Muggsy stared at him. When he spoke, it was with a deep, almost ponderous voice. "Où est son coeur? Dites-moi donc je ne peux cesser de tuer!"
Morgan, who didn’t know much of the French language, besides a few dishes he could order in restaurants and a handful of sexual slang terms, stared in confusion.
Dinkins laughed. "Sorry, mon ami. He’s asking you where my heart is. He’s a bit single-minded, this one. I know you won’t believe me, but I really did hope to hire Mr. Gray to help me. He’d solve all this without nearly so much bloodshed." Dinkins gave Muggsy a playful shove. "Go on, then. Get it over with."
The Axeman of Sovereign City raised his killing blade and began to advance on Morgan.
Samantha’s car was pulling into the garage located behind the Assistance Unlimited headquarters when Morgan’s alarm began going off in her purse. She quickly parked the car and yanked out the communications device, seeing a flashing number on the tiny device’s screen: "2." That meant that it was Morgan, since Lazarus was # 1, Samantha was # 3 and Eun was # 4. The address below the flashing number read ‘6196 Robeson Avenue," which indicated that Morgan was actually inside the building — and in some form of mortal danger!
Samantha was out of the car in a flash, a small handgun clutched tightly in her left hand. She moved around to a side door, one that was marked for deliveries. A small number pad was set into the wall next to the door and she quickly entered a private code that caused the door to open with a pop. She crept inside and moved stealthily through the darkness until she neared the front corridor. She jumped when she heard a gunshot, followed by the unmistakable sounds of Morgan engaging in physical combat.
Any lingering anger she felt toward her friend for his romantic pursuits was completely forgotten and she surged forward, whipping around the corner with her gun raised. What she saw was enough to stop her in her tracks for a moment. A large brute armed with an axe was towering over Morgan, who was bleeding from a deep gash in his right shoulder. Morgan’s pistol lay on the floor, covered in blood. Standing just out of harm’s way was a Negro wearing a top hat and a broad grin.
Samantha immediately knew that Morgan was too close to the man with the axe for her to get a clean shot off. She had to hope that Morgan could stay alive long enough for her to seize an opportunity. But the man in the hat… he was fair game.
Samantha dropped her gun into the purse she wore slung over one shoulder and rushed into the scene. Dinkins jerked his head to the side, eyes widening at the sight of her. Despite her dainty appearance, Samantha was as adept at the martial arts as any of her peers, if not more so. She drove one of her spiked heels into the side of the old man’s head, knocking him off balance. He tumbled to the floor, blood seeping from a nasty looking scratch. He uttered a string of curses at her in a Cajun dialect and Samantha had her suspicions confirmed: these two were related to the Axeman crimes.
Morgan spotted his friend and was almost so distracted that he forgot to duck under another swipe of The Axeman’s blade. "Samantha! Get out of here! Go get help!"
Samantha bristled at Morgan’s words. She knew that he respected her too much to treat her like some fragile flower but in recent months he’d become more protective of her, in direct correlation to his desire for a relationship with her. She drove a hard kick into Dinkins’ belly and he rolled onto his back, gasping for air.
Morgan, meanwhile, dove for his gun but it slid away from him and The Axeman caught him with a hard elbow to the back of the head. Morgan saw stars for a minute and his feet slipped in a puddle of his own blood. He landed awkwardly and The Axeman raised his blade high, intending to finish off his opponent with one further stroke.
It was then Samantha drove her shoulder hard into Muggsy’s back. She was light as a feather compared to the big man but the impact was enough to take his attention off of Morgan. He turned slowly, gazing down at Samantha with a tilted head, as if he were gazing at something wholly new and unexpected. Samantha was rubbing her shoulder, wondering if she’d broken something. She fumbled with her purse, intending to draw her pistol but The Axeman batted it away from her with a beefy paw.
"Samantha," Morgan whispered, trying to find the strength to rise again. He stared hard at the beautiful girl, knowing that his heart would break if he saw her seriously hurt. He threw himself at The Axeman’s feet, holding on tight to the man’s ankles. The Axeman roared in anger, trying to dislodge Morgan’s grip but failing. This gave Samantha the time to scurry after her purse. She pulled out her gun and whipped it around toward The Axeman.
Just as she was taking careful aim at the killer’s skull, a blue-tinged powder flew into her face. Samantha coughed but it was too late. The substance was in her eyes and throat. It burned and itched but more than anything, it brought a terrible drowsiness that not even Samantha’s incredible strength of will could resist. She looked through watery eyes at Dinkins, who was back on his feet, with another of powder clutched in one of his hands. Though she knew it might end up costing her life, Samantha slid into unconsciousness, falling heavily to the floor.
The Axeman, meanwhile, had managed to yank one of his legs free. He drove the heel of his boot into Morgan’s face, crushing his nose. Blood gushed from the wound and Muggsy slammed the butt of his axe handle down onto Morgan’s skull. He then walked around the prone man’s form, hefting his axe once more.
"Leave him be," Dinkins warned.
The Axeman looked up sharply, his eyes burning like coals beneath his mask.
Dinkins stared him down. "You think it’s coincidence that she showed up when she did? I bet he sent out an alarm of some kind. Might be one of those silent ones like they have in the fancier banks. That means Gray and his Korean man might be here any second and it’s going to bad enough if they find their friends like this. Let them see Morgan there with his head cut off and they might go into a frenzy."
The Axeman panted like a dog and shook his head, as if to say that he didn’t fear anyone or anything.
"I agree, mon ami. You could deal with them easy enough." Dinkins lowered his voice, soothing his ally. "But we need to go. No time to play, you hear? I don’t want to take no risks. It’s obvious now that this Gray fellow and his men aren’t the mercenaries I thought they were. They’re something else entirely and that makes them dangerous. So come with me now and we’ll find the door this little lady came in through. I promise you’ll get your fill of blood soon enough."
Muggsy looked at the carnage around him and finally relented, losing the tension in his body. Samantha looked gorgeous in repose but Morgan was a bloody mess.
When the villains were gone, the building fell quiet, save for the deep breathing of Samantha Grace and the quicker, shallower breaths of Morgan Watts.
Lazarus and Eun received the summons from Morgan as well. They were just leaving Ebenezer’s home when the signal came through and though they rushed back at far above the posted speed limit, they arrived too late to see The Axeman or Dinkins exiting the scene. They entered cautiously and came upon their fallen comrades within moments of arriving. Lazarus knelt to check on Morgan first, noting the large amount of blood surrounding the man. Of all his aides, it was Morgan who always seemed to get the worst of their adventures. The man had been shot multiple times, stabbed, nearly drowned and even set on fire in the past. Now it looked like another hospital visit lay in his future.
"Samantha’s okay but I can’t wake her up," Eun said, examining the girl with a practiced eye.
Gray stood and crossed to where the girl lay on the floor. "Go and summon Dr. Hancock at once. Morgan has lost a lot of blood." Eun hurriedly moved to follower his employer’s command. Doctor Hancock was on call 24/7 for the exclusive use of Assistance Unlimited. He was paid so handsomely that he had been able to abandon his traditional practice, despite having had the reputation for being one of the top practitioners in Sovereign.