~Chapter 10~

~June 21st, 2019- “Hollywood’s Prints”, Los Angeles
Emma Lector walked through the swinging glass door into a world of printers and art. Hollywood’s Prints wasn’t your normal print shop, it was also part art gallery. The walls were hung with artwork from local painters, with a few others by well known artists. Printers of all sorts and kinds lined the interior of the shop, giving a wide range of options for just about any printing job you could imagine.
“Heya Honey, can I help you?”
Emma turned to see a young-looking woman with platinum blonde hair come out of a back room. She was short, but not too short, and she carried her thin frame like a model straight off the runway. Her eyes were a sparkly pale blue, and they revealed much of the woman’s mischievous personality.
Behind her came a man with darker blonde hair. He was about 5’9” and had dark, almost black, brown eyes. He carried a small side-satchel and what appeared to be a long bag that might have contained a camera tripod.
Emma nervously approached the counter and, after setting down the large duffel and backpack she carried, addressed the blonde woman.
“Um… yes, are you Hollywood?”
The woman’s defenses went instantly up, “Depends, who wants to know and why?”
Emma swallowed hard, “My name is Emma Lector, and I was told you might be able to help me find someone.”
The man that had come out of the back room with the woman was casually looking over some of the art hanging on the walls. The woman rested her hands on the counter and stared levelly at Emma.
“Who you workin’ for?”
“No one, I was recently associated with Chairman of the Board, James Hughes, but that relationship has recently been terminated.”
The woman stared at her a moment longer.
“Okay, yeah, I’m Hollywood. And I might be able to help you find your man, but no promises. And it’ll cost yah.”
Emma smiled, relieved, “I have money, but not much.”
Hollywood shrugged, “I don’t even know who you are looking for, so I don’t know how much the price is yet.”
She looked over Emma’s shoulder at the man, “Maxie, your passport will be done in just a few moments, so hold on while I help this lady?”
The man nodded and went back to looking at pictures.
Hollywood smiled at Emma, “That’s Max, don’t mind him though. He’s a regular customer here, and a perty fine assassin if I understand the stories.”
Emma nodded, “So… back to my problem?”
Hollywood shook her head, “Oh, I’m sorry! I get distracted sometimes. So, who you lookin’ for?”
“Josh Taske.”
Hollywood froze and the man called Max turned to stare at her.
Hollywood glanced nervously at Max, then back to Emma.
“What would you be wanting the Sharktooth for?”
Emma was a bit worried about their reaction; she hoped Hollywood would tell her what she knew about Josh’s whereabouts.
“I need his help getting out of some trouble.”
Hollywood nodded slowly, “Well… I guess I can give you that for free. Yah see, I don’t know where he is.”
Emma’s spirits fell, “You don’t?”
Hollywood shook her blonde head, “Nope, and that’s a big confession for a Forger. Last anyone in the Underworld heard, the Sharktooth was off workin’ for the President. But that was five years ago, and no one has seen or heard from him since. Or at least, they aint sayin’ if they have.”
Emma looked desperately at the woman, “You don’t have any information you can give me?
Hollywood shook her head sadly, but then perked up.
“Heya Max, you were buddies with the Wolf, right?”
Max stepped up to the counter, “Yeah, worked a few jobs with him a while back.”
“An’ the Wolf is like blood-brothers with Taske, right?”
Max grimaced and nodded.
Hollywood smiled sweetly at him, “Would you be so nice as to help dear Miss Lector here with finding one or the other?”
Max looked doubtful, but Hollywood batted her big blue eyes at him.
“Ah, come on Maxie, for me?”
Emma added her pleas to Hollywood’s, “Please, Max, I need to find him, and soon.”
Max looked from one woman to the other and smiled sheepishly.
“I guess I can take you to see him. I think I remember where Josh Taske was living. There is just one thing…”
Emma nodded vigorously, “Anything!”
Max’s dark eyes locked sternly with Emma’s.
“Don’t call me Max.”
Emma was surprised, but decided to comply.
“Of course, but what can I call you?”
“Sniper.”
Hollywood smiled one of her big, glittery smiles.
“That’s his codename, aint it dashing?”
A loud beep from the back room caused Hollywood to spin around and rush back. A few seconds later she ran back in with a passport in one hand.
“Here you are, Maxie, one falsified passport just for you!”
Max nodded his thanks and handed her a wad of cash.
“Thanks Holly.”
She just smiled and winked coyly at him.
Max turned and, after motioning to Emma to follow, walked out of the store. After grabbing her bags, she hurried out behind him.

Outside on the bright sidewalk, Emma fell in step with the man.
“So, Sniper, right?”
“Yep.”
“How do we find Josh Taske?”
Sniper turned abruptly on Emma, “Don’t say that name! The Taske family name can get you killed just as well as save your life! It is not a wise thing to bandy about carelessly.”
Emma was taken aback, but this man was her only way to find Josh.
“Can I just call him Josh then?”
Sniper resumed walking, “Sure. Plenty of Josh’s out there.”
“So how do we find him?”
Sniper stopped at the corner and waited for the crosswalk to turn green.
“Last time I heard from the Wolf, the Sharktooth had settled down in Eugene, Oregon. Now that was a while back, so I don’t know if he is still there or not.”
Emma thought that through, “So, we go, see if he still lives there; and if he doesn’t’?
Sniper shrugged, “Then we ask around, see if anyone remembers him or knows where he went.”
They came to a little parking lot between two buildings and Sniper walked up a large blue Hummer.
Emma looked at it, wide-eyed.
“Is this yours?”
Sniper grinned proudly, “Yep!”
Emma put her duffel and backpack on the back seat and looked over at Sniper, who had climbed in behind the steering wheel.
“It okay if I ride up front?”
Sniper shrugged, and Emma got into the passenger side and buckled up.
Sniper pulled a pair of dark sunglasses out of the sun-visor and donned them.
As they pulled out of the parking lot Sniper glanced over at Emma.
“We need to stop, get some gas and some food, and then we can start for Oregon. We should get there in two or three days, depending on what hassles we have with hotels and traffic.”
Emma nodded, feeling that, finally, she had hope.

~June 21st, 2019- Josh Taske’s House in Eugene, Oregon
Pallas kept her pistol trained at Josh as her crystalline eyes flicked over Scarlet and the rest of the room.
“Where are the others?”
Josh, who was casually dressed in black and gray canvas cameo pants and a black T-shirt, opened his hands dismissively.
“Where is your brother?”
Pallas glanced, almost imperceptibly, behind them at the back door.
Josh smiled, “Is he supposed to be coming in behind us? Perhaps through the garage?”
Pallas’ eyes narrowed and, setting down her gun on the couch, she reached behind and drew out a sword identical to the one she already held.
“I will enjoy killing you.”
Josh, drawing and setting his Desert Eagles on the kitchen table in imitation of the assassin, drew his Sais and spun them around so the blades rested against his wrists.
“You have to kill me first.”
Scarlet, who was armed with her miniature crossbow and a long dagger, stepped back towards the bar.
This fight was between Josh and Pallas.

Nathan and Apollos stared at each other, sizing the other up. Nathan was the best bow staff fighter on Josh’s team, but even he was skeptical about his chances against the strange white-haired assassin.
Nathan grinned at Apollos, “Hey, love the hair, you dye it like that or are you that scared to see me?”
Apollos’ blue eyes remained locked on Nathan.
“You do not scare me, Wolf; you will fall like the animal you are.”
Nathan touched a hand to his heart in mock hurt.
“An animal? Ouch, I’m hurt!”
Nathan took three steps forward, quickly covering the distance between him and the assassin. He brought his broomstick up and swiped at Apollos’ head.
Apollos easily deflected the blow with his bow staff and brought the other end up to strike at Nathan’s side.
Nathan parried with the center of his staff and spun around to bring an end of his weapon up towards Apollos’ shoulder.
Apollos blocked and, bringing his bow staff around in a blur, struck Nathan hard on the hip. Nathan winced at the sharp, jarring blow, and took a limping step back.
He grinned at the blue-eyed assassin.
This was going to be fun.

Josh waited for Pallas to make the first strike. The night before Josh had talked the Twins over with Scarlet and Wraith, getting all the information on them he could.
Scarlet, who had fought the Twins before, remember that Pallas was the impatient one, while Apollos could keep his head longer. Therefore, Josh decided to make things harder for them.
He had sent Nathan, who tended to be impatient and unpredictable, against Apollos, who Josh knew would try to outflank his little group. Nathan’s irrationality and frenzied combat style would frustrate the cool and rational assassin. Meanwhile, Josh’s cold and measured fighting style would be enough to throw Pallas off her game.
Or so they all hoped. It was pulling at straws, and even if they did gain the psychological advantage they hoped for, it was only a small one.
Pallas charged ahead and swung the sword in her left hand at Josh’s side.
Josh caught the blade of the sword between his Sai’s pronged cross guard and deflected the strike into the floor. He caught her next attack in the same way and, when both swords were down, he kicked her straight in the stomach.
Scarlet, who was watching the battle, winced. She had received similar hits, and knew how much they hurt.
Pallas fell backward, but quickly recovered and brought her right-hand blade in an upward sweep aimed at Josh’s head.
Josh stepped back and the blade missed his face by centimeters. He switched his grips on his knives so he could use one for stabbing, while the other he held in a back-handed grip for deflecting and blocking.
He stepped forward, ducked a left-handed swipe from Pallas, and stabbed at her stomach.
Pallas caught the stab on the flat of her blade and tried to spin his weapon away from her body.
But Josh was expecting it and, catching the sword blade in the prongs again, twisted the sword from Pallas’ grasp.
Pallas adopted a two-handed stance with her remaining sword and prayed Apollos would come soon.

Apollos and Nathan had been going at it for a few minutes now. Nathan was limping from the strike against his hip he had received earlier, and now he had blood running from a gash above his ear.
He had managed to mangle one of Apollos’ hands though, crushing the assassin’s left hand between the assassin’s metal bow staff and his own makeshift one.
Both of the fighter’s arms, legs, and shoulders hurt from hits they had received, but Nathan was definitely having the worst of it.
Taking a step back for a quick breather, Nathan and the assassin locked eyes.
Ice-blue eyes met crystal-blue ones. Hatred and rage was passed in that glance, along with the will to live.
Then they were at it again.

Josh, who still had both his Sais, watched Pallas like a hawk.
And if Josh was the hawk, then Pallas was the snake. A snake with one fang and little hope of victory.
She moved forward and tried to get through Josh’s defenses, but there was no way. He was that good.

Outside the house and across the street, Wraith eyed the Twin’s silver BMW. He had spent the last few minutes searching the vehicle, going through and committing to memory everything in the glove box, trunk, and back seat.
He had finished by crawling under the car and wedging a grenade up near the axle. Then he pulled the pin on it.
If either of the Twins managed to finish their job, or if they lost their battle and manage to escape, they wouldn’t get far. Once the car was started and moved only a few feet forward, the live grenade would shake itself loose and, upon hitting the ground, detonate and take out the car and any occupants.
Wraith smiled to himself; sometimes the deepest thinkers would use the simplest methods for bringing about their means.
And Wraith loved it when he could find a simple solution.

Nathan and Apollos clashed together, and they remained locked for a moment. The looked each other over, looking for a weakness.
Unfortunately, it was Apollos who found one. He faked a step backwards and brought his staff crashing into the hip he had already damaged.
Nathan went down on one knee and prepared for the strike he knew would follow.
Apollos flicked a small button on his bow staff’s grip, and a sharp, three-inch long blade slide out of the staff’s end. He brought the staff sweeping upwards and neatly cut Nathan’s broomstick in two. Then, with three lightning-fast motions, he knocked the pieces from Nathan’s hands and dealt a sharp blow to the side of Nathan’s head.
Nathan fell back onto his back with a groan. Blood ran from his temple and stars danced across his vision.
As Nathan propped himself up on one arm, Apollos raised his now bladed weapon for the killing blow.
“Any last words, Dog?”
Nathan started laughing.
Apollos hesitated a moment, and Nathan looked up and locked eyes with him again.
Nathan grinned up at him, “Yeah, I just want to say I’m sorry.”
Apollos was taken aback, “Sorry for what?”
Nathan put his other arm behind his back, as if to support himself better.
But he suddenly sat up, a small P.22 pistol leveled at Apollos’ head.
“I’m sorry for playin’ with yah.”
Nathan pulled the trigger and Apollos fell backwards, blood turning the assassin’s white hair red.
Nathan fell back, exhausted and in pain.
He laughed to himself, “Heh, damn that was good.”