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The Mercenary _is the first arc of The Underground series

Chapter 8 of 32_

A Dance With The Devil

There wasn't much time before they were tracked. Alias dodged and weaved in and out of traffic. Breaking every law in the book, Alias knew it was only a matter of time before Atir used his connections to tap into the traffic cameras and they would follow them. Then they both would be in danger. He and his passenger.

She hadn't said a word. She sat there traumatized by the events at Club Xero; shaken to her very core. The look of panic had glassed over her eyes and she gripped the seat belt like she was holding on for dear life. Her life was simultaneously saved and threatened by him; Alias knew this. But he needed her; she was his key to survival.

Alias turned to the frightened vixen. "Are you alright?" He barked. She said nothing. "Are you injured? Are you hurt?"

Then she snapped out of her trance. Unbuckling the seat belt, she panicked and clawed at the door handle, trying to open it. Alias realized what she was trying to do and grabbed her by her hair and pulled her back roughly, slamming her into the seat.

"Listen," He growled. "I'm your only shot at survival!" Alias laid it down. "If you want to live past tonight you'll do what I tell you, when I tell you. Do you understand?" The vixen didn't reply. "Do you understand?" Alias yelled.

"Yes!" She cried out in fear. "Please don't hurt me..."

His grasp of her hair relaxed slightly. "You were supposed to be ransomed tonight, used as blackmail for your father. That's what the others were doing at the bar." Alias paused for a second. "I'm on your side." A pang of guilt reverberated through his body.

The vixen shook her head. "There must be some mistake." She protested. "Why would they want me? My father's just a-"

"You need to accept that you will learn many things tonight that you don't understand. What you need to understand is that your father is an important man in The Underground." Alias replied. "He's a heavy player in the Invisible War. A rival needed to know what he knew."

Alias caught a glimpse of the vixen in his mirror looking more confused than ever. "The invisible what- what do they want to- what are you doing here-"

"Just a second." Alias cut her off, coldly.

Hitting the emergency brake, Alias swerved his car into a parking garage, smashing the arm at the tollbooth. He drove several floors up, the whole time scanning for a place to pull into. Finally he found one on the fourth floor. Alias pulled in and killed the engine.

"Alright," Alias spoke slowly, "years ago, factions of people started competing for control over the black market of major cities, known as The Underground. There were rivalries between mafia organizations, gangs, and even fortune five hundred companies. They all dealt in espionage, extortion, black mail, you name it." Alias paused for a second looking around to make sure they weren't followed. "No one even knows who started it but eventually things spiraled out of control. War broke out between the factions, but only those who fight in it know about it. The rest of the public is oblivious. That was the start of the Invisible War." Alias pulled out his pistol and unloaded the magazine. Opening the center console, he pulled out a box of nine-millimeter hollow tips and began to reload. "Your father," he continued, "is a major player. He has something, some kind of medical advancement and they want it."

She looked over at him with a furrowed brow. "Then why do they want me?"

"Leverage." Alias replied, still loading his Beretta. "They would use you to their advantage. Get your father to hand over all he had."

"But what about you? What's your role, Aidan?"

"Aidan's not my name." Alias corrected her. "That's just what I used to get close to you."

"Then who are you?" Jenna asked, a mix of fear, panic, and confusion covering her face.

He paused for a second at her query, unsure how to answer. "I don't have a name." He replied, continuing to load his clip. "People call me Alias. It's fitting enough."

Jenna's mouth hung open in exasperation. "I can't believe this..." She quietly murmured to herself. "This can't be happening. Jason...oh God they killed him!"

Collateral damage. Alias thought to himself, but he knew that telling her this would not help.

Jenna turned sharply to him. "We have to go to the police! We have to do something!"

Alias shook his head slowly. This girl was so naive. "Don't bother, you might as well just turn yourself over to Hets."

"What are you talking about? You can't just cover up a murder like that!" Jenna replied angered.

"Believe me," Alias replied, "with the right resources you can do anything. The law doesn't exist in The Underground. Half the cops are too scared to do anything, the other half are dirty and on someone's payroll."

"God!" Jenna cried out in anguish. "Just take me home then! Get me the hell out of here!"

"I can't right now." Alias lied to her.

"To Hell with that! Why not?" Jenna demanded, tears developing in the corners of her eyes as panic began to spawn within her.

"Do you think they don't know where you live?" Alias asked her. "They found you at a club on a Saturday night. They have been watching your every move. The most logical thing is to wait for you to go back home."

"How do you know all this?" She asked.

"Because it's what I would do."

However, that wasn't the only reason. Jenna would not be going home tonight, or for a very long time. Alias felt uneasy about his plan, but it was him or her right now. As Hets had put it, it was about who gets rich and who gets dead. Alias could finally agree with Hets; he preferred rich. It was unfortunate, but still must be done. He would let Jenna be comforted that he had saved her, and that he apparently was looking out for her wellbeing. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Tears of frustration and fear began to slowly fall down Jenna's face. "Can you stop them?" She asked without looking at Alias.

"I'll get you back to where you belong, I promise." Alias told her, feeling another surge of guilt as he boldfaced lied to her. Alias then stood up. "Wait here, I need to make a phone call." The black fox then exited the car and walked away down the dimly lit parking garage.

Reaching for his cell phone, Alias chose to block the lies he had just told to her out of his mind. This was something he had to do. It was just the way things were for him. It wasn't fair by any means, and Alias didn't feel particularly proud about his betrayal, as he knew what they would do to a pretty girl like Jenna.

It must be done. It's only a job...

But Alias wasn't getting paid this time.

Alias clamped his eyes shut and shook his head. He was moving forward with his plan, and punched in a series of digits on his phone. Then he waited as he listened to the ringer on the other end.

Then someone picked up.

"I have been expecting your telephone call." A mild mannered voice said on the other end.

"Don't bother tracing this," Alias said, "I need you to focus on my words and not triangulating where I am." Alias turned around and gave a glance back to Jenna, who was still in the car. "Believe me, I have enough tech in here that I can put Silicon Valley to shame."

"Come now, Alias." The voice replied, calmly. "Do you not think I know that if you did not want to be found you will not be?"

"Hets, you're the dumb son of a bitch who tried to kill me earlier today! Don't butter me up. I should have killed you when you had the chance."

Hets laughed slightly. "When would this have been?"

"When I was watching you outside your office window, how do you think I knew about her?"

"You see, Alias, this is why I enjoyed our business relationship. You knew how to improvise, you can analyze a situation quickly and-"

"Save it!" Alias growled. "It was more of a courtesy than you paid to me."

"May I ask a question then, Alias?" Hets asked calmly. "What exactly is your plan? If you were truly outside-"

"I know about the vaccines." Alias confirmed.

"So you know my business with the young lady?" Hets asked.

"I think I can fill in the blanks."

"So, let me ask you, what do you think we can do from here?"

"You said it yourself, Hets." Alias hissed. "It will either put you in the black or the red, depending on if you get it. So you've got to ask yourself, what is more important, a mercenary who comes at a dime a dozen or your company surviving the next quarter?"

There was a long pause on the other end. Alias waited, he knew he had Hets now.

"So, you are willing to hand her over in exchange for your life?" Hets asked.

"Something like that." Alias replied.

"So you are willing to betray someone, knowing fully well what will happen?"

Alias was growing tired of this nonsense. "What's your point?" He hissed in his phone, irate.

"I simply find it strange that the one term you held true to during your tenure working for me, you are now suggesting you break." Alias remained quiet. "You are willing to betray another fox, your own species." Hets reminded.

Alias didn't say anything to this. Hets just pegged him now as Alias had done earlier.

"You must be sincere." Hets concluded. "However, let me ask what it is you have on me to ensure your survival, granted I have already made an attempt on your life?"

"Your life in the palm of my paws." Alias threatened. "I have enough shit on you, a priest wouldn't be able to keep it to himself. Think about it." Alias explained.

Hets sighed. "I can only assume you are referring to the Blackwell. But you do not have any intention of using it?"

"I just want to disappear." Alias told Hets. "That's all I've wanted. But if I so much as feel someone following me, every secret you spent your fortune on covering up will make it to light! And someday, maybe years from now, you will not fear the shadows, but what lives within them. Because one day one of those shadows will be waiting for you, Hets. And I'm patient."

"I believe I see your point, Alias." Hets replied, seemingly unfazed. "So, explain to me the plan from here."

"Straight up exchange." Alias replied. " I drop her off, you never see me again."

"Are the docks satisfactory for this occasion?" Hets asked.

"For snipers yes, for me no." Alias rejected. "We meet indoors on my turf." Alias checked his watch. "Rico's Roof, the industrial section, four o'clock, warehouse 47. Don't be late." Alias threatened, and then snapped his phone shut.

Alias paused for a second before moving his phone back to his pocket, then turned to walk back to the car. To no surprise, Jenna was still there. Clearly, the scare tactics Alias had used worked well enough; otherwise she'd be gone. Even if she had slipped away, she wouldn't be that hard to track down. Pulling open his car door, Alias sat back down into the driver's seat.

There was a few moments of silence before it was broken.

"You must think I'm pretty stupid." Jenna said quietly, not looking at him.

Alias's brow furrowed. "Why would I think that?"

"Knowing so little about my father, and then thinking you were some guy trying to pick me up." She let out a laugh of disgust. "I thought I was being really slick back there." She looked over at Alias, her eyes made it clear that she had been crying. "I never even thought you'd be playing me the whole time."

The increasingly familiar guilty stab in the gut hit Alias again. "Don't take it personally." Alias replied. "I've been doing this a long time."

"What is ‘this'?" She asked.

Alias sighed to himself. He didn't feel like going into details, but then again the vixen wouldn't be alive long enough to tell anyone.

"They pay me to do things. Things that most normal people don't do." Alias explained.

"Things?" the vixen asked confused.

"It doesn't matter, but I'm here because it benefits me." Alias told her.

"Wait," She asked, "then you're getting paid to save me?"

Alias let out another small sigh. He felt he was getting in over his head. "Put it this way, I had a special interest in keeping you out of Hets's paws. Now, you can either keep questioning why someone saved you from a bullet to the back of your skull, or you can just accept that you're probably the luckiest vixen alive right now."

Jenna was quiet for a second as she must have sensed the agitation in Alias's voice. "Then thank you..." She said, her blue eyes making a connection with his.

Alias looked away. "Don't thank me, it's just what I do."

"You saved my life," Jenna reinforced. Her paw then reached out and took ahold of his. Alias's eyes darted down to the foreign object that laid on top of his paw, as it flinched involuntarily. "...you saved my life." Her eyes met his again, and they seemed to relay more thanks than any words could ever do. Her looks were that of sincere graciousness for the chivalrous feat she believed Alias had done on her behalf.

Alias heard her words, but all he could think about was the last time someone had touched him, he had broken their arm. What was strangest of all was he didn't have that desire to react.

"Yeah, well," Alias replied as he pulled his paw away, "don't thank me yet."

"What are we going to do?" She asked quietly, but sincerely.

Alias swallowed. "I'm taking you to some people I know." He told her. "They'll get you back." Technically, he had not lied again, Alias just hadn't told the whole truth. In The Underground, that could make all the difference in the world. What he wanted to tell her; what he couldn't tell her was that by the end of their time together she would hate him. Regardless of what happened to her, for the rest of her life Jenna would despise the black fox called Alias for as long as she should live. However, there was a small silver lining. Alias looked down at his watch. In less than four hours, he would be a free fox.