Crusade For Vengeance (Dark Vengeance Book 2) (3 page)

“You’re right, Valerie wouldn’t go for them.  Thanks, Shade.”  He smiled back at her as she left the booth.  Picking up the coffees from the bar, she thanked to Tatiana and headed downstairs.

Placing Deni’s coffee to one side, Hanna got back to work with renewed vigour, to see if she could find any other bit of useful information.  She was so engrossed, the time went by without her realising.  She almost jumped out of her chair when someone placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Whoa, Hanna.  How many have you had?”

“Blazes, Deni!”  Hanna practically shouted.  “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”  Deni stood there with her coffee in hand.  Fortunately the mug was still sealed and didn’t spill everywhere.

“Yeah I was sneaking.  Hah.  You were in your zone.  A bomb would‘ve gone off without you noticing.”

“Alright, alright and it’s my first if you must know.”

Deni dropped into one of the other chairs and propped her feet up on the desk.

“You and your worries.  Caffeine isn’t Fuzz you know.  It’s perfectly safe to drink a whole three or four cups a day.”

“You can talk,” Hanna shot back.  “I know you’re still sleeping on the roof at least one night a week.  Did you find a nice comfy spot?”

“I like to sleep outdoors on occasion,” replied Deni with a shrug.  “So what?  That’s something I like about our new place.  Windows.”

“You have yours open all the time don’t you,” Hanna said smiling.

“I love the breeze as I sleep.  How did you get on?  Find anything we can use?”

“I found lots of things, but I don’t know if any of it’s useful yet.  What about you?”

“The same, I think,” Deni stretched and yawned loudly.  “How about we type up our notes and get some sleep.  After we’re rested, and our brains are back up to speed, we can go over each other’s stuff and see what we can come up with.”

“That’s a good plan.  I’ve set the maps, holopics and names I’ve found, on that terminal.  You can tag whatever you saw for your report.”

“Excellent,” Deni dropped her feet back onto the floor and swung round to the terminal.  The girls got to work.

***

Six hours later, they were back in Hanna’s office, reading through what the other found.  The remains of a thirty centimetre long bacon, egg and sausage baguette, sat in front of each of them.  Hanna finished Deni’s report and leaned back.  She thought through what she read and compared it to her own findings.

“He’s good,” Deni said from the other chair.

“Yeah.  No way would he have been able to survive for over twenty years if he wasn’t.”

“He’s stayed as a Dealer though.   Hasn’t moved up to a Boss.  Most people his age are either dead or running things, like Sneaker.”

“He must have done something wrong or he isn’t trusted enough,” Hanna mused.  “If we were going after his territory, whatever it was would be useful, but it’s too long term for me.”

“Yeah.”

Drumming her fingernails on the desk, Hanna stared at the blank wall in front of her.

“OK.  Let’s look at what we do know.”  Entering a couple of commands, she projected a map of the Incesu estate onto the wall.  “Here’s the estate, housing only and Cest has full control of the drug trade inside.  It backs onto the Workhardt mega factory, where most of the residents work, and has the speedway buffering it on one side with the power relay on the other.”

Deni leaned forward in her chair.  “Right, so it only has three access points for wheelies and they’re all on the one side.  There’s a pedestrian entrance to the factory, but with their security, he wouldn’t be getting them involved.  Can you put the Stash and Bank houses up?”

“Yep, here we go.  There they are, at opposite ends of the estate.  Product goes into the Stash once a week.  Money leaves the Bank just as regularly, but on a different day.”

“From what I saw, the holders would get the drugs from the Stash.  Junkies gave their money to the runners before going to the holders to pick up their fix.  Enforcers collected the cash from the runners regularly.  At the end to the day, it was all deposited at the Bank.  I didn’t see Cest come out at any point.  He didn’t need to.”

“We can’t go in.  He’ll be too heavily protected,” Hanna said shaking her head.  “We need to draw him out.  What’s most important to him?”

“Stash house and the Bank.  It’s where most of his unsecured cash is.”

“Again too heavily protected.  Even if we had the full Crew, we’d be spotted as soon as we entered the estate.  One or two can get around there disguised, but more newcomers than that will get noticed.”

“You’re right.  What about the shipments?  Do you know when they would be coming in or leaving?”

“Both are logged on Cest’s systems as historical records,” Hanna said.  “But the drugs delivery days and times are randomised.  He didn’t leave it on his computer.”

“Could you crack whatever sequence he was using?”

“I ran it through and with these babies,” Hanna waved at the powerful servers lining the walls.  “They would have been able to find it, but nothing came up.  I think he’s using a true randomiser and if he holds enough product in his Stash, he could work with deliveries right next to each other or two weeks apart.”

“And the cash?  I bet his Boss doesn’t like it on such a loose schedule.”

Smiling, Hanna nodded.  “Yep, that was using an alternating algorithm.  I had it cracked in an hour.  What’re you thinking?  We still don’t have the bodies to hit that.”

“I heard a little rumour while I was out and about?”

“And the rumour was?” Hanna was forced to ask when Deni paused.

“Gutshot is back in town.”

Hanna frowned.  Gutshot was a lone operator.  A rare breed, who specialised in robbing from the gangs, the Dealers and Pimps in particular.  The price on his head was huge, but no one dared go after him.  His rep was even worse than Valerie’s.  She was undoubtedly better, but Gutshot had been in the Blaze underworld for much longer and covered more ground.

He would move from city to city, hitting the most disreputable Dealers and Pimps, and be gone before he pushed the Bosses too far.  There were stories of him walking up to Banks or Stash houses and the Enforcers handing over the goods without a fight.  They preferred to take their chances with their Boss, rather than go up against Gutshot.

“Damn, he is one confident bastard.  I guess he heard about Tumbler and Gaunt then.”  Tumbler was Gutshot’s last hit before getting out of Inferno.  Even he didn’t wanted Gaunt tracking him.  “What’s your plan, Deni?  Ask him to go after Cest?”

“No.  I was thinking more of a distraction.  One of Gutshot’s main plays is to rob the shipments with a ram raid, right?”

Hanna nodded.

“What if I hit the cash delivery, but that’s all I do.  A straight hit and run.  Cest will have to respond.  Nothing’s been taken, but he can’t afford to take any chances.  He’ll have to send his best Enforcers, who he normal keeps with him as guards, to sort it out while he explains the late delivery to his boss.  I saw Barclay and Twilight at Cest’s building and if they’re the best he has.”  Deni knew what Shade told Hanna and she didn’t keep the scorn out of her voice.  “He’ll have to send them.  The others wouldn’t stand a chance against Gutshot.”

“I see where you’re going with this.  Cest will have heard the rumours, just as you have, and think it’s a botched raid.  It does happen.  He won’t want to expose himself to someone with that reputation.  Not without much better Enforcers.”

“Exactly.  Do you think you can get close enough to him, before I hit their shipment, to take advantage when the shit hits the fan?”

Hanna nodded.  “That, I think I can do.  I’m a Thief after all”

The cold of the night was biting Hanna sat curled up in front of a building on the street.  The clothes she wore, to blend in with the homeless of Incesu, were not up to the task of keeping her warm.  It took Deni and Hanna an hour to create her disguise.  She smiled behind the limp greasy hair hanging over her face. 

She was getting soft.  After only three hours, she was already regretting it and wondering how Deni did it on a regular basis as the Crew’s Scout.  A year ago, Hanna considered the narrow bed they shared as the lap of luxury.  She would not have thought twice about sleeping rough.  Many times, when scouting the Jobs Tern gave her, she had done just that.

Despite her numb arse, and having to concentrate on her teeth not chattering, Hanna’s gaze never wavered from the building across the road.  It was identical to all the other permacrete blocks on this estate, three floors high and made up of dozens of flats.  Several lights were on, spread across the different floors, and Hanna already knew her entrance point.

Cest had not bothered with cameras here.  There was nothing to steal and, if anyone was coming after him directly, he relied on the residents of the estate to warn him.  He was a bastard but he was their bastard, without which they would have their different fixes of drugs interrupted, so they protected him.  Such was human nature. 

In the back of Hanna’s mind, she was keeping a count.  This close to Cest, she didn’t dare wear her wristcomp.  She relied on the rhythm of the street with her own internal clock to pick the right time.  The time was now.  In a slow stuttering movement, she stumbled to her feet.

Using what she learned from watching her mother and countless other junkies, she shambled seemingly aimlessly across the street.  An Enforcer stepped out of the doorway of the building.  The woman didn’t draw her weapon.  They might not be very good, but they were alert.  Hanna didn’t give any indication she saw the woman, nor did she change her pace or course towards the alley in front of her.

At three metres distance, Hanna started to hike up the skirt she was wearing, in the imitation of someone about to go for a piss in the dark alley.  Out of the corner of her eye, Hanna saw the Enforcer step back inside, hopefully happy Hanna wasn’t a threat.  It was her third visit to the alley.  The previous two times she did exactly as the Enforcer expected, so Hanna knew it was a dead end.  More importantly, she knew it was also her way in.

As her earlier visits, the windows facing the alley were all dark and sealed shut.  Crouching down, Hanna reached underneath as though she was going to pull down her underwear, but instead unhooked her equipment.  Strapped to the small of her back and to her thighs, were her Mag pistol, wristcomp, equipment pouch and grappling gun.  The Mag pistol, in its holster, attached itself to her innocent looking, but expensive belt with the pouch.  The wristcomp went on her wrist and she stood up with the grappling gun in hand.

Much easier to use than her old hook and line, she didn’t need to worry about tech sensors.  Hanna targeted the roof of the building.  The gun automatically scanned a four square metre area in the direction she was aiming, calculating the best place to attach itself.  A small green light blinked twice on the sight to tell her it was ready.

With a gentle squeeze of the trigger, the gun fired its grapple up into the dark.  A second green light confirmed it found a secure hold and Hanna attached it to her belt.  Another pull of the trigger started it reeling in slowly and Hanna walked up the wall.  A grav-belt would have been easier and faster, but they were all in the main armoury.  Sneaker and Valerie were notified whenever it was accessed.  It would have caused embarrassing questions.

Keeping an eye on the windows she passed in case someone looked out, Hanna crept up the wall.  Near the top, she stopped the grapple and stepped sideways to a window.  Like the others, it was closed and locked.  It was not going to stop a professional thief.  In her pouch was a set of glass cutters and she slipped them out.  The window wasn’t technically made of glass, but another silicone derivative and wasn’t nearly so fragile.  Everyone still referred to it by the age old name.

The laser cutter sliced easily through and a small tool attached the glass to her hand, stopping the large piece from falling in as she completed her cut.  Putting the cutter away, she lowered the glass to the floor inside using the tool’s wire extension.  Deactivating it, she wound it in and slipped the tool back into her pouch. 

Using the grappling gun, she swung gently into the room and lowered herself softly to the floor.  With the gun safely stowed away, she drew her pistol and checked the wristcomp’s chrono.  She was a little early, but hopefully not too much.  Deni would be doing her part in a little under thirty minutes.  Now she had to check out the building as best she could, find Cest and, more importantly, somewhere to hide until it was time.

With only the light leaking in from outside, Hanna could barely see the room.  Cursing in her head she wasn’t able to bring the combat goggles enabling her to see, Hanna moved carefully.  The dark shape of a bed loomed out of the darkness.  Hanna sighed in relief to find it was unoccupied.

Edging her way around the bed, she made it to the door.  Like much of the Ghetto, it was a swing version with hinges and a mechanical handle.  The door was closed, but not locked and Hanna eased it open.  Outside was a corridor only dimly lit by a couple of faint lights.  Hanna stepped out and closed the door behind her.

Moving on the balls of her feet, she tested each step carefully, checking for the slightest creak that may give her away.  A door was ajar just ahead with a light on inside.  Cautiously, Hanna looked in to see Twilight on her bed reading a datapad.  Slowly, so as not to attract attention, she moved out of sight before slipping past.  Doors led off down the corridor to, what Hanna presumed were more bedrooms.

This was not where Hanna wanted to be.  Cest could well be in one of these rooms, but it was much too dangerous to try and search them all.  A stairwell sat at the end and Hanna went towards it.  She was just passing a door, when she heard a sound and it began to open.  With nowhere to hide in the open corridor, Hanna ducked into the room opposite.

As she closed the door, she briefly caught sight of a man exiting the room.  He was still in the process of doing up his trousers.  Some sort of communal toilet or bathroom she supposed.  The room she found herself in was pitch black, the only light, a faint glow from under the door.  A loud noise behind her caused Hanna’s heart to race, but she was too experienced to let it show.  There was no sense of movement and she calmed slightly, realising it was someone snoring.

Whoever was in the bed behind her, sounded massive and she dare not move.  Listening, in what felt like the hardest she ever had in her life, Hanna tried to get the rhythm.  It took a few seconds, but it was there.  She waited until it went to the full chainsaw of inhalation and cracked the door open.

The corridor was empty and she slipped out.  Closing the door silently behind her, she made it to the stairs without incident.  There were sounds of voices and music coming up from the ground floor.  Whoever was on the night shift of Cest’s Enforcers, must be down there keeping watch.  The sound of a woman’s squeal and giggle told Hanna how they were probably amusing themselves.

Creeping down the stairs, she went into the second floor.  It was mainly dark with only a few lights on.  Most of the doors to the rooms were open and she glanced into each one carefully.  Nodding to herself, she knew this was the right place.  Here were Cest’s actual offices and where he did business.  Once Deni did her part, this is where he would come to make his calls and co-ordinate everything.

Cest’s own office was easy to identify.  It was the largest, with the most expensive and comfy furniture, with a full com’s set up.  Checking the adjoining rooms, Hanna found her hiding place in the server room next door.  It was her natural environment, despite its climate control, and easy for her to disappear into.  Her chrono showed another fifty-five minutes to wait.  She gave herself plenty of time to get her placing right, confident in her abilities to keep out of sight.

Hanna plugged her wristcomp into the com stations server.  Not nearly as powerful as her tried and tested Quartz 5.0 datapad, it would do the job.  All she needed to do was monitor the system so she would know when Cest called his Boss.

The wait seemed like an eternity.  The seconds on her chrono felt like they were taking minutes to change.  She daren’t close her eyes in case she dozed or worse, actually fell asleep.  She needed to stay alert.  It wasn’t easy.  She hadn’t had much sleep in the last forty-eight hours.  She was close though, soon she could get justice for her mother.

That night played through her mind.  It was two years after the death of her father.  Her mother dragged Hanna along when she went to score from Cest.  Back then he was more hands-on with the business, often doing the deals himself.  A strip of waste ground, used for wheelie races, was one of his favourite places to do business.  The four wheeled ground cars charged around a rough track with people cheering and betting.

Hanna enjoyed watching the wheelies race.  The cars would twist and turn, kicking up dust and dirt behind them.  Always striving to get ahead of the one in front in their bright painted colours.  Her mother didn’t let Hanna stop to watch.  She pulled her through the crowd by her hand, little Hanna trying to keep up on her much shorter legs.

Cest leaned against his car, a bright yellow, sleek machine.  Hanna didn’t pay any attention to her mother and Cest.  She was enraptured by the car.  It was so clean and smooth, she dare not touch its shining metal body.  These were the instincts a child of eight had to learn in the Ghetto.  If it was clean, the owner didn’t want her dirty hands on it.

“Come on, Hanna,” her mother said, pulling at her arm.

“Can’t we stay, Mama?  It’s so pretty.”

“No, we need to go,” her mother said harshly.

Cest laughed, braying and cruel.  “Let her stay as long as she doesn’t touch.”

Nodding eagerly, Hanna clasped her hands behind her back.

“OK, Cest, thank you.  We’ll stay out of your way,” her mother sounded small and weak.  She grabbed Hanna’s arm and pulled much harder, half dragging her away from Cest, around the beautiful car.  “Stay here and keep your hands to yourself,” she was back to her normal harsh tone.

“Thanks, Mama.  I won’t touch, I promise.”

“See that you don’t.”  With a snap, she broke a Fuzz cap under her nose and inhaled deeply.  Hanna saw it every day and ignored her.  It was rare she could be this close to one of these wonderful machines.  She heard a noise like water running down the sink and looked up.

“Mama?” her mother swayed and her eyes rolled up, white orbs staring at her.  “Mama!?” Hanna shouted.

Her mother stumbled forwards, narrowly missing the car.

“Mama, stop!”  Grabbing her mother’s hand, she pulled her back.

One step, two steps.  Her mother’s head snapped forward.  A deluge of thick yellow liquid burst out, splattering the side of the car.

“You bitch!” Cest roared.  Suddenly he was there and his fist crashed into her mother’s face.  Her body went limp, ripped out of Hanna’s hand and slammed into the car.

“Look what you’ve done, you fucking skrag!”  Terrified, Hanna backed away.  His boot came back and swung into her mother’s stomach.  She groaned and hacked blood onto the ground, catching Cest’s feet.

“Fuck!” he screamed.  Again and again he kicked her.

“Stop, please, stop,” her mother moaned and begged, blood pouring from her mouth.

Hanna ran forward, grabbing Cest’s arm with her little hands.

“Don’t hurt her, please,” tears poured down her cheeks.

He shook her off.  The face he turned to her was bright with anger and excitement.  His fist came back, lights flashed in Hanna’s eyes and everything went dark.

When she woke, Cest and his car were gone.  Only her mother’s body lay in the dirt.

Hanna’s grip tightened on the pistol in her hand and she forced herself to relax.  Cest had to die tonight, but that wouldn’t happen if she woke everyone up by accidently firing her pistol.  She checked her chrono and it was almost time.  Hanna strained to listen to the sounds of the building, waiting and hoping for the moment it would all change.

An unintelligible shout from upstairs was the first indication Deni had struck successfully.  This was followed by more, but Hanna could not make out what was being said.  She heard running feet on the ceiling above her.  People were soon outside the server room.

A voice she remembered well from seven years ago shouted instructions.

“Get tooled up and over there.  Make sure you’re ready for anything.  This could be that shit Gutshot, so round up as many as you can.  Go!”

Sounds of boots rushing in all directions filtered through to Hanna’s hiding place and she waited, her gun pointed right at the door.  No one came in and she stayed still.  Patience was key, now.  Hanna had to pick the right moment to leave.  Wait for Cest to make his call.

Again time slowed and Hanna forced herself to breathe.  The anticipation and anxiety grew.  The wristcomp notified her of a call going out.  Taking a deep breath and swallowing the saliva that had somehow built up in her mouth, Hanna crept out of her hiding place.