Chapter Eighty-Seven

"No way he's in there."

Sighing to himself Jake looked over the small building that had the feel of a converted church with its grand set of worn marble stairs and large font doors. This was the address given to him by his hostage for Light for the Lost but this wasn't the type of place York would spend his time. This was just the face of the charity, York's real headquarters had to be elsewhere. The way York carried himself spoke of a man used to a life of luxury and power. He may give a portion of his money to the less fortunate but he wasn't the kind to truly mix with them socially. Jake looked around the run down businesses and dirty sidewalks and couldn't even imagine York in this setting. York had wandered the dank hall of the Labyrinth because down there he was a god, in a neighborhood like this he'd just be another rich guy. Here he'd be considered prey and York never let himself be seen as prey.

Jake flinched as a cold rain drop struck his face. The sky had been threatening to open up all morning but now it was starting to get serious about raining. The cloud cover had made Jake more comfortable with coming out during the day but having just stolen clean clothes he didn't like the idea of getting them wet. He had felt a little strange at first in the three piece suit but it did keep people from eyeing him suspiciously now that he was dressed decently. Feeling like the Light for the Lost meeting hall was a dead end Jake was about to retreat back into the subway system to rethink his next move.

Standing at the bottom of the stairs Jake turned to leave when he heard the large wooden doors open and shut. Instinct made him hurry to the side even though there was no real way to avoid being spotted. Looking up the stairs Jake watched a beautiful young women exit. Her timing couldn't have been worse as the rain started in earnest. Turning around she hesitated to leave for a moment and even opened the door to step back inside. There was an anxious air about her like a deer in a clearing that couldn't decide if it should stay and graze or bolt into the forest. At the same time she hadn't seemed to have noticed him in her agitation.

Finding himself interested Jake continued to watch despite the fact that he was starting to get properly wet. Suddenly becoming angry with herself the woman chastised herself for being paranoid. In speaking to herself she called herself by name and Jake perked up when he heard 'Asha'. The name was unusual enough that Jake recalled York using it recently when Miller was first branded. It had been something to the effect of having Asha 'take care of the mother'. At the time Jake had shrugged it off as some sort of code for an assassin with a particularly low moral code. Now he understood that the charity was what he had meant, it was also likely why he had gone to Peter's wife as well. Jake had to admit that running a charity for people effected by sudden disappearances was a great cover for staying close to the occasional case that the Labyrinth created through branding.

However right now it wasn't York's cover that interested Jake so much as Asha herself. It was likely that she didn't know anything about the Labyrinth, but she would certainly know where her boss worked. She might even know where he lived. Jake looked around the street and although it was mostly empty with the rain there were still a number of cars driving by and open businesses around. Here and now wasn't the best place to approach her since he had no way of knowing how loyal to York she was. He decided that he'd have to talk to her on his 'terms' in order to get anywhere.

When Asha stayed standing by the door in the rain Jake started to doubt that she was actually going to make a decision on staying or going any time soon. He didn't really mind either way, he knew where to find her now and he had nothing but time. When she did start down the stairs Jake started walking forward down the street with a purpose as if he was already late for an appointment and that the rain was just one more thing that was going wrong with his day. He was just crossing Asha's path when she was halfway down the steps. Proving she was on high alert Asha froze as Jake passed by. Although keeping her in his peripheral vision Jake made a point of not looking her way as he stepped by.

By making it clear that he had bigger problems on his mind than her Jake hoped that Asha would dismiss him as a threat. Following someone from in front wasn't easy, but in the city with lots of traffic lights it was possible. Jake had taken a chance that she would head to the left because she had taken the left side of the wide stairs down. It was human nature to take the path of least resistance when traveling on foot and even something as small as not having to cross to the far side of a set of stairs was almost a subconscious decision.

Hearing her shoes strike the sidewalk behind him Jake smiled to himself. He slowed down slightly to let her catch up a bit but not so much that she'd noticed. What he wanted was for them to come the next intersection at the same time. Taking some extra time to step around a small puddle that was collecting as the drizzle continued Jake shrank the distance between them further. Coming to the intersection Jake made a big show of looking up and around at the street signs with an irritated expression. Turning around fully he glared angrily at Asha causing her to come to a dead stop with a fearful expression. Jake instantly changed to an embarrassed guilty smile, going as far as to lower his head slightly and bring his hands up a bit in apology.

"I'm so sorry, Ma'am." Jake apologized. "I blew a job interview this morning and I've just been wandering around ever since. I just noticed how far I am from home and of course now it's raining. I'm sorry if I frightened you."

"It's okay." Asha replied with a forced smile.

"Have a good day."

"You too."

Jake smiled awkwardly and waited a moment before he turned right and headed off down the side street, confident that Asha was going to continue straight. When they had reached the intersection the stop lights had prevented them both from going straight and as nervous as Asha was if she had already had a left in mind she would have quickly used the 'walk' sign to have ended their encounter before it had even begun. She similarly would have just gone right at the awkward pause if she had pre planed to turn there. However having expected to just be able to wait a few feet behind him to cross the street she had been frozen in place when he had suddenly turned around to talk to her.

Walking slowly down the side street Jake didn't look back when the traffic pattern changed to signal the light had changed. He assumed that Asha would watch him for a moment to make sure their encounter had been innocent and looking back before she crossed the street would spook her. Once he was sure she had moved on Jake quickly crossed the street and picked up the pace down a lonely back ally. Coming to the next block down Jake peeked around the buildings on his left and waited for Asha to either pass by or come down the street towards the ally.

Since Asha had not taken advantage of crossing the street to the left to avoid him in the first place he assumed that her usual path eventually lead her to the right. Once she turned off the busier street she would have to cross paths with the narrow alley that Jake had slunk up. Jake just needed to play cat and mouse long enough until she came to him in the more deserted back streets. There was always the chance that she'd wait until coming to another busy cross road to turn but he could still maneuver around to find a new trap that if the time came. Setting up the perfect place to attack someone along an unknown route was tricky but mostly it was a game of patience, and Jake had plenty of that.

Jake kept a block ahead of Asha for several blocks before she turned right and started to head towards him. Fortune was on Jake's side as it started to rain a little harder as she came down the small side street. The ally was access to the businesses along the main road and there was a dumpster at this intersection that provided him additional cover. Laying in wait like the predator he was Jake waited for Asha to step pass.

Jake smiled to himself when he saw that she chose the side of the narrow side street away from the dumpster. It showed that she wasn't completely oblivious to the idea of an attack. She actually moved down the street with more caution than Neal had used in the tunnels of the Labyrinth. Despite seeing her apparent wariness Jake prepared to rush out to take her knowing he could easily close the extra distance.

His plan was to quickly subdue her and then demand information on York, or rather on Walker. Jake was counting on her being shocked enough by the violent assault to instantly give up any information she had. If she really was an innocent employee she would talk quickly and truthfully in a panic. If she was as loyal to York as the men under his employ then she would equally as quickly prove herself useless by either silence or a threat of some sort. In either scenario Jake was depending on the whole encounter only lasting a few minutes. It was far too risky to let it take any longer and increase the danger that someone would come to her aid.

With a full strategy in mind Jake lunged out of the darkness at Asha. Coming at her from behind just has he had done with Neal he clamped one hand down over her mouth, however instead of grabbing her by the wrist he just wrapped his arm around her thin waist and hauled her up off her feet. Carrying her back into the relative privacy of the far side of the dumpster he loosened his grip around her waist as he put her down. He didn't really want to hurt her and he assumed that she was going to be easy to contain after years of successfully holding his own against far larger and more violent opponents.

Jake quickly learned he'd underestimated Asha when she twisted around to face him. He expected her to struggle to get away but she surprised him again by going straight for his eyes. Taken off guard by the aggressive offense Jake was a little too forceful in his retaliation and slammed the side of Asha's head against the dumpster. Collapsing to the wet concrete Asha was quick to at least roll over to face her attacker once more. Terrified and disoriented by the painful blow Asha took a deep breath to scream for help.

"No, no, don't do that, please." Jake said as he knelt down and forced his hand back over her mouth. "I'm sorry, I jus…"

Jake yelped in pain when Asha bit down on his hand with all of her strength. Jake had forgotten how most of the men in the Labyrinth, Neal included, knew better than to piss him off with cheap tricks like biting. Switching tactics and trying to get a hold of her wrist Jake found that she had taken some form of self-defense class very seriously as she easily broke his grip several times by twisting her arm in a way that made it impossible for him to keep his hold. Grappling on top of Asha as he continued to struggle to contain his captive Jake realized that all he really had to do was punch her in the face and she'd likely stop fighting back.

With blood already marring the side of her delicate features Jake hesitated to injure her more severely. Even in the rain he could see tears streaking down her cheeks. Spirited and clearly believing she was fighting for her life Asha wasn't going to go down as easily as Jake had assumed. Jake defended himself from several of her attacks while he decided just how far he was willing to go. Asha stuck out and hit Jake's still healing brand sending a true wash of pain through his chest. Enraged Jake pulled his fist back fully intent on ending Asha's belligerence violently.

'Jake no!' Neal's voice suddenly rang in Jake's head. 'Beating up grown men is one thing, this is just cowardly. Let her go.'

It had been a while since Neal had bothered Jake, but he knew he was right. In the end he had even come to regret what he had done to Ethan. Now that he thought about it hurting Asha wasn't even really going to get him any closer to killing York. York was far too careful to leave himself unguarded and if Jake couldn't even subdue a woman in an ally he wasn't going to be able to tear through York's defenses. There was no way he could take York on alone, he needed help. Giving up Jake lowered his fist as he got off Asha and sat in the puddled they'd been fighting in. Wasting no time Asha was on her feet and running back towards the busier main street in seconds.

"I'm sorry." Jake apologized pointlessly.

Leaning his back against the grimy dumpster Jake closed his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been out in the rain and he decided to take a moment to try and enjoy it. Soaked to the skin Jake started shivering in a combination of physical cold and emotional misery. Just as he had done when he'd let Ethan go Jake spent a long time just waiting for the police to come get him.

Eventually no longer able to just sit in the oil slicked puddle Jake forced himself to his feet. Wandering aimlessly Jake was hoping that he would come across a working pay phone. However the few pay phone booths he came to didn't have anything inside. Eventually growing frustrated Jake went down into the subway and waited near the turnstyles. It didn't take long for a train to come down the track, causing the people trying to catch it in time to rush. It wasn't difficult to lift a cell phone out of a man's back pocket as he fumbled for his metro card. Running to the subway car he didn't even check for his phone as the doors slid shut behind him.

Phone in hand Jake went back out onto the streets. He was surprised that it was actually starting to get dark even though the rain was stopping. It had been midmorning when he'd stalked Asha meaning he had been shuffling around the city for hours. The coming darkness made Jake feel all that more alone. Taking out the phone he'd stolen Jake tapped on the 'emergency' button that came up on the edge of the locked screen.

"9-1-1, what is your emergency?"

"Hi, I…uh…I need to speak to the FBI."

"Are you in immediate danger, Sir?"

"Uh, no, not really."

"9-1-1 is for emergencies only, please call the FBI directly."

"I can't, I don't know how. I stole this phone so you're the only one I can call."

"I can send an officer to pick you up, where are you located?"

Jake looked around the city honestly having no idea where he was anymore.

"Sir?"

Losing his courage Jake let the phone fall out of his hand and hit the sidewalk. Stepping on the phone to crush it Jake continued to walk. It was fully dark before Jake's stomach growled to remind him that even if he didn't have any other solid goal in life he at least needed to eat something. Looking around the sketchy neighborhood he made his way into a bar that didn't have any windows. There were a handful of men scattered around the bar, none of which even bothered to look in Jake's direction. Sitting down at the bar heavily Jake didn't worry about the fact that he didn't have any money, he'd deal with that later.

"Ja…Jake?"

Jake snapped his head up as the bar tender addressed him nervously. Jake remembered every face that came through the Labyrinth and the bar tender was no exception.

"Hollins." Jake greeted darkly.

"What can I get ya?" Hollins asked politely.

"Anything strong."

"Coming right up."

Jake watched as Hollins poured him a short glass of whiskey with a slight anxious tremble in his hand. Smiling to himself Jake looked up at Hollins and narrowed his eyes dangerously. Hollins wasn't very useful in the Ring but he was known for having a lot of connections.

"You really should have quit when you were ahead." Jake chuckled. "Your first fight was nearly your last."

"I know, I know." Hollins grimaced at the memory. "But I needed the money…"

"About that…"

"I…uh…I heard…" Hollins looked around and dropped his voice further. "I heard the Feds shut the Ring down. I mean I was going to be at my fight, I swear, but…"

"The Ring is done." Jake interrupted. "York has me on clean up duty. Loose ends and all."

"I won't say anything. I swear."

"I believe you, but the fact remains that you still owe York a great deal of money." Jake guessed. "Nothing about that has changed."

"I…I don't have the money." Hollins stuttered. "But please, tell York I'll get it. Somehow."

"I've got a better idea. You help me and I'll get York to forgive your debt."

"All of it?" Hollins asked surprised.

"All of it."

"Anything. What do you need?"

"I need find Neal Caffrey."

"Never heard of him, but I'll find someone who has."

"Be quick about it."