Abbie was on her way to meet her next target. It made it easier to call them by objects instead of people. It made the prospect of fucking them and then killing them after seem less horrid than what it actually was. It had been a week since Abbie and Rosa stormed the Red Wing hideout and retrieved whatever it was that was in that vault. Jerome, Abbie's boss, gave little information as to why the laptop they retrieved was so important. In fact, the moment they entered his office, he quickly took it from them and hurried them out the room. Abbie didn't even get a chance to introduce Rosa to her.
Now that she thought about it, it was a little weird that he hadn't even asked about Rosa being there. None of that mattered right now though. Abbie was driving to meet her next victim at his apartment, it was on the bad side of town, of course, but that never bothered her. Rosa insisted on coming along; the idea of killing more Red Wings turned her into a savage, but Abbie convinced her that she needed more trained if she was to really help in a serious battle. Spending her entire life using her powers in a domestic setting wouldn't help her in the heat of battle.
About ten minutes later, Abbie knocked on the door leading to the man's apartment. A soft voice answered her.
"Who is it?"
"Special deliver, from Jerome," said Abbie. The person in question worked for Jerome, like Abbie. Only problem was that Jerome was starting to suspect the guy was leaking information about the gang to the Red Wings. Abbie was ordered to "investigate" him.
"Just a minute." The voice sounded closer as it approached the door. A layer of darkness from the room spread out into the hallway as the man opened the door. Abbie could make out his features as the hallway lights shown on his face. He was... absolutely plan looking. Not handsome, but not ugly. Short black hair, slightly overweight, t-shirt and jeans. Just a regular looking guy. The only thing that stood out about him was his expression. Normally, guys that saw Abbie all decked out, which she currently was, would have immediately stared at her breasts while having their mouth slightly gaped. This guy just lazily looked at her face, surprisingly, with an almost bored expression. Abbie thought that was a feat in amongst itself.
"Mind if I come in?" asked Abbie, "Jerome wanted me to stop by and talk with you." She smiled, hoping that would spark something of an emotion in him besides "I don't give a fuck," The man just stood there.
"I never thought Jerome would send a woman to kill me," said the man. Abbie's smile immediately faded. Well, this was new. Most guys Abbie was sent to kill were idiots. She decided to play it dumb, mainly just for the amusement.
"What are you talking about? I'm just here to talk with you about your new assignment."
"Uh-huh. Well, come in at least. I'm actually curious on how you'll gonna kill me. I doubt you're hiding a gun in that outfit," said the man. His eyes casually looked up and down Abbie's outfit, which was a skin tight red shirt and leather pants. He moved to the side letting Abbie in.
"Honestly, I'm not here to kill you. I just want to talk," said Abbie as she walked into the apartment.
"About what?" asked the man. He closed the door to. Abbie expected him to lock it, but he didn't.
"I'm supposed to... Well, I--"
"Will you just cut the crap and do what you came here to do. We both know I've been passing along information to the Red Wings. No doubt Jerome sent you here to shut me up." He sat down on his torn up couch. His careless attitude never wavered as he propped his feet on the coffee table. Abbie just stood there staring at him. For someone who was about to die he was taking it rather well. She walked over and sat down in the armchair across from him.
"So why did you do it?" she asked. There was no point in pretending any longer. She at least owed him the courtesy of not treating him like an idiot since she was about to take his life.
"Jerome isn't the guy you think he is. He'll use you to get what he wants."
"Well, of course he will. What line of work do you think we're in?" Despite her forced statement, Abbie had a hint of doubt in the back of her mind. What was this guy talking about? Jerome was always fair with her. Whatever, this guy's probably just mad that he's not getting paid enough or something petty like that.
"That's not what I mean. You wouldn't understand. I lost someone close to me. It was the Red Wings... but I have a feeling that Jerome set it up." That got Abbie's attention. She sat up in her chair and looked at the man hard.
"What makes you say that?"
"It was my wife. We were walking home one day when a group of Red Wing thugs attacked. Funny thing is, it felt like they were mainly after her than me. That doesn't make any sense though. If they wanted to kill me, they had a clear shot." Abbie listened, and couldn't help but make the obvious comparison to what happened with her and Tony a few weeks ago. It couldn't just be a coincidence, but it still didn't make sense.
"Why do you think Jerome is behind all of this? Sounds to me like the Red Wings are just trying to put the squeeze on us by going after the ones we love," asked Abbie. Her mind was racing, trying to figure out if this suspicion held any merit, or was it just some bullshit story this guy was cooking up as an excuse.
"When I was at our base, I saw a bunch of Red Wing uniforms in this storage closet. Plus, the guys that attacked us just seemed too professional to be a part of the Red Wing gang. It was a real precious operation. I don't know. I just feel like Jerome is getting his men to pretend to be Red Wing soldiers, mess with us, and give us a reason to have a personal vanadate against the gang. I know it sounds stupid, but at the same time... here you are, hired by Jerome to kill me." Abbie sat there in silence, taking in everything she'd just learned. He was right; it did sound stupid. But, at the same time, she couldn't shake off the thought that there might be truth to it.
"A couple of weeks ago, I was with my nephew when I was attacked. My nephew didn't make it. Right after, some Red Wing guys came to my sister's house, lookin' for trouble. My sister gave it to them. Now my sister is working for Jerome to get back at the people she thinks killed her son," said Abbie.
"Why would Jerome want your sister to work for him?"
"She has... special skills," said Abbie. Her mind was too preoccupied to give a clear answer. Right now, all she wanted to do was talk to Jerome, "You mind if I make a call?" she asked as she got up from her chair.
"There's a phone in my room down the hall. I'll wait here," said the man. Abbie walked to where he was pointing and closed the door behind her. She picked up the phone and dialled Jerome's number. He answered after the third ring.
"Jerome, we need to talk. This guy you wanted me to take care of is saying a lot of interesting things." Abbie heard Jerome's suave voice through the receiver. It came out like velvet, or, something of an equally clichΓ© nature.
"Oh, is that so. Well I don't care what lies he's told you. You got a job to do! And you're gonna do it too. You wanna know why?"
"Oh, do tell," said Abbie, she placed a hand on her hip, making her look like a bad-ass
"Because I have eyes all over you. You don't know where, but rest assure I can see everything you're doing. By the way, I love that outfit. Red and black suit you."
"Fine, but this'll be the last time," said Abbie as she hung up the phone. She was pissed, but knew one sure way to let off some steam, and do her job at the same time. She left the bedroom and walked towards the man.