Chapter 41: Business Talk Part One

The silence in the room stretched for a moment as the hunters absorbed the information and the obvious risks attached to it. A competing company, protected by the Special Awakened Military Division, and without a specified division to know what they were up against.

After a few moments, Amia stepped behind Lionface and continued.

"The target is Veloce Logistics," she said, her voice smooth as she swiped through the data points on the floating display. Images of heavily fortified warehouses, supply routes, and high-level SAMD guard schedules appeared on the table.

"They’ve been siphoning most of our routes before, so the three of our hunters should be aware of this," she noted, shaking her head at Cashel, reminding him that he had nothing to do with that information.

Then she continued, "Shelly wants their core board eliminated, including major shareholders, their main routes destroyed, and the materials in their warehouses moved to our warehouses for safekeeping."

At the mention of that, Cashel frowned deeply.

’That makes no sense.’

Why would they carry out a job for a person and then move those things to their own warehouses instead of the client’s? Exactly.

He crossed his arms, silently wondering and keeping notes while Amia spoke.

"The goal is to finish them off before the Military and SAMD decides to absorb them or buy shares next week, which would make competition harder for Shelly, apparently." She rolled her eyes. "The pay is astronomical, funded entirely by A Group’s shadow accounts. But as you all know, the Hunter Association gets its regulatory cut, and ARM gets paid to stay Neutrality Settlement.."

That was the payment so ARM doesn’t send its own mercenaries to interfere or compete for the contract price to assist the SAMD and stop BMM.

One of the unaffiliated hunters, wearing a blank mask, raised a hand to speak. When Amia gave him the go-ahead, the man straightened up.

"What does the mercenary organization have to do with this? Don’t they work hand in hand with the military?"

Amia narrowed her eyes. "You’re probably new, so I’ll explain this once. ARM is a mercenary organization, but they’re neutral. They take contracts from governments, companies, hunters, and private individuals, but they have rules about the kind of work they’ll accept."

"So they won’t take assassination jobs?"

"Exactly." Amia pointed at him. "They don’t do hit jobs, political killings, or anything that could directly drag them into a conflict between major organizations. They walk the line, but they don’t cross it."

"Isn’t that basically the same thing we do?"

Another unaffiliated hunter spoke up, earning a twitch from Amia’s lips.

"No. Mercenaries are mercenaries, and ARM wants to stay that way. They work for a given kind of people hires them, but they remain neutral."

She leaned back against the table, folding her arms.

"BMM is different. We’re not neutral. We’re against everyone and for anyone, as long as they can pay, whether it puts us on the news or against the nation."

One of the BMM hunters smirked, and the hunter who had spoken stared at her for a moment.

"So... SAMD has rules, and..."

Another hunter added, "ARM has rules too?"

"Yes. ARM has rules," Amia confirmed.

"And BMM has money."

Amia smiled beneath her mask.

"Now you’re getting it."

Cashel could only shake his head. Just hearing the difference between both groups made it seem like they were different, but ARM was basically just a restricted BMM.

He couldn’t help but wonder which one came first.

Then again, the stakes were fun. They kept one’s blood pumping, especially when you couldn’t die so easily.

He had a taste of that, and he couldn’t lie.

’It was better than getting high and slowly dying.’

Getting both at once.

"Anyways," Amia continued, placing the tablet on the table. "We have that clear. You unaffiliated hunters will be briefed on what to do, while BMM hunters have to wait behind for Maguire to speak to you."

The hunters leaned close to each other, whispering among themselves as the details of the payday flashed across the screen, figures with enough zeros to make even seasoned killers sweat.

Lionface laid out the rules, the stakes, and how the pay would be shared according to performance. He would decide and calculate that himself. He explained the stakes for the unaffiliated hunters, how they differed from those of BMM hunters, and finally...

The fact that they could die there and be forgotten.

That was the most important fact a hitman, killer, or assassin had to know, whether they liked it or not.

Cashel listened quietly, cross-referencing the layout of the map in his head with the escape routes. It was a suicide run, but he was sure everyone here was, in one way or another, talented enough to complete the job.

Then there was him.

"Questions?" Lionface asked, his deep voice echoing through the hall.

Silence followed as the hunters shook their heads.

Satisfied, he dismissed them with a flick of his wrist.

"Equip up and prepare. We’ll regroup at HQ tomorrow night."

The masked hunters began to disperse, one group heading toward the elevator, another toward the escalator leading to the roof. Cashel picked up his weapon case, slung it over his shoulder, and turned to follow the group heading to the roof.

"Bishop," Lionface called out. "A word. Alone."

Amia offered Cashel a subtle, knowing glance before slipping away, leaving the two men standing alone by the table.

Lionface led Cashel to a private area of the floor overlooking the city and the roads. Like balcony with walls.

"I have a secondary task for you," he said before Cashel could even fall into step beside him. The golden staff in his hand tapped softly against the floor as he turned to face him. "This wasn’t listed, but it’s a private job."

Cashel raised a brow. He lifted his hands and pushed his mask up to his forehead.

"From who? And what’s the pay for this one?"

Lionface’s eyes narrowed behind his mask. After a moment, he smiled.

"Let’s just say it will be enough to cover all your expenses before the next job."

Cashel made a suspicious expression, then smiled.

"That rat of an uncle told you, didn’t he?"

Lionface chuckled softly, shifting his weight onto his other leg while his staff remained planted against the floor.

"He’s one of my favorite people, and Amia is pretty close to him, so I tend to hear a bit sometimes."

’Well, fuck me. All my underwear is exposed to you.’ Cashel thought and made a mental note to make Nathan pay for this, then sighed.

"So what’s the job?"

"The contract with Shelly Jones is a front."

Cashel raised an eyebrow, reaching up to brush the strands of his hair back.

"A front? Seriously?"

"You are going to eliminate the board of Veloce with the team, which will be led and organized by Amia," Lionface stated calmly. "And once the chaos peaks and SAMD comes to help... you are going to kill Shelly Jones."

Cashel’s fingers stopped against the edge of his mask.

Shelly had hired BMM to destroy her competitor, transfer its assets to BMM for some reason, and now Lionface wanted her dead for another reason.

His eyes narrowed.

"You’re actually making me kill his wife, huh?"

Lionface shrugged.

"Killing two birds with one stone, Cashel."