Bounty Hunter [REWRITTEN VERSION]

Chapter 59: Betrayal

MAIZE
2 Years Ago

"We have another job for you." The words arrived from a call just as they always did, and she answered in the same manner.

"Who's the mark?"

She was a well-off seasoned bounty hunter—the best. Anyone who thought otherwise quickly learned why. The mantle of the name Daiyu never once lost its reputation as one of the most primal bounty hunter's in the dark underground, even after she had taken it upon herself and continued to carry on its legacy.

"Not a who. A what. We want you to blow up the competition, the Levetti family's warehouse."

"This is Z's field," she dismissed sternly. "I don't do assassination."

"You have done it before."

Once. A casino owner in Mexico who abused his daughter.

But there had been others after that hadn't there.

"This is Z's field," she repeated.

Silence for a beat. "Very well. According to our watchman, the warehouse will be empty for another gathering two days from now. You will be cleared to eliminate it without casualty if that is so what you wish."

She nodded to herself once. "Consider it done then."

* * *

She brought about the mission on her own exactly 48 hours later, under the cover of darkness.

She had infiltrated the building without difficulty. She had diffused the alarm systems so her presence would not be caught either by motion or by camera. She had set the charges among the ground levels, knowing that once she was out, all it would take was one detonation to set the rest off and collapse the building. It was a simple operation, everything about it. It should have gone smoothly.

It would have. Had she not realized there was something unexpected waiting for her just as she perched along the garage rooftop, about to leave.

A child.

A little girl, no older than seven at most, and she was holding a toy stuffed dog cradled gently within her arms as careful as if it were alive and breathing as she skipped about the grassy area below. Was smiling to the dark, carefree to the shadows around her, and the danger.

They said it would be empty.

A man in a suit marched out of the building and Maize tensed, her hand automatically placed over the hilt of the daggers rested around her thigh. He came out of the building carried a pistol in the back of his jeans without care, as if it were the most natural thing to have. She only watched, ready to react at a moment's notice as he walked up to the girl.

"What are you doing out here? It's too late for you to be out," his voice carried up to her, tinged with aggravation.

"I was walking Pico," the girl said innocently, hugging the dog tight to her chest with a small laugh. Pico was made of fluff and fabric, and yet she treated it with care.

The man sighed and took the little girl's hand. "Come on then. Back to bed."

She followed. They both returned inside the building, left oblivious to the shadow watching the entire scene over them. Maize had gone cold.