Sherlock tented his fingers in front of his face. It was taking a considerable amount of will power to not let his irritation show. This was a problem... a problem that he would need to solve if they did not want more disasters like the one that had befallen their new partner.
"Sherlock are you listening?" Mycroft narrowed his eyes as he exhaled the fragrant smoke of expensive hand rolled cigarettes. "You bloody bastard WAKE UP!" Mycroft rolled his eyes as Sherlock finally focused on him. Sherlock didn't do the decent thing of looking shocked or the least bit remorseful for completely ignoring his brother.
"None of my associates know anything. It seems the impossible has happened, brother mine." Mycroft twirled his cane in his free hand as he thought. Then he tapped it across his crossed knee punctuating the facts. A completely new outside force suddenly appeared. They are strong enough and well armed enough to successfully raid a shipment being moved by Enrique Velasquez. No one in Colombia or Venezuela's underworld has heard of them. What does this tell us? Come now, use your head, boy."
"They targeted us. None of your friends across the world have told you about any surprising losses recently. And Addler had no enemies among the cartels. She was profitable for them and provided a useful service on both ends. The men had whores to keep them entertained and away from the much more lucrative supply of drugs."
"Good, Sherlock. We need to find out who did this. We need to talk to Addler and see what is to be done about this whole mess. Call John have your little boyfriend meet us." Sherlock nodded and dialed his phone as Mycroft snuffed out his cigarette.
there was an impressive pile of papers littering Irene's desk... many of which would land her and all of associated in federal max security prisons for many many years. However none of them revealed to her the identity of her attacker. "Oh fuck the entirety of this!?" Irene hissed. She sighed and briefly considered flinging the papers across the room or maybe even burning the useless scraps. Instead she looked up as there was a knock on her door and Jessica led Lestrade into her office.
"Greg? I'm not going to lie you are one of the last people I want to see right now."
"Believe me the feelings mutual, sweetheart. I've been spending more than too much time here keeping your shit from reeking up in the window at the yard. I'm sure one of my boys smells the rubbish I'm feeding them you'd best tighten up for a while. I'm here to pass along some news. That bunker we raided you did a good job hastily breaking it down but you left a cipher. It was in a blue notebook. I sent the boys off in the wrong direction it'll buy you maybe a week if it was something worthwhile.
"No, I'm sure it wasn't. We don't use ciphers. Some of the girls use them for client info nothing that can be traced back here I don't think." Then Irene smiled this was good opportunity. "Actually, Inspector. I think there is something very important you can do for me. You have some resources I don't in the special force. And you know a lot of people in the Drug Crimes Unit. Am I correct?"
"I know a few odd sorts from the Drug Force."
"My latest business venture was sabotaged somewhere outside of Colombia and I need you to see if you can come up with any changes among the cartels. Can you do that for me?"
Lestrade raised an eyebrow in confusion but he agreed. He could ask a few questions in the bunkers upstairs.
"I'll see but I won't be getting back to you soon. You button it up for a tic. I'll see if I can find anything out but I need to stay out of the streets for a bit."
"I am effectively out of commission for a moment as well. I am not nearly as concerned about quick information as I am about accurate trustworthy information." Lestrade nodded and left Irene's office quietly. The woman had to admit that things were not going well so far in this new venture. At least soon the weapons she was procuring from Sherlock and Mycroft would prevent this sort of thing from happening again. Her men would be well armed and her enemies would be dead. It was a very steadying thought. She had lost a considerable amount of time and money betting on the recent order. This awkward new group had been about to change the face of the criminal underground in London. But now they had to start over. It wasn't anything Irene was unfamiliar with. When one moved in the seedy shadowy business she moved in they got used to heavy losses occasionally.
London was a very different place for the Holmes brothers. They saw the way the streets and businesses flowed they saw opportunity and potential for growth where others saw laws preventing them. Unfortunately they were not the only ones.
"Of Course Not. Do whatever you want with them. They're whores you idiot. I don't care about them. I was just wanting to make a little splash with out friends Holmes and Addler. Let them know there is a new game in town. I have another plan in mind for very soon." The phone in the man's hands disconnected and he made a dramatic pouting face. "Uhh this is why I don't pay them to think." He said to himself The crowded subway station bustled around him but he wasn't terribly concerned the person he was waiting for would be there soon enough. And there right on schedule was the little grey head he had been looking for. The man made sure to be patient until the rather unimposing woman was right where he needed her to be. Just right there on the line for the car. And then he turned around as her head exploded from the impact of a high caliber bullet. The sound filled the place and the panic ensued as the man straightened his coat, flipping his collar up and stepping into the train car. The man whistled in celebration as the train sped away from the chaos at the station.
The fact that both of their phones rang simultaneously was unsettling to say the least for the Holmes boys who were comfortably seated in the bar of Irene Addler's hotel. Despite their different appearances the expression on the siblings faces were surprisingly similar. Sherlock and Mycroft wore dark expressions of homicidal rage as they scanned the messages. The pain was intense for both of them and there was a moment of disbelief as Irene Addler stared at them..
"Gentleman? Is something wrong?" Irene did not like the way the brother's looked at each other before they stood up.
"We have something to attend to Irene," Mycroft said. "We'll contact you. Just sit, lay low, and stay out of fucking trouble," he continued as his cane tapped across the floor. Sherlock and John followed him silently.
"Sherlock what happened, Mate? You look like you want to bloody murder someone? I'm normally the one who looks like that. When you've been a massive git." The tall man just handed over his cellphone and John looked at the message. And it was at that moment John wanted to crush the offending object.
"Who the fuck did this? Mrs Hudson? Mrs. Hudson!" John hissed as he jogged to catch up with the longer strides of the taller men. "What is going on Sherlock?"
"We're being targeted, John. Somebody has it out for 221."
"Wait how? Who?"
"If we knew that, They would already be dead, John," Mycroft said. "We know that they are after us. Irene was attacked … right after becoming partner in 221. All the people she was pulling in were either killed or lost. She took a nasty hit and now this. Hudson was a huge source of support for us here. And she was a link to a lot of our suppliers. Both of them were our allies."
"If this slimy wanker was after us why is he hiding like a little bitch and hurting our associates instead of coming after us?"
"Oh obvious John. They're trying to get our attention. I say they have more than they wanted now," Sherlock said. The trio made their way back to the car as Mycroft pulled a cigarette from his beautiful silver case. Sherlock held his hand out and Mycroft raised an eyebrow.
"Give me a fucking cigarette Mycroft. It is either this or I go find my needle. And I need my mind to find this bastard." Mycroft nodded and handed over the cigarette case. Both of them lit up and slid into the car. "Oh Mycroft stupid low tar shit." Sherlock said.
"What do we do? 221 is under attack," John asked in the quiet of Mycrofts car. The government official tapped the partition and the car started.
"John we're going to hit the streets again. Tonight we're walking Baker street. And going to go see some old friends."
"Didn't we burn those bridges mate? Like I'm pretty sure that all of Baker Street hates us."
"Hating us doesn't mean they won't answer our questions, John. Very few people like the people who put them out of business but they still take the paycheck from the new boss. We are walking Baker Street, John. We need to know what is happening. And no where is more connected to the moving of the underground than Baker street. Think of it like going home, it's where we started."
"Yeah doesn't mean I'm in a hurry to go back."
"Oh rubbish," Sherlock said in the hazy interior of the car. "You know you love it. Wear something sexy, John. We are going out." Mycroft rolled his eyes and exhaled smoke he hated this part of the job and he most certainly hated being witness to his brother and his inexcusable pandering to his flatmate. They two of them should stop the games and just admit they were shagging on occasion it would certainly make the tension ease in the car. He had to admit his brother was right if there was any place to start looking for their new enemy it was Baker Street.