I pull up outside the warehouse complex and kill the engine. It still looks like I remember. It’s even raining, like last time. I look at the first of the three units facing the entrance and smile fondly.
I wonder if he still has that chopper in there…
I nudge Ruby’s arm, and she snorts as she wakes up. “We’re here.”
She blinks hard, clearing the grit from her eyes, and looks around. “Where’s here, exactly?”
I smile. “Candyland.”
I get out and pull the hood on my jacket up to protect me against the rain. I walk around the front of the car and meet her as she steps out. She’s wearing black leggings with low-heeled brown ankle boots. She has a white vest top on underneath a brown fitted jacket. Her hair’s tied up. She looks nice — certainly different from the first time I saw her.
She sees me looking and stares at me challengingly. “Hey, you want a picture? It’ll last longer.”
I shake my head, snapping myself out of it. “Sorry, I wasn’t staring, I was—”
“Yeah, you were…” She smiles. “Come on, I’m getting soaked.”
I feel my cheeks flush a little. We jog across the street into the complex and head toward the warehouse, which is standing alone on the right. We make it to the steps leading up to the entrance when the door opens.
A man appears in front of us. He’s tall, well built… I don’t recognize him. “You lost?”
I shake my head. “I’m looking for Oscar. I’m an old friend.”
The man scoffs. “Oscar doesn’t have friends.”
I smile. “No, he has customers. And I’m one of those, too.”
The man shakes his head. “Dunno what you’re talking about. Fuck off.”
I sigh. “Look, we all know what’s in this warehouse. I came here a few years back, and I’m looking to do some… shopping. Now, let us in. We’re getting wet, and I have money to burn.”
“I told you to—”
“I know what you told him to do,” interrupts Ruby as she walks up the steps and stands in front of the man. He’s easily a foot taller, but she’s unfazed. She just looks up at him. “But like he told you, we’re returning customers. Now go and get Oscar so we don’t have to add the recruitment of new security to his to-do list.”
I smile. I like her.
The guy glances at me and raises an eyebrow in silent query.
I shrug. “Don’t look at me — I was just about to break your arm.”
He shuffles uneasily on the spot, his eyes darting back and forth, the doubt evident on his face.
“I thought that was you.”
I look past the guy in the direction of the new voice and see Oscar standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame. He’s smiling.
I walk up the steps, brushing past the security guard without giving him the courtesy of making eye contact as I do.
I extend my hand, which Oscar shakes. “Good to see you again, my friend. You lost weight?”
He hasn’t…
He laughs. “I appreciate the compliment, but you can shove it up your ass! You don’t need to butter me up, and your money’s no good here.”
I nod. “I appreciate that, Oscar, thank you.”
He gestures to Ruby with a nod. “And who have we here?”
“This is a friend of mine. She’s a… colleague.”
“Ah, I see…”
She steps forward and nods a professional greeting. “The name’s Ruby.”
“And where’s your other friend?” he asks me.
“Josh? Oh, he’s, ah… we don’t work together anymore.”
He frowns. “Everything alright?”
“Oh, yeah, everything’s fine. We’re still in touch. He’s actually upper management over at GlobaTech Industries, would you believe?”
He raises an eyebrow. “Really? Shit… I bet he’s a busy boy at the moment.”
“Yeah… that’s kinda why I’m here. Can we talk inside?”
His face changes to a look of familiar concern. “Why do I get the feeling you’re about to do something suicidal?”
I shrug. “Fairly safe odds under any circumstances, let’s be honest.”
He smiles and turns, disappearing inside his office.
I turn to Ruby, who’s looking a little confused, and smile. “Come on, you’re gonna love this part.”
She follows me inside and shuts the door behind us. His office is still the same as I remember — minimalistic and untidy. Oscar is standing behind his desk. I move over, allowing Ruby to look around. She appears confused, frowning as she surveys the room. I catch Oscar’s eye and smile, remembering fondly how I reacted when I first came here.
She looks at me first, then at Oscar. “I thought you sold, y’know, guns and shit?”
He smiles first before breaking into a loud laugh. She turns to me for an explanation, but I just shake my head and grin. I’m not ruining it for her.
Oscar takes a remote from his pocket and makes a point of showing it to her before pressing a button. The whirring of gears and machinery sounds out, and the wall behind him splits vertically down the middle, sliding away to each side.
Ruby steps forward, her jaw loose and eyes wide, watching as the hidden warehouse slowly reveals itself. “Holy fucking shit balls…” she whispers.
I laugh. “Yup. That was pretty much my reaction the first time, too.”
Oscar smiles proudly as the doors stop. He steps aside and gestures for her to go in. “Go ahead, Ruby — knock yourself out.”
She practically runs into the warehouse like a kid in a toy store. We both watch her go, and he turns to me. “So what brings you back here, Adrian? Didn’t think you’d wanna risk showing your face around these parts after your last visit…?”
I scratch the back of my head and smile sympathetically. “Needs must, I’m afraid. How’s it been around here?”
“It was a goddamn free-for-all in the first few weeks.” He moves to sit on the edge of his desk, crossing his arms across his chest and resting them on the top of his stomach. “Trent’s assets were fought over and claimed by all the little guys who never got a chance when he was running things. The headless corpse you dropped on the cops caused a real shitstorm… You should be careful moving around the city — just a friendly piece of advice.”
I wave my hand dismissively. “I got bigger problems than local PD.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Who’ve you pissed off now?”
“The CIA.”
“Jesus! Do I want to know?”
“You probably already do. You must’ve seen the news about 4/17?”
“Yeah, that’s a fucking tragedy. I can’t — wait… Please tell me you weren’t involved with that?”
I take a deep breath. “I’ll give you the abridged version. The less you know, the better — trust me. The whole thing was a front. A conspiracy. It wasn’t terrorists who hijacked that satellite. The CIA was behind the attacks. In fact, the CIA director was the piece of shit who pressed the button that launched the missiles.”
“Get the fuck outta town! How do you know that?”
“I was in the room when he did it. Held at gunpoint by a squad of agents and a bunch of terrorists who were hired to take the fall for it.”
He stands, visibly disturbed. “Holy shit, Adrian!”
“Oh, it gets better. The president was the one who masterminded it all. He’s been using the CIA, as well as all the other acronyms, as his own personal army-slash-hit squad… tying up loose ends, orchestrating it from the shadows as part of some master plan… I’m the only one with proof, which is why the half of the world not nuked back to the Stone Age is now trying to kill me.”