Justice took a deep drag on his cigarette, his eyes never leaving their target. The bookmaker knew he was being watched, but not who was watching. This made St. Ice smile to himself. He preferred to remain anonymous, and was never one to bask in the glory of fame or notoriety.
No, the shadows suited him much better. 

The bookmakers movements were jittery, the nervousness within him visible to all. His head swiveled, always on the lookout. He'd been a hard one to tail, but that would make it all the sweeter in the end. As he began to leave the street, St. Ice moved to follow. 

Having convinced one of the bookmakers associates to provide a copy of his diary, St. Ice knew where he was heading. 
Lunch with his wife at Guiginos, over the other side of Corktown. It was time to make the final preparations, so Justice headed over to meet up with his gang. 

Approaching the abandoned warehouse, Justice could hear voices from within. He'd left the recruiting for this operation to his trusted friend, HA_SHTAG, and was keen to see if those picked were up to the task. Entering through the slightly ajar door, Justice walked in with his arms outstretched. 

"Welcome all, we have a task ahead of us today. If we succeed, you'll all be handsomely rewarded. Now, do you all know what your roles are? Or should I go over them again?" he asked, whilst looking around at the gathered faces. 

Hashtag was stood near the back of the warehouse, chuckling to himself about Justice's ability to make an entrance, even despite his love for remaining hidden to everyone. Hash had been observing the crew he put together, while awaiting his friends arrival. Though these were some of the biggest and baddest criminals he knew, so he had no doubt of their ability to perform the task at hand.

The only trouble was, he had completely forgotten his role in this. He'd slept since he put this team together, so everything before that was a bit hazy.

Without missing a beat though, Hash stepped through the huddle to greet St. Ice.
"Brother! Welcome. Everyone has been instructed on their role in this job, but it might be best to go through the overall plan once more. I know we have some old faces here, but some new ones too. I wouldn't want any confusion."

Turning to his trusted friend HA_SHTAG, Justice let off a quick smile, before he allowed the seriousness of the plan to take effect. It had been a long time in the works, so he wanted to make sure it went off without a hitch.

Pointing to two of the gathered associates, Justice barked out his orders. "You and you, one front and one rear. As soon as we enter, no one is allowed in or out. I don't care how much force you have to use" The two associates nodded at Justice in acknowledgment. 

"HA_SHTAG, you're with me. I've booked a booth in the restaurant. We'll go in, order like normal and wait for the opportune moment. Remember this guy is a proper sleazeball, so I want this to be gruesome" He said, with a wry smile on his face. 

"Now we have the basic outline. He's having dinner with the wife at 19:00. We'll be in at 18:20 to scope the place and make sure all exits are covered. The restaurant manager is in our pocket, so will make things easy for us."

Raising his arms once again, Justice looks at the gathered men. 

"You were all chosen for a reason. You all show loyalty, courage and commitment where it counts. This should be easy, so I don't want any mistakes"

Turning his head from one man to the next, Justice asked, 

"So...any questions?"

Ducky knew he had some big shoes to fill, and this was his shot to prove his worth. He nervously tapped his fingernails on his brass belt buckle, trying hard not to cause the sound to echo through the warehouse.

Ducky listened intently as the plan was explained. He'd been told to trust these men to the fullest and obey their instruction.
His mind wandered a little...remembering his recently deceased Uncle who'd given him this advice. The loss of his mentor had hit Ducky hard and still no one knew who had killed him.
'Bastards...' he thought to himself.
But this was not the time for soppiness. Today he had a job to do. Revenge would come later.

He noticed Justice looking at everyone, it seemed as though he was waiting for some kind of a response...

'Fuck!' Ducky thought to himself. 'I haven't been listening! What's been said?'

He wasn't going to let his short attention span get in the way this time. He needed to say something quick. Something snappy. Something to show everyone he knew what was going down...

"Quack quack, motherfuckers!"

Hashtag's head snaps around to be looking at Ducky, eyes open wide, as if to say 'Really?'. He had made it very clear in the original meet-up how serious matters were, and how this was a good opportunity to make a good impression to the higher ups, even for Hashtag himself.

Hashtag could tell Ducky had not been listening during the instructions, and therefore didn't expect him to remember them from when he was first told. Fortunately for them both, everything had come flooding back to him while Justice was talking.

Hash turns back round to face St Ice.
"Sorry about him. I think he is a little slow, I mean, it kind of runs in the family." Pointing over his shoulder, towards Ducky, Hash proclaims "That's catsatherface's nephew. His uncle is the man who tried to pick one of his own friends' pockets, but somehow forgot he still had his gun in his hand, so shot him in the leg."
Pausing for a second to let the idea of that calamity sink in, he continues "Must have been horrible, sitting there watching your best friend bleed out."

Promptly realising that the story wouldn't have instilled much confidence in Justice, he immediately announces;
"That might not have come out how I wanted it to. All I am trying to say is, he is family, and he has always been as reliable as they come. You tell him what to do, and you can guarantee it gets done."

Sensing the uncomfortable silence in the room, Hash decides it's probably best to get this job underway, before he makes matters any worse for himself, and Ducky.
"Shall we get going, if nobody else has any more questions?"
Looking back at Ducky, he says "You'll travel with me"

He starts to walk towards the door, but realised nobody else has moved an inch since he told that story.
"You coming?"

Justice trusted Hashtag, but he was starting to doubt him about this. Ducky seemed oblivious to his surroundings, and had an air of aloofness about him. However, his uncle had been a trusted friend and ally. Cats had helped Justice in many a tight situation, even putting his own life at risk. After weighing up the pros and cons, Justice decided he owed it to his old friend to give the guy a chance. Plus he was already making waves in his own family. 

Having got wrapped up in his thoughts, Justice had failed to realise that Hashtag had headed for the door. This was it. Game time. He always got a slight bout of nerves before a job. Taking out his silver hip flask, he took a quick shot of brandy. "That'll settle them," he thought to himself. 

Heading towards Hashtag, he moved past him, acknowledging him with a nod. He exited the warehouse, and headed for his car.