessions and was about to turn the page when Rain entered, carrying with her, his breakfast tray.
"Morning honey." She said brightly, setting the table on his knees and pecking him on his cheek. Fai gave her a smile.
"Smells good!" He said, looking down at his tray and taking in the delicious wafts of freshly made pancakes, sunny-side-up poaches and orange juice. He was half way through taking a swig from his juice when the bell rang and Rain went out to see who it was. A couple of minutes later, she returned followed by Liza and Kite.
"How’re you feeling?" Liza asked him anxiously, putting a large bouquet of flowers on the bedside table.
"Never better." Fai said cheerfully. He watched Kite giving Rain a peck in her cheek and dropping of a large paper bag full of fruits.
"Any news of David yet?" He asked Kite. "Since Rain’s taken the week off of work, I’ve been worried."
Kite took a while to answer. He was staring out of the window absent mindedly. He started when he heard Fai’s voice calling his name and stared at him, answering,
"He’s still in coma."
There was a brief pause where everyone cast about for another topic. Then Rain seeing the look on Fai’s face said,
"Liza, teach me that recipe of plum cake you made the other day!" and ushered her out of the room.
"What’s the situation outside?" Fai asked once he was sure the two girls were out of earshot.
Kite sat down at a corner of the bed and said gravely,
"No sign of ‘em."
"Offcourse, I wasn’t very hopeful to begin with." Said Fai. "So we’re all out of leads?"
"no." Said Kite. "There’s one last thread I gotta check."
"I’ll come with you." Said Fai.
"NO, you’re not!" Kite said flatly. "Don’t be thick Fai, rest and recover first."
"Look who’s talking." Fai said grumpily.
Kite looked taken a back. It was unusual for Fai to be saying such things. He stared.
"What?" Fai said defensively, "I’m bored already!"
Kite sniggered. Trying to control himself he said,
"It’s not THAT big of a lead. Its more of some backlog stuff I needed to check into incase I might find some missing link."
"Doesn’t matter." Fai said dismissively. "I still want to go. I want to do something rather than sit here and sulk over what happened to David."
They fell silent. Kite was weighing his words. It was several minutes before he said,
"Kay’s alive."
To his surprises, Fai didn’t look astound at these words. On the contrary, his face looked anxious.
"I knew it was her from the moment I saw her in the hall." Fai said quietly. "Her coming to the scene arises so many questions!"
"FORGET THAT!" Kite said loudly, "I’ll kill her the next time I see her!"
Fai frowned at him.
"Don’t be thick!" He repeated what Kite had told him a bit earlier.
They fell silent again. From the kitchen next room, they heard the giggles of Rain and Liza. Their thoughts trailed back to the terrace where Ray had shot David…..
"Butterflies, Seventh Street on Friday at quarter past ten." Kite told Fai. "Don’t be late."
Rain came inside again and they dropped their conversation. Rain and Fai started to tease Kite about hurrying up and hitching with Liza.
"Honestly, how long are you going to stretch it out?!" Rain said impatiently, "It’s like a never ending soap opera, you two’s love life."
"Why don’t you switch channels then?" Kite said lightly, missing the reproachful looks from Liza.
The rest of the visit went by in casual talks.

******

As Zena drove out of the parking lot of a pristine hotel, her mind was doing some very quick calculations. Sitting in the morning traffic, she dialed Kevin’s number and left him a whole fifteen minutes’ worth of instructions. By the time she had hung up, the traffic had moved on and she was receiving angry horns from the cars behind her. Paying no attention to them, she started the car in her own time and started to drive away.
*****************

It was day break. The church perched on top of the hill stood out in the pink lights from the horizon like a little toy house. The paved path leading out of the front gates twisted and turned out of sight behind the gigantic fir trees around it. Even as the birds sat chirping, the bell rang announcing morning to the surroundings. A few people could be seen trudging up the path towards the church to say morning prayers. The tiny graveyard beyond the praying hall lay silent basking in the peace of the morning, though not for long. Two kids ran up the stone steps flagging up to the church and ran down it again screaming at each other,
"GIVE IT BACK!!"
"Come and take it cry baby!"
One of the children was a boy, hardly of seven. The smaller one crying hysterically was a girl of around three. The boy was holding a doll out of the little girl’s reach and she kept frantically snatching at it, screaming in anguish to get her doll back. The early birds in the church murmured amongst themselves and chuckling.
"THAT’S ENOUGH NOW YOU TWO!" came a thundering command of someone from the front door of a small house just beside the church, which was an orphanage run by the padre there. A girl in her mid teens was hurrying down the steps, clutching a broomstick and wearing an expression of utmost fury in her face.
As the two kids saw her coming towards them, they turned to run, but she caught them anyway. At once, both of them exploded into explanations, each attempting to drown the other’s voice by screaming louder.
"SHE BROKE MY SAND HOUSE!"
"HE TOOK MARTHA!!!HE TOOK MARTHA"
"MARTHA’S SUCH A SILLY NAME!!YOU’RE A GIRLY GIRL!!!EUGH!!!"
"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!HE TOOK MARTHA! GIVE MARTHA BACK!!!!"
"SHUT UP!!!" said the girl, whacking both of them in the head.
Both stopped shouting but that immediately got replaced by howls of tears. The girl stood there, exasperated and annoyed.
"There now don’t cry."
The girl turned around to see the home’s sister striding forward and calming the children. A very pretty girl with a smile that warmed the hearts of every living soul who saw it. The blue eyes reflecting the morning sky, and the sweet fragrance that lingered around her which the children often compared with spring’s breeze.
"Megan!" Cried the girl in relief. "Thank god you’re back! They were driving me crazy!"
Megan looked up at the girl and smiled.
"Sorry I left you all alone Kay, you must’ve had a hard time taking care of all of them."
"Julie’s shut herself in her room." She said on the verge of tears herself. "She said she’d had enough last afternoon after they put frogs in her bath water."
Megan’s face fell sad. She looked at the two kids with disappointment and they at once started to apologize,
"Please don’t be sad Megan!" cried the boy.
"We promise we wont do anything bad ever again Megan, please forgive us!" cried the girl.
Kay snorted in disbelieve and Megan gave her a disapproving look. From behind Megan, the boy stuck out his tongue at Kay. Kay lost her temper and ran after him ignoring Megan’s frantic voice asking her to leave him alone.
"You’re DEAD today Kite, you hear me!!! DEAD!!!!"
"Those two are at it again?" called an old man who visited the church every day to lay roses in his dead wife’s grave.
Megan gave a start and then greeted him. When he was gone, she gave picked up the doll from the floor and gave it back to the girl.
"There now Karen," she said, wiping her tears. "There’s no need to cry."
Karen gave a watery smile.
Somewhere far away in the corner of reality, a door lock clicked. That warm spring’s morning, the smell of wild lilies faded in a mater of seconds. Zena sat up straight in the chair of the drawing room. She had dozed of without realizing it. Someone was in the house. That someone was calling loudly,
"Dad?"
The footsteps grew louder and louder as it’s owner made his way into the living room.
He was at the doorway when Zena switched on the light beside her and stared up at the horror struck face of Sam.
Sam stood there, rooted to the spot. His eyes darted around the room for any signs of his father, but Zena’s expression took away any hopes of finding him there.
"Where’s my dad." Sam asked quietly.
Zena took her time, reading his face and then said slowly,
"He’s not here."
"Where is he?" Sam demanded, his voice growing steadily stiff and loud.
Zena raised an eyebrow, watching his face work colours of emotions of calculations and of frustrations and Fury. In the deepest heart of it all, was fear.
"He’s not here." Zena replied again.
"WHERE IS HE?" The shout came out of him as his fear threatened to overcame all of him.
"Somewhere safe." Was her reply.
He stared at her for a moment, utterly nonplused.
"What did you say?" He asked, sure he heard her wrong. If she was here for the reason he though she was there, then that would definitely mean that she’d taken his father anywhere BUT somewhere safe. Then there was the question of if she was telling the truth, then that would mean there was a catch.
"Like I said, somewhere safe." Zena said coolly. "Sit down Sam, we need to discuss your options."
And here it was, proof of his suspicions. Sam took the nearby chair, his hands in his pocket, grasping tight the hilt of the gun. He did not take his eyes off from her. He said again,
"Where is my dad?"
"How long did you think your little excursions would go unnoticed by the family?" She asked ignoring his question, as calmly as if she was asking him to predict the outcome of the following NBA game between Lakers and the Phoenix.
Sam blanched. So he WAS right! His betrayal was caught. He remained quiet, weighing his options. His eyes looked around the room again. Dare he make a break for it? Could he kill Zena and flee from here? But even if it were possible, there was still the matter of his Father being at her mercy. Quiet apart from anything else, to buy himself some time, he asked,
"Since when?"
"Sorry?"
"Since when have they been on to me?" He repeated.
"Since that day you took to traveling by train."
He looked up in time to see her watching him. He did not like the way she phrased "Traveling by train". It was as if she knew too, who he was meeting. He did not reply.
"Did you think the family’ll take a stray dog and leave it unchecked."
this wasn’t a question, it was statement. He did not like hearing it.
"You’ve been stupid to go so open about all of this." Zena told him, the slightest bit of annoyance betrayed her otherwise impassive features.
How stupid did she think he was? Off course he knew he was followed, he was being watched. But did she think he did not realize the risks? Did she think he didn’t know what he was walking into?
"I knew." He said finally.
Zena raised her eyebrows and Sam hated seeing the sneer in her face.
"I was under the impression you were spying on the Family to clear your criminal records. To be a better example for your little brother, oh yes, I know about your brother Joahn." She said, looking at his thunderstruck face, a smile curling up her lips. "I’ve known your intentions since you joined the Family Sam."
So she knew? She knew he was there, passing information to the Law about the family? She knew of him and his family all along? Of his intentions? How could it be possible? He did not detect lie in her words or the voice that spoke it. Yet, something didn’t fit in all of this.
"Is that why you’re here?" He said finally. "To hand me over to them?"
Zena did not reply. She merely continued to stare at him. Her eyes didn’t have any warmth in them. It was like a room where someone had turned off the lights ages ago. Cold and expressionless. When Sam continued to stare at her, she said.
"That is what the Family wants me to do."
"What’ll happen to my family?" Fear betrayed his voice.
"Shouldn’t you have thought of it before taking the gamble?"
"They had nothing to do with it!" There was a pleading note in his tone. "None of them had anything to do with it! Kill me, I don’t care! Don’t hurt them……Please!"
"You seem to be forgetting I came here to discuss your options." She said calmly. "Really, if it were the simple matter of snuffing out a bad dog, it’d only be too easy to pull the trigger."
Sam stared at her.
"You’re daring games have hampered my plans." She said, and it was the first time for him to hear it. There was no shout, neither did she looking menacing. Yet the silent but overwhelming wrath in her voice sent chills down his spines.
She reached for a jacket and for one wild moment, Sam though she was taking out her gun. But even as he reached for his own, she was withdrawing what looked like tickets.
She put it on the table and pushed it towards him.
"Your flight leaves in five hour’s time." She continued, ignoring his sudden twitch as he had made to go for his own gun. "There’s a ranch fifteen miles south of Tenasee. Your father finds it comfortable."
Sam remained silent. He didn’t understand what was going on.
"Why’re you helping me?" He asked finally, staring up at her. She considered him for a moment before saying,
"I’d rather have no further setbacks on my work."
"Wouldn’t it be easier just to have me dead in that case?" He asked her, frowning.
Zena raised her brows,
"Would you rather have it that way?"
"Off course not!" He said Hastily.
Before any of them could say or do more, Zena cellphone rang.
Whoever it was who was on the phone, had very little to say because Zena hung up in half a minute, but as she pocketed her cell phone inside, Sam noticed, what little colour remained in her face drained away instantly. Although her face looked impassive, she was doing some furious thinking.
"It appears we have a slight change of circumstances." She said, getting up.
"What do you mean?" Sam said quickly, looking at her.
"I’ll explain on the way," she said shortly, "quick, get your coat, we have to move."
Sam did not like the tone in her voice.
Once inside the Cadillac and on the road, Zena spoke.
"We’re going to your brother’s school."
Sam didn’t need her to finish the line to understand why they were making that trip. He voiced his conclusion,
"The syndicate wants my whole family and are reaching for my brother."
It wasn’t a question. Zena nodded, driving off the intercity and taking the road overlooking the city bank. Sam fell silent, his mind miles off the road. Whatever he had been doing till now seemed like the cause of all of this. Did he take the syndicate lightly? No, he certainly knew the extent of their reaches, that’s why it took him over a year to prepare for his right entry into the family. Had he placed too much faith in the police? Yes, that was it. He knew the police would secure safety for his family. He believed that Fai would make sure no harm came to him. Fai promised him a clean slate had he helped the police with information on the syndicate. How stupid of him. He had believed Fai blindly without stopping to think about it. That part of the game seemed invincibly on his side. Now that he thought about it, how much influence has Fai got over the police? He wasn’t even a cop anymore. He had taken retirement and become a private detective. Fai mentioned once he had connections high up and that he could find a solution to his problem only if he could provide a little bit of assistance which would be dangerous none the less. Sam had always known the stakes involved. But to have actually thought so negligently about it seemed almost childishly foolish. His thoughts were jerked to an end by the familiar ringtone from Zena’s phone. Zena answered without stopping through her Bluetooth headset. The fractions her pupils widened making Sam’s heart skip beats. He knew more bad news were to follow this unhappy call.
With a sudden swerve of the steer wheel, the Cadillac changed directions once more. Inside, Sam swore loudly.
"ZENA!" He said incredulously, "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US BOTH?!"
Zena ignored his comment and kept her eyes on the road.
"Kevin has intercepted our query Sam, he's in pursuit." She told him. "We need to bring some heat there."
"But," Sam begun, "All we have are a couple of mini guns! We don't even have enough ammos Zena!"
"STOP YAPPING SAM, JESUS CHRIST!!" Zena yelled at him. Sam got so surprised that he shut up, staring at her. It was the first time he'd seen her loose her composer.
There was a moment's pause in which, the car's rumble was only audible. Then Zena took a deep breath and said,
"Lift up the back seat."
"huh?" Sam said, flabbergasted.
"Lift up the back seat." Zena repeated.
Looking curious Sam picked up the seat and the moment, he lifted it up, he let out a gasp of surprise.
"You….you…" He stammered "You carry shot guns in your back seat do ya?"
"This isn't the heat." Zena said calmly, still driving at 90. "Close your mouth and look for a cavity by the right hand edge. Pull the rig and lift off the cover."
Sam did as he was told and immediately let out a whistle of awe. Zena smiled to herself.
Beneath the shot gun rack was revealed to be a small arsenal of guns and ammos fit for a covert operation.
"Hand grenades, smoke and flash bombs mini guns…." Sam counted off and started grinning against his better judgment.
"This chick's somethin' else." He thought, shaking his head.
**********************
By the edge of the city was an old and abandoned workshop of an electronics company who'd long since decided to shut down this part of it's manufacturing unit. And inevitably, now it had turned into an unsuspecting hideout for prospective lawbreakers and dark dealers alike. Kevin was staring at the emergency exit intently, trying to calculate how best to approach the area and infiltrate it without attracting unwanted attention. Shielded by a rusting loader truck, he was able to keep a track of what was going on since he had took to tailing the bunch who had kidnapped a young boy of around eleven from outside his school. His cell phone gave a buzz in his pocket and he turned a fraction to check out who was there behind his back. He saw Zena and Sam coming towards him, crouching to shield themselves from view.
"You sure took your sweet time getting here." Kevin greeted them.
"We were…" Sam snarled, but Zena hushed him.
"shhh." She warned them, someone's coming out. She pointed her finger towards the door in the distant.
"There are about eighteen of them inside." Kevin told them grimly.
Zena bit her lips.
"This might get ugly." She said. "We need to come up with a SAM WHAT THE DEVIL ARE YOU DOING?!"
For Sam had not stopped to listen to their conversation and had brushed past Kevin, towards the exit door. Kevin grabbed him by his collar and dragged him back where he struggled like a fish caught in a net.
"geroff me get your hands off!" He struggled and shouted.
Kevin threatened to strike him senseless with the butt of his gun and only then he calmed down enough and wrenched himself free.
"Look, I dun got time to stick around listening to you people take your merry time in coming up with a plan that might help us get through these guys!" He said through gritted teeth. "My little brother is in there!!!"
Zena and Kevin looked at each other.
"Looks like we got no choice girl." Kevin told Zena.
"Lets load up." Zena agreed.
A few minutes later, the three reassembled in front of the loader truck, their pockets and belt loaded with firepower.
"Well, we separate here." Kevin said to them. "Try not to kill your allies people, we don't have headgears so we wont be able to keep tab of each other and might, therefore, run into each other without notice."
At this point, both of them stared sternly at Zena.
"What." She said, offended. "I try my best to keep my hands clean."
The two men rolled their eyes and Zena pointed her guns at their foreheads.
"I'll shoot you both and be done with this crap right here shall I?" She said fiercely.
"Now now, Girl, you'll get plenty to kill inside…" Kevin said, amused.
With a final nod, the three separated and each took three different routes in.

Fallen Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4
----------------------
Reunion of the fallen

David swore loudly. Fai was standing by the doorway, feeling angry at being late. He felt guilt at having let Sam down when he had risked his life to get that information for him. How on earth was he going to explain this to him?!! He was supposed to be helping Sam to get his probation taken off. Instead, he seemed to be pushing him deeper and deeper into trouble.
In the following minutes, security guards were swarming in by tens. Cullins was screaming at David like an angry bull and David was, as usual, ignoring him. Kite was standing there, staring at the door. Something didn’t feel right to him here. He stared as Rain ordered the body of Busk Heel to be taken away. He stared back at the door again, mulling all that had happened a minute ago over his head.
"David, Fai." He called the other two.
They came to him, a frown on each one’s face.
"I’m going to go take a look in the basement a bit more." Kite muttered to them under his breath. "David, you go see if you can find h….Them in the hall."
He had almost said "her" indicating that he might know their criminal’s identity. He didn’t want them to know….at least, not yet anyway. He looked up to see Fai looking at him curiously.
"Fai, think you can go take a quick look up in the terrace?"
Fai nodded.
David rushed inside the hall again, His keen eyes scanning every part of the huge room. Damn, everything was a mess here, he thought. Its hard to believe that it was only a few ten minutes earlier that he was standing here with Ray, marvelling at how exceptionally pretty she looked tonight. Suddenly, he snapped. Where IS Ray?! He didn't remember where he left her when all this mayhem started. But he couldn't waste time worrying where she was, his duty was calling him to scan for the black dressed perpetrator.
His eyes fell on something up at the wodden balcony surrounding the hall from where you can stare down, collosium like, inside the hall. A black shadow dissapeared throught the curtains. His eyes, however, was fixated on the person who helped that person out throught the staiways. It was Chie!
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING DAVID!" Came Cullin's voice. It seemed to come from somewhere far away for David. He had seen Ray talking to Chie just now, what looked like a gun, in her hands. His whole being had started to numb up. What was going on?! Why's Chie and Ray up on the balocony when every body else is down here, getting interrogated?! more importantly, what the heck were they doing so close to the suspect?!!!
"DETECTIVE WALTZ, SIR!" Came the voice of a policeman. It snapped David out of his trance and he immidiately took a turn to go up the stairways to confront the two of them. Suddenly, there was a sharp intake of breath from the crowd standing below. Ray had a gun pointed towards a woman's forehead whome she had taken hostage.
"ANYONE WHO MOVES FROM THEIR POSITION WILL COST THIS DAME HER LIFE." She bellowed. "NO SMART MOVES COP, DUN TRY TO BE A HERO NOW."
David stared up at her face in utter disbelief. The look she was giving him from up there was that of a complete stranger. It wasn't Ray, it couldn't be her!!!
"LOOKOUT!!!!!!!!" came a shriek from the crowd.
seconds later, the huge chandeliere came crashing to the floor, scattering dust and glass and sparks everywhere. In all the confusion and smoke, Ray and Chie had dissapeared. David was hastily making his way up the stair way, his left arm grasping his bleeding right arm.
*******************************************
"Did you think you could get away that easy Kay?" came Fai's quiet voice. "I know you’re smarter than that."
Zena was standing on the ledge of the terrace, her body half turned towards the doorway from where Fai was pointing a gun directly at her forehead this time.
"I know it’s you behind that mask." Fai continued. "And so does Kite."
"What’s your point detective?" Came her flat voice without expressions.
"Why’re you here?" Asked Fai. "Why now after six long years? You told Kite you were going to die!!! Kite believed you! He lived through it! And you came back and now I’m standing here pointing a gun at you. What is this mess Kay?"
Something came from behind Fai’s back and then he knew intense agony before crumpling to the ground, his eyes registering the masked person’s last words.
"Kay is dead. Stop chasing ghosts."
Then everything was black.
"Did I hit him too hard?" Chie asked anxiously, her hand over her mouth.
Ray was checking his pulse.
"He’s just out cold." She told them. "He should be okay in a day or two."
"We have to get a move on." Zena told them. The wind was picking up, announcing the arrival of the promised hurricane. "Our work here is done. Tomorrow we head for….."
She stopped midway, ducking out of danger as a bullet came spitting towards her. It was David. He bent down to feel Fai’s neck, pointing his gun at them.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO FAI?!!!" He growled. Then they heard it, the steady beat of a chopper’s wing.
"STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!!!" David warned them, as the chopper drew level with the terrace.
"Just walk away cop!" said Ray, her own gun pointing on his chest. David took aim at Zena.
There was a blast of a gun, the spurts of blood and the agonized scream of David in the air which got drowned by the sound of the helicopter. David fell to the floor, clutching his chest, his eyes on Ray, whose gun was smoking at the mouth. A shock unlike any other, in his eyes.
Chie went in first, and Zena grasped Ray’s arm and threw her inside before diving in herself. The chopper took off into the stormy night, the sounds of the machine drowning the howls of Ray inside it.
"I shot him!!!" She cried hysterically, "Shot David?!!!! I …I …."
"The lookouts would’ve if you hadn’t." Zena said quietly as Chie hugged Ray for comfort.
"I never thought compassion was in your vocabulary Zena, you surprise me." Came the padre’s voice from the driver’s seat.
"I shot him!!!" She cried hysterically, "Shot David?!!!! I …I …."
"The lookouts would’ve if you hadn’t." Zena said quietly as Chie hugged Ray for comfort.
"I never thought compassion was in your vocabulary Zena, you surprise me." came the padre’s voice from the driver’s seat.
Zena was silent. She stared unseeingly at blurry view of the town that was fast shrinking in the distance. Her mind was full of unfinished thoughts chasing each other and the sobs of Ray which seemed faint and distant from her conscience full of skeletons from the past.
Back at City hall, Kite and the rest of the squad had finally made it to the terrace through the stairways. It seemed that Ray and Chie had disabled the elevator systems before heading up. Rain was attending to David, who had been carried down to ground floor by the medics. Fai was propped up against another ambulance’s wall. He sat there, his head lolling on his shoulder.
"Darn,"
Muttered Kite in frustration. "Darn, DAMN IT ALL!!!"
He kicked the terrace door in anger and then looked at the guy with the transmitter radio again, wanting a positive sign from head quarters. The guy shook his head and said,
"HQ said that it’s too risky to dispatch choppers in this weather. We have to wait for the storm to subside before we have air surveillance running again."
Cullins drew near Kite, a look of understanding in his face.
"Right now our priorities should be to tend to Waltz and Fluorite. We’ll dispatch search parties first thing tomorrow morning, you have my word on that."
Kite only nodded in reply.
"Now Kite, I want to ask you this, not as the head of Southern HQ of Federal police, but as a mentor who has watched over you since your first step in Police school." Cullins said with a fatherly voice. "Is there anything you have that I need to know?"
Kite looked up at Cullins and stared for a full minute before shaking his head and mumbling a faint "No."
Cullins looked into his eyes with a piercing stare.
"Nothing?" He asked again.
"No." Kite repeated.
Cullins fell silent for a moment and then said, "Very well."
He turned to the team and said,
"Patch things up here quickly and return to base."

**************************

What did you do,
when you stared deep into my eyes?
Illusions kept coming on
with sweet sweet surprise….
I was lost in you
When did you lock the key to my heart?
Set me aflame,
Just like that….yeah…how did you do it?
Just like that.
Now, tell me you’re here.
I can feel you in the lingering rain.
Tell me you see how I cry when I’m in pain.
You can’t tell me you can’t see that I’m bleeding……

Canvas city had its mournful sad face still on, with slight drizzles drenching the city and, it seemed, washing the window panes of "Rudvac’s Tavern."
"Adrian, doll, get me another beer." The rowdy guy from the pool table called out at the pretty woman standing by the table near the window. Her stiletto heels clanked and Janked as she charmingly walked towards the bar, swishing the red skirt in times with her hips. A guy in cowboy hat stared at her retreating curvy back, his smoke forgotten in his mouth. His partner took this time to whistle and catcall at him for his pleasure. The singer at the tavern finished his piece with a slow piano solo and bowed to the crowd. Just then, the "chink" of the doorbell that almost got unheard through the din of the people inside announced a new arrival. He slinked through the entrance, and almost immediately, slumped on the bar. There was a shudder and a faint scream of a woman who was the nearest to this person. Almost everything about this man was filthy. From his dirt smudged hat to his barbarically unkempt hair to his unshaven face…..and the smell….oh god the smell of tobacco and cheap beer coupled with body odor of a garbage man who hadn’t showered in days….The woman finally fainted in disgust.
Adrian braved a courageous attempt and taking the broomstick’s solid end, approached this thing which looked less human and more an unpleasant rag dragged in by the dog. She poked him in the stomach to see if it moved. There was a small mumbling sound.
She jabbed him harder this time, shushing the crowd.
"Food…." Came a ,moan.
There was a long, silent pause. Few ten minutes later, the man who looked so much like a dirty rag was seated comfortably at one of the tables. He was the new attraction for the crowd who watched on as he devoured bowl after bowl of onion soup and tore apart the breads as a lion would chew the flesh of the freshly caught deer it hunted in the forest. Adrian’s lips were slightly parted as, she too, watched this man eat. He looked like he was starving. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second as the mysterious man looked up to grab another plate of fries in front of the table. He gave her a smile which stunned her beyond anything in her life. Even from behind the ragged unshaven face, she could see the amazing baby boy smile. The Tavern started to empty as the clock struck past Eleven. Adrian finished cleaning up the place for the night and looked at the man this time.
"We’re closing for the night." She said, and smiled. "Come back tomorrow if you like."
The man stood up and bowed.
"Thanks for the food." He said and went for the door.
Adrian blocked the door with herself and her broom.
"They weren’t free." She said coldly. "15 gold."
The man gulped and sweat dropped.
"Er…..I dun have any money." He confessed apologetically.
This time, the pause was even longer. A silent, chilly breeze followed suit. Next moment, the strange man was wiping the tables of the tavern. The other workers couldn’t suppress their laughter at this sight. Puppy tears were welling up in his eyes by now.
"Dun you think you’re being a bit too harsh on the fellow Adrian?" The bar man said to her. Adrian heaved a sigh and put her left hand on her hip.
"He dosen’t look like he has some place to crash much less carry money around with him."
"Maybe he’s one of them drifters." Whispered another waitress.

*****************************

As Adrian opened the door to her apartment, she had a nasty feeling at the back of her neck that she was bringing home some deep trouble. She gave one sideways glance at the man and he gave her one of his sweet boyish smiles. She sighed and walked inside.
"You’ve got a nice place here." Said the man, as he looked around the place. It was a cozy little apartment with a small living room with its own open kitchen come parlor, a door that led to another room inside, probably the bedroom.
"You live alone here?"
"This used to be my sister’s place." came Adrian’s voice from the other room. "It’s been a while she’s been away."
"I see."
Adrian came out of the room carrying with her, a blanket. She threw it to this man and said,
"The couch’s yours. Make yourself comfortable."
She turned to leave when she remembered something and turned to look at him again. She stared at him hard and long.
"If I find you gone with anything missing in my place in the morning, I’ll find you and make you wish you never saw this part of town."
The man simply stared at her face, dumbstruck. Her expression changed and she smiled.
"I forgot to ask," she said to him. "What’s your name?"
"My people named me Zaran." He said.
Adrian stared at him for a while, then she bade him goodnight and shut the bedroom door behind her.


*****************

When morning drew, there was no trace of the previous night’s hurricane. The sea was calm as ever. The sun shone its brightest and lit up every corner of the world. Only the water soaked roads and the haywire wirings and posters ever showed any signs of the destruction the storm had brought.
Kite was sitting in the lobby of City hospital, waiting for some news. Already seven cans of devoured coffee decked the dustbin and several cigarette filters littered the ashtray on the table.
A soft hand stroked his forehead and his eyes flew open in a snap, his hand automatically reaching for the gun in his pocket. Then his eyes relaxed as he saw it was only Liza, her right hand easing on one of his inside his jacket, the one with his palm clasped around the gun. Her eyes bore into his, Overflowing in those brown orbs, were silent sadness on his behalf. He smiled and reached out for her. They embraced each other and sat down on the couch again. Kite let out a sigh stroking her hair gently, his mind playing rewinds of last night.
"Fai’s still unconscious." She whispered silently. "Rain said He’ll be up by morning though."
"Umhmm." Kite mumbled, unable to think what else to say. "What about David?"
Kite could feel her trembling as he held her. He looked down at her and saw her trembling lips and tears in her eyes as she struggled to tell him Waltz’s fate.
"D…David…he….He’s…"
She broke down and could speak no more. Kite committed himself into comforting her at that moment. He found out later that David had gone into a comma. When or if at all he will be up was a question Rain could not give him.
"It takes a lot of will power to come out of a Limbo Kite," Rain told him gravely, "Given the circumstances; I doubt it will be possible for him to recover."
There was a sudden sound of glass breaking and the nearby nurse passing by screamed in alarm.
"SIR PLEASE! There are patients here! Maintain silence!"
Kite’s knuckles were bleeding. He muttered an apology and was about to walk away when Rain caught him by his arm.
"Someone needs to treat that!" She said kindly, pointing towards his wrist.
A few minutes later, they were inside Rain’s office. She was dressing his wounds in silence when Kite spoke again.
"Rain,"
"Hmmm?"
"I’m sorry." He muttered. "Bout what happened to Fai."
"Ah, he’ll be alright." Rain said to him, smiling. "I’m more worried about you, little bro."
Kite looked up at her, stumped.
"Quit making that face, you look like a dork!"
"Huh?!!"
"I’m serious you know." She told him, as she poured coffee into two mugs. "Fai and I, we wonder how long you can keep this going on…"
Kite was quite.
"When will you let go? Wouldn’t it be…."
Kite stood up. When he turned to her again, it was with a smile.
"Thanks for the coffee sis, I gotta head back to my desk. Some other work still pending."
The door closed with a smart snap. Rain sat down again, with a sigh and a sad face.

*****************
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Had there been any house nearby, the residents would have immediately called a 911 helpline. The screams of this certain someone echoed through the walls of a tiny shack, all the way into and around the fir forest.
The shack was in the middle of nowhere. Indeed, it was constructed in such a suspicious place, it seemed like it was a safe house. Thick ivies had crawled up and around one end of the roof. The fencing around the place had rotted and was falling apart. Only the two Jeeps parked outside what should’ve been the lawn, and a feeble lamp light coming through the rough glass of the windows gave off any hint of someone still living inside this ruin.
"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH…no, NO NOT AGAIN!!!!!!!PLEASSSSSSS AAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHH!!!"
The scream came again. Then there was silence. A shuffle of feet and a man came out through the door, wiping his hands in a red towel. Inside the house’s living room, there was someone tied to a chair, his left arm lay limp and writhing on top of the moldy table. Blood was gushing out of the a few finger joints, spilling and spreading all over the table and onto the floor. The two fingers that were missing lay on the floor as dinner for the Wolves in their leash near the refrigerator. They would lick the pool of blood in their reach and growl in impatience. The man walked inside again, with the towel in his hand. It became apparent soon that what seemed as mere red colour of the towel before was actually blood.
The man in the chair started to coil and cower as he saw this man approach him again, baring his freshly cleaned blade.
"P..Plea…se…Please…..no more…." He begged.
From whatever came to light of this mysterious man from the dimly burning lamp on the sockets, he could see the corner of this man’s lips curling up in a smile.
"Awww……But we’re just getting to the fun part Niel." He said softly. "Did you know, there are twelve hundred different ways in which I can carve your fingers out in slow…..sweet……" (He went near Niel’s ears and whispered) "….Serenity of your voice?"
"ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Careful there," The man’s face contorted as he Butchered out another finger of Niel. The surrounding silence was drowned once again by Niel’s fresh howls of agony.
"JESUS C***** KIETH!" shouted Ray. "Get it over with already!"
Her expression was that of revolt at the pressing scene in front of her.
Kieth looked at her for a whole minute before returning his gaze on his victim again. He places a recorder on top of the table and said,
"Did you sell us out Niel?"
Niel gave a look of pure terror at Kieth.
"Say you did and it’ll all be done and over with." Kieth said gently.
"Yes, yes I did." Niel said in a squeaky voice.
Kieth switched on the recorder.
"I’ll ask again Niel, did you do it?"
"YES! GOD YES!!!!"
There was a ringing echo of gun fire around the forest seconds later.
"You’re too hasty Ray." Kieth said quietly as he looked up at Ray and her smoking gun. "That’s the second round you fired tonight."
Ray was about to retort when Chie came and, grasping Ray’s shoulder, forcefully led her out of the house. Kieth watched them go out of the corner of his eyes and walked towards the semi dark space beyond the table where there were impatient noises of wolves tearing up flesh and eating them up in haste.
"Take it to HQ." He said quietly to the Zena, who got up from her chair and caught the tape thrown to her. With a nod, she left the room.

Fallen Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3
-----------------
nightmare

"You’re looking beautiful tonight." smiled David, as he bent down to kiss Ray’s hand. Indeed, she was looking stunning in that white, flowy cocktail gown. There was something in the way she had tied her hair in a knot which made her look even more beautiful.
Ray and David were standing outside in the lobby of City hall. The clock outside struck 11:25 pm.
"Just a few more minutes." Thought Ray. She smiled at David, all of last night’s grudge gone. The ivory lily decked in her hair, a remenant of the flowers David had sent for her in the morning. When she embraced him, it was with a heart full of apology. Not knowing what lay in wait for them an hour from now, she was getting nervous. David stared at her puzzled, as he saw Ray’s face. Was there a fleck of tear in her eyes?
"AHEM AHEM!!" Coughed Rain from behind.
"Aw cum’on Rain!!!!" David groaned. "We were just about to kiss!!!"
Ray colored as Fai and Rain started to laugh.
"Well, if you’re unhappy then I guess My job as a sister is done." Rain chuckled.
"HA HA HA!!!" David said sarcastically. Then they all started to laugh.
As Rain and Ray walked on ahead towards the hall complementing each other’s dress, David and Fai lagged behind.
"I appreciate you coming." David said gratefully. "I could use an extra hand."
"No need." Fai smiled. He was wearing a cheek grey suit. David let out a low whistle.
"You sure do look the part." He told Fai.
"Rain picked it for me." Fai told him happily. "Where’s Snow?"
"LATE!!" David glowered. "As always!!!" he added.


**************
The hall inside was decorated magnificently. Red satins draped the walls. Exotic flowers from far and wide decked every table. Expensive ice carvings adorned every corner.The one thing that was drawing the most raptured breaths from the crowd, however, was the single gigantic chandelier. It was, no doubt, a Victorian creation. Eighteen stacks of glass carved most beautifully, each given the most minutest of detailings, the piece claimed a full sixteen meters in diameter.
"Wow Chie!" Ray said amazed, "Impressive! Where’d you find that thing?"
"Rented it." Chie said, laughing. "He’ll freak when he sees how much it costs!"
"Serves him right!" Snickered Ray.
"Yeah!" Chuckled Chie. "I WAN’T EXTRAVAGANCE! He says, I WANT ELEGANCE, LETS SHOW THE ENTIRE WORLD THAT AZTEC INCORP IS CHANGING HANDS."
"Oh, speak of the devil!" Muttered Ray under her breath as Busk Heel entered through the door surrounded by body gaurds.
Busk Heel, the new acting head of Aztec incorps. He was a large man in his large tux, a bald patch clearly visible even from a distance. Anyone who saw him for the first time would figure him out for the creep he truly was.
"That’s your H Ray?" Came Kite’s voice from behind them. "I don’t blame the people who’s after his life. If I had a bullet to spare I’d shoot his ugly hide right here and now."
Liza hit him gently in his shoulders, eyeing him reproachfully for saying something like that. Kite gave her and exhasparated look and turned to Ray and Rain, both of whome exclaimed,
"KITE!!!"
"Heys, hows it going?!" Kite replied lightly.
"YOU’RE LATE!" David said disapprovingly.
"Eheheheh!" Kite smiled nervously. "Got caught up in something."

****************
Fifty yards from town hall, a red van parked outside "New horizon" hotel. Two plumbers got out of the car.
"Quit fidgeting!" Snapped the shorter one. Both of them were wearing glasses and a blue plumber’s outfit. Each carrying a backpack, having equipments in them no doubt.
When they passed the security guard, the taller one nervously jerked here and there, earning himself this snap.
"This costume’s too tight for me!" Complained the taller one. "I’m choking here!"
"If you don’t shut up Sam, I’LL choke you!" said the shorter one, out of the corner of his mouth.
"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG!" Snapped the guy at the reception desk. "We’re having problems in tank three!!! Get a move on!"
Sam nodded to the man with a smile and only closed his lips as they entered the elevator and closed the door shut. A full minute of silence followed in which they traveled from floor Zero to floor thirty seven. It was the terrace.
The security camera inside the elevator didn’t even pick up a blink of an eyelash. Once outside, Sam heaved a breather.
"WOW! This place is real tight!" He said. "There’s security vans running all around too!!! Monitoring everything! What? Did Heel get himself the national gaurds to protect his hide for him?"
The other person did not reply. Instead, he proceeded to opening his plumber’s bag. If Sam hadn’t seen the next few things that happened, he’d never have believed it.
"Zena, Where’d you get that stuff?!!!" He asked unable to control himself, his jaws dropping almost to the floor.
The other guy looked up and gave a cold look at Sam before replying,
"What’s the use of a disguise when one so openly refers names, I wonder."
"MEH!!!" Sam stuck out his tounge at her.
"We don’t have the luxury of idling about, I suggest you get your butt back to work." Zena said, ignoring Sam’s rude finger gestures.
"Grumpy old hag!" Scowled Sam, as he went to re-open the blocker he put on in tank three early in the morning. Returning from there, he watched on as Zena put together different bolts and parts of steel disguised as plumbing equipment and transform it into a state of the art sniper rifle.
"You’re a genius Julie!" Zena thought to herself.
Soon a tripod like stand and a timer was ready too. She fit all three down in the blink of an eye and at last took off her glasses. Soon, she was holding a pair of binoculars, looking directly towards City hall for a minute and then started scanning the surrounding areas. Then she gave the binoculars to Sam and started to tweek the position of the gun.
"Where are you Fai?!!!" Sam was thinking. "I hope you have enough backup!!"
The clock was ticking steadily towards twelve. The time when Busk Heel will climb to the podium and address his guests was drawing near. Tension was building up.
Zena looked up at Sam.
"Its time, lets go."
They returned through the way they came. Inside the elevator, Sam chanced a glance at Zena to see if there was any alteration in her face that would give away what she was thinking or feeling at that time….but it was without any foundation. She looked the same as ever : stone faced.
"Damn this woman, isn’t she feeling anything?" Cursed Sam in his mind. "And where the hell are you Fai, I swear if you let this chance fail, I’ll kill you myself."
The elevator door opened up and they saw the receptionist at his front desk. This time it was Zena who nodded to the receptionist. They got inside the van and still in silence, Sam started the engine and drove away. Once inside, Zena had started her other job. She took off her plumbers suit and revealed that she was wearing a teasing blood red dress inside. In a matter of minutes, she was done and ready to attend a dinner party. Sam took a slight glance at the back of the van through the rear view mirror only to have his jaws drop on the floor. For a second, it didn’t seem like he was in company with a dangerous criminal at all. The very next second, Zena gave him an icy death glare that made him sweatdrop and come back to his senses.
"She’s still the hag inside." He thought to himself.
Their destination was a quite alley, seven blocks away from City hall. Zena got down from the car and said,
"Quarter to one."
Sam merely nodded and drove away, thinking he had done all he could to warn Fai. He was hired intelligence, not super cop who can come save the day. All the same, a nagging feeling at the back of his head kept him disturbed all the time.
Through his rearview, he saw a Jaguar approach the place Zena was standing at. Some new face came out of the car, a tall, tux wearing someone. It looked like Zena was giving him a courteous hug and then, both of them entered the car.
"That’s another of her men?" He wondered.

********

"That was good timing." Zena said.
Kevin smiled as he drove them towards the entrance of City Hall.
Zena got out of the car, wearing a cream trench coat and walked towards the gate only when she had made sure Kevin had driven away. She waved her hand lovingly at him, making Kevin grin to himself broadly as he thought,
"She knows how to play her part right."
"Your invitation card ma’am?" The security guard at the gate asked her politely as Zena approached the entrance. She gave him an elegant smile and showed him the card. He bowed to her and asked,
"May I take your coat?"
"Ah, yes, yes thank you." She smiled graciously this time to the chauffeur who was already mesmerized by her looks.
The first thing she saw as her eyes scrutinized the whole of the hall was Kite’s back, his arm wrapped around Liza’s waist. She turned and started walking towards the stairways that led her downstairs to the basement towards the women’s washroom.
Kite suddenly had an immensely strong feeling and he turned his head around to see the back of Zena’s red dress for a fraction of a second. It disappeared the second he tried to take a better look.
"You can’t glass eye your way out of this one Kite." teased Ray. Rain was laughing and Liza had gone a deep shade of magenta. Kite blinked.
"I’m sorry, wha?" He said stupidly.
"I asked, when will you be popping the question?" There was a small pause in which they all enjoyed the appearance of a pink patch on his face.

******************

Meanwhile, Zena entered the washroom and went to the cubicle as she was instructed. She opened the chute of the flusher to find a set of her operative black cloths, an electronic watch, and a silencer gun with two extra barrels ready for her.
Within minutes, she was dressed and ready. She looked up as she put on her black mask and herd the din from the floor above rise higher.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN," Came Heel’s drawls, booming through the speakers. "WELCOME, WELCOME TO A NEW CHAPTER OF HISTORY, OF AZTEC INCORP’S FUTURE…..A FUTURE THAT WILL SPEAK OF REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS……"
"Boy, he sure knows how to mold people in." Yawned David.
"Yeah." Snorted Kite, he was about to say something when suddenly he had an overwhelming feeling succumb all over him. Five seconds to twelve…..three seconds……two…..one…..
"SOMETHING’S COMING!!!!!!!!" Kite shouted, but it was already too late.
There was a loud noise as the glass pane shattered off the canvas cilling, and next second, the bullet found it’s mark right across it’s victim’s forehead. Busk Heel’s motionless body lay on the fast appearing pool of blood all over the podium.
In the time that took the people present in the hall to realize what had just happened, Chie and Ray had disappeared from the scene.
David shook his head at Cullins as he felt around Busk’s neck for a pulse. Cullins heaved an agitated sigh.
"It’s a good thing this one was a dummy." He muttered to David under his breath. "The real Busk Heel is downstairs, in the basement safe room."
David gave an angry roar and grabbed Cullin’s collar.
"How dumb do you take these people for Cullins?!!!!" He yelled.
Without wasting another breath he ran towards the stairways, Fai and Kite at his heels.

************
The screams from the above floors gave Zena her cue. She put on her night vision glass as she entered the, now dark, corridors leading to the basement storeroom.
As she walked, she could hear loud voices over the speakers going,
"DO NOT PANIC!!! THE SITUATION IS BEING TAKEN UNDER CONTROL. DONOT LEAVE THE BUILDING UNTILL THE NECESSARY INVESTIGATIONS HAS BEEN DONE AWAY WITH…..I REPEAT, DONOT PANIC!!!"
By the sound of it, homeland security was doing their job trying to bring order in the panic stricken room. She walked on, her target destination was still two corridors away. There were three gaurds standing outside the basement store room. She’d seen their image in her night vision glass already. No doubt, they would be sporting the same. And by the looks of it, there’ll be more of these goons inside. Zena bit her lips, her eyes fell on the pipelines that went this way and that towards the upper floors. Then she heard it, footsteps from the hall gate.


************

The downstairs lights were all out, giving the place a very creepy feel. All three’s senses were taunt and at the brink of break down tension. They stepped inside the dark and winding corridors, treading each step with utmost caution. Then they heard it, a gunshot! Mere foots away from them!
"HURRY!!" David called at the other two.
They needn’t be told twice! They turned a corner and found themselves face to face with their enemy!
Fai, Kite and David had their guns pointed right on her forehead. A flashlight from Fai’s left hand lighting up the masked face of Zena. Soon, the rest of the security gaurds had come out from the basement room, surrounding Zena in the middle of the very dark corridor. Zena had her hands up in the air, the gun still in her right hand.
"Put the gun down!!" David ordered. "Put it down slowly, and slide it over."
Zena lowered her arms very slowly.
"Try anything funny and I’ll put a bullet in your can before you know it." Kite said threateningly.
The next few things happened in very quick sucsession. Zena gave a sarcastic smile to Kite, pressed the trigger of her gun in lightning speed and before anyone could do anything, they were bathed in hot steam, blurring their vision to null. The bullet had apparently hit one of the pipes carying steam baths upstairs. A full minute went past in confusion and they all waited haplessly for lights to come back on and the steam to clear. Busk Heel’s body gaurds hurriedly returned to the basement to see if he was safe. What they saw inside made their jaws drop in horror.
The three additional gaurds surrounding Busk lay dead in a pool of blood. Busk himself was seated in a chair, his head lolling on his neck, a bullet right across his forehead, exactly like his counterpart upstairs. The backdoor was open and was being swayed slightly by the wind.



To be contd……….

Fallen Chapter 2

One's own world.
---------------------
CHAPTER2
-----------------------
The alarm clock on the living room table rang shrilly at around half past six in the morning. A groggy David, frowned in his sleep, muttering,
"shuuuutuuup."
CRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNG
CRING CRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!!!
"Shut up for Christ's sake!!!"
CRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNG

BLAST….
David stowed away his service revolver hastily in his underwear as the neighbors started to peek their head out from their windows in fright.
"Go back to your works people," David shouted from inside the room. "Its false alarm."
"Bloody mother of….." David kept mumbling as he got out of the sofa. He suddenly realized that there was a warm blanket on top of him that he clearly did not have on last night.
"It must’ve been Ray." David smiled to himself.
Ray had even left breakfast for him and a Tiffin box.
******
Fifty miles away, in Aztec incorp’s Management floor, Ray sneezed.
"Did you catch a cold Ms. Waltz?" Said one of Ray’s fellow colleagues.
"Oh, no!" Ray replied, smiling. "I’m fine. Thanks for your concern though."
"The board room meeting starts in fifteen." Said the colleague. "See you inside."
Ray nodded and headed off towards her chamber.
"Chie, how’s the city hall reception plan coming along?" She asked her assistant.
"This just came for you." Chie told her, pointing at a bouquet.
"To My love-Dave".
Ray colored and Chie grinned.
"Ahem…" Ray Coughed. "What about the…"
"It’s coming along just fine." Replied Chie with an energetic smile. "I’ve arranged the menus, the press and media have separate seats. There’ll be plenty of room for everyone and I’ve also gone to Canisters for special delivery of ivory roses for that perfect cheek you’ve asked for."
"And the secu…" Ray started.
"Already dealt with." Chie said, cutting across her. "Homeland security will be here and so will a portion of the governmental security task force. Leave these petty things for me Ray, you go on ahead to the meeting."
"Okay then, I’m off". Said Ray.
"You forgot this." Chie called to her. She was holding a cup of cappuccino. Ray took it and gave her a grateful nod. Then she hurried out.

*********

"You have a moment?" Kite asked.
Liza was busy showing a worker how to bind a bouquet. She blinked.
Twenty minutes later, they were in a café. Kite ordered his usual Espresso while Liza ordered plain iced tea.
"How are you?" Kite asked to break the very stressful silence.
"Fine." Liza replied, as casually as she could. She was in a daze. Almost a month and a half has gone by without a word from him and then there he was, suddenly, just like that. With an air of "matter-of-factness" that there was no reason for her to be surprised that he came to visit her.
"What’re you doing here Kite?" Liza said after a while.
"What do you mean, what am I doing here?" Kite said, staring at her in surprise.
"I haven’t herd a word a from you in over a month and then you suddenly appear out of nowhere…I…" Liza stopped.
Kite was staring at his espresso.
"I came to see you." He said quietly.
*******

Liza stared at Kite in surprise for a while, her lips slightly parted. Then suddenly she realized what she was doing and quickly closed her mouth, staring at her feet. A hint of blush visibly struck across her face. Kite smiled to himself. She still was as he had remembered her in their four years of knowing each other. The natural air of cuteness around her, the aroma of fresh flowers lingering in her presence and that sunshine radiant smile….
"Kite?" Liza enquired as she saw Kite’s face go out of expression due to his mind going back in reveries.
Kite shook his head, and taking up the cup, drank some of his coffee which was going cold.

********

Back at NWPD (Noahway) headquaters, Waltz was pacing up and down his chamber. His hair sticking out at odd angles due to him running his fingers through them so often. The dull clock hanging up on wall behind his chair smartly ticked 10am as the sun gazed lazy from behind the mass of dark clouds. It seemed as if today would be no different. There was a storm forecast for the evening. A small knock in the half open doorway made Waltz jump back to his senses and look up.
"Chief inspector Cullin," Waltz said courteously. "This is a rare sight. You almost never descend into this part of hell."
"Its not everyday that THIS come out in the papers now does it?" CI Cullin replied coldly, smashing the paper on top of Waltz’s desk.
Waltz stared at the paper, It was a copy of "The Daily Hollers". The headlines read :
TRIAD BATTLES UNDER THE NOSE OF AUTHORITY, CITY IN CHAOS.
A nerve twitched on Waltz’s forehead. He was swearing non-stop under his breath.
"Care to explain yourself Officer?" Cullins Demanded, his face wearing the most annoying air of authority.
"What’s there to explain?" Waltz said shortly. "There’s a little air of unease in the city due to some homicides. You know the Media loves to blow things out of proportions!!!"
"Well, why couldn’t you subdue the chaos in the bud Waltz?!!"
"Why couldn’t you subdue the chaos in the bud Waltz?!!!" mocked David, in his annoyance. "I’m on my temper’s end at trying to crack the case, I’d like some slack Sir."
He added the "Sir" with a hint of sarcasm. It was Cullin’s time to get mad.
"I have every media from NCC to HB up my ASS asking me about the competence of my department waltz and I DEMAND SOME ANSWERS!!!!!"
"When I have some, I’ll give them to you." Waltz replied icily.
Cullins chewed on his tounge for a few seconds and then finally said,
"You have twenty four hours."
He was at the door when he turned and said,
"Aztec incorps have their new board of directors selected. They’re throwing a party at city hall tonight. You’re incharge of security there Waltz."
The door shut itself smartly. It was a good thing because the next two words Waltz uttered about Cullins would have gotten him fired for sure.

**********

Right at the heart of city, amidst all the hustle and bustle of town and night life was the red light district of Noah way. Zena walked across the bars and Love hotels right to the edge of Moonlight hotel. There was a small alley way to its right. She looked around her and then quietly stepped in and walked the length right up to the end. There was a tiny ten dollar shop right there.
A small chinck of bell could be herd somewhere in the depth of the very messy shop.
"Coming." Came a lazy voice from inside.
Zena looked around. There were boxes of every size littered all over the floor and raised in walls right up to the ceilings. Thick cobwebs hung around some; some looked like they were fresh imports. The air was thick with the acrid smell of tobacco and beer.
"Its Romanian blades, fresh imports. Seventy dollar each, no bargains." Came the voice of a woman.
The lady of the shop came out. Zena turned around and grinned as she looked at a very old acquaintance of hers. She was a woman of around Zena’s age. A thick mass of sleek brown hair and eyelashes. She was smoking a pipe.
"You do know that it’s dangerous to smoke in here with all the explosives around you, Julie." Zena said, grinning.
"Honey, in our lifetime, we’ve made a living out of danger don’t you think?" Julie replied back.
Zena laughed out loud at this comment.
"Ahahahaha!!! Yeah, I guess." She chuckled. "You got the things I asked you to?"
Julie nodded in affirmation.
"Come along, I’ll show you." She said to her.
Zena followed Julie through a labyrinth of narrow corridors inside the shop right at the back. Julie pushed aside the black curtain and then got inside the room. Every kind of arms and ammunitions hung around the walls here. Zena remembered the first time she got inside here. She remembered clearly swearing,
"Holly mother of…!!!! You’ve got a whole arsenal in here!!!!"
She grinned to herself briefly before turning to Julie, who was bringing up a sports bag on top of the table.

************

Zena opened the zip of the sports bag and looked inside. Then she shut it up and handed Julie a thick envelop.
"All in ten dollar bills, untraceable." Zena answered Julie’s unasked question.
Julie grinned and offered Zena a smoke. Zena took it and took off. Julie stared at the doorway for a moment and then went back to her cabin. Taking up the phone receiver, she dialed a number.
Kite’s cellphone buzzed in the quite café like a war alarm. Taking it up, he stood up immediately.
"I have to go now." He told Liza shortly. "Enjoy your drink."
He slipped two hundred dollar bills inside the bill book and was gone. The café boy who came to collect the price felt pity as he saw the tearful eyes of Liza.

Out on the road, Kite hurried to catch a cab to Bridge cross, his mind full of the news he just got.
"I have the details." Was all that Julie had said to him.

************

The sun started to make its way towards the western side of the sky. Yet it made no difference in the scene of Melview drive. The quiet, unassuming sight of the suburban residences hardly ever changed due to change of time. A few children could be seen playing skip the loop in the public park. A dog doing it’s business in the bushes by the maple tree. Among the almost identical looking houses was number Eleven. A black Cadillac parked smartly in the driveway. Two voices could be herd from the doorway, thanks to the almost silent nature of Melview drive.
"When will you come by again?" said the wheezy old man who seemed to be withering before the eyes of the onlooker. He must’ve been over eighty. He was sitting in a wheel chair.
"I’ll drop by sometimes Dad, don’t worry." Sam said to him.
The old man smiled at him, and took his hands.
"Take care of yourself."
Sam nodded and left the house. He opened the door and getting inside, smartly shut it. All too soon there was the sound of the start of engine and then the Cadillac backed out of the driveway and within seconds was gone from sight.
A second later, a shadow disappeared from the bushes out looking the driveway.

********
Liberty station was twenty miles east of Melview drive. Sam was to leave the car in the parking lot of the Mall near the station. He got out of the driver’s seat, leaving the keys inside. Then he shut the door and slowly made his tedious way out of P2 to the ground and out in the open.
"Alright Fai, where are you?" He though to himself.



**********
There was an unusual crowd that day at the station, even for a Monday. People were rushing to get themselves a ticket and get as fast as they can to a train. The reason was obvious. It was clouding over real fast and people wanted to make it to their destination before the rain caught up with them.
"WATCH IT!!!!" A guy in trench coat and hat snapped at Sam as he bumped into him.
"Well Soooooooooooory!" Sam said grumpily. He brushed past the oncoming crowd going to platform three. As soon as he got clear ground, he made his way quickly to the escalator going upwards. Jumping through the railings midway down the chute, he blended in with the crowd rushing towards platform seven. He took of his jacket, reversed its sides and put it on, pulling the hood over his head.
"Lost ‘em." Sam thought to himself satisfied.
Up at platform three, two black suited men were looking here and there for a guy in Red pullovers. Sam got out of Liberty station and walked onwards down a small trail leading underneath the Rail bridge.
"You’re going to get me killed one of these days Fai." Sam said, leaning against one of the ginormous iron poles supporting the bridge.
"Don’t worry, I’m not being THAT hard on you." Chuckled Fai from the opposite side.
Sam passed him a chit which Fai took and pocketed quickly.
"I best be off."
"Watch your back man." Fai said grimly.
With his handsign, Sam was soon gone. Inside his car, Fai opened the chit.
"CITY HALL.12:49 GMT."

He started the engine and drove off to catch the freeway. Another shadow moved out into the open. It turned out to be a tramp at first sight. But then he took out a cellphone from his rag and dialed a number.
"Eye on Second bird, Contaminated." He spoke.
"Keep me posted.: Came Zena’s voice from the other side.

**********
"Officer Waltz,sir?" Lutenant Bobby poked his head in through David’s cabin door. "Detective Fluorite is here to see you sir."
"Send him in." Waltz said immediately.
"Too late to grab a bite for lunch with me David?" Fai smiled at him.
David took a look at his watch. It was quarter to three.
"Lets go." He said, grabbing his coat.
Three O’clock saw the two of them sitting in the corner chairs of the Dinner "Deli." Waltz was staring at the note.
"I’m Security incharge there tonight." Waltz was saying grimly. "And Ray will be there too."
"We already knew her company’s head is Triad’s Northern branch head. Fai said, a frown appearing on his forehead.
"Something’s about to happen there tonight. Question is, what?"
"A retaliation from south branch?" Waltz speculated. "But I thought South branch is completely wiped out!"
Silence fell between them. They ate their burger and french-fries quietly.
"There’s just one more thing, David." Fai said after a while. "Its about the body we found at Carmen’s corner last night."
"I can’t close the case on it Fai." Waltz told him. "Collins is up my case bro. Aslong as we don’t get new leads on this case, your friend is still on the list. Even though he is on our side."
Fai went silent. David sighed.
"I’ll stall it as long as I can."
Fai looked up and smiled gratefully.
"I owe you a bunch." He said.
David grinned.
"You sure do." He said.


********

The bell inside Julie’s shop made that familiar chink as Snowblind entered through the door. Minutes went by in silence. Kite rang the front desk bell loudly in impatience. Still no answer! Agitated, Kite rapped on the counter and bellowed,
"ANYONE THERE?"
"Coming, I’m coming." came Julie’s lazy drawl. "Oh, its you!" She said in detest, as she saw Kite.
Kite grinned.
"What’s with the sudden change in mood?" He asked nonchalantly.
"YOU is what happened, you annoying bum!" Julie growled, taking up her shotgun and pointing it at him. "You’re bad for business."
"YIEKS!" Kite exclaimed in mock fear. "You called me here though. I’m guessing it means you have what I want to know?"
He looked enquiringly at her. Julie put her gun down and growled for a bit more. Then she took something out from her pocket. It was the bullet casing Kite had found at Welling’s road.
"A full range of these bullets were bought off from a guy named "Garry oaks" somewhere in seventh street week before last. You’ll get Garry at "Butterflies". He’s there, probably goofing off with girls.."
"That all you have for me?" Kite asked, enquiringly.
Julie sent him a death glare. Then she breathed deep.
"If you weren’t Meg’s little brat I’d have had you buried long time back." She told him. "It only seems like yesterday, Kay was here asking for a shade for a night, with you bleeding like crazy."
Kite’s expression had changed. He was looking deeply sad.
"Meg’s dead." He said quietly. "So is Kay."
Julie looked outraged at this comment.
"Kay’s done whatever she has to keep you safe you ungrateful little!!!!" She howled at him. "If she knew what you just said right now.."
She fell silent.
"She was here, wasn’t she?" Kite asked her quietly.
"What does it matter to you?" Julie said, turning over a crate, "To you, she’s already dead."
"WHAT MATTERS IS SHE’S A CRIMINAL!!" Kite yelled at her. "I can have you arrested for withholding information’s Julie, where is she?"
Julie didn’t look up from her crates when she said,
"Be my guest and try. By the time you get a warrant, it’d be like this shop, this time never even existed. Don’t underestimate our powers." She said coldly. "I’ve told you what you wanted to know, now leave. You’re hampering business."
There was a slam as Kite walked out of the shop, banging the door shut behind him. His head spinning and heart seething in anger. Yes, Kay was dead! He thought fiercely, his sister Kay is dead. To him anyway.
Rain started to fall down heavily again.

To be contd…….

Fallen

Fallen

CHAPTER 1
-Falling Rain.
---------------


" Oh goody, it’s raining again, wow!" Scowled officer Waltz. A man in his late teens, " fresh out of training and eager to help the society rid of evil" type. Easily angered and even easier to provoke.
" Oh, come on man, it ain’t that bad." Grinned detective Snowblind. He lit himself a cigar and looked out at the distant city lights. Snowblind was a man in his early twenties. A " Live in the moment" sort of person on the outside. His loose fringes that fell so casually all over his face gave him a rather attractive look for a private detective. " Sure is pouring though." Snowblind added sarcastically later just to see if he could annoy Waltz. Waltz gave a look of incredulity at him but zipped his lips as Detective Fluorite put a hand on his shoulder.
" The rain," He said, smiling. " It’s got a real nice ring to it don't you think Dave?"
Both Snowblind and Waltz gaped at him. But they were far too used to Fai's spells of Philosophies to want to ask any more questions that might totally baffle them. They'd rather avoid it at any cost....Especially at a time of a serious homicide investigation. Fluorite took a moment to indulge himself in his own world until finally, the falling rain brought him back to his senses. Fai was once a detective at the HQ, but a site injury and his wife's dire threats made him retire early. Now at 35, Fai acts as a private detective. He was investing a thug who reportedly was selling of drugs at the local public school.apparetnl, he was the man who got murdered and the three of them came to the site as if fate had brough them togeather..
" Well gentlemen," He said, looking at the two. " Shall we get going?"
" YES!!!!!" Said the other two in haste in case Fai started his relapse into dreamy state again.
**********

Carmen corner's mouth was sealed off by the local law enforcement squad. Now taped "Restricted area", The whole street still reaked with the smell of gunpowder and blood. The third building from the start of the street was still smoking from its top floor windows. The drizzle had helped in putting the fire out a lot. However, the fire was still too dominant and it was taking a force of about three fire brigade trucks to put out the flames from one single building.
" What a massacre!" Sighed Fai as he looked up at the upper floors. The smoke coming out was reflected in his glasses.
"Officer Waltz sir!" Saluted a lutenant. Waltz nodded to him and beckoned him forward.
"What’ve you got here for me Bobby?" He asked once the lutenant came to him.
"Homicide sir." Promptly replied Lutenant Bobby. "We just sent the three bodies to the forensics. Badly burnt bodies. We couldn’t make out the faces."
Fluorite and Snowblind were listening closely to the conversation. They grimaced at each other every now and then.
"That'll be all Bobby." Waltz said to the lutenant in appreciation. "Wrap things up here quick and then head off. Its quite late."
"Sir yes sir." Said Lutenant Bobby. He then turned to leave when Waltz called him again and said "I want the finished report on my Desk by Monday morning Bobby. Don’t slack off now".
With another nod, Bobby was gone.
"Well, Shall we?" Snowblind asked the other two impatiently.
Fai and David both grinned this time…
"Sure." They chorused and entered the ground floor of the first building.

**************

Hardly did they realize, that they had a tail on them. Three blocks away, from one of the countless windows of a towering skyscraper, someone lowered their binoculars.
She was a woman. She was wearing a strange expression on her face at the moment.
"Tch…. Pesky cops!!!" Spat the man standing behind her, leaning against a wall. He was chewing on a piece of twig. " Want me to get rid of them Zena?"
The woman gave a sarcastic sigh and replied,
" If I needed your help Paul, I’d ask you to take out my garbage on weekends."
" WHY YOU LITTLE SLU…."
The woman named Zena pointed her gun on his forehead before he finished his sentence.
" Give me a reason…" She said coldly.
Paul deflated and Zena pulled away her gun.
"Didn’t think so." She said shortly. "Snowblind or Waltz aint your walk in the park cops. You can’t take 'em out just like that. And that Fluorite… don’t underestimate him."
" A cop’s tail ain’t good news in the face of coming project Zena!!!"
"Neither is a bullet in your head now is it?" Snapped Zena, "So shut your pie hole or I’ll shut it for you."
Paul fell silent after that. And the woman went back to looking out through the window…

*********

"Found anything?" Kite asked impatiently from the corner.
"For the umpteenth time NO!!!!!" David said grumpily. "And if you’re so interested in finding clues, how ‘bout doing some bloody scouting yourself!!!"
"Nah," Kite said dispassionately, "I’ll pass on that one."
He had been sitting on an upturned crate for almost the entire length of their search. When they first got in, he peeked around a little. His sharp eyes and senses made him realize there was nothing to be found there. So he found a place to settle down and watch the other two snoop around and wait out the rain.
"LET ME GO FAI!!!!!" growled David. "I SWEAR I’LL KILL HIM!!!!! Bloody arse!!!!"
Fai held on to Waltz till he knew it was safe for him to let go.
"But you now my Good friend," He addressed Kite, panting as he still held on to a struggling David. "It’d have been a sight nicer if you had mentioned from the first glance that there’s nothing here. It would’ve saved us precious time."
Snowblind looked outside.
"We can’t go anywhere until this rain subsides." He said shortly. "Might aswell amuse yourself with some scouting while you’re here. You never know when my instincts fail us."
David kicked the fallen rubbles. Fai lets go of him.
"Its been three weeks now." He said angrily "And we’ve had no leads on this damn serial killer. First he attacks the Yao’s stronghold and now he kill’s Mi’s leader and takes out the entire south branch of the Ying’s underlings."
"Its like a Triad battle’s spread out." said Fai grimly.
"Let’s get going." Said David. "The rain’s not gonna stop anytime soon."

********

"Boss man summoned you Paul." Sam said casually through his gum chewing teeth. He had an uncanny British accent on his American face. His snake like tattoo vividly standing out through his black vest all over his arms and shoulders.
"For what?" Paul asked eying Sam in suspicion.
Sam shrugged casually.
"Ask him yourself mate," He answered, "I have no idea."
"I’ll go later. I’m helping Zena in tailing the…."
"Get going Paul." Zena cut across him.
Paul glared at her and then followed Sam out of the room. Zena went back to her task.

*******

"Where did you say you come from again?" Paul questioned Sam.
"California mate." Sam replied. He had his arms stretched and crossed over his head as he walked on ahead of Paul.
"Why do I find it so hard to believe?" Paul said suspiciously. "You say you’re from California and you look American, but your tone….its so darn English!!! Spit out the truth kid or I’ll take it up with Boss."
Sam turned around.
"You’ve always been too nosy mate." He said, sighing.
Paul saw where they were at for the first time.
"Hey!!! Why’re we here on Carmen street?!!!" He said, panic in his voice as he saw Sam taking out his gun and wrapping the silencer on it.
"Zena’s getting tired of you." He said, with a hint of sorry in his tone.
"You think you and that dumb broad are gonna get away with it?!!!" Shouted Paul. "Boss’ll find out and have you dead!!!!"
"Tch tch tch…" Sam said pitifully. "Haven’t you herd yet? He’s cutting you loose. He doesn’t need you anymore mate."
Fear struck Paul like a thunderbolt. He started backing away. Sam rolled his eyes and started to get closer to him.
"You’re not making it easy for me mate." He said softly. "If you don’t hold still, you’ll get me angry."
"YOU’RE A BUNCH OF LOONIES!!!!!!" Paul screamed and started running. His steps sloshing water puddles in its wake. Sam quietly followed him. Just a foot away, Paul’s foot slipped and he fell face flat on the floor. Sam pulled his trigger just as a clap of thunder rolled overhead, drowning the sound of the gun even further.
"Thanks for taking the fall for this Paul." Sam said kindly to the blood spattered face.

***********

"Let’s get going." Said David. "The rain’s not gonna stop anytime soon."
The three fastened their rain coats tighter around themselves and walked out into the street. Rain was still falling heavily.
"Ray’ll kill me for this." David said, his face grim. " I promised I’d take her out for dinner tonight."
Fai and Kite both choltered at this.
"I kinda feel sorry for you now." Chuckled Kite. "Well, look on the bright side, if you two get divorced by the end of the weekend, we can all go play poker down by the Spurtz".
David shot a death glare at Kite.
"I’d like to see you chuckle your way outta explaining Liza about why you stood her up on four dates in a row".
He’d done it. Kite’s face had gone from grins to grims.
"Shut up." He said coldly.
" Why?!!Can’t we all head out to Spurtz for a game of poker and beer and be all chummy joe about it?!!" David said sarcastically.
"That’s enough David." Fai said to Waltz. He was staring at Kite, who’d gone ashen face by the sudden attack on his almost ex-girlfriend.
"Whatever, tell him to lay off of my married life when he can’t even manage his own love life." David said curtly.
" Lets go get some drinks and head home its too…." Fai stopped midway in his speech. His foot had sloshed on a water puddle and he just noticed that there was more than water in it. It was red…..a steady flow of blood was mixing in with the rain and seeping down through the sewer holes.
The other two noticed it too and hurriedly started to look here and there to see the source of the red.
"HEY!!!" Called Fai. " OVER HERE!!!!!"
The other two hasted over to where Fai was. He was bent over a body propped against an alley wall. A pistol in his left hand, blood oozing from his head and faling all the way down to the watery ground, flowing down the trail of water towards the sewers.
" Head quarters, this is officer Waltz, authorization number CMC5990420." David spoke over his radio.
" Officer Waltz, you’re online to South city headquaters, give us your ID and carry on with the message." Came a cool, female voice over the radio.
" This is officer Waltz ID 7-055." Replied David. " Reporting a deadbody found on Carmen corner. Possible suicide. Might be a homicide. Requesting immediate back up."
" Message take officer. Standby for back to arrive in fifteen minutes."
The radio went dead after that.
" You know I can’t let you touch him right now Fai." David said officially. "Let my men take the body to forensics.I’ll send the reports over to you tomorrow afternoon."
Fai grinned at him.
" I can get it by tonight you know." He said, grinning cheesily.
" Oh yeah, I forget at times." Sighed David. "Rain works in the forensics lab."
" yeah," Said Snow mockingly. "What could possibly be more romantic than talking about dead bodies in bed with your wife."
The three burst out laughing.
Twenty minutes later, they were standing by the ambulance as the newly arrived workers bucked the body bag into the car.
"Think he was your guy?" Muttered David.
"Dunno yet." Fai replied biting his lips, a frown on his forehead. " But if he was my guy, he must’ve been those kamakazi types. Wiping the whole triad south branch and then killing himself to put a stop to our investigation."

***********

"Did they take the bait?" Asked Zena.
" yep, hook line and sinkers." Sam replied calmly.
A small grin spread across Zena’s lips. She put down her binoculars again as she saw the distant flash of the cars pulling away.
" Lets get going." She said shortly. " We’re already late."

**********
The City clock struck one almost silently. The fresh clap of thunders drowned out the sound of the bell. A black Cadillac was making its way swiftly across the highway. The windshield wipers doing its job promptly as it moved left to right, clearing out the haze of water.
"Did he struggle much?" Zena asked, without much care in her voice, as her hands turned on the wheels.
"The usual." Sam replied, bored. "Turn on the music mate, yea got no fun left in yea!!"
Zena gave him an icy look that sends cold chills down most people but it just bounced back off of Sam’s. He gave her a radiant sunshine smile and proceeded to switch on the radio.
……..YOU’VE TUNED IN TO RADIO VOYAGER. AND I’M ROBERT MYERS, YOU’RE HOST OF TONIGHT’S MIDNIGHT BLUES.
"Ah!!!" Sam sighed with satisfaction. " I love this bloke!! He’s got interesting taste in music ye know!!"
"Uha.." Zena replied dispassionately.
Sam sweat dropped.
"This job’s gonna be no fun" He thought to himself. "Does she even relax or what?!!!"
LISTEN DEAR, I NEED YOU TO HEAR I CANNOT DISSAPEAR
I’VE TRIED AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN

"So…" Sam tried to break the awkward silence growing between them. "I never got to know you’re side of the story."

I KNOW WE SAID THAT WE’D GIVE UP, WE SAID WE’VE HAD ENOUGH
AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN BUT YOU

Zena looked at him, a fain confusion on her face.
"What do you mean?!!"
"You know," Shrugged Sam, "Like, What’s your name for instance."
"You know my name." Zena said shortly. "Its Zena."
"Ah, but what’s your real name?" Sam asked. "I know Zena’s not you real one."

AND IF YOU WILL, I WILL. I’LL TRY TO LET IT GO
AND IF YOU’LL TRY, I’LL TRY, I’LL TRY TO LET IT SHOW US THE WAY CUZ LOVE IS HERE TO STAY JUST LOOK ME IN THE EYE THIS IS DO OR DIE
……………
"You don’t need to know that." Zena said, a note of finality in her voice. "You don’t need to know where I live or what I do on Saturday nights. We’re here to finish a job Sam, nothing more."
"Darn." Cursed Sam in his mind. "This is going to be harder than I thought."

**************

"Oi Kite!!!!" Called David. "Come on man, we’re leaving!!!!"
Kite looked over at them by a cab and motioned them to go on ahead of him.
"I’ll catch up with you later." He mouthed at them and then ran off till the falling rain veiled him.
A few minutes later, he was on Wellings road, three blocks away from Carmen’s corner. His instincts had drawn him there. Something of an omen had struck him suddenly as he had watched the ambulance drawing away. "This is too easy an explanation to the case that’d baffled them for weeks." Was what he had thought then. And so he had tried to retrace the steps to the place where they found the body and tried to find some clues for more answers. Sure enough, He found faint blood trails once he’d carefully run combed his eyes over the streets. It was lucky he found the blood trail at the time that he did. The rain was doing its job in washing away all traces.
"Damn!!!!" Kite cursed out loud in frustration.
The trail had ended in the middle of the street. He ran his fingers through his drenched hair and looked all over again.
"Nothing!!!!" He cursed again. "Give me some sign dammit!!! It can’t end here like this!!!"
And then he found it. An empty casing of a bullet. He picked it up carefully with his napkin and pocketed it.

*************
CRASH!!!!!!!
"Baby just listen…."
"I’VE LISTENED TO YOUR CRAP FOR THE LAST SIX MONTHS!!!" Howled Ray as she chucked dishes and precious china figurines at David. She was beside herself in anger at him for missing out on yet another dinner date. It had been this way since they got married six months ago. Something or the other always came up in the weekends and He’d had to cancel his plans leaving her waiting alone..
"I DON’T WANNA HEAR ANYMORE OF YOUR STUPID EXCUSES!!!!"
CHUNK!!!!!!WHAM!!!!!!
"Honey!!!!Baby I love you!!!!" Cowered David." Just please calm…..NOT THE MUSIC DOLL!!!!!"
CRASH!!!!
He eyed his precious music doll with tears that didn’t fall. His heart had shattered in two already.
"YOU’RE SLEEPING ON THE COUCH!!!!" Ray stormed out of the drawing room and shut the bedroom door with a loud THUND!
"My China doll…"David kept saying mournfully. "My precious doll!!!"

*************

Half past two and the Gas station of a deserted freeway saw the black Cadillac parked smartly by the gas counter. A guy in his vest and baggy pants was filling up the tank. A woman was leaning over the front of the car and dialing a number on her cell phone.
"Kevin?" Zena spoke over her cell phone. "It’s me, Zena."
"WHAT’S UP ZENA?"Came the voice over the phone.
"You in trouble or something? It’s pretty late." Said the voice who was revealed to be a man. He propped up against his pillows and turned on the table lamp to look at the alarm clock for time.
"I need an eye." Zena said quietly.
"On whome?" Asked Kevin, rubbing his eyes.
"Three cops." Said Zena. "I’m sending someone over with the details. It’s the usual routine. I need your help."
"Sure Zena," Kevin smiled. "Anything for you."
Zena hung up and she turned to Sam just as Sam finished up with the gas tanker.
"Here." She threw him the car keys.
Sam caught it in surprise.
"I want you to run a little errand for me." Zena told him. "21 cross street. Remember the address. Meet a certain someone called Dr. Fallmen and deliver him the letter in the dashboard."
"And what about you." Sam asked.
"That’s my concern." Zena replied shortly and turned to walk down the street. Pretty soon, the darkness of the night engulfed her silhouette.
Sam got into the car after a few moments. Backing out of the gas station, he drove back towards the city. Eluding his sight was Zena, who was monitoring his every movement from behind the bark of a Ginko tree not so far away.
"DAMN THAT WOMAN!!!!" Sam swore inside his head. "She’s gonna be difficult to rope in. UGH!!! I’ve got to find another way to get to the top sharks….."
BUZZ!!!BUZZ!!
Sam looked down at his cell phone which was buzzing loudly. It was an anonymous number. He picked it up immediately.
"Do me a favor of telling me how you are from time to time will you boy!!!" Came the grumpy voice of an old man.
"DAD?!!!" Sam choked in surprise. "You…why’re calling this late in the night?"
"Hard at work, eh?" The old man chuckled. "Are your employers watching you that stricktly?"
"It’s a big paycheck pops, what else do you expect?!!!" snapped back Sam.
There was a small pause. Then the old man sighed.
"Come meet your old man." He pleaded. "Come see me before I pass."
"Sheesh!!! Enough with the melodrama!!!" sweat dropped Sam. "I’ll come to have lunch with you tomorrow..Happy?!!"
Saying this, he hung up the phone, sighing very deeply.
"Of all the times." He said, shaking his head as he steered right to get off the freeway.

*********

On the other side of the phone, Fai’s face was frowning in concern. He poured himself a glass of wine and sat himself on the couch just as the front door opened and he herd that familiar voice.
Rain saw Fai’s shoes on the shelf and she called out,
"Honey, I’m home."
Fai went out to greet her with a warm hug.
"Mmmm…I’m so tired." Rain mumbled into Fai’s shirt, taking in his scent of colougne and faint aroma of cigar and a natural scent of his. He smiled.
"Go take a shower." He said kindly to her. "Then you can go to sleep."
Rain blinked up to him. Then she smiled too.
"You waited up for me." She said gratefully.
Fai stroked her hair.
"Offcourse!!!" He said. "I couldn’t possibly go to sleep without seeing your face first."

A fain blush struck across Rain’s face.
"Oh, that reminds me." She said flustered. Fai grinned to himself.
"I brought these for you."
She handed him a bunch of papers.
" They’re the primary reports of the body you and your friends found at Carmen corner."
Fai swiftly flipped through the pages once, his eyes scanning for anything interesting.
"Its not the full report yet." Rain said apologetically. "Few more are dew tomorrow. I’ll let you know by tomorrow eve kay hon?"
"This is fine for the time being." Fai smiled at her. "Thanks dear."
Rain nodded and was about to head towards the shower when Fai called her again.
"Rain, whats this about the bullet?"
"It says its untraceable." Raid said shortly. "Meaning you can’t trace it back to any registered weapon."
She yawned.
"Kay." Fai nodded. "You go on then. Go to sleep."

*********

Zena saw the Cadillac back out and drive back towards the direction they were just coming from. She watched it leave till she could no longer make out even its outline in the pressing darkness and the thin mist. Then she stood up and started making her way through the long highway. Her feet made almost no sound. There was a narrow mud track leading off the highway and up towards the mountains a little way ahead of her. She followed it up. The tall standing fir trees hid even the sky from eyesight. Yet, somehow, Zena walked purposefully onwards in the pitch black, as if she knew where she was going. As if she had taken this trail countless times. Occasionally she would step on a fallen twig and it would make a snapping sound that echoed all around in the piercing silence. After about half an hour of walking in silence, she looked up to see her destination.
It was a small church in the middle of nowhere. The church was so ancient and moldy that people had stopped coming there to offer prayers to their god a long long time ago. Now it was just another building in ruins. Zena looked up coldly at the cross on top of the church and then opened the gate that squeaked like a mice being trampled upon. She headed for the back of the church, which used to be a graveyard once upon a time.
Zena walked through the little paved path through the graveyard. On either sides of her were countless graves, some crumbling to the ground just like the church which had once offered these lost souls salvation in their final journey. War memorials from the old days and even a sarcophagus. There was tall tree, dead like the church right in the middle. She seated herself there and closed her eyes.
"You’re late." Said a voice from the opposite side of the tree.
Zena’s eyes snapped open and her hand reached for her gun inside her jacket in reflex. Then she recognized the voice and eased down.
"Got held up." She replied. "It ain’t easy to loose trackers, Padre."
"We shall fret over excuses some other time. For now, we have important business to discuss. Come inside, It’s not time for you to rest yet."
The voice belonged to a man in black, priest robes. A cross hanging from his neck. He seemed quite young to be a padre. He could not have been older that twenty seven. His Beard hid his true face from sight and made him look more than his age.
Zena got up without complains and followed him inside the church.

*****************

Sam found himself in a dingy alleyway that stank of stale fish and god knows what else not. He had gotten there following Zena’s directions. There were drunks and tramps sleeping drinking and talking suspiciously in every other alley. They eyed his fancy looks like he was a being from another planet. There were kids playing by the trash bins nearby and fighting with the cats to win over there finds.
"You’ve gotta be joking me." He said to himself incredulously. "I didn’t even know such a place existed in this city."
"You’d be surprised at how many similar places like these exist in this country." Said a voice from behind the shadows.
Sam could’ve jumped out of his skin at such an occurrence.
"Who’re you?" Sam spoke out, trying to keep his voice level.
"I’m fallmen." The person responded. "He got out of his shadow and was revealed to be a middle aged man with glasses.
"I trust you have something for me from Zena?" He querried.
"You’re not taking me to your place?" Sam asked.
The guy gave him a look of incredulity.
"This IS my place." He said, slightly offended.
"I thought you were a doctor." Sam said, suspiciously eying him.
Dr. Fallmen started to laugh out loud.
"You thought you’d see a fancy hospital my boy?" He scouffed.
Sam just gaped at him. Dr. Fallmen finally quitted down and said,
"I used to be the city hospital doctor during the war. Now I’m just humble tramp getting by on Zena’s humble donations."
Sam took out the envelop and handed it over. Fallmen opened it and out fell seven hundred dollar bills and a chit carrying three names. He stared at the chit for a while, his eyes narrowing as he read the last name : Kite Snowblind. He recovered and looked up at Sam.
"I’m off now boy, anytime you need me, I’ll be here." And he walked off in the shadowy alleyway again. Sam stood there for a moment. The sun had started to rise. He looked up at the sky’s thinning color and then headed back to his car.
Shielded from his sight, the man named Fallmen took out his wig and face mask and revealed his face to be a handsome young guy.
"What’re you thinking Zena?" Muttered Kevin to himself as he got inside his Jaguar and threw the wig, coat and glasses in the back.

*********


To be contd…….