It was just four minutes until the designated time. Ben had parked his 70's cadillac in the west parking lot, where he knew the survailence didn't reach. With him was a card, the cover and back decorated with a series of neutral and cool colors, swirling in various patterns. To the naked eye, nothing looked amiss about the card; but in reality, it had been coated with the hihgly toxic alkaloid, pseudaconitine. The alkaloid had been extracted and consentrated until it was almost 90% pure. It was then mixed with a few other agents so that it produced a clear, greasy suspension that was transluscent. The deadly mix was layered on the card, giving the paper a glossy but otherwise inconspicious look.
The only portion of the card that was free from the lethal alkaloid were two areas. And these would be pointed out to Cassidy when she arrived. And incase something went wrong, he would send a vile of antidote as well. Now he just had to wait for them to arrive.
Soon enough, Johann and Cassidy pulled up in a silver truck, a 1984 chevy thing that was really very everyday and ordinary. As the two stepped out, it became obvious that Cass had changed her clothes again. This time, she was dressed in a simple white t-shirt that clung to her tiny waist and a matching cotton skirt that flowed away from the body with the air of something gossamer. The dagger was back in her bra again, for the shoes she'd been wearing hadn't matched the skirt, and the flip-flops she'd put on couldn't hide the blade. Johann had not changed, however: his long sleeved flannel shirt was still in place, and the jeans gave way to the same black sneakers he'd been wearing earlier.
Both of them made their way toward Ben, stopping a scant few feet away. Hidey-ho, was Cassidy's greeting. A grimace was Johann's.
"If all goes as planned, I'm truely in your debt." Benjamin replied as he stepped out of the car, gingerly holding the tainted card. He wanted to go in and see Aralyn, but that was something he couldn't risk right now. "See that purple spot?" He went on, getting right back to business. The deadly letter was held up more, while his other hand was offered to point out a particular area of the card, where a dark swirl of purple made up part of the card's design. He then pointed to a navy-blue and teal swirl further up the edge of the card, half concealed by his own thumb as he gripped it with his opposite fingers. "...and this one? Those are your safe spots, with the same areas on the backside of the card."
Benjamin moved to hand the card carefully to Cassidy before pulling out a tiny vile labled 'strophanthin', and syringe to accompany it. "If you should happen to feeling a tingling in your hands, you'll need a shot of this very quickly." He stole a quick glance to the hospital before looking back to the appointed assassians, "If all works well, he should drop the card within thirty seconds or so..." Enough to read what I left for him. Benjamin thought venomously to himself, before going right along with his instructions, "...he'll become confused and disoriented shortly after, and that will give you time to clean off his hands and dispose of the card. Within a few minutes, his heart will stop."
Cassidy's eyes absorbed all this information with the ease of old practice, taking the card carefully from Ben and tucking the vial of antidote and the syringe in her pocket, even though she didn't intend to make such a stupid mistake. I'll take care of it, boss-man. Her characteristic grin flashed for just a moment before she focussed her attention keenly on Ben's face... and with only a few moments at her disposal, she somehow managed to make tears stream from her eyes, make her face red and blotchy and cause her to sniff. Soon enough, she looked exactly like the distressed girlfriend she was supposed to be, though for the moment her voice was completely level. Come, Uncle Kerrick. Let's do this.
Johann also adopted a face of concern, though his was more "protection of a youngling" concern than concern for the girl's "boyfriend". It's okay, Maya, I'm sure he's fine. Let's just go inside and see if we can't find him. And he put an arm around her shoulders, guiding her now faltering steps toward the entrance.
As the two stepped through the door, Cassidy's eyes got a little wild, and fresh tears streamed from her eyes as she closed them, as if trying to stop their flow. Cooing softly, Johann guided her up to the nurses' station. His voice was a soft baritone that spoke of concern. We've come to see Mike Wild. At the name, Cassidy let out a low sob that sounded of someone who'd been crying for some time and almost didn't have the breath left to make the sound. She turned her face into Johann's shoulder, and he cuddled her head against him with one arm, the other resting on the counter. Could we see him, please?
The nurse at the counter looked up, then motioned for Cassidy and Johann to follow her down the hallway. She stopped at a room guarded by two people. Rachel scowled at the nurse. "Who are they?" She hissed. The nurse shrugged and walked away. If anyone would know who they were, it'd be Jesse, who often spied on Mike. Samuel knocked on the door. "Hey, Jesse! I need some help out here." He called. The taller man exited the room. "Do you know them?" Samuel asked. Jesse shrugged. "I've never seen them. But I can't watch our leader all the time." He replied, looking at Cassidy suspiciously. "Who are you?"
As they headed down the hall, Cassidy calmed herself, sucking up all the tears and banishing the images from her mind that had put the tears there. So when the nurse turned away, only a mild concern was visible on her face. Maya Jackson, and this is Kerrick Mason. The boy's father was a colleague of ours, and we've come to express the departments sympathies and extend their wishes for his speedy recovery. She held up the card Ben had given her, voice soft. I'm sure there's a grievance check in there to ease the burden of loss. I'm sure he would have liked Mike to have it. Of course, she knew from Johann's research that Mike and his father hadn't exactly been close, but she was playing the part of the father's colleague, and a mere business associate would not have known that information.
And there was a check in the card, which she'd placed there, which to all appearances was from the ACPD. It was a brilliant forgery: another of Johann's talents.
Jesse continued to look at the two suspiciously. "So you're cops, then?" He asked. He didn't know how well Mike would handle visitors, seeing as he wasn't exactly the most social person. But Jesse didn't want to get in trouble with the 'cops.' "Fine. Don't be too long. He hates people." He grumbled, opening the door to allow the two inside.
Cassidy gave Jesse her most shimmering, charming smile as he held the door open for her. Johann's grunt acknowledged it as well, in a less pleasant way. Both passed quietly into Mike's room, and Cassidy approached the bed, with Johann staying beside and a little behind her.
Cassidy's voice was soft and respectful. Hello, Mike. The police department has sent us to express their condolances on your father's passing. He was a good officer, and skilled at his work. The force will miss him. Her smile was benevolent and concerned as she held out the card to him. We bring a card to express our hopes of your full recovery.
Mike opened his eyes when he heard talking outside. He listened closely, and then the visitors came into his room. Without speaking, he took the card and began reading it...
Inside the car, a small note can be found:
I don't know how you managed to pull that stunt, Mike Wild. But rest assured, it won't happen a second time. You should have listened to your sister and stayed out of our business.
Notice the tingling in your fingers yet? You've got approximately ten seconds to finish reading this note before your hands are completely numb. And don't worry about calling for help, it's far too late for that.
Rest assured, you will be seeing your father again very soon. I'll personally see to that. You might also like to know that you and your father's assets will transfered to your sister. Goodnight.
Mike read the card and felt his fingers going numb. The card fell on the floor after a while. He didn't want to bring his gang into this, fearing that they might get the same fate. It was already decided that if he died, Jesse would take over.
A long while later, Rachel walked into the room and noticed how her leader's hands were trembling. "What happened?!" She shouted. Mike shook his head. "I'm dying..." He said quietly. Jesse ran into the room, followed by a few other doctors. "Move it!" He snapped as he passed the 'visitors.' He did all he could to help his leader, but within several ling moments, he was dead.
As soon as the card dropped, Cassidy reached for it, holding it carefully by the untainted corner as she used a specially formulated liquid to cleanse it. The liquid not only removed all the poison from the card, but it also removed Ben's written words, so that there would be no hint to lead investigators to anyone. She pulled a pen from the drawer next to the bed, and wrote a kind message of comfort on the card, and then placed it next to the bed. The same careful attention was payed to Mike's hands and the place on the floor that the card had dropped on. She packed away all her supplies into her various pockets, so she looked completely innocent and horrified at the sudden change in Mike's health a few moments later when Rachel stalked in.
In the lingering confusion, her eyes flicked to Johann's, and the two of them faded out the door, a look of shock on both of their faces as they backed away from the death. As soon as they were certain everyone was paying attention to the dead Mike, they turned tail and walked quietly out of the hospital, getting into Johann's truck and driving away.