Save Me

Untitled Part 3

Oliver stood and walked out onto his balcony as he thought back over the last few months and the catalysts that had set everything in motion.

Oliver had been drinking a scotch at a local dive bar when he had been approached. It was a place known well known for inside information on what was going on in Star City, and in his business, it paid to be in the know. Oliver had been approached by a young man with stringy brown hair, and eyes that showed he was tweaking on something illegal. His clothes were ragged hinting to a hard life on the streets. The young man told him he had someone looking for a hired gun and asked Oliver if he was interested. Ever curious Oliver had told the man he would consider a meeting, but only if he had some information about his client first.

The young man had returned the next day with a folder of intel on one David Adams. David owned several successful art galleries around Star City and had made his millions from knowing what artists to showcase at the right time. As Oliver had done some digging on his own he had found that David was rumored to also deal on the shady back side of art and had been under investigation recently for smuggling drugs in his art crates. Nothing had come of the investigation and David had recently even partnered with several large museums that were owned by local billionaire that was looking to retire.

The young man had let slip to Oliver that David was looking for a hired gun to place a contract on a woman and red flags had gone off in Oliver's head immediately. He had been in the business long enough to know that most men that were looking to get rid of a female were either husbands or boyfriends and even though he had never taken a contract that involved a female, something was telling him to investigate this one. Oliver had slowly uncovered that David seemed to have a wife that no one really saw anymore. She had slowly started to disappear about a month after their marriage and there were reports of sightings here and there, but they had dwindled to almost nothing. That had set off another red flag for Oliver. The man was controlling.

Oliver had debated on getting involved but he had finally reached out to his contacts at A.R.G.U.S., John Diggle. He and his wife Lyla had somewhat become what Oliver would consider two of his closest friends, despite the fact he kept walls up due to his profession. They kept a symbiotic relationship. They ignored Oliver's profession and he would periodically hand them intel. He trusted them out of everyone at the agency, and he asked John to investigate David more, and as the information had started to trickle out A.R.G.U.S. had started to pay attention. Lyla had been working to try to stem the flow of drugs into Star City and when she read that David might be involved in smuggling them, she had immediately jumped on board.

Oliver had met briefly with them and after explaining his concerns and suspicions that the guy was controlling and abusive and with the possible drug connection they had all agreed that Oliver should take the contract. In the meantime, Lyla and John had set up surveillance on David's residence and the night that a certain blonde had escaped actions had been set into motion. They had physically tracked her to Ivy Town and using A.R.G.U.S., connections John and Lyla had purchased the diner where Felicity had eventually applied for a job. Lyla had been more than prepared to approach the young woman herself but as luck would have it their "Hiring" sign had caught her eye and when they met her, they had hired her on sight.

Oliver looked out over the city. It was his favorite part of his penthouse. In fact, he had purchased the apartment just for that view and it had been worth it. He had found himself in this exact same spot many times over the last two years as it helped ground him. There were times Oliver found the darkness of his profession slowly overtaking him and it was during those times he considered going back to work for A.R.G.U.S. However, the memories of Thea and what she had endured would wash over him. Oliver felt his mind tripping back down that memory lane and he walked back inside.