Marked

[Toaster]

"O-okay, just p-please, please don't shoot!" Price pleaded, raising his hands above his head in surrender, his eyes wide and his lips quivering in fear.

Olivia slowly backed away from the door, the guards on the other side still furiously pounding on it. The bookshelf shook violently but remained solidly in place.

"Just tell me," Beige spoke slowly, emphasizing each word, "whom you work for." He leaned forward, bringing the muzzle of his handgun within inches of the sergeant's face. The man shrunk further into his chair, averting his eyes from the mercenary and his weapon. He whimpered helplessly.

Olivia turned around to face the two, her lips pressed tightly together, mulling over what the hell was going on.

"Beige, what the fuck are you doing?" She finally blurted out. "I was trying to do a fucking job here." Beige turned his head slightly towards her, keeping his eyes on Price.

"Trying to figure out who's paying this rat? Same."

"What the hell is it to you?" Olivia's patience for the situation was rapidly running dry, the incessant slamming of fists and rifle butts against the door straining her ability to remain calm.

Beige sighed and rolled his eyes, lowering his gun and turning his whole body to face her. "Use your brain, Sable. What's the message you received earlier?" Olivia pressed her lips together again, the crude portrait she had received on her PDA rushing through her mind. Beige looked at her expectantly. Sheepishly, she looked away before answering.

"Pedro," she practically spat the name in disgust. "It was a picture of Pedro." Beige chuckled slightly.

"Yeah, I thought it was something like that. Few things make you react that violently." He turned back towards the police sergeant, once more aiming his pistol straight at his head. "So, sergeant. Is your boss' name Pedro?" Price's eyes flicked between the two mercenaries standing before him, the fear in his face growing.

"Y-..." he stammered, "yes."

A wide grin broke out over Beige's face and he spun around to face Olivia once more.

"Hallelujah, he finally said it! Hah!" He threw his head back in laughter. Olivia stared at him as she thought about the ramifications of Price's confession. Why the hell was Pedro in Liberty again? Or had he never left? What did he want here and why get involved with a diner on a dirt hole like Pittsburgh? The questions crashed about wildly in her mind, interspersed with the man's face, his venomous, put-on smile haunting her.

"Price," she growled, stepping towards the quivering figure behind the desk. The round little man visibly recoiled at her approach, lowering his hands to cover his face, as though he was about to be struck. Leaning forward and resting her hands on the table, Olivia brought her face close enough to the cop's that she could practically smell his fear.

"Where can we find him?" Her voice was hard and threatening. Price moved one hand to look her in the eyes.

"I-," he hesitated. "I can't tell you. He'd kill me."

Beside Olivia, Beige guffawed. "What makes you think we won't if you don't? Hah!" Olivia raised one hand to shush him, keeping her eyes locked with Price's. Her voice took on a softer tone, almost reassuring, like trying to get a child that had screwed up to confess.

"Tell us and I'll get you out of here. Take you somewhere safe." For a few seconds, the two of them stared at each other, her waiting for a response, him weighing her words against his fear of his employer. Finally, Price nodded his agreement and licked his lips.

"Manhattan," he whispered. He lowered one hand to a small PDA on the desk and spun it around so that Olivia could make out the screen. It displayed an address in one of the smaller cities of Liberty's capital planet. Letting out a long breath, Olivia straightened up.

"Thank you, Sergeant Price."

The man smiled and relaxed his body, relieved. "Now how-," he started but was interrupted as a large caliber slug entered his chest, tearing through his torso and out through the backrest of his chair, smashing into the wall behind him. His eyes widened in shock.

Olivia stood before him, sidearm in hand. She pulled the trigger again. And again. Price's lifeless body slumped forward onto the tabletop, blood flowing from his chest over the dark wood.

---

Olivia Sable