Vince stopped at the curb and picked up Swayzak, the two of them had decided that they were going to start at one end of town and go to the other hitting one bar after the next, that was how they were celebrating the end of prohibition.  They were going to get absolutely pickled.

They drove up outside one of the bars and parked, noting that there were very few in the area they walked in and seated themselves at the bar to start their drinking.  They were not much more than halfway through their first drink when two men came in.  The suits these men wore screamed money, and the way they carried themselves screamed danger.  These had to be men of respect.

All of the speaking was suddenly in italian and both Vince and Swayzak got the feeling things were going from bad to worse, they kept their heads down not wanting to draw any attention to themselves.  They hunched over their drinks and pretended not to notice the trio of men that stood not more than ten feet from them.  Bits of conversation floated over to them but they were trying not to listen in. 

I got a really bad feeling about this. Vince said as he signaled for another round.

Swayzak nodded.

Their hunches came to a stark, bloody reality a moment later when one of the two men at the bar pulled a Garotte and throttled the man he had been talking to just moments earlier.  When the lifeless body slid to the floor the other man tossed money on the bar, far more than the drink was worth, and calmly stepped over the body to leave.

The man was no more than a block down the street when the cops arrived.  Both Vince and Swayzak minded their drinks ignoring everyone around them until the cops left.

Vince couldn't have told you what tipped his hand, something wasn't right, and it wasn't that last mouthful of scotch either.  No, something was wrong as they exited, and Vince pushed Swayzak down just as the firt bullet thudded into the wall where they had been standing a moment before.  The tommy chattered for a moment before the car sped off leaving the two men half-drunk, stunned, and now, very aware that someone was after them.

Vince reached out to help Swayzak up.  You ok?  What the hell?  The pleasant buzz from earlier was now gone, beaten into submission by the adrenaline that flowed through the system now. 

Dodging the sudden shot of a gun, he ducked down only to notice his bodyguard, Hedley, drawing a pistol, before another blind shot had come out of nowhere and hit him in the head, killing him instantly. Looking down a dark alley that hosted Vince's car at the end of it, he crouched before signaling the direction of his car to Vince. Nodding, they hurried to the alley, carefully staying low to the ground heading in the other direction, his vision slightly blurred from the night of drinking. Arriving at the car, he noticed the two tires he was able to see were slashed.


"Damn.. we might be overmatched."


Looking down the street, he noticed another car parked a few meters down from Vince's.


"Give me some cover, Vince!"

with diMartelli's gun drawn, Swayzak took off his jacket before removing his flask. Walking to the car and double checking that the coast was clear - for now - he broke the lock holding the fuel container before ripping his jacket and twisting it tightly and jamming it inside of the entrance to the pump slot. Dousing around the fuel slot and the end of his coat with vodka that was contained in his flask, he pulled out his lighter and signaled to Vince.


"When this lights up - run!"

Setting the coat ablaze and preparing for one hell of a distraction, he darted across the street followed by Vince before turning a corner and hearing a VERY loud explosion followed by several gunshots he perceived as hitting metal, they headed across the street before going down another dark alley, this time covered by several dumb containers. Catching his breath, he turned to Vince.


"I'm not too familiar with this area.. Where do you suggest we head?"

Vince looked around a moment.  Down the alley there, just before the end, there is a left, we can go between the buildings and get to the ladder.  From there we can roofjump to the end of the block.  A friend of a Friend lives nearby if we can manage to get there.

Vince stopped a moment to reload before carefully aiming and firing again.  I'll cover, get there, from the ladder you will have the better vanatage. 

Vince waited for Swayzak to open fire from the ladder, which gives him just enough height to flush out the shooters.  Between the burning car at one end of the alley and Swayzak at the other end, the two remaining shooters dash off just as they hear police sirens.  Vince makes a run for it, trying to reach the ladder before the cops get to him, he manages to be into the alcove between buildings before the first car gets there, climbing as quickly as the slippery rungs will allow.

Lets get the hell out of here.

"You can say that again" Swayzak said with a deep exhale. With alcohol still running rich through his blood but slowly wearing off, he was down to seeing twos and the occasional threes before focusing on the middle figure a few dozen yards away and taking a shot at him with his Walther, followed by blood curdling screams and obscenities. Making it up to the top of the roof, he looked at the alley before blindly asking on the status of Vince's climb.


"We have to go - Are you ready, Vince?"

He was replied to with a loud grunt that confirmed he had succeeded in making it to the top of the ladder before joining him in scouting the streets.


"Shit!", Vince rang out, before noticing his own car had been set on fire. The slender and beautifully crafted 355 Cadillac was not something easily replaced.


"The car is the least of your worries, Vince - Hell, I'll buy you another one of if you can get us out of this mess.I trust you have good jumping skills?" Swayzak asked, glancing at the long distances between buildings.

Vince backed up and threw himself across the chasm with seeming abandon, he laughed as he touched down, collapsing to hands and knees to absorb the impact and rolling to a stop. 

I haven't made a jump like that since Sal caught me stealing shine from the still.  He was to big to make the jump so I managed to get away. 

Vince came to his feet steadying swayzak as he landed and skidded to a stop. 

The nest couple buildings are really close and once we get to the third one we should be at the end of the block, there should be a roof access there.  If we are where I believe us to be, we should be able to get down through the roof and pick up another car.  There should be a blue packard waiting.

Vince heads for Carlotta's old shop.

Blackness. The faint sounds of a familiar but un-discernable voice ringing in his head before being washed out with nothingness and random flashes of his past coming and going at the speed of light. And then her - a moment that actually lasted. A soft smile on the face of Rebec- ?


"WAKE UP!"

Swayzak opened his eyes to Vince diMartelli staring over him. He came to realize he was laying on concrete, with a slow yet dull pain slowly radiating stronger on the back of his head.


"What.. happened?"

Vince laughed. He shook his head before he stood up, lighting a cigarette and giving a deep starter inhale before pulling it away from him.


"And you were worried that I couldn't jump?"

He chuckled to himself before shaking his head again, before taking an inhale before continuing.

"You fell a few floors. Hit your head. The car explosion is probably the only reason we're still alive - the mystery men haven't shown up, and you've been laying here for about fifteen minutes. To be honest, you got us crossed up - we're in the middle of about four subdivisions of several apartment structures.."

He took another drag of his cigarette before giving Swayzak, who had leaned up against the brick wall of one of the apartment complexes, a hand. Dusting his coat off, Swayzak loosed his neck, left from right, before peering to the sides of the alley they were standing in the middle of.


"I'm not sure about this area, Vince. And I think we can rule out roof jumping as well. Have a quick route to your friend of a friend?"

Vince laughed, took another drag and pointed.

Had enough time to do some scouting while you were taking your unscheduled nap.  This sub-division is one with an internal hall, on the other side is an old speak-easy after that there are a few places we can go depending on how fast the cops are here.  For right now, we'd better get moving, I don't want to have to explain things to the cops.

Vince pulls open a side door and he and swayzak duck inside and pull the door shut just as a police car comes past the alley.  They quickly head down the hall but can here footsteps running toward the door.  Abruptly a door next to them opens. 

I heard you talking outside, and you are friends of friends, come in, I have a place you can hide.

The young man steps out of the doorway, beckoning them.  Our landlord does not know anything about respect, he is AMERICAN not a friend of ours, he probably called the cops.

The young man pulls them inside and pushes aside a rug where he pulls up some floorboards and opens a hidden staircase.  quickly, there are twelve steps.  Keep going down the main channel until you hit the wall then turn left, there should be stairs into the speak easy.

He helped them down the stairs and closed the door working quickly he put the floorboards back into place and unrolled the rug just as the police pounded on the door.