Chapter Twenty-Six

It's early in the morning and the sun is just rising. Alex is the only one up inside the house, and somehow he managed to fall asleep on the living room couch. Heath was on the couch and Carlos was in the armchair. Alex quietly stood up, stumbling towards the front door as he grabbed a leather jacket off the coat hook and put it on. He had his gun in his back pocket, a clip of ammo in the jacket. He walked out the front door, feeling around his pants, pulling out a pack of Redwoods. He put one into his mouth and lit it, causing a small light in the darkness of Sandy Shores.

"Babe wait!" a voice yelled out. Alex looked over at the house across the street, seeing a biker run into his house after a woman. He left the keys in his bike which Alex stared at intently. The bike was a Daemon and Alex liked the look of it.

He jogged across the street, getting onto the bike. The keys were left in it, and he looked at the house, the door now closed and yelling could be heard. Alex revved the engine, smiling to himself. He puffed smoke out of his mouth and slowly began to drive off on the bike.

Tyler was sitting on the porch, watching Alex. He wasn't noticed and didn't want to make himself noticed. He got onto his Sanchez, another motorcycle that he was able to get to Steven's when he was back in the city. Tyler revved the engine of the Sanchez and slowly took off as well, following Alex at a distance as the two made their way to the highway.

Alex smiled widely now, flicking the cigarette onto the side of the road as he looked at the quite lifeless place that was Sandy Shores. A few helicopters flew overhead, as well as airplanes but none of them were after Alex. No cars were chasing him, no guns were aimed at it. He felt free.

Alexa and Sarah had stayed in a rundown apartment building for the night. Alexa was handcuffed to a pipe, making it difficult for her to break free. Sarah couldn't shoot her the day before since people began to notice them in the alley, the awkward way things were going down there. Sarah didn't sleep the whole night. She was up staring at the picture of her and Mitchell, holding the gun at all times. Alexa was just waking up as she looked over at Sarah.

"Can I get off of here now?" Alexa asked, her eyes barely open. Her back was killing her from having to sleep against the wall.

"No." Sarah answered, putting the picture away into her bag. She stood up, cocking the gun and taking a deep breath. She aimed it over at Alexa. Alexa remained calm, which angered Sarah even more.

"You aren't me hun. You aren't your brother either. You can't do this." Alexa said.

"I have to." Sarah said, her hand shaking, tears rolling down her cheeks now. "I have to be the one to do this, not someone else. You killed MY brother."

"I think that has been established. Killing isn't something done easily though. There's a lot of baggage that comes with it." Alexa said. "Those people you hang around, they probably can't sleep at night."

"I couldn't sleep last night. I haven't been able to since I learned what happened." Sarah said, sitting back down on the bed.

"It's who we are Sarah. The things we do are based off who we are." Alexa said. "You are no killer."

Sarah shook her head, breaking down and putting her head in her hands. She dropped the gun onto the ground and Alexa's eyes immediately went to it, then back to Sarah. Sarah wiped away the tears, and stared at the ground.

"I miss Carlos." she said with a sigh.

"I bet they all miss you too." Alexa said. "Let me go, and we can walk away from this. Forget this ever happened."

"Who I am is someone who accomplishes their goal. I'm not a quitter." Sarah said, picking up the gun. "You aren't going anywhere." Sarah said, walking out of the apartment room, locking the door behind her and leaving Alexa in there with no way out.

Fang pushed Donny out of the elevator where Morgan had her men waiting. Donny sighed in relief as he scratched the back of his head, walking away from Fang and the Triad men he had brought with him. Donny and his "escort" made their way towards Morgan's office where she was standing outside the door, smiling.

"Thank you Mr. Fang." Morgan said. Fang bowed, looking at Donny and then Morgan.

"It is never too late to come back and help the cause." Fang said to Donny. He turned around and left after that, leaving Donny and Morgan to talk.

"What happened to you?" Morgan asked, seeing cuts and bruises on Donny's face. Donny looked back at the Triads and took a moment before answering.

"The Families. They really did attack me. I thought I was done for." Donny said, looking at the ground. Morgan sighed and walked into her office with Donny right behind her.

"I guess Jiao-Long was right. It seems The Families are going to be a problem for us as well." Morgan said, sitting down behind her desk and slamming her fist onto it. "Maybe we should send him some help, they might be going to war."

"I think they can handle it themselves. I've seen their forces." Donny says, not wanting to go back to their facilities.

"We'll see. For now you need to rest up. You are the only person I have who has returned from outside. Connor, Boles, and Alexa are all still out there." Morgan said. Donny nodded and left the office, going to find someplace to rest and also fearing what the Triads have planned.

Abraham entered the FIB building, seeing his co workers and smiling at them. The only ones on the lobby floor were the receptionist and some janitors but it was still nice to see familiar faces for him. He made his way to the elevator where he stepped in and saw the man in charge of autopsies. He smiled and the two shook hands.

"Kevin Brown. How are you doing?" Abraham asked.

"Couldn't be better Mr. Dixon." Kevin said. He was short, bald, and had large rimmed glasses making him look like a gigantic geek. He held a clipboard in his hands which Abraham assumed was the list of bodies he had to look over.

"I need you to do me a favor Kevin. It's for a case." Abraham said. Kevin looked up at the agent and raised an eyebrow.

"Well I uh, don't know about that. What case are we talking about? Some bodies are wrapped up and gone already." Kevin said, looking at his lists and the previous lists as well.

"The body of Mitchell Spruce." Abraham said. Kevin's eyes went wide and he stopped flipping through the clipboard. The elevator dinged and the two stepped out as more people came in. The sun shone through the windows as Kevin speed walked to his office, with Abraham right behind him.

"Kevin!" Abraham hissed as the two got into the morgue. Kevin turned around and shut the door.

"Do you not understand how many people have come in here asking to see his body? Asking me to get it out of here?" Kevin asked rhetorically.

"Who?" Abraham asked. Kevin was quiet now, the coldness of the room causing goosebumps to rise on Abraham's arms. "Who Kevin?" he asked again.

"Just some weirdos. Janitors trying to bribe me. Police sent from all over. Your partner. People who just have a past I guess." Kevin said, putting his clipboard down. He picked up a mask and gloves and put them on.

"Ethan came in here?" Abraham asked. "He told me he hasn't found out anything on the case…"

"Yeah he came in here and got the whole autopsy report. I thought he came in here for the case. So, because of that I assumed you were one of the people who had a history with the deceased." Kevin said.

"He took a report too?" Abraham asked, leaning against the door.

"I can tell this is not something good… Come here, I'll show you the report and the body." Kevin said, feeling a bit guilty. He opened one of the many doors in the morgue, pulling out the tray that held a covered body.

"Smells wonderful." Abraham said, walking over.

"Pine air fresheners." Kevin joked. Abraham pulled the cover back and there was the face of Mitchell, pale and drained of all color. His eyes were shut and there was a bullet wound in his stomach. Multiple scars covered his body and there was a tattoo over his heart. The tattoo was of a heart with the word "Sarah" inside of the heart.

"Wife?" Abraham asked.

"Sister. We haven't been able to contact her." Kevin said, staring down at the former assassin. Abraham looked at the bullet wound, then at Mitchell's face.

"I remember when he came to the city. We were informed about it and we kept an eye on him for the first year. Nothing. He just drank, read the newspaper, and drove around in his car. When none of his crimes could be pinned to him we gave up." Abraham recalled.

"Your partner said he was wanted for killing the now deceased mayor. The autopsy for that guy was just a pile of skin and bones. There wasn't nothing to even look at really." Kevin said, putting the sheet back over Mitchell and sliding him back into the holder. "He's being buried in a few days."

"Thanks for the help." Abraham said, being handed a copy of the report Kevin had to fill out. Kevin nodded and picked up his clipboard.

"Figure this shit out. And don't ask me for anymore favors." Kevin said as Abraham left.

Emma and Frank walked into the police department and all eyes were instantly on them. The two had become ghosts for a while, both disappearing and leaving the place without leading figures until Ethan and Abraham took charge. Emma looked at everyone and smirked.

"Get the fuck back to work!" she yelled out and everyone averted their eyes, going back to what they were doing. She walked through the building, Frank right behind her as she stormed towards one of the holding rooms.

"What's the gameplan?" Frank asked.

"Bad cop bad cop." Emma said. She shoved open the door and Larry was sitting there, sleeping on the table, his wrists red from having the cuffs on for such a long time. Emma took the cuffs off of his wrists and Larry looked up at the two, surprised to see them.

"Where are the FIB guys?" he asked, rubbing his eyes, his wrists feeling a sense of pressure off of them.

"Doing work." Emma said, using a police hat to cover the camera watching the room. Frank shut the blinds to the room then closed the door, locking it. He dropped the keys at the door and then kicked them into a corner.

"Ah damn. Lost my keys." Frank said, looking over at Larry. Larry looked back and forth at the two, standing up and backing away.

"This isn't right. This is unlawful!" Larry shouted.

"Oh shut the fuck up." Emma said.

"You're wanted for murder. Don't give me that 'unlawful' shit." Frank said, kicking a chair out of his way as he stepped towards Larry. Emma and Frank had him trapped as he cowered down, sitting in the corner and put his head in his hands.

"You're people have not stopped attacking us." Emma said. "I've been on the run from Alexa for the longest time now."

"Donny nearly killed me." Frank said. Larry looked up at the two and seemed to be normal, no longer scared.

"You just get in their way of killing me. That's their real goal." Larry said. "They think I would rat, that's why they want to get here."

"Well we aren't going to let you die. But we can't keep you here anymore unless you give us information that will be useful to bring one of them in." Emma said.

"We're gonna give you a day to decide what you will do. The cuffs will be off you so you can walk around this room as much as you please." Frank said, turning and walking to the door. Emma stared down at Larry for a bit longer before turning and leaving the room with Frank. Larry sighed and continued to sit in the corner, huddled up in the fetal position.

A lowrider with five Vagos boys in it drove down the streets of Sandy Shores slowly. The men inside were armed, just patrolling their streets, making sure people knew who owned those grounds. It was bright daylight, not usually when things go down for gangs. However if the rivalry was deep enough, time and place didn't matter.

As the lowrider came to an intersection, a black van pulled up behind them. Across from them a black SUV was stopped at a stop sign. Two more SUV's were parked, one on the right and the other on the left. Each driver had glasses and wore a suit, all having gold watches on their wrists as well.

The black van honked at the Vagos who honked back, taking their time patrolling. They slowly began to drive forward as the black SUV in front of them turned so it stopped them from going forward. The two other cars did the same, trapping the Vagos in between four cars. The back of the van opened and The Reaper walked out, a cigar in his mouth and a shotgun in his hands. He cocked the shotgun and walked towards the car, his sunglasses blocking the desert sun from blinding him.

"What the fuck is this pendejo?" a gang member called out. The window he shouted out of was blown to shards of glass as The Reaper fired his gun. The Vago boy backed away from it in shock and the others in the car grabbed their Mini SMG's. They opened the car doors and came out aiming their small guns at the Mafia's much larger ones.

"This is a message, cabron." The Reaper said, smiling with the cigar still in his mouth. His men began to unleash fire, putting at least a thousand bullets into the men and the car, possibly even more than that. Blood splattered out in every direction and the Vagos boys bodies dropped to the ground. One was still alive after the storm of lead pierced through him. The Reaper walked towards the group, pulling out a Vintage Pistol and aiming it down at the boy.

"Who are you?" he choked out, staring up at him as he could feel the blood fill his throat. The Reaper just smiled down at him and pulled the trigger, sending a bullet through the boy's brain. His men looked at him, awaiting their next orders.

"Torch it." The Reaper said. He tucked the Vintage Pistol back into it's holster and began walking back to the van, wiping away some of the blood that spurted out into his face. His men began to dump gallons of gasoline onto the bodies and the car, and once it was doused enough, one man threw a lighter into it, causing a large fire to shoot up into the sky. The Reaper watched the fire rise and he smiled, puffing smoke out of his mouth and relaxing in his seat as he was driven away.