Black, Brady Black

Chapter Five: The Blue-Eyed Siren

"Vodka. Straight up."

"Here you go."

"Thanks." Brady took the drink and paid the bartender. He took a casual sip as his blue eyes swept over the smoky lounge.

The lounge was part of a massive building that also housed a swanky casino that just happened to be run by a local crime boss who worked for Dimera. Brady straightened his tie. He would have to tread carefully here; he was in enemy territory.

He smiled when he spotted a man sitting alone in a dark booth. He walked over in the man's direction and took a seat at the booth behind him so the two men were sitting back to back. Brady opened a newspaper and held it so that it partially obscured his face. He then spoke softly to the man behind him, in the pretext of reading his paper.

"You stick out like a sore thumb, Jase."

Jason Masters chuckled softly and held a sleek cell phone up to his ear. "Well, that's kinda the point," he replied as if holding a phone conversation. "See the man at one o'clock?"

Brady glanced surrepticiously over the edge of his paper in the direction Jason had indicated. He saw a beefy man in a fine cream suit and dark sunglasses surrounded by even beefier men in a dark corner booth. He seemed strangely familiar.

"Isn't that?"

"Yes," Jason interrupted. "Alistair Krum. Big time baddie. In everything from drugs to gambling to terrorism. ISA's been watching him for a while, trying to get hardcore evidence against him."

"Okay, still doesn't explain why you're going out of your way to be as conspicuous as possible."

Jason grinned. "Now, check out the guy at ten o'clock."

It took three casual glances in that direction before Brady spotted a man in a far corner. Brady glanced at him again. There wasn't a remarkable thing about the man. He was, in a word, nondescript. The kind of person you forget about a second after you take your eyes off of him.

"He's good, isn't he?" Jason asked, his eyes twinkling.

Understanding dawned on Brady's face. "Of course, the Serroff Gambit. You're the decoy, acting as the obvious spy, so when Krum 'throws' you off his tail."

"Krum will act without knowing we're still watching his every move."

"Wow, I'm impressed," Brady said.

Jason shrugged. "It was your father's idea. So, what brings you to Munich?"

"Phoenix," he answered softly.

There was a sudden intake of breath like the hissing of a snake. Brady could detect an undercurrent of concern in Jason's otherwise calm voice. "Risen from the ashes, huh?"

"Looks like it. There have been some funny art thefts recently - definitely his style. He was last spotted here and I'm trying to find out exactly where he is and what he's up to."

There was a moment of silence from the other booth. Jason whistled softly. "Wow - I don't envy you. Look, I'll keep my eyes and ears open. If I catch wind of anything, I'll let you know."

"Thanks, man." Brady sighed heavily.

Jason shook his head. "I know that sigh. Mr. Black is going all broody and introspective again - what's up, man?"

Brady's lips curled into a wry grin. "Why are you here?"

"I thought we just covered that - remember Mr. Krum?"

"No, I mean, why are you doing this? What keeps you coming back day after day?"

"Chicks, man. What else is there? Come on, Brady. We're living every guy's dream: guns, fast cars and faster women. It doesn't get any better than this."

Brady chuckled. "I shoulda known I'd get that answer from you. Look, I better go - there are some other places I want to check out.." He trailed off suddenly as he became aware of a strange sound filling the lounge. Someone was singing.

{Just some lounge act.} He moved to leave but something held him in his booth as if he'd been glued there. The beautiful notes washed over him and he suddenly had the mental image of his mother singing him to sleep at night. He turned his head, searching for the source when suddenly he saw her.

She stood on a small stage some twenty feet away bathed in a soft spotlight. Brady could not believe his eyes. He'd been with beautiful women before: supermodels, actresses, there was even that female spy he met in Kiev - but this girl easily beat them all.

She was tall and curvy, and her legs - wow, did she have legs - were long and bare, glistening in the spotlight. She wore a short black sequined dress with a halter-top design that revealed a fair amount of cleavage. She had a heart shaped face and creamy tan, almost Mediterranean, skin.

But the thing that Brady noticed right away and made him want to forget his name was her large, almond shaped, blue eyes. The intensity of the blue in her eyes was matched only by his own; hers were just a shade darker, cobalt to his sky-blue.

And now those cobalt eyes were fixed on him and her song washed over him and all thought left his brain. He could only watch and listen as she sang a soft, smoky lounge song.

*Neon lights Warm and windy nights While a scrap yard kitten starts to cry And the dust-covered memories fill my eyes.

Caught in dreams With crystal streams And I can't see where they're flowing to But soon it will end Yes, soon the sun will rise.

It's a phantom world; it's a phantom world And it's fading in the night It's a phantom world, no there's nothing real Soon the ghosts will fade out of sight

Rockets fly, so far away Through the gold fan of a sun ray When they come back home All the ghosts of the past will be gone.

Her notes faded as the instrumental solo kicked in. Brady risked a glance at Jason. "Who is she?" His voice sounded pale.

Jason grinned. "That, my friend, is Chloe Lane, rising opera/pop star and European socialite. She attends all the best parties and biggest balls and is a regular in the gossip columns. It's even rumored that she's received a marriage proposal from a member of European royalty. Why she's still single."

But Brady paid little attention to his friend's words for her singing had started again. Her eyes, her voice were filled with such emotional depth that he had a hard time believing that the hardest part of her day was deciding what dress to wear to what ball. No, she may be a social princess now, but she wasn't always. There was pain in those intense cobalt eyes; pain and loss. And he was only too familiar with both.

And so it wasn't really surprising that after the song ended and Chloe had left the stage, that Brady found himself following after her.

*Phantom World - From the movie Armitage III (awesome movie - Japanese animation - kick ass)