The Critical Puzzle Piece (A Death Note Short) [DISCONTINUED]

At Odds

     "Oh c'mon boss, you gotta stop teasin' her like that." Zakk chortled, sitting on the couch with a girl on his arm. When didn't they, though?

     "I'm not teasing, it's the basic truth." Ross rolled his eyes, "You know that once we get bored with girls, we get rid of them. However in this case," he gestured to me, "we have more than one use for her. If she fails to comply, the same thing happens to her that happens to all the others."

     It was true what he was saying. I have seen multitudes of girls walk in through the entrance.

     And then were carried out.

     I shivered at the thought. I was rather lucky to be alive this long. Or unlucky; I hadn't really decided how I felt anymore. I couldn't even tell if I felt anything. I clasped my hands together to keep them from shaking. In order to pass the time, I traced the scars on my hands. They've accumulated to the point where my right hand was almost a new color. I felt ashamed. I looked towards the dress I had dropped; it would be covered in dirt by now. I had no use for it anymore. Thank goodness.

     Ross was right; I did have an idea where Shiv's right hand man was hiding out. Once this mob had realized that someone, who wasn't Kira, was going out and cutting of the head of different organizations, most of them split into smaller groups. This was in order to protect their wealth and their trade agreements. However, the Northern mob tended to work in same five drug districts. And the only one that hasn't been touched was the second one. He had to be there. That was what made the most sense to me. The only problem with this was that the second district was simultaneously the largest, which meant that there was a lot of ground to cover. That's probably why Mello hasn't been able to kill of this guy once and for all; he didn't know his exact location. This was where my expertise could come in.

     Being with the Mafia had taught me a lot of things. How these criminals moved and that money was always the end game. Wherever money could be produced, one of the crime syndicates would be there to suck up the profits. Therefore, as of right now, there were only two cities where profits had increased rather than decrease due to Kira's wrath. Thus, that was where our man was hiding; directly in between those two cities in the rural area. He was definitely hiding out in one of the abandoned barns which coincidently was also where the majority of trades used to happened. Drug dealing? Where old farmers live? It couldn't be possible. That was what they wanted the world to think.

     "Mel, honey," Ross' voice woke me from my thought process, "go get our map." I had to think about it for a moment and then I understood. I nodded to corroborate my understanding. I pivoted my heel to go to the control room that only had cameras to the outside of the hideout. I searched the dirtied and cluttered desk for the map that Ross was speaking of. This map was extremely important to the Mafia. It had the locations of everything relating criminal activity. I was sure that Kira would be extremely pleased if he had this map. It was something that the Mafia used to avoid the childish God.

     I found it under other papers and brought it back to the central area down the stairs. Mello had already taken a seat next to Ross while Jack and Zakk were sitting on the other couch. I saw a woman behind Ross rubbing his shoulders. She glanced up at me and smirked. You realize I am not in love with the position you have, right?  My shoes clacked against the metal stairs, making the silence disappear. I handed Ross the map and he gave me one of those creepy smiles. I brushed some of my hair behind my ear and went to go sit in the lonely chair opposite of all of them. It made me feel happy knowing that I could see where everyone was. Unfortunately, Mello had the same vantage point. We were at odds with each other.

     "Mel," I looked up at Ross. The girl behind him glared at me; I could understand why they all looked at me this way, the girls. They saw me as a threat to something that kept them alive. My intelligence somehow gets me through each day because of one irreplaceable truth: the Mafia needed me. Well, they needed my brain. I had to thank the tutors for that, "where's are man?" He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes for a moment as the girl whispered something to him.

     "In an abandoned barn in Los Molinos." I stated, confidence rising in my voice. All the men looked at me. Even the girl stopped whispering whatever nonsense she felt could prolong her life in this fucking wasteland.

     "Why do you say that?" Jack inquired, looking from Ross to me. Ross nodded. Mello kept his gaze on me the whole time, even when he was taking ridiculously loud bites from his chocolate bar.

     "Because it's in the only district you haven't checked." My voice was spotted with venom, "Besides, it's the old transaction place. He's flooding towards where he can get the most amount of income in a short period of time. I'm guessing that he's planning to disappear, especially since his partner died. He's probably afraid of being the next heart attack victim. That's why I assume he's hiding away in the old barn." I pointed vaguely in the direction of the map.

     "Did you even think that there might be other possibilities of where he could be hiding?" Mello questioned. I shot him a look.

     "What's your suggestion, then?" This was the only place where I truly, one-hundred percent reigned. It was because these idiots would never figure out anything. The reason that the Mafia was still alive and thriving was because I explained to them how to keep their faces and names hidden which was apparently all that Kira needed to kill his victims. In fact, it was my idea to use Kira's killings to their advantage so that they could monopolize the drug trade since they would be the only organization left. Therefore, Kira's era was also the Mafia's era.

     "You just assume a lot. You even said it." Mello leaned forward, his blond hair swinging slightly, "Is there any other place that this guy could be hiding? Any other transaction location or...?" He put his gloved hand to his chin.

     "This is the second district, which is the only one that hasn't been attacked by Kira." I stated, "You know this. So why are you asking?" I raised my eyebrow towards him. I could see that he was gritting his teeth. I was not going to let this kid just come in and take away something that has kept me alive for this long. And he clearly had to show the organization that he was worth something. We were at odds. We threatened one another. Only one of us would win.

     He took a bite out of his chocolate bar, "Well, there's also the chance that he's trying to escape the state." He raised an eyebrow, "And yes, this 'barn' would help him in that case, but it would also mean that he is on the move. So we won't have much time."

     I dug my nails into the palm of my hand, "Then it wouldn't hurt to actually go check it out, would it?" I snapped. It was like a tennis match between the two of us and everyone else was the audience, their heads moving back and forth to keep up with the banter.

     A small smirk found its way to Mello's face. I was taken aback, "No, it wouldn't." I could tell by this point that each bite he took from the dessert was mocking me. I didn't like it one bit, "I would only send two men to check it out, just in case there are other people lurking."

     Ross nodded his head. I flinched a little but I could see that Mello caught it, "I'm glad that you two decided to agree. Otherwise, Mel over here would've had to suffer." He coarsely laughed. I put my head down to avoid eye contact with anyone, "Glen, Rashual," he called and two men appeared behind him, "go see if our friend is hiding in Los Molinos."

     "You got it," one of them, I couldn't tell, confirmed.

     "Let's just hope he's there." Another bite. I looked up solely to glare at him.

     I would win.