Empire of Vendetta

[D-34] Mission in a Mission

Turned out, Valerio wanted Lilith to go undercover in an illegal gambling case he was working on with another prosecutor, Prosecutor Elena Simmons. 

Elena Simmons was the only other prosecutor who worked at the firm, and that was because of her close friendship with Valerio. Apparently the two had been high school classmates and their friendship grew when they both attended law school together. They were so close that it was rumoured that the two were more than just friends.  

"This isn't right," the beautiful blonde prosecutor said as she crossed her arms across her chest. "She's just a kid. It's too dangerous to send her in!" 

Lilith internally chuckled at the irony. If only they knew that she was possibly the most dangerous human they could have ever crossed paths with.

"She's our only chance. They know everyone else in the firm and they know all the officers on the case. She's fresh meat and the only person in the team they won't recognise." 

"Exactly, she's fresh meat. How will she defend herself if someone tried to attack her?" Prosecutor Simmons questioned. Had Lilith not been a highly skilled assassin, she would have actually have a valid point. 

"I'm a professional martial artist," Lilith half lied. She was a professional assassin with training in the martial universe. However, Fen Luo was a master of the arts and she had been taught by him so she believed she was above professional level. 

Valerio gave a pointed look to Elena who pressed her lips together in response.

"These are dangerous men. Martial arts won't do much in the face of dangerous weapons like guns." 

"We're going to be nearby so we can intervene if anything goes wrong," Valerio said with a sigh, feeling tired. If this wasn't a joint case, he would have gone along with his plans already. However, he had made the mistake of joining forces with Elena for the case so they needed to make joint decisions. He placed his hands on Elena's shoulders and gently rubbed. "Tonight is our only chance. The next gathering is months later so if we don't get evidence tonight, we won't have anything to work with for the next couple of months."

Elena sighed before she gently moved Valerio's hands off of her. He had a point and she knew it. However, she did not want to involve an inexperienced young girl in this case. Everyone in attendance was involved in some serious crimes and organisations. Throwing her in the middle of those people was not going to end well. 

"There will be no cameras in the room. There's no way to know that she's not in danger."

"We're going to monitor everything with the camera she will be wearing. We'll also hear everything." 

"It's not safe. If she gets caught, they won't forgive her."

"We'll make sure she doesn't get caught." 

The two prosecutors went against each other until finally Prosecutor Simmons agreed.

"I'll take full responsibility of her."

"Fine," she agreed after what felt like an hour. "Fine, I agree. But if anything happens to her, it's on you."

Valerio gave a fake military salute to his friend before finally turning his attention to Lilith. 

"Your job is pretty simple," he began to explain. "You will be attending the underground gambling den as a guest. Once you're in there, you need to catch those in the VIP room on camera. The camera will be located on the collar button of your dress so simply having your body facing the room, will be enough." 

"Is there anyone in particular you want caught on camera?" 

Valerio and Elena both gave each other a look before simultaneously shaking their heads.

"None, we want all of them. This is a big illegal gambling case. All we know is that a few higher ups have been using these rings as an illegal trade business. They're trading drugs, weapons and even women. So anyone you can get will be useful to us." 

"And how will I get in?"

"We have an invitation for you. You will be going in place of our whistleblower. She isn't well known by many people but she has a lot of money so she was invited. You'll take her place. Just try not to talk to too many people."

"Actually," Elena cut Valerio off, "don't talk to anyone at all unless they come to you first. And in those cases, try to avoid conversations that could reveal your identity." 

Lilith nodded, letting Elena know she heard her and she agreed. This entire conversation felt like deja vu almost. These were very similar to the things Alia had told her before sending her off on her mission at the firm. She realised that she was literally placed on a mission in a mission. It was like inception. 

"Great. As long as you stay away from everyone and make try not to attract any attention to yourself, I think you'll be fine," Valerio said as he handed her a case file.

Lilith took it and quickly skimmed through it to see that it was all the information she needed to know about the case. 

Apparently every few months, the world's richest get together and partake in some illegal activities. Last year, the whistleblower's younger brother attended one of the parties and died from an overdose. Evangelica Durand, the whistleblower, has since decided that she wants to end the organisation. 

"The event will begin soon so we should start preparing you," Elena said as she ushered Lilith into the joint bathroom in her office. "It's a suit and tie event so we need to dress up." 

She showed Lilith a few dresses hanging on a rack before she asked her to choose one. Lilith picked a short white dress with golden sequin designs on it. It was quite sexy but Lilith assumed it would be suitable for the event considering it was one of the options. 

After she had picked out her dress, Elena and her assistant Lindsey, styled Lilith for the event. It took about an hour but she was all set, from outfit to devices, to go to the event. 

"Remember, we'll hear and see everything that happens so do not panic, alright? Just say calm and collected and make sure not to get in anyone's way. We just need you to record as many people from the event as possible. You should not have to be in there for more than an hour," Elena told her as they drove to a drop off location in which Lilith was to exit a car and enter a taxi.

"I know," Lilith told Elena. "Don't worry, I won't mess this up."

Elena did not look as if she believed that but Lilith did not blame her. After all, she was not aware of the fact that Lilith could take on an entire room of deadly men and come out untouched. All Elena knew was that Lilith was a two day old graduate. 

Lilith was dropped off at a random supermarket. She called for a taxi and then made her way towards the venue. 

Getting in was pretty easy. All Lilith had to do was show her invitation and she was automatically let in, no questions asked. 

The venue was an underground gambling den, right below a high end bar. In order to actually get there, Lilith had to pass through three different maze like halls and then walk below ground to a basement like room. If she had been claustrophobic, she would not be able to handle it at all. 

The room itself was not anything special. It was large and mimicked a real casino, however, it was a bit too average looking for how fancy everyone was dressed. 

Lilith began to walk around and explore the place like she was told. She tried to look for the VIP room, but there were not any separate or joint rooms so she did not know what Valerio and Elena were talking about. It was just a very large open space. 

She continued to look around, recording as many people as possible when she was suddenly pulled to the corner of the room. She was about to fight the person but froze when she came face to face with the one person she did not think she would ever see again, let alone in such a place.

"Senior brother Alan?"