1.1 | The Yakuza Bride

Chapter 22

A/N: Hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

~

The next morning saw them huddled around a laptop to study a blipping red dot on a map. Leon and Mickey wore identical frowns as they squinted at the screen, watching Marie move from one club to another, and then to a convenience store, and then to a side alley, and then back to a club again.

'She's just been at the club or around the area,' Mickey commented as he let out a sigh.

His shoulders sagged as he leaned back in his swivel chair, then began shifting himself from side to side. Beside him, Leon's gaze was maintained on the screen, his cup of coffee gone cold beside him.

Yesterday's operation had better not be for nothing, he thought, as he just managed to keep his frustration under wraps.

'I heard Juan's going to open a new club,' Val called out from where he was doing work at his desk.

'Right, he is,' Mickey added. 'We could hit it.'

Then his gaze shifted to regard his boss with interest.

'But since someone cares too much about not having innocent lives involved - '

A knock on the door interrupted his speech. One of Mickey's men appeared at the door, his face drawn in worried lines.

'Juan Gonzales is creating a ruckus at one of our joints,' he reported.

Leon let out a controlled exhale.

'Which one?' he snapped.

'The one at Beard Street.'

~

The drug laboratory at Beard Street was one of his higher earners. Nestled in a block of run down flats, their exteriors grey with age, was a hole-in-the-wall apartment that contained a not-so-secret secret.

His informants were the men who slept on the streets, his guards the youths who haunted dark corners, his technicians previously certified but now struck off for some misdemeanour.

The air was sultry when he arrived. It didn't help that he had to climb a few flights of stairs to get to the place. By the time his legs took him to the dilapidated apartment, his shirt was sticking to his back and beads of sweat lined his forehead.

Blocking the entrance that was about to cave in were men outfitted in a variety of bright colours and in all sorts of odd styles. Trust Juan to allow his men to dress like zoo animals. There was a leopard print in one corner, zebra stripes in another.

'Move it!' Mickey yelled.

Juan's men jumped away in surprise, shuffling aside in their shiny leather shoes to make way for him. Leon strolled in and was greeted by a chorus of gruff voices.

Weak sunshine filtered in from the grimy, coloured windows, casting them in a watercolour of shadows. Dust particles floated in the air, creating a hazy glow, and stuck themselves to his clothes. For a brief moment, he wondered why no one had replaced the ridiculous flower-patterned designs on the window panes. Then he walked over to a window and cast the empty street outside a cursory glance before turning back to face the slim man perched on a stool.

Mickey took a stand beside him.

'Took you long enough,' Juan drawled as he took a snort from the powder packet in his hand.

'How the hell do you know about this place?' he asked in a low voice.

Juan shrugged his shoulders, his bright grin plastered across his face. The light cast his skin in a glow, lighting his crazed eyes.