Prologue:
The late afternoon light beamed through the thin slots of the window blinds, casting a shadowy army of horizontal lines across the bedroom floor and furniture. The shadow lines changed in size and shape and became a series of erratic zigzags as they crept across the bedspread and over the two figures lying underneath it. Moira inhaled slowly and exhaled with a delicate, satisfied sigh as she snuggled against the tanned and toned chest of the man lying next to her. Sure, he was almost seven years her senior, but there were a lot of okay qualities in him that could lead to him being a great human being if it weren't for the fact that he was a career criminal. Part of Moira felt that it was a shame that this would be her last romp with him; Mr. Wren Fiore had certainly lived up to his rep as a charmer and had never once been a let down. Occasionally Moira felt like she needed to do extra exercise just to keep up with him. Too bad.
Wren twisted his torso gently and placed a small peck on Moira's forehead. "Are you sure you don't want to come with me? Los Angeles is fantastic in late summer, and I really do think I could get you some studio time somewhere…" He nuzzled against Moira's cheek before rising from the bed to rediscover his pants and belt. Boy would she miss that very fine ass of his.
"Oh, I'm positive," Moira said as she stretched her back and sank into the pillows. "You know I can't leave until my lease is up. Besides, I haven't been at my job long enough to have earned any vacation time. Just send me a postcard." Moira puckered her broad lips to blow Wren a kiss as he leaned over to scribble on the hotel notepad.
"Well, here's my flight number and the number for where I'll be staying while I'm there. And this is just in case you decide to take my advice and move out of the deathtrap you're living in." Moira let her eyes wander down to the blank check on the nightstand, and for a moment felt very privileged that Wren Fiore, whom had only been seeing her for eight weeks, would entrust her with a blank check from his personal bank account. Of course, he wasn't aware that she already knew that bank account number and the pin, as well as the numbers for his other accounts in Florida and Switzerland. Very flattering nonetheless. He sat back on the bed for one more kiss as he straightened his tie.
"See you around sweetheart." Jacket and suitcase in hand, Wren Fiore walked out of the hotel room and out of Moira's life.
"Aloha." Moira threw on her camisole and opened the curtain just slightly, waiting to watch him drive off toward LaGuardia. She gave him one last wave as the red rental Ferrari sped off. As soon as the car was out of sight, Moira sat back on the edge of the bed and fumbled through her purse for her phone. Strands of hot pink and golden blonde hair were pushed behind her ear as she listened to the receiver ring. "Hello, Officer Kendall? Fiore's just left the hotel for the airport… You can intercept him at gate 37. I'll email you the rest of his account numbers in a few minutes. It should be really easy to see where he's been embezzling from; the guy's pretty sloppy. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, just don't bring my name up, okay? No, you hired me because I'm good at what I do, and if you let your minions blow my cover your job's at stake too… Yeah, yeah… Just transfer my payment into my account when you get a chance. Out."
She shut the phone in her palm and sighed, pulling her long blonde hair with lime, hot pink and blue streaks into a ponytail. Eight weeks was a long time to have gone with no pay, but at least this was a big fish and several grand. Moira dressed and gathered her things, for a few minutes feeling kind of bad for setting the guy up like that, especially after he'd offered to help with anything she wanted. Until her phone beeped a text message that her payment had gone through and she could access it by supper, and that she could keep the blank check for an additional ten grand, at which time any guilty feelings were quickly silenced.
Too bad for him…
Oroku Saki closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, the aroma of the oolong tea wafting upward, almost as though the vapors sought to unravel his tightly wound nerves. It wasn't easy being highly respected and feared as both gold-star citizen and crime boss. His tension leaving, he casually opened and began to thumb through the paper. Celebrities in the headlines and front page never interested him, but the smaller, more local stories were often more relevant to his business dealings. News stories about what the mayor, local government agencies and police were up to affected him and how he could get things done.
His eyes narrowed darkly. "NYPD bust embezzling playboy," Saki said as he read over the headline. He took another sip of tea. "28-year-old Wren Fiore was arrested yesterday at LaGuardia airport after weeks of investigating. Over the past six years Fiore has been embezzling funds from different multinational corporations, totaling to over 2.8 million dollars divided between CD's and private accounts. Anonymous sources aiding the police still are trying to link the stolen funds and his previous charges of bribery, smuggling and conspiracy as well as to several large gangs and possibly the Japanese mafia…" Saki's eyes widened as the newspaper crumpled between his fingers.
This was the fourth time in the last year that one of his public faces had been publicly arrested. The police still hadn't successfully traced the money or goods to Saki's good name, but with the arrest of Fiore they were getting closer. New York's finest were good enough in most things, but each associate of Saki's that had been caught was due to an anonymous source helping the police. They would never name who their mole was because then their life would be in inevitable danger and then they'd have to solve their own damn mysteries. But even the most careful snitch still had a name, even if it was only a handle. That's all he needed, and no matter how clever the police spy was, Oroku Saki knew that his own spies were even more so.
A faint growl could be heard from the back of Oroku Saki's throat as he made his way down from his loft home to the lower levels of the building. He needed to put in a work order. He stopped in a dimly lit, open room and was promptly greeted by a silent, kneeling ninja. "I need you to do a little reconnaissance for me," Oroku said coldly. "The police have an informant who has helped arrest four public figures who work for me. They're getting too close to exposing me. I need a name. Go." The ninja bowed and departed as silently as he had entered. He would pass the information on to lower ranking Foot Soldiers, and they would disperse themselves around the city to find information for their master.
It was sundown of the next day before that ninja presented himself before Oroku Saki again. He bowed deeply. "Master," he said in a voice just above a whisper. "We have found a name for this informant. We are still looking for more information, but the informant that uncovered your four operatives is the same in each case. They are known as 'The Mouth.'"
"Good," purred Saki. "Well done. Find out more about 'The Mouth.' See if you can provide me with a name and address to go by, but don't do anything until I say so." The ninja bowed and left to continue in his work. 'The Mouth' so far is a clever person, Saki thought. I won't dispatch of them until I know more about them and just how much they know about me…