SOLITAIRE

Part II: Slide Into The Night

By D. Golightly

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Events of this series take place before The Amazing Spider-Man #1

“Un-fucking-believable.”

The man known as Slyde looked around the hotel room. It was empty, save for a pristine white suit hanging in the closet and an overturned suitcase on the bed. He shook his head slightly in disapproval. The suit belonged to the man that had originally hired him to steal a priceless diamond, who was now drowning his sorrows in a bottle of whiskey down at the hotel bar.

Slyde pulled open the closet door and looked at the open, and empty, hotel safe. He shook his head again. “Stupid,” Slyde muttered.

The Rumboldi diamond was a flawless five karat stone that had perfect clarity. Bertoni, the owner of the white suit, had hired Slyde to steal it from a wealthy oil magnate after he had been contracted to do the exact same thing. Bertoni was a moron smalltime hood, but he was smart enough to know that he was in over his head when it came to snatching the diamond.

So Bertoni had hired Slyde, and Slyde had done his job perfectly. It wasn’t his fault that someone had snagged the rock out from under Bertoni while the goomba had been trying to get his pencil wet in Miami.

As burglaries went, this one was pretty smooth. And he had the last word on smooth. The hotel cameras had picked up nothing, there were no witnesses, and no direct evidence was left by the thief, other than a hole in the window which had been the point of entry.

He would be hard-pressed to do a better job himself. There was only one aspect of the burglary that the thief couldn’t have helped: the timeframe. Bertoni was only in Miami for a short time, which meant that the thief had a very limited window to get the diamond. A perfect robbery would take months to plan properly, meaning that Slyde was hopeful that a mistake had been made somewhere along the way. Even he couldn’t get in and out that quickly without leaving some sort of trail.

A small electrical problem in the basement had taken up security’s attention when the robbery took place. That told Slyde another very important thing: the thief was very careful. This was no quick hit. This was done by a professional.

Slyde strolled to the window and peered outside it. A standard entry. Nothing very special about it. He spotted another large building across the street and smiled. It was another hotel.

Whatever precautions the thief had taken to not be seen by this hotel’s cameras, the cameras across the street were another matter entirely.

The Black Cat stalked across the rooftops of Miami’s fishing district. Her silky white hair fluttered in the evening’s wind and she enjoyed the casual breeze blowing down the neckline of her suit. The tight black leather was excellent to move in, but it did little to cool her off in this heat.

With a grace that begot her namesake, the masked Felicia Hardy somersaulted over the gap between warehouses and kept moving. Her lithe body moved swiftly and silently through the night, heading toward her destination. She had an appointment to keep and she did not intend to be late. Not when this could be one of the biggest paydays of her career.

She felt the rigid diamond against her skin, tucked safely between her breasts. It thrilled her to know that such an exquisite bauble was hers for the keeping, but as much as she liked diamonds, she needed to unload the rock quickly. She had stolen it from a thief, and being a thief herself, she knew that the man in white would come looking for it soon enough.

The Spider would chide her for being involved in this business again, but he couldn’t argue that stealing from a crook was the same as stealing from some wealthy socialite. Besides, he wasn’t in Miami. He was thousands of miles away, swinging through New York City, pounding on muggers.

It was a small market of buyers that could meet her price so quickly. The contacts she had made in the underworld during the pinnacle of her darker days were now few and far between, but the most important ones she had kept in her good graces. The ones with the deepest pockets, that is.

She reached the last rooftop and peered over the edge, down at the wharf below. The water was calm, especially for the breeze that was blowing. A small jet boat was harbored there, tied off to the wharf. It bounced lazily with the waves and two men stood in it, looking around nervously.

Guards, and inept ones at that. The first rule of being a bodyguard was to keep your cool. Their employer must have recently hired them, meaning that his trip down from New York City must have been a welcome distraction from whatever business conflicts he was involved with.

Conversely, the man who employed them was standing still on the boardwalk, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his pinstripe suit. Two more nervous guards flanked him on either side and Felicia could tell from his body language that he wasn’t happy.

Of course, every time she had bumped into Hammerhead, he was always in a sour mood.

Deciding to make an entrance, the Black Cat slipped down over the side of the building by using the claws in her gloves to climb silently down to the boardwalk. She moved through the shadows until she was to the left of the criminal gang, hidden by a stack of shipping crates.

“Hello, boys,” she said.

The bodyguards all jumped for their guns. Hammerhead held his hand up; a silent order to remain still. Four hands were stuffed into four jackets, with four itchy trigger fingers ready to start gunning for the Black Cat.

She stepped out from behind the crates and said, “Right on time. I like a man that respects punctuality.”

Hammerhead smirked but it was brief. His face returned to the stoic sneer he was known for. His solid and flat head reflected the wharf’s lighting oddly, and Felicia recalled a time when the two of them had more similar interests.

“Cat,” he said. His voice was always low and rocky. “I’d say that seeing you is a welcome sight, but my priest would be upset with me for spinning lies.”

“Is that any way to talk to a lady?”

“You ain’t no lady, sugar,” Hammerhead replied. “Not after the shit you pulled on Silvermane.”

“You’re not the type to be loyal to a boss, Hammerhead. Especially one that’s in prison.”

“Him and me had some serious cash rollin’ off of a mutual operation. Now that cash flow is dried up, thanks to you. Without Silvermane, my foreign handlers won’t trade.”

The Black Cat took stock of the situation. She wasn’t happy where this conversation was headed and she didn’t like being out in the open like this. “That why you came down to Miami?” she asked. “To get a little compensation for your losses?”

Hammerhead smirked again. “You wish, sugar. No, I came because I know that despite our history, you got the goods. You say you got something hot that needs unloading, then I believe you. Plus, I know you ain’t stupid enough to try and do me like you did Silvermane. My boys here will see to that.”

He motioned to the bodyguards. One of them flinched.

“I don’t think your boys can handle me…sugar.”

Hammerhead glanced at the closest guard and an obvious look of irritation swept over his face. “Yeah…well, they’re new. The webhead has been cracking down on a few of my better operations, taking the pros down. I’m stuck with these mooks for now. ‘Course, that don’t mean they can’t still pull the trigger. Know what I’m saying?”

“Economy is in the toilet, I get it. Well, with what I’ve got you can get that lost cash flow back easily.”

“Show me the rock. I’ll be the judge of that.”

The Black Cat slowly walked directly toward Hammerhead. As she strolled she ran her fingers down her neck, allowing the back of her hand to caress her supple bosom. As she came within arm’s reach of Hammerhead she slipped her fingers into her cleavage and removed the shining diamond, holding it up for Hammerhead to see.

The pseudo-burlesque show hadn’t affected him in the slightest, but upon seeing the huge diamond a sparkle erupted in his eyes. His mouth opened and he couldn’t help but stare.

He reached for it, but she pulled it back from him. “Uh-uh,” she said. “Cash on delivery, as agreed.”

“How do I know that’s not glass?”

“Do you think I would waste your time for glass? Five karats. That buys a whole lot of bodyguards after you resell overseas.”

Hammerhead snapped his fingers and one of the guards handed him a metal briefcase. “Your price is a little steep,” he said.

“You’ll make double back, easily. I know for a fact that a Russian named Chekoffski would pay at least that much.”

“Then why come to me?”

“Let’s just say that I don’t want to do any international travel right now.” She rolled the large diamond in her hand. “My price stands. Take it or leave it.”

Plink! Plink!

The two guards on either side of Hammerhead slumped down to the boardwalk, lifeless. Hammerhead took an instinctive jump back and kneeled down, recognizing a sniper attack when he saw one. He held the metal case in front of his chest as a shield as his eyes scanned the area for the shooter.

“Dammit!” he hollered. “You were followed!”

The Black Cat took a step back from the chaos in front of her. She saw blood pooling under the two dead guards, staining the wooden boardwalk a deep crimson. She was sure that she hadn’t been followed. There was no possible way for someone to track her down. She had only arranged this meeting thirteen hours ago. Everything was happening so fast.

“Start the boat, you idiot!” Hammerhead called out. “We’ve leaving! Now!”

The other two guards on the boat had their weapons drawn and moved to follow Hammerhead’s orders. One stepped behind the helm and the other went for the rope that tied the ship to the wharf.

Plink! Plink!

The one that had been reaching for the rope splashed into the cold, dark water. The driver slumped over onto the wheel. Hammerhead’s face twisted into surprise and then he stared down the Black Cat with fury lacing his eyes.

“You dumb bitch!” he screamed. “You call me out here so you can finish what you started with Silvermane, huh?”

“What? That’s insane!”

“I’ll kill you! Your sniper friend better be a good shot, because ain’t nothing going to put me down until I strangle you!”

Hammerhead leapt for the Black Cat, swinging the metal case like a club. She sprung into a series of back flips that placed her out of harm’s way, behind the crates that she had been crawling behind earlier. Things were getting too intense for her. She needed to hit the rooftops again and flee the scene before she ended up in the drink like Hammerhead’s guards.

Plink!

Hammerhead rocked to one side as a bullet bounced off of his scalp. The adamantium encasement that had replaced the top of his skull years ago had saved his life, at least for the time being. The force of the sudden impact knocked him off his feet, however, and the Black Cat found herself taking a step toward him out of habit.

She stopped herself. What was she doing? She needed to get out of there, not lend a hand to a former employer who would sooner see her dead.

The woozy but unharmed Hammerhead got back up onto one knee and his line of sight instantly focused onto his attacker, who had come out of the shadows. The Black Cat couldn’t see who it was, but she heard a strange whooshing sound come from the other end of the boardwalk.

She crouched low behind the crates and saw Hammerhead shove his hand into his jacket. It came back out with a silver pistol that had been hanging on his shoulder holster. He leveled the weapon at someone out of her sight and fired once. He swore, and fired again.

What she found odd was how far he had to shift his aim between the shots. His arm had moved from one side of his body to the other. Was his attacker really moving that fast to have covered so much ground between shots?

The Black Cat moved to the other side of the stack of crates to get a better look at Hammerhead’s target. She recognized the man instantly and knew that she had been wrong in hesitating to leave.

The thief called Slyde swiftly skated over the boardwalk as if it were an ice rink. His suit was specifically designed to resist friction’s hold over him, allowing him to glide seamlessly over any surface. The Black Cat had heard stories about Slyde, and they were fairly amazing. He had stolen things she wouldn’t have dared taken a run at, and he had even gone a few rounds with the Spider.

She glanced at the bodies floating in the water and reasoned that he had widened his scope of practice. He wasn’t a simple thief. He was a killer.

By shifting his momentum from left to right, Slyde gracefully swept over the boardwalk. The soles of his feet, covered by the frictionless material that encased his body, slid flawlessly over the otherwise rough wooden boards. He moved with enough speed to throw off Hammerhead’s accuracy: by the time the gangster had drawn a bead on him and pulled the trigger, Slyde was moving in another direction.

In both of his hands Slyde gripped a pair of customized Berettas, equipped with silencers. The soft plinks! of his return fire peppered the boardwalk at Hammerhead’s feet, driving the gangster back toward the boat.

Even though Slyde was nearly impossible to hit, it looked as though he had to sacrifice his own accuracy while moving so swiftly. He had a sword resting on his back for when he got in close, but the Black Cat had no intention of letting him get near enough to use it against her.

She hopped atop the crates and flung her hand out toward Hammerhead. A spring-loaded grappling hook launched out of her glove at the wrist, latching onto the handle of the metal case that the gangster was using as a makeshift shield. At his protest, the Black Cat ripped the case free from Hammerhead and retracted the cable back into her hand.

The case was heavy with cash, and she had no intention of leaving it behind, regardless of the danger that Slyde presented.

She didn’t know why he was involved, only that he would be coming after her. Sure enough, as soon as she leapt onto the side of the building that she had first crawled down, Slyde shifted his momentum and was heading straight for her.

Her free hand dug into the brick wall, using her claws to gouge out holds to use for climbing. Years of on the job experience had made her an exceptional climber, even with a handicap weighing her down. Without looking at the incoming villain, the Black Cat skittered up the side of the building back to the rooftop.

A chunk of mortar and brick exploded just beside her ankle as she crawled over the lip of the roof. Hammerhead clicked away with his weapon, pulling the trigger again and again even though his gun was depleted of ammunition. He swore that if he ever got the Cat back in his scope again that he wouldn’t hesitate to take her down.

Felicia didn’t hesitate this time. She just ran, briefcase in tow. She heard the now familiar whooshing of Slyde getting closer. As she plunged along the rooftop, she moved closer to the edge so that she could peer over as she ran.

Plink! Plink! Plink!

The rooftop’s edge exploded, showering her with bits of concrete. The shots were too shallow to reach her and instead were lodged into the overhanging lip of the roof. She was lucky that it hadn’t been her head.

The dark-suited Slyde was keeping pace with her on the ground, sliding effortlessly parallel to her. He caught sight of her in his gray goggles and leaned into his next turn, entering the mouth of an upcoming alley.

The Black Cat leapt over the opening between two buildings, gracefully landing on her toes. As she passed over the alleyway she saw that Slyde was beneath her. He leapt off the ground and skated up the inside of the alley, sliding directly up toward her, defying gravity itself.

She kept running as she heard the whooshing directly behind her. Slyde had made it to the rooftop and was coming for her. She rounded a tight corner behind a stairwell entrance and ducked down for cover. She focused on the sound of his movements and knew precisely how fast he was approaching her.

The Black Cat leapt up and snapped her foot out, catching Slyde just under the chin as he came around the corner. He reacted by leaning backward, away from the kick, even though his legs kept skating in the direction he had been going. His balance was perfect and he maintained the awkward backward bend as he continued to move forward.

She felt her foot barely connect with his jaw, although the slickness of his suit caused her strike to simply glide off of him. It was seemingly better than rolling with the hit, which he had done anyway by leaning away from the kick. She wondered if it would even be possible to land a killing blow on him while he was inside that suit.

Slyde pivoted his foot, which caused his skating to abruptly end. He whirled around to face her as he regained his full height, instantly drawing both of his modified Berettas on her.

She threw up both her hands in mock surrender. She had an idea, and if it worked, then she wouldn’t have to worry about running away anymore. The metal case dangled on her fingers in one hand, and in the other, was a the sparkling diamond.

“Hold up a second, slick,” she said. “I’ve got an offer for you.”

“Just hand over the diamond,” Slyde said.

“First tell me how you found me. Out of respect for a fellow thief.”

She wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard him scoff from behind his full face mask. “I’ve heard a lot about you over the years,” he replied. “Always thought we would meet trying to rob the same place. Never assumed that I would be tracking you down from a neighboring hotel’s surveillance footage.”

“If I hadn’t been short on time, you wouldn’t have seen even that much.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong. The guy had it coming. A hotel safe? Please. He was asking to lose the rock. When I heard that Hammerhead was coming to town, I followed him, figuring he would lead me to you.”

“And you knew I was the one that had the diamond, which is why you chased me instead of finishing off Hammerhead.”

“Chrome-dome will understand. He knows I don’t really want him dead. It’s just business, and he respects business. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if I get a job offer from him because of tonight. He’s like that.”

The Black Cat smirked. “Yes, he is. And do you know what I’m like?”

Slyde thumbed back the hammer on his Berettas. “I’ve heard a few things,” he said. “Just drop the diamond on the ground and step back. I’m not interested in whatever you’re offering, unless it involves more skin than you’re showing now.”

She chucked him the shimmering stone. He slipped one of his Berettas into a side holster and caught it, although his other hand didn’t even waver for a moment. He inspected the diamond and then looked back at her. “I don’t get it,” he said. “You’re just handing it over?”

“I have what I came for.” She shook the briefcase. “My price was met. What do I care if Hammerhead didn’t get exactly what he paid for? He still paid for it. Do whatever you want with the diamond.”

“And you expect me to just let you go?”

“Why wouldn’t you?” she replied. “You have what you came for. The money is mine, fair and square. Or…is honor among thieves a dead notion? It’s easier this way. No mess.”

Slyde looked at the diamond again and then back at the Black Cat. After a handful of heartbeats, which threatened to coat Felicia in nervous sweat, he finally lowered his weapon. He holstered it on his hip and placed the five karat stone into a belt compartment.

“Like I said, just business,” Slyde drawled. “I heard you were a wild card. You got class, Cat.”

Slyde pushed back slightly with one foot and began to drift away from the Black Cat. He stood completely still, yet his momentum carried him across the roof and back into the darkness. Just before he turned to flee, he nodded and mock saluted her. Then he slipped over the side and she heard the whooshing of his fleeing down the side of the building to the street.

The breath she had been holding gratefully expelled from her lungs. She looked at the case full of unmarked bills in her grasp and smiled. Hammerhead was going to come for her eventually, but until then she had plans for this money.

Thankfully, the criminal element wasn’t as merciless as some people assumed. As a thief she had been known to live by her own rules, but there was always one rule that she would never break. It looked as though Slyde lived his life the same way.

Felicia unwrapped the towel from her head and let it fall to the floor. She slid into the leather lounge chair, enjoying the feeling of the cool fabric against her naked skin. Most hotels offered free wi-fi internet access, along with a desk for business associates to work at. Her laptop gratefully picked up the signal, allowing her to float through cyberspace from the comfort of her penthouse suite.

She had showered the moment she had returned from the bank, wanting to metaphorically wash away the events that had led to this transaction. She felt a chill as the air conditioning kicked on, but didn’t bother to retrieve so much as a blanket to cover her exposed body.

She instead tapped away at the keyboard of the laptop, accessing her online banking account. She saw that the money had been added to her account instantly as the bank teller had promised. With a few keystrokes she transferred half of the total sum into a charity account.

She closed the laptop, stretched her arms, and smiled. Bruno Kreah, her late partner that had met an untimely fate, had been a decent man. She had only ever really known him as the voice in her ear that set up her client assignments, but occasionally they had discussed their personal lives. Bruno was a true bleeding heart, as he had let slip once that he regularly volunteered as a bell-ringer for the Salvation Army. It was important work to him, and his tone of voice had implied that he was proud to help collect money for those that really needed it.

Whoever was in charge of managing the anonymous online donations was going to have a heart attack in the morning. Half of the money from Hammerhead’s briefcase was now going to be used to help the kind of people that Bruno made it a point to help, and it was no pocket full of change thrown in a red kettle.

She supposed that she probably should have donated the entire amount…but she was a thief, not a saint.

End