Suspicious (3)

After Vincent Grace got off the phone, he sat at his desk drumming his fingers as he tried to organize his thoughts.

The government. Other villains acting up. The heroes. The monsters that were being created and multiple missing people. What was the reason and why was it happening now? 

Things were moving at a fast pace. A more complete picture was being drawn, yet he still didn't have enough information. It felt like he had a bunch of end pieces in a puzzle but the middle was still missing.

He had his suspicions, but it was too early to make a call. He didn't want any of his preconceived notions to stop him from missing out on any important information.

Thinking about the heroes, especially Captain Radi and the daughter he had met yesterday, he couldn't help but smirk.

Nafisat Radi. She was supposedly a dud, and yet she had used powers yesterday. Powers that she wasn't supposed to have. And thanks to her, he had found out some interesting information today.

He had expected that they would question her about him, but he would have never thought that the great hero Captain Radi would wipe his own daughter's memories to keep the events of last night secret. Even at the cost of keeping her powerless.

He tapped his fingers on the table deep in thought. Wiping her memories. Saving her life. Getting her powers back.

There was a hole there. A gap he could exploit to get more information and gain an unexpected helper. It just had to be handled very carefully.

"Aira."

"Boss?" The door to his office opened and a woman poked her head in. Aira Leshay. She was a tall, beautiful woman with long jet-black hair, dark blue eyes, and a slim figure dressed in a pantsuit. She presented a very capable figure, especially with the spectacle on her face and the notepad in her hands.

Few would associate the woman before him as one of the most wanted villains in the world, Tempest.

"Come in and close the door."

"Boss, you have me listening for rumors around the hospital and the police station while I'm doing work for your business. I don't have time for this." Aira grumbled in displeasure as she came into the room.

"Why are you so busy? Didn't I ask you to split the work with Aria?" Vincent asked curiously.

"There's some hero meeting going on so she's attending that and then she has a performance in the evening. She said sorry in advance but some important people have backstage passes to her performance so she'll dig for some juicy details for you and update you on how the hero meeting went when she gets back."

Thinking of the sister of the woman before him, Vincent couldn't help but smile. Aria Leshay. Identical twin sister to Aira Leshay. She was an international popstar sensation with many fans as well as a popular hero named Canary. She was also his employee and one of his best informants.

"No problem. Her hero work is more important anyway." He needed to understand what the heroes planned to do. And if they had any more information.

"But boss, why did you need me?"

"I need you to send some fresh eyes on the Radi girl and somebody to threaten her a bit. Not too much, just enough to make her feel some pressure. I need her to feel a little desperate. And…call Reynard back. I need him to clean her memory wipe."

"Is something going on? You're awfully interested in her." Aira gave him a curious look.

Vincent gave her a devilish grin in return."I've been reading up on her and I'm quite pleased with what I've found. Wouldn't you be interested in the person Aaron Radi and his wife keep wiping the memory of? Even at the cost of her powers?"

"What?"

"Think about it. Wouldn't that person be grateful to whoever frees her from the betrayal of her trusted loved ones? Imagine, Mommy and Daddy dearest keep wiping her memory which removes her knowledge of her powers that make her the dud of the family. Suddenly a Good Samaritan helps her get her powers back, the Good Samaritan helps her get a new job, and helps her train her powers, and makes her a hero. All the person wants is a few scraps of information. It's quite interesting, don't you think?"

As Aira watched Vincent's eyes fill with manic excitement, she began to feel bad for the girl she hadn't even met yet. Even though he had a wide smile on his face, his eyes were distant and cold as he talked about manipulating the life of a poor, unsuspecting girl to reach his goal. Still, that was her boss. The one she swore her life to.

"But she knows your face and knows you are a bad guy. There's no way she'll believe you or even want to work with you, much less give out information."

"Which is why Reynard needs to come back. I need him to get her memory back and to befriend her. It's taking too long with the work he has so this is the shortest path to getting an insider into the Radi household and possibly Commissioner Falkor."

Aira let out a deep sigh before rubbing her head in irritation. This boss of hers just continued to dump more work for her.

"Fine, I'll contact him. But! You can't complain later that we wasted money because you made him quit his job halfway!"

"It's just money. If anything, he's the one who's going to complain about it."

"Ughhhh you're right. Ah speaking of which what role is he coming back in? He needs a way to legally contact the Radi girl right?"

Vincent chuckled while staring at his pitiful secretary who didn't know about the obscene amount of work that was about to fall in her lap.

"Didn't we start a legal hero company? Our President is on his way back so shouldn't we start hiring and properly save some people? Assign some people to properly take care of the company but leave some roles open for our soon-to-be new employee. Since she's a journalist, maybe something in PR?"

"But the paperwork is not done yet. The basics are there but there's still so much to do!" Aira could feel her headache increasing as she stared at the man with twinkling red eyes who truly did not care that she was drowning in work.

"Oh? Well, madam secretary you better get to it. You have until Reynard gets back to finish. Good luck! Fighting! I'm cheering for you."

"Boss! Rather than cheering, please hire another secretary! My body will give out!" Aira pleaded.

"Double your paycheck this month if you complete the work," Vincent smirked at Aira knowingly. When money was involved, the two twins Aria and Aira would never turn a job down.

Immediately, she kneeled down and said in a solemn voice, "I will complete it in a week, no in three days!"

"Good good. I love seeing you work hard." Vincent clapped as if he remembered something, "Ah, while you're at it, clear some time for me on my calendar so I can go see our 'little treasure'. After all, I should return her phone to her and jog her memory."

"…Yes boss."

"Oh and take Shadow to the lab. He ate something nasty and needs to give it to Lloyd."

Hearing that, Aira immediately stood up, her expression serious.

"Then you mean…"

"Yeah, that kid Levi is gone. There was nothing but rot and diseases in the shell of his body. It can't even be called human anymore. still, even if he can't be brought back, at least Lloyd can do an analysis and scan before we give him a proper burial."

"Fuck. Should I send the usual to his family?" 

"Yeah, and send me his file and address. I should at least go in person so the parents can look at the face of the person who killed their child."

"Boss, you didn't…" Aira tried to comfort the man in front of her, seeing the desolation in his red eyes but she couldn't finish her words. She couldn't say it.

"Kill him? If I sent him or you or anyone else on a mission and you died, the blood is on me. Everything else is semantics. Go do your work. And update me as needed." Vincent firmed his expression up before smiling cockily at his saddened secretary. Mentally speaking with Shadow, he asked to turn it to appear. 

Unseen to others, the shadow beneath him got dark as a small portion of it separated before turning into a small jet-black cat with red eyes. The cat leaped onto his desk and began licking its paws before leaping into Aira's arms.

"Hi shadow baby? Shall I give you the freshest tuna?" Aira cooed while snuggling the stoic cat.

Seeing Shadow give him a weird look while sending over its displeasure at being treated like a baby, he ignored it with a smile.

"Aira?"

"Yes, Boss! Don't worry. I will get the freshest tuna. If needed, I will head to the Pacific Ocean and personally catch the fish for Shadow myself."

"…Get the hell out of my office."

*Nafisa means valuable, precious, treasure in arabic*