Balalaika was working.
Not on her stratagems for controlling and conquering more of the underworld kingdom of sin and vice over which she was already unquestionably a queen, no this was her other job.
Video editing of Roanapur's locally produced underground pornography.
Technically she could assign one of her minions to do the job, but theirs was a high quality product and she could always tell when someone had been paying more attention to the action on screen then the film itself.
She watched with cool dispassionate eyes as couples writhed enthusiastically. She cared nothing for the activity on screen, instead she looked for mistakes hiccups or imperfections.
Just as the cool intellect and ruthless pragmatism that earned her a place as commander of an elite squad of deadly soldiers had been re purposed to make her Queen of the South Asian underworld; so too had the sharp eyes and almost supernatural attention to detail that made her a masterclass sniper gave her an advantage in this tedious but still vital task.
Knocking on the door of the editing suite pulled her out of her boredom.
The door opened admitting a bear of a man, thickly built and baring his own scars of battlefields long past. It was Boris her number two.
He looked at her, eyes flickering over her face, lingering on her more attractive features as most men's eyes often did; even those familiar with her appearance.
Her wavy blonde hair...
The high quality cheek bones and the intense blue eyes
Her face, the left side of it at any rate, was one models walking the runways of Paris and Milan would have killed to get.
Of course those soft waifs would've balked at her own scars the right side of her face and chest were pitted and burnt, souvenirs of battles too numerous and too horrible to mention.
"Sargent"
""Chang is asking for a meeting . It's about the Yellowflag."
"Revy cause another fight?" Balalaika chuckled, "or has the Lovelace boy brought another killer housemaid to the city?"
"No its...its about the new bartender."
Balalaika snorted, "Ah yes The World's Most Dangerous Spy? I heard Nikolai Jakoff and a squad of the KGB's 'best and brightest' chased that idiot through the streets of Moscow and were humiliated for the trouble."
"Chang says he'll wait for us at the usual time and place."
Balalaika looked at the man, "He wouldn't be wasting my time unless it was significant."
"Rumors have it the Gun Woman from the Lagoon and the bartender were involved in an incident."
Meaning? "
8
9
8
The waves lapping the nearby dock and shadows gave the area the feel of a film noir. Chang exhaled smoke.
He heard the click clack of her heels on the pavement followed by the aroma of those European cigarettes she liked when she was running low on cigars.
They stood in silence for a while each playing theold games. Chang was at the disadvantage here because he needed her. ..needed her to, well not be her, for a while.
It would be a hard sell.
"There was an incident."
". ..Boris told me, I'm annoyed he waited so long to bring me the news."
Chang waved her off, "Don't hold it against the Big Guy, this is a shit storm any sane person would steer clear of."
"You're worried about us," Balalaika snorted, "what's got you so twisted Bebe?"
He grimaced, "Someone hit The Hidaway Hole Inn yesterday."
"I'm guessing suite 202?" Balalaika snorted. "As I recall, you asked me for a rain check."
Chang nodded, "It happened while I was away on business."
"Boris was the only one who knew of that meeting place or time. What about your end?"
"About six people give or take, none who knew that we were meeting there but yeah I've used it before."
Balalaika shuddered, "ugh, should I be bathing with a wire brush and lye soap."
Chang raised a surprised brow, "Do i ask you about your past, the scars, the bad dreams that make it a bad bad idea to wake you suddenly?"
"You're a police detective, or at least you used to be back in Hong Kong, do I really need to explain such things?"
"No I worked Vice, I know a lot of things I wish I could forget."
Balalaika sighed. She too had memories of the battlefield she wished she could forget. Such sentiments were waste. Might as well wish for her scars to be taken away.
Chang exhaled a cloud of smoke, "After we established ground rules for our ... 'weekly meetings'," he continued, "A number of ladies who enjoyed my company had to find ... other clients."
"And one of these other clients may have heard something they weren't supposed to?"
Chang grunted, "-and talked about it, yeah."
"It seems as if whoever was responsible was looking for you . why come to me?" Balalaika paused, "you already know who's behind the attack don't you?"
"The nun from the Rip Off Church heard things, passed me a heads up, said she'd take care of it as long as I didn't sweat the details. "
"And by take care of it she meant sending Rebecca and the bartender in our place. "
" I'm not happy about it but I can't argue with results."
"You're stumbling Bebe why?"
"It's a punk kid, Danny Lao, his Daddy was a boss and Junior inherited his seat at the big table."
"Young men can be foolishly overeager."
"He's been looking for a chance to prove he's not just Daddy's little man. "
Balalaika sighed, "He's going to make his mark by taking down the lazy corrupt ex cop." She recited, "What are you going to do about him?"
"I thought the world's most dangerous spy might be useful but this is me making a move. ..internally but still it's a move."
The implication was clear. Any war Chang fought, even if it was an internal dispute had the chance of spilling out onto Roanapur's mean streets.
If Balalaika made a move, took advantage of the confusion, the other Syndicate bosses would respond. It would be like the bad old days before the fragile peace everyone now enjoyed had been forged.
"What's your plan of attack?" The Russian mob mistress demanded.
Chang shrugged, "Donny boy has his pride."
"It goes before a fall, That is what the Christian Bible says."
"...and a taste for his daddy's mistress." Chang smirked, "I need Dutchman's people out of Roanapur for couple of days."
"I might have something I can use Dutch's people for but why are you so worried?"
"You ever read about jus bellum iustum?"
"A justifiable war,"
"I need him to screw up so badly that killing him will be a mercy compared to what senior leadership would want me to do."
"So you plan to draw him out using Sterling Archer?"
"Well Archer and his reputation for surviving shit that would kill anyone else."
"And if this ends as you'd like, what then?" Balalaika demanded.
"I owe you a rain check, and the suites at that place over on Rocihanna street are huge."
"How do you know?"
Chang snorted, "Syndicate money built it, using our materials and our workers, I was saving it as a surprise."
"Do I look like some decedent princess who needs her pillows fluffed and mints on the bed?" Balalaika demanded a dangerous growl in her voice to match the lethal gleam in her eyes.
"They have bathtubs so huge and deep you could drill for oil." Chang grunted in answer.
Balalaika sighed, "Book us a room, if you get yourself killed I'll be annoyed."
She turned on her heel and left Chang watched her departure. So she liked huge bathtubs, that was going to be another couple of thousand of dollars
He paid way too much attention to her legs and the seamed stockings adorning them.
"Money well spent you old corrupt idiot," Chang mused to himself as she climbed into her car and drove off into the night.
