"Just hang in here while I deal with the cops," Jack ordered setting Dick on a cot. The false wall closed behind Jack leaving him in total darkness.

"Hey Monroe!" one of the police officers called.

"What's up, Joe?" Jack asked stepping from his office.

"A suspect came running through here. Did you see him?"

"No," Jack answered shaking his head. "I was getting ready to close up." Jack shifted his position and tapped a hidden button in the floor trimming. A door chime began to ring. "Sounds like he just went out the front door."

The officer lifted his radio. "He just headed out the front. Did you see him?"

"Negative!" the reply came back.

"See ya, Jack."

"Later, Joe."

"All right, kid, what's the story?" Jack asked.

Dick proceeded to tell him about his search for his parent's killers and his recent break in. Jack nodded solemnly as he listened to the story. When Dick was finished Jack knelt next to the cot to examine Dick's wound.

"Looks superficial, kid," Jack replied. "Doesn't mean it won't hurt."

"Well, thanks for the help, Jack. It's probably safe for me to go now."

"Hang on a minute, kid. I've got something I want to show you."

"Yeah boss," the lieutenant responded.

"Cording to ma sources ova tree hundrud tousand pass tru dat buildin eva day. Cept on tha last day o da month. On dat day its closa ta two milyun and its all illegal and all Intergang's."

"And you're planning on hitting it."

"Zactly! Den it's all mine."

"Boss, do we have the Maggia's backing on this operation?" the lieutenant pleaded.

"We will afta we take two millyun of Intergang's munny."

"I must insist you rethink this. It's terribly risky. Two million isn't going to hurt Intergang but it will bring us to their attention. If the Maggia's not behind us we could be signing our own death warrants."

"Tamorra's da last day o da month. We hit it tamorra."

Number One sighed and fell in step behind Zucco. His mind was made up and there was no changing it.

"An old bomb shelter," Jack answered.

Jack had led him through a trap door in the secret room. He was now standing in an armory. Weapons of every type lined the walls. A first aid kit had been used on his wound and now he was closely examining the arsenal. Two mannequins stood on the far side of the room. Both were dressed in S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms.

"Are you a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Jack?" Dick inquired.

"Retired."

"So they let retired agents maintain this kind of arsenal?" Dick stated coyly.

"Not exactly." Jack shifted nervously. He reached up to another light fixture and with a similar motion another wall turned to reveal a desk with a computer monitor and keyboard.

"A while back there was a blackout in New York.* I don't know how S.H.I.E.L.D. was involved but I know they were because that night I managed to hack into their security. I never had been able to do that before. So anyway I thought I would fill out some requisitions and see if anything came out of it. I put in four forms with four separate drop locations. I signed them all with a code for agent in deep cover. They were all filled. Later I sent in lost and damaged equipment reports on all of this."

*(the Manhunter Agenda)

"Nothing was missed? No one came looking for any of this?" Dick asked waving his arms in circles.

"No. It's like an entirely different agency. Even my buddies that were still agents disappeared. I haven't been able to contact a single person from my days in the agency. Something happened that night. I still don't know what and the sad part is I may never know."

"This had better be good!" he growled.

"Sorry to wake you, sir," the voice on the other end began. "You did give me instructions to let you know if anything was out the ordinary."

"What have you got?" Guy yawned.

"Well there was a break in at the records warehouse. Two officers investigated and pursued a suspect and lost him."

"And how is this out of the ordinary?"

"Well the suspect wore a mask, performed acrobatics to escape and then simply disappeared."

"Anything else?"

"Possibly."

"Explain."

"Well the police claim that nothing was taken from the scene. However the pursuing officers fired on the suspect after they received a message from Detective Soames and there was no mention of the suspect carrying any type of weapon."

"Soames again!" Guy growled. "I'd give my eye teeth to get anything on that man. All right earn your paycheck and find this masked man and find out what he has, that has Soames worried."

"No guns," Dick insisted. "I don't want to take a chance on killing anyone."

Jack nodded. "I've got what you need over here. It's a taser." He handed Dick the weapon. "It has three shots then it needs to be recharged. It takes six hours to put a full charge on it. So don't plan on taking out an entire gang. Now let's take a look at that folder you risked your life for."

Dick reached into his shirt and produced the manila folder. He took a seat at the desk and slowly opened it. He inhaled sharply as he viewed the pictures of his parent's bodies. He set the folder down. Jack picked it up and began to thumb through the contents.

"This is starting to make sense," he stated. "Dudley Soames was the investigating officer."

"Soames?"

"Yeah, the best cop that money can buy. He plays both ends. The Maggia family pays him, Intergang pays him, and even the city of Blüdhaven pays him. He is as crooked as they come but somehow he always comes away squeaky-clean. There were two suspects: Big Slim and a kid named Tony Zucco."

"Ever hear of them?"

Jack nodded. "Zucco's with the Maggia family now and Big Slim's retired. He lives on Lee Drive. I can give you the address."

"How are you doing this morning, rookie?" Dwayne asked with a knowing smile. "Did you have a rough night?"

Dick grunted and began moving to the patrol car. Dwayne waited and grabbed his left arm as he passed. Dick grimaced and faced him angrily.

"So you went to the warehouse after all!" Dwayne stated. "I warned you about that."

"What I do off duty is none of your concern, sir"

"You're going to fit in well around here, Grayson."

"Don't put me in with this lot of thieves!" Dick growled.

"Your circumstances make you different than the rest of them?'

"What do you know? Your parents weren't murdered!"

"Yes they were."

"Oh. . . I'm sorry. . . I didn't know."

"It's all right, Grayson. Just tell me you actually managed to dig something up. Don't tell me you took a bullet for nothing."

"What can you tell me about Detective Soames?"

"Dudley Soames?"

"Yeah."

"Don't cross him. People that cross Dudley Soames end up dead."

He pulled on the body armor and pulled his street clothing on over it. He put his red flannel handkerchief across his face. He added the taser and the shoulder holster that Jack had provided. He leapt from the fire escape outside his apartment and headed down the street. Lee drive was only a few minutes from his home.

"Okay, boys it's time to move. Soames has promised no police interference for thirty minutes. So let's get in and get out," Number One ordered.

Twenty thugs surrounded Tony as he gave the speech. They all carried more modern firearms than Tony's. Tony always had a flare for the dramatic.

Gunfire filled the air as Tony's thugs entered the building. Neighbors gave their usual Bludhaven response and hid hoping that the fight wasn't coming for them. One by one the twenty men filed into the building and moved through the building quickly. In ten minutes the building was secured and Tony had his hands on three briefcases full of cash.

Two men crashed through the basement door and mowed down the four men with automatic weapons. Without pausing they made they way up the stairs.

He slowly made his way up the stairs. Each floor he passed was filled with more bodies. A major deal was going down and he was about to face it alone. However every time he took another floor he began to wonder if the thugs were going to do the job for him.

"Looks like we missed a couple down stairs, Boss," Number One answered. "It would appear they've been dealt with."

"Good. Let's set da bomb and git outa here."

Number One produce the small block and set the timer. "We have two minutes. Let's move out!"

Tony turned and smiled at the masked man. "Whadda we got here?"

He lifted his Tommy gun and fired. Dick was thrown into the room behind him as Tony laughed.

"Hey Boss!" Number One yelled. "We've gotta get outa here."

Tony ran down the stairs in haste.

Dick shifted his body carefully. The armor had protected him from the bullets but not from the impact. He knew his body was bruised beneath it. He glanced up and saw the flashing timer. It had thirty seconds left. He ran to the bomb and tried pulling wires hoping to dismantle it. He had ten seconds left when he jumped from the five story window. He grabbed a nearby tree branch and swung out. He jumped from tree branch to tree branch until he made his way to the ground.

The explosion shook the entire neighborhood and the building collapsed.

Outside the building, Dick was pulling the broken glass from his Kevlar body armor. There was no sign of Zucco or his thugs. The sound of sirens could be heard in the distance and he knew he needed to move before they arrived. Stealthily he made his way down the street and back to his apartment. Big Slim would have to wait for tomorrow night.

"If I live to see tomorrow night."