He sat by the window of his room, staring out as he thought of the possible outcomes of the encounter.
He turned over to his bed when his phone started vibrating.
He stood up from the window and walked over to his bed to check—it wasn't a notification this time. It was the alarm he had set to remind him, so he doesn't miss the time.
He stared at it vibrating for a while, then turned it off because of how annoying the alarm sound was.
"Where's my top?" he said, turning to glance around his room for the top he brought out before going to the window.
He opened the cupboard and saw the top he was looking for. "How did it get here?" he asked, as if the cupboard would answer his question.
He sighed, then put on the top, took his phone, and wore his shoe.
He stared at the screen of the system phone, and the last message from it was the approval of the money he requested three weeks ago, but he didn't bother much about it—maybe it was because he still had money on him, or probably because he knew the system was waiting for the right moment.
He made his way out of his lounge, and as his luck would have it, a cab pulled over right in front of him.
As usual, the drive didn't take a long while, so he got to the bakery within half an hour.
The bakery was already open, and a lot of customers were tripping in and out, which reminded him of the amount he would be getting at the end of the month—which made him smile.
He walked into the bakery, dusting his top from a speck of dust he noticed as he walked in.
He looked up and glanced around, noticing Sera who waved at him. She was casually having a conversation with a stranger while sipping coffee. Not that it bothered him or anything.
He looked over and saw Mia, who stood where she normally stayed—the counter.
He walked over to her with a warm smile and sat by his usual stool. "Morning, Mia."
She returned the smile and greeting. "Morning, Liam. I see you came at your usual time," she said.
He smiled, then nodded. "You can't expect me to come early."
She passed him a cookie plate, then turned over to take off her apron.
He leaned closer with a cookie in his mouth. "You ready to go?" he asked.
She turned back. "Yeah, but I still don't find this to be a good idea, Liam," she insisted, holding his hand.
Liam turned over to Sera, who noticed the discussion and decided to join in. "Yoo."
"You ready to go?" Liam asked.
"I'm ready when y'all are, actually," she said, fixing her gloves.
Liam nodded, then turned over to Mia. "Alright then, let's go."
Mia went into the kitchen and informed the head baker before she joined them outside.
They all entered Sera's little car she got when she was working in the army.
With the directions they got from tracking him down, they were able to trace his primary location, though they were about to confirm if it was true.
"How long is the drive to the place?" Mia asked, sitting at the back nervously.
Liam, who was sitting on the front passenger seat, turned back. "I think it's about an hour or so. We're just checking if our calculations are correct."
"And if they are?" Mia asked, staring into his eyes.
"Then we might as well say hi like we planned," he answered, facing back to the road.
Mia sank into the chair, murmuring "This isn't right" over and over.
Sera glanced at her over the rearview mirror. "I could drop you here if you want, it shouldn't be that far from the bakery," she teased.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," she said, sinking deeper into the chair.
The direction led them over a bridge into a town that seemed to be forgotten—though it was lively, it wasn't as lively as the city they were coming from.
"I guess this is the kind of place criminals like to hide. Why didn't I think of this place while I was in the army?" Sera said, staring out the car.
Liam shook his head, then looked out the window on his end too. "So, which of these houses do you think he lives in?"
"Easy enough, it's over there," she said, pointing out the window over to a duplex painted in orange.
Mia and Liam immediately turned toward the area she was pointing at.
"What makes you think he lives there?" Liam asked.
"Well, it's the closest to the location we pinned," she said, pointing at her Google Maps.
"Well, I guess we have no choice but to check it out," he said. "Pull over somewhere good though—we don't want to drag attention, as we're new to this neighbourhood."
They walked up to the door, but it already seemed to be open.
"He's around?" Liam asked, turning to Sera.
Sera simply gestured that she wasn't sure.
Mia just kept repeating, "This isn't right," like a mantra or prayer.
Liam took the first move and walked into the duplex.
It was better than he had expected—well, it did show he was working for the owner of Maddox Corporation.
He tapped on the bell on the wall and waited, but there was no response despite multiple taps.
Then he opened the door and walked in. "Be careful guys, and remember Sera—violence isn't the only solution."
As they walked in, they saw a man dusting his hands on his shirt, then he pulled up his face slowly.
Just as Sera predicted, it was Carl standing right in front of them.
Carl looked up at them, a piece of half-eaten potato in his mouth as he stood frozen.
"What are you guys doing here? How dare you barge into my house?! You know I can charge you with trespassing," he said, eating the remaining half of the potato.
"Sure, but you're gonna be in jail for a long time because of the crime of attempted murder. And don't think we don't have evidence to prove this fact," Sera said, trying to threaten him.
"Take it easy, we just came to talk," Liam said, trying to calm the tension in the environment.
He stared at them for a while before he finally listened and sat on his couch.
"I'll listen—only on one condition," he said.
"And what's that?" Sera asked, folding her arms.
"We keep what happened between us," he warned, placing his feet on the table.
Sera wanted to argue, but Liam hushed her. "Deal."
Sera stared at Liam but didn't say anything, while Mia stood behind, wary of everything that was happening.
After that, Carl gestured for them to have a seat.
"So, why did you all come here empty-handed?" he asked.
"To negotiate with you," Liam began. "We know you work for Maddox Industries, and I want you to work for me as a spy."
Carl started laughing. "You want me, to be a spy for you? At what cost?"
"At the cost of $10K," Liam said, staring at his next reaction.
"Yeah right, show me the bill and maybe I'll consider it."
Liam smiled. "Smart guy."
He pulled out his phone and dialed a few things before he showed Carl his phone, earning a shocked reaction from him.
Carl leaned back in his chair. "Alright, I'll do it..."
Liam smiled, resting back into the chair as well, glancing at Mia and Sera.
Just when everything seemed to become calm, Carl lunged forward toward Liam with a table knife.
Liam noticed it just in time and immediately shifted his head, watching as the knife pierced through the spot his head had been just seconds ago.
Sera immediately reacted and kicked the knife out of his hands, grabbing him and slamming him on the table.
Mia stood up and backed away out of fear, watching the fight unfold from a safe distance.
Liam stood up. "I knew you couldn't trust people who were willing to become double agents."
Carl recoiled from the damage, though he showed signs of pain by clutching his side.
He staggered to a drawer while Sera and Liam both stood up and rearranged themselves before attacking him at the same time.
He turned, blocked Liam's blow, and punched Sera in the gut, causing her to stagger back. Then he took a ceramic vase and smashed it on Liam's head.
Sera kicked him on the left, then proceeded to punch him multiple times in the gut until his knees buckled.
"I guess you didn't listen when we said we just wanted to talk. Now look at you," she said, standing over him.
"You know one thing you don't know about me?" he whispered, then smirked. "I also was once in the army," he said, then swung, smacking Sera on the leg, which made her fall.
Then he stood up and stepped on her stomach to make sure she didn't get up for a while.
He walked over to the drawer and pulled out a gun, but Liam jumped and tackled it out of his hands. The gun fell and slid beneath the center table.
They both turned toward it, but Carl smashed another vase on Liam's head again, making Liam fall down, bleeding.
Sera jumped on him from behind. He struggled, then ran backward and smashed her against the wall multiple times until she let go. Then he punched her down.
He turned but didn't see the gun beneath the table anymore. He lifted his head and saw Mia holding it, her hands shaking.
Carl raised his hands like he was calming a child. "Mia," he said softly. "You don't wanna do this."
She lifted her head slowly. "And what makes you think that?"
"You're not like them," he continued. "You're better. You're smart, you're scared, but you know this is stupid."
"You shoot me," he said, stepping closer, "and your hands never go clean again. You'll see me in your dreams, blood on your fingers. You'll hate yourself, and it'll eat you alive. That's not you—you're not built for that."
He continued trying to sway her, but she didn't seem to be interested in anything he was saying.
"Do it, Mia," Liam said, stammering mid-sentence.
Carl noticed that her conviction wasn't strong and so he took the opportunity to charge at her with the knife.
Mia noticed his movements. Her hands were still trembling slightly from holding the gun. Out of fear, she raised the gun and pulled the trigger.
She opened her eyes and glanced over at everyone, but they were fine. Then she glanced over at Carl, and he seemed fine at first—until blood started pouring out of his chest continuously.
She wanted to rush to help him, but Liam immediately stopped her with his words, so she turned over and ran toward Liam.
"I didn't... I didn't mean to shoot him," she stammered, a tear rolling down her face.
"It's fine, don't sweat it. It was going to happen anyway. The good thing is that it wasn't one of us," he said, still laying there.
She turned back and stared as Carl's body slowly became lifeless, her eyes filled with fear.