7 The Ballad of April Haywood

There was something different about whatever was going on. What exactly it was, Vicky didn't know. She couldn't move. That was certainly unsettling, but not her chief concern. Her chief concern was that she was dead, or at least she figured she was dead. That's usually what happened to most people when they took a bullet to the gut. She had certainly seen it more than a few times herself. So, by that logic, she must have been dead.

It was dark. That seemed to make sense to her. She didn't buy into many of the afterlife theories that were around. Her dad had told her once when she was younger about a place called The Infinite Plains, where all people that left this world went to rest. You could see all of your family again, and everyone was happy. She had always considered that idea a nice thought, but nothing more, and if it were true, she should have seen him and her mom by now.

She remembered once hearing from some person who was yelling on the street corner about a place where all who did wrong went. The Void is what he called it. He said something about it being a place devoid of all of The Empress' light, where the evil gods of old would torture you for eternity or some such nonsense. Maybe that's where she was. Although since she had yet to be tortured, and couldn't spot and old gods around, she thought his theories had a few holes in them too.

Then something changed. It wasn't dark anymore. It was actually really bright, too bright in fact. As she looked around, she saw a blur of people surrounding her. As their faces came into focus, she realized that she was most likely not dead. Everyone who she cared about was there, even the new girl. She wasn't dead, that was a plus at least. So, if she wasn't dead, she couldn't move, and she was surrounded by the people that she cared about, then there were only a limited number of places that she could be.

As everything came back, she started hearing the beeping of the machines around her. She was in a hospital. That was probably a good thing. While she wasn't a fan of hospitals, she knew that if she was there, then at least she was most likely being taken care of. Now that she thought about it, everything was going pretty good right now. Maybe it was just the drugs, then again today could have just been a great day.

As everything slowly worked its way back into focus, she noticed that most of the people around her were crying, or at least had been crying recently, especially the new girl, which she thought was a little strange. They were all staring at her now. She figured she should probably say something. For some reason, she was having a hard time thinking of something cool to fit the situation, let alone something that was even coherent. Her thoughts were still a bit fuzzy.

She decided to settle on an old standby.

"Sup?" She asked groggily as she tried to blink the sleep out of her eyes. That seemed to do the trick, because they were all still smiling, Sunny even more so. Things were really looking up. She wasn't dead, and she was making her friends smile. She decided it was time to try out some more words.

"What happened?"

That was an easy one that was always a good choice in situations like these.

They all stood still for a second and their smiles seemed to falter. That wasn't a good sign. Here she was thinking this was all going so well, and she had already managed to mess it up with just two words.

Sunny took a step towards her. "It doesn't matter now. All that matters is that you're okay. We thought we were going to lose you."

Her voice cracked at the end, and Vicky winced. She had only seen her aunt anywhere near sad a few times since her parent's funeral, and always hated it. She was so strong that it seemed almost unreal to see her falter in any way. It was almost like watching The Empress herself break down and cry or something like that.

She wanted to put her hand on her aunt, but was finding it extremely difficult to move, so she tried talking some more.

"It's okay Auntie. Really, I'm fine."

She expected some kind of witty quip from Luke at that point. It was usually about then that something like that would always come, and he had them down to a science. Nothing came though, which threw her off. Then she realized that Luke wasn't there.

Some people would spend countless amounts of time fretting to themselves about this sudden revelation, thinking so fast and so much that they would drive themselves crazy. Not Vicky though. If there was something going on that she didn't understand or was upset by, she didn't hesitate to let any and all around her general vicinity know about it.

"Where's Luke?" She asked as she continued to look around. Maybe he was hiding somewhere, waiting for the right moment to pop out and say something droll and clever. It wasn't really something that she would have seen coming, but she didn't put it past her childhood friend to do something like that. He was nowhere to be seen though.

Sunny moved forward and put her hand around Vicky's and stared at her for a few seconds, seemingly contemplating what to say. Usually that was never a good sign. The last time Sunny had done something like this was just before she told her that favorite dog had been run over. A saga which ended in Vicky stalking the person who she had believed had done it and openly and loudly threatening their life in the middle of the street. She was eleven.

Relief came quickly.

"He's doing just fine Vicky. He got you here just in time, but had a little accident in the car. He saved your life," Sunny finished with a warm smile.

Another good sign, things were continuing to look up. Luke was alive and he had saved her life, something that Vicky would have to make up to him sometime. Maybe it was time to give him the roll in the hay that he had so desperately wanted but refused to actually acknowledge for so many years. Maybe the new girl could even join too, that would be pretty awesome.

She then realized that while she had been vividly imagining that scenario and how she could get it to work for her (everyone loves people who are hurt and have a hard time saying no, right?) the others were staring at her, no doubt expecting some kind of response. She had to think of something and fast.

"Oh…Um," She started, "That's great. Can I see him?"

The nurse, who she hadn't even really noticed until then, stepped in to answer her. "Not yet, I'm afraid. Currently you are both very much incapacitated. He has an injured leg and shoulder, and can't walk right now, and you can't do anything at all for at least the next week. We wouldn't want you to open up any stitches."

Well that just wasn't going to happen, she couldn't just not get up, especially for a week. She had things to do. She was a busy woman, a drug kingpin (queenpin?) in the making, and her up and coming empire wasn't going to ruthlessly establish itself, after all. Aside from that, what if Sunny had another problem that she needed handled? She couldn't exactly carry out something like that from the confines of a wheelchair. Well, she probably could actually, but it would certainly take a lot of the fun out of it.

"Sorry doc," she said, turning her head slightly to focus on the nurse. "That doesn't really work for me. I need to get out of here pronto. I've got things to do and all that."

The nurse just gave her a slightly annoyed look. "First of all," she said after a deep sigh, "I'm a nurse, not a doctor. Secondly, your aunt wasn't exaggerating. You are lucky to be alive. We had you in surgery off and on for two days and you still almost didn't pull through. While the bullet didn't rupture your internal organs, it did nick quite a few. If you start moving around and tear one of those stitches you will most likely die from sepsis before we even have a chance to do anything about it. So, I apologize for any inconvenience being shot has caused you, but you really can't do anything for at least the next week, and more likely for the next few months you'll be fairly incapacitated."

Vicky was annoyed. That was actually putting it lightly. She was angry. The day had been going so well too, or was it two days ago? Now she had just learned that not only could she essentially not move for at least the next week, but that it would take months to recover. She considered just attempting to get up and walk away then and there just to prove a point, but she decided that it maybe wouldn't be the smartest thing that she had ever done.

She decided in the end to just let out a very annoyed grunt that would hopefully signify to the nurse that she understood, but was certainly not happy about it. It was something that she had learned to mirror almost perfectly after spending years with Luke, who was a master of it. It seemed to do the trick, as the nurse just nodded and excused herself shortly afterward.

Then, after a few soft hugs from her brother, who had most certainly been crying even if he didn't want to show it, and the others, they left her and Sunny with the room to themselves.

"You really have no idea how close we were to losing you there, Vicky." Sunny said softly as she embraced her dear niece. "You really need to thank Luke when you get a chance to see him."

Vicky scoffed. Of course she would thank him, and then proceed to throw an off-color joke in there somewhere. What it would be, she didn't know, but she knew she had at least a week to think of something good. In the meantime, there was something that she needed to discuss with her auntie.

"So," Sunny started after their embrace ended. "What exactly happened? Just tell me what you remember, and we can go from there. I already talked to Luke, but he took a really bad hit on the head on the way in here and he was a bit fuzzy on the details."

Vicky thought back to the night in question and began to ramble off the events that unfolded. The last thing she remembered clearly before things got crazy was taking shots with that cute couple who just got out of the Founders play, and thinking about what she could convince them to do with her later that night after the alcohol had fully set in. The next thing she knew, it was a madhouse. There was screaming and then the gunshots started. She remembered grabbing the shotgun from underneath the bar and shooting at them, and was pretty sure she had hit at least one of them.

Then she remembered hearing that her precious stash was the target, and she knew that she had to protect it. She did what she had almost always done in serious and life threateningly deadly situations: totally wing it. Most of the time it worked out pretty well, that time not as much. Her general plan was to rush at them with guns blazing and lock the office down before they had a chance to get in. She then realized as she was barreling towards them that she wasn't holding the gun anymore, and things went downhill from there. Before she really had a chance to react, she felt a explosion of pain in her stomach, and her legs fell out from under her.

She remembered remarking to Luke about how much it had hurt and how she never fully realized that she had been doing that to other people. When she did it, it was usually quick. They maybe choked a little bit or struggled around but that was it, when she wanted it to be that is, but that's another story.

Then the last thing she remembered was looking up at Lisa as she held her and thinking about how funny the whole situation with Lisa was. Not 'ha ha' funny, but more of a really fucked up and manipulative ironic version of funny. She enjoyed that type of funny, and at least she thought that it was as good of a note to die on as any. Then she woke up in the hospital.

Apparently, according to Sunny, Luke had drug her out into the car and had driven them here. He miscalculated how long it would take to stop on the ice, and they crashed, which had also almost killed Luke. Sunny had even mentioned that the doctors told him that if she had come a minute or two later, she would have most likely bled out.

That was a trip for sure. She usually liked to make light of things like this, especially since she had dealt with enough violence and death on a daily basis that it wasn't really a big deal to her. This time was different. She was literally one minute away from death, and Luke had saved her. The roll in the hay was overdue indeed as far as she was concerned. She owed her long-time best friend a lot more than that, but it was certainly a start.

Then, before she knew it, she was fantasizing again instead of paying attention to her conversation. It had been a major theme in her life, almost something out of that really terrible TV show that Lisa watched about doctors trying to be funny a few years ago. She would just sort of fade in and out of full conversations sometimes when she thought of something interesting. Her aunt once called it an 'internal tangent episode' and would always give Vicky a disapproving look when she was having one, much like she was doing right now.

She lightened her gaze though and smiled. "And here I was thinking that this experience would have somehow changed you," she said with a chuckle. "I'm really glad you're okay Vicky. I don't know what any of us would do without you."

Vicky smiled, it was always nice to be told how awesome you were, even if it wasn't in so many words. Then she started thinking about everything again and realized that it was time to be serious. As the potential severity of the situation set in, she started unleashing a fury of questions.

"What about all of the stuff in the office? Did they get it? Do you know who did it? What are we going to do?"

She was eventually silenced by her aunt lightly placing a finger over her lips. "Don't worry," she said looking deep into Vicky's eyes. "They got most of it, and most of the money that was in there too. They didn't get the safe, thank The Empress, but they took just about everything else. It doesn't matter though, all of that is replaceable, you aren't. We got a name, and as soon as you are all better, we are going to follow up on it."

The answer had seemed to calm her. Sunny hadn't held them personally responsible in any way for what happened, and would be replacing whatever was lost, something that was relatively easy for a woman with her influence. They knew who did it too, and she couldn't wait until she could walk around again so she could personally take every single liter of blood that she had lost back from them. She still had one question though, for now at least.

"How's the club?" She asked, expecting the worst.

Sunny then passed her over a newspaper that had been sitting on the table with her club on the front page. She read it over and had even laughed a little bit. This was certainly one way to get your name out there if nothing else. "The Ascension Day Massacre?" She said, putting the paper down. "Seems a bit absurd to me, but whatever."

Sunny chuckled. "The whole thing is pretty absurd, but at least we're all here to tell the story. I have to get back to the club and start doing damage assessment stuff for insurance. I need Max and Vanessa with me, but Rose offered to stay behind and stay with you. Should I send her in?"

The new girl wanted to stay with her? That was something she didn't expect. She must have really worked her magic on her the night before everything went down. She felt a certain sense of odd pride at that, and nodded slightly. They hugged and said their goodbyes and soon afterwards Rose came in.

They started talking about everything that had happened, with Rose asserting more than once that she was just happy that Vicky was alive and didn't know what she would do without her, which again seemed a little strange to Vicky but she didn't mind.

Rose stayed for as long as they would let her, and she kept coming back every day, and would even sneak in at night when the nurses weren't around. It's not like she had a job to go back to, and she was more than happy to be spending time with Vicky. They would spend time talking about pretty much everything. They talked a lot about Rose's past, and a little about Vicky's. She didn't want to let her into that part of her life, at least not all of it. She left out the more murderous parts and stuck with drugs, the club and music.

The more they spent time together, the more Vicky found herself enjoying the company. Eventually, they shared a kiss when talking about how Vicky almost died. It was a nice, soft kiss. Not normally the type that Vicky preferred, but it was nice. She was more into rough and angry kisses that usually came with a slap or bite, but soft and sweet ones could be good too. She figured that she could get used to them.

As they days went by, the kisses became more and more frequent, which Vicky didn't mind at all. She had never really felt like this before. She had really come to like the new girl, not just for her body (which was pretty amazing) but for her.

She had known almost everything about Rose after the first few days and the more she learned, the more she liked her. She had a dream and followed through, and even though things didn't work out, she was willing to go out of her element and do whatever it took to make it a reality. It was something Vicky really respected and admired.

Truth be told, Vicky didn't respect many people outside of her immediate circle. Most of them were saps whose greatest ambitions in life was to put bread on the table for their families. She couldn't fault them for that, not everyone was connected like her, but where was their drive? Luke and Lisa both came from nothing, so had most of the people in Sunny's circle that were basically her family, even if she didn't get a chance to see them very often. They had the drive and the guts to take what they wanted, so why couldn't everyone else do the same?

The visits and kisses became her new normal for the next eight days. By the time it came to be released, she had even heard that she could finally see Luke. She couldn't wait. She had to thank him for saving her life, although now with her new found affection towards Rose, the roll in the hay may need to wait for a little bit, unless she could convince them all that it would be a good bonding experience for the three of them or something like that. She figured she could come up with something, but that wasn't what they needed to talk about.

It was time to get back at whoever had done this to them. They would regret ever setting foot in this city by the time they were done with them. They would be made into an example for anyone else who thought it was okay to fuck around with Sunny Morella and her friends, she would make sure of that, even if it killed her.

When it came time to talk to Luke, there really wasn't much to say. She started with a hug, but it hurt them both. Then she just kept thanking him, over and over, until they got in the new car Sunny had bought for them and made their way home.

Three days after getting out of the hospital, Vicky and Luke sat in their apartment wrapped in blankets and enjoying some nice warm cocoa and rum, talking about everything that had been going on. They didn't really have much time to spend with just each other. Between being stuck in the hospital and doing interviews with the guards about what happened, they didn't have much time for anything. Today though, they planned on spending the day relaxing at home, the club was on its way to getting put back together, and they wanted to relax for a while before getting right back into it.

Their level of mobility was still very limited, especially Luke's. He had trouble walking and started to feel like he was becoming dependent on the pills he got from the hospital. That was an entirely different can of worms that would have to wait for another day. For now, he just needed to worry about getting his leg healed and dealing with April.

They had people watching her apartment for quite some time, and she was still there as far as they knew, but was holed up with enough hired muscle that any attempt at a straight on attack would be another massacre that they couldn't afford. Fucking April, how could she have been so stupid. They were never friends, but he thought they actually got along okay when they contracted things out to her. He did know that April had always been a bit too greedy for her own good, but he never took her for an idiot.

No one robbed Sunny, no one that knew who she was anyway. It was just a given; a fact as indisputable as the changing of the seasons. Either she was just getting too big for her proverbial britches, or she didn't know what was going on. Luke figured that it was most likely the latter, but he couldn't know for sure until he had April by the collar and could ask her himself before he put her down.

The only other thing weighing on his mind was how they were going to recover the club. There were rumors about it being connected to the tribes, and now they had multiplied. Plus, even if people didn't know about the connection, who would want to go to a place where twenty-two people (at least that was what the total was up to now) were massacred just a month prior? The whole thing was bad for business.

Vicky, on the other hand, had less serious matters on her mind. She was just sick of not being able to walk anywhere, and really sick of not being able to smoke. Every time she took a deep breath, she felt like she was getting punched in the chest. She tried a cigarette once last week, but she ended up coughing so hard that she almost popped her stitches out.

To add to that, she was incredibly bored. She tried to compose a bit for a new song, but she could barely focus on anything without it turning into a headache after a few minutes. Mostly she just spent the days sighing and watching TV with Luke and occasionally Rose when she had free time away from club work.

That was one thing that Vicky was actually happy about. Things with Rose had only gotten better since she'd been out of the hospital. She stopped by almost every day, and whenever she was there, time seemed to actually move faster than a snail's pace. Fran had been by a lot too, and she and Rose had actually become good friends as well.

Luke wasn't as happy about all of that. He was mostly just annoyed by Rose and wished that she wasn't around as much. Fran was even friendly with her now too, which was even more annoying. He blamed it mostly on the pills. They seemed to make everything around him seem annoying.

He couldn't help but feel a little jealous as well. After the crash, and thinking that Vicky was going to die, he realized how much she actually loved his best friend. If it wasn't for his stupid leg, he would have been the one waiting on Vicky in her room instead of Rose, and he would more than likely be in Rose's place. He convinced herself that it was nothing but a temporary setback. Vicky would grow tired of Rose eventually, and then he would get his chance. He wouldn't let it go this time, though. All he had to do now was bide his time, and the rest would follow.

Things went on like this for another week, until Luke was able to walk around at an okay speed and Vicky was able get around slowly without doubling over in pain every five seconds. It was time to get to work. There was a lot to be done, and not much time.

They had to find a way to get the club back in working order, find a time to get April away from her apartment, and also find a way to get back their stolen goods from her. Without that money, they would have to borrow from Sunny to get things back in order. She knew, of course, that Sunny would give them the credits without even a second thought, but she didn't want to have to ask that favor.

It was another bitter cold morning in early January when they decided that it was time to get things working again. Luke started his day with a list of names of all of those who owed them money or favors and got to work on the phone. One way or another, he would get back to where their temporary success was before it was cut short. Nothing would stand in his way. There would be bodies rotting all over the capital if there had to be, one way or another, they would have what was theirs.

Across town on the twenty-first floor, April was on the verge of making a decision. After her first call with Neon, she found out that not only had Sunny managed to work out that it was her who was behind the robbery, but that she was almost certain that it was Neon himself who tipped them off to her. This presented her with a tough scenario.

Sunny had people all around the city that were no doubt looking for her. If she attempted to leave her house, she would most likely be shot on sight or kidnapped and tortured for hours on end until they eventually disposed of her. She had used a large chunk of the money that Neon gave her (thank fuck he had actually held up his end of the deal) to take some of her people off of the streets and have them guarding her inside and outside of her home around the clock, but eventually that well would run dry, and there would be no barrier between her and Sunny's well known ability for bloody retribution.

It had been almost a month since the heist, and she couldn't keep going like this for much longer. There was pretty much no way to actually leave the city, not that she could think of anyway, so what choice did she have? She was able to come up with four potential options. Option one was to keep the guards around until her credits ran out and hope that she could figure out something then. Not a great option by any means, but still viable, and it would give her time to think, but that time wouldn't last forever, another month or so at the most.

Then there was option two. Call up anyone who she knew for favors and start an all-out war with Sunny and hope to come out alive. Also, not a great option. Even with everyone she knew at her disposal, and that she could hire, she would be outnumbered by Sunny's crew and her associates by at least three to one on a good day. If it came to it, and she knew she was going to die one way or the other, she would go this way and at least try and take some of them with her.

Option three was the one that she personally detested the most but was probably the safest. She could get in contact with the royal guard and agree to become a witness in exchange for protection. This would not only put her on everyone's kill list for the rest of her life, but it would be abandoning something her father taught her from a young age: never go to the guard. If you can't handle your problems yourself, you aren't worth anything. Also, who knew what political power Sunny held with the higher-ups? She knew a little bit about the tribes, but they kept most of that shit under lock and key to outsiders like her. For all she knew, she could be found dead via "suicide" in her cell before she could give any information to anyone.

Then there was option four. This was one that killed her pride, but it somehow seemed to be the most sensible one, despite being such a long shot. She could call Sunny and explain what happened. Offer to pay her back what she took, which would most likely bankrupt her, and even give up Neon in exchange for her life. Sunny was a reasonable woman, and knew a good deal when she saw one. She would jump at the chance to have a legitimate reason to get rid of Neon. He was her only major competition that was connected in the tribes, and she was probably itching for a reason to have him taken out.

With all of this on her mind, she sat staring at her phone and looking at Sunny's number on the notepad on the table next to her constantly filled ashtray. She knew that it would be her only real shot to get out of this situation alive, and she had to take it. She slowly picked up the phone and started dialing.

When she heard the familiar voice of Sunny on the other end of the phone, she was scared stiff for a moment, and was about to hang up and figure out a different way to do this. Thankfully her courage came back to her after a few seconds.

"Sunny Morella?" She asked warily, already knowing full well that was who she was speaking to.

"Yes," Sunny answered with a slight hesitance, "who is this?"

She took a deep breath, it was time for the moment of truth. "It's April Haywood. We need to talk."

There was no response for a few seconds, and April started to panic again. Finally, the silence was broken.

"Talk about what dear? Did you call to confess? We both know what you did, there isn't really much to talk about anymore. Why should I talk to you at all?"

Sunny's voice was as cold as ice coming through the phone, and dripping with venom. A chill went down April's spine.

She couldn't lose her nerve now; she might not get another chance. "You have to believe me, I didn't know it was your place or this never would have happened. I was hired to do a big money job and wasn't given details, just an address. I can give you information on who did it, plus I can pay you back most of what I took from you. I'll pay the rest back with interest. All I ask is that you let me get out of the city."

Her voice had started to break towards the end.

Another dead silence. The panic was rising in her every second until finally Sunny spoke again.

"Why should I believe you?" She asked coldly.

"I have proof. I swear it on my mother's grave," she spat out quickly. She waiting for a second for a response, but when none came she started again.

"Listen, just meet me at my apartment. Bring as many people as you like, just give me a chance to set this straight. I know you are a businesswoman, and you'll want to hear what I have to say. If you still don't believe it after that than you can just kill me."

This time Sunny didn't wait for a reply. "Okay. I'll be there in forty-five minutes. If anything should happen to me there, I promise you will die slowly and screaming. Are we clear?"

April nodded. "Crystal. I'll be waiting for you. I'm at 1204 East Newton Street in the Halloway Heights building. Apartment 2104."

"Don't worry," Sunny said with the same venomous tone she had before, "I know exactly where you are."

With that revelation going through her mind, she hung up the phone and lit another cigarette. This would either be the best or the worst decision that she had ever made, and could very well end up with her dead. There was nothing else that could be done, though. Nothing else but to call all the guards in and wait.

Exactly forty-five minutes on the dot later, she saw two black cars pull up in front of her building and thirteen people get out. Sunny was one of them, and among her crew she spotted the famed Francois Bianchi, and some blonde girl wearing a hoodie who looked familiar too. She lit another cigarette in her non-stop chain and put a pistol beneath the cushion that she was on.

About a minute later, the knock on the door came and she took a deep breath, motioning for one of the guards to open it. In walked Sunny wearing a black business suit and aviator shades. Fran and blonde girl where immediately behind her along with seven other henchmen that filled the room, each locking eyes with one of her own guards.

She waved Sunny over to the couch. "Sunny," she said with a small courtesy of her head. "Fran," she acknowledged the lanky beauty with a glance. "It's been awhile."

"Not nearly long enough I'm afraid," Fran responded as she sat on the chair facing the couch with the other girl sitting beside her. They both had a look of hatred in her eyes, and she could imagine why. For all she knew, they could both have been there that night and had barely escaped with their lives.

Sunny then spoke up. "Listen April, I don't have a lot of time so I'm going to give you exactly five minutes to say what you have to say. If at the end of those five minutes, if I'm not convinced, then I'm going to have my associate Lisa here," she motioned the other blonde one, "break this big window and toss you out of it into the street. Are we clear?"

April audibly gulped. Now was the time for her to set things right, it was now or never. She cleared her throat.

"If that's the case, I'm going to get straight to the point. Like I told you over the phone, I had no idea who we were going to be hitting. All I got was an address and what was potentially inside and that it had to be done that night. I got a group together as fast as I could when I saw the potential take and sent them over there. They were instructed to not injure anyone unless they absolutely had to, but from reading the papers I can see how that was obviously not what happened.

"If I would have known you were in any way related to this, I never would have gone through with it. Not only do I have no ill will towards you, but I'm not a madwoman with a death wish either. I actually have a lot of respect for you and your organization."

Sunny stopped her there. "Cut the shit, April, and tell me what I want to know. Who gave the call and where is my fucking money and powder?"

April almost lost her nerve at the stare that Sunny was giving her. There was no doubt that if she didn't say the right thing then, she wouldn't even live long enough to regret it. She cleared her throat again and scanned the room.

"It was Neon that gave the call. He told me if I gave him the package and the money, he would split the profits with me. As for where your money is, I told you before that I don't have all of it, only most of it, and it will literally be bankrupting me to give it to you, but I'll do it. All I ask is that you leave me with enough to leave the city, and as I said before, I'll give you the rest with interest as soon as I can."

Sunny just stared at her for a minute, and she could swear that this was the end. Any second now, she would be taking a twenty-one-story plunge to the icy street below. She almost started to reach for the pistol when Sunny finally spoke up.

"Here's what I'm going to do for you, April," she started slowly, "you get Neon to admit to this somewhere where I can confirm it, either through a recording or near one of my associates. After that, you will give me all of your money and anything valuable in your possession, including the deed to this apartment. Then I will let you out of the city. You will have exactly three months to come up with the rest of my money, or I will send someone after you. Next time there won't be any talking, and you will die, horribly. Do you accept my terms?"

She froze. Getting Neon out in the open would be tricky. She had no other option though; it was either this or death. She wasn't ready to die, not quite yet. She just nodded her head.

"That's good. You have one day to get me that information. I will not wait any longer, and I will have my people watching you at all times. Good luck."

With that Sunny stood up and they all filed out of the room.

April felt like a great weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, and she took a deep breath in. She had to figure out a way to get him to talk. She figured the best way would be with a phone tap, but that would take some time to get a hold of. She sent one of her boys with instructions to a back-alley merchant who could provide the service and started preparing what she would say.

Downstairs, Lisa, Fran and Sunny had just sat in the back of the long car that they came in and started driving away. "Do you believe her?" Lisa asked. "I mean, it just seems too easy, doesn't it?"

Sunny nodded. "I believe her. She has no reason to lie at this point, and Neon had every reason in the world to try and take me out of business. Unfortunately for him, he's a moron who only got to where he is now because I helped him as a favor to his uncle. He got it in his tiny mind that he could outsmart us, and now he is going to pay for it with his life. I can take whatever I get from April to the council and sanction a hit on him. With luck, I'll absorb his crew and we'll double in size."

Fran scowled. "She did almost get Vicky killed, though. Can you just let her go after all that?"

Sunny didn't say anything for a second; she grabbed a drink from bar in the limousine and took a sip. "For April it was just business. That I can forgive. For Neon though, it was beyond personal. He's going to suffer for it."

There was nothing else to be said between them as they continued towards the docks, back to the club to continue with renovations. Sunny dropped Fran and Lisa there, and then headed back to her office to wait for the call.

As the day stretched on, Luke had exhausted all of the names on his list and was still having trouble getting any help. It's funny, he thought, how people were your friend when they needed something, but were quick to turn their backs as soon as it was time to return the favor. He wasn't completely shut out, as he had managed to get around a two thousand in owed credits from various people, and even the offer to help with extra protection at the club for free from some of her former associates. It was a start, but not nearly enough. He was ready to give up calling for the day and relax when he got a call from Sunny.

Sunny explained everything that happened with April, and the gravity of the situation began to hit Luke. If what April had told Sunny was true, then things were about to get a whole lot worse before they got better. A war was coming, and he was about to be thrust right into the middle of it. He'd never been in the shit like that before, but he'd heard enough stories from Sunny, Moe and the rest of the old guard to know that it wasn't pretty. Of course, he couldn't tell Sunny no. He just agreed to start gathering the troops and preparing for a sit-down to discuss the next steps.

He went out to living room to see Vicky snuggled up on the couch with Rose. "Vick," he started, trying to get her attention. "I need to speak to you in private please."

Vicky sighed and slowly got up, hobbling with Luke into the kitchen, almost to exaggerate her wounds and how sore they were. When they got back, she closed the door behind them and Luke filled her in on what she had heard from Sunny.

"That fucking cocksucker!" Vicky exclaimed, slamming her hand down on the countertop. "I knew we should have killed that worthless bastard years ago. He's a hustler and lowelife pimp who only got where he was because of Nicky. He's barely a full member of the tribes for Empress' sake. Now he has the balls to pull this kind of move on us? He's out of his fucking mind, and I'm going to blow it right out of his greasy-haired skull!"

Vicky was fuming with rage and started coughing from the drastic movement she was making. Luke put a hand over her shoulder.

"Let's not get too carried away here, Vicky. If it comes to war, we'll go, but we've never actually done anything like this before. If Sunny really wants to go all in with this, we need to get ready soon. Call anyone who you know, especially people who need protection if things get messy, and get them ready to come to Sunny's compound. I'll start making calls around the city to find apartments for us. We'll put a squad in each one and have them on call. This could very well be the real deal, and we have to be ready to go at a moment's notice. Don't you remember what Sunny and Uncle Moe told us when all of this shit went down the first time after your mom? It's going to get messy, fast. Blood in the fucking streets, and if we don't want it to be ours, we need to take this seriously and be careful."

Vicky was fuming, but had at least calmed down enough to know what needed to be done, all while envisioning what she was going to do to Neon when they caught him. She had a lot of work to do, and somewhere in the back of her mind she was hoping Sunny gave the call. She was ready for blood, and she wasn't going to stop until they were all dead.

As the day began to fade away and the moon rose, April was getting ready to call Neon. She had everything set up and had let all but three of her guards go home. She had worked out exactly what to say and was ready to give it her best. She picked up the phone, staring out the large glass window in her living room down into the street below. Neon picked up on the other end.

"Neon," she started and without waiting for a response, continued. "We need to talk. I need some extra cash from that job."

He scoffed through the phone and she could almost picture the smug look on his face. "Why would I do that April? You already got your cut last month."

She stood up and started to pace about the room while holding the phone. "The situation has changed. I need to get out of the city and I'm almost certain that Sunny is on to me. These guards aren't cheap, and I need some extra cash. You owe me for not filling me in on what this Empress-forsaken job was going to be in the first place."

She heard him chuckle on the other end of the phone and her blood started to boil. "Sorry April, but I owe you exactly dick. You got your pay just like I did, no more and no less. Also, you seem to have forgotten what I told you when this all first went down."

She stopped still in her tracks. "What are you talking about?" She asked.

"I told you to never mention my name." he replied with a deadly serious tone. "Don't you remember what I said would happen if you mentioned my name?"

She started to shake. "What are you talking about? I never said shit! Don't try and change the subject!"

He laughed again. "April, April, April, did you forget who found those guards for you in the first place? The only reason you are even still breathing is because I wanted to hear this happen to you."

As each word came out, she started to panic. Before she knew it, all of her remaining guards were staring at her, looking like they were ready to pounce. She went into action as fast as she could, hurling the phone at the closest one to her. He took a hit to the head and dropped, but the other two lunged toward her immediately. One of them pulled a knife from his vest and came at her.

She managed to duck under his dive, but his knife cut her all the way up the back. She wasn't going to go down that easily. Her father taught her how to fight, and she was going to fight until the end. She picked up the temporarily stunned man by the hair and slammed his head down on her hard granite coffee table, smashing his jaw and breaking his neck.

She didn't have time to pause, as the one who she'd hit with the phone earlier was now up and the other guard was charging her at full speed. They connected and she went to the floor. They started wrestling and she could see the one she hit with the phone pulling out a pistol from his coat. She reacted as quickly as she could, and flipped the guy she was wrestling with on top of her as the other one started shooting. He took five bullets to the side. One came through and hit her side as well.

She screamed in pain, and then remembered that her own pistol was still tucked under the pillow on the sofa. She reached for it but before she could get to it, the now empty pistol that the other man had come flying at her and hit her in the head, it bounced off of her and spidered the glass in her large living room window. She was dazed and started to lose consciousness, but she wasn't going to give up yet.

She finally reached the gun and pulled it up just in time to fire one shot, skimming the man's head but not quite connecting. He came crashing down into her, knocking the gun out of her hand. She was starting to fade, but she tried her best to keep fighting. She knew that she could succeed. She just had to push. She was April Haywood, military trained and feared mercenary, and she would be damned if it was going to end like this.

The man got on top of her and started punching her in the face. She blocked him as best as she could, but she was losing strength. She had one last option. She reared up her legs and bucked him off of her. As he was trying to get his breath back, she turned and reached for the gun. The man, in a quick act of desperation, grabbed a shard of glass from the broken window and plunged it into her back with all of his strength.

She couldn't move. Her insides were on fire, and she couldn't breathe. She tried to kick him off again, but he stabbed down even harder. This was going to be the end, but if she was going, he was going with her. She took a second to think about how it had all come to this, and how she wished she could have lived a different life, as most people do just before it's all over.

Then, without any hesitation, she used the last of her strength and turned around. She wrapped her arms around his chest and used her legs to push off from of the coffee table with enough force to send them both rolling out of the window and down to the cold ground below. In the last seconds she had in Beacon on her way down, she felt content. She went out on her own terms. That was what they would say about her in the end. She could be happy with that.

Then, with a loud thud, they collided in a mess of broken bones and blood with the ground below, putting an end to the short and unfinished life of April Haywood, and any chance that Sunny had for getting evidence to use against Neon.

Sunny was in her office when she got the call just minutes later. Her boys heard gunshots and then saw the bodies coming out of the window. She didn't say anything, just slammed the phone down on the receiver hard enough to crack the plastic.

Richard was sitting on her office couch when she did, and immediately stood up. "What happened?" He asked, clearly concerned.

She shook her head. "They got to her. I don't know how, but they got to her first." Her voice was low and furious. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It doesn't matter. These things will work themselves out. They always do. It seems like all my problems end up going well for me in the end. Just look at how the whole situation turned out with Lisa."

"What we did to Al was unfortunate, and I feel bad for the poor girl. But look at her now, she's one of my best earners. I won in the end, and I'm not planning on stopping. I don't care what it takes, we are going to nail that bastard down and put him in the fucking ground. Call in any of our friends and try and get a tap on where he lives and where his main place of business is. Eventually, he's going to slip up and I need to be ready when he does."

Richard nodded and stood up. He had work to do, just like they all did. As he exited the room, he almost ran into a surprised looking Lisa just a few feet outside the door holding a few cups of coffee. He reached out a hand and took a cup.

"Thanks," he said without giving her a second glance. She wouldn't have noticed either way, she didn't even see who he was. She was too busy trying to process the information she just heard through the door. She had been standing there, waiting for Sunny to calm down before she came in. It was going to be a long night.