Chapter 2 : Recruitment 1

A city in Georgia State, USA…,

 🎶Did I say something wrong, did you hear what I was thinking, did I talk way too long when I told you all my feelings last night🎶

 The melody of Jon Bellion's Good Things Fall Apart was heard reverberating through the walls of a suburban home.

 The song seemed to be playing from an MP3 player in the master bedroom.

 A lady walked out of the bathroom in towels humming the tune.

She had Deep blue hair and matching blue eyes, and slight curves, she walked over to the bedside table and picked up a bottle of lotion and applied it on her smooth skin.

 She began performing the usual womanly early morning skin care, meanwhile her phone dinged continuously.

 She looked over towards the screen and noticed a multitude of messages, she was a private investigator so it was only normal to receive multiple requests for her services.

 She skimmed through them quickly and noticed one particular message, it came from an unknown private contact.

 Her instincts told her to ignore it for now.

 She finished up her skin care session and headed for her wardrobe.

 She picked out a dark blue polo and grey trousers along with grey shoes after putting it on she donned a black trenchcoat.

 Checking herself out in the mirror she picked up her phone and a pistol she keeps due to her job along with it's holster.

 She places the pistol in it's holster and carries whatever other miscellaneous it's she might need.

 "New day, new opportunities" she says to herself cheerfully.

 Stepping out onto her porch she suddenly stopped in shock, there was a neatly placed letter on her porch.

 In her experience as an investigator she knew to be cautious, she carefully examined the letter front to back after making sure there was nothing wrong with it, she opened it.

It read.

 "Once this message has been read thoroughly, terminate immediately or face instant extermination…"

 Upon reading the first line of the letter she already began feeling annoyed, she quickly scanned through the letter and got the gist of it.

 It was pretty much talking about a job offer hunting some weird shit and some sort of organization called H.A.N.D, she put it off as a wierd prank and tossed the letter in the trash.

 "Just your regular everyday horse-shit" she mumbled and walked off down the street.

 She took the subway downtown for her first job of the day.

 A tailing job in a slummy neighborhood, she got called up by a cop who needed someone to tail a suspected drug dealer, someone in the big leagues she presumed.

 The cop could've done it himself but, why do something yourself if you can pay someone else to do it for you.

 She got off the subway and went up towards an alley, the cop had given her the dealer's most frequented location, he believed it was the trade-off point.

 The cop needed photographic evidence at least, so she brought a camera with her with a blind to cover up the shine of the camera flash.

 She kept the camera in her trench coat and headed towards the location.

 It was a rundown apartment turned into a flower nursery, she could recognize a few of the flowers but some were alien to her.

 She wandered about the building for a while, cleverly concealing herself while waiting for her pursued.

 After waiting a while, a shady man resembling the picture of her suspect walked up to the building. He was vigilant, glancing around occasionally to make sure he wasn't followed, but he wasn't skilled enough to notice her.

 He walked into the building and disappeared through the doorway.

 "My employer is gonna need some solid evidence of the deal taking place" The lady said to herself as she looked around for an alternative opening.

 She saw the rain pipe running down the side of the building and she decided to use it as support to ascend to the 2nd floor of the building.

 Climbing up swiftly she reached the second floor window and leaped in.

 The second floor was filled with less plants and more fertilizer and pesticides.

 The combination of smells left her with a stinging feeling in her nose.

 "Let's do this quickly," she grunted.

 She heard shuffling downstairs and assumed it was her suspect, she approached the stairwell and peered behind the bars from a safe position.

 She pulled out her camera and aimed it downstairs.

 A pair of men walked out, one of them was her suspect, the other looked very jittery and anxious.

 "Eric man, I've been calling you for days man, I really need the stuff, y'know to take the edge off and all" the man said.

 "Aye Lucas my man, I got you, this right here is the premium stuff, was a hassle to bag this stuff" Eric, her suspect, said as he pulled out a transparent bag with white dusty powder in it.

 Lucas, seeing the bag, smiled deeply.

 He reached out to grab it but was stopped by Eric.

 "Aye, where's my money first ?" Eric questioned.

 "Ah right here" Lucas said, handing a wad of thick cash to Eric.

 "Alright, don't use it all at once ok ?" Eric said as he passed the bag to Lucas.

 The lady seeing the exchange, prepped her camera and took a picture.

 Unfortunately for her the camera blind wasn't placed properly and the camera flash shone brightly.

 "Ah shit" she exclaimed quietly.

 The two looked up the staircase towards her in surprise.

 "Bullshit we've been seen," Eric said, pulling out a pistol from his inner coat and aiming it at the staircase.

 The lady leaped up the stairs and ran straight for the windows.

 She kicked the glass down and dived out the window and rolled through the soft trash bags laying around.

 Eric raced down the stairs to pursue her.

 The lady ran straight out of the alley down the street and mixed in with the crowd.

 "No one would shoot in a crowd if they have something to hide" she mumbled to herself relieved she managed to escape alive.

 She spent some time watching Eric's movements as he tried to find her before taking a separate subway uptown.

 After getting off the subway and cross checking her surroundings, she felt relieved and walked off.

 "At Least i got the picture" she said to herself as she flipped out the picture she took.

 "Should be enough for him right ?" She said and took out her phone to call her employer.

 "Medea the one and only, you've got the pics i asked for ?" The phone rang for a bit before getting picked up and a male voice was heard.

 "Bobby, I've got the pictures you need. I can bring them to your apartment if you need 'em right now," Medea said in a helpless tone.

 Actually, her employer the cop was a really good friend of hers, by helping him she was both getting money and earning a favour.

 "Alright that'd be great i actually wanted to talk to you about something so come on over" Bobby said with a hint of uncertainty in his.

 Medea was confused by his tone but she glossed over and cut the call.

 "I'd better get going," she said and started walking in the direction of Bobby's house.

 It was a short 15 minute walk to Bobby's, Medea glanced at the mahogany door of Bobby's Suburban home.

 The garden was filled with random decorations like a flamingo and bird feeders.

 She walked up to the door and knocked on it 3 times, Bobby opened the door with a bright smile.

 "Medea you made it !" he said enthusiastically.

 "Yeah Bobby wasn't that far, here are the pictures" Medea didn't want to spend too long at Bobby's as she had other jobs to pull off.

 She stuffed the pictures into Bobby's hand and began to walk off.

 "Medea hold on !" Bobby said in a deep tone, his smile had faded slightly and he caught Medea by the shoulder.

 "What's wrong ?" Medea was confused.

 "How about we talk inside for a bit," Bobby said, inviting her in.

 She was curious what Bobby wanted to talk about so she stepped in to figure it out.

 Bobby closed the door behind them and gestured for her to sit.

 "I'll go get you a beer" Bobby said heading to the kitchen and bringing back two bottles of blue moon.

 He passed one to Medea and popped the cover off.

 He sat in silence for a while as if in deep thought.

 "So what was it you wanted to talk about ?" Medea broke the short silence between them.

 Bobby raised his eyes to meet Medea.

 "Meds, how long have we been friends ?" Bobby used the nickname he gave Medea back when they were in college.

 It was short for Medea and also cause he caught her popping Vicodin pills from the college infirmary when they first met.

 "10 years I guess, what's all this about ?" Medea was even more confused, for him to use her nickname like that meant it was something deep.

 "We've been friends for 10 years, and throughout those ten years we've told ourselves everything we've needed to know about each other, right ?" Bobby continued.

 "Yeah ?" Medea was still deeply confused.

 "Then, Meds if there's anything, anything at all that I should know and you haven't told me, I want to know it now, I promise no matter how bad, I won't judge" Bobby said softly.

 "I don't think, I mean there's nothing special or important that comes to mind" Medea was worried.

 Bobby sat in silence processing Medea's answer.

 He suddenly stood up and walked to a drawer in the living room.

 Opening the drawer he took out something and walked back to Medea.

 He stared at the paper in his hand for a few seconds before placing it in front of Medea.

 "What's this ?" Medea looked down in confusion.

 She analyzed the paper and noticed two things of utmost importance.

 Her name, 'Medea Hues' and boldly written in red ink, 'Warrant For Arrest'.

 Medea's eyes went from calm to cautious.

 "What the fuck is this ?" Medea said in an angered tone.

 Bobby looked at Medea with pain in his eyes.

 "A warrant for your arrest, for the murder Stacy Williams and Jennifer Bach" Bobby said in a low voice.

 Upon hearing those names, Medea became distressed.

 She couldn't believe her eyes.

 Deep down she had suppressed those names.

 She knew them once before.

 Part of a past she had hoped had disappeared long long ago.

 She couldn't believe it.

 She had to be dreaming, this was impossible, or had all her luck finally run out.

 She couldn't let out a single word.

 Then one thought she hadn't even imagined popped into her head.

 'Is Bobby going to arrest me ?' she thought in desperation.

 She looked at Bobby helplessly, thankfully she noticed he didn't have conviction in his eyes.

 "Meds, i wanna believe this is some sort of setup i really do, but everything just points to you" Bobby said sadly.

 "Meds, is this true, did you really murder two girls when you were 19 ?" Bobby asked desperately.

 Medea couldn't answer, she couldn't bear to look Bobby in the eyes.

 "It's true isn't it ?" Bobby replied sadly to her silence.

 "What, what are you gonna do now ?" Medea looked up.

 "Nothing, nothing at all," Bobby replied solemnly.

 Medea was confused.

 "I, I understand it's my duty to bring you in, despite how much I am entitled to this job, but no matter how much I try to resolve it, I can't bring myself to take you in" said in a shaky voice.

 "You have about 45 minutes before the station sends out forces to your home, if you leave now you can make it out without getting caught," Bobby said, barely looking Medea in the eyes.

 "Out, out to where, Bobby what do you-" Medea stuttered but was interrupted by Bobby.

 "Out of the state! Goddamnit Meds this is your only chance, you need to leave, if you can at least make it out of town you should be able to escape the cops for a while and take a bus over to the next state" Bobby said his voice raised in exasperation.

 "But, but Bobby, what about you, what are you gonna do if they come looking for me here ?" Medea questioned.

 "I'll, I'll tell 'em you overpowered me and escaped or something, Meds you don't have time to be worrying about me, take these and go!! " Bobby said and handed her a Fake I'd and a couple of forged identification documents.

 Medea looked down at the documents in her hands, Bobby must have already gotten these ahead of time as soon as he heard the news.

 'I have the greatest friend to ever exist, and I keep wasting all the chances he gives me' Medea thought to herself.

 "Ok, fine," Medea said, almost in tears.

 She stuffed the documents in her bag and headed for the door.

 Bobby tried to say something but nothing could leave his shaking lips.

 He clenched his teeth and closed the door.

 The journey back home for Medea was stressful, it was already getting late and she couldn't stop checking every corner for cops, her Paranoia rose exponentially.

 She took a subway train back to her neighborhood, reached her home, headed in and shut the door quickly.

 She stood at the door for some time trying to process what she was gonna do.

 She knew what she had to do, but she just couldn't believe she was actually gonna do it.

 She went straight for her room and packed up everything she could, then paid for a seat online on the next bus to North Carolina.

 Once everything was packed she took one last look in the mirror.

 Her day had started so well now it was all just crumbling down.

 She walked out of her house and tossed the keys into the nearest dumpster.

 As she passed by the dumpster she noticed the letter from this morning.

 Despite her better judgement she picked it up and looked at it.

 She began to slowly open it and properly read through the contents.

 Just as she looked at the first letter, she saw a flash of police lights dissipate the darkness.

 Her eyes constricted as she leaped into the alleyway.

 She rolled as she heard the commands of officers and several gunshots.

 Getting up from her roll she leaped over the fence in the alley into the backyard of another house.

 Upon landing she balanced herself and took to her heels.

 She heard the sounds of tyres and police trucks behind her, she clenched her teeth and didn't dare to look back.

 Bullets flew about everywhere and some grazed her shoulder and her knee tendon.

 She ran into the opposing street and let the adrenaline lead her.

 She needed to get to the bust stop quick.

 Just as she ran suddenly a volley of police cars blocked her path.

 She ran head first and stepped unto the trunk of one of the cars and leaped vigorously.

 She jumped over the volley and continued down her path.

 Suddenly a bullet went straight through her arm.

 She couldn't believe it, the pain was horrible.

 She lost her balance and plummeted to the floor.

 She struggled to get up and but felt the cold feel of metal at the back of her head.

 She couldn't think, she could hardly breathe, she felt tears roll down her eyes endlessly.

 'Its over'.

 These words echoed through her skull.

 As she was just about to give up and turn herself in.

 She saw a shadowy figure leap from the right and ram the cop away from her.

 She looked at her saviour with teary eyes, it was Bobby.

 Bobby smiled at her intently and she smiled back.

 "I've got your back" he said softly.

 Suddenly she heard a gunshot.

 Her jaw was stuck ajar, her eyes left staring at Bobby in shock.

 Bobby himself couldn't believe it, he looked down at his chest and saw a trickle of warm red blood.

 He felt blood spewing out his chest slowly.

 "Bobby No!!!" Medea screamed with all her might.

 Her vision blurred from the tears and her ears dulled.

 She heard muffling sounds from the officers around her.

 "Dammnit you idiot, that's one of our own" one said.

 "I..I couldn't tell, he just jumped in" the other said.

 Medea couldn't focus on them, she rushed towards Bobby's falling body.

 "Stop!" Bobby shouted.

 "This your chance, get out of here quick" Bobby said to her.

 Medea couldn't believe it, even in death, Bobby was thinking of her first.

 Where did everything go wrong.

 "No Bobby no I I'll just turn myself in, they'll get you to a hospital and-" Medea said but she was cut short.

 "There's no need, I'm beyond saving, don't make my death a waste, please just go, live, please live, for me" Bobby said smiling sadly.

 Medea looked at Bobby slowly dying corpse and clenched her teeth.

 She stood up slowly took out her gun, shot the first cop on the waist and the other on the knee.

 Then using the confusion, she took off in tears.

 'Bobby, you were the best thing that ever happened to me' she thought to herself.

 She made it all the way to the bus stop and waited silently.

 The night had moved fast and she couldn't process everything that happened.

 She just stared at her shoes in silence waiting for the bus.

 The bus rolled in after a few minutes and she got on, she had already used some disinfectant to reduce the smell of blood on her and tended to her wounds as best as she could.

 She showed the driver her ticket on her phone and sat at her seat silently.

 She looked down at her bag tears filling her eyes again.

 No one can anticipate thier life, things happen, trying to stop them and trying to avoid them are impossible.

 Medea clenched her teeth and steeled her resolve.

 She told put the letter from this morning out of her bag and analyzed word by word.

 It went.

 H.A.N.D :

*Be sure to destroy this letter after reading*

 Mrs Medea Alabastar Hues, you are cordially granted an opportunity at the Non-governmental defense organization, H.A.N.D.

 Your skills as an expert private detective are deemed viable to us at H.A.N.D.

 In exchange for your services we offer full remission of criminal charges, debts or other aggravated acts. We also grant a salary of 2 million dollars per year worked for us.

 Agreeing to this offer issues an NDA on you that if breached, will be followed by your extermination, blanked from public records, you will effectively cease to exist both directly and indirectly.

 The exact specifics of this job are above your clearance for now, but know this, every thing the world has to offer is here.

 If you are interested, contact Us :

 3*3**95***3

 Medea looked it over once more.

 It looked just like a devil's bargain, the exact specifics of the job were left out and purposely replaced with sweetened rewards.

 And the last sentence.

 "Everything this world has to offer" Medea murmured to herself.

 She crumpled the letter, took out a lighter and burnt it up and tossed the ashes out the window.

 She took out her phone and dialed the number.

 Her life had already gone to shit, she could surely add one more risk.