A Story of Cinders: From the Ashes

Chapter 22: Monkey Wrench

     The sun was still rising over the eastern sky. The Saint—or rather William—had not slept well that night. He knew who was coming for him. Still in his bathrobe, he wandered down the grand staircase into the foyer of his mansion. Half asleep and blurry eyed, it took him several seconds to understand just who and what was standing before him in the foyer. "Good morning, Mr. Spillane." Damion said cheerily. GLOK, Gael, and Seo stood behind Damion observing the mansion from the foyer entrance. It's all William can do not to fully express his surprise, instead what comes out of his mouth is, "Holy shit, you're fucking here already here."

Damion looks around as if expecting there to be someone else beside him, an android, an assassin and another bounty hunter in the room. "It's us. And we're here to deal with Karlov's problem."

"Oh, yes, that!" William says, scratching his head nervously. "Um... Where should we get started?"

"I think we will start by investigating your manor."

"Of course! Let me show you around upstairs."

"If you would please, I think we would rather do our investigation without your intervention. Just pretend like we aren't here."

"I find it very hard to pretend that commandos aren't in my estate..." William says, with a hint of disdain.

Damion stares at him, with a look of malice. "Then try very hard..." The group walks into the corridor ahead of them, underneath the staircase. William quickly retreats up the staircase, trying hard to contain his panic. Where's Nox? Where's Red? Would they end up running into Gray Wolf? That man wouldn't be able to show his face near them. Is the body in the basement disposed of? Has anybody left anything behind? This could be very dangerous indeed... He shuts the door behind him to his office, then leans against the wall, sliding down, hands behind his head, breathing in and out slowly. He needed to stay calm and professional. The first sign he was slipping, and this whole plan would fall through before it could even truly begin.

"Are you feeling composed now?" a female voice asked him from within the office. Startled, he lifted his head. Red was resting against his desk.

"How did you get in here?" He asked, trying to keep his voice down. "Wait, nevermind, don't answer that..."

"You need to keep yourself together, William. Stay professional."

"You don't fucking say..." His hands were shaking. He shook his head and took a deep breath. "I think I have need for you, Red."

"You aren't asking me to kill them, are you?"
"Oh God no, of course not! That would blow our cover immediately. What I need you to do is search around the place and clean up anything we may have left behind. Then, I need you to make sure the others don't come by. For any reason. That would just overcomplicate everything."

"Fair enough... I'll get to work right away. They won't even know I'm there..." with a couple presses of buttons, her cloaking device activated, and she vanished.

"That's the plan..." Now where was Nox?

The sunlight cracking through his window awoke Sarge from his slumber. A small motel near the manor had a vacant room. He sat up from his bed, staring at the wallpaper. It was very plain. Off white, with several indescribable stains splattered about it. Sarge didn't even want to know what the source of these was. It was slightly unsettling... It was by no means luxurious, though. He had slept in finer barracks during his tours. Still, he had slept well. But it belied his mood. He was still irritated about what happened in Reno. He knew this entire mission had a low possibility of survival. But still, it was better than being knowingly sent to his death. Not to mention his teammates' reactions. And his own... He held his head in his hands and slumped forward. He was ashamed. Embarrassed. He was slipping. Forgetting where he was, who he was fighting. That could have cost everyone their lives. He had to stay focused. Stay stable. Someone had to be. Gray Wolf couldn't be. Not with his rampant alcoholism, and whatever the underlying cause of that may be. He wasn't stable, or a team player... And Brawler... Louis could be, but he couldn't risk Baron breaking free again. Red couldn't be trusted. Something about her didn't sit right with him. Like how she always just seemed to show up wherever you were. It always seemed like she was stalking them. Observing them. Like how she was right now. "What do you want?" He asked, without lifting his head.