Billy leaned casually against the side of the loading dock door. He and his boss had just taken delivery of a dozen cakes for some convention they were having inside. His boss had then disappeared into his office with the delivery driver to finalize payment, leaving Billy to wait by the door.

He sighed and dragged a hand down his face, bored out of his mind. He’d been instructed to stay put so that when the next truck arrived, the driver would have someone to help him unload the goods. Unfortunately, that truck had been delayed for another fifteen minutes because they’d dropped one of the cakes, so Billy was going to have to wait for at least half an hour against the door.

He looked around at the rest of the back room, then sighed again. “Fuck it.” he said, starting towards the bathroom. Maybe he could disappear for a few minutes and mess around on his phone.

He hadn’t gone five steps, however, when he noticed someone walking towards him. Someone dressed in a black jacket and matching fedora with a gray scarf covering his face.

Someone who definitely did not work here.

“Hey, you’re not supposed to be-” he was abruptly cut off as the stranger clamped his hand over his mouth. Before Billy could do anything else, the stranger grabbed his hand and pressed something into it. Billy looked down at the hundred-dollar bill now in his grasp, then looked a question at the intruder.

“You keep your mouth shut and do exactly as I tell you, there’ll be nine more of those for you.” said the stranger quietly, removing his hand from the boy's mouth.

Billy stared blankly at him for a moment, then smiled as he tucked the bill into his pocket.

“How can I help you, sir?” he asked politely.

((((((*******))))))

“Admin.”

“I’m all set.” said Allen as he drove away from his new vantage point. “I’ve picked a cozy little spot on top of the Palazzo Hotel. All I’ve got to do is get my car a quick check-up and I’ll be good for Saturday.”

“You’re sure you’ll be able to hit him from there?”

“I wouldn’t have picked it otherwise.” replied Allen.

The Administrator grunted in acknowledgment, and he continued. “Hey, relax. You picked me to do this job for a reason, after all.”

“Because you have the best chance of making the shot.” they agreed.

“No, because you know I will make the shot.” Allen corrected.

"I don't know that."

"I do."

“Overconfident much?”

Allen smiled. “It’s only overconfidence if I miss.”

He heard a chuckle from the other end. “Very true, sir. Very true.”

Allen turned left, heading for his home in the southern district. The Administrator spoke again.

“You know…you don’t have to do this.”

“Come again?” Allen asked.

“You can walk away right now if you want to. I won’t stop you. I’ll meet you on Monday at the spot where I recruited you to hand you your information, and then you and I will cut ties and this nightmare will be over.”

“I appreciate the offer, but no.”

“Why?”

“If I walk away from this, you’ll have to fill the spot with one of your other fixers.” Allen explained. “I’ve seen their work. They’re pretty good, but they don’t have much experience at extended range, which is the only way to kill Goodman and get away with it. If you use them to do the job, there’s a fifty-fifty chance that they’ll miss. If that happens, Goodman will make sure we never get another chance like this.”

“If you insist.” the Administrator conceded. “Speaking of your retirement though, what’s your plan?”

“To retire.” Allen replied absently.

“Okay, but how? I mean, I know it's none of my business, but would it hurt to at least let me know that you have a plan?”

The Administrator waited a moment, but didn’t receive an answer.

“Uh…Ghost?”

Allen remained silent as he watched the car trailing behind him.

“I need you to jam all communications within a hundred meter radius of my phone. Now.”

((((((*******))))))

“Captain Simmons, this is Sergeant Major Jeffry. We are currently tailing a suspect. They’re in a vehicle which matches the description you gave us.”

“Do not engage. This is the guy who single-handedly foiled a state bank heist. Just keep tailing him until he gets wherev-”

Jeff cringed as a high-pitched tone suddenly replaced Simmons’ voice. “Son of a-what the hell just happened!?”

“What is it?” asked Carl, his driver.

“Nothing, just…keep driving.” Jeff replied, attempting to redial Simmons.

Carl turned back to the road and concentrated on keeping a visual and a distance at the same time, while his partner put the phone to his ear again. There were a few seconds of silence before Jeff hung up.

“Dammit.” he said. “Now I can’t even get a dial tone.”

“So no Simmons, then. What do we do?”

“What we’re doing now. Just keep following him until we find out where he’s going.”

Carl looked doubtful. “You do realize that you can’t reach Simmons probably because the suspect already knows we’re here, right?”

“I’m perfectly aware of that. But do you have a better plan?”

He got no response. “Then keep driving.”

((((((*******))))))

“Alright, jammer’s active.” said the Administrator. “So what made you so jumpy?”

“This same Jaguar’s been on my tail for the past few blocks.” Allen replied, still eying the silver car suspiciously.

“Any gang-related distinguishing features?.” asked Admin.

“On the car? No, nothing. And I can’t see whoever’s inside.” Allen replied. “Hold on a second. Let me try something”

Allen dropped his phone onto the passenger seat and then turned right, away from the route he’d originally been traveling. He chewed his lip as he watched the silver car follow closely behind him, then quickly take cover behind a city bus.

“Nice try pal, but I see you.” he muttered.

He turned right again, now heading back the way he’d come, and peered behind him to watch his pursuer. Instead of following him again, the car continued forward, heading towards the central district.

Allen waited and watched behind him for a few minutes. Sure enough, he saw the Jaguar fall back in behind him about five cars back, stalking him like the predatory cat it was named after.

“Very creative.” Allen picked his phone back up. “Hey, you still there?”

“Of course. You still being followed?” Admin responded.

“Yup. It’s a tail. I’m sure of it.”

“Who do you think it is?”

“I have no idea, but whoever it is, they’re no novice. They could be fixers, private investigators… who knows. Doesn’t matter anyways. What matters is how I’m going to lose them.”

“You could always lead them into an alleyway and shoot them. That’ll solve your problem real quick.” Admin suggested innocently.

“I’m not even going to dignify that.”

He heard a sigh on the other end, followed by some underhanded comment about pacifism.

“What was that?” Allen snapped.

“Nothing. So what’s your plan then?”

Allen thought for a moment. His home in the Southern district wasn’t too far away. If he booked it and got home as fast as he could, he at least wouldn’t have to worry about cops finding him, but he risked letting his tail find out where he lived.

So how do I get rid of them…he thought, glancing into the oncoming lanes. He sighed as he steeled himself.

“Admin, I’m gonna have to get back to you.” he said before tossing his phone in the passenger seat.

((((((*******))))))

Carl tapped his thumb against the wheel nervously. “Is he still watching us?”

“I don’t think so.” replied Jeff, who was watching their target intently through a pair of binoculars. “That trick never fails. That and we’re a good five cars behind him in heavy traffic. I think we’re good.”

“Never fails, huh? What about in Seattle?”

Jeff fell silent for a moment. “Hey Carl?”

“Yeah?” replied the driver.

“Shut up.”

Carl shot a grin at his partner, then turned back to their quarry.

Suddenly, with tires screeching, said quarry made a wild U-turn and started to quickly pull away from the two agents through oncoming traffic. Carl spun around and took off after him.

“He’s trying to get back to his safehouse! Follow him!” yelled Jeff.

“No! Really!?” Carl shot back as he floored the accelerator, chasing after the slower Mustang. The black muscle car made a sharp left through oncoming traffic, and he followed without much difficulty.

“I don’t get it. He knows we’re following him, so why’s he leading us home?” Jeff asked aloud.

“Isn’t it obvious? He’s trying to make us crash before he enters the district.”

“And if he does it quickly enough, he won’t have to worry about cops following him in, either. Smart.”

Their quarry made another left, sliding around a massive pickup and squeezing between two other cars. Carl followed with ease.

“Try to pit him when we get close enough.” Jeff said. “We don’t want to drag this out longer than we have to.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve almost got him.” Carl responded shortly.

Both cars continued their deadly waltz through traffic for another few seconds before the muscle car made another left, passing directly in front of a city bus.

“He’s close! Think you can hit him!?”

“With pleasure. This tool’s going dow-OH SHIT! NO!”

The source of Carl’s sudden panic was revealed as an eighteen-wheeler loomed into view from behind the bus, horn blaring. He attempted to turn back into the correct lane, then his eyes widened as he realized it was already too late.

((((((*******))))))

Allen grinned wickedly as he saw the Jaguar do a crazy flip over the front of the eighteen-wheeler, landing on its roof and crushing against the pavement from the force of the crash.

“Hasta la vista, jackass!” he said, picking up the phone again. “Hey.”

“Hey. I’m going to assume from your triumphant screaming that you took out the tail?”

“Yeah, without killing them, I might add. You can drop the jammer, by the way.” he said smugly.

“Yeah, well good for you.” the Administrator replied bemusedly as he complied.

Allen pulled into the cracked parking lot of a donut shop and parked the car, got out, and started jogging toward the intersection where the Jaguar sat smoking. He arrived and easily blended in with the rest of the crowd that was already watching.

“Admin, I’m at the intersection.”

“How bad is it?”

“Pretty bad. The Jag’s laying on its back, the front’s smashed in, no glass to speak of, and both front wheels are gone.”

“Ouch.”

Allen saw one of the doors suddenly pop off. “Hold on, the drivers are getting out.”

“Anyone we know?”

“Um…” Allen squinted to see the men who’d been tailing him. However, nothing about them really stood out. “No. Who the hell are these guys?” he asked himself more than anyone else.

“No gang-related apparel?” inquired the Administrator.

“No,” Allen replied, watching as police cruisers pulled up to the flipped Jaguar. “Just your average Joes.”

“Could be fixers.” they suggested.

“No. These aren’t fixers. They’re too…formal.”

The police went through the usual textbook wellness checklist with everyone involved in the crash, then turned to the guys who had been in the Jaguar.

“Who, then?”

“I have no cl-” Allen abruptly stopped as he saw one of the tail drivers flash a badge at the cops. It wasn’t the brass seven-pointed star of the LVPD, though. This one was a more brightly toned shield, one which made the police instantly stand up straighter. Allen gasped.

They weren’t gang members, fixers, or cops.

They were federal agents.

"Shit!” Allen hissed, sprinting back to his car.

“What? What’s wrong? Who are they?” the Administrator asked, slightly worried.

“Feds, man! There’s fucking feds in Vegas!”

“What!? Why!?”

“How the hell should I know!?” snapped Allen, getting back into his car. He quickly started it and drove off, several cars honking angrily as he flew past.

“This is bullshit. Why now!? Just when we’re about to whack the biggest mobster in Vegas!?” asked Admin.

“I don’t know. Listen, I’m gonna haul ass back to my neighborhood and lay low, before those fuckers can organize a road block and cut me off from the southern district.”

“Understood. I’ll keep an eye on the city, to see if I can determine just how bad our situation is.”

There was a moment’s silence as both took in the gravity of their newest dilemma.

“We’re going to have to modify the plan for Goodman’s assassination.” Allen pointed out.

“You still wanna go through with this!?” The Administrator asked, shocked.

“Of course I don’t. But we’re on a tight schedule and I’m the best you’ve got.” Allen replied with a sigh. “Besides, if we succeed, I’ll be able to vanish into thin air and escape the feds for good.”

“Glad to hear you’re still up for it. I’ll keep you informed.”

“Thanks. Talk to you tomorrow.” and he hung up.

Allen tossed the phone onto the seat beside him, then turned on the radio. He felt himself start to relax after the initial shock of discovering that Vegas was infested by government agents, but he was still worried.

As Allen tried to drive home as inconspicuously as possible, he couldn’t help but continue worrying. Because truth be told, he actually did know why the feds were in Vegas. He didn’t know how he knew, and he didn’t know how they’d found out, but one thing was absolutely certain.

The feds were on the hunt for Twilight Sparkle.

Author's Note

Hope you're enjoying so far! I already have a general idea how the rest of the story's gonna play out, except for this one gap in the middle. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
As usual, be sure to leave a comment and also give me a big thumbs-up if you enjoyed.
Thanks!