Prelude

Emil and his four goons drove away from the Cafe in their SUV. The veteran boss sat in the back and discussed Lazlo’s whereabouts with his bodyguard, Yuri.

“Do you think Lazlo’s in the city, Boss?” Yuri asked.

The SUV stopped at a traffic light.

“I know he is, Yuri. Ever since Nikolai’s death, Lazlo has tried to set up operations in the south Bronx. And now I believe he’s there out of desperation,” said Emil.

“I think you’re right, Boss. I spoke with Rap-”

-Six bullets.

“What the-” Emil couldn’t move or think as six bullets tore into Yuri’s chest, killing the bodyguard instantly. At the same time, automatic-fire ripped into the vehicle.

An ambush!

Emil’s guards, in front and beside him, were selectively murdered by three masked men running and firing at the truck from the street.

When the shooting stopped Emil shouted to his guards, “Yuri? Alfie?” None answered.

The three shooters, not wasting any shots, forced the SUV door open and yanked a shaking Emil onto the asphalt.

“Get the money, it’s in the trunk!” shouted one of the masked attackers standing over Emil.

“Eh?” Emil recognized his voice. These are Lazlo’s men.

“Pacho? Pacho, I know it’s you!” Emil shouted at the leader.

The man turned, glaring down at the pleading Emil, “You’re a fucking traitor, Emil!” he shouted and jammed his machine pistol in Emil’s nose, ready to fire.

“Pacho wait! There’s more money! The math teacher, he has thirty million dollars! Pacho-”

The leader, Pacho, retracted his gun and lifted Emil by his shirt collar, “You’re a lying rat traitor!”

The trembling Emil seized the chance. “Pacho, listen to me! You don’t need to gun me down in the street like a dog. I’m not lying to you, but Lazlo is lying to you-”

At the mention of Lazlo’s name, Pacho pistol-whipped Emil and dragged him into a black getaway van.

“Aaah!” Emil put his hands up, defending himself from the strikes, “Pacho, please! I’m telling you the truth!”

“You keep your goddamn mouth shut, Emil!” Pacho turned to the men retrieving the money, “Let’s go!”

The men hopped in the van and slid the door closed. The killers raced away from the scene. In ninety seconds, they murdered four men, stole a million dollars, and kidnapped Boss Emil Chedomir.

As Emil bounced around in the back of the seatless van, he put his head down but kept hope.

If Lazlo went through this trouble to steal this money from me he must be broke, that means. He glanced at the leader, Pacho, who stared back at him. If I can get through to Pacho with the truth, I’ll have a chance, my only chance.

Twenty Minutes Later- The South Bronx Bay

In a shuttered rock salt refinery on the docks of South Bronx bay, Lazlo Kenny and six men prepared weapons and ammo. Lazlo spoke with Pacho on the phone earlier and made plans for the one million he’d soon receive.

“Boss, Pacho’s driving in!” shouted one of Lazlo’s men.

The black van drove into the shuttered fenced area, pulling into the large walled off salt refinery. The six men closed a giant garage door behind the incoming van. Lazlo walked out to greet them.

Pacho and three men leaped out of the van. “We got the money boss, and something else.” He slid the van door open to display Emil Chedomir in the back, his hands zip-tied behind him.

“Hello, Partner!” Emil said to Lazlo.

Lazlo stepped back, “Pacho? Why is Emil still alive?”

Pacho stood behind Lazlo, glaring at him, “He’s still alive because he had something to say!"

Lazlo faced Pacho, “What are you talking about, Pacho? What could that traitor possibly-”

“Did you know about the money, Lazlo?” Pacho asked, glaring at Lazlo. “Emil said that math teacher showed him a bank statement for thirty million dollars-”

“And you believed him?” Lazlo shot back. “This traitor is trying to save his own life and that math teacher is paying him with the money he stole from us, Pacho!”

Emil hoisted himself from the van, “He’s lying to you, Pacho! That’s why he hasn’t killed the math teacher yet, he desperately needs him alive-”

Lazlo grabbed Emil by his blazer and kicked him to the ground, “You shut up with your lies you rat!”

While every man watched Lazlo striking Emil, Pacho advanced on Lazlo with his hand behind his back, clutching something. “Boss, you seem to be in a real hurry to shut Emil up. Why is tha-”

The blinding light struck first. Followed by an eardrum-shattering boom! Within a millisecond, another boom!

“What’s happening?” Lazlo shouted. But he couldn’t hear his own voice, nor see his hand in front of him. His senses were overwhelmed by white light and a loud ringing in his ears.

Flash grenades?

Through the ringing a shot fired. In the distance? Lazlo couldn’t tell. His ears deafened, his eyes blinded by white.

Two more shots followed by the screams of men. The ringing dimmed in Lazlo’s ears. Moving figures now appeared in his sight. His men ran from someone.

Another shot. Another scream and a man fell.

Lazlo stumbled backward. An assassin?

When the white light cleared and the ringing stopped, four of Lazlo’s men lay dead. Lazlo picked himself up and ran toward the back office. The guns, I’ve got to reach-

A fifth shot struck Lazlo’s ankle. The blast severed his foot from his bone, sending him tumbling to the ground.

“Aaaaaaah!” He screamed, grasping his leg, but no one aided him.

Pulling himself on his side in excruciating pain, Lazlo searched for hope amongst his remaining men. Then he spotted the shooter. Slim, black hair, black skin-tight garb. She ran alongside the giant refinery machines, wielding an M-40 sniper rifle. He knew her. "Reyna?"

Propelling herself from the wall she charged at four of Lazlo’s men, cutting the first man down with a long bayonet affixed to the edge of her rifle barrel.

No!

Grasping his bleeding foot, frozen in fear, Lazlo watched Reyna move. The Villain Reyna Rai, the Rifle Girl, The Ghost. After all the ‘contracts’ you’ve done for me, now this?

With blinding speed the cunning assassin cracked her rifle butt across the head of one man, spun her weapon, and fired point-blank in the face of a second man, killing him.

Her moves, so precise. The men called it, ‘Rifle Kata’ A modified ‘spear fighting’ technique. I’ve never seen it in action until now.

A third man ran behind her, firing a pistol. She dodged every shot before a round flew from clear across the other side of the refinery, into the third man’s temple. The man dropped dead on the spot.

What? A second shooter?

When Lazlo turned to his left, a separate scene unfolded. Emil Chedomir writhed on the ground, undoing his zip tie constraints. Behind him stood Pacho and another goon, they were bloodied and disarmed, desperately fighting with a second rifle girl.

A teenage girl. Black hair, black garb, long black rifle with fixed bayonet. Just like Reyna.

This is her. This is Reyna’s child. The one called, Rica.

The teenage girl thrust her rifle blade forward through Pacho’s heart, pushing him backward until he fell. He gurgled blood when she stabbed him and gurgled again when she ripped the blade from his chest. Swinging her rifle toward the last man standing, she fired a round through his gut. The last of Lazlo’s goons hit the floor, dead.

The young girl stopped moving, turned, and locked her cruel eyes on Lazlo, smiling at him.

Oh no. Lazlo turned and crawled for his life. Damn this pain. I’ve got to get to the guns. Twenty feet away. He crawled with everything he had. His bleeding foot marked his path. “Gaaah!” he cried in agony.

Behind Lazlo, Emil freed himself and shouted to the little girl. “I’m not with them! I met with Dan this morning. I’m not with Lazlo Kenny!”

Hearing Emil’s voice Lazlo turned mid crawl to see Emil in the path of the girl, pleading for his life.

“You’re Rica. Reyna’s daughter, right?” Emil whined, backing away from her with his hands displayed in front of him. “You remember me from Friday night? My house, right?”

Rica smiled at him, “Of course I know you, Emil. You’re Dan’s idea. The million-dollar fish bait he used to track Lazlo.”

“Bait?” Emil put his hands down with a confused look, “Uh, ok, that’s fine! But I’m not your en-”

Rica fired a bullet through his chest.

“Aarrgh!”

The round exploded out of his back. But Emil didn’t fall right away. Instead, he gaped at Rica with dying eyes, as if asking, Why?

Rica answered his eyes, “Dan doesn’t need you anymore, Emil.” The man dropped to his knees while she strutted past him without a second look, “And neither do I.”

Emil Chedomir said nothing more as he fell on his face, dead.

The teenage girl advanced, now focusing on Lazlo as he crawled for dear life. He had to get to the guns before the Rifle Girls got to him.

 

 

 

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Rica Reyes, "Girl on Bike" Illustrated by Cinnamon Sao