Lars adjusted himself in the plush leather seat of his black SUV, looking out the window into the deep blackness of the night as rain pattered lightly on the roof. Lars sat silent; letting his mind momentarily wander from his wife, to his unborn little boy that she was carrying. She wanted to name it Owen Matthew, what kind of name is that for an Italian, He wasn't even sure if he was ready to be a father. It all came so fast, but was he really ready, his business was dangerous and this was one more weakness he had. Lars was brought back to the business at hand as two New Orleans Port Authority vehicles passed in front of him. With a loud clap of his hands once giving off a loud smack he looked over to his right, giving a solid nod to his new Captain Jim.

"It's almost time, get prepped” Lars checked his own vest before looking towards Jim. Jim was reaching under the seat pulling out a simple plastic case. Jim popped open the case exposing two USPs snugged firmly in foam, along with four preloaded clips.

"'Bout damn time" Jim muttered, as he pulled out one of the guns handing to Lars. Lars' eyes moved over the simple flat black metal looking for any signs that it would not work properly, before sliding back the slide exposing the empty chamber. As Lars and Jim prepped their equipment, the SUV was deathly silent except for the distinct sounds of clicks and metal slides. Once both guns were loaded Lars stuck his firmly in his back waist band. The cool metal sent chills up his spine, something just didn't seem right from the get go, and now that they're here, it had gotten worse.

"You know what?" Lars' finally said as he looked out of the windshield, in an effort to fight the feeling that was nagging at his gut. "I think I am gonna explore a few other opportunities after this deal." Lars pushed his upper back into the leather seat slouching so that the gun sat comfortably in the small of his back, not looking at Jim in an effort to keep his loyal soldier confident.

"Yea? Like what?" Jim asked, obviously curious, this was the first time Lars had ever discussed about expanding.

"Most likely women" Lars said coolly. For some reason there was no real control on the whores in Hathian. Sure there were a few brothels but they never kept tight tabs on the girls, nor did he care. “It’s a fuckin' cash cow. I am talking 6 figures with no real capital or work." Lars had done the figures in his head; he could earn something like 145 thousand with only a small operation. Before Jim had a chance to respond a third Port Authority vehicle had passed followed by what appeared to be a fairly expensive black sedan. Lars started up the SUV pulling out falling behind the sedan, as he moved forward the water beaded up and slid off the windshield, much like a ballet of the elements. 'Pier 3' Lars thought to himself, driving forward looking at a sign that read 'Pier 2'.

Lars slowed stopping behind the black sedan as they reached their destination. Reaching into the glove box he pulled out a pair of his leather gloves, and some folded papers. He slid the gloves on to his hands and stuffed the papers into his back pocket before stepping out in the rain. As he opened the door, it felt like his was hit in the face with a wall of thick, hot swamp air.

"Get the money Jim" Lars ordered as he moved past the black sedan towards a ramp that led on the container ship. Lars hoped that Jim knew the plan backwards in forwards; they had gone over it a million times on the ride down, but something was still nagging at him. He put it out of his mind as he reached the top of the ramp where he was met by a Port Authority officer.

"Papers” a voice bellowed out between the black, wet air. Lars reached behind him pulling out the folded papers presenting them to the middle aged officer. As the officer looked at the papers, the rain picked up, dropping what felt like small bricks on the unfortunate people that were forced to be outside. Lars brought his collar up on his jacket in an attempt to keep his neck dry, as the butterfly feeling came back. After what seemed like an eternity the officer finally looked up, as he pointed in a direction behind Lars, to a simple red crate. ”Over there” the angry voice said to him.

Lars turned around and started walking to the crate, just before he disappeared out of site he shot a look to Jim to make sure all was going well. Jim was standing with another man with a brief case in hand, things were going okay. Lars turned the corner and headed to the door of the carte to check that in fact his ‘golf clubs’ where there. He bent down and unlocked the lock opening the door with a loud moaning creek from the rusted metal hinges. Stepping into the crate a bit of relief hit him as in his sight was enough weapons to arm a small militia in Africa. Gun crates beyond gun crates, but instead of death and destruction all Lars saw was dollar signs. The small smile that had crept across his face quickly faded, as he shook some of the water off of his jacket. He reached his hand into his pocket, pulling out his cell phone and started a new text message ‘We’re good to go’. He soon took a deep breath before sending the message away and walked out into the rain. He moved with a bit of purpose now, passing the officer offering him a polite nod before quickly moving down the ramp, his eyes locked on Jim. When Jim finally locked his gaze Lars gave an ever so slight nod, before speaking out in a loud, forceful voice so that the man with Jim “Let me speak to your boss.”

The next thing that Lars knew the door from the black sedan opened, stepping out in to rain was a stock man with deep black hair. Lars’ eyes ran over the man, stopping on the man’s neck where lay a simple golden rope. At the base of the gold chain lay a simple gold charm, stamped in the letter ‘V’. Now it all made sense, he should have know; Mario Vencetti, what was thought to be the new boss of Lars’ former ‘family’. The blood that coursed through Lars’ veins began to heat as he looked at the man whose actions single handily sent him on the run. It was this mans fault that we was in Hathian, that he was forced to struggle for every little bit that he had coming in.

“Ciao… what is it that you call yourself now? Ace?” Mario said trying to stifle a laugh. Mario looked over to the unknown body guard, beginning to chuckle “What the fuck kind of name is that?” almost in a fit of laughter Mario turned his gaze back on Lars. “Anyways Lars, Grazie, you have done a good service for your family.”
Lars was so furious that he could almost make the water that drenched his skin evaporate into nothingness. There were no more butterflies, only stone cold, and unadulterated hate. Lars slid his right hand behind him, almost casually as he has done so many times before, grasping the mix of plastic and cold steel lightly.

“Fuck you Mario, I hope you rot in hell you rat fuck!” Lars’ voice bellowed, piercing the through the humid air much like a sharpened blade of emotion. Then almost as if on cue, the scene was soon illuminated by a mix of red and blue flashing lights. The faint sound of a helicopter heard above as a spotlight shone down on them. Lars took off in a dead sprint to the SUV with Jim on his heels “Jim! GO! GO! GO!” Lars voice was filled with a small level of panic; Mario would get away this time, at least from Lars’ grasp.

Lars slid into the driver’s side followed closely by Jim, who was shouting something, Lars didn’t make it out he was too focused on what he had to do next. ‘keys… where are the fucking keys’ Lars thought as he searched himself, and the dash, finding them in the ignition, he brought the SUV to life, shifting into drive, getting ready to slam his foot down on the accelerator. An unmarked Crown Vics pulled both in front and behind him. Lars hit the steering wheel with a violent thrust before putting his hands out of the window as instructed. Within minutes both Lars and Jim were bound in hand cuffs, sitting in the back of the one of the cars not saying a word. Jim new what to do, don’t speak, don’t show fear, don’t show any emotion what so ever. The car drove off into darkness.
As they excited the port the car moved on the freeway headed out of town. Lars looked over at Jim meeting his eyes, the gleam in Lars’ eyes was evident, he gave a soft nod before turning to look out of the window. The car moved past the city limits of New Orleans and pulled onto shoulder of the now dead highway. One of the two officers looked over through the cage and glass, opening a small window so that he could be heard.

“Cap’in Toav sends his thanks, we are to release you here, and your truck is on the way with your brief case.” The officer moved out of the car, removing the shackles that bound their wrists. As the Cop moved to the trunk to retrieve the all important brief case, the SUV pulled up behind them, things went right as planned, everyone did their job, and there was now a mob boss in federal custody.

“Thank you boys” Lars offered them with a small smile as he grabbed the brief case and moved with Jim to the SUV. “Ya’ll drive safe, the road are wet.” Climbing back into his own vehicle he looked over to Jim. “Good Job, you will get your cut when we get back to town. I think it’s time to start that new business eh.” Jim just nodded in agreement as they drove off into the night back towards Hathian.