9 The Enemy Within

She couldn't see much, just the snow. It was so cold, and her hoodie wasn't doing her any good. Every night, she stood her waiting for him, and, eventually, every night, he would come. Every night she would run up to him again and say his name. Every night he would turn and face her, and every night she would close her eyes and squeeze the trigger. The loud bang, the gun shaking, it was all the same, until she opened her eyes again. Then when she looked down to make sure he wasn't getting up, it was Al on the ground, choking on his own blood and kicking around. She knew the part that always came next, but she couldn't stop herself. She looked down at her wonderful husband choking in the snow, and pulled the other trigger on the shotgun, and just like every night before, just as the blast went off, she woke up.

Lisa sat up in a cold sweat, screaming into her empty apartment. It had been four days since she killed Skag, and every night she had the same dream. She had barely spoken to anyone since then, she'd only left the house once for groceries. Every day she would look at the necklace and know that she needed to move forward, but she couldn't actually force herself to do it, knowing the horrors that would lay ahead for her. Today she had decided that she had to continue, for Al, and for her own sanity's sake.

As if fate had heard her choice and reacted, the phone rang. She hobbled off of the couch that she had been sleeping on (she couldn't bring herself to sleep in her and Al's bed since that night) and reached for the phone.

"Hello," she answered groggily, the sleep still in her eyes and voice.

"Lisa? It's Luke. Where have you been the last few days? Is everything okay?"

She heard Luke's voice, but it didn't quite sound like him. He sounded more subdued than usual, if that was even possible.

She faked a cough.

"Sorry Luke. I've been a little under the weather lately. I think I caught a cold standing outside that night. I'm feeling a bit better today though. Did you need something?"

Luke continued in his monotony. "That's good to hear. I did actually. I have an opportunity for you to make some extra cash. I think there should be a good chunk of it if you are interested, and it would help me out a great deal."

Lisa perked up at the mention of money. While she hated working for them, the debt that Al had accrued against the bakery wasn't going to relieve itself. Plus, it would give her a chance to get more documentation for Benson. The closer she was to getting out of this, the better.

"Sounds great Luke," she said in a chipper voice.

"Wonderful to hear kid," Luke returned, sounding slightly more interested. "Meet me at the club tonight and I can go over all the details with you."

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Lisa looked down at the matted and greasy hair that fell in front of her face and down her shoulders. She hadn't even bothered to shower since the shooting, and she smelled herself fully for the first time since then. It was enough to almost make her sick to her stomach. She hopped off the couch and headed for the bathroom.

Across town, Luke had just hung up the phone and picked up his guitar. It had been months since he had written any new music, and he planned on introducing a new song during their jazz night next month. He had been up most of the morning trying to put something down, but nothing was coming to him. His mind was cloudy and his hands were shaking.

He figured it was the pills, so he took a day off from them. That lasted for about four hours, until he started shaking and threw up. He crushed two of them and snorted them as quickly as he could get them up his nose. He couldn't remember the last time he ate one, that wasn't cutting it anymore. The thought of shooting them up made him sick, and smoking them got him higher, but only for about half an hour, so doing rails was his only answer for the time being.

He knew he'd have to quit eventually, but it was going to be a long and painful process. He didn't have time for that right now. Maybe when all this shit with Neon was settled, but who knew how long that would take? Could he really keep this up for years? How the fuck did Vicky function like this all the time? The answer, of course, was that she was all about uppers, not downers. But she hadn't actually been using them that much recently, had she? Luke wasn't sure, but it seemed like her eyes were certainly less manic and her gestures less wild since she'd been spending time with Rose.

Ugh, that was definitely something he didn't need to be thinking about when he was trying to write a song. He pressed down on the strings and tried to focus, but was getting nowhere. His frustration quickly turned into anger, and he tossed the guitar away from him, hearing the feedback from the amp blasting into his ears as the beautiful instrument clanged across the tile floor.

"Fucking shit!" He yelled as he turned the amp off. He thought about kicking it, but was able to restrain himself. He'd definitely have to pay someone to fix the guitar, might as well not waste money on a new amp on top of that.

He reached for his bottle to crush up another pill, and noticed he only had four left. Weren't there six in there? This wouldn't do at all. He'd been lucky to get his script pushed so far after the crash, and they definitely weren't going to write him another one. He could have asked one of Sunny's doctors, but he didn't want anyone to know how deep he was getting into them. He just hoped that Lisa and Moe would be able to come through. He could ration out his four pills until then.

Across the long hallway and in her bedroom, Vicky heard the feedback from the amp and it broke her out of a nightmare. She shot up out of bed and felt a sharp pain rip itself through her stomach and up her chest.

"Aw, shit!" She exclaimed as Rose stirred beside her. She sat up and started rubbing Vicky's scar slowly, while planting a small kiss on her cheek. Vicky looked to the end table next to the bed where she kept a pistol tucked in the drawer.

"What's going on out there?" She called, cautiously.

"It's nothing, dropped my guitar, sorry." She heard Luke say from the other side of her door.

"You scared the shit out of me, dude. Put on headphones next time."

She didn't get a response. What was his deal these days? He'd changed since the shooting, but she couldn't figure out why. He'd been so pissy lately that she was actually kind of getting tired of being around him, especially when he was in one of his moods. What did he have to be so upset about? They were alive and making money hand over fist, weren't they?

Rose cut her off with a concerned look.

"You okay, baby?"

Vicky sighed. "I think so. I don't know sometimes, though."

She reached over to her nightstand and pulled a cigarette from her pack. "It's been like two months and I still feel weak. In my line of work, you can't be weak. All it takes is one mistake like this and it can be life in prison, or I could be cast out."

Rose reached for the cigarette, pulling it out of Vicky's mouth and putting it in her own."Quitting smoking is a good place to start, sweetie," she said with a smile.

Vicky smiled back. "You're probably right about that. I'll try pretty much anything at this point."

She sighed again and looked down at the bed. Rose put the cigarette out and wrapped her arms around Vicky.

"No one is going to leave you Vicky, least of all me. As far as going to jail or getting cast out, whatever that means, I'm pretty sure your Aunt can handle that. She seems like a pretty well-connected woman."

Vicky laughed.

"You don't know the half of it, sweet cheeks. It's more than just that though. She's got a lot of power, but some things are out of her control."

Rose looked worried.

"Like what?"

Vicky took Rose's hand in hers and planted a kiss on it.

"Let me worry about that."

Rose took a deep breath. "Okay. I just get worried sometimes when you talk like that. I love you, you know."

Vicky looked deep into Rose's eyes. She had never felt like this before, and no one had ever told her that they loved her, not in that way. She didn't know what to think, she just said the first thing that came into her mind.

"I love you too. I really, really do."

Rose grinned widely and got on top of Vicky, straddling her and planting a firm kiss on her lips. Then one more, and more and more as she moved down Vicky's chest. She couldn't believe she said it back to Rose. She meant it though, at least she thought she did. She loved Rose as much as she was capable of loving anyone, that was for sure. As Rose's kisses made kept going down, Vicky's mind went white and she forgot about everything else.

As the morning continued, Sunny was sitting in her office, drinking some coffee with Jenny, and going over some business plans. They had been at it for quite some time, and were arranging a large deal to bring fake diamonds over from one of the nomad tribes and distribute them to the nobility of the city.

"So how will we get them out?" Sunny asked. "I mean, you and I both know the nobles, unless it comes from those East Avenue stores, there is no way they won't turn their noses up at them, no matter how high the quality."

Jenny took a sip of her coffee. "Well, what would it take to get our stones in one of those places?"

Sunny thought about it. "Most likely more of a cut than it would be worth to bring them over in the first place."

Jenny took another sip. "There could be a way around that. Why don't we just find one of the suppliers from one of those stores and get in with them? If nothing else, we could pose as them and sell the stones full stop to the stores themselves. By the time they find out we aren't who we say we are, they'll have already given us the money and it will be too late to do anything about it."

Sunny thought on this. It was a pretty good idea, one that she would have to consider for sure. Before she could respond, her intercom beeped.

"Miss Morella, there's a man here to see you. He says his name is Neon."

Sunny set her mug down. "Give me a minute and send him in."

She reached into her desk and grabbed a pistol, putting it in her lap. She reached into another drawer and grabbed another one, tossing it to Jenny.

"Be ready for anything," she said, giving her a deadly serious look.

Jenny just nodded, slipping the gun behind her back on the couch she was sitting on. Just then, a knock at the door came, and Neon walked in. He had on large aviators and looked disheveled. She pointed to a chair for him to sit down and he did.

She gave him a cold look. "What are you doing here?"

He just laughed. "I would have been here sooner. I've been dealing with Skag's funeral for the last few days. His mother passed out when she had to identify the body. Do you mind if I smoke?" He asked, already lighting a cigarette.

She was staring daggers into him. "Go for it. I heard about what happened to your buddy. It's a tragedy. It seems like we've both been having bad luck lately."

Jenny stared Neon down. "Maybe it's karma." She said, giving him a small smirk.

He sighed. "Let's cut the shit, Sunny. I know what happened to Skag. He was my best friend, you know. I cried for the entire first day after they found him." He choked up a bit with his last words.

Sunny kept her eyes locked on him.

"That's too bad. Hopefully they find whoever did it."

He took a deep breath and shook his head. "I think I've got a pretty good idea. Business is business though, as they say, so I've got something for you."

He pulled out a bag and tossed it on the table. Sunny motioned for Jenny. She came over and picked up the bag and started counting the credits inside. Once she was done, she looked at Sunny.

"It's about seven thousand."

Sunny looked at Neon. "That's funny, that's a little less than half of what was stolen from me a few months ago. If I remember correctly, that is."

He chuckled. "Nothing gets past you, does it Sunny? Don't worry. That's all I have right now, but I'll find a way to make this right. I just want one promise."

"And what would that be?"

He stared her down through his glasses. "I need to know that we're all good here and that I can walk around on my own territory without having to worry about catching a bullet. I want the same for my associates. Can you promise me that?"

She didn't answer at fist. She wanted to make the little fucker sweat.

"Okay, but you have to make sure that you remember everything that happened over the last few days. I know you wouldn't want to see something like that ever happen again. If you can make sure that happens then I think we will be okay. Does that sit well with you Jen?"

Jenny stared down Neon. "I don't know, boss. Maybe we should just kill him now. Might save us from a lot of potential headache in the future."

Neon turned to her, then quickly back to Sunny.

"You can't do that. Like it or not, there's rules. You kill me now, my uncle will have every button man in the city hunting you down."

Sunny looked at him furiously.

"You broke those rules when you fucked with my club and put my niece's life at risk."

He scoffed. "I don't know what you're talking about. I heard that was all April Haywood's doing, and last I checked she 'aint exactly around anymore to pay you back."

Jenny got up from the couch and stood over him.

"Then what's the money for, smart guy."

"Call it paying my respects to my old mentor or call it a goodwill gesture between from a friend. Call it whatever the fuck you want, as long as you call it good between us."

"Sit down, Jen. We're good here."

Jenny sat back on the sofa and took a sip from her coffee.

Neon nodded in agreement and stood up. As he walked towards the door, he turned back to look at them one last time before bowing his head to them and walking out. Jenny stood up and locked the door behind him. She came over and sat down on the other side of the desk across from Sunny.

"So," she started, "what are we going to do with him?"

Sunny sat back in her chair and smiled. "Nothing, for now at least. Let's wait and see if he makes good on getting even with us. If not, we move forward. If he does, then I suppose I can let this whole thing go, at least until something else happens. Who knows, maybe this will work out well for us."

Jenny was unconvinced.

"I don't trust him."

"Neither do I, but I think he's more of a coward than he is an idiot. He can talk about his uncle all he likes, but he knows that won't save him from ending up buried in the mountain."

"Whatever you say," Jenny said, taking another sip from her mug. "Now, let's figure out what we're going to do about this diamond situation."

That evening, the club was having a big band night, and the crowd was all dressed up and dancing. Lisa had cleaned up and was wearing a jet-black hoodie with the hood down. She was looking and smelling a lot better than she did in the morning, and was feeling better too. She knew she needed to keep her eyes on the prize. She had hardened her heart and was prepared to do whatever was needed to make sure that Sunny got what was coming to her. With determination on her face and her necklace recording, she stepped into the club.

She noticed both Vicky and Rose behind the bar, serving some people in fancy dresses. She didn't stop to talk, just nodded towards them, which they returned. She made her way straight to the back office and opened the door to find Luke and Moe sitting at her desk.

Luke looked to her and smiled. "Lisa, it's good to see you. Sorry you've been under the weather. How are you feeling?"

Lisa sat down at the desk next to Moe. "I'm doing okay. I'll be fine as long as I don't spend too much time standing out in the snow any time soon."

"That's good to know," Moe said to her with a smile. "I have to say, I was a little worried about you after that night. You did well though for a first time. Some people crack under that kind of pressure."

Lisa nodded to him. "Thanks. I knew it had to be done, it wasn't an issue."

Luke looked at her. "That's good to know, because I have an opportunity for you. How would you like to hit a big payday?"

Lisa didn't even have to think before responding. "Of course, Luke, just tell me what I need to do."

Moe chuckled. "That's the spirit kid. With an attitude like that, you'll do well here."

Luke put her hand on Lisa's shoulder. "I love your enthusiasm, and I'm sure that you'll do a great job. It's nothing too difficult. I just need you to go to the eastern side of Sunny's territory, over by Richland park. There, you'll find a nondescript house on the corner of 31'st and Royal. Inside that house you will find some people who have been selling something here that they shouldn't be. I want you to go in, take their money and their supply, and make it clear to them that they're on the wrong side of the city. Bring the supply back to me and you can keep the cash. Sound good to you?"

Lisa was nodding as Luke was talking, taking it all in.

"Do they need to be taken care of?" She asked when Luke had finished.

Luke shook his head. "No, there's no need for that, unless they try getting fresh with you. They just need to know that their time in the drug business is over. How you decide to send that message is entirely up to you. Consider it a test of your effectiveness in taking care of little problems like these. Unfortunately, they arise far more than they should, and you'll probably have to be dealing with them more often than you would like."

Moe looked to Lisa. "Luke's sure that there won't be any problems but, just in case, he asked me to step in and help you out to make sure everything goes smoothly. Is that okay with you, kid?"

"Sure. It seems like you have a lot of experience, I could probably learn a lot from you. When are we going to do this?"

A small smile built on Luke's lips. He would be getting exactly what he wanted. "Tonight, the later the better so they aren't expecting it. It'll take some time to get over there, so you can go now if you like. Moe's car is outside."

Lisa nodded to her and they both stood up and left the room. As they walked out Vicky came in and shut the door behind her, locking it. Her limp was all but gone now and she was back to about ninety percent of her usual swagger. She sat down at her desk and opened up the drawer, pulling out her pack of cigarettes and lighting one.

She turned her head to Luke, who was looking over some papers on his desk. "It seems a little weird, right?"

Luke turned to her, putting the papers down. "What seems weird?" He asked, trying to put a smile on his face. He was starting to come down and wasn't very successful in rationing the last of his pills from the morning. He just had to hope Lisa and Moe would get it taken care of.

"Everything. Being back here after what happened, after all of the shit we've done before. I've never actually been that close to dying until then. It really can make a person think about things, ya know. Take inventory or whatever."

Luke put her papers down and gave Vicky his full attention. "I know how you feel, V. Things haven't been the same since the shooting. I hope things will be soon though, they seem to be looking up."

Vicky took a long drag of her cigarette and blew the smoke out of her nose. "You know, Luke, I never got a chance to really thank you for saving my life. I don't think there are words for how much I appreciate it. Without you there, shit…"

She started to choke up and put her head in her hands.

Luke walked over to her desk and put his hand on Vicky's shoulder. "It's okay V. I know you would do the same for me."

Vicky sniffled. "It's more than that though. Being in the hospital, it got me closer to Rose. I've never felt like this with anybody before. I think I really love her. I think she might be the one. I would have never found out how great she was if it wasn't for you."

Luke took her hand off Vicky's shoulder. "Are you really that serious about her? You sure it's not just another fling? We both know how you can get with these things."

Vicky stared up at him. "Why wouldn't I be sure? I know I may have fucked around a lot in the past, but those days are over. I just want to settle down, you know. Maybe kick the drugs, just try and do what we need to do here to make as much money as we can so I can start a life with Rose. I've been thinking about it a lot lately."

Luke pulled the pill bottle from his coat pocket and popped the last two into his mouth, swallowing them quickly. "Don't you think that's being a little unrealistic?"

Vicky frowned. "I don't think it's being unrealistic at all. I think that calming down is something we should both think about doing." She motioned her head to the pill bottle still in Luke's hand.

Luke scoffed. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

Vicky shrugged. "Look, I'm not trying to tell you what to do. You're an adult and you can handle yourself. I'm just saying that, well, we're worried about you."

"Who's we?" He asked, taking a step away from her.

"Me and Sunny. Like I said, you're a grown man, do whatever you want, but you're the brains of this operation, and someone around here has to be thinking straight. Just try and be careful, okay."

"That's pretty funny coming from you, V. I don't know what you said to Sunny, but I'll be fine."

"Don't be like that," Vicky said as she stood up. "I know you're trying to keep it under wraps, but I've seen the empty bottles in the trash can at home. Are we not allowed to worry about you? We're your family, right? That's what families do."

Luke tossed the pill bottle into the trashcan. "I've got everything under control. It's just for the pain."

Vicky gave him a deadpan stare.

"Fine, the pain and the stress. We've been through a lot lately and I'm worried about things getting worse, aren't you?"

She sighed. "A little bit, but I'm trying to make the best of what happened, you should too."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said, turning away from her and walking out of the office, closing the door behind him.

Around thirty minutes later, Moe and Lisa were sitting in his car, heading towards their destination. Unlike the first time they went out, she had no problem talking to him. He seemed nice, and she wanted to get as much information on the inner workings of Sunny's organization as she could, and she was finding out just how long he had been around for.

"You know," he started, "when I was coming up, Sunny's old man, Lucky, was still the boss." He chuckled. "That was a man who knew how to get things done."

"What was he like?"

He gazed off into the distance. "He was strong, not just in body, but in mind and spirit, too. He could plot out moves ten steps ahead of the other guys. No one would ever know he had going on, not even those closest to him."

He laughed, and a slow smile crept across his face. "As soon as he walked in a room, everyone would look at him. He had this kind of glow about him, like he was radiant. He pulled me out of the gutter when Tantarella found me on the streets. I was maybe thirteen then, nothing but a dirty street rat. He gave me my whole life. I would have died for that man."

Lisa looked ahead at the road, gripping her coat. Unfortunately, the downside of having an older car like Moe's was the broken heater.

"What happened to him?" She started to ask, but then realized she might have been going too far. "If you don't mind me asking that is."

He lit a cigarette and cracked the window, letting a blast of cold air in. "It's not a problem. Someone in our crew got pinched out in Endlane where we didn't have protection like we do here. He was a junkie and he couldn't take prison time so he flipped. The next time Lucky went out to meet him, they arrested him. He took the rap for all of us. I was only 20 then, still just a kid. When he died a couple years later we were all devastated."

He shook his head. "Of all the ways to go out, it was the fuckin' big C that got him, who would have known? I guess that's what happens when you smoke too many of these." He finished, pointing towards his cigarette before tossing it out of the window.

"It sounds like you really cared for him." Lisa said, staring at the road ahead of them.

"That's one way to put it. He was like a father to me, and Sunny and Tanterella were like my sisters. It's a good thing he didn't live to see what those greasy cocksuckers did to his baby girl and her husband."

Lisa looked down at the floor. "Vicky told me about that, years ago. It's crazy to imagine losing your parents like that. I would never know how to deal with something like that."

As she said it, she thought of the whole Al had left in her life. A small tear came to her eye but she didn't let Moe see it.

"Well, the people that were responsible got exactly what was coming to them. That's where I distinguished myself, you know. When those bastards killed Tantarella, I was ready for the war that was coming. I killed dozens of them and even put the last bullet in that worthless prick Augustus myself. That's what happens when people get greedy, kid. They overreach and do something that they can't take back. That could be a good lesson to learn. Even bosses can slip up if they aren't careful. That's all it takes sometimes to put you six feet under, or tossed in an incinerator, in his case."

She nodded. It was certainly a good lesson to learn, one that she was planning on personally teaching Sunny herself when the ESIU was ready to strike. She couldn't help but imagine the look on her face when they gave her the life sentence, or better yet, the rarely used death penalty. Thinking about it put a smile on her face, before Moe could notice it though, they had arrived at their destination.

Lisa pulled the hood on her sweatshirt over ears and put on the ski mask that Moe had given her when they left the club, while Moe donned his as well. He popped the trunk and grabbed a pistol and a small shotgun. He passed the pistol to Lisa.

"Keep this thing up the entire time we're in there. We don't need to go overboard here, but we have to make sure that things don't get out of hand."

She nodded and took the pistol. She tried to put on her best intimidating face as they walked up to the house. She had been working on it, and felt like it had improved since the first time she went out with Luke, in what felt now to like lifetime ago. They didn't bother knocking on the door, Moe just kicked it in.

He motioned for her to keep behind him. The started going from room to room down a long hallway and, for the most part, all of the people inside were in various states of getting high and nodding out, and didn't seem to notice her and Moe, or if they did, they didn't seem to be bothered by it. They heard music coming from inside a room in the back corner of the house. When they reached the door, they found that it had a large deadbolt on it. Moe turned his head to Lisa and gave her a small nod. She knew what the plan was and stepped away from the door.

He put the barrel of the shotgun against the lock and pulled the trigger. The blast rang out and he flung the door open, rushing inside. There were four people sitting around a table. Two were counting money, one was taking pills from a large pile on the table and putting them into small bags and the other was smashing some of the pills with a knife and snorting them. They all stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the door.

Moe and Lisa both raised their guns.

"Everyone on the fucking floor!" Moe shouted.

The two counting the money got down immediately but the other two didn't move. They just stared at Moe and Lisa. They were clearly related. Both were short, stubby gingers with one being slightly taller than the other, and looked to be at least a few years older.

Lisa put her pistol up and pointed it at the taller one. "Are you assholes deaf? Get on the fl..."

Before she could finish the younger one interrupted her. "I don't know who you think you are, but you are messing with the wrong people. Leave now and there we'll ignore this whole thing."

Moe smiled and walked towards them. "We're messing with the wrong people, eh? This is Sunny Morella's territory, ever heard of her?"

Before either could answer, he raised his shotgun up and brought the butt down as hard as he could on the younger one's head, sending it down into the table and knocking all of the money and pills off of it. He started moaning and rolling on the floor. The older one reached for the knife on the table but before he could grab it, Moe put the barrel of his shotgun in his face.

The older one froze and dropped the knife. "You'll regret that. I'll make sure of it He said, sneering at Moe.

Moe just laughed at him. He started as he slowly lowered the barrel towards his legs. "I'd love to see that."

He pulled the trigger and the kneecap of the older one exploded. He starting rolling around on the floor, screaming in pain.

"You motherfuckers!" One of the money-counters screamed from the floor. "We're gonna get you for this!"

Lisa walked over and smacked him in the face with the butt of her pistol. Blood starting pouring out of his nose and blending into his already red shirt.

"Alright kid, that's enough fun. Grab the shit and let's get out of here."

Lisa didn't waste any time. There was a large bag on the floor in the corner. She rushed over and picked it up and started stuffing all the money and the pills that she could hold in each hand while Moe kept his gun aimed at the two others who weren't rolling in pain. When everything was in the bag, they ran out of the room. As soon as they left the room, the counter with the bloody nose got up and ran to the two on the ground.

"What should we do?" He asked, frantically.

The older one just screamed. "Get on the phone. Call Neon, tell him what happened."

A little over an hour later, Lisa and Moe were in the office at the club, splitting up what was in the bag. Luke watched with a smile on his face as they pulled out bag after bag of pills.

"Sweet Empress," Lisa exclaimed as she was putting the notes into the bill counter on Vicky's desk. "There's like almost ten thousand here just in notes alone, and there are a ton of 100 credit chips here too. I think we made out pretty well."

Luke turned to her. "That's good to see, and just to show you how much I appreciate it, I want you and Moe to split the credits, just leave me the pills."

Lisa's eyes lit up. Regardless of the situation she was in, she could use the bits to pay off the rest of the debt that Al had owed and get the bakery back. She didn't know if the ESIU guys would want the cash or not, maybe as evidence or something, but she wasn't planning on giving them any. Necessary evil, that's what Benson had told her. She was doing all of this for Al anyways, and she couldn't let the bakery go.

"Thanks Luke," she said, wrapping him in a hug. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

Luke chuckled. "It's not a problem, I told you when Al left that I would help you as best as I could, and I meant it."

Moe cleared his throat. They looked to him. "Sorry to interrupt, but I'm gonna take off, got a lot to do still tonight. Thanks for the share of the cash, kid. Give me a call if you need anything else."

They bid their goodbyes and Moe left with Lisa and Luke still talking, carrying his bag of money out with him. He got out to his car and then made his way uptown to see a woman that he hadn't spent nearly enough time with lately. He knocked on Sunny's door and waited for her to answer. After a couple more knocks she opened, wearing a nightgown and looking like she had just woken up.

"Moe?" She asked, pushing her hair out of her eyes.

He chuckled. "You really must be getting old, Sunny. It's not even midnight and your already asleep?"

She shook her head. "Fuck yourself. You gonna come in or what?" She opened the door the rest of the way and he stepped in.

She walked over to the dining room table and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. "What's the occasion Moe?" She asked as she poured a drink for each of them.

Moe sat down across the island from her and grabbed the glass from her. "It's Luke. He had me help him out with something tonight, and I wasn't sure if you knew about it or not. He had the new girl and me rob some drug dealers that were on your turf. I've seen the look he had in his eyes before. It's not good."

Sunny frowned. " Vicky told me he'd been going hard on the pills lately, but I didn't know it was this bad. He never said anything to me about any move he was going to make. I told both of them a long time ago that it was up to them to choose how they earned, and I'm sure he'll kick up to me when he's ready."

Moe took another drink. "You know we've seen this before though, right? We don't want another Little Jay on our hands here."

Sunny set her glass down hard enough that it cracked a little on the bottom. "I don't want to hear that worthless fuck's name in my home again, Moe. Is that understood?"

Moe didn't say anything, he just gave her a knowing not.

"Luke would never turn on us, I've known him since he was a kid. He's better than that."

Moe nodded. "That's true, Sunny, but you know what drugs can do to people. They aren't themselves, and they'll do things that you would never expect. We need to be careful here. It's not just him flipping that could be an issue. Shit like that can make people dangerous, not just to themselves but to those around them as well."

Sunny stared at him. "I'm well aware of what drugs can do. It won't come to that. If he doesn't figure the shit out for himself soon, I'll have a talk with him about it and make him come to his sense, even if I have to give him an ultimatum. It will be handled, Moe. There's no need to worry."

Moe took another drink. "You're the boss, Sunny."

He laughed. "It's still amazing to think about all that's happened, isn't it? I mean when T first brought me home off of the street, who knew we would end up here?"

He sniffled a little bit. "I still miss her, ya know. I was telling the new girl about her today and it got me thinking, it's been so long since she died that I haven't even thought about her in fucking years. I still can't believe that she's gone sometimes."

He put his head down a and Sunny reached out over the bar and put her arm around him. "Me too, Moe," she sighed, "me too."

He sniffled again and then put his head up. "It's time I got going Sunny. It was nice seeing you but if I stay any longer, I'm not gonna be able to stop drinking."

She put her hand around him again. "Don't stop drinking then. Let's get plastered together and reminisce a bit, just like old times. It really has been too long."

Before he could say anything, the phone rang. "Ugh," Sunny groaned, "when it rains it fuckin' pours huh?"

"Hello," she answered the phone flatly.

"Sunny?" She heard a frantic and familiar voice on the other line. "It's Richard. We need to talk."

She hadn't ever heard him like this before, something must have been up.

"So talk."

"No." he answered quickly. "I can't talk to you over the phone. Meet me in the parking lot of the warehouse in twenty minutes." He didn't say anything else before hanging up abruptly.

Sunny was stunned. She couldn't picture what could have been wrong. Was she being set up? She had no way to know, but if it was important, she had to meet Richard.

She put the phone on the receiver and started walking towards her bedroom. "Do you have a piece in your car?" She asked Moe as she opened her bedroom door.

He stood up from the table, any time she actually looked worried gave him cause to feel the same.

"I've got two. Why? What's going on?"

"I'm not sure," she said as she walked out of the bedroom with her coat on. "I need you to take me down to the warehouse. I've gotta meet someone there, he says it's important and I'm not sure if it is some kind of set up or what. I just need you to make sure I'm protected."

Moe put on his coat as well. "Let's do it then. I've got your back."

They went down to the car. Moe was driving and Sunny sat in the back. She had Moe's pistol tucked in her coat pocket. She was ready for anything.

"Listen, Moe," she started. "This person that I'm meeting with, he's in the royal guard, so if this is some kind of set up, we're going to need to get out of here quick and leave no witnesses. You up for that?"

Moe just nodded. He didn't know what she could have gotten herself into this time, but he knew that whatever happened, he would do her best to get her out of it. They pulled into the warehouse where there was another car already waiting for them. The car had the engine on, but the lights were off. Moe pulled the shotgun from in-between the seats and put it on his lap.

The car door opened, and Richard walked over and got in the back seat of Moe's car. He looked frantic, his hair was disheveled and he looked like he hadn't taken a shower that day. He looked at Moe.

"Who's this?"

Sunny glared at him. "I don't see how that's any of your business. Why the fuck did you bring me out here this late? What's the emergency?"

Richard was still staring at Moe, but then snapped out of it. "I was talking to one of my friends who has a cousin in ESIU. He told him that they have an informant in the families, and that it might be someone in your crew. They've been building a case, Sunny. They've got real evidence. I don't know what it is, but they're coming for you."

Sunny didn't say anything at first. She just muttered "cocksuckers" under her breath and stared at the floor.

She finally turned to him. "You need to find out who it is, and you need to find out as soon as you can. We need to stomp this problem out now or it's going to be your ass and mine, am I understood?"

Richard shook his head. "It's not that easy, Sunny. These ESIU guys are tight with their info. The head guy is the one running the snitches and most people outside of the department don't even know his fucking name."

Sunny stared daggers at him. "Listen to me and listen closely, Richard. I'm not asking you. I'm fucking telling you. You have one week to find out who the snitch is and bring them to me, or I'm going to assume that you aren't doing what I pay you to do. And if you're not doing what I pay you to do any more, then you don't have any more use for me. Do you get me?"

He was visibly shaken. "Yes ma'am," he muttered, "I'll get it done."

She gave him a fake smile. "That's good to hear. Now get the fuck out of my car and do your job. I'll call you in a week."

Richard got out as quickly as he could, and almost tripped while jogging back to his car. Sunny shook her head.

"Sweet fucking Empress' gilded cunt!" She yelled as she hit her head against the back of the passenger's seat. "We gotta put a stop to this Moe, and we've got to do it now. Let's get back to the house. It's time to do some inventory. We've got a long night ahead of us."

Moe started up the car, and they took off into the cold winter night. As they drove, Sunny couldn't help thinking of how just as everything seemed as if it was getting back to normal, the dirty whore of fate had to rear her head up and fuck her over again. She just had to make sure that it she nipped it in the bud before she had to do something that she might regret.