Drumming his fingers along the case full of cash, Felix stared out the window at the passing homes.
“You’re fidgeting,” Miu said from his left side.
“And?” Felix asked.
“Stop.”
Making eye contact with the newly trained assassin, Felix drummed harder.
“Felix?” Victoria asked from his right.
“Mm?”
“Please stop?” the swordswoman tried.
“I’m nervous. I’m allowed to fidget,” Felix complained.
“You are, but it’d be nice to get there without Miu contemplating how to make your life miserable when Andrea arrives,” Victoria offered. “She hasn’t seen you for a bit. I can’t imagine she’ll be entirely stable.”
Miu’s eyes brightened at that, her frown turning into a devil’s smile.
“Ah, yeah,” Felix said, his fingers stopping instantly. “That’s uh… a very good point.”
Then again. It really isn’t Andrea who’ll need the attention.
It’s Lily. Far be it for anyone to ever suspect she’s actually a cuddle bear. A cuddle bear that needs attention and affirmation.
Over and over.
“Are we sure about this?” Victoria asked, hijacking the conversation.
He’d have to thank her later for giving him an easy out.
“I’m sure that it’s Dimitry who asked. So it’s probably a criminal boss of some sort we’re supposed to see. That’s about it. That’s why you’re both here,” Felix said.
“And why you’re in body armor. And wearing Lily’s locket,” Miu added.
“Yes, and that.” Felix reached up and fingered the small cylinder that hung around his neck. She’d told him to wear it whenever he felt his life could be in danger. That it’d provide a shield that’d give him enough time to get out of harm’s way.
Or enough time for her or someone else to show up and save my dumb ass.
The driver gave the wheel a turn and brought them into a parking garage. The exchange was going to be simple.
Get out, put the case down in a numbered parking space, and wait.
When a black car showed up and parked in the space next to it, Felix had to make himself visible so the occupants knew everything was on the up and up. After that, he could get back into his car and leave.
The End.
Felix wasn’t really sure if he liked the plan or not. It had the potential to be so simple it couldn’t be messed up. Yet it also was so simple it couldn’t be anything but messed up.
He certainly didn’t like the part where Dimitry had made him the face of this exchange. If Dimitry hadn’t, he would have just sent Miu and Victoria in his place. There wasn’t really a need for him to be here.
Unless it was a setup.
Thy name art paranoia.
Holding back a sigh, Felix handed the case over to Miu when they stopped.
Twenty seconds later, and Miu was back in the car, minus one case full of money.
“Done,” Miu said, putting her seatbelt back on.
“Hmph,” Felix said, eying her then the case critically.
“Your paranoia is getting worse,” Victoria said. “Is it because you don’t have Lily or Andrea around?”
Feeling his eyebrows come together and his mood turn sideways, Felix glared at Victoria.
“What? It’s an honest observation,” Victoria said, defending herself.
“Leave him alone. His paranoia in this situation is warranted,” Miu said defensively of him. “Even if he does miss his bedroom buddies.”
“Hey—”
“Hush,” Miu said, interrupting him. “Headlights.”
Following the pointed finger of his assassin, Felix saw light trailing along the wall on the far side. They were turning through the ramp.
Gradually, a black sedan came around the pillar. It swung into the lane and drove slowly towards them.
It shifted into the exact parking spot it should, and went into park.
Getting out of the car, clambering over Miu in the process, Felix stood up and made sure he was visible for at least five seconds.
Then he got back in, shutting the door behind himself.
“Time to go,” Felix said quietly.
The driver, one of his bodyguards he didn’t know the name of, put them into drive. They were off and away.
Right up until twenty men with rifles stormed out of a fire escape and started unloading on both vehicles.
High powered rounds were no match for the tanks that Felicia, Mr. White, and Felix put together.
But that didn’t mean he wanted to stick around and test that stunning durability either.
The bodyguard spun the wheel, bounced them over a parking bump, and floored it down the lane.
“Damn,” Victoria cursed. Reaching to her hip, she pulled out the pistol Andrea had been training her in. After her death at the farm with a bullet-hole between her pretty eyes, Victoria had trained determinedly with pistols. “Considering they’re firing on the other car, this wasn’t a setup. Right?”
“Dunno. Did they get away as well?” Felix asked. He’d ducked down low in the seat. He trusted the vehicle but didn’t at the same time.
“Yes,” Miu said. “One of them even got the briefcase.”
“Well that’s stupidly heroic,” Felix muttered. The driver slammed them around a corner, the tail end of the car fishtailing out wide behind them, and drifted the whole car through the turn. Bringing the vehicle back under control, the bodyguard kept their speed high. Felix was suddenly very glad specialized driving lessons had been part of the special training program for his bodyguards.
There was a deafening crash as they barreled out of the parking garage.
Smoke, steam, and sunlight were all around them in the street. The car had come to a dead stop.
Whoever had kicked this off had put something at the entrance to try and block everyone in. Powering through it as if it were nothing, the car had rolled right over it.
Leaning over Miu, Felix looked down to the ground. Their wheels were spinning wildly in the air, and the bottom of the car was wedged up on something.
“Time to beat feet,” Felix said. “Hit the street running. Any path you want to take, Vicky? Miu?”
Miu bit her lip in a rare display of nerves, looking to Victoria.
The swordswoman growled, her head turning left then right as she looked down the street in both directions.
Then she looked up.
“The building across the way. Apartment complex. Roof should give us access to the other building. The buildings from here are all lower or even. We can hop the gap between certain ones and make our way out of this,” Victoria said.
“Interesting… plan,” Felix said. Getting behind Victoria, he laid his hands on her shoulders. They’d have to bolt fast.
“Came up with it after we got the address. Did a quick search and checked it out by satellite. Just in case. As you’ve said before, no plan survives enemy contact,” Victoria said, grabbing the door handle.
Behind him, Miu slid up against his back, her hands on his hips.
In the driver’s seat Felix watched his bodyguard. The man gave himself a once over, then pulled out his pistol. Shifting over the center console he moved to the passenger side and got ready.
“Go,” Victoria said, opening the car door. She hit the pavement at a sprint. Felix scrambled out behind her. Getting his feet under him, he got moving.
Behind him, he heard the bodyguard and Miu bringing up their rear.
Victoria popped open the door to the building that was their target and ducked inside.
There was a muffled shout and curse.
Felix was only a second behind her, shoving the door open as he charged through.
Victoria had a blade buried in the throat of a wide-eyed man with a shotgun next to him. His heels were drumming the ground as his hands futilely worked to pull the knife out.
“They’re everywhere. This isn’t a simple attack,” Victoria said, pulling her knife free.
Giving the dying man a glance, Felix realized Victoria had severed everything in the man’s throat. Her weapon had only stopped because it hit the spine.