Nene crouched in the shadows of a fire escape, gripping the handle of her favorite knife with white-knuckled frustration. The dim neon glow from the city signs painted her in a sickly pink hue, making the beads of sweat on her forehead glisten. She was so close this time. So. Damn. Close. But they slipped away—again.

She groaned, slamming the side of her fist against the rusted railing. "This is bullshit!" she hissed under her breath, her sharp teeth clenched. "How the hell do they keep getting away?!"

The bounty was good—too good. A payday like this could set her up for months, maybe even let her splurge on something stupid and indulgent, like an entire designer knife set. But no, every single time she had you in her sights, something always went wrong. A sudden car horn. A damn cat knocking over a trash can. A random stranger bumping into her at just the wrong moment.

She took a deep breath, exhaling through her nose as she pressed the blade against her temple, letting the cold steel ground her. "Alright, okay, no big deal, no stress, Nene," she muttered to herself, rocking slightly. "You're smart. You're a professional. You're not gonna let some slippery little bastard keep you from getting paid."

Still, the pit in her stomach twisted. She needed this. The landlord was already breathing down her neck about rent, and she really, really didn’t want to go crawling back to Darnell for a loan—he’d never let her live it down.

She huffed and straightened up, stretching her arms over her head until her back popped. "Alright. New plan. No more games, no more slip-ups. Next time, I'm gutting them. No hesitation. No distractions."