John POV:
John had seen better days. Well, enough complaining. He got out of his dusty motel bed and washed up. He dressed into a tracksuit mechanically before disassembling and assembling his gun while waiting for his toast. The toaster rang during his fifth assembly, halting the process. He boiled some eggs and buttered the toast before checking his phone. Six new messages meant today was going to be light. He ate the eggs before walking up to the window on the right and surveilling the scenery.
A few joggers and a kid playing with a dog were normal enough. The motel pool was unused as usual, two pigeons flew past his window before perching on the empty lifeguard's chair. After five minutes, he decided it was secure to move on with his day. John did some dynamic stretches before calling Seth. He didn't pick up. On the third try, someone answered the phone.
"Hello?' said a startled voice that was too high-pitched to be Seth. "Where is Fredrick?", asked John dryly. "Fredrick's out, I'll let him know someone called.", answered the voice before hanging up. John read the new messages, all of which came from a contact named Reginald.
The messages weren't anything interesting, just the usual tasks. Make a drop, intimidation, collecting cuts. John looked at the motel room's rusting clock. It read 5:30 AM. He had some time before he got on the job. He opened the drawer next to the bed and took a roll of duct tape. He cut a small portion from the roll and exited the motel room before locking the door and placing the tape at the bottom of the door. If someone entered while he was out, he'd know. He walked across the plain hallway and went down the stairs before joining the other joggers.
They circumvented the grass hedges around the pool silently, each jogger deep in their thoughts. John jogged for twenty minutes before stopping after completing his fiftieth circumvention. He stood still and breathed deeply, waiting for the fatigue to dissipate. Once it did, he walked back to his room and checked the tape. It was intact. He entered the motel room and took a shower before changing into grey trousers and a pale yellow shirt before putting on a black jacket. He looked at the clock. 6 AM, it was time to get a move on.
The first order of business for the day was collecting their cut from a distributor in Orange Block. John once again put the tape before locking the door and heading towards his parked Honda Civic. The Honda groaned as the engine started heating up. Once it was ready, John got on the road. He would need to frequently change lanes as roadblocks sprung up or take longer diversions because of traffic. Monday mornings saw streets clogged with employees heading to their workplaces. It took him longer than he liked, but John pulled into Orange Block.
Orange Block, was a collection of buildings with accompanying fruit stalls, most of which sold different varieties of oranges. It was here that John and Seth found a distributor in the form of Karl Gold, head of the Orange-men, a small but profitable criminal enterprise that managed illegal contraband distribution from a network of orange stalls. Rumor had it that Karl and the Orange men trafficked over three million dollars worth of narcotics per year with the stalls which stretched from Orange Block to North Avencourt, selling to locals and aspiring distributors from nearby cities.
As it happened, Karl Gold owed John and Seth thirty grand this week. John left his car in a parking lot and made his way into the main market. The strong scent of oranges and other citrus fruit slammed into his nose as he looked for one of Gold's street soldiers. He found one promoting limes to a disinterested tourist and walked to him. Upon closer inspection, John recognized him. Jorge Carlson, a charismatic and unlucky lieutenant of Karl's. Jorge's one working eye saw John as he approached him, making him shoo away the tourist.
"And what can I do for you?", asked Jorge, putting out the cigarette in his hand. "My cut.", said John while looking around for any signs of trouble. "Already that time of the week huh.", commented Jorge while reaching into the compartment in the cart from which he operated. He took a green plastic bag and shoved the cash into it before putting some limes in. John watched all of this patiently before taking the bag from Jorge and counting.
"The boss wanted me to ask when the next shipment's coming in. Demand is going up, and the boss is hoping for five keys by Thursday, Do you think it's possible?" informed Jorge while organizing his different breeds of oranges. John paused for a moment. As things currently stood, unless the kid came through, Seth would be dead by Wednesday at the latest. "We'll think about it.", answered John before turning and walking back to his car. "Boss is offering twenty grand a key.", said Jorge as John walked away.
Back in his car, John dialed Seth's number again. When he didn't pick up, he moved on to the next order of business. Rodrigo, the other distributor wanted to meet to discuss a problem that had come up. Before he got to that, John decided to check on the money launderer. He tracked his phone and headed towards his location, deciding he needed ten thousand clean immediately on top of the previously agreed forty grand.
John disliked changing plans, but with the current state of things, drastic actions were required. Either the launderer came through, or John shoots him and recovers the money before trying to convince Seth to flee. Whatever the outcome, it would end the debacle that had been the past four years.
John parked near a curb opposite to Rollo's and peered out the window to see if he could spot the kid. Laurence was talking to a similarly introverted man opposite to him. John guessed that this was the crypto dealer. He didn't understand cryptocurrency, but he'd heard of the Chinese syndicates in Hong Kong using it. John observed them both for a while, watched them eat, and then recline onto their chairs leisurely. He decided this was enough and got out the car.
John stood in view of Laurence's window, waiting for him to look outside. The cold air was drying his eyes and causing him to blink too much. He rubbed them before debating whether to enter the Cafe and get Laurence personally. Before he could decide, Laurence noticed him. John signaled him to get out and meet him and then patiently waited.
Laurence POV:
Laurence told Peter he'd be back in a bit and walked around the tables to get out of Rollo's. He bumped into an old lady and apologized before brisk walking to the exit. Why was John here? He still had a few hours till he needed to make the wire. Laurence crossed the road and came face to face with John, he gestured from him to get in the car. Laurence thought about protesting but decided against it. John walked to the other side and got in, Laurence followed.
The Honda was comfortably warm compared to the icy wind outside. Laurence sat in silence waiting for John to begin. "Any progress on the wire?" asked John expectantly. Laurence sighed in relief hearing this was just a checkup. "The crypto has been transferred, I'll make some bank rounds, and launder another ten grand, maybe fifteen if I push it. Adding the Monero proceeds, and what's already been laundered, the funds should be ready for wire.", informed Laurence, slightly smug at how well he was doing.
"Alright, things have changed, I need fifty grand, not forty.", said John, shattering Laurence's newfound calm at his present success. "That's not possible, forty is already pushing it!", protested Laurence. "Look kid, you don't have a choice. Either you get it done or you end up in a ditch, understand?" said John sternly, shutting down Laurence's protest. John glared at Laurence's eyes before saying, "I didn't think you'd get this far, since you got till here, decent chance you can go further.".
"Now get out of the car and start making stops, I have other affairs to attend to.", ordered John, letting Laurence get out before driving off. Laurence stared at him go, wondering when his life would return to normal. He went inside the Cafe and returned to his seat. He and Peter briefly touched on graphics cards before they decided to part ways. This time, Laurence was going to foot the bill. He called the taxi after saying goodbye to Peter. He noticed some body aches and decided caffeine would fix everything. It didn't.
Laurence stood outside an ATM robotically depositing cash. This was his eighth run of the day, and his taxi credit had run out. "Only eight to go.", muttered Laurence to himself as a notification confirmed the deposit. He sat down on the parallel to the Theodore and Kent ATM and counted how much cash he had on him. He had two thousand left, he'd need to return to his apartment for more.
Laurence mustered his willpower and rose from the bench. A gust of wind slammed into him, almost as if the world wanted him to stay sitting. He noticed a homeless guy staring at him from a corner alley. He ignored him until he noticed the homeless guy pull out a shotgun and run after him. Laurence's luck never lasted.