Shocking discovery!

Dring! Dring! Dring!

Angelina groggily opened her eyes, irritation etched on her face. "Who's calling now?!" she muttered, slamming her phone onto the bed.

But her annoyance dissipated when she saw Tonia's name flashing on the screen.

She picked up the call, her voice still laced with sleepiness. "Hey,what's up?...."

Five minutes of laughter and gossip later, Angelina was grinning from ear to ear as she dropped her phone. Tonia's date night updates were extremely hilarious obviously.

Glancing at her phone,there was still a little bit over an hour left before nine o'clock. Getting off the bed,she undressed before heading to the bathroom for a shower.

She could have resumed sleeping but she just didn't feel like it.Since she was awake anyway,she'd better use it to prepare for tonight's mission.

As the warm water cascaded down her skin, Angelina's mind wandered to the beginnings of her unconventional double career. She thought back to her childhood, when her father's remarkable journalism skills sparked her own passion.

He was kinda like a radar, uncovering secrets here and there and unraveling complex cases with ease. Though not a detective, his expertise often led to collaborations with the police. His talent and dedication inspired Angelina to follow in his footsteps.

That was until his bullet riddled corpse was found in an abandoned construction site.

His death came as a shocker to many especially her mother who became extremely depressed. At that time she was preparing to apply to a tertiary institution her course of study obviously being journalism.

Still grieveing from the loss of her father, her mother vehemently opposed her choice arguing that she didn't want to lose her too. She was unwilling to do so but considering how destabilized her mum was she agreed,opting for accounting.

All that was about five years ago,now she had graduated ,got a job and was living fine. Her mom had passed away about a year and a half ago due to cancer unfortunately but things were going smoothly. The mysteries surrounding her father's death were left unsolved as even the police were helpless,she had already forgotten about the whole thing.

That was,until she met Old Jack at her mother's funeral. He claimed to have been one of her father's informants when he was alive. At first she didn't believe him as who would believe what an homeless,old drunk said? He might be spouting rubbish for all she cared!

However,another part of her mind was telling her to believe him. Who knows,he might be telling the truth!

After a bout of internal struggle she decided to hear his piece,he gave her some names and addresses while reminding her that those who killed her dad were from the Mafia.

She agreed and a night after burying her mother she was searching for her father's murderers marking the beginning of her career as a freelance investigator.

Tossing all these thoughts to the back of her mind,she exited the shower,heading to her room before dressing up for the night. She glanced at her phone's screen while muttering;”There's still thirty minutes left, I'd better grab something to eat,thank goodness I got the groceries."

Saying this,she proceeded to the kitchen,fixing herself some Mac&cheese. The portion on her plate was astonishing as it was enough to feed two grown men,it didn't look like what a lady would go for.She was different as she was a very heavy eater,she loved food!

Ten minutes later she was done with her meal,dropping the dirty dish off at the sink she proceeded to ensure that her backpack was set. Closing the doors and windows,she stepped out of the house.

Action time!

……….

In front of an abandoned shopping plaza on the outskirts of Detroit a white Humvee could be seen with three black vans all spread out in a fan like shape. The plaza looked like it had been through a lot as many of it's walls had already fallen to the ground with weeds growing everywhere. The neon signs which once displayed the name of the plaza were all spoilt,however,the name of the building could still be deciphered,if one looked closely it seemed to partly read ‘TERRAMIX SHOPPI…’ with the remaining letters totally broken off .

Right then a puzzled voice broke the silence.

“Well seems like I’m in the right place but how the hell am I going to enter?”

The person who just spoke was obviously Angelina. She arrived here after taking three buses and a cab. Not that they were necessary but having been an investigator for more than a year had taught her to always cover her tracks.

She had arrived here about half an hour ago but couldn't find a way to enter the building  courtesy of the armed black suit men standing guard outside.

They were dangerous without a doubt!

Geez!

Currently,she was hiding behind one of the dilapidated walls that were a common sight here thinking of a plan to enter the building.

All the entrances were tightly guarded with no chance for even a fart to escape. There was an entrance that was not that heavily guarded but it still had two mean looking guys,she needed to think of a plan as time was running out and quick!

Rummaging through her backpack,she went through the tools she had.

“Smoke bomb no,carjack no,dagger no,kunai not also good,what can I use to distract them then….haha!You.”

Feeling about a bit,her hand soon emerged from the bag

with two round metal balls in tow. Turning the two balls anticlockwise she threw them towards the armed guards. The balls were a special mechanical contraption she made,once twisted they literally became grasshoppers albeit fake hopping about and very heavy when landing,just good for attracting attention.

Thump. Thump. Thump

“What's that?"

“I also don't know,it's probably some critter but lemme go check it?”

"I'll tag along,this place is boring.”

" No problem.”

Soon enough the two guards manning this side of the plaza left the place. Immediately,she made her way towards the entrance and soon she found herself in total darkness,groping the weed covered walls she just continued going straight before suddenly freezing in her steps.

“Was that a voice?" She thought.

The next moment the loud blast of a gun being shot echoed thought the empty complex sending a shiver through her spine. Suddenly it dawned on her.

Wasn't she courting death? A voice inside her was screaming that she should run before it was too late. But she had gone this far,how could she abandon all her efforts?

“I can't stop now!"

Steeling her mind,she resolutely headed in the direction of the gunshot.

………

BANGTUM!

The sound of a gun being shot echoed through the underground parking lot. A gun enthusiast with enough experience would immediately decipher the make of the gun from it's unique report.

The Calamari Exodus 1999!

A unique revolver,it was said that there were only twelve of them in existence! All were handcrafted by the legendary gunsmith Alexander Ruper as his magnum opus right before he died.

The Calamari Exodus 1999 was a masterpiece that embodied the pinnacle of craftsmanship and artistry. As the magnum opus of its creator, it's no surprise that it was a symbol of influence and status, reserved for the elite and truly powerful.

Thus for there to be one of the twelve pieces ever created here the identity of the shooter was definitely astonishing.

In one corner of the underground parking lot a group of heavily armed men wearing black suits could be seen surrounding three people tied to chairs. They had been tortured beyond recognition.A keen observer would notice that two of the three individuals were already corpses,the third’s life hanging by a thread.

While the whole place was illuminated there were still some dark spots. In one of those dark places a figure could be seen seated his silhouette imposing.

“Al Capone,please it was all a mistake,I swear I'll never do it again,I swe….arrgh!”

With his last finger being crushed by a plier,the last guy literally squealed like a pig. This guy was surprisingly Antonioni!

After he regained consciousness he found himself strapped to a chair along with two other people. Despite being a though man himself what came next was too much for him to bear,they were tortured beyond human limits!

This was simply hell on Earth!

About twenty meters away from the torture spot, Angelina hid behind one of the many piers supporting the parking lot. Recording the gruesome scene with her mobile handy cam she muttered to herself “Humph,with this I’m definitely going to find who's behind all the recent murders."

Suppressing her breathing to the barest ,she continued “Just show your face you big bad wolf."

Right then as if granting her wishes the figure seated in the darkness rose from his seat heading towards the tortured man in an unhurried manner while saying“ Tsk,tsk,tsk Antonioni is it? It's a pity things had to get this rough,don't you think ?”

With furrowed brows,Angelina thought to herself “Why does this voice resemble….  No! It can't be, definitely can't be. She said as she furiously shook her head.

“If only his back was not turned to me.”

Right then the tortured Antonioni spoke with great pain “Al Capone , I swear it was the devils handjob,I was blinded by their sweet tongue,please give me a second chance I beg of you, be merciful.”

“You know,my late father used to tell me that the  devil’s actually innocent. It is our greed that leads us into our various predicaments.So stop lying against the poor devil.”

Trembling, Antonioni replied”Ye..yes, your excellency.”

With a playful tone,the Al Capone said;" To forgive you is pretty easy .”

Immediately Antonioni heard this he perked up as  he started thanking him profusely,however,the next few words made him despair.

" But I won't! You can die now."

Pointing the Calamari Exodus at his forehead,he pulled the trigger.

”This is for father."

BANG!

Ha!

" Hum?”With furrowed brows Al Capone grunted.

Just now he heard two different sounds at the same time, the first was naturally the gunshot while the other seemed like….a gasp?

With her hands over her mouth,Angelina knew she had given herself out,but she wasn't to blame. Her suspicions were true. Right when the guy in the suit pulled the trigger he looked upwards,allowing her to see his face,momentarily.

Grant McRae,her boss was actually the leader of a Mafia organisation!

" Who's there?” The armed men questioned as they went into kill mode.

“Shit,run!"

Without any hesitation Angelina turned and fled for her life.

With a relatively calm face, Grant only said two words;”Kill her.”

And thus the chase began.