A busy city in Italy. A modern skyscraper. A suite of offices. Home to the main network of a gang second only to the Mafia.

Behind a door with a modest nameplate, Violet Learin, a girl in her late teens worked. She had long, wavy dark brown hair and equally dark blue eyes. She dressed stylishly with a flair that looked both sophisticated and dangerous. Well, that was her job.

She typed rapidly into her computer and pulled up several files. She quickly disabled the security and scrolled down, scanning for key words.

Ten minutes later she smiled and printed three pages, adding them to a thick file holder next to her. She stood up and headed for the door.

The next day, she was in Ireland. Once she got off the plane, she rented a small, inconspicuous car and drove an hour away from the busy metropolis of Dublin.

She slowed down as she approached a run down building. She parked out of sight, taking the keys out of the ignition. Violet glanced down at her watch and then swung herself out of the car. Her lip curled only slightly as she approached the door and twisted the handle.

She looked up at the desk in the center of the room. A man sat there as expected. She walked briskly and took a seat. "We had a message from a undependable source that you may be having some trouble. The name's Hugh, isn't it?"

He looked her up and down. "Pardon me, but a girl?."

Her eyes narrowed. "I'm Violet Learin. And I'd watch your mouth if I were you."

He laughed, humoring her. "Of course."

She took a file case out of her purse and opened it. "Hm, have a little history behind you, don't you? Let's see, you started with shoplifting... then to burglary, armed robbery... suspicious dealings with certain drugs..." She looked up, a small smirk on her face. "And you got caught every time. Wow, think of all the confidence the boss must put in you."

He had started to his feet. "Who are you?" he asked, breathing heavily. "You didn't get that... you stole that. There's no way he would have given that to you..."

Violet smiled slightly. "Sit down. Now you know who you're dealing with. Now tell me what was so important you had to go to the boss himself."

"That's who I wanted. Not you."

Violet raised an eyebrow and tapped the file case again. "There's more here... and I promise you, every word in this conversation is being taped. Shall I read further?"

He paled. "How would you... the boss knows already. That doesn't scare me."

Violet turned a few pages. "Ah. What about that period of about five years from when you were twenty-seven to thirty-two? Oh, yes, I do my homework. And aliases don't fool me. I'll guarantee the boss doesn't know that bit of info."

He shook his head, an angry look in his eye. "You can't blackmail me into anything."

Violet sighed and stood up. "Well, there is nothing we can do for you, is there."

He stared back at her. "What?"

She gave a brittle laugh. "I can guarantee he's not coming down here for you. The boss has better things to do. I can't believe I wasted my time like this. If you have nothing to say, I'm leaving."

"You are free to go. But I wouldn't be too carefree."

She shrugged. "You forget. You are a ringleader of a fraction of our assets. You could do anything, even attempt to turn us in- testify against us." She gave a frosty smile. "But I wouldn't do that. It's not nice. And it wouldn't do anything. You have nothing on us." She turned and started for the door, her hand inside her coat, just in case.

She suddenly spun around as she heard a bullet fly just past her ear. She rapidly pulled out her pistol and fired. There was a thunk as the gun Hugh had been holding dropped to the ground. She had shot him in the right hand.

"You're not who you say you are!" he screamed at her, holding his hand. "You're straight from the police... one of their undercover detectives, aren't you?"

She walked calmly toward him, a look of scorn on her face. "Me? A officer?" She laughed. "Who are you kidding? Too bad you didn't take me seriously. Now it's too late. Say good-bye to our agency forever."

He backed up toward the wall as she came closer. Violet pointed a finger at his chest. "Too bad you're disposable, and I'm not. But that's life." She gave him two quick blows to the head and he slumped to the ground.

Violet rubber her hands together. The work's not over yet... She headed straight for the desk and tried the drawers. They were locked, but she picked them open in a matter of seconds. She picked up a paper then threw it aside. She went through an entire drawer without finding anything.

She rapidly transferred to the next drawer. She took out a thick file paper. "Hm. Tax evasion... and a few more of his little crimes." She pocketed the file and continued on. Finally she found a stapled form. A record of our few little transactions... She threw it in the fire and watched it burn to a crisp. She continued, burning what she didn't want and keeping what she did. She gave a sigh of satisfaction when the job was over.

Hugh mumbled something. She walked over and nudged him with her foot. He blearily looked up and froze. She gave him a cold smile. "No, I didn't kill you...this time. Get up."

He stumbled to his feet. She pointed to his desk.

He rubbed his eyes then turned savagely on her. "what did you do?"

"We're done with you. As far as you're concerned, we don't exist. But we'll be keeping our eye on you. And as I said before, we have enough to put you away for life." She started walking for the door and then turned around. "And no tricks please. My patience is running out." She carefully reloaded her pistol as he watched. She looked up. "And your problem? You're on the run, aren't you? Just a little too much pride to admit it." She threw down a newspaper. "That was you. On the front page, no less, for another of your attempted failures. So much for deserving the headquarter's attention. Too bad we don't care." The door slammed behind her.

Hugh looked at the grate and saw the neat pile of ashes. He buried his head on the desk. On second thought, he opened his drawers. Nope. She had taken everything.