Today was like any other day for Olivia. Since their move to Corktown she had found herself a little apartment on the outskirts of town. A place all to herself, she felt that she was finally able to settle in and make a home here in Detroit. Besides, she just couldn’t stay in headquarters, the new one was even bigger than the last and every inch was covered in gym equipment, except for the areas which Olivia had insisted be set aside for office space (although she was certain Ramone had snuck some equipment into his office yesterday).

Her days, for the most part, had taken a simple routine. Go out and collect taxes from some local shopkeepers, stop by headquarters and take care of crew matters, maybe do some drug running, and end the day at her bar, the Muscle Lounge. She also spent a good deal of time traveling but for now, she was trying to stay close to Detroit, to help grow the crew and city as best she could.

It was surprisingly sunny outside, the first signs of spring starting to poke through the harsh winter they’d had recently. Olivia took a few moments to pull up curtains and fill the apartment with sunshine before she showered and dressed for the day. A simple outfit of black slacks, a white button-down blouse, and a black sweater. Her dirty blonde hair was loose and curled but she added a big white bow with polka dots which pulled the hair back from her face. She found that keeping a softer edge led people to underestimate her and well….there was nothing better than getting the upper hand on someone who thought she would be easy to beat.

Heading outside, she slipped into the 1931 Duesenberg Model J Derham Tourster she’d recently purchased. She preferred to drive herself, much to the chagrin of her bodyguards, but she always had one or two in the car with her. Today it was her head bodyguard Charmain and one of the newer members of her team, Stefano. “Ready boys?” She asked, a beaming smile on her face.

“Whenever you are boss,” Charmain responded, chuckling at his boss’s cheery attitude.

“Let’s go then. We’ll take the normal route, pick up the taxes before we head to HQs. I hear we got some new associates last night, I gotta make sure they’re shown the ropes.”

She put the car in drive and headed off for the day. A normal, typical, day.

Or was it?

Ryder cracked opened his eyes when the rude intrusion of the ringing from his new alarm clock dragged him away from a rather pleasant dream. He reached over and almost broke the clock to stop the hammer hitting the bell but managed to stop it none the less and groaned as he pulled himself out of the warm covers and prepared himself for another contract.

Ryder stood in front of the mirror dressed in a rather casual suit he picked up from the local tailor, he went with what fit in with the local style. Instinct and a few knocks from previous jobs had taught him how to blend in well. Ryder straightened his tie and walked over to the oaken dresser next to the window. He opened it and pulled out three items, which he laid on top; A letter from his contact, A picture of the target and his old fixed blade hunting knife. He opened the letter first which read;

Ryder,

The target from this job has a little history with the contractor. A previous attempt was made on her life before and as such she has gone to upmost lengths to stay underground. Her name is Olivia Grey and from what my contacts tell me she is a known figure among the Corktown outfit known as the "The Hired Muscle"

Below I've left her known schedule below and inform me via the usual methods when the jobs done.

-M

P.S This little bitch cost me an arm and a leg to get information about. I'm increasing my cut of the job to 25%

Ryder swore to himself at the last part, His old associate was always trying to wrangle more money out of him. However, his skills were second to none as much as Ryder wouldn't be happy. These were just costs of the job. Ryder looked over at the young woman in the picture, she was certainly of the attractive persuasion and thought it was a shame that her time would come early. Ryder then pocketed all three of the items and made his way out of the cheap little apartment he had rented just for this job.

“You know that ten percent is more than fair Luigi.” Olivia’s voice was soft but firm. Her blue eyes tended to darken a shade when she would come across this kind of resistance. Her boss, Ramone, was more than lenient with the shopkeepers in his turf, but their payments ensured their protection and when people would start to complain it always annoyed her.

“Business has been so slow lately m`lady, it’s not that I don’t want to pay…..”

“But that’s exactly what it is.” Olivia leaned forward slightly, anger slipping across her face for a brief moment.

“But I cannot pay something that I do not have!” Luigi’s voice was getting louder, and it was clear he was nervous.

Taking a deep breath, Olivia closed her eyes for a moment and worked to keep calm. “Here’s what I’m going to do for your Luigi. I will give you one more week to come up with the money. And if you don’t have the money when I step into this shop next week, you won’t have to worry about coming up with the money ever again, understand?”

Luigi seemed to be shaking as he nodded. Olivia smiled broadly as she stood at the counter of the man's deli. “Oh and, be a dear and wrap up some of the mozzarella to go, please. I’m sure the boys would appreciate the gesture.” Olivia left Stefano and Charmain inside to collect their cheese while she went outside to smoke. She hated having to make threats like that but she couldn’t keep being the nice one on the route. Besides, she was the one that was going to have to go back to headquarters and explain to Ramone and Ash why she was short again this week.

The tall blonde tried to soak up the sunshine outdoors as she released a puff of smoke. Maybe she’d been too nice, giving him a whole week? She’d finish this cigarette and then go back inside and tell him he only had a few days. Yes, that would better. But first, she was going to enjoy this cigarette. 

Ryder drove a rental car, a humbler Pullman, in black. He could smell that this had been a recent purchase for the rental hire place, the seat leather was exquisite, he made a mental note to visit a car dealer at the end of the job. Ryder tuned into the radio for the rest of the journey and whistled along to the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

Ryder pulled down the road mentioned in the letter. The target was meant to be doing her rounds around this time of the day. He looked up the street and saw a series of mom and pop stores. Small businessmen trying to eek out a living plying their wares for the few dollars people had to spare in this day and age. The people on these streets weren't all that different to Ryder's late father. Ryder shook off that pang of remorse before pulling up on the curb and flicking the radio off and watched for any signs of the woman.

After waiting around for what seemed to be an eternity. His heart jumped up a little when he saw the woman in question, along with her entourage. Ryder furrowed his eyebrows a bit. This makes the task harder but not impossible. Ryder decided to just watch her head in and out of the shops, the wad of cash in her hand growing larger with each visit. Ryder connected the two and knew she was an enforcer for the local crew, he carried on watching and when she walked out of the last store. Ryder took his moment.

Ryder moved through the crowd like a fish through water. Making sure to blend in each step of the way, keeping the woman within his vision but never looking directly at her. He noticed she had leaned up against the bannister of the shop and had pulled out a cigarette. Her entourage had not yet come out to join her. Ryder was counting how long of a window he had and how quick he could pull her away from the crowd. He decided his approach.

He walked up to Olivia and put his game face on. He just needed to get her into the alleyway beside the shop, away from prying eyes.  "Excuse me Ma'am, You wouldn't have seen my little Amelia run by here would you? I was just in the shop next to this alley and I looked away for 1 minute and she's gone" His voice oozed of worry, playing every tone right. "She was wearing a blue summer dress and wore a ribbon in her hair, she's my only child and all I've got left now my wife has gone" He watched Olivia's face for cues

Olivia was just beginning to enjoy a few moments of peace when a man came rushing up to her. She frowned slightly as he told her about his missing daughter, a little girl who seemed to have wandered away from him. Instinctively, her eyes scanned their surroundings, not only for the little girl but for her own men, who seemed to still be inside the deli. No doubt they had taken it upon themselves to add more to her order, which wasn’t unusual for them.

She dropped her cigarette on the ground and put it out with her foot before nodding. “I can help you look, I’m sure she didn’t go far.” Olivia had her weapon secure in her waistband, covered by her jacket, and honestly, she doubted anyone would really make any moves against her in this community. They all knew she was an important woman in one of the newest criminal organizations here in Detroit and she’d been more than fair with the locals, as evident by her interactions with the deli owner here today. So, the fact that the man in front of her might be lying never even really crossed her mind.

“Did you see which direction she went?” Olivia stepped away from the wall of the deli and started looking up and down the street. “Amelia!” She called, raising her voice to be heard above the crowd. She walked a little way, seeing the alley between the buildings and hoping the child wouldn’t be silly enough to go in there by herself. “Amelia!”

"Amelia!" Ryder called from behind her before touching Olivia on the shoulder to get her attention "I think just saw a glimpse of her down this alleyway" Ryder started to jog into the alleyway and when he looked behind him noticed Olivia had taken the bait and started to follow behind him, when he turned his head forward again. He smiled. 

They both called for the imaginary child as they run roughly halfway through the alleyway. Ryder took a brief look behind again and noticed that his target was still alone with no sight of her guards and slowed down. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his trusty hunting knife and turned around to face Olivia and charged at her.

Ryder knocked Olivia over with the full force of his body and tried to pin her down with his weight. He had the knife poised at her neck and was about to thrust down to end her life.

Olivia hesitated slightly as the man went down the alley. Surely the little girl would be too scared to travel down this way alone, wouldn’t she? But he seemed confident that he saw a flash of her dress so she shrugged and followed. Charmain and Stefano would undoubtedly be out of the store soon and she’d need to get back to headquarters but it didn’t hurt to build a little goodwill in the community by finding a missing child first.

They were about halfway up the alley when suddenly the man turned. In a moment of distraction, while Olivia was searching, he threw himself at her, knocking her to the ground. A knife in his hand, Olivia had the breath knocked out of her but she had no time to curse her own stupidity because he was going for the kill just as quick. Before he could bring the knife down to her, she’d rolled to the left, so his knife hit nothing but concrete.

She sprung to her feet, her breathing heavy as she pulled her weapon from her waistband and pointed it at him. She could kill him, but she had one too many questions for that, and if she killed him how would she get any answers. “That was a very silly mistake you made mister.”