Rage and Ruin | 2

2 | 4

D E L P H I N I U M

I adjusted the curly reddish-brown wig on my head. My normal white hair would catch too many eyes; it was one of my most outstanding features. If anyone in the bar knew who I was, now they wouldn't be able to identify me so easily.

According to the plan, I'd walk in with Hunt and Jaxon. If anything happened immediately, I'd be their best bet for protection. Five minutes later, Riley and Kane would come in and sit at a table. Jake, who was too well-known among the criminal underworld, would be planted outside the bar with Gigi, who'd just returned from her mother's funeral. The two of them were armed with guns in case anything went wrong or got out of hand. Finn and Arlo were sitting outside at a restaurant across the street, keeping an eye out for the assassin if he wasn't already inside the bar.

I strode shoulder-to-shoulder with Jaxon and Hunt down the sidewalk. Apparently, Jaxon had told the bartender that he'd be there by eight. Looking down at the watch I wore, I saw that our arrival time was two minutes away. I shook the sleeve of my thick coat back down and kept walking.

      "This is it," Jaxon muttered quietly as he held the door open for me. We went into the busy establishment right on time. People barely gave us a second glance as we made our way to the stools at the counter. I didn't recognize anyone. I wasn't sure whether I should be happy or worried that I didn't see Benny's face.

      "Sit here," Jaxon directed Hunt to a stool around the curve of the counter. From there, he would be mostly out of sight through the front windows. Therefore, the assassin would be forced to come inside if he wanted to get to him.

      I took the stool next to Hunt, which happened to have a perfect view of the rest of the place. As of now, I could only see groups of friends and couples enjoying a happy night out. But who knew what I could catch as the night went on? I needed to be faster than anyone who'd come to kill the ONNT director.

      As we waited for the busy bartender to make her way over to us, I glanced towards the door, where Kane and Riley were entering. She was laughing at something he'd said and for once, he didn't look as sullen as he usually did. One might even think that they weren't just pretending for the plan.

     They took a table near the entrance. When they sat, I saw Riley scoping the place out for us. Her dark eyes met mine and I gave her a small nod to signal that everything was going well so far.

      "Hey," Jaxon called from next to me and I turned back around. The bartender, who was wearing a shy smile on her face, seemed to know him already. "Fancy seeing you here."

      "Hi," she said, turning her eyes with uncertainty towards Hunt.

      "So, as you can see, I pulled through on my promise. This is Damien Hunt, director of the ONNt," Jaxon introduced, gesturing toward Hunt, who stood up and held out his hand.

     "Hi," she responded, shaking his hand. "I'm Angelica Dunn. It's nice to meet you."

      He gave her a smile and sat back down. Because Gigi had used her powers to help heal Hunt, he was looking much better than before. "Good to see you too, Angelica."

      "I was talking to your colleague yesterday," she said, waving a hand at Jaxon, "And when he told me that he'd introduce me to you, I wasn't sure if I believed him. But now that you're actually here, I just wanted to say thank you for all that you've done for our country."

     "It's my pleasure," Hunt replied, perfectly composed, as usual. "It's always been an honor to serve the people."

      The bartender smiled, clearly happy with their amicable conversation. "Well, can I get you any drinks?"