The guys at the Agency finally got me the coordinates of Mint's hideout.

I knew this moment would arrive sooner or later. In this age, having all this technology, you can't remain undetected. No matter how good you are, how strict your rules are, sooner or later, you'll start to follow a pattern, coming and leaving. And that pattern will tell a lot about the nature of your business.

If that business is the operation of the greatest mercenary army in the world, not even choosing the simplest building in the neighborhood will protect you from being discovered.

Now all I have to do is wait.

Mint will come out. I will shoot him. End of story.

I hope he'll appear soon. I hate to have all these conversations with him in my mind.

It's bullshit, bro. You don't hate it. It makes you feel guilty. Big difference.

Oh, shut up, Mint. You're practically forcing me to shoot you. It's you or me now.

I don't want to hurt you. I could never do that.

Liar! You're a fucking liar, man. The moment you returned, you betrayed me. Me, and my trust.

Come on, bro. What were you thinking, letting me go? That I'd start a new career as an accountant, or what?

Well, there are several grades between an accountant and the most wanted criminal in the world. You knew that you'd put my life in danger with this, you knew very well. So who's killing who, bro? I'm doing you a favor by shooting you nice and easy. You'll feel nothing. I'll make sure you won't suffer.

I probably won't. But you will.

If there were another way—

You know that you're talking to yourself, bro, right?

I'm talking to you, you Judas.

I do not hear this. I'm not even here.

You're lying again, asshole. You're definitely here. You're stepping out of the building, right before my eyes, leaving through a hidden side door, trying to avoid me. Wearing a mask, hoping that I won't recognize you. Well, you're wrong. I'd recognize you by the way you move amongst a million, like a predator, not confined neither by the laws of physics nor the laws of society.

I shake my head to unclog my mind.

I need to concentrate. I have to pull the trigger now. The target is clear. One shot to his head, and it's all over. The predator will turn into an easy prey.

But he's not alone. I must be quick before the other person, coming out of the door with him, obstructs the view.

The only problem is that my hand starts to tremble when I recognize Mint's companion. It's Gabriel.

My pulse quickens to two hundred beats per minute in the blink of an eye. I have to bite my tongue to keep myself from yelling a curse at them.

They are together.

She's helping him. Mint, against the whole world. Gabriel joined him to destroy our civilization, not giving a shit about the fate of all those innocent people who are bound to die, including the children in her class.

She's helping him against me.

They are collaborating behind my back. Laughing about me. Sharing little secrets. And God knows what else they're doing.

Stupid bitch. Mint's always been her favorite.

Women can't be trusted. Still, it hurts more than being shot, and I know this from experience.

Never mind. I have a bullet for her, too. One for each.

I never wanted to go close, but now I can't resist. They don't deserve an easy death. They must know what will happen to them before I kill them. For betraying me. For turning against everything that once was important to them. For turning against me.

For leaving me alone.

For letting me mourn them. For letting me face every passing day without them by my side.

They both abandoned me when I needed them the most.

I don't even try to conceal my presence. I walk up to them with a gun in my hand.

"You're dead, fucking traitors," I grunt. My hand's still trembling, but it won't keep me from shooting them.

They should raise their hands in the air. When someone points a gun at you, you usually do. But they just stare at me.

"Surprise, huh?" I sneer at them. "Hey, Mint, don't even try to pull your gun. If you do, I'll kill your little girlfriend—oops, accomplice first, in a fucking painful way, and I'll let you watch it."

"The fuck are you talking about, mate?" Mint fumes. "I don't even have a gun!"

"Why not?" I ask. "Are you nuts? First, you ditch your tactical vest, and now, your weapon? Who do you think you are, a fucking wrestler? Do you have a death wish?"

He keeps staring at me, confused.

"As if I cared!" I huff. "It's only good for me. Just sayin'."

"Thanks, bro," he answers. "I'll bear it in mind."

"Stop trying to distract me, all right?" I shout at him. "You deserve death! And she does, too. She has a gift that she could use to save everyone, yet here she is, conspiring with you!"

"She's not," Mint protests. "We had met some fifteen minutes ago! And you can't shoot me either at the moment, because—"

"Are you trying to tell me what to do?" I ask with as much derision in my voice as possible. "You're in no position to tell me what to do now, bro! You're in the position of a traitor, being executed. You fucked me over once, you won't fuck me over again."

That's the moment when Gabriel gets fed up with us.

"Enough of this," she huffs. "Duke, Mint speaks the truth. We weren't in touch at all. I contacted him today to ask him a favor."

"What favor?"

"He's going to free Tobey," she says, making it sound as if it was in the same category as giving Tobey a ride home or taking him to a pottery class after kindergarten.

"Free from where?" I ask.

I see them, exchanging suspicious looks. Fuck, they are trying to lie to me again.

"I know it will sound stupid, but from his own men," Gabriel answers.

I knew they would try to confuse me. I just knew it.

"Right," I agree. "It sounds stupid. You should come up with something more believable."

"But it's the truth, bro." Mint shrugs.

"Details," I order, pointing the gun right at his lying mouth.

"Tobey was kidnapped by my men," he says, finally raising his fucking hands. "But when they did, they weren't my men, so—okay, it's complicated. I'm going to get him back. That's all."

"Your men don't listen to you, huh?" I ask him, smirking. "It's not a mercenary army, mate, it's a fucking pigpen."

Just when I start to enjoy the turn the conversation took, Gabriel cuts it short again.

"It's true," she says. "I need Mint to get him back."

I have something else in mind.

"I have a better plan," I tell her. "I kill him, and I ask the black ops to retrieve the boy."

"I need Tobey back unharmed," she answers. "So, no. No black ops."

"They are the best," I insist.

"Hell no." Gabriel pouts. "Mint is the best. He has an 83% chance to bring Tobey back, unscathed. The black ops have 32."

"But he's a criminal! How can you trust him with Tobey's life? He's the most dangerous—"

"That's the point," she interrupts me.

"Okay," I decide, out of the blue, surprising myself, too. "I'm going with him."

"Like fuck you're coming," Mint protests, without skipping a beat.

I don't even bother to pay him attention.

"What the numbers show?" I ask Gabriel.

"The chance of success is elevated to 91% if you work together. He's going," she says matter-of-factly, turning to Mint.

He's pondering the situation, but I know that it's just for the show. His mask shows nothing but his eyes, but I know that look. He loves the idea, as stupid as it sounds.

"Okay," he sighs after a long pause. "On one condition. You don't kill my men."

I sigh, too. But, as stupid as it sounds, I love the idea, as well.

"Okay," I agree. "But after we bring the boy back... we'll never talk about this, right? We'll forget about it, bro, like it never happened. And the next time we meet, I'll kill you."

"Deal." He nods. "How do I know, though, that you won't shoot me in the back during the mission? Or blow my cover, which means the same for me, practically?"

"Lambs come first," I answer, without a second thought. "Killing you comes after."

The logical defects of my reasoning only dawn on me while I'm putting my mask on.

God, I hate masks.