Gang War

After returning from the morning jog, Ryan prepared to take a shower. Since the time he met Vivienne Byrne during one of his morning walks, he sometimes tried to find her but she was never present.

As soon as he had locked the front door, he took off his shirt to expose his well-toned body. Due to the nature of his profession, his body was not perfect at all as there were some scars which had their own stories. However, the scar that left the deepest impact on his life was a very small and faint, circular shaped one on his left shoulder. This scar would always remind him of the person who made him an orphan.

People say that great ideas happen in the shower. He had to agree because even he was thinking about his next plan under the water drops. He had to find a way to get some knowledge of the VIP guests of Anios club. He even had an idea to monitor the cars that went in and out of the club. However, he gave up on this simple and crude method after thinking of the tinted glass windows and false number plates.

He heaved a heavy sigh helplessly and walked out of the shower. What kind of person could have a tight leash on over one hundred employees in this city where people were all free and wild in nature? Waiters, bartenders, strippers, valets and even the cleaning ladies, who hadn't he approached in this one month?

Just as he was drying his wet hair with a towel, his phone started to ring. It was Shelly who was the on-call detective of the previous night.

"Hello," Ryan immediately answered the phone.

"Cap, a report came in from the patrol officers. There are signs of a gang war starting soon. We still don't know the involved gangs yet, but there are at least 200 people on each side. Their destination seem to be the port"

Hearing Shelly's voice, Ryan quickly put on his shirt after turning the speaker on and throwing the phone onto the bed. Then, he put on his clothes with a faster speed.

"How long before they make contact?"

"At least 30 minutes," Shelly answered.

"Alert all officers. Secure the perimeters. Don't let any civilian near within 1 km of the port. Contact the local broadcasting station to make the announcement. You guys also stay far from that place as soon as you've finished clearing away the civilians. I'll be there in 15 minutes. Contact me as soon as there's any development." Ryan gave out a series of commands.

Those troublesome gang wars were one of the major downsides of the city X. As the police did not have enough manpower to resolve them, they could only contain the situation as much as possible.

"Yes, Cap." Shelly ended the call.

Ryan finished wearing his clothes and left the apartment after taking the car-keys.

........

On a couch in a quiet room, a woman with blue eyes was lying on a red haired man's lap while concentrating on the book she held in her hands. The man was also reading some information on his i-pad, complementing the tranquil atmosphere. However, this atmosphere was soon disturbed by the vibrations from the young man's phone.

"What is it?" The man questioned with a calm tone.

"They are quite bold," the man chuckled coldly after hearing the words from the other side. He lightly tapped the shoulders of the woman, signaling her to remove from his laps and the woman sat up without any protest.

"No need to rush. Let them exhaust their forces first. I'm coming to you now," the man ended the call as soon as he finished saying his piece.

"I have to go. Some people are making a mess in our turf." He put down the i-pad on the coffee-table and stood up.

"Oh? People who don't know your uncle's temper still exist?" The woman asked as she lazily lay down again on the couch. Her eyebrows scrunched a bit as she found that it was quite uncomfortable without the man's laps. She sat up again and started to search for something to put under her head.

"Syrian Crew and Saito-gumi, they only came here after my uncle demonstrated his might five years ago."

The man smiled at the woman's behavior and threw the cushion on one of the chairs to her.

"Don't leave here until I come back," he continued as he walked towards the coat-hanger.

"I have to go see Mr. Miller today. Even if you are not here, there are still other people to protect me"

"Their skills are not so good. Don't you know that even your cop friends noticed their existence? Do you want to get into danger again and make me and uncle worry?"

The red haired man looked towards her while putting on his trench coat.

The woman silently shook her head although she was still dissatisfied.

"Then, behave." The man said in a gentle tone and left.

......

The sound of gunshots and the smell of gunpowder filled the air around the port area. Ryan sat on his car with Allen on the passenger seat. He checked his watch to see that it had almost been two hours since the two gangs had started fighting.

"Those two gangs are seeking their own death. They could have chosen any place to meet and yet they chose this place," Allen sighed.

They have seen that some forces enter the area not long after the two gangs made contact. From their organized movement and the way they hid themselves in the safest places without the two gangs noticing them, Allen could identify the third party.

"Didn't they know that it's the Ravens' turf?" Ryan also could not understand the stupidity of the two gangs.

After working in city X for two years, Ryan had more or less figured out how various factions worked in this city. Five main powers divided the city in five parts and govern their own vicinity. And one of such powers was Midnight Ravens. This mob was also one of the powers which founded this city and had existed for over a hundred years while some of the founders had waned in power and some had disappeared completely.

Moreover, 5 years ago, the current head of Midnight Ravens caused a sensation by eliminating the sixth strongest faction of the city when the latter daringly touched his family member. Although Ryan did not witness it, all the rumors stated how vicious the Ravens were at that time. Even to the point that the other four powers dare not interfere with the Ravens' actions.

"Even you know about that. Why wouldn't they know? I guess they thought the Ravens were easygoing as the Ravens like to keep a low profile." Allen answered with a bitter smile.

'What kind of easygoing mob would annihilate a whole gang?' Allen thought. The rumors were there for everyone to hear yet the two stupid gangs decided to disregard them. Didn't they notice that even the top powers dare not cause trouble in Ravens' turf?

Soon, the gunshots died down gradually until no sound was heard.

"It's ended," Ryan remarked.

"You mean it's gonna start soon," Allen said with a hidden meaning.

Ryan chuckled amused by what Allen said. Yes. They both knew that only one faction would walk out alive no matter who the victor of the war was.

To prove their point, another set of gunshots sounded. Even though those sounds were not as noisy as when the 400 people were fighting, they were more chilling as every shot was followed by a blood curdling scream. Without even seeing the scene, Ryan's trained ears could sense the precision of the Raven's gunshots.

The 'clean-up' took no more than 20 minutes and they could see the Ravens left the scene. Only after making sure that every mobster had left, did Ryan ordered his officers to go towards the port.

After finishing up their work at the port, Ryan and Allen drove back towards the station. While they were at a red-light, he saw a familiar figure walking on the pavement while eating a popsicle. Just the sight of her made Ryan's lips curled up. If he did not have to deal with the aftermath of the gang war, he would have loved to strike another intriguing conversation with her.

Suddenly, his smile disappeared as he noticed a flash in one of the buildings' window. He rushed out of the car before Allen could say anything and ran towards the woman.

"Vivienne, get down!"

The woman looked towards his voice yet made no movement.

'That dumb woman!' Ryan was exasperated. Fortunately, he was close enough to her to make it in time. He had just pushed her down and covered her with his body when the gunshot sounded. However, the sound did not come from the place he was expecting from. 'Right! She had people protecting her'

Ryan sighed with relief and quickly sat up and checked her to see if she was alright. Because of his previous action, the hood covering her head was removed and her brown wavy hair was exposed. What startled Ryan was the sight a huge scar extending from below her ears to her back. Feeling his stare, Vivienne immediately sat up and covered her head with the hood again.

"Ahem," Ryan guiltily tried to dispel the awkwardness. "Are you okay?"

He stood up and extended his hand to pull her up but the woman did not take his hand and stood up by herself.

"Uh-huh" She answered as she dusted off her pants.

"I guess you would be fine with those people guarding you. I'll take my leave then"

Vivienne nodded silently.

Ryan left her side and walked towards where Allen parked his car.

"Did you get hurt?" Allen was standing outside the car with an anxious look. He was ready to run towards Ryan if anything happened to him.

Ryan shook his head and got on the car.

"Did you notice the one who shot the gun?" Ryan shot a question as soon as Allen also entered the car.

"Not until the gunshot sounded." Allen's heart was still pounding hard because of the series of actions that happened just seconds ago.

"Me, too. Even now, I still can't sense his presence"

Ryan looked at the rooftop where the sound appeared as he thought of the person who was obviously more proficient than any elite sniper he had ever met.