Recollection Of Questionable Events

Shadow Man Strikes Again.

(8) Shadow Man Strikes Again:

Unknown

 

The girl stared directly at me, forcing me to put my binoculars down and approach her. It’d been a long night, spent chasing this girl all over town.  After that damn bus ride, we’d all attended a wedding, danced at a club and then settled into this hideout…where nothing else has happened.

If I hadn’t witnessed the doubling-crossing myself, it’d be hard to believe that this girl was anything but a bow-wearing sweetheart. But I knew better, and began the conversation cautiously.

It didn’t help any; the petite ‘doll’ couldn’t be broken. She showed no signs of fear or regret, and seemed to think she had a right to my property.

“You are sharing it? It’s priceless…” I stammered, my accent becoming more prominent with each word. The anger couldn’t be helped; several months of planning could not end this way.

“Priceless? That’s stretching it a bit,” She said incredulously.

Not priceless? She must not work in the industry or be incredibly stupid.

The thought of their grimy hands all over my property, infuriated me. I had to stop myself from running into the house, and taking back the files I’d paid Ivan for. But without any more info, barging into the house would be a complete suicide mission.

The house could be bobby-trapped, filled with a group of trained spies ordered to kill any intruder on sight…or it could all be a ruse to confuse me (the house empty and my files hundreds of miles away).  

The girl had stood her ground, refusing to give me any useful information, but it didn’t matter because I had other ways.

I settled into the bushes behind the mailboxes, the perfect spot to observe my prey.  The hours passed by excruciatingly slow, and despite having several close calls with residents picking up their mail, nothing exciting happened.

Only a few minutes of daylight remained, and the girl would probably make her move under the cover of the night. I took the opportunity to call my business partner.

“This better be important,” answered a gruff voice.

“I’ve made contact with the girl, and she claimed the information had been distributed,” I whispered.

“Damn, how did you let this happen?”

“I didn’t let anything happen,” I said agitated. “This is that idiot’s fault.”

“Whatever. Give me a minute to verify if the files have gone public.” No more partners after this, it’d been his idea to hire that double-crossing Ivan.

“Well?” My bones ached from crouching for hours, I needed action.

“Nothing…no one’s accessed the files yet,” he said triumphantly, as if he had recovered the stolen goods. “Find it before someone does.”

A loud click ended the call, preventing me from asking more questions.

Just then the girl came strutting outside, the lunatic bounced next to her. Of course…they had planned the distraction. I should’ve known when I noticed how popular Panchero’s had been that night.

But I had no time to analyze it. The girls were getting into a dark car, the straps of a very familiar drawstring bag peeking out from the backseat…the bag Ivan had been clutching on the bus before he stole my money.

Crawling alongside the vegetation, I made my way down the parking lot. I’d parked my car a few complexes down, and had to hurry.

This ended tonight.