The stale air in the room glittered with dust mites filtering through the sun. Breaking in through the yellowed, broken blinds. The smell of copper lingered with the many stained, brown rings worked into the carpet. A tattered, fabric couch was pushed up against the wall behind what seems to be an out of place, elegant, wooden desk. On the couch, Luke twitched as the light slanted over his face. A low moan filled the room as he rolled over, shoving his face into the back cushions.
A sharp knock on the metal door reverberated around the room and into the man’s pounding head. He ignored it in favor of pushing further into the soiled couch.
Frankie shoved the door open, hinges screaming in the silence, and flipped the light switch to the left of the door. Luke whined deep in his throat as he glared at her through a squint.
“What?” He barked at her.
She heaved a sigh and placed a hand on her cocked hip. “You,” she said, “are disgusting.” Taking in the clothes piled in the corner from yesterday, she watched him sit up wearing nothing but his boxers and the ratty blanket around his shoulders.
He waved her off and reached for the almost empty bottle of whiskey on the table next to him. Untwisting the cap, he took a mouthful straight from the bottle. She stood in front of the desk, turning a blind eye on him, and surveyed the bulletin board on the wall next to it.
A map covered the majority of the board. Pushpins marking seemingly random spots and printouts tacked up all over each other. There were multiple pages of calculations and what looked like personnel profiles along the edge. The desk, too, was covered in papers. Newspaper clippings, blueprints, receipts, a mountain of parking violations, a beat up laptop, and enough empty bottles to make an alcoholic proud.
“Luke, we can’t keep doing this. Just the two of us isn’t enough anymore.” She pushed a green pin into another spot on the map. “Either we bring more people in or we’re gonna have to tap out. We have a B team, but we don’t even have an A team.”
“I’ve been looking into it,” he grumbled, scrubbing a hand down his face.
“This?” She pointed to the profiles lining the board. “This is petty theft disguised as real crime.”
“Don’t worry ‘bout it. I’ve got the real candidates up here.” He tapped lightly at his temple.
Frankie ripped the pages down angrily. “I’m tired of stitching us back together after what should be a safe job!”
“Hey.” There was a warning in Luke’s voice.
“I’m not watching you die, because you can’t find good people!” She yelled, throwing the stack of papers at him.
“Frankie,” Luke’s voice cut through the room with suppressed rage. He was still doubled over on the couch, but every muscle was tense and poised for action. “You ever get the urge to talk to me like that again...we’re done.”
Frankie froze and let out a ragged breath. “Shit, Luke. I know. Shit. I’m just fucking tired, man.” She braced herself against the desk. “I’m not putting you in the ground because I wasn’t enough.”
The couch groaned as Luke heaved himself into an upright position. He clasped Frankie’s neck in a commanding grip for a second then continued on through the door. “I know. I’ve got it covered.”
She could hear him making his way down the stairs slowly, still pretending he hadn’t hurt his ankle yesterday.
Taking one last look at the map showing their properties and where the Soulless was trying to move in. When they started this, Luke had said they were going after the money. Now, however many years later, they were running the city and way too low on people to maintain the chaos.
He had changed since this started. And here they were, at the breaking point. The final job in their reach. And they were bringing in new people way too late in the game. She wouldn’t be able to trust these people. Frankie would have to not only do her job, and probably Luke’s too, but keep him alive and whole. Saving him from himself, a-fucking-gain.
She left the office when she heard a crash from downstairs.
“What are you doing down there?” She yelled, making her way down.
“Nothing!”
Frankie walked into the kitchen where the noise was coming from.
“So,” Frankie said. Luke was digging through their very empty fridge. He peeked over the top of the door at her. “B team.”
He frowned and went back to digging through the fridge.
“You thought it would be a good idea to spring that on me mid job? I’ve been saying for months that we need to bring people in, and your fix was B team? They’re fine at what they do, but none of them want to be in the middle of it. We need people on the job.”
Luke nudges the fridge closed with his hip, having come up empty-handed. He opened his mouth to speak, but Frankie cut him off.
“And! And I can’t believe-- Can not believe that you didn’t tell me you thought this job was too much for just us.” She jabbed her finger into his chest pushing him further into the counter where he was leaning. “You lied to me.”
At this, he cut her off. “I didn’t lie to you.” He rubbed his sternum. “I omitted.”
Her eyes flared in anger, “You gonna nitpick like that? Seriously?”
“Alright, alright. I get it. I fucked up. You’re mad. Can we talk about who I’ve got coming in for this job.”
Frankie crossed her arms tightly over her chest and held her tongue. When Luke didn’t continue she waved him on.
“We’re obviously going to need a hacker. Elite Holdings Bank has some serious security. All high tech, all brand new. I’ve been hearing about this guy. He’s been cleaning out execs from multi-million dollar companies for fun. He’s been working out of New York mostly, but with the right incentive…” Luke trailed off suggestively.
“This ghost got a name?” Frankie asked.
“He’s been going by Pharoah. Ryan’s been working on getting more for the past week. As far as we can tell, Pharoah is his real name. I put out feelers last week after that whole thing with The Soulless. Still waiting to hear back, but I’ve got a good feeling.”
“You put out feelers when you were shitfaced?”
“I wasn’t shitfaced.” Luke scowled. “We’re tracking his movements. He’s burning too hot. Too fast in New York. He’s gotta move anyway. Might as well scare him out here.
“Oh, Luke. You didn’t.”
“I just wanted to push him in the right direction. He’s good, Frankie. He could make or break this for us.”
“We’re gonna need more than a hacker to pull this off, you know?”
“Yeah, I know. Things are in motion.”
Frankie rolled her eyes skyward. “Great,” she deadpans.
“I’m serious. I’ve got someone coming in for a chat. I want you there. You do the whole,” he waved vaguely, “people thing best.”
“Fine,” Frankie said, rubbing at her brow. “When?”
“He’s coming into town tomorrow. I told him to swing by the penthouse around noon. Can you be there?”
“Yeah, what the fuck else am I doing besides watching out for your dumb ass.” She said hopping up onto the counter. Her feet bumped the cabinet, the stilettos she wore dangled from her toes.
“Well, no need to be so blunt about it, but good.”
“Who exactly is this? What’s he do?” She asked.
“Demo. Kid’s good at it, too. Already got himself a rep.”
Frankie pursed her lips. “Kid? Didn’t realize we were adopting.”
“He’s not that young. Name’s Walker. He got too big for his britches out East. I found him laying low in Texas. Seemed ready to get back in the game. He’s never worked on his own and was wasting his talents. We got lucky.”
“I’ll be the judge of that tomorrow.”
“Sure, sure.” Luke said. He pushed away from where he was leaning and started puttering around the kitchen. Opening and closing drawers. Looking for nothing. Frankie tracked him the whole time. “I’ve got my eye on a real crazy dude. Merc for hire. He’s proving to be stubborn. What I really need,” Luke said with a significant look at Frankie. “Is a sniper.”
“You want me to talk to him?” Frankie asked, resigned.
“I mean…”
She breathed a deep sigh. “Fine, I’ll try to find him. No guarantee. He went to ground a couple years ago. I haven’t heard anything but ghost stories.”
“I’m just asking you to look.”
Frankie crossed an arm over her stomach. “I said I would.”
“Ok, then we’re good.”
“You need me for anything today?” Frankie asked. When Luke responded in the negative, she jumped off the counter landing gracefully on her heels. “Then I better go meet up with some old friends.”
“See you tomorrow.” He said.
Luke watched her walk to the door. Her shoulders were taut, the line of her back tense. The click of her heels echoed through the empty warehouse as she left Luke standing there alone.
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