chapter 21 ⚔ The Undertaking

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I was suited up in an office building after dark, in a hallway, jumping down from the rafters to land behind two men, using the smooth edge of my sword to hit Man 1 in the head, making him fall, catching the briefcase that he dropped, using it as a shield for the gunshots that Man 2 fired at me, standing, using the briefcase to hit Man 2 in the head, making money fall out of it, letting the briefcase go. Man 2 tried to punch me repeatedly. I ducked all the punches, spinning to kick him in the head, making him fall, looking over my shoulder toward him. 

I stepped over his unconscious body into the office where another man was waiting. "Harold Backman..." I pushed him against the wall. "You have failed this city."

"I'm only an accountant," Harold told me. "I'm just the money."

"The money that leads to extortion, kidnapping and drugs," I told him. "It's the destruction of innocent lives."

"You think you scare me more than the people I work for?" Harold asked.

"No," I answered, letting him go. "They can deal with you."

I punched him in the face, making him fall unconscious, taking his laptop, walking out, leaving.



I got back to the hideout, taking off my mask, putting the laptop on the table next to Felicity and Oliver.

"Mm, let me guess," Oliver told me. "Some bad guy missing his fancy new laptop."

"Harold Backman," I told them. "He's who Starling City's worst call when they want to launder money in the Caymans."

"Shouldn't we just turn this over to, I don't know, the IRS?" Felicity asked, going through the laptop.

"We will," I told her. "Just as soon as you return the money to the rightful owners."

"Well, it sounds like a very nice idea," Oliver told us.

"Backman's files are all protected with an asymmetric encryption algorithm," Felicity told us. 

"Really?" Oliver asked. "So it's gonna take a while to break in."

"Days, at least," Felicity told us. 

"Better get started, then," Oliver told her, walking away.

I walked toward my box to put my knives and swords away.

Felicity stood. "At the risk of ending up with an arrow or a knife in my eye, can I ask... when are you planning on making peace with Diggle?"

"He's the one who left, Felicity," I told her. "It was his choice. I promised I'd help him track down Floyd Lawton, and I had to make the call to take down Edward Rasmus. I apologized."

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