The One That Got Away (The Bounty Hunter Trilogy)

Chapter two

After two days of surveillance in Japan, the three bounty hunters were ready to make a move. Alec was creeping on the edge of the property that they knew belonged to the Yakuza. When he peered around the corner, Isabelle spoke into his ear "IL43, in position. You guys ready?" Another voice spoke  into his ear, this time it was Jace "JH37, ready to go." Alec held his earpiece and spoke himself "AL25, we're good to go." Isabelle stated "Are you sure about this? I mean, how do we know he'll actually be here." Alec rolled his eyes for the millionth of time and said "Look, I told you, I have a good source. And the sword's definitely here, right?" He heard Isabelle breath out and then she said "Yep, I see it, 7th floor on the left. I have got an amazing view up here." 

Alec looked up towards a construction building to the right of the Yakuza's safehouse. The thing had almost 20 floors and Isabelle was near the top, laying down somewhere with her trusting rifle, keeping an eye on them all. Jace scoffed and said "I still think I should've taken the sniper position." Isabelle laughed and replied "Your such a shitty shot and you know it." Alec quickly cut in "Guys, enough. I'm moving in, JH37, do the same." They had to use codenames everytime they were on a mission of this importance, because there was no telling when someone was listening to them, but Alec still felt weird using just their initials and recruiting numbers. He started to creep up on the house. Isabelle whispered in his ear "2 guys to the left by the fountain, 3 on the right by the gate." Alec nodded, although Isabelle probably couldn't see that, and slowly went behind a tree, crouching as he went. He saw the back door and a Japanese guy with a gun standing next to it. He saw the others as well, just as Isabelle had said, but he went behind the trees growing in an alley formation, so that he couldn't be seen. He reached the corner of the house, peering around it - the guy was still pacing the back door. Alec breathed in and just as the guy turned, he crept up on him and put his hand around his neck.

A few seconds later, the guy had silently passed out. "Nice one, bro." Isabelle commented. Alec smiled and waved at her, then silently inspected the lock. Since the house was not empty, the alarm was disabled, but the door was still locked. Luckily it was a standard lock. Alec took out his tools and picked the lock in seconds. Once inside he crouched down behind a couch, listening to any sounds. There was no one in the particular room he was in. Touching his ear he said "I'm in." Jace grunted and said "Yeah, me too. In the basement." Alec had spotted a small trap door outside the property, which lead to the basement, according to the house's blueprints. Alec nodded and then said "IL43, eyes on the house. How many?" Isabelle was quiet for a second and then said "Okay, so none in the room you're in. There's 4 guys on the next floor, you have to take the stairs obviously. There's 2 guys in the 3rd floor living room and the big guy is with 5 other's in his office on the 7th. The sword is just opposite to that room." 

Alec let out a breath and heard Jace say "That's a lot of fire power, Alec." Alec brushed a hand through his hair, gripping his rifle and said "Codenames. And I know. So let's not make ourselves seen." Isabelle suddenly yelped "He's here! Wow, that's impressive." Alec moved his head side to side, but still saw no one outside. He asked "What? Where?". Isabelle replied with slight awe in her voice "He's on the roof. Damn, he's really sneaky. I wouldn't even have noticed if the moon hadn't shone itself on him at the right time. He's going in through the rooftop window." Alec replied "Copy that. JH37, let's move." He got up, still crouching and approached the stairs, where he met up with Jace. He indicated that he'll go first and Jace nodded, following behind. They ascended the stairs quietly, not making a sound.

They could hear muffled voices above. Jace mouthed to him "Now what?". Alec was in thought for a moment and then pointed to the elevator. Jace looked over and then nodded. He went up and pressed the buttons, it opened and he pressed the next floor inside. Then he doubled back to Alec. They waited for the familiar 'ding' of the elevator, and then they heard voices speaking loudly and saw the men heading towards the elevator, guns raised. They quickly made their way upstairs and into an open room, which turned out to be an empty bedroom. "Alright, I'll get to the room where the sword is, you watch my back, stay here and stay down." Alec whispered. "Um, guys" Isabelle said into their ears, voice alert. Alec knew something was up. "What?" he hissed. Isabelle replied calmly "There are 2 black sedans pulling up to the house. Definitely not Yakuza and definitely not friendly. You're going to get caught in the crossfire. Hurry your asses up!"