Trouble

Almost in trouble

As I was walking to the university, Shane called and I picked up.
''If you tell me the name, I will think about declining the job.'' Was my version of saying hello. Shane sighed on the other side of the line.
 ''You can be so much trouble sometimes. It's really not that hard to just take my advice now and then.''
 I quickened my pace because I was almost too late for class.
''Your advice? It was more like an order.''
Five minutes left before class started, so I hung up and started running. At noon, I got a message from Shane, saying we should meet at Baristo's, his favorite coffee shop. I smiled as I could taste victory.

The coffee shop was full of students and very loud. Not the right location to have a conversation, unless you didn't want to be overheard or seem suspicious. So for matters as these, such as sharing classified information, it was the perfect place. 

Shane sat in the far corner, reading a local newspaper, his hair messy and his coffee still steaming. His head suddenly shot up in my direction and a smile appeared on his face. He waved me over and I sat down, without saying a word. It was his time to talk, not mine.
''Oh, so today I get the stubborn you? Awesome. Well, '' he quickly sipped his coffee to stall some time, ''I've decided to let you take a look into the file.''
Even though I was surprised, I didn't show it. I just stuck my hand out for him to hand the file over.
''Now? Don't you have classes in fifteen minutes?''
 I rolled my eyes. ''I'll skip them, now give me the damn thing!''

Shane smiled, he had finally got a reaction out of me.
''Good luck that I brought it with me then.''
And there it was, finally. The thickest file I had ever seen, paperclips and photos stuck out, corners of papers were folded and the front had stains on it. It was almost as if the file was a hundred years old. 

The first page was a report about a man gone missing and never found.
The second about a man murdered.
The third showed a friend of the second man, bled to death on the street. 

The whole file went on like that, every page had a death or a missing person on it and the list didn't seem to stop. There were fathers, gangsters, politicians, students, teenagers, all kinds of people. And every murdered man or woman had detailed pictures of the dead body as how it was found. It was a horrible sight, frightening, to think that one mob could kill so many people. 

''You thought these pictures would scare me, didn't you? And that they would convince me to say no.''
Shane pleaded guilty and I couldn't help but laugh.
 ''I'm proud of you for being sneaky but I'm disappointed that you apparently don't know me.''

Something felt familiar about the pictures though as if there was something I had already seen, a faint connection. It was then that I noticed something.
''Where's the information about the mafia? About its members?'' I flipped through the pages again to make sure I hadn't just missed it.
"I've left that out. In case you decided to go look for them yourself, trying to be a hero.''
I was impressed, it was something I would do.
''Well played.'' I handed the papers back.
''But why shouldn't I take it? It seems like a challenge to me.'' Shane shook his head and sighed. ''Have you not just seen those pictures? Do you really want them to do that to you?''

''If it's that dangerous, then why are they asking me? They have professional people, who were trained for those things.''
''They think that you would have more luck and a bigger chance of infiltrating because you're so young and look innocent. You're also under the radar, criminals don't know you.''
Shane had his hands in his hair and looked at me with pleading eyes.
''They don't think I can catch them?'' I was shocked and astonished.
''They mostly want you to just get inside but that's all.'' 
''I am perfectly capable and more of doing whatever some trained monkey of the bureau could do.''
If there was one thing I didn't handle well, it was people thinking or telling me I couldn't do something I was sure of I could.
''Tell them I'm doing it.''
''What? You just got mad for their reasoning! Why would you-'' I cut Shane off.
''I'm going to prove them wrong.'' I had made up my mind, I was going to infiltrate and catch those bastards. And I wouldn't need any help of the bureau, I would do it all by myself.

After some more pleads of Shane not to do this, I got home and studied for a while. My ultimate goal was to work for the FBI. That's why I was studying criminal justice and I was in my third year. But now, I was even more motivated. For the first time in my career as a freelance agent, I was offered a huge job. This was not just catching a thief or a dealer, it was proving myself to my agency that I could handle life-threatening situations. And after that, maybe get a higher rank until I would be 23 and old enough to join the FBI. It was all a dream for now but I hoped it would become reality soon.