Chapter 306: Assassin Logbook: Ghost
Emma’s Mansion.
When Scott and Beca stepped through the front doors they first heard television sounds.
The entire living room was dead silent with everyone glued to the large screen.
Scott gave them a casual wave.
"Hey guys."
"Shhh!"
Jake and Nadia said, not even glancing back as they focused entirely on the breaking news.
Beca tilted her head as her fluffy ears twitched.
"What’s going on?"
She adjusted the short shorts that had tightly ridden her up ass during the drive back home.
"Maybe I should’ve worn something else..."
She instantly regretted it.
Dark Elf was comfortably seated in a one-seater sofa as she lazily munched on a handful of chips.
"They’re doing a live investigation on Vincent’s murder. We’ll know how he died in a few minutes."
"Okay, that’s good."
Scott nodded, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I’m gonna go grab a drink from the fridge real quick."
His mouth was practically watering for a Death Banana Splash. It was his favorite... a fruit smoothie and energy drink blend neatly packaged into a colorful can. But after rummaging through the shelves for a solid minute, he came up empty-handed.
He popped his head out of the kitchen.
"Uhh, guys? Does anyone know what happened to all my drinks? They’re gone."
Jake swallowed a mouthful of popcorn.
"Maybe they’re just finished, bro."
"Uhh, definitely not?"
Scott raised a brow when he countered.
"Emma usually gets me a fresh shipment around this time every week, so..."
Right on cue, the soft padding of footsteps sounded from the stairs. Emma and Gwen walked down into the living area, both quietly sipping water from their oversized, trendy Stanley cups.
Scott smiled the moment he saw them.
"Hey, Em. Did my energy drink shipment get here yet, or did you forget? It’s totally fine if you did, by the way."
Emma abruptly stopped.
She pouted her rosy lips firmly around the sturdy plastic straw of her cup.
"Hmph. I’m not talking to you."
She held her head high, closed her eyes, and looked away like he didn’t even exist.
"Eh?" Scott blinked.
She was clearly still mad about how he got Vincent to confess. He tortured the man to get the information, and while Scott knew it was brutal, there wasn’t any other way. He refused to let Maya rot in a federal prison forever, and he just wished Emma could understand that.
Letting out a sigh, Scott leaned against the counter.
"Look, I get that you’re mad about the whole going hard on Vincent thing, but—"
"Going hard on?"
Emma raised a sharp brow at him.
"Hah, I WISH that’s all you did, Scott! You tortured the guy! Heroes don’t do that. For goodness sake, what if Vincent died right there in that room? What would’ve happened to you? To our relationship? To every other woman sitting in that living room right now?"
She paused when she saw the look on his face.
He looked quite strained.
Feeling like she was being a bit too harsh, she tucked the Stanley cup under her armpit and softened her voice so she’d sound more like a girlfriend than some sort of strict officer of the law.
"Look... I get that you’re under a massive amount of stress lately, and..."
"I’m perfectly fine."
Scott interrupted, staring calmly at her.
"Everything I did was in a clear state of mind. Vincent got exactly what he deserved, and that’s something I’m proud to have done. Because if you, Gwen, or any other lady in this room was in Maya’s situation... I’d do even worse to make sure you didn’t suffer."
Emma’s mouth opened slightly, but she’s wordless.
She didn’t know how to argue back.
What he did was fundamentally wrong, but there was also a dark part of her that deeply hated Vincent and secretly enjoyed seeing him suffer. That truth became clear when she remembered how Vincent and Jason Larkens worked to ruin her career.
Maybe that was why she was so angry.
The guilt of enjoying something so sick.
She looked away again to hide her conflicted face.
"That still doesn’t make it right, you know."
Without waiting for a response, she walked over to the living room, grabbed a handful of Jake’s popcorn, and focused on the TV.
Scott sighed again as he leaned both hands heavily on the kitchen island.
"What about you? What do you think?"
He turned his eyes toward Gwen.
Gwen squeezed her face into an annoyed look.
"Normally, I’d have your back. But I’m still pissed at you for not telling me that my favorite superhero was actually just Maya Rivera! It was so obvious from that tiny body and black hair dammit! Ugh! Why didn’t I see it?!"
She angrily marched away.
Scott watched them go, staring across the kitchen at the double-seat sofa where Gwen and Emma were now seated side-by-side, both wearing matching expressions of annoyance.
One was mad at him for one reason.
And the other for something entirely different.
Gwen’s anger was a problem he could fix with time and honestly, that one was totally his fault.
Gwen was a die-hard fan of Pulsar, but she hated Maya Rivera since they were kids. Finding out the superhero she idolized was actually his ex-girlfriend was a massive pill to swallow... or rather, a fat syringe up the ass.
In summary, it was humbling and infuriating.
He groaned as he pinched his forehead gently.
"Uhh... yeah, that one’s kind of on me..."
He turned back to the fridge to find something else to quench his thirst.
That’s when Beca raised her voice.
"Uhh... babe? I think you really need to come see this."
Her voice was also hesitant and full of unease.
Scott fished out a cold bottle of plain water.
"Meh, just tell me what’s going on. Never really been a big fan of the news anyway."
After all, it was the exact same media that had branded his favorite hero Shadow Monger as some dangerous freak that civilians should avoid, and they were pretty much always ready to drag Nightwatch’s identity through the mud at the slightest opportunity.
From the sofa, Nadia turned and gave him a side-eye.
She was hesitant to take her eyes of the screen.
"Uhm, no, Scott. You really need to see this."
"Okay, okay."
Scott said and cracked open the bottle of water. He walked over and squeezed into the small space Nadia and Beca made for him on the couch.
Looking up at the screen, a familiar face appeared.
His favorite Asian woman and reporter.
"Oh, it’s Judy!"
She spoke seriously into her microphone.
[...We’ve just received word that the security footage of Mr. Lakewood’s final moments has been cleared for public release. It appears that he committed suicide. The tape we are about to play is extremely disturbing, so we advise parents at home to ensure that children aren’t watching this with them.]
The broadcast cut directly to a security camera feed.
It showed a Vincent quietly sitting in a waiting room.
Outside, a wall of bodyguards stood watch.
Suddenly, Vincent stumbled backward.
[HUH—?!]
His limbs flailed wildly, looking exactly as if he were fighting off something in the empty air. Moments later, he ripped his tie off his neck and strangled himself right there on camera until his body went entirely limp.
Jake’s jaw dropped.
"Wow... he really killed himself..."
He chewed some popcorn right after.
Nadia tilted her head as she studied the footage.
"Well... that’s what it looks like at least."
Gwen raised a brow, glancing at her.
"Looks like? What do you mean by that?"
Nadia shifted closer to Scott on the sofa.
"Well, it’s statistically near-impossible for a human being to successfully strangle themselves to death using pure physical strength without a ligature point or a drop to break the neck. The brain has a natural instinct for survival that’ll automatically force the muscles to relax the moment oxygen deprivation kicks in. Furthermore, the time it took for him to lose consciousness and asphyxiate in that clip perfectly matches the duration of manual strangulation applied by a second party."
Beca looked past Scott, staring wide-eyed at Nadia.
"Wait... so you’re saying Vincent didn’t actually strangle himself or something?"
Nadia looked a bit unsure and crossed her arms.
"Well, he clearly did since the room was empty. It just doesn’t make sense with the physiological timeline and other external factors."
Emma took a quiet sip from her Stanley cup.
"Nobody else was in the room with him, though. It has to be suicide."
Dark Elf, who’d been replaying the footage over and over while quietly chewing, suddenly froze.
"Uh-oh..."
A fresh handful of potato chips paused midair.
Scott instantly locked eyes with her.
"What’s wrong?"
Dark Elf let out a slow breath to lighten her chest.
"It could be Ghost."
"Ghost? Who the hell is that?" Scott asked.
Dark Elf sighed in her usual lifeless manner as she slowly placed her bag of chips onto the side table.
"I’m sure you already know about the United Nations’ GSI most-wanted list, right? The one detailing the 25 most dangerous and elite assassins in the world."
Scott nodded. "Yeah."
"Ghost is ranked number three on that list..."
Dark Elf explained calmly.
"He’s a white Croatian male named Milan Novak. He’s got this meta-abilitiy that practically turns him into some sort of a living... well, ghost... he can turn himself invisible and phase through solid matter at will."
Nadia’s eyes widened.
"Which would perfectly explain why the room looked completely empty when Vincent died... and it was the perfect opportunity because he was left alone for just a few minutes."
Dark Elf nodded with an expressionless face.
"Exactly. He’s dangerous, with a track record of horrible high-profile assassinations. Ironically, he actually has one of the lowest official kill counts among the top thirty, but that’s only because he exclusively takes on jobs that are deemed impossible by the underworld. Which is why whenever he gets contracted, the entire assassin community hears about it. Since I retired, I still catch a few words here and there. A former colleague mentioned Ghost had taken a contract in the United States..."
Who would’ve thought it’d be Vincent.
Jake swallowed hard and rubbed his arms.
"But wait, how can we even be sure it’s actually this Ghost guy? It could just be a coincidence."
Dark Elf turned her dull stare onto Jake which sent a shiver running down his spine.
"Because Ghost is a psycho who prefers to kill his targets in the most disgraceful manner possible. He always makes his hits look like a shameful suicide. Almost like if he wants his you dead, he hands you a rope and chair and forces you to hang yourself on his behalf... leaving you in a pit of your own pain and regret."
Jake’s face went from tanned white to pale.
He abruptly stood up from the sofa and started walking toward the front door.
Scott blinked, looking over his shoulder.
"Uh, Jake? Where’re you going?"
"I’m feeling homesick so I think I’m gonna go stay with my mom until all of this is over."
He already had his bag and some clothes ready.
Gwen laughed at the round young man.
"Why? Are you scared?"
"Heck yes I’m scared!"
Jake yelled, grabbing his jacket.
"I know Scott! He’s gonna get involved with this Ghost guy somehow, and the one thing I DON’T want is to get assassinated in the most humiliating way possible. I can already see the headlines: ’Local man found dead in bed with his meat in his hand and a Lana Rhoades stepmom video playing on his laptop.’ Nope! Goodbye, guys!"
He threw the front door open and bolted outside.
Scott laughed softly and shook his head at his friend’s dramatic exit.
He expected nothing less from Jake.
He turned back to Dark Elf.
"D’you know what this Ghost guy looks like?"
"Actually, I do."
Dark Elf replied as she fished out her phone.
"It’s not a perfectly clear image, but there was one instance where a high-tech security camera caught a brief glimpse of his face."
She held her phone out to show him a picture pulled directly from a secure dark web database.
The moment Scott and Beca leaned in to look, both of their jaws dropped simultaneously.
No way. No friggin’ way.
Dark Elf tilted her head at their frozen faces.
"What’s wrong?"
Beca pointed a trembling finger at the screen as her fox ears pinned flat against her head.
"Holy shit... we just saw that guy! He’s the one who asked us for a lighter right outside the media building!"
Dark Elf didn’t even look surprised.
Then again, if she did, it wasn’t like she had enough energy in her facial muscles to look surprised.
She pulled her phone back.
"If that’s true, then that should probably be the least of your worries right now."
Scott frowned. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"Think about it for a second."
Dark Elf picked up a single chip and bit it.
Crunch... Crunch...
"If Maya is getting released today, I’m certain she isn’t going to make it out of that supermax prison alive. Whoever hired Ghost to silence Vincent obviously wants Maya dead too. That goes without saying. And there’s only one person in the world she can think of with a good enough motive to want both of them dead..."
Everyone in the living room knew the answer and said it without a stutter of the tongue or thought.
"Chairman Lymtos."
...
A few minutes later.
The afternoon sun kissed the driveway as Scott checked over the engine of his black GT-R, ensuring everything was good for the drive to Ashgate Supermax.
Beca stood right beside him with her soft fingers gently fixing a few stray strands of his hair.
"Babe, you really have to be careful."
Her golden eyes were filled with concern.
"This Ghost guy’s on an entirely different level. Do your best to avoid him. The man’s already seen your face, and even if he doesn’t know who you are yet, it’ll be scarily easy for him to identify you if you cross paths again."
Scott smiled warmly and reached up to gently caress her soft cheek.
"There’s no need to worry so much. I’ll be fine."
Beca folded her arms tightly under her chest, pouting as she looked away.
"It’s not that I’m worried... well, yeah, I am, but how can I not be? It’s not exactly normal for a girl’s boyfriend to willingly run straight into the crosshairs of the third-best assassin in the world who also happens to be on the FBI’s top ten most wanted list."
Scott didn’t hid his chuckle at what she said.
Ha-ha!
It was how she looked like a worried child watching their parents go to work in the morning.
"Hey, it’s not like I’m actively looking to pick a fight with him. But I have to keep Maya safe. And more than that, I have to stop Ghost from hurting anyone else. It’s not like I can stop every single assassin on the GSI list, but I’ll damn sure stop the ones I can."
Beca let out a soft sigh, and after, there was a small smile of pride on her lips. She knew it was pointless to try and talk him out of it anyway. Besides, a part of her would be deeply disappointed if he just left Maya like that.
Resting both of her hands flat against his chest, she looked up into his eyes and tilted her head up to give him a sweet kiss on the lips.
Scott smiled into the kiss as his hands went down to give her butt a gentle squeeze.
She was wearing denim short shorts so her underbutt was bare to the touch... he could feel the whole softness and meatiness without any fabric interruptions.
When they were done kissing, he realized the rest of his girlfriends had walked out onto the driveway. They were all standing in a loose semi-circle, their proud pretty faces slightly flushed with red tints as they waited like good girls for their own goodbye kisses.
Scott chuckled softly.
He walked down the line and kissed each of them gently on the lips.
That included Gwen, even though she accepted it with a slight hmph.
Finally, he reached Emma.
She was still a little angry with him.
Her lips pouting into a stubborn line as she looked away with a bright red face.
"I’m still mad at you, y’know!"
Her eyes squeezed tighter.
"But... you better stay safe, or I’ll be even madder at you when you get back. Is that clear?!"
She gave him a flustered side glance.
Scott’s smile widened. "Yes, ma’am."
Emma didn’t give him a choice to reply further as she held his collar and pulled him in for a kiss. There was a lot of tongue involved but that was quite normal when it comes to kissing Emma.
Dark Elf watched from a few feet away, leaning back against the passenger door of the GT-R. She wore a tight sports bra beneath an equally tight black crop hoodie, her arms folded gently under her boobs.
She let out a loud, lifeless yawn.
"Come on, Romeo. It’s time to go already."
"Sure."
Scott smiled and managed to break away from Emma who was still desperately kissing him and trying to take off his shirt in the driveway of all places.
If it were just a standard pickup, he easily could’ve gone to the supermax alone. But with Ghost in the fray, he needed the best help he could get. And who better to bring along than a former elite assassin who knew exactly how Ghost operated?
Next time, an exciting road trip for Scott and Dark Elf!
