Athena had one person in the world she trusted to pull off the murder, someone she knew like the back of her left hand, and yet no one in her life knew of his existence.

"We met a few months ago. At work. He's an aide to Xenobia King's mayoral campaign and continued as an advisor when she won the election. Don't judge me, Fog, it was a stressful time for a variety of reasons, and ending my marriage because my husband was acting paranoid on the border of abusive would be a little too public and a very personal distraction from what I was trying to accomplish. It's been mostly innocent, too, but still a betrayal. I've been spending all of my time with him, and I've fallen in love.

"Keeping it out of hotel rooms and broom closets doesn't make it any less traitorous that my best friend is a man other than my husband and I crave every minute I can spend with him, while I avoid Adoni and his suspicious, suffocating gazes. I know Adoni has had me followed by a private investigator. We can thank Adoni for the ease in finding the perfect accomplice for this plan, then, because I've hidden my relationship with Harry Sotira from the media, the private investigator, my co-workers, and even my closest friends.

"No one so much as suspects we're more than two strangers who've both worked with Xenobia. He's the perfect man to pull the trigger, and I trust him with my life. I trust him to kill me."

Harry Sotira turned out to be everything Adoni was not when Detective Fog met him. Polite, for a start. Adoni was short and bullish, where Harry was a lanky bifocals type, and from the first conversation, he seemed an oxymoronic combination of shy and sure of himself, unlike Adoni who was a battering ram of self-consciousness that made him overcompensate with far too much confidence that he was right.

Harry put out his hand and said, "It's nice to meet you. I guess you're the person who thinks it's a good idea to put the life of the woman I love into so much jeopardy. How can you assure me Athena will be safe?"

"Honestly," said Fog, "I'd love to give you guarantees, but we're done with the testing phase and not all that interested in revisiting. If, during the planning phase, someone should step in front of your moving car and need to be brought back from the dead, I'd be obliged to show you what I can do, but otherwise, Athena will be my next and last resurrection. You're going to have to trust her."

"I do," said Harry. "I trust her judgment. She says you can pull this off. And she assures me, despite my own doubts, that it's worth it to go to these ridiculous lengths. But it'd be pretty stupid to say I'm not afraid, all the same."

Athena put an arm around him and said, "Oh, what does it matter if you shoot me and I die? We were doomed from the beginning anyway," and she laughed. The string bean of a man offered a smile that was weaker than his biceps.

Detective Fog switched off the security camera again and they ran through the drill. "Will the camera be on, on the day of the event?" Harry asked.

"I'm leaning towards yes. Why would an innocent detective alter her security camera habits on the day of the murder? We can do a test run with the camera on to see what angle you should hold your head under the hat to avoid facial recognition, and we'll delete the files later. You're playing the part of any number of potentially framable mafioso men about your height. Jason Nakos, Nick Minardos — if any of these men go down for Athena's murder I have no problem. We add Thalia Zane's ring to the picture to make her look involved. The cheap, fake engagement ring makes it look mocking.

"Jack Costas is too tall to be you but we'd like to get some of his DNA and make it look like at some point he was involved in the struggle. On the camera, we can only have one killer, which is inconsistent with the Mayor Banikas murder where several mobsters were present."

"So I'll be visible on the security footage that the police are going to scrutinize over and over again as their best lead for finding the killer. I think we better do more than one practice run. My other concern is that I'm not sure how you think you can stick so many criminals behind bars just because Athena's been offed? Weren't there half a dozen murderers involved in killing Mayor Banikas? How is this one death going to stop them all, for good?"

An accidental silence settled in where neither Malyssa nor Athena could decide to answer. ​As Harry looked from one woman to the other, Detective Fog turned to look at Athena expectantly to answer the question.

Athena said, "My death is going to be only the beginning, Harry. Our work doesn't end here. My job won't be over. What happens next, after I'm dead to the world — you might not like it. More than you're not going to like shooting me in the head. Fog and I need to know at this point if you're in. If you'll do what's needed. You might be surprised at what I'm willing to do, and I need you to promise you won't try to stop me."

Harry stepped closer to her and Detective Fog moved and turned away to give them a moment of privacy.

"I'm not promising anything like that," Harry said. "I promise to always be loyal to you. I promise to do what you need me to do. But I won't promise there's no line you could cross that I won't try to stop you. I promise I won't get the police involved. I hope that's good enough for you."

Malyssa turned back around. "On that enthusiastic note," she said, "we have a green light on this project! Let's murder this bitch!" She put her hand up for a high five from each of them.

After one second, Detective Fog's smile faded, but it wasn't because of their lack of enthusiasm. "Oh, hell, I'm sorry — but I just realized there is one hole in the plan — which means that we're going to have to kill you again after all. Or at least shoot you two times, but if we're going to shoot you we might as well do a full test run. Actually, the whole end of the plan needs a slight overhaul. I can't believe we missed it."

"What?" said Athena. "What's wrong?"

"It's the murder weapon. I was going to plant the murder weapon at Thalia's — I stole it from her, so it's her own gun. But it needs to be planted ahead of time. It needs to be ready, and we can't be sure we'll be able to get it where it needs to be soon enough after the murder. Instead, we only commit the murder when we know the gun is in place. But the gun needs to have been fired. And the bullets recovered at the scene need to match, and they need to have your blood and DNA on them. Essentially the gun we plant needs to have shot you but it can't be the gun we use to shoot you on the day of the murder in the video."

"What is the objective of killing me?" Athena asked. "I understand that you're planting evidence to put Thalia Zane away and one of Jason Nakos, Jack Costas or Nick Minardos, but that's small potatoes. How is killing me going to bring the mafia to an end and put its bosses away?"

"We can't rely on the law anymore," said Detective Fog. "That's why we're staging this murder in the first place. There isn't going to be any evidence in the world, planted or otherwise, that's going to put Mena Sigler away, and even if we did get the bosses, the mob would reorganize, reappoint, and live on. We're all still dreaming of the glory days when you could put Capone away for tax evasion, but the day that worked it was doomed to never work again.

"Criminal masterminds weren't going to leave the same vulnerability open, and as far as we can tell they don't have any vulnerabilities. They're too smart, and they adapt quickly to everything authorities and the law have tried.

"Your death isn't going to put away the fifty to a hundred key mafiosos who can keep the machinery moving without Hugo Zane and Sofia Ioanna. It's going to start a mob war, though. And there just might be enough casualties to create real change. The tough part will be controlling their fire, moving these mobsters like pieces on a chessboard to do the most damage to themselves as possible without their realizing it. And we want the strongest pieces to fall, not the pawns.

"The best way I see to take out the king and queen, knights, bishops and rooks, on both sides, would have to be self-destruction. We're not going to be able to take them out until they make a wrong move. So we murder an important senator, pin the murder on important Sigler Mafia members who go direct to jail, easy as pie, and predict the fallout.

"Sigler is going to be so pissed. She's going to strike out at the Andreou family in the belief that they have framed her. I wouldn't be surprised if she takes out capos just to send a message. That the Sigler Mafia is stronger, more powerful, not to be trifled with, and that they're insulted to have been framed by the Andreous for the murder of Athena Rex. The Andreous will of course strike back, and we will need to ensure not only that they aim high enough up, but also, that they are successful.

"It would be best if a few arrests were made. For the murder of Andreou bosses, for example, and if the button men who killed Boss Andreou were caught with the unregistered firearm that killed you in his hot little hands.

"The rival gangs will need to go back and forth, eliminating one another's key players, until none are left. You see the difficulty, however. It won't take many exchanged blows before both mobs decide it's in their best interests to make a truce and end the blood feud. This is a business, after all, not a dog fight. As soon as it becomes unprofitable or begins to interfere with the running of day to day business, they will have to make peace and continue on like they were before. That's what you and I have to prevent. The mobs must eliminate one another even though it is against their self-interest. The question becomes how to make them self-destruct.

"That's where having a ghost on our side will come in useful. Athena, once you're dead, you will be able to move the pieces without anyone suspecting your hand. I'm thinking we could have some real fun with this. In the beginning, all we will have to do is sit, watch and wait while the Sigler Mafia and the Andreous weaken one another. But when they agree to a ceasefire, it will be up to you to ignite the flames again."