3_JADA

Sentinel Protection Services, SPS...

My client was giving me a hard time. I had spent half of the night going through documents, after documents searching for potential suspects who wanted to end the life of his precious daughter.

Wealth always comes with a lot of baggage.

I sighed for the umpteenth time and stood up to grab my fifth cup of coffee.

"Jay come see this" Luke called out as I passed through his desk. His curly sandy blond hair was sticking out at every end, I'm sure his fingers have been pulling at them.

I tiredly dragged my legs to his side of the bullpen

"What's up?"

"you know that guy you asked me to look into? His alibi checks out"

I stared at him blankly

"And how is this supposed to help me out? This is a bad news. It means we are back to zero leads and the politician's daughter's life is still in danger"

"Relax, I haven't gotten to the best part yet. I think we've been suspecting the wrong people. We've been looking at suspects for the politician's daughter, and there's one name that keeps showing up across different reports. He's been connected to her father's campaign donors... and I think he's been closer to her than we realized."

He stretched out an open file towards her prompting her to take a look.

Jada took the file and opened it, flipping through the pages as she scanned the details. "Who's this guy?" she asked.

"Dante McBride," Luke replied, leaning forward, his voice low and steady. "Big-time corporate lawyer. He's been handling some of the politician's more 'sensitive' contracts for years. I ran his background—clean as a whistle on paper, but too clean. Something doesn't add up. He's always been in the right place at the right time."

Jada raised an eyebrow. "Always?"

Luke nodded. "Always. And I found this"—he pointed to a report in the file—"on the night of the gala last month, Dante was seen leaving the back exit. Right before the daughter took off to her car... alone."

Jada's brow furrowed. "She wouldn't go anywhere without her guards, unless..." She trailed off, her eyes scanning the paper again, then meeting Luke's. "Unless she wasn't alone."

"Exactly. That's why I need you to look into him further," Luke said. "Talk to our informants, check his alibis, dig deeper into his connections with her father's campaign. And keep an eye on any unusual movement around the daughter. If he's involved, it's not going to be obvious."

Jada closed the file, her eyes hardening with determination. "Understood. I'll be discreet." She paused, her mind racing through potential angles. "What do we know about his private life?"

Luke tapped a pen on the desk, thinking for a moment. "Not much. No family history, no public social life. He's a ghost outside the office. But I've got a few people keeping an eye on him now, seeing if he slips up."

Jada nodded. "I'll check in with them. We can't afford any mistakes, especially now that she's aware of the threats against her."

Luke's gaze softened for a moment as he met her eyes. "I know. But we're close. Keep your head down, Jada, and trust your instincts. This one's a slippery bastard."

Jada gave him a quick, tight smile. "When has that ever stopped us?"

Luke returned the smile with a small, approving nod. "Just be careful. The last thing we need is for this guy to know we're onto him."

"Got it." Jada turned and walked toward the door, her mind already working on the next steps. But before she could leave, Luke called out once more.

"Oh, and Jada?"

She stopped, glancing over her shoulder.

"Don't let her out of your sight," he added, a serious edge to his voice.

Jada paused for just a second, then nodded. "I won't. I've got it covered."

As she stepped out of the room, the weight of the case settled on her shoulders. She knew the risks. There were a lot of people who would do anything to stay out of the spotlight, and some of them would stop at nothing to protect their secrets. But she also knew one thing—if Dante McBride had anything to do with the politician's daughter, she was going to find out, and she wasn't going to let him get away with it.

No matter what it took.

*****

I've been stalking Dante McBride all over town.

I followed him to his dinner date and uncomfortably watched as his shoved his tongue down the throat of a girl that looked young enough to be his daughter, if only his wife knew what her husband has been up to.

I followed them back to his house where he walked in with the girl holding onto his hand for dear life, she looked tipsy. I considered following them in but decided against it, I didn't have enough evidence yet to bring this man down.

I let out a long sigh and started the long drive home.

I was enjoying the solitude when my phone chimed indicating a text, I picked it up and Luke's name flashed on the screen, I unlocked the phone and opened the text to reveal an address. I immediately dialed his number.

He picked up after the first ring

"What is this?"

"That's McBride's office, maybe you should check it out, he might be hiding something there"

I connected the call to my Bluetooth and tossed the phone on the passenger's seat

"And why am I the one doing this?"

He paused for a moment; I could hear shuffling in the background before his voice came on again

"Because not everyone is a superhuman..."

"By accident" I interrupted him.

I could feel him roll his eyes from the other end of the line

"Anyway, just...."

His words became a distant hum as I took the turn leading to my apartment. The scene before me would make for a good action movie.

A black SUV was parked in the middle of the road with the driver's door opened, three men stood a few feet away from the car and they were aggressively stomping and beating the crap out of a guy who laid still on the ground, the only tell that he was still alive was his occasional grunt of pain.

I killed the light to my car and kept watching the scene, I didn't know if I should get involved. Even if I should get involved, there were three guys and only one me.

Who am I kidding? I could take three of them down with just one finger.

Thanks Mum and Dad

"...Jay are you still there? What is going on?"

I'd totally forgotten about Luke.

I let out a sigh before promising to call him back later.

I got down from my car careful not to make any sound. At the rate they were going, the poor guy could wind up dead. I guess that was the plan, when I saw one of them pull out a gun from the waist band of his jeans.

I definitely had to get involved, no one was dying this night on my watch.

"Hey," I called out in a loud voice alerting the attention of the assailants, the assailed was still as a rock on the ground, I hoped for my sanity that he was not dead.

"why don't you guys pick on someone your own size"

They stared at me long and hard before they busted into fits of laughter that only succeeded in infuriating me and making me see red.

"Go home little girl" the largest of the three men spoke turning away from me.

"Calling me a little girl is the biggest mistake you've ever made" I said in a very low voice my anger heightened. I couldn't tell if they heard me.

They were about to continue their assault when I ran towards them lifting the guy that called me a little girl and hurling him towards the SUV when he landed shattering a window and leaving a large dent by the side, he landed on the floor with a thud.

I faced the other two still standing there staring at with open mouthed shock. As if the spell was broken, they both charged at me, I didn't even move, I gave the guy that I pulled out a gun a right hook which had him flying several feet away from me and landing on someone's mail box totally demolishing it, I grabbed the other guy by the neck, he stared at me with wide eyes, his blue orbs clearly displaying fright and his bald head glistening with sweat. I decided to have mercy on him so with my other hand I gave him a not so hard punch on the face knocking him out and I'm sure dislocating his nose too because I heard a loud crack.

I dusted my hands tapping myself on the back for a job well done.

I immediately brought the guys together and cuffed their arms and legs together, I found only two cuffs in my back seat which I made do with. We weren't the FBI or CIA but we worked closely with the police, we catch bad guys for them basically, so that explains the hand cuffs.

I immediately placed a call to the police to come and pick up the assailants and also to send a medical team.

The assailed on the floor stirred drawing my attention to him, I noticed his eyes were on me, his face was badly bruised and blood was gushing from a cut on his forehead.

"An ambulance is on its way. You will be fine"

He kept staring at me like he couldn't make out a word I just said. I looked him over wondering how someone so ripped was reduced to a bloody mess without attempting to fight back.

There were three guys attacking him all at once

That tiny voice in my head was back as strong as ever.

I'm sure he knew his life was being threatened. All the time spent in the gym must have trained him for this day.

Stop being a stone-cold bitch

I rolled my eyes just as soon as I heard the sound of sirens.

"the ambulance is here" I bent down to whisper to him.

He lifted his head again and stared at me in that unsettling way. I tried to look away but I just couldn't, his icy blue eyes were just so captivating, I got drowned in them. It was as though I was under a spell, I didn't want liberation from.

"Angel?..." He suddenly whispered breaking me out his spell and then his eyes closed as he lay motionless.

I went into panic mode; I bent my head to his chest to check if he was alive. I heard nothing just the distant sound of legs pounding on the hard-tarmac road. I started feeling his pulse for a sign of life. His hand was icy cold, I held his hand still frantically searching for a pulse, when suddenly I felt it, but it was so faint.

"Ma'am, we got it from here" one of the medics a young woman said immediately getting on her knees to attend to the guy.

Every corner was just a frenzy of activities the police forcing the men into the back of their car and several men in scrubs bent over the injured man.

I stood at a corner observing until he was placed in the ambulance and they drove off.

Like I said, a scene from an action movie.