"Why were we running?" I asked when we finally stopped.

We probably ran about a half a mile down a road that seemed to lead away from the city. My chest was heaving, and it burned when I breathed. A sign that running wasn't my thing. The car didn't bother to follow us but had turned around. I wondered where he could have gone? Was he afraid of us?

We found a small wooden shed by the side of the road, that was tilting slightly to the left. We each pulled out our flashlights and shined it on the structure and its surroundings. I was cautious about entering, afraid that it might collapse as Devin opened the door. He entered first, gun in hand, ready for whatever.

I observed the surrounding. There were no other buildings around and the shrubbery had overgrown. It's branches finding it's way through cracks between the planks. I shuddered at the eeriness of the location.

When he cleared the building he called me in. The shed was lined with empty shelves and coated with cobwebs. Dust particles danced little light we shined. Some of them found their way into my nostrils and I had to put my finger at my nose to stop the sneeze. There wasn't any furniture, except a dusty desk to the back, and a few concrete blocks. My guess is that this was a workshop of some kind when it was being used.

Devin's clothes were still soaked he changed immediately, pulling off his black t-shirt and replacing it with another black t-shirt. He changed into his only other pair of jeans and ring out his torn black sneakers. The islets were all gone and was literally being held together by threads. He finished off the look with his signature black hoodie.

I looked at my own clothes that weren't as tattered as his. When we got new second-hand clothes from our previous foster homes, Devin always let me have the ones in better condition. When he was done changing he spoke, barely above a whisper.

"I pushed the guy off the bridge and I think the other guy saw me running. So that's why we ran. He wasn't following us though."

"I know. We literally ran for how long away from the city and no one was chasing us. Do you know where we are?"

"No. That's why you should keep your fucking voice down," he whispered. I took a deep breath, I needed to be more mindful of the severity of our situation.

"What are we gonna do?" I asked.

"We aren't gonna do anything. I'm gonna meet Tino and give him this," he said grabbing the envelope from the bag.

"What does Tino want with that? What's in it?" I asked.

"Don't know and don't care."

"Well, I wanna know," I said grabbing the envelope from him to open it. He snatched it back just as fast.

"No! We got the money to get Dahlia back, that's all that matters. I don't give a fuck about Tino's business."

"Well, you should. Tino didn't even want to send his henchmen to get this. He sent us. If he's so powerful now, why didn't he get it himself?"

"I don't know Darius stop asking questions. Questions get you killed."

"How much do you want to bet that this has something to do with Dahlia? That somehow this envelope has a clue. And then he's probably gonna make us pay to get it."

"A clue? This isn't a fucking game! Our lives are at stake and you're not gonna add to it by sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."

"We just stole from Fitz, we're probably already dead." He shook his head. He knew I had a point.

To my surprise, he ripped the envelop open. He turned it upside down so the contents fell into his hand. Inside was no document or money, it was a cassette tape.

"A tape? What?" He flipped it around.

"Watch me," he said reading the label on the side.

"Who uses cassettes anymore?" I asked.

"More importantly, does Tino know what was in it? Cause if this has something to do with Dahlia-"

He abruptly stopped talking as a car drove past the shed. We could see the lights through the cracks in the framing.

"Get down!" he said and we stooped behind the old desk at the back. The car must have stopped.

The lights were now steadily shining through the cracks. Devin slid the bag under the desk and instructed me to keep my head down.

He reached into his pocket and took out the black sack he took from Fitz earlier. He shoved it into the back corner of the tiny shed behind a concrete block.

The door was starting to jiggle as the person on the other side tried to open it. Devin had bolted it when we got in.
The ancient pick wouldn't hold up, as it hung loosely from the screws meant to secure it to the door.

The person was using more force now. Devin snuck up to behind the door so that if the person entered, he could attack them from behind. He took out his knife, ready to attack as the door swung open.
Whoever was behind the seemingly kicked it in that it swung with so much force, it almost hit Devin in the head. He shuffled back just in time to avoid the blow.
The person stepped inside slowly, cautiously. His gun was aimed at the back of the shed.

Devin grabbed his extended arm with the gun and twisted it to disarm him. The gun clattered on the ground and in the tussle was kicked to the side. Devin had the man in an arm lock then he spun around and flipped the man on his back. He landed with a thud.

He punched him hard enough for his head to smack against the ground. But it took several hits to knock him out.
I watched from behind the desk as another man approached quickly seeing his counter-part taken down.

Devin swiftly stepped behind the door. He slammed it as the man entered. He did with much force that the entire structure shook.

The door hit the man's forehead knocking him backwards, out if the shed. Devin didn't give him a chance to respond. He moved quickly to kick him firmly in the abdomen, he staggered backwards, letting out a huff of pain.
They were now out of my view, then shot was fired that ripped through the

I jumped up quickly. It couldn't be.

"As much as I'd like to see you knock him out, I am running out of men"

"Tino? What are you doing here?" I heard Devin say loud enough for me to hear.

I took it as a cue to put the tape back in the envelope, but Devin had ripped it.

Fuck! I shoved it in the bag with the money.

"Where's your brother?"

"Drop the gun. Tino" I heard Devin say, though his voice was lowered this time.

I couldn't see from behind the desk. He must have had the gun aimed at him.

"Fine," Tino said.

"D, come out" he called. I did so with the bag in hand.

"What a sight!" Tino said laughing. "The Vicker boys broke into one of the biggest crime Lord's house and lived to tell about it."

"How did you find us?" I asked.

"Are you kidding, you are using my car, my walkie talkie, my computer. Had to keep track of my assets".

Of course, he does, every single thing he gave us was tracked. I should've known.

"I thought I was supposed to come to you," Devin said.

"I got a little impatient seeing as you are an hour late," Tino said placing his hands on his hip.

"Got a little caught up, trying to stay alive and all," which was true.

"Ah I see, do you have the item?"

"No," Devin said. It was all I could do not to whip my head around in shock. What is he doing?

"Really? Well, where is it?" Tino questioned.

"Like I said, ran into trouble, when I was fighting off a guy from under the bridge he grabbed it from my pocket. Both him and the envelope fell in the water," Devin said coolly. I admired his calm and collected nerves.

"Hmmm, and you didn't think to get it?"
The two men Devin fought were stirring in their position on the ground. The one on the outside was upon his feet, in seconds. The one in the shed merely groaned in pain.

"I would have if there wasn't another guy chasing us," Devin responded.

"Oh, I see. Well, that's unfortunate." His tone saying he wasn't buying any of Devin's crap. He sighed heavily. He raised his left up and called the remaining men from out of the car. There were two of them, a short stocky one emerged from the driver's seat. Another of similar build but a little more height came from the back seat.

Just when I was starting to get my heart rate and breathing in check. Tino turned his back and gave one final instruction.

"Take them"

The men converged on us, yanking the bag from my grasp. The two men from the car went to tackle Devin, while the one that Devin almost knocked out was the one grabbing me.

"Hey!" Devin fought back and I tried to but as usual, the men were too strong and held me down easily. I did get a few solid punches to the gut though. He groaned in pain. I had probably hit him where Devin had.

Devin was now being held down by three men. The third one was the one from the shed. One man punched him several times so he'd stop fighting back. When he wouldn't stop resisting, the guy from the back seat pulled out a black bottle, he wet a rag and held it over Devin's nose and mouth. It slowed down and weakened his fight, but it took a few minutes for the chloroform to completely knock him out. Then there was a bag over my head.