#571 in chicklit

#437 in badgirl

#447 in gangs

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Here's Avery's younger sister, Mia:

Ain't she a cutie? Here's the next chapter! Enjoy xx

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A V E R Y
On the rooftops of the city, Maddie and I crouched, heads lowered against the cold.

'It's fucking freezing.' I swore, the cold numbing my toes and spreading ice throughout my veins.

'Language,' Maddie murmured, eyes scanning the pavements below. She was always watching, that one, ever since we were kids.

I snorted, 'You're a god damn weirdo Madison Clifford - I don't know how the hell I'm still friends with you, by the way.'

'Dumbass. You know I'm only nice to you because you're a pathetic creature that constantly needs their ego stroked.'

I gasped in mock offence. 'Careful, Mads. Don't get yourself into something you'll regret... ' My best friend whipped her head towards me, eyes flashing in ire. 'Watch me beat your ass when we train again, idiot.'

I grinned, teeth shining in the light of dawn, 'Oh, sweetie, we'll see about that.' Huffing, she turned away, something catching her eye down below. She froze, and I inched closer to her, my hand automatically falling to grip a gun. Someone moved in the windows, their shadow rippling across the curtain. 

'Damn,' I breathed, 'He wasn't supposed to be home this early.'

'We'll have to improvise.'  

I flicked a brow up to show that I had no problem in doing just that.

Flipping my twin knives out, almost silent as I rose, I gestured to Maddie with a cock of my head - she understood immediately, years and years of training coming through that let us communicate silently.  Maddie nodded, a barely imperceptible bob of her chin and leapt off of the roof. I followed, landing nimbly on my feet.

'We go in on the count of three,' I whispered over the relentless pitter-patter of rain. Maddie nodded again. I began counting, 'One, two-'

RING RING.

What the-

RING RING.

It was my phone, god dammit. I thought I switched it off, but clearly I was wrong. Maddie spun around, strands of her limp hair flying as she glared at me. 'I thought we agreed phones off?' she hissed, a little annoyed. She and I were all too aware of the risk of getting caught on a mission.

Torture. Interrogation. Death.

Fishing the phone out my pocket, I signed, pinching my nose at the caller. Sienna.

I brightened my voice, making sure I didn't sound like I was doing something I shouldn't be. 'Hey. What's up?'

But it wasn't Sienna on the phone.

'Umm... Avery?' My eyes widened, and I pulled Maddie into an alcove as I answered.

'Mia, honey, why do you have Si's phone?' My youngest sister, Mia, was only 6, but she was cheeky as hell. 'Well, Sienna said to ask for help if I got stuck on my math homework, and... um, I'm stuck, Avey.' Judging by her voice, it sounded like Mia was about to cry. Hanging up would only cause her to get more upset. I sighed internally and pinched the bridge of my nose, sending my best friend a look that told her I'd have to take the call. Maddie nodded, and slouched back against the wall, watching the street.

'Okay, what's the question?' I asked, praying it would be easy.

Mia paused, her voice shaky, 'Billy has two apples and Rob has three. Then Mina comes and eats one. How many do they have left?'

She sounded so genuinely confused, I was about to laugh. 'Okay, are you listening?'

I talked her through the problem and she laughed. 'I did it!' She giggled again and I smiled - the kid was just too cute. After saying goodbye and promising to help her with the rest of her school work when I got home, I hung up.

Maddie was staring at me. 'Ready?' I nodded, sliding my knives out, making sure my guns were loaded and tucked into my pockets. We scaled the brick walls to the second floor and slipped in through the open window, just as it should've been.

The room we were in seemed to be an office - we'd landed in the right place to find the documents Damien needed. 'You search the desk,' I said in a low voice, 'I'll start on the cabinets.'

I moved to the rows and rows of cabinets and pulled one open. Damien had said to find some proof of the latest thefts and crime that had been going on and get out of there - no useless fighting that might alert them that we were there, I'd been warned.

Pulling down my mask, I flipped through the files, eyes skimming over the papers. Bank statements, useless papers, filled with coding I didn't understand.

'I got nothing.' Maddie whispered from across the room, shoving a drawer closed. I did the same, and huffed when a paper cut my finger.

'Me neither- ' I stopped, scanning the document again and again, just to make sure. This was it. I found it.

'What? What, Avery?'

I opened my mouth to tell her, just as the curtains blew to the side and another figure rolled in.

'What the-' I ducked as they pulled a gun out, firing in my direction. Crap, crap, crap.

The rest of the guys will know we're here.

'Shit,' I breathed, 'We are in such deep-'

Maddie loosed a breath from behind him, and he spun, not realising she'd been there all along. On a second, she was pressed up close behind him, closer than a lover, a knife at his throat. He tensed, and through the mask he was wearing, his eyes flared with annoyance.

'Drop the gun,' I snapped, and he wisely did as I instructed. 'Who the hell sent you?'

He chuckled, and the sound skittering along my bones, 'I don't spill trade secrets, sweetheart. Just give me those papers and I'll be gone. I won't hurt you or your friend either, as a thank you.' He cocked his head. 'What do you say, hmm?'

Bastard.

I flicked my eyes to Maddie, a warning and an order written there. She seemed to understand, as she shoved the masked man into a chair, tying him with a bit of rope attached to her belt quicker than even I could've done.

Movement sounded from outside, and I flashed a warning look to Maddie. She slid up to the door, wrenched it open, and took out the two guys in seconds, smashing her gun like a bat around the head of one, and shooting the other in the leg. He went down with a groan, and she hit him too.

Maddie breathed in deeply and looked over to me.

I waited until she had his attention, then slipped back slowly to the cabinets, a mischievous smile on my face as I did what I had to do, Maddie hissing at the man across the room.

Catching her eye again, I winked, and she deliberately stepped back, as if to talk to me or do something else. The guy did exactly what we thought he would, lunging for the sheet in my hand and leaping out of the window, but not before I caught the tattoo on his wrist.

The DM.

I swivelled round to my best friend, half shocked the guy actually fell for it.

'They always manage to fall for it, the dumb suckers.' We shared a grin and I pulled the real papers out of my back pocket, my eyes scanning over the list of exported weapons and trafficked girls and drug sales.

No doubt the DM had come to hide this and make sure we never got wind of it. Too bad the Salvation sent two of their best to do the job.

What idiots.

***

Hey! What did you think of the masked man? Let me know... The more reads and comments, the quicker I'll update.

These chapters at the start aren't that long, I know, but they double in length soon enough! Keep reading, and remember, comments and constructive criticism are always welcome.

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-M