Justice Served

Chapter 1

She was dropped dead scared and making her way down the alley and through to her apartment. She walked towards her house as calmly and quickly as possible. She knew she was being followed. She was probably under surveillance, too. Her attic apartment was 200 square meter, furnished according to her needs and contained more documents, files and tech material rather than household items. At just minutes to midnight she came home with a box full of files, her laptop and an extra large cup of coffee. Apparently she had no intention of getting some rest after a long day. There was something important that she needed to do. That something was more important than just lying on her bed. She had to either hide that file or send it over to a trusted friend. Right now, trusting was not an option. So she saved the content and data of that particular file and burned it. 

While sitting at her working desk, she glanced at an old picture that was attached to the soft board overhead with a thumb pin.It was a picture from another life when her husband was alive. They had lived a very comfortable life. They took vacations all around the world and were satisfied with what life had given them. This picture was from their vacation in the Caribbean. That was the last vacation they had together before her husband was involved in an accident. He was already taking his last breaths in the emergency room. Since then, she had lived her life on the edges, desperately trying to survive in a cruel world. Friends had tried to cheer her up but it never worked. She had pushed herself in a dark abyss and no one was able to bring her back to life. Every time someone wanted her to have fun and live her life, she simply stated that she had no reason to do so and that she wanted to help people. It was when the feds came to her that she found her reason to live on.Why would someone follow me? Or maybe I‟m just being paranoid. She thought,still working on her laptop. Giving confidential help to the feds had made her a little paranoid. She eyed people with suspicion for no apparent reason. 

The sudden, sharp sound of the doorbell surprised her. The clock ticked half past twelve. Who could it be at this hour of the night? Then, with the doorbell, came the sudden thought of her follower. She retrieved her Glock 22 .40 S&W caliber from the drawer of her bedside table.With slow and quiet steps she reached the main entrance and peeked through the fish hole. The sight of a familiar face made her calm down a bit.It‟s just him. She opened the door guarding her home. Although a little surprised by the untimely presence of her friend, she greeted him and let the man come in closing the door behind him. 

"Hey." She said in a pleasant and warm tone. 

"Seems like you were not expecting me tonight", his flat voice filled the room. 

"I wasn‟t expecting anyone. Anyway, how‟s work?" 

"Same as it has always been. Boring. What about you? How are you holding up?"

"You know, same old same old. Care for a cup of coffee?" 

"It wouldn‟t hurt, would it?" 

"I‟ll be back in a minute." 

As soon as she walked away from the rustic living room and into the kitchen, he started to search the place. Checked all he could before she came back. 

"What, just coffee? I thought you were much better at hospitality than this,"said the man with a broad smile on his face. 

"Sorry. I don‟t usually have people at my place at this hour. Would you like some bakery goodies or anything?" 

"Don‟t stress yourself I was just kidding. But I would like some cookies, if you would, please."

"Sure." 

 Much to his dismay, she didn‟t have to go back to the kitchen this time.She pulled out a packet of fresh butter cookies from the cabinet in the living room. 

"I like to eat while I‟m working here so I just keep these right here with me. That way I don‟t have to go all the way to the kitchen for snacks." Her tone was almost triumphant. 

While pulling off a fake smile in agreement, he thought, why does this idiot have to make it so hard? Now, there is only one way I can think of doing this. Both of them sat in silence while eating and drinking the espresso. He was lost in thought like a person who was about to do something they didn‟t want to. But then again, it had become a necessity now.