Chapter 69: An Extra Hand

 Friday had finally arrived. It was still in the early hours of the morning, before daybreak. Tensions were high everywhere and everyone could tell. Panem was the under a microscope from all the corners of the earth and even though the day was yet to start, the hashtag #JusticeinSinCity was already going viral on all social media platforms all over the globe. Quite a number of world leaders had already confirmed their presence to be expected in Sin City to witness it the court case.

Everyone has their own agenda that day and expectations were high on all sides. From the president, the mayor and commander of the Sin City police department were hopeful in making history by convicting one of the most sought after serial killers of all times, even though this was not the actual case. They would have made a mark on the world and made a statement to the whole globe. They knew for a fact that history was filled with liars. If Daymond died and they live, their truth would be recorded down and his would die with him. All they needed was one good lie and the records would tell their side of the story.

Siberia, the alleged birthplace of the the Siberian Slayer was watching to see the man who is said to have terrorized their streets for a very long time. The Siberian president was among those who would be present during the hearing and would be one of the five nations that would vote for the death penalty should Daymond be found guilty.

On the other hand, Bennet, Tyler and Peter had their own worries. It was up to them to pull off an impossible mission in broad daylight without any of them being caught or killed. This was a tall order but they knew that in order for them to do this, they needed to have faith that each of them would play their role accordingly.

For Jason things were much worse. He had so much on his plate and he needed to ensure that he didn't bite more than he could chew. He had a few more tricks up his sleeve and was just awaiting for the right moment to start making his moves one by one.

It was exactly seven when Jason woke up. He met up with the rest his team downstairs in the living room where they were gearing up. Part of the shopping that was done for this jailbreak were tactical gear (a set of black military bulletproof vests with a black t-shirt on the inside and a pair of military pants. In addition to this, they had military helmets but on the inside they had on black shades with a skull-painted mask on their faces. Lastly, they had on black military boots to finish that look. They looked like they were from a special military agency. The masks and shades made them unrecognizable. In addition to this, they had Glocks (pistols) as their primary weapons and smoke bombs on their utility belts for Bennet and Peter who would escort the prison van.

In their garage, they had an unmarked black car that had their assault rifles in the trunk. Tyler, being their sniper, only had the Glock as an emergency weapon but with him he had Bennet's sniper which was used on the attack at the courthouse. 

Being the tech guy, Tyler handed out some earpieces to everyone including Jason so that they would be in touch throughout.

As Jason looked at them as they finalized on the mission, he wondered what he could tell them in a show of gratitude but he lacked the words. He just watched as they finished gearing up and test to see if their comms were working and whether the weapons were in good working conditions. They had to make sure there's no room for error once the raid starts. Once they were all ready, the looked at Jason as if they awaited for something from him. Jason wasn't sure he was ready for what was to come but he didn't want to show them any sign of weakness. He just looked at all of them through their shades, gathered enough courage to look at each one of them without a whiff of doubt in the air or his voice we he said,

"Let's go out there and show them what we are capable of. Godspeed and I expect to hear you through the comms the entire time. No matter how much this mission is important to us, if you have to pick whether to succeed in the mission or save one of you out there, do everything to make sure you all walk out of there alive."

Jason said this with a clear and firm voice that cleared any uncertainty in the air. But he was not done with the surprises for that day. He pulled Tyler to the side to talk to him as Peter went to get the car and bring it up front and Bennet went to grab the document that Tyler had made for them granting them permission to escort the prison transport.

"What's up?" Tyler asked Jason once they were out of hearing distance from the rest

"Do you remember while we were in Europe, we had a Siberian contact?"

" Yes"

" I need you to give me access to it before you head out " Jason said as he looked at Tyler

" It's been a while since we have even used that contact. Are you sure you want to talk to him? "

" Yes, I need to do one last thing before I go and it involves our Serbian contact. Just give me the passcode "

" Fine, it's the date and month that Yuri passed" Tyler answered as Jason have him a pat on the back and rushed to his office.

From below his desk, he pulled out a small briefcase and entered the passcode that Tyler had given him to which it opened. Inside the briefcase were some documents but a small flip phone stood out. Jason took it and turned it on. On it it had a few numbers and after going through some of them for a while he found the one he was looking for.

He pressed the call button and placed the phone next to his ear as it started ringing. It rang for a while and there was no answer at first. He called the number again. And for a second time, the line rang for a while without any response. Jason wasn't surprised that the call was not being picked, this didn't even irk him or piss him off. He knew that he had to keep calling it till someone finally picks it up. It was during the third time when it was about to go unanswered again when finally someone picked up.

There was a brief moment of silence from both sides. Jason could feel the tension building up with every passing second but wasn't concerned about that. After what seemed like an eternity, the person on the other end finally spoke up in a visibly shaken and disturbed voice

"Ghost?" She asked, it was the voice of a woman. This question came with so much uncertainty that Jason could tell the person wasn't expecting a response for clarification, she was already shocked enough by that phone call

"It has been a while, old friend" Jason responded calmly and then went quiet to let it sink in. 

"This can't be! You can't be! You are supposed to be dead" the lady said in what seemed to be horror

"You should really consider what the people say and what is actually the truth. Besides, last time I checked you didn't side with rumors" Jason said to him

" What happened? What-- I have so many questions. I don't know where to start" the woman responded, her voice clear with surprise and some excitement.

"I wish I could answer your questions old friend, but I made this call since it was necessary and I intend not to resurface anytime soon. I hope I can trust you with that." 

" You know you can trust me, but it's great hearing from you. I'm not back in Siberia though, I'm in Sin City to witness the trial of the Serbian Slayer "

" It's funny that you say that, I was calling you because of that. I need to ask for a rather unpleasant favour from you "

" Sure anything for you considering how much you've helped me in the past "

" What if I tell you that the man being trialed today is not the Serbian Slayer? That he is indeed a man that Panem is throwing under the bus for it's inequities and therefore today they are going to convict or even serve him a death sentence should his defense team fail to prove his innocence "

There was a brief moment of silence and Jason could tell that the lady on the other end was absorbing his every word with the seriousness it deserved. 

"Are you sure about that" she asked

"I wouldn't make this call if I wasn't sure about that. I called because I need your help with something today" Jason replied and they continued talking for a while as Jason informed her on how she could be of help to him to which she listened keenly and came to a mutual understanding.