13

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Alice counted down as she eyed the large gray trash cans that lined the street. It was fields of endless nothing on the right side of the road and a line of stores on the left. A peculiar lamp post stood at the start of the pavement. She had been to this street once or twice in the past. And this place was even more conspicuous than what she remembered, but that was the syndicate’s speciality, to hide in plain sight.

Her eyes landed on number five. This was the last one and it was closer to the alley. This had to be it. Her lifeline.

A few pounds lifted off her shoulder as stooped down in front of the can to confirm the Caroni family’s emblem on the swing lid. Under it, she assumed held the key to her arsenal. Alice slid her hand through the slit of the can and started sorting through the emptiness inside it. In all her years, she had never seen one of these cans up close and she was the daughter of the king, so everything passed through him. Sadly, there was no ti