Alec got off the phone with Hodge and approached his siblings at the table. They were back at their safe house - more of a small warehouse, in fact. They always rented a house in the country where they had their missions, days before, so they would have a place to back down to. Isabelle was filing her nails and Jace was watching the news. Alec sighed and Isabelle looked up "Well, what'd he say?" Alec rolled his eyes and said "Not much. There was a phrase that went something along the lines of 'well, Magnus is pretty good, so I'm not entirely surprised he got away', which made me feel even worse." Jace chuckled and turned the TV off. He turned to Alec and said with an amused expression "You did let him get away, big bro." Alec groaned and replied "For the last time, I didn't let him get away - he was just too fast for me."
Alec knew he was lying. Truth was, he didn't even know himself why he had let Magnus go. Isabelle sighed and said "We better try and get some intel on where he will be next. Did you at least get a tracker on him?" Alec nodded - when Magnus had tackled him to the ground, Alec had remembered the little tracker he was supposed to sneak on him - for cases just like this. Isabelle pulled up the tracking system on the screen. It was beeping not far from them, in a small town nearby. "Why does that name sound familiar?" Jace asked, pointing to the town. Alec scrunched up his nose. "It was where the Yakuza organized that explosion in the mines last year, remember? I think they own the town now. At least from the looks of it," he said, while looking at the images Isabelle was putting up on the screen. The town looked like a slave camp. This did not look good.
Something clicked in Alec's mind and he said "Pull up the origin of the sword, Iz." Isabelle looked at him in surprise but did it anyway. Jace whistled "So, the sword was actually in the very same town? The Samurai, whose it was, was from there?" Isabelle joined in "And the Yakuza stole it - that we knew. But why is Magnus there?" Alec stood up and started pacing "He said he was going to return it to the people who deserve it." Isabelle looked thoughtful "The sword is worth millions..." Jace spoke up "Guys...He's a conman. A bad guy, remember?"
Alec nodded but something in his mind didn't quite believe it. "If he's there, he's probably either handing the sword over or getting payment for stealing it. So that's where we need to be. But undercover, we don't want to spook him." Isabelle smirked and replied "Yeah, like you spooked him last time, is that what you meant to say?" Alec rolled his eyes when Jace clapped his hands and chimed "Off we go!".
***
The town's market place was pretty crowded. Alec walked past a group of smaller children, homeless and begging for money or food. He slid them a few coins and kept walking, pulling his bandana to cover his face, leaving only his eyes out. The scarf he had wrapped around his head didn't pull any attention to him, since it was a very hot summer day and there were surprisingly many people using this technique to hide from the sun. Other then the large hats the people in Japan usually wore in the countryside. Alec moved closer to their target. It was a bigger building, almost looking like a temple. That's where Magnus had to be, or at least that's what the tracker said.
"I got eyes on him," Isabelle's voice rang in his ear. He looked up at the temple, seeing Isabelle creeping up on the side of it. Alec waved at her to stop, and looked for Jace. "Well, shall we see if your crook actually has a soft heart?" Jace said, stepping next to him. Alec rolled his eyes and quickly said "He's not my anything. Whatever, let's go." They reached Isabelle, who waved them to follow her. They moved along the edge of the building, when Isabelle showed them a small window at the back that was left open. She climbed in first, and Jace said "Age before beauty." Alec scoffed and with difficulty (because he was so tall) climbed in. Jace followed and once they were all in they stopped to listen. Muffled voices came from somewhere near. They were in a great hall, which was empty, but on the sides were several doors.
Alec took point and crept up to the door closest to them and listened. He shook his head and Jace and Isabelle went to the other doors. Isabelle put up a finger and signaled for them to come to her. She nodded towards the red door on the left side and Alec nodded. Isabelle put on his heat vision glasses and looked through the door. Once she had seen their target, she crouched down and the boys did the same. "Okay, so he's in there I think, with someone else, but that's it. It seems like there in the far left corner, so I'm guessing it's some kind of a bigger room, an altar room, maybe. So we should get in fine without being seen and then wait to see what happens." she whispered. Jace moved to open the door quietly. It gave a small screech and Alec closed his eyes. Jace stopped but nothing happened. Only the voices were more clearer than before.
Jace peeked in, and signalling them to follow, went inside, crouched down. The other two followed. They were indeed in a big room, with a high ceiling and there was an altar on the left side of it, just like Isabelle had predicted. Luckily the room was built on old columns, behind which they hid themselves. They heard a woman speak "Magnus, this means everything to us. I can't thank you enough." The she said something in Japanese. Alec peered from behind the column - Magnus had his back to him, but was handing something in a cloth to a woman. Most likely the sword, by the shape of it. The woman was small, and quite old, judging by her white hair and wrinkles, but by the way her back was straight and her features were harsh, Alec could tell she was ready to take on anyone in a fight. "You have helped me in the past. Just returning the favor. Take care of yourself, and your people, Liang. I'd hate to see something happen to you." Magnus said.
Alec looked to his siblings, who both looked surprised by this. Alec kept listening "Name your price, Magnus. This sword is worth millions...you can have however much you want." Jace had a triumphant look on his face, but only for a few seconds. Magnus replied with a soft voice "Liang, you know I want nothing of you. You'll need it all. Just hurry, before the Yakuza is on to you. They're already looking for me. I must go, before they link me to you." Magnus leaned down and gave a gentle kiss on the woman's cheek, who smiled and held a hand to the man's cheek, saying "Magnus Bane, we will never forget you." They bowed to each other and Magnus turned, starting towards the door. When he left, Alec and the others quickly followed. Once outside the door, Alec could see Magnus in the middle of the hall, walking towards the exit.
"Stop right there!" Jace half-shouted, not wanting to alarm anyone else. His voice echoed in the big room nonetheless. They were each holding a small hand-gun with rubber bullets, but Magnus didn't need to know that. Magnus turned around, hands half in the air. He was smirking at them. He was wearing tight, skinny black jeans and a loose linen shirt, on top of which he had fitted a long, black coat. He spoke and the hall slightly echoed at his words as well "You three again. I was beginning to wander when you'd show up." He picked something from his pocket and held it up. "Is this your idea of a gift, Alexander? I'm more of a flowers kind of guy, for future reference." He tossed the small thing over and, instinctively, Alec caught it. He looked at it in amazement - it was the tracking device. Isabelle snickered but Jace said in surprise "You knew you had it on? Why didn't you remove it?"
Magnus shrugged and said "Well, I guess I wanted to see if you'd actually try and take me down after what you just saw." Isabelle eyed him and Alec looked at Jace. Jace said bluntly "One good deed does not erase all others." Magnus laughed and Alec found it to be a beautiful sound. He shook his head to dismiss the thought. "No, it doesn't, does it? Oh well, at least I got to see that charming face again." Jace and Isabelle said in unison "Thanks." Magnus looked at them in surprise and then pointed to Alec "I was talking about tall, dark and handsome here." Isabelle held back her laugh and Jace looked at Alec with wide eyes and a smirk. Alec sputtered "I- Ugh. Thanks, I guess." This situation seemed ridiculous to him. Magnus beamed "Your welcome. Now, enough chit-chat. I have the Yakuza on my tail, and I'd rather not die today. So, farewell."
He started to leave but Isabelle yelled "Hey! No you don't! You're coming with us. As much as a cutie by brother thinks you are, I have no problem shooting you in your kneecap." Alec groaned and Magnus smirked at him "You think I'm cute?" Alec blushed furiously but before he could answer, there were noises from outside and motorcycles coming up. Magnus raised a finger "That's my cue, don't want the great big mob boss to have the privilege of shooting this beautiful face." He jumped up to a window sill with grace and opened the window. Jace looked at Alec and then Isabelle. Isabelle made a move and shot but hit the now already closed window. "Damn it," she hissed. "He played us. Kept stalling until the Yakuza got here. Let's get out of here." They rushed to the exit, hearing the Yakuza men waltz in from the other door, shouting something in Japanese.
"Okay, so, he actually did something good. Which I don't get. But he's still our target. How in the hell can we get to him?" Isabelle panted, whilst running trough the woods. Jace answered "We should set a trap. Make him come to us." Alec shook his head "He's way too smart to fall into a trap. We have to think of something else." Once they were back at the safe house, Isabelle retorted "We can't even track him anymore." Alec said "Pull up his information board again. I think we missed something."
Isabelle did what she was told and Alec looked at the backround information on Magnus Bane. "It seems he's done a lot of frauds for people in serious debt. Got them back on their feet." he said. Isabelle replied "Yeah, but he's still a criminal. I mean is there even such a thing as being a criminal for the good?" Jace scoffed and said "You mean like Robin Hood?" Alec laughed at this. Isabelle gave him a look and he coughed, getting back to the board. "Look at this." he said, pointing to a name. "Valentine Morgenstern, known associate with Magnus Bane for a year and a half, right hand man?" Jace said in disbelief. Alec scrunched his nose and asked "Isn't Valentine the boss of like the greatest underground black market in New York?". Isabelle nodded "Yeah, we knocked heads with him back in Brooklyn remember? 6 months ago, about some drug cartel. He got away, he always does. Half of the city lawyers are under his pay."
Alec nodded "Why would Magnus be his right hand man? And what happened, that he was kicked out?" Jace looked at him and asked "How do you know he kicked him out? Maybe he's still a member?" Alec shook his head and pointed to the board "See? Magnus was found under a bridge in Brooklyn about a year ago, half-dead. The hospital records say multiple knife wounds, and look here." he showed them a picture. "Ugh that's gross." Isabelle said. Jace whistled and said "A wound carved like an 'M'. Morgenstern always was a sick bastard. How'd Magnus survive?" Alec shook his head again "No idea. But he was gone when the cops showed up. Hasn't been captured ever since." He shut the screen and hid his face in his hands. "We need a plan. What can we offer him to make him come out of hiding?" Alec mumbled.
Isabelle said with a smirk "Besides you? Not much." Alec rolled his eyes and glared at Isabelle "Will you stop with that? He's not...I don't-" Jace cut in "I mean, not saying that you like the guy but, he sure has the hots for you." Alec tried to retort but Isabelle suddenly said "Hey, check this out." She swiped something on her phone and then brought it on the screen. It was a picture of Magnus and a woman with dark skin and blue hair, walking down the street. "So?" Alec questioned. Isabelle said "This woman is Valentine's most trusted accountant or something. I've heard about her - Catarina Loss. Takes care of the money laundering. " Alec and Jace looked at her, not understanding. Isabelle sighed and said "This picture was taken 2 months ago." Alec's face changed with realization "So, if Magnus is out of the game, why's he meeting with Catarina Loss?"
Jace shrugged "Or maybe he's not out of the game?". Alec shook his head. Something didn't seem right. "Whatever it was, they were very down-low about their meeting. This picture was taken by some rando and they just happened to be on it. But no sign of them after that." Isabelle added. Alec paced around the room. Then he said "We have to meet him, and ask him about it. This could be a way to take Valentine down. Maybe he knows something. He could have some serious information."
Isabelle retorted "And why would he say anything to us? Or help us for that matter? We're his hunters, remember?" Alec smiled and said "I'm sure that he would want to meet, when I ask him to." Isabelle's eyes widened in surprise but Jace patted Alec on the back "There we go, embracing our inner gay. How do we get to him?" Alec decided to ignore Jace's rude comment and smiled. "I have an idea."