Chapter 6

As soon as I could walk, my first order of business was clothes. I snuck into the apartment in the building below me. It was dangerous in broad daylight, but I lucked out. Whoever lived here had a teenager in the house. So, I borrowed a shirt, pants, shoes, a hat to hide my bleach-white hair, and a jacket to complete the ensemble.

I was leaving a trail any competent detective could follow, and the cameras around the building already marked me as a person of interest, but I didn't panic. As soon as the police arrived at the apartment, the agents were sure to follow. But before that happened, I wanted to be ready, so I returned to the diner.

Moses was in the parking lot talking to his girl when I walked up to him. His face was swollen, and he was holding his side. The big guy jumped like he'd seen a ghost when he laid eyes on me, which made me grin.

"What are you doing, Moses? It's him," the girl shrieked. She was a dirty blond with fake knockers and a pretty face. She had a rotten attitude and was entitled as fuck. 

Honestly, I felt dirty just remembering the fact that my body had gotten with her at some point.

"Piss off, Barbie," I said. "Moses and I need to have a one-on-one."

Her mouth fell open. "You…can't talk to me like that." She turned to Moses. "You're just gonna let him talk to me like that?"

Moses swallowed hard. "You heard the man, we have business to discuss. I'll catch up with you later, promise."

She twisted her mouth and looked between me and Moses before she folded her arms and huffed.

"You better."

"I have no idea what you see in her," I said as I watched her storm away.

"Probably the same thing you did," Moses said, and I smiled even more.

"Haven't lost your sense of humor, eh? Good. You'll need it for what I'm about to say next."

Moses took a moment to steady himself.

"Your boss is dead," I said. "And I'm going to help you steal all his money."

"No," Moses froze, disbelief clear on his face.

"Ah, come on, don't tell me you don't want to be rich," I teased. "I think you have to if you hope to keep a girl like Cami."

Moses stared at me like I was insane.

"It wasn't particularly hard either. I just pointed a gun and pulled the trigger," I said, leaning on Moses's car. He took several steps back, but I grabbed him in an affectionate headlock before he had the chance.

"Since you were not a total asshole, I thought I'd reward you by sparing your life and give you one chance and one chance only to leave the Santos organization before I systematically cut my way through them.

He put up a strong face, but I could tell he was afraid.

"Your boss is bound to have a stash house. Tell me where it is, and I'll give you half of what I find. You can skip town, blow the cash, or swim in it for all I care. Cooperate with me, and you'll be rich, and I'll be out of your life." I took one step closer, driving Moses up against his car. "If you can't give me what I want, I'll have to find someone else who will."

Moses gulped.

"Do we have an agreement?"

---

There wasn't some grand reason why I was robbing the Santos. I was on a tight clock, and it was only a matter of time before Shield or the Hydra found me. The faster I could skip town, the faster I could disappear and hopefully find a new identity. If I was lucky, I could swing by the pawn shop and get Ebony and Ivory back before I left.

I bit my lip, nervously thumbing the hammer on the gun I'd taken from Moses before I tied him up in his car. If you couldn't tell, I was never going to give him the money, but I couldn't bring myself to kill him either. He was an asshole and part of the reason why I was in this mess, but he didn't deserve to die for it.

The gun was decent, but It was no Ebony or Ivory. It felt wrong doing this without them, but I couldn't wait around until two of the biggest intelligence agencies in the world caught up to me.

It was dark out, and I was in the alley across from a restaurant. As Moses tells it, the stash house was in the basement, and it was a Sunday night, a day out from transpo day.

I paced, trying something I remembered from the game. The Evade. Angel Evade and Demon Evade. Both were equally effective and could pull me away from harm in the nick of timed appropriately. 

When done right, Angel Dash propelled you an extra distance, while Demon Dash empowered your attack by 2x upon successfully dodging an attack at the very last moment.

I assumed a boxer stance, dodging and weaving through imaginary body shots, uppercuts, and hooks. I moved quicker than ever, tumbling forward, but I never managed to get a burst of Angelic Energy out of me. It was the energy I was most familiar with, as it'd healed me before.

By the time the shop restaurant emptied, I was covered in a mild layer of sweat with no progress, but I rolled with it and moved up to the restaurant with a ski mask covering my face and my heart at my throat.

I approached the back door, ready to kick it in, when I realized it might be open. It was late at night, and people were probably using the service entrance. I nearly burst out into a laugh when it was.

I slinked into the restaurant, past the staff clearing up in the kitchen, and thumbed several knives from uncleared tables. I hid when I saw a busboy swinging back to get empty dishes, and I continued on my way until I came to a staircase where I saw two armed men standing guard. They had their pistols holstered and gabbed on like a bunch of gossips.

I pulled up my mask as I approached them.

"Fellas," I called. "Fancy seeing you here. I didn't know you liked Chinese food too. Though I'm not sure the owner would appreciate you packing heat in here."

Both men snapped to me, hands on their guns. "Who the fuck are you?"

I frowned, feigning offense. "It's me, Dante. I live a couple of blocks down. I heard this place was good, and I've seen you guys around. We've even talked a few times. You don't remember me?"

Both men exchanged looks.

"Get the fuck out of here, kid," the first man said. "This is your first and last warning."