Night Games Pt. 16

"I..." Morris tried to answer. "I don't know."

"Neither do I," Gordon added. "But I have this weird feeling like if any of you try to leave, I'm going to shoot you."

"Yeah." Morris commented. "I don't know why, but I feel this need to stop everyone from leaving as well."

"I also have this compulsion to tell you something." Gordon said, still confused at why he was doing this. "Put your fucking comms in or I'll shoot you."

Everyone still had them in from the job.

"We've got them on." Tracy told them. "Are you choosing now to burn us? Before I even get the money for the stone?"

"No." Morris said. "I don't know why we're doing this, but it's not that."

"What the fuck is going on?" Franz demanded.

* * *

"The Ultimados are in position, Contessa." Ramirez's voice came over the earpieces everyone was wearing.

"Ok." Helen confirmed. "What about the rest of you?"

"Let's do this shit." Julie answered.

"All good here." Troy assured the others.

"Ready to do this." Susan answered.

"Ok." Helen checked the time. "Walker and Sinclair should be obeying your commands about now, Julie. And again, thank you for not killing him right then."

"Oh, you have the Generalissimo to thank entirely for that."

"He's getting a medal, don't worry. All right, patch me in."

* * *

"She did this to us!" Morris insisted. "I don't know how, but I told you she was a witch!"

Suddenly, a burst of feedback flooded the comms in everyone's ears. It was followed by the sound of someone loudly tapping a microphone.

"Is this thing on?" Helen asked. "Hello, Tracy. You've visited my home, and we haven't been properly introduced. I have to apologize for my poor manners there."

"How's she on our comms?" Tracy asked the others.

"Oh, good." Helen answered, lighting a cigarette. "I can hear you, too. That's going to make this much more interesting. The last time I did something like this, the conversation was mostly one-sided. And we've got a lot to talk about. But again, manners. I am Contessa Helena de San Finzione, Reigning Monarch of the Sovereign County and Independent Nation-State of San Finzione. Ruler, Servant, and Defender of the People of San Finzione; and of Her Lands, Seas, and Skies. You've been busy in my country. But now, we've got some time to just relax and talk. Sinclair and Walker should be making sure of it. Don't worry, they'll let you try to run for it once we're done chatting."

Helen took a deep drag of her cigarette.

"To answer the 'what the fuck' questions everyone's been asking the two of them, yes, I am some kind of mind-controlling witch. And I'm not the only one. One of them was waiting in the Denti house and came up the tunnel behind the two of them. She's the one who made them tell us where you're hiding, who's in your group; and on that note, I can't believe you've got Oscar Dodge working with you, the guy's a legend. I've been out of the game for years, and even I've heard of him. Alice Mei would be the last member of your group that we hadn't identified, so hello, Alice."

"Um... hi." Was Alice's response.

"Nice to meet you." Helen continued. "Anyway, she also made them give us your comms frequency and gave them the orders they're following now. Then she made them forget everything and she, the Generalissimo, and the Ultimados chased them out of the tunnel. Taking control of them was my Plan B for her, in case the two of them managed to overpower us. Which, I spent a good fifteen minutes washing fucking tear gas residue out of my hair, and my Study's going to have to be fucking decontaminated by a HAZMAT crew before I can use it again. But back to the point, she and the Generalissimo were on that end of things for another reason. You'll be happy to know that I put my two best shots on making their escape look good. Though Hernando DID have to stop her from winging Walker.

"Even if we didn't have all that, the pendant you took from me wasn't the real one. Oh, it's still a real emerald in a silver setting, I knew you wouldn't be fooled by a fake, but it's not the one my late husband gave me. You've only seen the real one in the media, so it only had to look like it from the front. The back is where we put the tracker that would've led us to you if she hadn't been able to stop them in the tunnel. That piece is a Julie Equals original, though, so it's probably still worth quite a bit."

"So, what are you waiting for?" Tracy asked. "Come arrest me!"

"Oh, that's not the way it works in San Finzione, Tracy. No cops, remember. And we still have things to talk about. You see, you didn't need to break into the castle to prove something. Because everything you've stolen in San Finzione has, one way or another, belonged to me.

"You have the Star of Uongo, which was intended as a birthday present for me. You have a necklace made by my best friend, so you're still technically an art thief there. You also have a letter of mine that you've no doubt already read. So, you can understand why I want that one back. And in doing all of this, you also got something else of mine. Something that I can promise you that you never, EVER wanted!"

Helen muted the comms for a second and gave an order.

On the bridge of the cruiser LCS Avanti, Ammiraglio Bagglia gave the order. The ship's main gun fired a shell. It exploded out in the waters of the harbor, fifty meters from the stern of the yacht.

Helen turned the comms back on.

"Tracy Baker. You have my attention!"