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fields without running into anyone. I kept going for a minute before bearing left and heading for the old gray brick building standing on its own a little way out of town.
    The distillery was long closed, but it had once kept the town in honest work, staying open through Prohibition and bringing the community together. Now it was an historical eyesore in desperate need of refurbishment. Or demolition.
    I checked my surroundings and spotted the goons leaving the last of the buildings behind and starting on the old road out of town. I had a few minutes before they'd notice me roaming around. I dashed into the shadow of the building and crept to the other side.
    Trevor Foster was waiting beside his own BMW with his back to me, leaning against the car and breathing in the morning. He was alone, his eyes closed against the bright sunlight.
    -- I can take him now. --
    “It’s meant to be quiet.” It wasn't a requirement of the job that we avoid violence, but it was listed as a nice to have.
    -- We don't have a plan to keep things quiet anymore. An opportunity has presented itself. --
    “Be sure,” Mouse replied.
    I was. Or maybe I was just ashamed of myself and wanted to take it out on someone. I don’t know. I kept low and approached the target, sticking to the shadow of the distillery until I was nearly on top of the car. The ground was paved all around, cracked and broken but free of debris, and I moved silently. I freed my blade from its place against my forearm and judged the scenario before acting.
    The goons were far enough away on the wrong side of the building; they wouldn't see anything before it was done and I was gone. Trevor would hear me no matter how I approached, but he wouldn't have time to react. Not before his throat was cut.
    I decided to run at the car and vault it, slashing as I went and using my momentum to do most of the damage. My landing would be inelegant but it would get the job done.
    I tensed, my eyes taking in everything and locking it in my mind as my muscles bunched in preparation.
    The sound of a car intruded on the scene as it bounced onto the paving from the road out of town. Trevor's eyes opened to greet the new arrival. For a moment I was leaning out of the shadows for all the world to see and my heart leaped in my chest as my options went to shit and I was spotted.
    I pulled back into the shadows anyway and waited for the start of the fight, but it never came. Trevor was blind from facing the sun and was focusing on the other direction. I pulled back, retreating to the corner of the building and slipping away before the car appeared.
    “What happened?”
    -- A new arrival. --
    She knew not to ask if I was alright and remained silent, waiting for me to let her know if I needed her.
    The new car was that of the county sheriff, followed by another with three of his deputies and Trevor's goons. The cars parked beside the BMW and everyone got out. Nobody said anything as they all turned and entered the building.
    -- Why would the county sheriff be having a secret meeting with a councilman at an abandoned building outside town? --
    “Go find out.”
    -- I'm on it. --
    I turned to a drainpipe running up the outside of the building and started to climb.
     
     

Chapter 4
    The pipe running up the side of the building was rusty and in need of replacement, but it held. I pulled myself onto the roof and looked around for an entrance.
    I crouched and made for a hole, the site of an old skylight that had long since fallen to the distillery floor below. Peering over the edge I could make out a beam three meters below.
    I swung my legs over and paused when the roof let out a loud creek. A few seconds without someone yelling within and I was ready to go. I looked over the edge at my landing spot hidden in the murky interior, and slipped over.
    I landed silently, dislodging some of the crud that had built up over the decades. It fell lazily through the air and disappeared from sight.
    The gathering was