Chapter 382. Operation: Brainjack, Phase 2; Luring out the Brain (8/10)
Vrrr. Vrrr. Vrrr.
What the hell?
Ten minutes had passed and I froze when I felt the vibrations coming from my pocket.
I reached in and slowly pulled it out. It was a call.
The caller was… Malory’s boyfriend.
However, it wasn’t coming in on Malory’s phone. It was coming in from one of the two she killed.
I gulped and answered the call in dead silence while holding my breath.
“...”
“...”
“... Diablo, you there?”
“Yeah, boss.” I did my best to impersonate his voice.
“Huh? You sound a bit weird.”
“I’m a little sick.”
“I see... Anyway, I just wanted to verify something. You’re with Malory and Salem, right?”
“Yeah. Why?” As expected, he was able to verify their current locations through their phones.
“The person she’s caught, is it really who she claims it is?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Really?”
“Yes. There’s no doubt about it.”
“Mmmmm! Mmmmmm!”
“What was that?”
“We had to duct tape her mouth shut. She’s acting up and being loud.”
“I see. I want you and Salem to get out of there, now.”
“How come?”
“You’re questioning my orders?”
“No… it’s just… hehe, was hoping to get a piece of that ass…”
“Don’t even think about getting near her. Top-quality goods like her are reserved for me and me alone.”
“Stingy bastard, you could at least share a little.”
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“It better be nothing.”
“Fuck, if I can’t have any, I’m going home. Might as well pick up a girl along the way and get my dick wet. This boner’s not gonna deal with itself.”
“You haven’t touched her, have you?”
“Of course not, I was waiting for you. Hehehe, maybe I should get a quick sample in before I go though.”
“If you touch her before I get my hands on her, I’ll murder you. She’s mine.”
“Tsk.”
He one-sidedly cut off the call after leaving me with that threat.
My hand was shaking by the end of the call.
That was… such a big gamble.
He… seriously called one of his lackeys. He didn’t trust Malory even after the picture and audio recording I sent. If I hadn’t brought their phones, what would have happened?
There were only about eight minutes left until he arrived.
I turned on my two-way radio and asked, “Are you there?”
“Yeah. I’m here. It’s about time you contact me.” Rosa grumbled over the radio.
“Did something happen?”
“No. We’re still good on our end. What about your end?”
“He should be here in about eight minutes according to the ETA he gave. Keep an eye out for him on the cameras.”
“Yeah.”
“If we’re going with plan A, when he’s almost at the door, I’m going to turn off the radio again.”
“Okay.”
Currently, it was 11:40 PM. Time had really flown by.
It was already almost the next day.
Would I live to see it?
I couldn’t help but ask myself that question.
The seconds ticked by slowly.
One minute.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
My heart was racing faster than ever despite how I tried to keep it in check.
Six.
I could hear my ragged breaths.
Seven.
“He’s arrived outside. He… really came alone… He should be up there in five minutes.”
The time I’d been counting up toward suddenly transformed into a five-minute countdown.
I could distinctly feel the cold sweat on my back soaking my clothes.
“Four minutes.” Rosa counted out.
A tingly sensation ran down my spine and rolled across my skin in waves.
“Three minutes.”
All the hair on my body stood up on ends.
“Two minutes.”
I had goosebumps.
“Hah… hah… hah… hah. Hah. Hah. Hah. HAH. HAH. HAH.”
“One minute.”
“I’m cutting communications.”
“Roger that. Good luck.”
I turned the radio off and held my breath.
Perspiration accumulated on my forehead and slowly trickled down the side of my cheek and dropped onto the collar of the shirt I had on.
It felt like everything around me was going dark. The only thing I could see was in front of me.
I had the keychain in my left hand and the gun in my right.
Holding my breath, the sound of my heartbeat was very distinct. And I could hear it growing even faster.
Ba bump...
Ba bump...
Ba bump…
Ba bump. Ba bump. Ba bump. Ba bump.
BA BUMP BA BUMP BA BUMP BA BUMP BA BUMP BA BUMP.
It was out of control.
I felt lightheaded.
I slowly exhaled out and took in my final breath.
Everything suddenly stopped.
My mind blanked out.
No, it became clear.
I relaxed the stiffened muscles in my body and closed my eyes.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Those three knocks echoed out loud and clear like three powerful war drums inside my head.
They signaled the beginning of the end.
If I were writing a story and the end of a volume was this very moment, this would no doubt be the perfect place to end it on a cliffhanger.
But, this wasn’t a story I was writing. This was real life. Time would neither wait nor freeze for me like it would in a story. I couldn’t make corrections. What happened here, happened.
I pressed the button on the keychain.
“Come in, the door’s open.” Malory’s voice came from inside the living room.
“Mmmm mmmmm mm!” That too was Malory, but he didn’t know that. From his perspective it was Angela.
I opened my eyes.
The door slowly creaked open as a man chuckled and stepped inside, “Hehehe, you shouldn’t leave the door unlocked like that when you’ve got such a valuable guest over. What would you do if some uninvited rats snuck in, Malory?”
Was he being serious? Or was that a joke? I couldn’t tell since I was really hiding like a rat right now.
“Mm m mmmm!” Malory had continually been trying to warn him, but her attempts were futile. In fact thanks to her, he’d quickly shut the door behind him to avoid the muffled cries for help from leaking out the room. He couldn’t see Malory in the chair either since the living room was around a corner.
“That’s not good at all. Hehehe, we can’t wake the neighbors.”
From the other side of the wall I was hidden behind, I heard him take a step. The second I saw his figure I didn’t hesitate at all.
I raised the gun up in dead silence, took aim… and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Pew.
Not once.
Pew.
Not twice.
Pew.
“Ahhh!”
But three times in rapid succession.
With the suppressor on, it barely made a sound when the three bullets exited the barrel. At most, it was as loud as a stapler.
The instant the bullets hit him from behind, his body fell forward and he collapsed face-first onto the ground.
I gulped nervously and took a step out from inside. I bent down beside him and rolled him over onto his back while I inspected his body and retrieved his phone and a few things on the ground. After I rolled him onto his back, a red crimson fluid spread across the ground and soaked into his clothes.
I stuck the syringe into him and injected him with the rest of the drug I’d received from Rosa.
Why go through the effort of doing that? Well, if planting this all on Malory, drugging him so he’d be knocked out would be a good cover-up for what really happened here. When the police had an autopsy done and they found this drug in his system, they’d think all of this chaos was an internal struggle for power within the gang stirred up by Malory who conspired with someone else that held a high position in the gang.
With the gang leader’s phone in hand, victory was almost assured.
Almost because… I still needed the passcode to get in.
I headed over to Malory and stopped in front of her. She had a blank vacant expression like she couldn’t believe any of this was happening. I removed the duct tape from over her mouth.
“What have you done?” That was the first thing she asked absentmindedly with a pale face.
“What have I done? Why, I’ve shot him, of course. What else could it be but that?”
Her head sunk down low. It was like she’d lost everything in one go.
“What’s with your reaction? Are you actually mourning this guy’s death?”
“Mourning? For him? Never.”
“Then what are you pale-faced for? You look pretty lost right now.”
“He was mine.”
“What, then you actually do like the guy? Did he turn you into a masochist who enjoyed having your back carved up every day?”
“Of course not. He was mine to kill… the target of my hatred, but… just like that, you took that away from me.”
“I see, so that’s what this is about. Something so trivial.”
“Trivial! This isn’t trivial! For so many years I’ve had to live through this hell! What would you know about it! How dare you call it trivial!”
She gnashed her teeth as she raised her head and looked at me with an unfathomable level of hatred in her eyes. All the feelings of resentment she felt toward the Swastika gang leader felt like it’d suddenly been redirected toward me in a second.
“Yes, it is trivial. If you like, I can even bring him back from beyond the grave with a snap of my fingers. You’ll be able to kill him yourself that way...”
Chapter 382. Operation: Brainjack, Phase 2; Luring out the Brain (8/10)
Vrrr. Vrrr. Vrrr.
What the hell?
Ten minutes had passed and I froze when I felt the vibrations coming from my pocket.
I reached in and slowly pulled it out. It was a call.
The caller was… Malory’s boyfriend.
However, it wasn’t coming in on Malory’s phone. It was coming in from one of the two she killed.
I gulped and answered the call in dead silence while holding my breath.
“...”
“...”
“... Diablo, you there?”
“Yeah, boss.” I did my best to impersonate his voice.
“Huh? You sound a bit weird.”
“I’m a little sick.”
“I see... Anyway, I just wanted to verify something. You’re with Malory and Salem, right?”
“Yeah. Why?” As expected, he was able to verify their current locations through their phones.
“The person she’s caught, is it really who she claims it is?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Really?”
“Yes. There’s no doubt about it.”
“Mmmmm! Mmmmmm!”
“What was that?”
“We had to duct tape her mouth shut. She’s acting up and being loud.”
“I see. I want you and Salem to get out of there, now.”
“How come?”
“You’re questioning my orders?”
“No… it’s just… hehe, was hoping to get a piece of that ass…”
“Don’t even think about getting near her. Top-quality goods like her are reserved for me and me alone.”
“Stingy bastard, you could at least share a little.”
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“It better be nothing.”
“Fuck, if I can’t have any, I’m going home. Might as well pick up a girl along the way and get my dick wet. This boner’s not gonna deal with itself.”
“You haven’t touched her, have you?”
“Of course not, I was waiting for you. Hehehe, maybe I should get a quick sample in before I go though.”
“If you touch her before I get my hands on her, I’ll murder you. She’s mine.”
“Tsk.”
He one-sidedly cut off the call after leaving me with that threat.
My hand was shaking by the end of the call.
That was… such a big gamble.
He… seriously called one of his lackeys. He didn’t trust Malory even after the picture and audio recording I sent. If I hadn’t brought their phones, what would have happened?
There were only about eight minutes left until he arrived.
I turned on my two-way radio and asked, “Are you there?”
“Yeah. I’m here. It’s about time you contact me.” Rosa grumbled over the radio.
“Did something happen?”
“No. We’re still good on our end. What about your end?”
“He should be here in about eight minutes according to the ETA he gave. Keep an eye out for him on the cameras.”
“Yeah.”
“If we’re going with plan A, when he’s almost at the door, I’m going to turn off the radio again.”
“Okay.”
Currently, it was 11:40 PM. Time had really flown by.
It was already almost the next day.
Would I live to see it?
I couldn’t help but ask myself that question.
The seconds ticked by slowly.
One minute.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
My heart was racing faster than ever despite how I tried to keep it in check.
Six.
I could hear my ragged breaths.
Seven.
“He’s arrived outside. He… really came alone… He should be up there in five minutes.”
The time I’d been counting up toward suddenly transformed into a five-minute countdown.
I could distinctly feel the cold sweat on my back soaking my clothes.
“Four minutes.” Rosa counted out.
A tingly sensation ran down my spine and rolled across my skin in waves.
“Three minutes.”
All the hair on my body stood up on ends.
“Two minutes.”
I had goosebumps.
“Hah… hah… hah… hah. Hah. Hah. Hah. HAH. HAH. HAH.”
“One minute.”
“I’m cutting communications.”
“Roger that. Good luck.”
I turned the radio off and held my breath.
Perspiration accumulated on my forehead and slowly trickled down the side of my cheek and dropped onto the collar of the shirt I had on.
It felt like everything around me was going dark. The only thing I could see was in front of me.
I had the keychain in my left hand and the gun in my right.
Holding my breath, the sound of my heartbeat was very distinct. And I could hear it growing even faster.
Ba bump...
Ba bump...
Ba bump…
Ba bump. Ba bump. Ba bump. Ba bump.
BA BUMP BA BUMP BA BUMP BA BUMP BA BUMP BA BUMP.
It was out of control.
I felt lightheaded.
I slowly exhaled out and took in my final breath.
Everything suddenly stopped.
My mind blanked out.
No, it became clear.
I relaxed the stiffened muscles in my body and closed my eyes.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Those three knocks echoed out loud and clear like three powerful war drums inside my head.
They signaled the beginning of the end.
If I were writing a story and the end of a volume was this very moment, this would no doubt be the perfect place to end it on a cliffhanger.
But, this wasn’t a story I was writing. This was real life. Time would neither wait nor freeze for me like it would in a story. I couldn’t make corrections. What happened here, happened.
I pressed the button on the keychain.
“Come in, the door’s open.” Malory’s voice came from inside the living room.
“Mmmm mmmmm mm!” That too was Malory, but he didn’t know that. From his perspective it was Angela.
I opened my eyes.
The door slowly creaked open as a man chuckled and stepped inside, “Hehehe, you shouldn’t leave the door unlocked like that when you’ve got such a valuable guest over. What would you do if some uninvited rats snuck in, Malory?”
Was he being serious? Or was that a joke? I couldn’t tell since I was really hiding like a rat right now.
“Mm m mmmm!” Malory had continually been trying to warn him, but her attempts were futile. In fact thanks to her, he’d quickly shut the door behind him to avoid the muffled cries for help from leaking out the room. He couldn’t see Malory in the chair either since the living room was around a corner.
“That’s not good at all. Hehehe, we can’t wake the neighbors.”
From the other side of the wall I was hidden behind, I heard him take a step. The second I saw his figure I didn’t hesitate at all.
I raised the gun up in dead silence, took aim… and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Pew.
Not once.
Pew.
Not twice.
Pew.
“Ahhh!”
But three times in rapid succession.
With the suppressor on, it barely made a sound when the three bullets exited the barrel. At most, it was as loud as a stapler.
The instant the bullets hit him from behind, his body fell forward and he collapsed face-first onto the ground.
I gulped nervously and took a step out from inside. I bent down beside him and rolled him over onto his back while I inspected his body and retrieved his phone and a few things on the ground. After I rolled him onto his back, a red crimson fluid spread across the ground and soaked into his clothes.
I stuck the syringe into him and injected him with the rest of the drug I’d received from Rosa.
Why go through the effort of doing that? Well, if planting this all on Malory, drugging him so he’d be knocked out would be a good cover-up for what really happened here. When the police had an autopsy done and they found this drug in his system, they’d think all of this chaos was an internal struggle for power within the gang stirred up by Malory who conspired with someone else that held a high position in the gang.
With the gang leader’s phone in hand, victory was almost assured.
Almost because… I still needed the passcode to get in.
I headed over to Malory and stopped in front of her. She had a blank vacant expression like she couldn’t believe any of this was happening. I removed the duct tape from over her mouth.
“What have you done?” That was the first thing she asked absentmindedly with a pale face.
“What have I done? Why, I’ve shot him, of course. What else could it be but that?”
Her head sunk down low. It was like she’d lost everything in one go.
“What’s with your reaction? Are you actually mourning this guy’s death?”
“Mourning? For him? Never.”
“Then what are you pale-faced for? You look pretty lost right now.”
“He was mine.”
“What, then you actually do like the guy? Did he turn you into a masochist who enjoyed having your back carved up every day?”
“Of course not. He was mine to kill… the target of my hatred, but… just like that, you took that away from me.”
“I see, so that’s what this is about. Something so trivial.”
“Trivial! This isn’t trivial! For so many years I’ve had to live through this hell! What would you know about it! How dare you call it trivial!”
She gnashed her teeth as she raised her head and looked at me with an unfathomable level of hatred in her eyes. All the feelings of resentment she felt toward the Swastika gang leader felt like it’d suddenly been redirected toward me in a second.
“Yes, it is trivial. If you like, I can even bring him back from beyond the grave with a snap of my fingers. You’ll be able to kill him yourself that way...”
