Devil in the Church: Chapter 1

Hitting the roof in a roll, I quickly extended my staff while getting back to full speed, allowing me to vault across the street below me to the next roof. Once back on my feet again, I looked at the warehouse, which was my destination tonight.

Still no sentries.

A light pole with a burnt out bulb was my ticket back to the street. Buildings were sparse in this part of the bay. According to Danny, this area used to be storage warehouses back in the day, so that wasn't really surprising. Still, there was plenty of cover to mask my approach until I was over the wire and on my target's lot.

This close I could hear a faint ruckus from the old building, which confirmed Danny's intel that it was used on occasion. The last time I was here it was silent, so at least this wouldn't be a wasted trip.

I quickly made my way across the empty lot. After checking the corner and still not seeing any sentries, I shimmied up the rusted drain pipe to the roof. Industrial windows stood in a line moving down the building, thankfully all closed and covered by years of dirt and grime. Still, they were just clear enough to see the telltale signs of electric lights below. From here the noise I heard earlier was clearer. People shouting and cheering.

Keeping to the edge and away from the windows, I made my way down the building. From my previous scouting run I knew most of them opened into the warehouse's main expanse, which wasn't what I wanted. I wanted the office window at the end.

Despite all the noise generated from the small crowd inside, I kept my steps light and moved carefully. This building wasn't in that bad of a shape and I doubted anyone would hear me up here, but that didn't mean I should take unnecessary chances.

Thankfully, everything went to plan and I arrived at my entry point.

Someone had had the foresight to spray paint the window from the inside, but whoever it was hadn't put in much effort beyond the minimum. While it was mostly blacked out, there were streaks where the paint was thin that allowed me a glimpse inside.

Two big men. The kind of big I was learning to associate with Empire enforcers. Bulging muscles, tattoos, scars, and of course, white. One was behind a desk running stacks of money through an electric counter while the other read from a clipboard. The noise from the main warehouse was dimmer here, allowing me to hear them muttering something to each other.

Clipboard turned from his work, looking through the blinds of a big window that might have once been used by managers past to watch the workers below. He turned and laughed to Desk.

The crunch of gravel sounded below. Turning from the window, I looked over the edge, seeing the sentries I had missed earlier. Two more enforcers were joking with each other as they walked parallel to the building. It was hard to tell from my position, but I was pretty sure both were carrying pistols tucked under their arms. There was a subtle difference to the gait of people who were carrying to those who weren't, and these two had it.

Cupping my hands, I blew into them to keep my fingers warm. If they were here, then the other pair should be on the other side of the building. Unless there wasn't another pair, because the gap I had used to get here was far too large for there to be three or more. Either way, it was telling. They either didn't expect to get hit, or were so arrogant that even if they did, they figured they could handle it and only put up a token patrol.

Voices in the office brought me back to the window once I was sure those below wouldn't notice my silhouette, should they happen to look up. Clipboard had put away his clipboard, and Desk was kneeling next to my wall. I couldn't see what he was doing but I had a good idea.

I'd noted the small safe when I scouted the building last week. It had been empty when I'd cracked it, but Desk was filling it with the money he counted now.

I watched him do it, bantering with Clipboard, who was glued to the window and looking impatient. Finished with his task, Desk got up, grabbed his own clipboard and clapped the other man on the shoulder before both left.

Perfect.

Not sure how long I was going to have, but confident that it would take a bit before they returned, I eased open the window. Normally, these things only opened from the inside, but I had taken care of that last week. Thankfully, they hadn't noticed my alterations, and once it was open wide enough, I slid inside.

The manager's window offered a perfect view of the warehouse's interior. However, instead of what managers past would have seen -working people doing working people things- the view showed a giant caged encirclement. Inside, two guys -heavily bruised and bloody- were bare knuckle fighting for the crowd around them.

Both were young and even from here looked scared out of their minds as they beat the hell out of each other. The crowd cheered and groaned with each hit and went wild when one landed a blow that sent a spray of blood from the other's split eyebrow.

Several small cages stacked together stood against the far wall. Two more enforcers were standing in front of them, also watching the fight which meant that tonight's fight wasn't just going to be with people. Dogs, most likely, and by the look of things, that event hadn't started yet.

Desk and Clipboard came into view next, walking away from the stairs leading to the ground floor and heading to a couple that were also watching the fight. Unlike the crowd though, these two had an area around them clear of other people at least six feet wide.

The smaller figure turned first revealing what looked like a wire face mask. A touch on the guy next them showed he was similarly masked, which meant capes. Both had body postures that screamed dangerous. Desk handed something to the blond man before turning to the fight.

At least two capes. That explained why security was so light.

Turning away from the window I took a quick assessment of the room I was in. It was mostly bare, just like before, with additions that made sense for what was going on. Money counter, a couple of boxes that they'd most likely brought in just for tonight, the computer was new, and of course, lots of weapons. Pistols that had most likely been taken from the crowd on entry were stacked in a box close to the door, but there were a few rifles as well.

Looking back through the window showed Desk and Clipboard were answering questions from the big cape. Well, Desk was answering questions. Clipboard was cheering with the crowd.

I could work with that. However, instead of getting to it, I frowned, eyes locked on the scared kids in the ring.

I really didn't like owing people. Gambit didn't owe people. Not money, nor favors. People owed Gambit. That was the backbone of the Guild. That was how I'd gotten as far as I had, by doing favors for others and keeping the ledger green.

But my ledger wasn't green, was it? Because Assault had done me a favor, and then wouldn't let me pay him for it. Which if half of what he told me earlier was true, meant he knew what he did and what it meant. That put me in his pocket.

And that, was unacceptable, but fixable. Just needed to make a few adjustments.

One last check on Desk and Clipboard revealed them to be still occupied. Moving away from the window, I locked the door, hitting it with a touch of my power. The next person to open it wasn't going to be happy and it would buy me time in case they surprised me by coming back before I was done.

Next I moved around the room hitting all the weapons. Specifically, spending a second to give the hammers of each a smaller dose than I had the door. The next time anyone tried to fire them was going to be the last. An old trick I'd used on several occasions to spoil the party favors of people like this.

Besides, I'd always hated guns. Specifically, the morons who used them like these people seem to. Only amateurs needed guns to do a job. There was no excuse for lack of skill. Either get better, or find another line of work. Just that simple.

Finished with that, I gave the window one last check, seeing everyone still absorbed in the fight, this time with a couple of fresh guys just getting started. The capes seemed done with Desk and Clipboard and the foursome were watching the new fight get going.

Plenty of time, then.

Kneeling next to the safe, I pulled my burner phone and dialed. I put the it on the desk, listening to the ringing in my ear bud while cracking the safe, since someone had changed the combination since last week.

"PRT Emergency Response, what is your emergency?"

"Listen carefully as I'm only going to say this once," I instructed quietly while slowly turning the safe dial. "At 502 Joshua Drive there is a warehouse. Inside it, Empire Eighty Eight is hosting a fight. People at the moment but there's dog cages in back. Not sure if they've finished that part or not. At least four armed sentries and two capes. A big guy with a metal mask and greasy blond hair, and a rough looking woman with a wire grill-like mask. Did you get that?"

"Yes," the professional sounding woman immediately answered.

"Around twenty plus in the crowd," I said swinging open the safe. Continuing as I moved my satchel in front of me and started loading it. "Upstairs is an old office they are using. There's a computer and safe. Inside the safe is a bunch of paperwork. No idea what it all is, but I'm sure you will know what to do with it if you get here fast enough to claim it."

Closing the safe, I took a moment to concentrate. Thick metal was always a pain to work but it didn't take longer than a few seconds for the lock to snap into place loudly, which was what I wanted.

"The door to the office is trapped, as are the weapons but I figure most of them come from the fight spectators, so don't expect security to be unarmed. The safe is frozen shut, so unless they take it, you're going to need to cut it open."

"You're inside, aren't you?"

"Not anymore," I whispered as I eased my way through the window. "I'm leaving but I'm leaving this phone behind for you to track. If they get panicked, they might take it with them, figuring it belongs to one of theirs. If you want to take out a piece of the Empire, move fast. These things usually don't last but a few hours and they'll scatter once someone tries getting back into that office."

"Wait, who is this?"

"And tell Assault we're even," I finished, taking out my ear bud and frying it with my power.

Mangled tech thrown aside, I quickly checked to see if the coast was clear. Not seeing the sentries, I jumped down. No shouts of alarm broke out before I went back over the wire but I didn't slow or stop until I was long gone and safely back on rooftops well into my evasion route.

What did stop me was the sound of two vehicles rushing down the road. A motorcycle, and a jeep. The bike was obviously tinkertech and easily recognizable, even to me, and I'd only been in city a little while.

But Armsmaster was a well known cape, even in Louisiana. Seeing him cutting through the night on his tinker bike, I could see why. His power armor gleamed in the poor street lights as he raced his way through the city, making me think of all those fairy tales I'd read when I had been with the Rats. Like a techno knight on his silver steed, Armsmaster charged into the black. Off to smite evil in the name of good.

Next to him was another easily identifiable cape. Stars and stripes scarf wrapped around the lower side of her face, Miss Militia kept pace in her jeep. No less the image of a great heroine despite her lack of tinker armor. Her confidence was her armor and no matter how flimsy that might seem, she had the reputation to back it up.

Those are real heroes, Assault. Sorry mon cher, but no matter what you think, this is as heroic as Gambit gets.

"Good luck," I whispered into the night knowing they wouldn't hear it.

XxX Gambit XxX

It took almost an hour before I felt confident enough no one was following me to head home and I was never so happy to see Danny's house.

It had been a long night and it wasn't even nine.

Last weekend, Danny and I had replaced the exterior paint ourselves. Cleaned the gutters and even went so far as to repair the front porch. Now neither of us had to worry about that third step breaking and catching an ankle. In a lot of ways it was amazing how just those few things changed the look of the old place. It was definitely a sight for tired eyes.

The strange car out front, not so much. It seemed like my night wasn't over yet. Moving closer, I stepped around the house taking a peek through the living room window.

Danny was sitting on the couch next to a woman I hadn't seen before. About his age, slim, and well dressed. Not fancy as if she was expecting to go out on the town, but respectable enough for a social visit. Her dark hair fell just past her shoulders framing in her face in a way that looked styled. Both of them were talking; looking concerned.

Crap. Was that tonight?

Sighing, I headed to the back door; letting myself in and being instantly greeted by Danny walking into the kitchen. Eyes flickering over me looking for damage that wasn't there.

"Renée, I was worried. I tried calling but you didn't answer."

"Had that phone turned off after I left Angela's. Sorry I missed dinner," I greeted him tiredly. "Lost track of time after the party."

Signing, Danny shook his head. "It's alright, we waited for you."

Giving him a pained smile, I turned to the woman entering behind him.

"Bonjour Lillian," I greeted her. "I apologize for being late."

Wide eyed silence met my greeting as Lillian blinked several times in surprise. I was going to chalk it up to my eyes, until hers kept moving over my body. Looking down I realized what had her attention. My armor.

"I'll just be a few moments," I commented in the awkward silence. "Put away a few things and change. Excuse me."

Offering an awkward smile, I moved around them and headed up stairs making sure to close my bedroom door behind me. On my bed, was the outfit I set out this morning for tonight.

This was so Assault's fault. If he just would have taken the money, I would have been here way earlier and wouldn't have had to stick around to trap that office.

Taking down the hanging picture of a waterfall, I just managed to unlock the hidden cubby in the wall when Danny knocked on the door.

"Renée?"

"I'm decent, come in."

"Are you alright…"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I answered. Putting the aside the false wall panel, I opened my satchel and started adding my take from tonight to the rest. "I really am sorry about being late."

At his silence I turned. Danny just stood there, staring. After a moment, he blinked away his confusion quickly closing the door behind him.

"What is that?" he hissed while looking pointedly at the satchel.

"What is what?"

"That!"

"My satchel?"

"No, what you're talking out of it and putting in the wall."

"Oh. Money."

"What?"

Looking back I nodded to his point. "I know it's ridiculous, but I haven't found a reliable cleaner yet and I can't help how other people store their money. Stacks of tens and twenties isn't high on my list of good ideas either but until I find a good launder I won't be able to convert them into hundreds. Sure, I generally keep a few stacks of twenties lying around, but for cold storage, hundreds generally work better. Less space and usually easier to move from location to location."

"Not the point, Renée," Danny stressed looking pale. "Not the point. How much do you have hiding within the insulation?"

"Pretty sure I topped fifty after tonight," I noted, finishing moving tonight's take to the wall.

"Thousand?" he asked weakly.

"I'd never get fifty million in your walls, Danny," I chuckled. Biting my lip I considered it for a moment before adding. "At least, not this wall. Maybe if I converted the old coal chute into storage. But that's too obvious a spot, and honestly, if I had that kind of funds lying around I wouldn't keep most of it here anyway. I'd use a guarded safe house until I could use it. Besides, where would I get fifty million in cash from?"

"With you, it wouldn't surprise me if you managed it."

I paused, a bit touched at his faith in my abilities before resuming putting the panel back. "That's sweet, Danny, but even Gambit couldn't pull off fifty million in less than a month without breaking my own rules. As it is, I barely made five in two years working New Orleans. Most of that went right back into the Guild and we never had much more than a couple of hundred on hand at any one time."

"Not what I meant," he sighed, rubbing his face. "We need to talk about this. You said…"

"I'm going stir crazy, Danny," I interrupted as I turned to face him. "Normally Sister Mary needs something or I'm shuffling the Guild around preparing for a job or going to ground after one. Meeting with fences, cleaners, informants, working any of the half dozen part time jobs I had to mask my income, or dealing shifting gang lines.

"Ever since I moved to Brockton Bay, all I've done is look around, Danny. I've never been this lazy and I'm not hitting regular people if that helps. Tonight was an Empire pit fight, and the rest came from a Merchant meth lab Circus and I stumbled across last week while scouting out an ABB casino."

"You're planning to rob an ABB casino?"

"Just a little one," I tried reassuring him. Which, judging by the look on his face, wasn't working. "Ruby Dreams really isn't very big. It's an easy job and they'd never know I was there."

At his disbelieving expression, I added, "It's the not first gang casino I've robbed, Danny. Hell, I robbed that one Two Mauls used to run three times. Besides, I need the funds if I'm going to finance a new crew."

"Renée, you have school tomorrow."

"Just a half day for those assessment tests, and I wouldn't do something like that on a school night, Danny," I reassured him. "There's way more money on weekends and I'm still working out the patrol schedule. I'm at least two weeks from ready since I have to do all the legwork myself."

"Please don't."

"Don't?"

"Don't upset Lung by robbing his casino."

I was going to argue that it wasn't like he would know I was there, but the haggard look on Danny's face stopped me.

If the street rumors my recent informants told me were true, there was still that ABB heroin processing lab over on the north east waterfront I could hit. Payout wouldn't be as good since I was just going for the cash, but still, better than nothing. It was going to be a lot more difficult to rob unseen than the casino though.

Still doable. Sighing, I nodded. "Fine, I won't rob his casino."

"Thank you," Danny whispered, shaking his head before looking worriedly at the door. "We really need to talk about your, hobby. Maybe I should tell Lillian we should do this another night."

"No need for that," I argued, smiling when he turned frowning toward me. "I don't have anything really planned for the next couple of days and it's nothing that can't wait. She's here now and she's already seen me in armor, so that gator is out of the bayou. I'll change real quick and we'll talk about this tomorrow after school, alright?"

"We really have to talk about this, Renée," Danny stressed.

"We will," I assured him easily before shooing him from my room. "Now go on and make sure the fact her boyfriend's daughter is a cape hasn't sent her running."

"Renée…"

"Go on," I laughed seeing his pained expression. "I'll be right down. Hopefully she's still here, I've been curious ever since you mentioned her."