Chapter 2 - Rope

Venice's Point of View

“Cleared,” I whispered as soon as I shot the last man standing on the rooftop.

Walking on the bloodbath floor where dead men are scattered, I took the case they were trying to steal from me earlier and positioned myself in a hidden spot yet the most convenient one. As soon as I opened the case, I stared at it for a while, contemplating what was going on in their mind when they were dying for this.

How were they willing to kill and be killed for the sake of a case they know nothing about?

Technically, it is empty.

“Someone is spacing out.” I went back to my senses when I heard that serious yet calm voice behind me.

He cut the distance between us and handed me a bag of weapons from his back.

His blue hooded eyes are the only thing I could see amidst that mask covering his entire face and the dark night, yet his posture gives off more authority than it should be.

Of course, who would not be intimidated by one of the La Fortaleza de Rosario’s veterans?

He was the one who taught me a handful of things, for damn’s sake.

“Cross one, checking in. Is the building safe?” a voice from a radio spoke. Sinistre found where it was coming from, as I only gave him a glance before continuing my own business.

Well, he started minding his own, too. He answered the radio effortlessly, without raising a confusion to the other line.

And yes, they even talked as if Sinistre knew exactly everything about them.

“Don’t tell me you are an old-timer, without telling me you are an old-timer,” I heard Bellafiore’s voice from my earpiece.

“I am not old,” Sinistre said as he finished talking with the other line.

From the structure of the empty briefcase, I disassembled its entirety and laid down the parts I took from it on the ground.

I detached the carry handle of the sniper that served as the handle of the briefcase, as well. From the edge of the case itself, I carefully took the bipod, monopod socket, and the rear grip.

“Too slow,” Sinistre mumbled beside with a grin on his lips, as he effortlessly assembled his own weapon in front of me.

I sarcastically rolled my eyes and continued doing my own thing, but I know myself that I am now racing against his pace.

From the body of the case itself, I opened a secret latch and took out the remaining pieces: muzzle brake, bolt carrier, rail, fluted barrel, and the scope rings.

And lastly, I took the magazine from my boot pockets together with the bullets.

As soon as I finished doing so, my watch beeped once.

I took the binoculars from Sinistre’s pocket and started to watch the busy road down from this closed building. When I locked on my target, I briefly looked at the time.

22:54.

Six minutes more and we are all set in our designated positions. I stayed with the binoculars, hiding in a camouflage of this company building. But it won’t last that long.

I have to make sure of that.

“You are unsurprisingly packed,” Sinistre’s voice echoed in my ears again amidst the silence up here. I motioned my hand for him to assemble what I left off, in which he did right away.

Just as I was about to talk, another voice came in our earpiece.

“This is the Snapdragon, approaching the extraction point. Waiting for the engagement signal,” Bellafiore said, as I saw her moving in her motorbike from my view up here.

She is now discreetly tailing the target’s transport miles away from our location. But only a matter of a few minutes, and I saw a van on the road with escorts on its tail approaching a bridge.

Bellafiore kept her distance behind.

I dropped my binoculars and picked up the C15 long-range sniper that Sinistre finished assembling for me.

Seconds passed by after I checked the pieces, I fired one bullet in a safe spot.

When I finally confirmed its accuracy, I lied on the ground and aimed for my targets. From the scope, I could see how these vehicles lined up to protect that one particular van at the center.

“You have no trust with my hands?” Sinistre initiated another conversation in the earpiece.

He is already on the other side of the building, aiming for another angle in case I missed.

But when did I ever, though?

“Says the Nightshade who taught me that,” I fired back and smirked, even if he’s not seeing it.

I heard his deep, short chuckle from the earpiece as a response.

“I have eyes on the package, sealing in one minute,” I said as the van finally reached my target range.

From that line of vehicles driving towards our location, I immediately found the head of the man I am aiming to dig a deep hole tonight.

Francisco Talianzo.

Here’s the fun fact: he was part of our society, not until he chose to meddle with things he should have not touched. His wife, for an instance.

Fortunately, Levi found the courage to talk about Sinistre’s late friend, Alyana.

But too bad for Francisco, karma never fails to arrive.

I am always on-time. We always are.

“Snapdragon, engage on my count,” a soft voice appeared from my earpiece.

“You’re too calm for this, Iris.”

“Focus,” I scolded both of these women like an older sister stopping her younger siblings from a fight.

Meanwhile, another manly voice started a countdown on our ears.

“8… 7… 6… 5…”

Hands on the trigger, scope on the target, bullet prepared.

“Do not engage. I repeat, do not engage.”

His voice from the earpiece sounded more like a comfort than a panic, changing the first directive all of a sudden.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, still not letting go of the target on my aim.

“They are approaching the bridge! We can’t miss the chance!” Bellafiore burst out. I could hear her curses on the other end of the line.

“These kids…” a mumble appeared but I just shrugged off his remarks.

“Not helping,” I scolded again to Sinistre, but he only laughed at me.

I shifted my scope’s focus from the vehicles to Snapdragon, who is still tailing the parade while keeping more and more distance away from them.

But I noticed something more behind her.

“Check the rearview for a tail aside from the escorts. I’m seeing two more cars behind you from the drone. I ran the plates of those, they are all owned by Talianzo,” Zakienzo’s words revealed my thoughts.

Damaris’ curse entered the comms clearly, while spitting a conversation with Zakienzo.

“Seems like they are securing the estúpido that much,” Bellafiore reacted as she accelerated her speed, trying to cut off her tails. “People tend to be more protective when they have something to hide,” she added as she turned to another direction, taking a shortcut instructed to her.

Sinistre stood up from his position and left me with a few assets while taking some of the loads with him. As I stayed at the rooftop, I watched how the two cars followed Bellafiore’s way out of the road.

“I’ll be there in five,” I said before Sinistre walked his way out.

“What will you expect from el tonto who murdered his own wife for money and power? That bastard is surely afraid to live his sins inside the prison and afraid to die outside too,” Damaris said from the other line.

“Take them discreetly, Nightshade.”

Almost two minutes only passed, and I already saw how Sinistre’s car managed to enter the parade. The lined-up vehicles turned into chaos as they noticed an uninvited visitor in their celebration.

When they finally reached our extraction turned into an engagement point, I shot their tires one by one and aimed for the drivers’ seats of each van and car.

“Coming at you, Crown!” Bellafiore reminded me.

I started taking all the traces with me and brought out a rope that Sinistre left for me.

Two minutes.

I placed the bag on my back, and ran to the other side of the building where he was positioned earlier. Then I shot the end claws of the rope to grasp the wall and tied myself to it.

Without having a second thought, I threw myself out of the rooftop, with the rope holding my weight from the tenth floor.

“On my way down, Snapdragon.”

Just as Bellafiore almost reached my dropped off location, another motorbike appeared in the opposite direction, shooting the rope that’s holding me.