The next few days are a blur in my memory; I only dream about them, for I am unable to remember them clearly when I'm awake… So you are to look at the memories like I do…just think of it as a temporary third-person view…
An hour later Warren and Asazi were out on the streets, driving toward the target area. The trilibug was sitting on the dash of the car and Warren was driving; she was getting the camera ready for what we were to do. The skies were still dark and Asazi noticed that the closer they got to the area, the less streetlights there were; there were a bunch of poles but the lights were all out.
Clever that they should think to do something so simple; no doubt they know their own territory well enough to chase enemies in the dark. Very smart…
When they reached the district Asazi had started taking pictures while Warren slowly drove around; they got every angle of the first block that was possible and then moved on to the second. The camera was a special one that Asazi had gotten from the safe house that the two had moved into.
That key that had come out of the trilibug with the instructions went to a safe house in the upper area of Miami (the preppy rich folks, in other words). In the basement of the safe house was an unbelievable arsenal of weapons and technological stuff.
Asazi's mind was on streets; she felt a sudden tremor of instincts and searched them for their warning. She felt like she was being watched so she started glancing up into the buildings for a light on or a figure on the rooftops…there were none that she saw right off but she kept looking, determined to find the reason her alarms were going off.
"What's wrong," Warren asked, noticing that she had stopped taking pictures. Her stern reply told him that he'd better be careful; "We're being watched," she said. Warren told her to keep taking pictures and that he would keep his eyes open.
The camera kept whirring every few seconds and in less than ten minutes their mission had been accomplished. The sun wasn't even starting to come up, the morning skies still dark; "That wasn't too bad; if all the stuff that guy wants us to do are—''
"RPG!" Asazi screamed and Warren, out of a mix of instinct and reflexes stomped on the gas. The car's tires screeched and Warren's hands gripped the wheel as it sped off and—SSSKKRRR—BOOM!
The missile scraped off part of the car's paint and hit the concrete road, the explosion's force sending the back of the car into the air. "HOLD ON," Warren yelled but the explosion only lasted a moment and as the car was speeding down the road, the rear of the car crashed back down onto ground and the car jerked to a stop. Warren's foot hit the pedal and they sped away from the area…
-_-
"Where the hell does a pathetic, teenage-ran Miami gang get a fuckin' bazooka," Warren said, a little on the angry side.
"They have mobile artillery you say," said X with surprise; "A thousand apologies; it seems I've strongly underestimated my enemies. It will not happen again, after all, your lives are important to my cause." X's face displayed a mix of concern and surprise but Asazi wasn't sure if it was real. She couldn't tell and that strange sense of familiarity swept across her again; I know him, somehow but where? His voice is raspy and yet I know I've heard before, like it used to be something young and… Asazi tried but just couldn't place it. She gave up and said, "Okay, let's just forget about the whole thing and you just tell us what's next."
X looked at her with admiration and something was obviously on the tip of his tongue but he hesitated, then moved onto business; "The next step for me is to store this data and make strategic implications as to how you are going to destroy this posse of insolent boys." He looked up, adding, "And the next step for you is find the cell phone that is now lying on the porch swing of your safe house and await my call. To put it simply, do whatever you like until I call for you; it may be hours or days, I will not know. Goodbye."
He switched off before Asazi or Warren could ask questions. They both sort of looked at each other and back at the screen, as if expecting X to come back. "So where to," they both asked at the same time, then laughed…
-_-
Nothing like the sun, Asazi thought as she felt the heat warm her body. Her eyes closed and a drink at the side of her chair, slowly condensing and awaiting her thirst.
Warren was just gazing at her, his thoughts on how beautiful she was (especially when in the small, two-piece she was in) and how he was falling in love with her. Amazing that we would meet like we did, only to like each other in the near future, he thought. He wished he could spend the rest of his life with her but he knew it'd never work. She was too tragically caught in the past, whether she knew it or not. She was too full of hatred and pain for a family; she could raise children but never in the way they would need it. Warren wondered how things would turn out between them, and then, as if reading her mind she playfully said, "Warren…do you think that we might be able to settle down sometime in the future? I mean, after we're finished working for X and all."
She looked at him and smiled; he replied, "To be honest, I don't know. I think that depends on whether or not we survive the jobs we do for X." He was avoiding the subject and he knew it but what else could he say? Then another thought hit him…what if I got her pregnant? That would cause a helluva lot of problems. Warren didn't even want to think about that… Shame things won't work out…
If only I'd have said no…"Does that mean you don't like me," she asked, this time her voice serious.
"Of course not, Asazi." He got up and sat beside her, barely enough room on the mat for both of them. "I do like you, no matter what you think."
They kissed and she asked the one question he hoped she wouldn't…quietly, she whispered, "Do you love me?" Warren didn't take his eyes from hers because that would give himself away. Instead, he bent down and kissed her, slowly and passionately. Her took one of his hands and put it on the string of her swimsuit, inviting him to take it off, then wrapped her arms around his neck.
Unsure of what to do, Warren just went along with her and just as he had taken the top off, the cell phone rang. Warren started to pull away but Asazi shook her head no and kept kissing him, wanting more. Torn, Warren hesitated, then pulled her arms from his neck and whispered, "Duty calls."
Asazi frowned as he turned his back and answered the phone on fifth ring. "Yeah," he said. "Was I…disturbing you," came X's slow, curious voice. Warren almost laughed but answered casually, "No, not at all; just took a second to get to the phone."
"Ah," X replied. There was a silence and Warren broke it, saying, "You have our next thing?"
X was tacit for another moment, then replied, "Yes but it will take extreme caution and close attention to the planning. Are you ready or should I try again later?"
"No, uh, we'll hook up on the link at the safe house."
"Excellent." Click; X hung up.
Warren ended the call and looked back at Asazi. He wanted her so much but he knew, knew that the future would tear them apart, that they could never live together in peace. And to think that I had to fall for someone I knew that things wouldn't work out with…figures…
"Back to the safe house," he said and went inside the hut they had been renting. They were on a private beach west of Miami and it would take them a good half-hour at the least to get back to the safe house. Asazi pouted and Warren tried to resist taking here then by saying, "Looks like things are going to get rough." That took Asazi's look away and she immediately got up, thinking, another step closer to freeing Miami of its curse and fulfilling my revenge…another step…
-_-
"Okay, you hinted that things were going to get tough so explain to us what we're to do."
X, looking at then on the screen of a computer monitor, nodded his head and the basement of the safe house was suddenly a three-dimensional map of the gang's turf. "With the information you passed onto me, I was able to wire up these two office buildings. Your objective is to use the sniper rifles supplied for you in the room you're in now and snipe out the gang. I have received information from several sources that there's to be a 'brawl'," X said brawl with a mocking tone, "tonight on the corner of Palmed Sands and 28th street. I looked into the police patrols and there shouldn't be any police in the area for at least ten minutes after the 'brawl'."
X paused, as if waiting for something, then continued, "These two buildings are the ones that have bombs in them," two buildings on the three-dimensional map flashed; one was eleven stories high and the other four. "You will approach the area from the softball field that Palmed Sands Street dead ends into. One of you, preferably Asazi, will be stationed in this field; if you wear camouflage you shouldn't be visible and the moon will be faint. The other, preferably Warren, will be stationed in this building," the shorter one of the flashing two suddenly had a red dot in it.
"Whoa now, why one of the wired ones," Warren asked, suspiciously.
"So that if anyone realizes that both groups have been set up and tries to sneak in after you, all I have to do is destroy the building." Warren thought for a second, and then said, "I'll still be in it." X patiently replied, "On the contrary, Mr. Warren, you will be here on the second floor—," the red dot shone at a window of the building right above the intersection where the fight was to be, "—armed with the best sniper rifle in the world. You'll have ten shots before you reload and if the both of you work together, neither of you should have to reload unless we get more than expected."
They were quiet for
a moment and Asazi said, "How many do you expect to be there?"
"Roughly fifteen; the both of you will
have handless communication if you deem it necessary." Warren suddenly realized something and spoke
it, "So you're going to blow me up if someone runs into the building after
me."
Acting as if there wasn't a flaw at all, X said, "There is a palm tree right next to your window; you just have to step out of the window and into the tree, then slide down it and run to meet Asazi. Asazi, I expect you will cover the building as well?"
She nodded but her eyes were searching for something, a flaw. Should couldn't find one but…she felt there was something wrong. A flaw in the plan. One that might change the whole thing and—was it a setup? No, because she would be too far away to even be seen—
Warren spoke, interrupting her thoughts, "Will I be able see Asazi from the window?"
"Of course, eye contact is a must, no matter the distance," X replied, his voice suddenly satisfied with something. Asazi felt something in her blood telling her that there was a glitch in something, maybe not even the plan but…she couldn't see it. She was frowning visible and Warren asked, "You alright?"
She looked up and said, "Oh, yeah…just making sure everything was good. Umm…where will the car be?" A blue dot appeared two blocks from the softball field, parked in a parking lot well out of the target area. "What time is the fight supposed to start," Asazi asked. "You will need to be in your positions well before the gangs get there," X was saying, "but at the same time the local law enforcement overwhelm the area in the time frame you need to be there… My sources tell me that everyone is supposed to be there at midnight and the last police patrol officially leaves the area at 11:50, not to return to the area until 12:17. You will need to be in your positions by 10:15, despite heavy police duty."
Asazi scowled and said, "Why do we need to be there so early before the fight?"
"Ah, I am disappointed in you Asazi. This gang knows their territory extremely well and, chances are, they will be populating the area around 10:30 to make sure the other hoodlums don't try anything tricky.