Jack Cage: Troubled Ones

FIFTEEN

    Mavean walked along the road, thinking about Cage, wondering if he had feelings for her, and if she had feelings for him. He had given her the address of a big lead, she had to go take it, but not on her own. She isn't going to involve Cage so much, so she got dressed into her Crimson outfit at the toilets, and headed towards the fight club.
                                               *

    Cage knew that the man hired to murder people was dead. Well, Cage himself killed him. Which means The Forsaken department is falling rapidly and losing their men. For one reason. They're just too predictable and they were at the wrong place at the wrong time.
    Cage kept looking through the files with the Glock resting by his side. He scanned through them to see any regular or common patterns the victims had. So far, there were none. Cage couldn't pick them out. If The Forsaken were killing people, it was at random, to make a statement, probably.
Cage started to connect the dots. He had a few photos, but it was enough to give him an idea. Cage started to pick up the files, one by one laying them out and pinning them on his board. He stared at them long and hard before coming to a conclusion. He looked at the photos. The zoom in used, the angle, everything.
Then Cage had a theory, and he took his jacket and headed out.
                                             *

    Crimson walked into the fight club and immediately called for Raven, Merlyn and Aaron.
    "What is it, Crimson?" Raven questioned.
    "I have a lead. A big one. You guys want to come or not?" Crimson asked.
    "We are going, no doubt about it," Merlyn said.
    "Good, grab your weapons and let's head out," Crimson said, and the rest took their guns and daggers. Crimson took her Beretta and her bat and they headed off for the house of the Changs.
                                             *

    Cage knocked on Laurence's door, with all the files in his hand. The door opened and Laurence greeted Cage with a smile.
    "What can I do for you?" Laurence asked.
    "I need you to do some quiet digging for me," Cage said, handing him the files.
    "What's this?" Laurence asked.
    "These are all the criminal activity from The Forsaken dating back to 2010."
    "I thought they were established in 2013?"
    "Apparently not. I need you to find out more, I can't find a connection between the victims. So I thought maybe you could."
    Laurence flipped through and found photos of Crimson, Mavean and Cage.
    "And this?" He asked.
    "I need you to find out how these photos were taken. The amount of zoom in, the location, everything," Cage said.
    "What's on your mind?" He asked.
    "Just run the tests. I'm following a theory, trying to prove it."
    "Okay. I'll get back to you tomorrow."
    "Thank you Laurence," Cage said before turning and heading downtown.
*

Crimson and her team approached the house cautiously. Then, as they came to the front door, they saw a wrench, normally used to pry the door open. Crimson however, didn't have time for that shit. She signalled everybody to stand back and with one solid kick, the door swung open. Aaron, Raven and Merlyn had their guns ready as they entered. As they did, they could smell a foul smell.
    The smell of death.
    They entered one of the rooms and saw broken window glass, toppled books and most of all, a dead body.
    "Cage," Raven said and Crimson nodded.
    "Has to be. This man was beaten with only a few solid moves. 3 punches, 2 kicks, and one fatal uppercut, snapping his head. Only Cage can do that. I'm quite certain," Merlyn stated.
    "Always a step ahead of us," Aaron said.
    Crimson looked around. She felt around the walls and the cupboards, and suddenly, she felt a switch. She pressed it, and the wall opened, revealing a secret passageway.
    "Not always a step ahead," Crimson smirked, and they grabbed their torches and went in.
*

Cage sat down at a restaurant in the city. He had no idea where he was or what the name of the restaurant was. All he knew was that he was hungry, despite eating an hour ago, and the food looked promising.
Cage was staring out blankly. He felt he's doing his bit in this mess, after he gave the files to Laurence, he trusts that he will bring back results. Now was one of those times his mind can be at peace, with no Mavean or gangs nearby, and no burden to go and investigate further.
A break. A well deserved one, Cage would tell himself. He scanned his surroundings one more time. A gang as big as The Forsaken, they would have employed men across the country if they were looking for someone.
No one.
Cage's cheesecake came, and Cage started eating.
Well deserved Cage, he told himself. Well deserved...