That same morning Lucas Lansing, owner of the Blue Star Hotel, got into his car and sped off but was shaking a bit at the wheel. He hated what he had to do, but he felt he had no choice. The prince of the Thieves Guild had used him one too many times, but to betray The Thieves would mean his death, so he went to the only source of refuge that might save him. Sure, it was a deal with the devil so to speak, but he had run out of options.
As he was driving down the road, his hands shook and he could barely keep control of the car. His phone rang, which startled him, but he picked it up trying to drive with one arm on the stirring wheel. He nervously Looking at the caller ID, he saw the caller had a Mississippi number, one he recognized belonging to his cousin Nora.
"Hello," he said into the phone.
"Lucas, it's Nora," a woman's voice came on the other end.
"Ah figured that, so is there anythin' wrong?"
"Well, maybe," Nora said hesitantly. "There was an incident here the other night. My boy Kelvin went to this party where a kid got knocked out by some girl."
"Is that all?" Lucas said with a groan in his voice. "Ah don't have time for this stupid gossip."
"Lucas, the boy is in a coma, and they're sayin' the girl who did it was a mutant."
"Really? Well, what happened to the girl? They lock her up or somthin'?"
"No, she took off, and no one knows where. Authorities questioned her aunt, but she claims the girl ran away. You haven't seen anything suspicious down in swampland have ya?"
"No, not really," Lucas said, but thought back to the girl who checked in last night, a girl who was of such great interest to a certain thief. "What she look like?"
"Kalvin says it was a girl from school, one a those goth girls. She gotta strange white streak in her hair."
"Really?" Lucas said, remembering what his latest guest looked like. "So how did you suppose she knocked this boy out?"
"Can you believe a kiss of all things," Nora practically screamed. "Ah just wonder if it's all a tall tale, but if she is one a them mutants, anythin' is possible."
"Yeah, ah know what you mean," Lucas said in a faraway voice. He was silent for several moments before he realized Nora was screaming at him over the phone. "Uhh, look, Nora, ah gotta go. Ah'll talk to ya later."
She was still talking when he ended the call. He didn't want to be rude, but he thought back to incident he heard about last night involving Julian Boudreaux. Word on the street was he got knocked out after supposedly attacking some girl, but she had turned the tables on him. He had a hard time believing a girl could knock him out. He had a reputation on the street of being one of the most ruthless assassins in the guild, which made sense seeing he was Marius Boudreax's son. This piece of information his cousin gave him just cemented what he was about to do.
He approached the home of Marius Boudreaux and climbed the steps of the large mansion almost stumbling with each step. His first instinct was to turn and run, but he kept going. His hate for Remy LeBeau, which extended to the entire Thieves' Guild, was overpowering his good sense.
There was a guard at the front entrance which made Lucas even more nervous. Given who Marius Boudreaux was, it was no wonder he would have the best protection.
"State your business," the man said and stared down Lucas as if he wanted to kill him right then and there, but seeing that it was broad daylight he refrained from that impulse.
"My name's Lucas Lansing. Ah need ta see Marius Boudreaux right away," he said nervously.
"No one sees Marius Boudreaux," the man said. "Not without an appointment and some are never seen again." The man gave him a smirked as if he was reliving past memories of other visitors, ones who mysteriously disappeared.
"It involves the attack on his son last night," Lucas said.
"What do you know about Julien's... accident?"
"Ah know who did it," Lucas said.
"Then I'll relay the message," the man said.
"No, ah talk ta Marius himself an' on one else," Lucas said.
"Very well, but if you're lying, you're a dead man," he said and led him inside.
Something told Lucas that he shouldn't be here, that if he went through with this his death was certain, but it was too late to turn back now. He was led down a dark hallway to a pair of large double doors. He entered cautiously, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.
A man was sitting at a large desk made of fine wood, and what Lucas knew of the leader of the Assassins Guild he was in his late forties, but he could see that age was already showing on his face well beyond his years. His graying hair was slicked back, and his eyes were a dark speckled gray and possessed a darkness about them. He was just putting down the phone when he looked up and saw one of his guards standing there with Lucas straggling behind trying to hide himself as much as possible.
"What is de meaning of dis?" Marius looked up and said.
"Sir, I didn't mean to disturb you, but this gentleman says he knows about the attack on Julien."
Marius shot up from his chair. "What does he know?"
"He wouldn't tell me," the man said looking back at a terrified Lucas. "He said he would only speak directly to you."
"Very well," Marius said and approached Lucas suspiciously. "So, who are you?"
"My name's Lucas Lansing," Lucas said nervously. "Ah own the Blue Star Hotel."
"Tell me what you know what 'bout the attack on Julien?" Marius asked.
"Ah think ah know who did it," Lucas said.
"An' how you know dis?" Marius asked, circling around Lucas.
"'Cause the girl is stayin' at my hotel," Lucas said.
"A girl?" Marius laughed at the thought. "No mere girl could get de drop on my son."
"How 'bout a mutant girl," Lucas said. Marius looked intrigued. "There's somethin' else, the Thieves' Guild." Marius' eyes grew wide. "Or more specifically, Jean-Luc's boy, he's got somethin' ta do with it. He came sniffin' 'round lookin' for that girl. You know he's a mutant. Ah think maybe he's tryin' ta recruit her for the guild."
"So how you know dis girl got power?" Marius asked.
"Ah could sense it," Lucas said, still frightful. "Ah can always sense when mutants are around."
"Dere's more to it den dat," Marius said. "You know what her power is?"
"Not sure but..." he hesitated for a moment before continuing. "Ah have a cousin who lives in a little town in Mississippi. A few days ago, somethin' happened there. It was a mutant girl. She knocked a boy clean out into a coma with just a touch, den she disappeared. Her boy Kalvin was at that party where it happened, an' the girl at my hotel, she fits the description. Now, a girl with that kind of power would make a perfect recruit, an' don't you want ta get to her before The Thieves get their hooks in her?"
"What's in it for you?" Marius asked. "Why you care about Guild business?"
"Ah don't, but ah hate the Thieves, been shakin' me down for years."
"Dey kill you, dey know you talk ta me," Marius said.
"Ah know, but..."
Marius laughed hard at him. "You got guts, Lansing. So, where do ah find dis girl. She at your place now?"
"Ah don't know. My day girl sent her to Mercy's for breakfast, but she'll be back. Jus' watch out for Gambit. He gotta special interest in her."
"Gambit, you say. We take care a him. Got scouts watchin' dat one." Lucas looked a little more relaxed. Marius approached him, looking him directly in the eye. "You can go now."
"Go?" Lucas questioned. "An' what do ah get?"
"You get to live," Marius fired at him. "For now."
"Fine," Lucas said as he was escorted out by Marius' guard.
Marius walked over to his desk the picked up the phone. "Pierre, get de boys. I gotta job for you." He hung up the phone and stared out the window. "Well, Lansing, I got your reward for you."
Lucas trailed back to his car that was parked down the road a ways. Only then did he realize that he made a big mistake. Two men, Marius' men, grabbed him and dragged him into the swamp nearby. "What's this all about?"
"Marius changed his mind," one of them said and pointed a gun right to his head.
"No, please, don't..."
It was the last three words Lucas Lansing ever said. The two men dumped his body in the swamp watching his dead weight sink under its murky waters.
To Be Continued...