⚠️️CONTENT WARNING⚠️

Blood, multiple deaths, gun violence, gruesome description. Please, proceed with caution. And prepare to be shocked. That's all I have to say.

❎

The conservatory was empty.

Elodie did one last lap through the space, walking slowly so as to not alert the other occupants. Sharp eyes sought anyone who looked out of place or who was watching her.

Two women strolled about leisurely, hand in hand, chatting as they went. A man carrying a baby strapped to his front also walked beside a woman with fiery hair holding a child of about two years; neither of them were  talking. No one else could be seen.

She finally found a bench and parked herself on it. After fishing her phone from the pocket of her jeans, she powered it on.

6:05 p.m.

There was no message waiting for her, either. So, it was either this person was running late or had decided not to show up at all.

Deciding to wait for twenty-five minutes, she placed the phone beside her, taking a deep breath and letting her muscles relax.

Angelo had gone out a few minutes after they'd returned from the club, saying he had business to attend to when she had asked where he was going off to.

Elodie slept then, wanting to build up her energy, plus she was also exhausted from their activities last night. By the time she woke up, Hana had lunch waiting for her. She'd refreshed, taken her meal, and called Jean. She'd even seen Mace after they'd both gossiped and talked about any and everything.

She'd also taken care to drop a message to Boss and Sophia, assuring them that she was still alive and doing well.

It was then she also realized that she had just one more week to spend with Angelo. And yet...she had nothing significant to offer Brooks just yet. She imagined that the man wouldn't take too kindly to her turning up empty handed after she'd promised to get him something.

Maybe she could work out something with this person.

A movement from her peripheral had her sitting up and turning her head to the right. It was just the fiery haired woman chasing a toddler who was laughing merrily, cheeks red.

Sighing again, Elodie's gaze fell to her thighs. She had opted to wear dark washed jeans and a black t-shirt. Her dark bucket hat was pulled low on her head to shield her face from any onlooker.

The white sneakers seemed reasonable that the kitten heels she'd wanted to wear before; there was no telling if she needed to get away from this person fast. Heels weren't sensible for running.

Since she hadn't recieved a message from Hana just yet, it meant the other woman hadn't noted her absence just yet. Which was good. She didn't trust the other woman not to tell Angelo about her whereabouts if he called to ask. There was also the fact that she'd have dissuaded Elodie from meeting this person.

Her phone vibrated with an incoming message on the bench. Elodie dove for it with anxious fingers, swiping her fingers across its screen until she was in the message app.

Unknown: The conservatory
is too enclosed.
Let's meet at the Roy Square.
Getting there should take
you about forty minutes.
Don't be late.

Me: Okay.

It wasn't wise of her, agreeing to meet a stranger in an unfamiliar space, that was, but anything sounded better at the moment that Storm finding out her deception.

A quick Google search revealed that this person wasn't lying when they said it'd take her about forty minutes. But, that was if there was traffic, which was unlikely at this time on the Strip.

She could get there in thirty minutes if she took a taxi. So, Elodie went to the shopping mall and splurged on a binoculars, which price made her eyes water. The sales person assured her that the Celestron binoculars was the best of its kind, no matter how much it was.

She was already in a taxi on the way to the Square when Hana's call came. Elodie rejected it, then silenced her phone, and shoved it into her front pocket.

The Roy Square, a circular park, was located on the northwest corner of East Russell Road and South Maryland Park.  It was large, nestling behind a shopping mecca of Maryland.

Elodie found an empty bench after a few attempts, and sat. Checking her phone seemed to be a bad idea, because several calls and messages were waiting for her. The last one she saw before opening the thread with her mystery person was Hana threatening to tell Angelo she'd gone AWOL.

Me: I'm here.

With time to kill, Elodie broke out the binoculars out of its package. She wasn't a novice to using one, but not this type. It took several minutes of fiddling before she got it right and working fine.

She used the binoculars to watch a van as it meandered along the south side. The decal on its side stated it was owned by an Old Brompton Art gallery, a fake name according to the search on her phone; and if she called the number on its side which wasn't in use. The van passed the rear of the Castaway Store and disappeared onto The Place.

Elodie lowered the binoculars from her eyes, heart pounding. She could have sworn that the driver looked right at her just before he took the turn.

She shook her head.

That wasn't possible. It was probably a trick of light.

She returned to using the binoculars.

The granite covered roads and pavements jerked sharply in and out of focus as she tried to magnify any other thing out of place.

A car pulled to the curb few meters from where she sat; a helmeted rider on a delivery bike, its rumble ruining the early evening calm, drove toward East Russell. A man and woman walked leisurely past the sculptures in the middle of the square.

Elodie's attention snapped to a car pulling up outside Long Drive. Two men in overalls jumped out carrying two suitcases into an adjacent building from where she sat.

She also scanned many windows around the Square as she could, half of them reflecting the copper-red sun hanging above the tall buildings of Roy Square, but none revealed any secret.

When she heard the low thrum of helicopter approaching from the north, Elodie checked her watch. She should be meeting this person in three minutes.

Elodie wondered if she should walk away now. Try to find another way to escape the mess she was in. She was under no illusions that if this person wanted her dead—the decision would have already been made—they would do it, no matter how much they feared Angelo.

All she could was hope that they—whoever they were—showed her mercy by assigning her a task that wouldn't be too difficult to carry out.

At least, she'd be out of immediate danger; and more importantly, her brother would be safe.

At 6:59 p.m., Elodie saw Hana walk the diagonal path to the center of the Square, where she stopped by a bench, head swilving this way and that as though she was searching for something...or someone.

She thought, what the hell?

How had the other woman know just where she was? It was too accurate to be a coincidence, wasn't it?

Not unless...?

Elodie took a deep breath, grabbed her phone and binoculars and crossed the path, heading for Hana, half expecting each step to be her last.

As she approached, Elodie could see just how terrified and worried Hana was. In fact, the ever put together woman looked so dishelved now. The old blouse and denim skirt wasn't her style at all. As was the flat shoes she was wearing.

"Hana? What are you doing here?"

Hana looked gratified, as though she'd finally solved a particularly difficult puzzle she'd been working on for months.

"You have to come with me right now." Although she was talking to Elodie, Hana's eyes were busy scanning the roof of the buildings around them.

Alarmed, Elodie drew back a bit. "What's going on here? How did you manage to find me so quickly?" Then it dawned on her. "Did you send those messages?"

"What? No!" Hana looked offended, eyes darting to the roofs again. "There are snipers," she murmured to herself, but Elodie heard her loud and clear.

She took another step back, eyes wide as she took in the woman before her. Did she ever trust Hana? What a fool she'd been.

"W-what? Why? Make me understand what's happening Hana!"

"Come with me," said Hana in a nervous tone. "And I will explain everything."

"Am I under a dangerous threat? Is that why I got those messages? I'm supposed to be meeting someone here."

Someone was in such a hurry to get to her and lured her away with the exact thing that could only get her away from the protection Angelo offered.

So, it wasn't a leap of imagination to think that she was being watched. Something was terribly wrong.

Someone was targeting her. Had targeted her.

Was it Eyes? Angelo himself?

Was her cover blown?

"Before I go anywhere with you," Elodie said. "I want to know what is going on. I won't budge if you don't give me a reason to trust you."

Hana looked stricken. "Brooks is corrupt, Elodie. He gave the order for you to be eliminated here in Vegas and have it pinned on Angelo. But, luckily, our contact were able to get to us in time. The person sending you the messages? Brooks."

"Why would he want to kill me?"

She clearly didn't want to share all the information yet, but she did say, "He thinks you're not going to go through with the plans. Plus, he'd never planned for you to leave here alive. The excuse he is giving the higher ups is that you have data you're not sharing?"

"What data, what do I even know?"

Hana swallowed; beads of sweat rolled down the sides of her face and neck. "Elodie, please."

Elodie scowled, but she knew she wasn't going to get answers that readily. She nodded.

Relieved, Hana let out a breath through her unpainted lips, pressed a finger to her right ear and said, "I'm taking her with me. I repeat, I have her. She's safe"

Elodie saw an SUV drive into the Square and pulled up on the East Side. Hana walked briskly to meet it, clutching her phone for dear life.

"It's okay, Hana," said Elodie, falling into step beside her. Even though she was also scared shitless, a calm mask settled on her face. Training already taught her that panic didn't solve anything. It landed one in hot water, instead.

"Thank you." Hana looked grateful for the words. "You really are so innocent, you know."

"I do," Elodie replied, fingers digging into the plastic of her phone, the bite of pain grounding her. "I trusted blindly and now it's coming to bite me in the ass."

"There's still so much I have to explain to you. You're not going to believe your ears. But, first, it's important that we get you to safety."

She kept using the word 'we', making Elodie wonder who she was referring to and how many people were involved in this.

"My brother," Elodie said quickly. "I need to get him to safety."

They reached the SUV, and the rear doors opened automatically.

When Hana walked to the door on the far side, Elodie dropped the binoculars on the floor of the van, pocketed her phone, and placed her hand on the roof after removing her hat.

"We'll make sure it's our first priority," Hana was saying. "But do know this. Angelo is—"

Hana never did get to finish whatever she'd been about to say because in that instant, half of her head was blown off. It was like watching an overripe tomato explode under the tire of a car.

Blood and bone and tissues burst into the air directly above her shattered skull. Hana's body spun around by the impact of the bullet and she crumpled to the floor.

A moment later, just as Elodie dropped behind the door, hand shielding her own head as she screamed, the windscreen of the van shattered.

Through the back seat, she saw blood spray.

The driver's head slammed back into the seat, then fell onto the steering wheel, and unto the honk, releasing an ear splitting long sound.

Screams and shouts filled the air as people scrambled to safety, away from the line of fire. A woman in a long sun dress was hit directly in the neck, and Elodie could only watch in horror as blood sprayed from the hole before she went down a few feet from where she hid.

Bullets rained from a building ahead of the car slammed against the door, making it judder.

Elodie dived into the back of the car and fell across the seat as shots eviscerated the top of the front seats and pinched out the rear windscreen.

She huddled as gunfire tore into the doors and roof, and through the upholstery; above her, around her. Foam flew in the air like tiny light fairies.

Dropping into the footwell, she pressed as flat as possible on the floor.

This was the end for her, surely.

Through the open door, she saw another person—a man this time—go down as his body was riddled with bullet. It was horrific, the shock bringing tears to her eyes. The carnage all because of one person.

She could escape between the shops in her direct line of sight. If she could get there, she'd be out of the line of fire, but it was about forty feet away, at least. She'd never make it.

Fucking Brooks.

The shots stopped, the last of them echoing off the tall buildings, providing Elodie the opportunity to raise her head and look back into the Square. There were more bodies that she could count, some still alive but gravelly injured. There was a woman who was also missing a chunk of her face, her golden hair matted with blood.

Elodie closed her eyes as a salty taste filled her mouth. Bile raced up her throat, and hot fire started behind her lids. It was a shit show. She was as good as dead, because there was no way Brooks planned to let her leave here alive.

Opening her eyes, she looked out again, this time blocking her mind against the carnage. Men in suits raced towards her,, drawing weapons from holsters at their belts, but when the shooting started again, they dove for cover.

Then, Elodie heard the screech of brakes as a car skidded to a half on the road directly beside her.

The passenger floor flew open, and Elodie stared in shock at the driver.

"Get the recorder!" Rocco ducked as the near-side mirror of his car exploded into thousands of flying bits of plastic and broken glass.

The SUV rocked violently as it was targeted again by relentless automatic gunfire. The rear windscreen shattered, the doors shuddered.

"Elodie, the fucking recorder."

Elodie stared at him in incomprehension.

"Beneath the body."

She looked at where he was pointing: on the floor beside Hana's body was a tiny pen.

"Get it and get in—now!" Rocco shouted.

Elodie threw herself into the road, crawling, on her hands and knees, around the back of the mangled vehicle, praying it would shield her from gunfire.

One of the back wheels burst as a bullet hit it. She heard it pop and hiss as it deflated. Keeping low, almost on her chest now, she saw the ball point black pen, and she snatched it up.

Then, she crawled back behind Rocco's car and hurled herself into the passenger seat.

It accelerated before she even managed to pull the door shut.

The windscreen exploded above her head, glass raining down her head neck, and shoulders, the tiny fragments cutting into her skin. Elodie huddled low in the seat as the car skidded out of the Square in a hail of gunfire.

*

A/N:

Let's all stand for a minute of silence for Hana.

Okay, now we move on.

How many of you think Hana is/was telling the truth about Brooks being corrupt?

Do you think Brooks was the one who sent the people to kill Elodie truly or was Hana truly the target?

Hana said, we, who do you think she's referring to?

What do you think she was about to tell Elodie about Angelo?

The recorder, what do you think it contains?

And lastly, how many of you remember Rocco? If you don't, go back to chapter Seven titled PREDA. You'll meet him there.

Don't forget to vote, comment and share. Thank you for reading❤️