The Roses

Stars

She leaned against the hood of the car waiting for the customer to arrive. When she looked up at the sky, she saw no stars only the black abyss. This was the city after all, all stars were blacked out by the ever present city lights even the parking lot she was in was bathed in harsh light.

The sound of an approaching car echoed through the parking lot as she pushed herself off the hood and straightened her gray tweed jacket. The black van parked, and three armed men climbed out the back. These men reminded her of red wood trees, tall and wide. Unlike trees through, their mass was mostly muscle. The passenger door opened to reveal another armed man, but this man was leaner than the others. She knew he was in charge because how the others arranged themselves behind him.

"Hello, my name is Tweed," she introduced herself. "Are you guys here to order a red rose?"

That's right her code name was Tweed. Her boss demanded that all of them be named after fabrics. The man in front of her went by the name Frostbite. He was pretty high up in the chain of command of a gang called the Skulls, creatively named, and he was shopping for death. He was at the right place for it cause she sold death like a build-your-own-sundae.

"Yes," he examined her mask. He stared at the gray mask, that was decorated with an intricate blue rose design, wondering who she was behind that mask. "I am looking to order."

"Before we start, I'll go over somethings to know," she explained. "My heart rate is currently being monitored, and if it thinks my heart isn't beating the explosives that I have rigged up will go off killing you all. But, I trust the thought of killing me didn't even cross your mind. It is simply a precaution."

"Understood," the Skulls had ordered from her before, but he had never done it personally.

"Who would you like the delivery be made to?" She spoke like they were arranging a flower delivery not a murder.

"His name is Jackson Williams," he handed her a photo of the target. Jackson was from another gang and had been causing the Skulls some problems, but the Skulls didn't want to get into a gang fight. They decided going to the Roses was the best course of action.

"If there isn't specific time you want it delivered it will be delivered within sixty days." Tweed continued. "You can also arrange how you want it to be delivered, each method has a different price, or you can do dealer's choice, we choose how we deliver it. The cost would be calculated afterwards."

"You know what dealer's choice but be creative," Frostbite was curious about how the Roses would complete this delivery.

"If that's all, I will take the down payment and you pay the rest when the delivery is made." Tweed's smile was hidden behind her mask. Her boss loved it when it was dealer's choice. She finished up the business exchange then watched the men drive off.

***

"You're free to go now ma'am," the officer told Sammy.

"Thank you officer," her voice was tired and weak from crying.

"Is there anyone that can take you home?" He did not want the poor lady to go home by herself after the trauma she had been through.

"I have a friend who can come pick me up," she replied. "I can stay inside till he comes, right?"

"Of course," he gave her a sympathetic smile.

Soon after, Sammy was in the passenger seat of Todd's car. Todd was the faithful delivery driver. He knew how to deliver flowers while in a high-speed chase after all.

"Be careful," the officer warned before Todd could drive off. "She has a stab wound."

"I'll be careful," she replied with a weak smile. "Thank you again officer." With that, she closed the door, and they drove on to the road.

"How did you of all people get stabbed?" Todd asked.

"I stabbed myself to make the story more convincing," she relaxed into the seat as a smile spread across her face.

"Must be some story then," he relaxed his grip on the wheel slightly. "So, what is the story?"

"It's a great story," she gave a sly smile. "But, I'm not telling it till we get to the base."

Todd pressed down on the gas eager to hear it. Whenever she would come back from her mysterious absences, she would have the best stories.

***

Leather cleaned each piece of his sniper with care as he waited. Flannel was picking up Satin after her latest disappearance, so they all sat in the abandoned warehouse that served as their current base, waiting. He looked up to see Silk pacing back and forth. Silk straightened his white silk suit jacket for the hundredth time before someone spoke up.

"She's going to be fine," Tweed put a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. "She always is."

Silk gave a deep sigh relaxing slightly. He knew Tweed was probably right, but that didn't keep him from worrying. He plopped down in a chair waiting for Satin to come. After the man had stopped his pacing, the room was noticeably less tense, but it was still uncomfortably quiet.

Finally, the doors were thrown open by none other than Satin herself. Her black mask decorated with white roses only hid the top half of her face leaving her wide smile fully visible.

Silk jumped up from his chair and rushed over to her. "Are you okay? What happened? Why were you at the police station?" He bombarded her with questions as Flannel slipped in unnoticed by the worried man.

"Do I have a story for you," she took hold of both of Silk's hand like someone who was going to share some exciting news because well, to her, she was.

Everyone knew what to do, so they sat down in the chairs forming a rough circle. It was story time, and with Satin as the story teller it was sure to include some kind of bloodshed.

"So, I was just walking home after our meeting when some poor sap tried mug me," she laughed.

"What an unlucky dude," CD looked up from her computer shaking her head. "Out of all people he choose to mug you."

"I know, right? So, I was like 'what would be a fun way to kill him?' So, I told him who I was. You should have seen his face; it was priceless." Everyone was listening closely to the story like a bunch of kindergartens, but instead of featuring talking animals this story featured murder. Not something typically featured in children's stories. "He was so not cut out for that life. Taking the knife from him was like taking pennies from a fountain. Then, I stabbed him, and I stabbed myself"

"Wait, you stabbed yourself?" Silk looked at her trying to evaluate her health. "Are you okay?"

"Yep," she lifted her shirt up slightly to reveal the bandages wrapped around her torso. "The doctors at the hospital patched me up nicely."

"Now where was I?" She tapped her chin. "Oh, right. Then, I called the police. After all the man had actually tried to mug me, and he had threatened me with a knife. So I told the police what happened," she switched to a tearful pleading voice. "Officer, he attacked me with a knife, but I was able to get the knife. It all happened so fast. I didn't mean to kill him. I can't believe I killed him." She laughed again. "They didn't press charges since it was out of self defense."

The others sat in stunned silence as they were once again reminded why Satin was so dangerous. She had gotten away with murder by going straight to the police. How many people would even think of doing that?

"Did anything interesting happen while I was gone?" She asked the quiet group.

That was Tweed's cue. "We got a delivery to make, dealer's choice."

"Wow, the fun keeps coming," Satin was ecstatic at the news after all it was her favorite type of delivery.