The Life I Live

Infiltration

The mansion was comprised of white marble, towering high above the surrounding homes and shops. While the Winslow household looked fit for a king's residency, the rest of the city wasn't as spectacular. Black, degraded stone made up the other buildings. This was obviously the shady portion of the town where the more illegal activity would reign. There was a lot less traffic on this street, but the occasional drunk or scantily dressed woman would cross the path in front of them.

The trio hid in an alley facing the front of the mansion, eyeing the guards armed with guns outside. Any other occasion would have seen them sprinting towards the door, cutting down anyone they met along the way. This time they were hesitant to make such an entrance. One wrong move and both their crewmates could be killed.

"How do we get in?" Summer asked, crouching low by the dirty wall. Obscenities were graffitied on the stone, most of them directed to someone named Dave. If the situation wasn't so tense, Summer would've laughed at some of the insults. Poor Dave.

"If we can get close enough, I can teleport us in. We would need to be in range, and the walls are rather distant to the house." Law replied, peering at the pristine walls that bordered the property. "There's a tree on the left perimeter. Perhaps that would get us close enough." He turned to Bepo.

"Can you smell them?" The bear lifted his nose and sniffed, concentrating with a scrunched face.

"Just barely. Both scents are extremely faint, more so Reid's than Liam's." For some reason, this made him concerned. The doubt written on his face was alarming, and she began to fear the worst. Summer swallowed hard.

"What...what does that mean exactly?" He shook his head sadly.

"I'm not sure, but it could only mean he's not conscious. The body gives off a stronger scent when they are awake." This made her heart clench up instinctively, and her eyes widened. She didn't want to think about the alternative...

"God, I hope they're alright." She muttered, and Bepo took this as disapproval on his part. His head dropped.

"I'm sorry." She sighed and patted his head.

"Hey, let's just get through this, ok? We'll bring them back, safe and sound." Even as she said it, she struggled to convince herself it was true. Law's concerned glance wasn't very reassuring either.

"We'll have to sneak past the guards near the wall to make it to the tree." He said, shifting focus away from their dark thoughts. The men in front of them walked in casual but predictable patterns, always taking several steps to the right before spinning on their heel and heading the other direction. The amount of men covering the walls made it unlikely they would go unspotted.

"We'll need a distraction, don't you think?" She asked, and Law nodded.

"I don't suppose you have any ideas?" She smirked, already thinking of one scenario.

"Hmm...You don't have a bottle of booze, do you?" He gave her a questioning glance, but shook his head. Searching the dingy alleyway, her gaze landed on a mostly empty beer bottle. She took an experimental sniff, recoiling at the rancid poured a little on the front of her shirt, making her body smell like the foul liquid.

"I'll get them to gather at the front, so try to get in an alley on the left side. Run to the tree when they are all distracted." Giving a mischievous little wink, she walked out into the open towards the mansion.

~~~

What on earth was she planning? In their new spot further left of the first alley, Law watched in fascinated curiosity as Summer pretended to drunkenly stumbled towards the entrance guards. He had to admit, if he didn't know any better he would've guessed she were actually drunk. Every few steps she would drag her feet and pretend to stumble slightly before 'barely' catching herself and continuing forward. When she was about halfway to the house, he noticed that all the guards' eyes were on her.