"Wow you guys are in some deep shit," Tino said leaning back in his chair.

"Yea we know, what can you tell us about Fitz? Why is Gills after him?" I asked, eager to get what we came for and leave.

"Whoa slow down little man. I don't know anything about Fitz or Gills!"

"Bullshit! You do know!" I said getting annoyed at Tino. Just minutes ago, he was ready to let his henchmen slit my throat.

Devin put a hand on my shoulder and I reluctantly retracted. Tino was his ex-friend. I should keep my mouth shut.

"Tino, we have an understanding here," Devin said referring to the money we had given him after his henchmen had left for the three of us to talk privately.

"You're talking that measly $350?" He snickered.

"I got something for you boys," he said getting up from his chair for the first time.

He circled around us, taking his time with his steps and his words.

"News travels fast in this city. You see I heard about your little run-in with Juno's buddies. He wasn't too happy about it" he said over Devin's shoulder. He continued in a smooth voice.

"He was angry, naturally. And he knew with that all the questions you were asking, that eventually, you'd come to me."

"So what?" I piped up. Devin glared at me. I was clearly not following his lead, but the familiar sweat was moistening my palms.

"So he wanted a heads up that we were here. Cause his bullshit entourage couldn't find us." Devin answered for Tino.

"Yes! Right!"

"So, we gotta go Devin!" I said backing towards the door. I tried to be brave in front of Devin every day of my life, but I feared Juno.

"Not so fast I haven't called...yet. Out of courtesy to your brother," Tino said nodding towards Devin.

"But he paid me a hell of a lot more than $350."

"What do you want?" Devin asked.

"I'll tell you all you need to know about Fitz and Gills if you get something for me," he said clapping his hands to his lips, gleeful that he would be getting his way.

"We don't have fucking time for this Devin! We have a day to get Dahlia and this asshole is wasting our time!"
There was a reason they weren't friends anymore and I'm not sure I didn't want them to get into business with each other again.

I was already on my way to the door, determined to leave while we still could. I was positive Devin would follow. But, I was stopped in my tracks when he asked an unbelievable question.

"What do you want us to do?"

~~~~

Later that morning, we entered an old dilapidated warehouse that we had discovered just over a month ago. This place was a bit removed from the toxicity of the city centre. Though the roof had collapsed in some sections, the concrete walls were still standing strong.

When we found it, we had intended on eventually making it somewhere we would stay. It was amazing that the addicts hadn't found it yet. There was a disgusting bathroom in the back, but water still dripped through the pipes. We'd clean up a room, put a lock on its door and make it ours. But Dahlia didn't want to leave the house we were in. She claimed it was too far from everything in the city. But, that was the point.

Devin and I wanted to go, Dahlia wanted to stay. But she knew we would never leave her, and she used it to her advantage. After constant arguing between them, we decided to just let it go. The Vickers kids would never separate.

Now we were in the one place we've wanted to call home, without Dahlia.

"This is a stupid idea Devin, how do you not see that?" I said walking behind him as we entered the empty warehouse.

"I know." He responded, dropping the duffel bag Tino had given him earlier that morning. It made a thud on the bare concrete floor. Devin gently placed our other things from our house in a far corner.

"So if you know, then why are we doing this? There must be some other way." I said, stepping before him to stop him in his tracks. His thick dark brows furrowed and put his hands on his hips in annoyance, but I didn't care.

Since we left Tino, something didn't sit right with me. We were about to go after a man that is known for trafficking weapons because the person who kidnapped our sister wants us to. This is crazy!

And now, Tino wants us to do more than get the $200K. Now we have to get this mystery envelop from the safe in Fitz's office. It was a suicide mission!

"I'm doing this because we need to save Dahlia! All of this is to save our sister! So until you come up with a better plan to get us the money, then this is all we have!" he shouted so loud, that his voice echoed off the graffitied walls. The noise scared the birds that took up residence in the old building.

"I don't have an idea yet, but I'm just afraid we're getting too deep into this thing. What if we get caught? He'll kill us and Dahlia will be dead anyway"

"And if I don't do it, Dahlia dies, and we continue to live with that for the rest of our miserable lives." He said coldly, sidestepping me and unzipping the bag. I sighed heavily and was prepared to protest even more.

"We aren't going to get caught." He stated with confidence.

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"Because we have this," he said reaching into the bag and handing me a laptop.

"What's this for?" I asked taking the old laptop and flipping it open. The screen came alive immediately and a window showing surveillance to what looked like a house opened up.

I tapped a button and it skipped to another camera to a hallway, another tap and I was in the kitchen.

"Fitz' house?" I took a wild guess.

I learned how to hack into camera systems, using the computers at the school used to attend, but this one was a private system. It was would have been difficult to hack. But somehow, Tino did it.

"Yup and you are going to be watching my back when I go in."

"Wait what? You can't go in there alone."

"I won't be alone, you'll be watching over me." He said with a slight smirk.

He took out two pistols and shoved them into the waist of his pants; then motioned for me to sit on some concrete blocks in the middle of the large room.

He took a seat next to me and took the computer. He assumed I was on board with him going into this alone.

"So here's the plan."

~~~~

The plan Devin explained was insanely stupid. We'd use the cell phones to communicate while he was breaking in. 

He was going to sneak in through the back because from what we saw,  most of his security were stationed at the front. Fitz' house was on the waterfront,

The community was home of the richest, the most affluent and the most dangerous people in town. The homes sat on the bank of the Berlington river, a wide expanse of slow-moving water. The residence did well to keep it free from debris flowing downstream. After all, you couldn't have an upscale neighbourhood when the view of the waters wasn't appealing.

He would go in by swimming up to the bank that led up to the house. There would be some security but he said he'd be stealthy enough to go undetected.

The money and the mystery envelope would be in the safe in Fitz' office on the third floor.

After going through all the cameras, I observed that the guards were on the ground floor, while the private areas were for his family.

I saw that there was a woman and a little girl in a bedroom room somewhere on the third floor. A grand double wooden panel door led to Fitz' office. It would be up to Devin to find it once he's inside.

The community was almost an hour drive away from our location. We had spent the better part of the day, going over the plan. I still had my doubts, but Devin tried and failed to reassure me that he could handle it.

As the sun began to sink, my stomach grumbled. The meal we had earlier, was already digested and we'd given Tino all the money we had left.

When he looked at me, there was a twinge of sadness in his deep-set eyes. It probably came from knowing there was nothing he could do about our hunger right now. And I wasn't going to complain, we had bigger fish to fry.

Devin handed me one of the guns that were tucked in his waist. I shook my head, I didn't want it.

"Darius, you know how dangerous this is. We're going to the man that arms every criminal in this city. You can't go with a three-inch blade."

"How about we don't go at all?" I begged.

"You know what? If you don't wanna fucking go, then don't. I'm going cause it's the only way to save Dahlia!" He was having enough of my crap. My doubts weren't helping our situation.

I took the weapon from him reluctantly. It was heavy in my hand, even without being loaded. I flipped it over, identifying the parts of it I knew just from reading about them. The trigger, chamber, safety decocker, magazine well, muzzle and barrel. I didn't like guns very much, they were the only weapons in this world that was created to be a weapon. Even a nuclear bomb was originally intended to be an alternative source of power.
This would be the second time I've held one.

The first time would be when I found out father, Bick's, gun under his mattress when I was around eight years old. I remember he caught me playing with it, aiming at myself in the mirror. He grabbed it from me and I got a firm reprimand about why they were dangerous.

My eight-year-old self didn't understand what was so bad, even if it wasn't loaded. I mean, he always took Devin out to gun range but was always left with our mother, Paula and Dahlia doing household chores. I envied Devin in that way, it's like they had a special bond.

I remember being angry at him for a week. Then the accident happened. I wish I could tell him that I understood now.

Devin handed me the magazine he loaded.

"We don't have a lot of ammo, so we can't waste it." I didn't intend to use any of it.

"Come on," he said getting up and going towards a side door that was hanging by one hinge. I followed him outside to a concrete platform that had a block wall around its edge.

He picked up a few glass bottles that littered the floor and placed them on the wall.
He stepped back about twenty feet, before firing off three rounds and effectively blasted three of the bottles, and shattering them into specks of glass. The sudden noise echoed through the area, and the shot pounded my eardrums. I put my index in my ear and shook it to try to clear the ringing.

He looked back at me and smirked, obviously he didn't need me to practice. I wondered if anyone heard the shots and would call the police. And if they did, would they even?

He motioned for me to step up. I shook my head in defiance.

"Darius." That's all he said before I slowly walked to step beside him.

He gave me a give second tutorial about squeezing the trigger, using both hands to hold the weapon and how to stand to avoid the recoil hitting me in the face or throwing me backwards.

I took in as much as I could and aimed at the fourth beer bottle on the wall. I held my breath and squeezed the trigger and my eyes shut. I jumped slightly when the noise erupted again.

The bullet missed by about one foot.

"Ok not bad," he assured, " but next time, breathe and keep your eyes open."

I tried again, keeping my eyes open, but I still held my breath. This time, I was closer but I still missed.

I lowered the gun and hung my head. I was Devin's back up if things went wrong, which is not a good thing for him if I can't hit the target.

"Alright, listen you have to exhale right before you pull the trigger. Relax your mind," he advised. Easy for you to say.

He picked up a can and balanced it on his head. He stood behind the wall and pointed to the can.

"Fuck that." I refused to do it. Nope, no way. I couldn't even shoot a bottle off a wall, and he wanted me to shoot a can off his head? It's official, this bitch is crazy.

"Darius, You can do it! I know you can!" he shouted from twenty feet away. I still shook my head. Why is he doing this? And why am I raising the gun?  Part of me wanted to prove it to him and to myself, that I could do it. The other part of me didn't want to shoot my brother in the head.

"Remember don't kill me!" He reminded, staring at me, unphased. Is he that confident in me? 

I was about to close my eyes and squeeze the trigger.

"Open your eyes damnit! Aim at the can!" I jumped slightly and fired. The can flew off his head, parts of it splintering off. My hands shook with nervous energy and pinch of excitement. I did it!  I was scared shitless for the entire day but at that moment he managed to smile at me.

"Congratulations, you didn't kill me."