"There's one outside," Brenda hissed to Kelly. "We saw him. There's one outside."

"Sleepy" Sam Spanier stood nervously outside the gymnasium door. His hand sweated streams as he grasped the silenced Makarov inside his gym bag.

Sleepy was not new to the exterminating game. But this time around he was unsure of his client and his information. The Riding Devils had been doing muscle work, plus the occasional "removal" for the Mafia since the Devils had lost most of its force about a year earlier. The mob was okay to work for, but this new client...

The new guy said he was German, but that was bullshit. Sleepy's old lady was German and she didn't talk like the client.

The door to the gymnasium swung open. Sleepy checked to make certain the hall was still clear. He saw a couple of kids but they were heading the opposite way.

He turned his head away for an instant and when he turned it back he saw one of the kids running at him faster than he thought a little girl could run. He started to pull his weapon from the bag.

Before he could get the gun free, Brenda Gillium was airborne, her body curled in a crouch. Sleepy watched in helpless horror as the young cannonball hurtled at his head.

At the last possible second, the girl's legs shot out and smashed him in the face. The back of his head hit the wall behind him. He felt bone crush. Blood sprayed. He felt his life leave his body.

Never again would he feel anything else.

2

Rosario "Politician" Blancanales and Hermann "Gadgets" Schwarz sprinted through the drizzle. They were headed for a black executive jet that was coming to a stop by a freight terminal at Holman Field, St. Paul. The logo on the side of the jet read: ABLE GROUP, Security Services.

The plane stopped, a door lifted and stairs were dropped to the ground. Blancanales and Schwarz boarded.