Chapter 13: Little Pig, Little Pig
"So, she just took off?" Cletus asked, both hands around the cloudy beer in front of him. His baseball bat was stood up to his right, resting against the wall beside the booth they were in.
"That's right," the Wolf answered, one arm on the backrest behind him and the other lifting a whiskey to his lips so he could take a drink. "She gave me the address. I've been there before. Anything happens, she'll give me a call."
"That's kinda sad…," moaned the childlike Daisy who, quite amusingly, had both feet on the seat of the booth and her arms around her knees.
"Not really," Wolf replied dismissively. "I'm not her babysitter."
"Just her guard dog," Cletus joked. The assassin glared at him through narrowed eyes before taking another drink.
They were in Four-Leaf's bar which, to Wolf's embarrassment, had been named the 'Pot-O-Gold' by the Irish Mob. While it was usually a quiet spot frequented only by Wolf, the Mob and some newcomers to the city who hadn't yet discovered the Yellowflag, it seemed to be getting busier as of late. Around the city, there was a superstition arising about the Yellowflag due to its unchallenged ability to end up completely obliterated at least once every few months. While this had been the case even before recent events, the last two years in particular had caused the likelihood of the bar's destruction to skyrocket. As a result, many of the city's criminals now chose to drink at some of the smaller bars nearby and business had been steadily increasing for Four-Leaf.
"She ever needs a hand protecting what's hers, I'll be there," Wolf explained. "Told her as much the other night."
"That's real nice of you!" Daisy enthused. Wolf scrunched up his nose.
"That Chinese girl is looking for trouble, if ya ask me," Cletus weighed in. "Don't get me wrong, you being her knight in shining armour is a real pretty picture and all, but this place is like a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. Now ain't the best time to be, uh…expanding your business, shall we say."
"'That Chinese girl' has a name," Wolf told him.
"I look like I can pronounce it?"
"Cletus!" Daisy scolded him. He just shrugged his shoulders at her.
"Doesn't matter, anyway," the assassin elaborated. "I told her much the same thing. It didn't change her mind." After they spoke the other night about the direction Usagi was going to take, she managed to get in contact with some of her father's old allies in Hong Kong. They were indubitably shocked to hear from her, having rarely spoken a word to her before, if ever. Rahul always kept his business away from his daughter and, while his people knew of Usagi's existence, they never had a reason to interact with her before now. Most of them came calling and made their way to Roanapur within a few days so they could hear what she had to say in person. It went well, and the girl moved out of Wolf's apartment so she could get to business. She knew he did not approve of her actions and had no real interest in her ventures outside of a desire to keep her alive. It was for this reason he believed she did not ask him to accompany her, allowing him to remain undisturbed and in peace, for the most part. But she promised she would call on him when needed, leaving him to wait and serve from the shadows until something required his attention. That was how he preferred it, anyway. He worked better as an assassin than a bodyguard and it would benefit both of them more if he was left alone and called into action to deal with those who would try to take advantage of Usagi.
"Any of the Ruskies come calling yet?" Cletus asked. The assassin shook his head.
"She's kept everything under wraps so far so. With any luck, things will stay that way. Which also means you two cretins are to keep your mouths shut, too, you understand?" He lifted his index finger from the surface of the whiskey glass and darted it between his two companions. Cletus raised both hands into the air defensively.
"I ain't gonna be talking to those fucking commies! I look like I play laser tag with Fry-Face on the weekends?!"
"It's not just them that needs to be kept in the dark on this," he explained.
"We're not going to say anything to anyone!" Daisy insisted politely, a huge smile on her face. Wolf had to internally laugh at how sickeningly sweet and innocent she was on a constant basis. It was surprising she was still alive and kicking, especially here. Although, she clearly had no problem killing people so there may have been more beneath the surface of the infantile personality she showed to the public. That, or she had severe mental issues. Which, in Roanapur, was basically a certainty.
"Good," Wolf said simply, taking a gulp of his whiskey.
"You need a damn vacation," Cletus told the assassin. "Couple weeks in fuckin' Disneyworld to take away the stress."
"Stress?!" Wolf asked, insulted. "Don't make me laugh. I've taken more stressful shits after drinking all night long. Besides, I love this place. A tropical city on the coast of Thailand? I've basically been on holiday for two years." Cletus and Daisy hadn't been in the city quite as long as some of the others and even they knew that was a lie.
They all heard the door to the bar open, but Wolf did not look around to see who it was.
"If I'd known this place was here after I ran away from Wolf Pack," he continued, "I would have bought myself a nice little spot by the water to hide out in. They never would have found me, then. I'm telling you, this city is the happiest fucking place on earth for people like us. No worries, and no goddamn rules. May Roanapur always be here for the outcasts of society." He lifted his glass as if to cheers those of the others, but they had stopped listening to him about thirty seconds ago.
"Friend of yours, Wolf?" Cletus asked, his eyes on the stranger who had been standing by the entrance since he arrived. Their booth was only a couple of metres away from the door as it was. Wolf furrowed his brow and turned around to see who the others were looking at, his heart stopping for a second as his eyes fell on the face of Ashur. His left eye twitched at the memory of what Ashur had done to him in Venezuela. He did not move from the booth, but he kept his attentive eyes on the black man and his free hand inched closer and closer to the Desert Eagle holstered to his leg.
"Thought I might find you here," Ashur said calmly. He was not immediately hostile, and he hadn't started shooting while Wolf's back was to him, implying he was not here to fight. But he was also no stranger to deception and treachery, he proved that well enough at the Lovelace estate. Wolf wouldn't trust a word he had to say without good reason.
"What the hell do you want?" he asked, soft and low so that the music almost drowned him out, but Ashur's keen ears picked up what he said.
One of the men who had been sitting by the bar rose from his stool and went over to stand beside Ashur. He was wearing a plain white tee shirt with chinos and suspenders, a grey flat cap on his head.
"This fella causing you trouble, Wolf?" he asked. "Me and the boys can throw him out for ya, if you like." Wolf knew well that even ten of the Irish Mob enforcers would have a hard time removing this particular killer from their bar. But he was also curious what it was that had brought him here.
"That's alright, Brendan," Wolf told the mobster. "He's not here to cause any hassle, are you?"
"That's right," Ashur agreed. "Just want to talk."
"See? We're all friends, here."
"Good to hear," Brendan answered. "You need anything, just holler."
"I'll take another whiskey," Wolf told him. He was going to need it, the way his nerves were at the sight of the man who had beaten him almost to death. "Make it a double, actually." Wolf rose from his seat slowly and stood a few feet from his fellow Wolf Pack runaway, but neither of them went for their weapons.
"Figured we'd have a chat," Ashur began carefully. "There are some things we should get out in the open."
"Is that so? Sounds like a lot of bullshit, to be honest."
"I could have drawn on you the second I walked in here," Ashur reminded him. "Blown you away and ran, but I didn't."
"Because Four-Leaf's boys would have put you down," Wolf rebutted.
"Just hear me out, Wolf," Ashur implored him. "I guarantee it will be worth both our times." Brendan handed the whiskey to Wolf as the assassin considered what to do. He supposed there was no harm in listening to whatever it was Ashur was here to say. If this was a trick, the endgame wasn't very clear. It must have been a genuine desire to parlay with his enemy.
Wolf nodded and the two killers went to the booth nearest the door, sitting across from one another with Ashur's back to the window.
"I guess I don't have to tell you about this Task Force everyone has been talking about," Ashur began, deciding to get straight into things without wasting time.
"I've heard a couple of rumours," Wolf answered. "But nothing solid."
"You've been lucky, then. I was followed by one of them last night. I came into town looking for any sign of you, figured it had been long enough that you might not be expecting me anymore. That's when I noticed this car following me. I snuck a look at the guy in the driver's seat. He sure didn't look like he was from around here."
"How do you know he was with the Task Force? A lot of people would have reasons for following you, the things you've been getting up to."
"After a while, you get to know how these people look," Ashur elaborated. "These ones have done a better job blending in than most. Look like a bunch of mercenaries from the Extra Order. But I heard about the show they put on at that bar, the Yellowflag. And I know when I'm being tailed by a government pig. They never did learn subtlety. When the mafia has you followed, their guys stick to the shadows, the corners they can hide in. This guy, though…he kept his distance, but he probably stuck out like a sore thumb to more than just me."
"I'm surprised you didn't just lead him to my apartment and let him do your dirty work for you."
"Enough with the pot-shots, Wolf," Ashur snapped. "I came here because we've got a big fucking problem, you and I. We may be destined to kill each other like the two bloodthirsty wolves that we are, but you'd be an idiot if you couldn't see how this complicates things." The information Wolf had come by suggested this Task Force 216 were kicking the police force into gear for what was possibly going to end up being a total lockdown of the city. In that case, there would either be a swift, bloodless end to the safe haven Roanapur had been for all manner of miscreant, or things would escalate to complete and utter carnage within hours. Wolf had certainly seen his fair share of anarchy since coming to this city and it was nothing short of an absolute miracle, truth be told, that it had taken this long for a group like the 216 to be sent here, but it felt different this time. It was not going to be an out-of-control campaign between different criminal giants, like when Balalaika and Hunter Woods went head to head. This was going to pan out much differently.
"What is it you want, Ashur?" Wolf asked, crossing his legs and resting one arm on the backrest like he had done while sitting with the others. He took a drink of the double whiskey and let it burn as it went down his throat.
"Like I said, one of us is going to kill the other, no denying that. But the 216 are just going to get in our way. If this shit goes on the way it is, we'll never have our chance to fight. Something needs to be done."
"So, what, you propose a truce?" Wolf asked. Normally, he probably wouldn't have found the concept so ridiculous, but he already had two whiskeys in his system from before Daisy and Cletus arrived, and another one after that shortly before Ashur's arrival. After a few more, he probably would have suggested they take this outside.
"Think about it," Ashur said seductively. "One of us could sniff out their hiding place and take them apart piece by piece. Who needs the Bloodhound when you've got a wolf? But two of us could do some serious damage. We'd be damn unstoppable." That was true. There were only two others like Wolf in the world, assassins trained relentlessly and conditioned into the ultimate killing machines, and one of those people sat across from him now. That prospect was tempting enough, to run with a kindred spirit and show the world why Wolf Pack had once been feared from one corner of the world to the next. An idea came to Wolf, then, but he kept it to himself for the moment. There were other questions Ashur needed to answer.
"Why haven't you gone after them yourself, then, if it's so easy? You could have been in and out in a few minutes and the Task Force wouldn't be a problem anymore. That way, you could have walked through that door and put a bullet in the back of my head." Ashur sat back in his seat with folded arms and closed his eyes in thought.
"I said one of us could do it, that doesn't mean I should make this easy on you. You're as much a part of this as I am, so I'm bringing you with me." The former wolf turned in his seat and glanced out the window, at the road outside. The sun was still up, but it would set soon and some of the streetlights had started to come on. "This is something for wolves to do, together. Killing them would be easy, an all-out bloodbath. But this is tricky. We'll need to play it smart."
The Wolf sat forward and laid his hands on the table as he considered those words. He had spent so long driving himself crazy over Ashur, hunting him across the city and up the Mekong river, into the countryside. And after everything, including his confession to Roberta about how he had been foolishly blinded by his old master's ideals, he still felt some deep down desire to kill Ashur. But these were desperate times. The bad blood between these two fearsome assassins would have to take a back seat until the 216 were dealt with.
"Something for wolves to do," Wolf repeated. "But two of us don't make much of a pack." Ashur turned back from the window and looked his enemy-turned-ally in the eye.
"What do you suggest?"
"When I went after you, you mentioned Andromeda. Before I even knew you existed, she came to this city and we joined forces against the person that hired her. If we call, she'll join us." A smile spread across Ashur's face as he anticipated what was to come. Truthfully, Wolf also felt some excitement at the thought.
"Us three wolves, joined at last," he said happily. "The 216 will piss their pants when we come for them." Wolf raised his glass eagerly and returned his confederate's smile, recalling some old words that had been said to him shortly after his arrival in Roanapur.
"They'll hide wherever they can, waiting…watching…whispering 'the wolves are coming.'"