You Better Bring an Umbrella, Vol. 1

Chapter 18: A Shrine to Your Death

        Diego switched the car off as he parked in front of the police station, staring at the brick building for a moment before turning and addressing the rest of us.

"I know this Jenkins dude has to have a record," he explained. "We gotta get our hands on his file."

"And your plan is to what? Waltz in there and just ask for it?" I challenged, hoping he had something better than a blind race inside. Diego didn't exactly have the best track record when it came to police, so I wanted to make sure he actually knew what he was doing and wouldn't impede any of our progress so far.

"I know the station like the back of my hand, sis. I've spent a lot of time inside." My suspicion only grew when I noticed he kept glancing in the mirrors, keeping an eye on two cops talking on the sidewalk.

"Handcuffed," I spat back.

"Whatever. Here's the plan."

"Plan? I'm just gonna blink in and get the file." Although that likely would be a bit more foolproof than Diego walking in there, too many possibilities for disaster still stuck out. Five's powers were fickle, seemingly picking and choosing when they wanted to work, when they'd been exhausted, and how far was too far too jump. I couldn't risk him going in there and getting arrested.

"No, that's not... You don't know the ins and outs of this place, okay?" Diego shook his head.

"I literally just did this yesterday." My eyebrows flew up as I stared at my brother.

"What?" His eyes suddenly went wide, realizing he's slipped up somehow.

"My yesterday, not your yesterday." He said that so casually, as though I should have known this already, but I just threw my hands up in frustration.

"Not the part I was focused on, but okay."

"It'll take me two seconds. Why don't I just go?"

"Listen to me. You are not going in there. I made a call. That's what a leader does. He leads." I rolled my eyes at Diego. This wasn't about to turn into some petty mark for his ongoing fight with Luther for who was the actual leader of the family. "I'll be back, don't stray too far."

Allison, Five, and I sat in silence for a while, awkwardly tapping our feet or the seats around us in an attempt to occupy our time. I let out a long sigh, some of my hair blowing up for a second before falling back in front of my eyes.

"I need to call Vanya," Allison stated suddenly, opening the car door and sliding out onto the pavement. Five and I exchanged a glance, shrugged, and decided it was better to tag along than just sit in an awkward silence and pretend everything was normal. He and I leaned against the wall of a building, trying to act casual as people walked by.

"So, what exactly did you do?" I finally asked, hoping I could get answers from him instead of his usual deflection.

"What I had to," Five answered shortly.

"No, see, that doesn't fly anymore. 'Cause, see, now I know that 'what I had to' could mean going out and slaughtering a bunch of people, or it could just be grabbing that piece of paper and running." His sudden silence didn't give me hope.

"A bit of both, actually." I sighed, leaning my head against the concrete and closing my eyes. "I got the paper through researching, that part was true, but... just for good measure, I took grenades to some parts of the building."

"Jesus, Five."

"These are the people to give instructions to the assassins. I got rid of their main way to get those papers to the killers. That's not a bad thing, right?"