Adriana got up and walked towards the hotel so quickly, she was nearly running.
How else could this whole thing end? Could she find a way to get him arrested, set him up in such a way that he would never suspect her? It was either that, or she had to kill him. Both options required extreme planning and caution. The situation was delicate.
For now, her best bet was to outsmart him.
She turned and looked back at the park bench. He was gone.
The time for sentiment, emotion, and weakness was over. It was time to be smart and logical.
She entered the spinning door and came into the luxury hotel lobby. She had no idea how much time she had left to find Mateo. In a few minutes he would make an call, complaining of sounds of a struggle in room 412.
The elevator door was open and she went in quickly, her mind racing. She wasn't even entirely sure of how she would handle this situation. The garden shears under her jacket dug into her side as she pressed the button marked 4.
No emotion, she told herself. She was smarter and stronger than the Joker realized, she convinced herself. The doors opened on the fourth floor and she started to walk..past room 402..404..
And older couple left room 408 and Adriana had and idea. It came to her quickly.
Intentionally, she bumped hard into the older man and staggered a bit and he helped her avoid falling.
"Are you okay dear?" the woman asked.
"Oh, I'm just fine. I'm so sorry sir," Adriana replied. "I just had a bit too much wine at the bar."
"No problem," the man said as he and his wife continued walking to the elevator. It was still on the 4th floor so they were able to go in immediately after pushing the button.
Adriana looked down at the room key card in her hand. Room 408. She had slipped it out of the man's pocket, since she knew exactly where he had placed it before leaving their room. The benefits of seeing memories. They got into the elevator.
Quickly she went into their empty hotel room and shut the door. She sat down on the end of the bed and focused. She closed her eyes and searched for Mateo's thoughts. He was only two rooms away. She needed to be quick. There were only a few minutes to do this and she was sure that the Joker was confident in that fact she would be not be able to complete the task. This was a form of torture.
When she had the information she needed from Mateo's mind she rang to the phone and picked it up, dialing quickly.
"Hello?" a voice said on the other end of the line.
"Officer Dagg," Adriana said. "I'm calling on behalf of Brimstone. The rebel yell resounds."
Brimstone was a code name for Mateo and the phrase about the rebel yell was a secret pass phrase. Mateo had several police officers in his pocket, ready to do his bidding for the right price. This was one of them. She knew he was usually stationed in this area of town.
"Go ahead," the officer said.
"You need to be a 2 blocks west of the Fairview Hotel in five minutes," she said quickly. "Can you do it?"
"Yes," he said.
"Take the dispatch about a disturbance at the hotel in room 412," she told him. "Call whoever you need, you'll need backup. Call Mashall, Dale, Preting only. Only officers that work for Brimstone. You'll need an ambulance, only Brimstone allies manning it. Brimstone will update you when you arrive. This is an urgent request from Brimstone."
"Understood," he replied. "Anything else?"
"Make sure you take the call, no backup," she said. "That is all."
"Got it," he said and hung up.
Adriana blew out a lot of air through her mouth. That went smoothly..but that wasn't the hard part. She followed the instructions on the phone to dial another room in the hotel. 412.
"Yeah?" Mateo answered, as if he was not expecting a call.
"Mateo," Adriana said. "I need you to listen to me very carefully."
"Who is this?" he asked while chewing something.
"Mateo this is very important. Life or death and we don't have much time. It's about an assassination attempt on your life," she said.
"Who the hell is this?" he asked.
"Listen to me," Adriana knew she had to approach this differently. "He knows about Clara and Suzette. Your wife and daughter. I know you think you have hidden it well from the the Joker that you have a family but he knows about them. And if you don't listen to me..he will use them as collateral. He knows where they are. Please."
Mateo was quiet. He was listening.
"I've been sent to the hotel to kill you. Instead I am warning you. You have to disappear. You have to fake your death, and I know you can do it. You have contacts with the police, the hospitals, the emergency services, the morgue. You have allies everywhere, except the officer who ratted you out. That's how the Joker found you here. I've already made sure he doesn't know about this. I've already contacted Andy-"
"How they hell do you know-" Mateo started.
"Listen!" she shouted. "He's also contacting the paramedics who can keep this secret and make it appear that they are moving a body. The ones that work for you. Clara will understand. I know she will because she's been begging you to stop with this risky crime business for years...and now is the time. You have to do it. Because if the Joker finds out I let you live he will kill us both."
"I don't...see how you could know about this.." Mateo said.
"It doesn't matter," she said. "There's no time. He's only given me a few minutes to do this. Open your door, I'm coming over there now."
Once she hung up the phone she went into the hall and walked to room 412 and knocked once before the door opened. Mateo was in his robe and pointing a gun at her.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked.
"I'm here to save your life," Adriana said and walked into the room, the barrel of the gun following her. "He knows your hiding out here. I know you think you can hide out here and keep Clara and Suzette hidden with your stepmother but he knows where they are."
Mateo lowered the gun slowly.
"He does?" he asked nervously.
"The mansion in Marysville," Adriana said. "He knows. He's not interested in them for now...for now he wants something straight from you. Once he gets it he will forget about them."
"What does that bastard want?" he asked.
"He wants you dead, which we will fake.." Adriana said and pulled out the shears. "He also wants your right index finger."
"Fucking hell.." Mateo said and staggered back. "I'll kill him!"
"No," Adriana said. "Because his next plan is going after your wife and daughter if you're not dead tonight, and none of us want to see any children hurt."
Mateo turned away and sat the gun on a table. He placed his hand over his eyes and let out a groan of frustration.
"So you..." Mateo walked over the the mini bar and poured a shot of whiskey. "You're working for him but you're...undermining him."
"Yes," Adriana said. "We need to hurry."
He leaned over the bar and swallowed the shot while looking at her intensely. He had no idea who she was or if he should trust her. But he would sever a finger in the off chance it would save his family. If she was lying it was worth the risk.
"I know," Mateo said and took a drink. "So that's it. You cut off my finger and I live the rest of my life in hiding?"
"No," Adriana said. "I plan on stopping him. Possibly killing him. You won't have to hide forever."
"You're going to kill the Joker," Mateo said.
"I might have to," she responded. "Or make sure that he's behind bars soon."
"No..no..." Mateo said and drank more. "You're going to have to kill him. If he finds out what you've been up to you're dead."
"Yeah.." Adriana said. "I know that's the more likely option."
"And so for now," Mateo sighed. "You gain his confidence. You give him my finger. Dagg comes with the paramedics... we'll need out contact at the coroner's office..."
"Precisely," Adriana said as Mateo went to open a bottle of vodka. "But Mateo..there really isn't much time. Please!"
"Yo sé eso," Mateo said in Spanish to himself and looked at the vodka. I know that.
"¿Qué estás haciendo?," Adriana asked him as he took the shears from her. What are you doing?
"You speak Spanish," Mateo said as if not surprised. "You look like a Chola... with that hair..your style. But speak like a Spaniard. You're confusing me, mami."
"Listen-" Adriana said.
"I know.." Mateo said somberly as he poured the vodka over the shears, sterilizing them, spilling it all over the carpet. "We don't have time as you've said."
He handed the shears back.
He grabbed a chair and sat in front of her, still holding the vodka. After taking a drink he held out his arm. Adriana grabbed a pillow from the bed and handed it to him. She the grabbed a large hand towel from the mini bar.
"Bite it," she said about the pillow. "You can't scream now."
"I can take it," he said. "I can take the pain."
"No," she replied. "You can't."
He grunted and sat down the vodka on the floor and pushed the pillow into his face while leaning all the way forward, shutting his eyes. His hand started to shake as he made a fist leaving only his index finger pointed.
"Wait-" he said and lifted his face. "Make it quick ok? One go...Don't hack it off a little at a time-"
"These are very sharp and I'll do it in one go," she said. "Te lo prometo," she promised him.
He looked weary as he leaned forward shoving the pillow into his face again. Before he could think about what was happening she placed the napkin on the floor where his finger would fall, if he didn't move too much. The following second, before her mind could register what was about to happen and before the could begin to shake too, she used the shears to sever the finger.
The blood was shocking. The finger fell right onto the napkin and Mateo growled and screamed into the pillow before falling on his knees onto the floor.
"Ahhhhh!" he finally screamed into the air.
"Shhhh.." she tried to soothe him. "Are you okay?" She ran to grab more napkins.
"Fuuuuuck!" he looked down at his hand, and she knelt beside him and squeezed the end of the missing digit. "Ahaaaahaaa!"
He looked over at the top half of his finger laying on the napkin on the floor, veins bulging out of his forehead in pain. The sounds of sirens could be heard in the distance.
He grabbed the finger in the cloth and shoved it towards her.
"You take that mother fucker this finger," Mateo said. "And you..."
He shut his eyes and pain, holding in a scream.
"You kill him!" he said. "As soon as you have the chance. Kill the bastard! I owe you, woman. I owe you, for my family.. and I won't forget you. Now go."
.
.
.
Adriana passed Officer Dagg in the lobby. Of course, he had no idea that she was the one who called him. Swiftly she made her way on to the street, and saw a black van passing. It was her ride. She hadn't missed them and had left the hotel exactly in time. They didn't stop so she had to jump into the open door on the side as they slowed down. Before she could even fully enter the van, it sped off and she was sure she would fall out onto the street and break her arm or leg at least. But her wrist was grabbed forcefully and she was pulled into the interior of the van, which swerved violently. She grabbed at anything she could to avoid flying out of the open door before hearing it shut.
Once the wind from the open door had ceased, she noticed she was gripping the Joker by his shoulders. The van made a sharp turn and she fell back against the closed door, bumping her head hard, and almost sure that the Joker would crush her if he fell forward, but he caught himself with both palms flat against the top side of door, one arm on each side of her.
He pushed himself back away from her after the van stopped swerving.
"Where is it?" he asked.
Adriana looked around the interior of the van. It was large enough for them to stand in and had a lightbulb flickering and dangling from the ceiling. A bench for sitting lined the opposite side and there was a young man with glasses on a laptop looking at them.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the finger while it was still wrapped in cloth and handed it to him. He unwrapped it and looked into her eyes for a second before handing it to the man, who looked no older than 20. The guy pushed his glasses up on his nose and opened a small box and placed the finger on a screen.
She could tell he was impressed. She had done the impossible, in ten minutes. The sounds of police sirens blaring right behind her.
"So, how did you do it?" the Joker asked.
Adriana watched a line of blue light move under the finger, scanning it.
"I..don't want to talk about it," she said. She couldn't lie. She didn't know the cause of death Mateo's team would decide to release to the news.
"Boss," the man said to the Joker and the Joker looked at him. "It's a perfect match."
The Joker looked at Adriana.
"Well done," he congratulated her or what had just been accomplished.
She felt sick. She pushed past him and sat on the bench.
"Hi..I'm.." the young man said nervously to her. "I'm Alexander."
His hair was cut very short and was a deep amber color. His eyes were light brown and Adriana guessed he would be well over 6 feet tall standing. He was thin and wiry. Adriana could see that he was lying about his name. His name was Neal, and he was nervous because he was attracted to her.
"I'm Sheena," she said to him and smiled politely, but inside she wanted nothing more than to go home.
"Nice to meet you," he said while glancing back at his computer and typing quickly. "Boss, we are in."
The Joker, still standing, said nothing back. The van was driving quickly and the three of them remained quiet. The Joker smiled at his triumph, his paint a mess on his face. As the light bulb hanging from the van's ceiling swung around creating the most terrifying environment Adriana had ever been in, she wondered if this was a nightmare.
The Joker knocked against the wall in the back of the van. It was a signal to the driver to stop.
"Goodbye," the Joker said while looking at her, and opening the side door.
"Oh.." she said, relieved to be leaving but wondering where they were. "Where are we?"
He didn't answer, and seemed irritated that she had even asked. She rose to her feet and jumped out of the van. He shut the door before she could turn around and the van sped off.