Giustizia

Chapter 1

*Giustizia - Italian word for Justice

     Alaina, Irelin, and Matt landed in Cape Town in the afternoon. They took a cab to their hotel and settled into their rooms. Alaina and Irelin were sharing a room while Matt was next door. It's a luxurious, beachfront hotel in False Bay. They had a perfect view of the beach from their balcony. Irelin was sitting out there, studying the case file.

     "I've told you everything." Alaina said, coming outside.

     "I know, I just want to go over every detail." Irelin said, not looking up.

     "Lin, I know it's been a while, but you are good at this. You always have been. You got this." Alaina encouraged.

     Irelin looked up at her and smiled.

     "Thank you, Lain. I don't know what I would do without you."

     "I don't know how I've managed without you all this time."

     "You have a great partner."

     "Yeah... Matt's fantastic. But he's not my girl." Alaina squeezed Irelin's hand. "It's just so good to have you back."

     "It feels good to be back. And to be here." Irelin tilted her head back, soaking up the sun rays.

     There was a knock on the door. Alaina got up and went to open it. It was Matt at the door. He had his computer in one hand as he stepped inside.

     "This hotel is amazing. I have an amazing ocean view, my room is huge and luxurious, and they have an award winning chef in their kitchen. I can't wait to order food." Matt boasted.

     "So order some." Alaina said, as if it was obvious.

     "I'm not really hungry. So I'm waiting until dinner. Maybe we can all go down to the restaurant."

     "No thanks." Irelin said, stepping back inside.

     "Why not? We have to enjoy this nice resort." Matt exclaimed.

     "Your previous missions never had hotels like this?" Alaina asked.

     "No, not really. I did a lot of undercover work. More covert ops, so I was amongst the people - living the way they did in order to blend in. I had one op for like three years in Russia."

     "Well get used to it. This is usually how our team does it. We do our jobs in style." Alaina boasted.

     "I could get used to this." Matt smiled, sitting on the couch in their room and putting his feet up.

     "Well slow your roll. We aren't on vacation. We still have a job to do." Irelin said.

     "I know. I know." Matt said, glancing over at Alaina. Alaina shrugged.

     "I was going over your interview with Karen. She didn't seem to be much help on Jasper's plans." Irelin continued.

     "Why would she be?" Matt retorted.

     "I didn't expect her to give everything up, but you would think she would have tried to bargain her information for less time."

     "Nope. Guess she's not that smart." Matt said.

     "She probably wasn't going to give him up." Alaina added. "They were a thing you know. Apparently he visited her. We found out later that Jasper paid some guards off. He got to see her, off the books. Who knows what went on in there."