Chapter 31 CHAPTER 29: THE ESPIONAGE
I gave him a wide, mischievous grin.
“God, I just know I won’t like what’s coming,” he muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes. Then he dropped into a chair at the table. “Lay it on me.”
“You know something interesting about powerful organizations?” I asked.
He narrowed his eyes. “What is?”
“They always have problems.”
“Well, that’s not exactly a groundbreaking revelation,” he grumbled, rolling his eyes again.
“But here’s the thing,” I continued, ignoring his sass. “Everyone needs someone to solve those problems.”
He frowned. “I’m not following. Powerful organizations tend to have a way to avoid problems in the first place. That’s if they ever have any problems that disrupt their operations in the first place. And they definitely won’t think of some lowly fixers to solve it for them when they already have fixers in their organization.”
"What if we stop waiting for the problems to happen?” I replied. “What if we start creating the problems ourselves and then become the only ones who can provide the solution?"
Jax went dead silent, staring at me like I had just said I was planning to capture an alien. "You sound insane, Si,” he said after a while of stunned silence, his voice flat.
“Do I?” I countered. “Or that’s just a genius plan to make money and climb up the ladder at the same time.”
You're talking about a protection racket on a city-wide scale," he hissed. “That’s manipulating gang politics with information that could start a war.”
I shrugged. “Wars are profitable.”
Jax groaned. “You really have lost your mind.”
I turned away from him and started walking toward the staircase that led to the balcony at the top of the building. “Maybe,” I said lightly. “Or maybe I just started thinking bigger.”
At the top of the stairs, voices drifted from the balcony lounge area above.
When we entered, Mina was sitting on the couch, reading a book with her injured arm wrapped in fresh bandages, leaning into Leo. While Kael leaned against the balcony banister.
They all looked towards us as soon as they heard my footsteps.
“Thank God you guys came back alive and with all your limbs intact,” Kael muttered with relief.
Mina’s gaze moved straight to my shoulder. “You got hurt again.”
“Just a scratch,” I said dismissively.
Jax snorted behind me.
Mina rolled her eyes. “Of course it is.”
I walked further into the room. “Actually,” I said, “I need your help.”
Mina raised an eyebrow. “That sounds suspicious.”
“It’s a mission.”
Leo straightened slightly. “What kind of mission?”
I tossed the ledger onto the coffee table, and the small book landed with a quiet thump.
Mina and Leo both leaned forward.
“What’s that?” Leo asked.
“Our future,” I said.
“I’m in,” Mina replied immediately.
Jax groaned again from the doorway. “Don’t encourage her.”
Mina ignored him and picked up the book. She flipped through a few pages, her eyes slowly widened. “…holy shit. It's in code, but anyone can tell what those are.”
Leo grabbed the ledger next. “Are these—”
“Yes,” I confirmed.
Mina looked up at her. “Where did you even get this?”
“Madlands warehouse,” I replied simply.
“And Viper knows you have it?”
Jax answered before I could. “Well, she’s planning to lie about that part.”
Kael's mouth opened in shock. “…what?”
I waved a hand dismissively. “That’s not the important part right now.”
“It feels pretty important,” Leo muttered.
I turned to Mina instead. “You’re good with makeup and makeovers, yeah?” she said.
Mina glanced at Jax, who shook his head at her vigorously.
She turned back to me, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, I am. But I’m getting the feeling I’m about to regret saying yes.”
I smiled. “Oh, you won’t. It’s actually a fun mission.”
She sighed. “What do you need?”
I stepped closer. “I need you to change me.”
Mina tilted her head. “Change you how?”
My smile widened into a Cheshire grin. “Make me look dangerous.”
Leo snorted. “You already look dangerous.”
“No,” I said thoughtfully. “I mean dangerous as in make me look like a man-eater."
Mina studied me for a moment. Then a slow grin spread across her face. “Oh. You want to look just like your code name… a siren.”
I nodded, then gave her a high-five. “Exactly.”
Leo groaned. “Oh no.”
Mina hit his arm hard. “Oh, don’t be such a whiny bitch. This is going to be fun.”
Jax let out a deep, tired sigh. “And pray tell. Where may you just be going that you would need to look like a man-eater or what ever you call it?”
“La Caverna," I replied.
Everyone froze, looking at me with wide eyes.
“Isn’t that….” Kael started.
I nodded. “Yup, in the harbingers’ turf.”
“And Maddox’s favourite hangout spot.”
Mina let out a whimper. “I knew I was going to regret saying yes.”