- Chapter Ninety -

When You Lose Your House key

Hunger pangs gnawing at his belly the whole entire way back, Ludoviko did his best not to mind the bag of takeout dangling from the crook of his elbow. Mixed scents of gristly shredded beef tacos, spicy ghost pepper tamales, and seven cheese nachos all melding together into the perfect blend of Mexican, the inability to dig in was driving him crazy. Reprimanding himself for paying more attention to the boss' affairs than to his own health yet again, Ludo contemplated turning in his share of the churros as punishment.

Zan sure would love that, the bottomless glutton.

Streetlights casting mellow wax-colored globes over the winding asphalt river, the judgmental sentinels didn't flinch as the townsfolk all headed back towards their homes. Bleeding into the shadows of motorized undercarriages, the buttery halos did blur at the edge as the tires thoughtlessly flattened them. Zoom. Zoom. Zoom. Like racers on the speedway, they were all hellbent machines.

No more noteworthy than any other, one of these vehicles was an empty cab, zipping away from the hotel.

Jonesing something fierce for even a single bite of the authentic home-made recipes, the tank of a man kept walking, eyes skimming the almost-familiar horizon. In the distance, one of the cars being revved up to leave could be heard backfiring, but coming from the city, Ludo was unfazed by the disturbance. Neon signs and lit display windows flickering off all at once as the majority of the town shut down for the night, it was the second-story tanning salon that confirmed he was at the right spot, the hotel a whole street behind the plaza.

Confident that he was nearly at his destination before spying the sandwiched landmark, the strutting big cat had prowled the commercial lanes enough times to have a fairly firm grasp on the territory. It was simply a smart tactic, given that this was home turf for Drake and they were all visitors.

[Down At Mr. Watanabe's Place]

"What do you mean the last boat has already been rented?"

Blood vessels begging to burst from the throbbing vein protruding from his temple, Zan had been up and down the pier in search of a single person that was willing to cancel previous contracts. One yahoo had booked a morning tour to be led by some marine biologist, another holding anchor for a customer named Bridgeman.

While the name didn't mean anything to the gangster brat, the fact that the ship was ready to set sail at a moment's notice did strike a serious red flag. Not that it mattered any when the captain refused to be bribed or intimidated, nodding none-too-discreetly at a shotgun mounted behind the register. Pinging the name of the business on his phone for later, Zanny had sought out other rental places as well, however those searches had also been fruitless.

Ready to just call it quits, this rundown little bait shop was the very last place he could find on the digital map of the island that advertised naval craft and transport. Tackle and other fishing gear lining the four cluttered walls save for a tiny slice reserved for flyers and 'other', there may as well have been an aged sign nailed over the entrance that read "abandon all hope, ye who enter here".

Lucky to brush the five foot mark, the sap that was most probably the owner of the barfed-on dump flinched nervously every time Zan moved. Pacing irately and stomping in like a five-year old throwing a tantrum, the casually disguised triad member made it no secret that he was at the end of his rope.

"It's a pretty self-explanatory statement." Despite looking like he was one nasty comment away from either pissing himself or fainting, the guy had some brass balls.

Zan could usually appreciate that sort of thing, however that was when everything was just falling into place. "Fuck off with that, unless you wanna wake up dead tomorrow." Waving his handgun around freely without a single fuck to give about who saw - a common behavior that often got him chewed out - right at that moment the young man didn't care. He was done dealing with these yokels.

Forged on the roughest tides and made of sterner stuff than to balk at what could have been seen as an empty threat, the shop keeper realized the situation was for real when the barrel was shoved into the side of his skull. Not particularly scared by the taller figure but knowing full well that itchy trigger fingers had a certain way about getting wiser folks hurt, the old man slowly bobbed his snow-white head.

"Might be we could work something out." Metal clicking against his eardrum the final warning to change his tone, the owner cleared out his throat, "My best girl should be back in an hour or two. She's the one ferries people back and forth between here and the mainland. Wait, and you'll see she's the best on the island."

Only mildly assuaged by this fortunate turn of events, Zan jabbed the nozzle into the fair hairs on the old sailor's head, "For your sake, you better hope so."

[Observe And Report]

Greeted by the discernible form of a man hounding the parking lot in search of something or someone that had vanished without a trace, in their respective lines of work it was never a good sign to return to that kind of scene. Automatically clutching his precious cargo close to his body as if there was an old-time burglar on the loose, regrettably there was a mushy squelch as at least one of the tamales popped and leaked.

Heartbreaking as the loss was for the foodie (and a part of him would always mourn for even the most unappetizing wastes), there were more pressing matters at hand - like why the hell Sam Drake was frantically canvasing the area. Mind skipping straight to the boss that he had left unintended in his room, Ludoviko clung back at the opposite side of the street, watching cautiously. Actions not all that different from a belligerent drunk in his opinion, the hired hand watched as the gatekeeper started for the plexiglass double doors before stopping dead in his tracks. Instantaneous in its existence, a pit formed in Ludo's stomach as the older man began to backtrack; he let out an audible sigh when it was only for two small travel bags.

Darkness not so intense yet that it was impossible to make out the identity of the man breathing fire on the other side of the road, Ludo was still hoping that he was mistaken. Modest size of the cargo the final nail in the coffin, his heart sank even lower as he realized that there were two bags but only one person left holding them. Fair enough, for all he knew the boss was already negotiating terms with the heiress, however, after seeing the girl last, he had his doubts she was going to uphold her end.

If indeed Ludo was correct and she had gone rogue, this did not bode well. Not for Jian, who required the girl to be in one piece in order to keep his lofty position, nor for any of the countless goons that would cease to have a job if the higher ups decided that they didn't need a hold in the States.

Alpha and Beta would be fine in the long haul, being so closely related to the right people; Zan would probably be shipped to another installment outside the mainland, and Jian would more than likely be forced to report directly to his cousin. An outsider by all counts, Ludoviko would undoubtedly be let go... Provided it was in a situation where he got to keep his life, there would be another valuable body to guard at some point down the road, so he wasn't worried. Although, he would miss these days.

Except... If she was going to dishonor the letter of her word, then why was her companion so distressed? The problem vexed him greatly.

Proceeding with great care and measured distance, Jian's most faithful man passively stood by as the elder Drake brother stormed into the lobby. Receptionist glowering at the back of the one-man whirlwind as he made his way towards the upper levels, the woman seemed more personally affronted than concerned. Behavior checking out, in their time laying low in the shadows all three had noted that one of the concierges in particular had a soft spot for the relic of living history. Most often seen snapping at her co-workers when something wasn't brought up to the room fast enough, almost by default she could be found glaring daggers at the little blonde thing that was never far from the old man's side.

Mirroring his employer's thoughts on the matter, none of them could come to a clear consensus on what the girl saw in her temporary distraction. Zanny persisted in his theory was that it was some perverse sex thing, more often than not going into graphic mental images of what it was that kept the (dubiously) honorable bride-to-be crawling back. Maybe a couple of years ago an argument could be made on whether or not Samuel was 'a snacc' or 'daddy', but nowadays? Hmm, different strokes, he supposed.

Long ago taught the art of big game hunting by his commanding officer, the massive brawler-type was therefore cautious of prematurely alerting his quarry. Doing the service proud, Ludo was virtually tip-toeing behind the oblivious historian.

Cursing internally as they ascended the stairs beyond the apparently vacant room of the young master's bride-to-be, Ludo was not about to let the conman anywhere near his boss with such blind fury guiding him. Obviously brighter than a hot-head like Zanny, he at least had the foresight to wait until they were on level ground first. Loudly clearing his throat before addressing the seething slugger, he opted for a more peaceful resolution.

Accent thick as the leathery legs of an elephant, despite English clearly not being his native tongue, he had a pretty good grasp on sentence structure and colloquialisms. "Can I help you, man?"

[A New Challenger Has Appeared]

Face-to-face for the first time, Samuel Drake and Ludoviko Costa were roughly of a similar height, though one was considerably thinner and more drawn out than the other. Prison and the better part of a lifetime spent smoking would do that to a person. Unkempt tangle falling just to the top of searching pools of the most saturated green, the less worn of the two showed no judgement in his gaze, only soul-searching question.

Mass not equating to skill, Ludo knew enough of the legendary Drake brothers to know that the odds were stacked highly in the older man's corner; in this case it may have only been out of hysterical rage, but it was enough. Prepared to do his job and protect Ruan Jian to the best of his ability, the younger of the pair proceeded delicately, hands in the air.

"You look like you have lost something." The only key to the vault, for example.

'You could say that' just about on the tip of his quippy tongue, the known thief narrowed his deep eyes until they seemed almost as black as pits.

Objectively speaking it was a logical inquiry, seeing as he was lugging around only a couple of bags and ripping through the building like something important had been carelessly misplaced. Misplaced, mishandled, mistreated... it all snowballed in the historian's head. Focusing the guilt-like pang into productive energy, that was a little too good for just a guess.

Instead of owning up to his mistake to a total and complete stranger, the auburn-haired one frowned as he sized up the seemingly innocent bystander for potential weaknesses. Mouth hardening, in any other situation he might have come off as annoyed by the intrusion. "You wouldn't know anything about it, would you?" Amigo seemed pushing it.

Having spent a good number of accumulative years in the South Americas specifically, it was almost second-nature to pick up on the tint of Portuguese clinging the vowels and consonants. Strictly speaking Sam had not had the distinct pleasure of speaking with any of their striped admirers, however he had it on good authority that at least one of them haled from a different jungle. If it was this guy remained to be seen, but judging from the gesture, it was a strong likelihood.

Coded for the sake of a potential third-party's involvement, Ludo walked the fine line between civil transparency and professional vigilance. "Depends on what it is you're looking for. If, say, it has false blonde hair and those big blue eyes you could just kill for, you might want to talk with my boss."

Talk?! Sam wanted nothing more than to pummel that little pimple's brains out on the pavement in a wash of puss and scarlet, to bash his head in with a damn baseball bat until there was nothing vaguely resembling a skull left. Put simply, the adventurer wouldn't have minded making pudding in a bastard soup bowl. Taking the surrounding imagery of the scene a step farther, the ex-con could see himself doing the same to all of that cocksucker's men in the same go, brutally beating each and every one of them to the bleak point beyond death. When it was all said and done and their sins had been answered for, he could see himself taking baby girl by the hand amidst all that raw carnage and leading her away from all the pain they'd inflicted upon her.

Which only fed into his already befouled temper.

Pushed well passed his limit for the night, the American had heard enough out of the Orange Tiger... or maybe it was just that he was out for a little blood himself. Done with holding on to their bags - especially when there wasn't really anything valuable that couldn't be replaced - the thief chucked his duffel bag at the goon with full force. Strap milling listlessly through the air, the brunt of the blow caught the man square in the chest; if he hadn't been anticipating some form of attack, Ludo genuinely might have been stunned by the move.

As it stood, the impact was only strong enough to elicit an anemic 'oof'.

All bets off, the elder explorer wasted no time following up his initial strike by smashing her backpack into the broad face of the younger (but technically more experienced in the specific field) security detail. Plastic-gripped handle cracking cartilage with a sickening wop, Drake knew that there would be blood before he even saw the crimson droplets flying through the air as if in slow-motion. Hopefully no one thought to question the stains later on...

"Where is she?" Not about to ask nicely, the guy that could still beat major amounts of asses in a critical bind was already working on his next move.

Considering himself to be a fair guy (at least in terms of who he closely associated with), Ludo had been more than prepared to conduct the mistress's paramour to the boss's hotel room for a civil conversation. Clearly something had gone amiss, and if neither side was in possession of the queen, that presented a serious problem. For the lot of them.

Then that old bastard had to go and break his nose - Ludo was not a vain man, however, he did have principle.

Rather than answer the hostile demand of a raving lunatic with words, the loyal adviser had relinquished his shield and replied with his fist. Swinging wildly between the stream of scarlet dripping down his chin and the haze that caused him to squint his eyes in pain, it was war. Connecting on the second hit, white knuckles slammed flat into brittle bone, sending an agonizing shock wave through his opponent.

Dealt worse in his day, Drake seized the chance to counter the body blow, grabbing his foe defensively by the forearm and swinging him into the nearest wall. Pinning the human tank against the frame so that his broken nose went further back into his skull, the younger figure's flailing limbs banged up against the door loudly, alerting the inhabitant.

No one of any consequence, some travel-weary suit or random vacationer (or maybe a spouse that had been kicked out of the house for an extended period) opened the door to see what the commotion was. Eyes shielded behind thick bifocal-like lenses and coming up to the chin of the guy fighting submission, the unfortunate spectator screamed out, alerting a chain-reaction of neighbors. A bellhop running dishes downstairs had even poked his head up the stairwell for a peek.

By this time of night most guests were either already bundled up for bed or else out for a time that vanished from the face of the clock, a time later than late. Half way between these two states of being, one of the people that came bolting out of their rooms was none other than Nadine Ross herself. Shouting over her shoulder for Chloe, the woman was at the thief's side even as she tightened her bathrobe over a tank top and cotton trousers.

Making note of the assorted contents spilling from the broken zipper on the backpack as well as the state of the bugger being force-fed wood chips, it wasn't hard to guess what had led to this moment. Chloe, still fully dressed from the party, took all of four seconds to appear at her partner's elbow, dark brows knitting as she took a headcount of who wasn't at the scene.

Management not much further behind - why, for the love of god, did they have to actually be apt at their jobs for once?! - Sam loosened his grip on Ludo when he registered the pairs of hands on his shoulders, one on each side. Not exactly sacred Continental grounds or anything, there were other hotels on the island that Sam could stay at the next time he was in town, it was just that this was the best one, the one where nearly everyone knew him. Accepting their unspoken wisdom, he let the sorry sod go, taking grim satisfaction in the number he had done to the punk's mug.

"Is there a problem here?" Middle-aged with the weathered skin to prove it, a balding man flanked by two far more imposing figures squeaked from somewhere near the floor. Neither of the hired muscle/figures were remotely threatening to anyone that had actually lived any sort of a life, but the trio could appreciate their purpose.

Leering at Ludo as if daring him to say otherwise, Sam winced as he moved to block the common thug's exit. "Not at all. Just a little misunderstanding."

Third eye rolling back into her head at the bold-faced lie, Nadine kept her intense gaze trained on the young punching bag, all her years with strict military personnel paying off in spades. Wise as to what one loose rat could get up to on its lonesome, Chloe also held the stranger in her sights, fairly certain that she had noticed him skulking around before this. Ludo had no such plans, rather, he actually had hoped that he might still be able to turn this thing in his camp's favor.

Sweet talking the manager into looking the other way, the beauty offered congenially with a coy smile, "See? Nothing we can't take care of."

Uncertain about all of that, given the spotless record of the newcomer and the extensive history between the trio and the hotel, the manager might have gone along with it. Yeah, he might have let it all go, if the tenant hadn't interjected indignantly, "Nothing!? I was in the middle of my REM cycle! Not to mention who'll have to pay for the frame! It certainly had better not be me!" Despite how common it was for someone to have visible ink, this one was the sort that still took a negative view on anything so bold. Eyes condemning both parties, the tenant scoffed, "Humph. No respect at all."

Attention drawn from the quarreling men to the bloody stain and the crack that ran up the wood, the manager scowled between Sam and Ludo alike. About to try and cook up some bullshit on the spot, the thief was unexpectedly covered by the decided loser of the round. Holding his nose as he attempted to stem the flow, the younger male shook his head with an umber tumble of natural curl, "I'll cover the damages. Just so long as my friends here help me back to my room."

Reluctant to be involved in this mess any further, considering what was potentially on the line Nadine and Chloe agreed to join Sam. They had no clue what had led up to the impromptu bout of kombat, but it was a wise move taking this thing out of the public eye as quickly as possible.

Author's Note:

Please do remember that Sam can be dangerous. In this he does seem more laid back (at least to me, but that's due largely to context), but writing that particular moment where he and Ludo cross paths, I think about the darker side of the character. Maybe you could argue that I went a hair too far in that specific context, but I would like to point out that he's already pissed off and in a bad mood. I won't pretend that I'm some expert writer, but I don't plan on forgetting that this guy ain't no saint.
Also, I'm not super practiced at action scenes, so hopefully this one was alright.

Oh, and one final thing before we part for the chapter - the "A New Challenger Appears" section was divided because the scene shifts from Ludo' perspective to both Ludo's and Sam's povs.

Stay well lovelies:D