Chapter 1

The hall was quiet, and no one entered or left the floor. David had told them no one would, that everyone on the floor, in the whole building, would be out while they did the job. Nine of Clubs would be inside, maybe his daughter and sister too; that was part of the plan though. But Felix knew plans rarely worked out perfectly. Caesar was a bit nervous about the whole thing, shifting from foot to foot with his hands in his pockets. Felix had done this far too many times to be nervous. The only sign of any sort of nerves on his part was the cigarette he smoked by the open fire escape window at the end of the hall, his eyes on his wristwatch.

At 7:57, he flicked the butt out the window and closed it, brushed a stray flake of ash from his leg, and walked over to the door with 1015 in tarnished brass screwed to it, standing off to the side and watching while Caesar locked the stairwell doors and walked over. Caesar went for his pistol, but Felix shook his head. He tapped his ear and put one finger to his mouth, and Caesar nodded, tugging on his ponytail.

Nine of Clubs opened the door at precisely eight pm. It swung open into the apartment, and they stepped in front of it.

“Hello,” Felix said, a lazy smile making his mouth crooked. His foot slid forward and stopped the door from closing. “Thought we’d just stop by for a moment, Sosuke.”

Nine of Clubs tried to shut the door one more time, but with a gesture from Felix, Caesar shouldered it open and pushed the small Asian man further back into the apartment. Felix shut the door behind him and locked it when he entered.

“Your sister in?” Felix asked after a moment, scratching his chin and looking about the entryway. There was a couple pictures on the wall of Nine and a little black-haired girl whose eyes became dark lines of eyelashes when she smiled. At the end of the hallway was a faded white closet door; on one side of the closet was a doorway with open drapes instead of a door covering it, and on the other was another off-white door that led into what Felix assumed was a bedroom. Nine shook his head. Felix leaned forward. “Eh?”

“No,” Nine said firmly, showing some courage by speaking clearly. “She took my daughter out for a movie.”

“Ah,” Felix said, sounding a bit relieved. Grabbing Nine by the arm and taking him into the living room, he caught Caesar’s attention. “Check the place. No need for anything rash yet. Find anyone or anything, bring ‘em into the living room.”

Caesar shot him a look, and left. Felix shook his head, and turned to the Japanese man.

“He’s new,” he said, walking across the room and grabbing the television remote in one gloved hand and powering it on. He judged the economics program to be satisfactory once the volume was turned up. One hand drifted over Nine’s pockets until his phone was found. “Takes himself far too seriously. Sit.”

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a card, and tossed it to Nine, who fumbled it before picking it up and looking at it. He dropped onto the sofa heavily, a small light brown stuffed bear that was laying on the middle cushion shifting over to brush against his leg, and set the card on the coffee table.

“You know what’s going to happen, Sosuke,” Felix said as Caesar began searching the place; drawers were opened and emptied, mattresses were cut and searched, and Caesar wasn’t being quiet about it. “You can make this easy and clean, or hard and messy. Your girl will never have to be touched.”

Nine of Clubs looked up from the card and nodded. His hands were shaking.

“I know,” he said. “But I — I haven’t —”

The sound of toothbrushes clattering into the sink and what was most likely a bottle of mouthwash hitting the floor made him pause.

“Sam’s good at what she does, Sosuke,” Felix shrugged. “She found out.”

Nine sagged.

“You... Do you promise not to hurt my daughter?”

Caesar walked into the living room and shook his head.

“Ledgers and post-its. Laptop.”

“No reason to hurt her anymore than I’m already going to,” Felix said, answering Nine of Clubs while still looking at Caesar. “Tell us where it is so we can get out of here. No reason for her to see you until the funeral service, right?”

“Nii-san,” a voice hummed from the entryway. Nine’s face paled.

“Haruka,” he called. “Don’t come in here!”

“What?”

“Don’t come in here! Put her in bed and stay in the bedroom no matter what.”

“What are you saying, nii—”

The voice stopped, and Felix stood, turning and reaching into his jacket. A woman, Japanese like Nine, stood in the entryway looking into the living room. She was short, with short black hair that curled around her ears. A little girl was sleeping in her arms. Felix’s hand retracted gripping a pistol, his thumb already pulling the hammer back.

“逃げろ!” Nine shouted, kicking the coffee table into Felix and Caesar’s legs. The two men staggered; that and their surprise at the shout gave Nine time enough to run into the entryway, pulling the drapes behind him, and pull open the closet door to block the doorway into the hall.

It was just in time, too. Bullet holes seemed to bloom in the wood even as it opened.

“Run, damn it!” Nine shouted over Haruka’s frightened shriek at the gunfire.

“You didn’t hear her opening the door?” Felix grunted, looking at the card left on the table. He stepped over and picked it up, and looked at the empty sofa.

“My shoes, Sosuke!”

“Forget your shoes!”

“Papa?”

“You turned on the TV!” Caesar growled, sprinting after the man and his family, Felix right behind him. The front door slammed shut as they skidded into the entryway. “Damn it!”

Caesar grabbed the door knob and pulled, but Nine pulled back, desperately trying to keep the door closed.

“Sosuke!”

“Run! Take it and run!”

“Papa! Papa!”

Their voices were muffled by the door.

Felix shoved Caesar to the side, leveled his pistol, and shot three times.

“Papa!” the little girl was screaming, but her voice was muffled even more now. “Papa!”

The door creaked open. Nine was on his back, bleeding onto the carpet, twitching and one hand held to his chest.

The hallway was empty.

“What the hell?” Caesar hissed, glaring at Felix, who ignored him and looked down the hallway.

“Look for them,” he said, standing over and looking down at Nine. He shot him once more, a splash of blood flying up from his forehead, before oozing out in a slow, thick red stream.

The elevator bell rang out. Felix and Caesar looked up, watching the numbers drop. 13... 12... 11...

Felix dropped the card onto Nine, the playing card falling face up on the dead man’s chest to mark him for sure as a hit: a nine of clubs, clean and untouched by blood. Felix motioned to Caesar.

They unlocked the stairwell doors and ran down leaving the hall and the dead man behind, their steps echoing in the emptiness. They reached the bottom and burst onto the ground floor, and saw the mostly empty lobby, and the woman standing at the desk, crying and shouting in Japanese. The attendant and the woman looked over and saw them. The woman turned and ran, still holding the screaming little girl, and the attendant ducked underneath the desk.

They ran for her, but she made it out the door and into the darkness of the street, the teddy bear in the girl’s hand shaking such that it looked like it was waving to them. They stopped, heaving and panting, and watched a taxi peel off into the night.

Felix pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

“Well,” he breathed out, holstering his pistol. Caesar looked over at him. He smiled wryly. “Fuck.”