Turning off her bike’s engine, Rose removed her helmet and allowed the purple hair trapped inside it to flow out. Looking around, she spotted a peculiar van with a massive bulb on its roof, but other than that, there were no vehicles in the back alley, and no bikes other than hers.
Disappointed, she made her way into the bar hidden in what felt like a dead end.
"Ah, Ms. Rose. It is good to see you again." The bartender stopped polishing the glass in his hand and greeted her with a smile.
"How’re you doing, Thomas?"
"Better than ever. I hope you are the same."
"A little tired, but nothing to complain about." Looking up for a moment, she followed with a question. "The others are here?"
"Yes. They have arrived not that long ago."
"I’m afraid he isn’t participating in today’s meeting."
As Thomas shook his head regretfully, Rose showed her disappointment with a sigh. Eventually, she began making her way to the stairs in the back, fighting the urge to just turn around and leave.
"Would you like something to drink?" The bartender asked when she passed by him.
In truth, she was in the mood for a very strong drink. She was just done with a big part of the job and wanted a break, but that was the problem with it. It might have been a big part, but when looking at the entire plan, they had yet to get started.
The meeting room was properly illuminated for once. Shark, Kirk, and Mr. Pike were there, each sitting in a corner of their own as if trying to keep their distance from the others. Victor was there as well, and going by the look on his face, his blood pressure seems to be acting up once again.
"What’s up with the face?" She asked. "Don’t tell me you failed?"
"No, we got the reservation, courtesy of Mr. Pike," Victor said. "It’s just that... well..."
"The brat he brought the other day got himself in some pretty big trouble." Shark didn’t hold back on the ridicule in his voice, but the reaction he got was entirely different.
"Dante?" A wave of worry washed over Rose, erasing the mild annoyance she had been feeling so far. "Did something happen to him?"
"He’s fine," Victor said, following it with a sigh that showed the truth wasn’t so simple.
"He took part in the riots two days ago and almost got himself killed," Kirk spoke up, giving a more detailed answer.
The incident made national news, so Rose was aware of what happened, even though she had been out of the city for the past week. What she didn’t understand was why her beloved redhead bothered with getting himself entangled in such a mess. Hungry for answers, she turned her sights to the man who knew him the most.
"What hospital is he in?" She asked with clear intent.
"Calm down, he’s already out," Victor said. "He just needs some rest, that’s all."
"Hah! He can get all the rest he wants." Shark scoffed. "I never got why you brought him in for this gig, but this is it. He has been fired from his dishwashing job, right? This way, he won’t have a role to play. Not that his previous role mattered that much to begin with."
"I have to agree with Shark on this one, Vic," Kirk said. "All he had to do was keep his head down and wait. If things went according to plan, he wouldn’t have done a single thing. How come he still messed it up despite that?"
"I never was on board with giving him that big of a cut just for being a backup." Said Shark. "Good thing he backed out by himself."
"Cut it out, Greg." Victor shook his head. "The kid is still a part of the mission."
Silence filled the room for a while.
"The hell do you mean by that, Vic?" The land whale asked. "You trying to sabotage the job for the rest of us?"
"Believe it or not, Dante did us a big favor in the week he has been working there." Saying that, Victor gave Rose a glance, silently asking her to take a seat. "Now that we’re finally in, we will have to find a way to Klaus’s mansion on the thirty-seventh floor."
"Can’t believe all that work barely counts as preparation." She said. "To be honest, I’m getting tired."
Blue Ember is never fully booked for the simple reason of how big it was, but with Klaus Stahlwölfes wedding approaching, every last room had been reserved for weeks.
The invited guests had their spots prepared beforehand to ensure no trouble arose on the day of the event. The remaining space was left for regular customers, and it was almost instantly filled.
The wedding could be said to be one of the biggest social events and a lot of powerful people were guaranteed to attend. Because of that, everyone was falling over themselves to be close to it, hoping for a chance that might change their lives. The result was a waiting list that reached the hundreds and a nearly zero chance of getting a last-minute reservation.
The heist depended entirely on whether they are able to get in or not, that’s why a big part of the plan involved them getting the list of the reservations, which was done by Shark diving into the hotel’s systems, then picking one of the guests and eliminating them, freeing a spot for Mr. Pike to get in with his connections.
The next parts of the plan will involve them getting to know the people invited to the Stahlwölfes scion’s wedding and warming their way into the event. Once again, Mr. Pike’s connections will be the cornerstone, and to provide a different route, Rose would try to seduce someone and infiltrate on her own.
When she thought about it once again, it felt as if she was the one left with the most tedious part of the job. She was good at what she did, sure, but going through it time after time was starting to get on her nerves.