Chapter 14: Father's Way

It hadn't taken long to track down the vehicle Rahul was in. Wolf had taken his motorcycle across the nearby streets and pulled up beside a parking lot so he could set everything up in time for when the car passed by. He headed up to the rooftop and prepared the Winchester, resting its weight on the concrete wall and looking through the scope. There would only be a very small window to take the shot at his target, but he would make it quick. As soon as Rahul's car turned the corner onto this road, Wolf would line up the shot and terminate his target. He stood there as still and silent as a statue as the cold breeze blew in. The distant sound of police sirens met his ears and he knew the whole situation had come apart. Soon, it would be complete and utter chaos. They all needed to head back to the Maria Zeleska by that point. Balalaika would not wait around for them, especially with the authorities on her tail in the midst of a gang war.

A car started making its way along the road and Wolf ran the scope along the length of it, but it was not Rahul's car. Suddenly taken out of the moment, the assassin grabbed the crucifix around his neck and toyed with it between his thumb and forefinger. Usagi had given it to him as a sort of parting gift before she returned to this city. She was grateful to the assassin for protecting her as best he could. In some ways, even that hadn't been enough. Wolf grunted and shook his head, banishing these memories from his mind. He had a job to do and there was no time for reminiscence. He would not be made soft and risk making a mess of the assassination. The seed had already been planted, however, and his mind unpreventably went to the girl. Wolf would have given anything to know what she made of all this. Had Rahul even told her? Had she been informed of his return to the criminal underworld? Or had he simply kept her in the dark while he crowned himself king?

Another car turned the corner and the assassin steeled himself. Upon closer inspection, it, too, did not contain Rahul. Rather, it appeared to be one of Hotel Moscow's vehicles. The driver pulled over and several Russian men got out with their guns at the ready. Without warning, a second car pulled up and more of Hotel Moscow's people emerged. Together, the two groups of men started firing at some of the Hong Kong gang members that had shown up from the other direction. Luckily, this particular area seemed to be empty or there may have been civilian casualties. It reminded Wolf of Roanapur to see these men gun each other down in the open, without fear of being reprimanded by the authorities. The shooting continued for a while as the Wolf simply watched, unsure of whether he should resume his search for Rahul. Now that this was happening, it seemed possible that the gangs would have taken their leader on a different route. Surprisingly, though, the car ferrying Rahul around the city pulled up while the fighting was at its worst and more gang members emerged to assist their friends. Rahul finally showed his face, taking a Walther PP from inside his jacket and shooting at the Russians in a bid to finish them off.

"Shit!" Wolf exclaimed, lifting the Winchester from its spot and watching the carnage unfold below. "What the fuck is he doing?!" His involvement in the fighting was wildly unprecedented. Normally, those in positions of power would actively avoid becoming directly involved in conflicts of this calibre. That was why the Wolf had been hired in the first place. If Hotel Moscow were anticipating that he would be in the thick of it like this, Chang would have let the Russians pick him off at no extra cost. As it happened, the Russians had the upper hand. Though they had been whittled down to only three soldiers, the gangs stood no chance and it didn't take long before they were completely wiped out. Rahul, the last man standing, tried to take them by surprise but one of them whipped around on the spot and emptied half of his Kalashnikov's clip into the Chinese man. Rahul was sent into the car behind him with a loud slam and fell to the ground, slumped over.

Wolf repositioned his Winchester to get a better look at the situation, and to see if Rahul had really been killed or not. As the Russians approached the body to do the same, the Chinese man's arm flew up into the air and let off three shots, killing them all before they even realised what was happening. Now, only Rahul remained alive, but he was badly injured and his blood was pouring from his chest and stomach into the street. Wolf sighed and decided he had seen enough. He made his way down through the parking lot and out onto the street, walking over slowly to where the bodies lay and keeping his gaze on Usagi's father. As he came closer, the gang leader weakly lifted his head and looked into the eyes of the assassin he hadn't seen since the death of Hunter Woods. His face said it all.

"Now, that is ironic," Rahul said, choking on his own blood seconds later. "They sent you to kill me, didn't they?"

"What are you doing, Rahul?" Wolf asked him. "You were supposed to put all this shit behind you. What happened to living in peace?"

"That's high and mighty coming from the man with a rifle in his hands," Rahul shot back.

"You sealed your own fate when you started fucking with the Triad. Mister Chang is the one who put me up to this." Rahul scoffed and then started coughing again.

"I should have known. Chang has a twisted sense of humour sending you to finish me off." Wolf was silent for a few moments as he listened to the sound of sirens in the distance. They were getting closer.

"What happened?" he asked. "You promised your daughter a life of peace." A look of guilt did appear on Rahul's face at the mention of Usagi, if only briefly.

"Yes…I did, didn't I?" he lamented. "These people were my people once, Wolf. The families answered to me and we ruled ourselves in this city away from the Triad's territory. Until he came and ruined it all. They needed someone to guide them when Hotel Moscow came to wipe them out."

"Balalaika came for the Dead Men," Wolf reminded him. "Not the families."

"But what am I, Wolf? Hunter may be dead, but I am and always will be one of his. Balalaika knows that. We deserved to live in peace, and the only way that was going to happen is if we fought back!" He started coughing again and more blood came from his mouth. He did not have long left.

"You don't get it, Rahul," the assassin told him. "You had the perfect chance to wash your hands of this. You could have stayed with your daughter and done nothing while Balalaika erased Hunter's legacy from the world. She was even willing to enter negotiations right up until you took control of these gangs and waged war. Face it, Rahul…this could have been avoided."

Usagi's father did not want to face the truth of it, the fact that his direct intervention and overtaking of the Hong Kong gangs caused their downfall. They could have survived through this, but Rahul had been too power hungry. He wanted to rule here again and fight off the invaders with a show of force. Now, because of his decisions, they would all die. It was too late to save anyone, now. Despair overtook him and he let his gun slip from his fingers. He looked away from the assassin.

"I am grateful, you know," he said meekly. "You took care of my daughter when nobody else would. If not for you…I don't want to think what would have happened to her in that city." Wolf remembered walking into his apartment that day, Usagi curled into a ball in the corner. He could not protect her then, no matter how hard he tried.

"Does she know?" Rahul shook his head.

"My poor, sweet daughter…she suspects nothing. I wanted to keep her as far away from this as possible." The Wolf held the rifle tightly, but he did not use it. The sirens were close, now. He needed to move. "Do what you're here to do, Wolf," Rahul told him. "I will accept the consequences of my actions. It's no use returning to Chang without doing the job yourself." Wolf nodded at his victim, who reciprocated in kind. The shot rang out through the city and Rahul Matsumoto was dead. There was no more time to waste. Wolf was about to head back to the motorcycle and leave when he spotted the Walther PP on the ground. Something inside him clawed and twisted its way through his body as he debated what to do next. Then, in a moment of recklessness, he snatched up the gun and stuffed it into his trousers, zipping up the Winchester in its gun bag and taking off on his bike. He should have been heading back to the Maria Zeleska so they could leave before the entire city went on lockdown, but he couldn't fight back this feeling that welled up inside him.

He bombed it towards the Matsumoto residence as quickly as he could. Once he arrived, he hopped off the motorcycle and ran up to the door. It was already open. He shut his eyes and refused to assume the worst, gently pushing inwards and allowing the light from outside to spill in. Two men lay dead in here, members of the gangs. Wolf didn't understand. But there was no time to worry about that now. He was only here for one reason.

"Usagi!" he called out, taking his Desert Eagle in hand in case the worst had come to pass. Nobody answered right away. "Usagi? Are you home?" There was a commotion in the other room and Wolf felt the relief wash over him. Rahul's daughter unlocked her bedroom door and came out to see him, coming to a sudden stop and placing her hands over her mouth in surprise. Her attention darted between the bodies and Wolf.

"It's…you! What are you doing here? What happened?"

"Did they hurt you?" Wolf asked, considering the possibility that the gang members had betrayed her father and had come here to kill her.

"No…no, my father sent them. They told me to stay in my room, that I was in danger. But…I don't understand what happened. W-Wolf, what's going on? Why are you here?" Hotel Moscow must have sent people here. Once they encountered resistance, they had killed the gang members and moved on. It was unclear if they wanted Usagi dead or if they were just picking off gang members and were content to leave Usagi alive.

"We need to go," Wolf told her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her out the door. "We need to get back to Roanapur."