Title: Vice City 1988
Author: Scarlet Hill
Warnings: Language, Violence and Adult Themes.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the stories but for my OC. This is purely for entertainment purposes. Please Read and Review. Constructive criticism is more than welcome. I'm thick-skinned. I can take it. Enjoy… EDITED CHAPTER.
Vice City 1988
Chapter One The Brief
VCIB Headquarters, Ocean Drive, Vice City
It was midsummer in Florida and the heat in the office was immense. It wasn't lessened by the single ceiling fan or the fact that there were nearly a dozen people in the room. All but one were male but that didn't mean a thing. Ruby had been the only female in the room for longer than she could remember. It sort of came with the territory working for the Vice City Bureau of Investigation.
The man sitting behind the main desk was Special Agent Bruce Sutherland. He was robust and balding, your stereotypical middle-aged law enforcer. For the past two hours he had been handing out assignments to the agents under his command. Ruby sat there quietly, unbothered by the fact that she was the only female in the room. She was an accomplished agent. She knew her worth. But by the time that they were down to two agents, she was beginning to suspect that she was being side-lined and she didn't like that very much.
As the last agent but her left, she asked, "Where does that leave me, Bruce?"
"The Vercetti Gang."
"Vercetti Gang?" she repeated. The name sounded familiar but she couldn't place it.
"A powerful underworld outfit, headed by this man."
Bruce handed her a file, with a mug-shot photograph clipped to the front. The man in it looked vaguely familiar but again, she couldn't quite place him. He was young, in his mid-to late twenties and rather strikingly handsome with short, messy dark hair and deep brown eyes. He didn't look much like the leader of a prolific underground criminal organization but then the picture had to be a good few years old. He was probably older and much more sophisticated now. He was obviously an ex-convict. Ruby couldn't help but wondering what that said about the American justice system.
"Tommy Vercetti," he continued. "A former Forelli crime family member. He served just fifteen years in Liberty City for eleven counts of murder."
Ruby suddenly realized from where she recognized the name and the picture. It had been splashed across the front of newspapers when she was a very young teenager.
"This is the Harwood Butcher."
She looked at the picture again before flipping open the folder and beginning to gaze over the reports inside. There was a briefing about Vercetti's past, the horrific crimes that he had been imprisoned for. She skipped that because she knew it already and could reread it later. Over a few typed pages were some surveillance photographs. Vercetti was in Vice City and he had indeed grown up. The pictures pegged him as a regular, handsome thirty-something guy but she knew that appearances were very often deceptive.
Bruce sounded surprised. "You've heard of him?"
"I was a Liberty girl, Bruce. Everybody's heard of him. Just took me a while to put a name to the face. How'd he get out so fast?"
"Sonny Forelli pulled in some favors."
Ruby raised an eyebrow at that. "The same Sonny Forelli that hasn't been seen for over eighteen months?"
"The very same," he nodded. "He vanished within weeks of Vercetti being released."
"Vercetti do him?"
"Possibly" he shrugged. "Probably. To be honest, I don't give a shit about some Italian sleazeball that almost certainly deserved whatever he got. I'm more interested in what Vercetti is up to now."
"Extortion, drug dealing, money laundering, prostitution," she noted from the file. "Looks like someone's been a very busy boy."
"His gang are structured like any Mafia family though there have been reports that some of the major players are not of Italian origin. For example, Ken Rosenberg; Vercetti's lawyer. A slimy little worm if ever I saw one."
"Rosenberg?" The name was definitely not of Italian origin. Ruby couldn't help but wonder how this man had ended up with a Jewish lawyer. "Any good?"
"Let's just say that for all the Intel that we have on Vercetti, the only thing that's ever stuck was a minor traffic violation."
Ruby laughed bitterly. "Must be nice to be untouchable."
"This is where you come in."
She'd figured as much. To be given such an opportunity was great but… "How am I supposed to infiltrate a Mafia style gang, Bruce? I don't exactly fit the profile of a hired gun."
"You're not going in that way," he replied. "Your file states that you trained as a dancer, is that correct?"
"It is." Ruby furrowed my brow, confused. "So what?"
"One of Vercetti's fronts is this place," he passed another group of surveillance photos over the desk. It was a club.
"Pole Position?" She read the name that was emblazoned above the doorway with sarcastic disdain. "Cute."
"They hold open auditions for girls most nights of the week from five." The implication was all there in his tone.
"You want me to audition at a titty bar?" she asked, shocked.
"It's your way in," he pointed out. "I'm sure that you can impress them enough to get yourself a position there. After that, of course, it is up to you."
He handed over another file. She already knew what was in it. If she was going undercover, the Bureau would have created a new identification for her. It surprised her that she was getting to keep her name. Well her first name at least. Then again, the best lies are always the ones that stick closest to the truth.
Bruce continued, "You will have extremely limited contact with us which will be arranged in due course. I'm sure that you understand how important that it is for your cover to remain intact once you're in."
Ruby did understand. These men were extremely dangerous. She didn't stand a chance if they discovered what she really was.
"Any questions?" he asked.
Looking up from the file, Ruby shook her head. There was nothing else to say. She was going undercover to bring down the most prominent thug in Vice City, the Harwood Butcher. Tommy Vercetti wasn't going to know what hit him.