That one girl (book 2)

Chapter 1

Five years later.

The streets of Salvador, Brazil where quiet this morning. The market caretakers were preparing for the wave of pedestrians that would be arriving any minute now. Colorful fruits were everywhere and vegetables gleamed in the early sunlit. The morning sun peered from the top of the old colorful houses that made the boundaries of the town square.

The small shopkeepers were talking to each other in a language I haven't assembled the courage to learn. Most of these shopkeepers knew me by name at this point. Coming here every Friday has become one of the many rituals I do to keep me and Jax alive.

The first time I discovered this place, I was lost. I didn't understand the language. To be franc, I looked like a lost tourist, and we all know how some people take advantage of lost tourist. When these fine people found me looking around, they made it their mission to take care of me. They learned a bit of English from the passing foreigners and used as much of it as they knew to help me and Jax out.

The lovely shopkeepers have offered us food in exchange for labor work. The work they gave us wasn't too loaded, which was fine by me. Nowadays, I pay for the food they offer. Jax and I found a job that suited us better and make enough money to buy food for a week and still have more for rent and other things.

Jax and I are very grateful for their help and coming here every Friday always reminds me that there is some good in people. Today was the day I bought food for both me and Jax again. The familiar faces light up with joy as they saw me approach them.

"Amelia, it is good to see you today" said one of the famous bakers.

"It's good to see you too" I reply.

'People are so nice here'

'Bring back some cinnamon rolls please' Jax said through the mental link.

'You do not need more sugar in your bloodstream' informed Guardian.

'Shut up, I didn't ask for your opinion' Jax replied.

Through the five years that we've been here, Jax and Guardian's relationship has gotten to the point where Jax would say something and Guardian would just try to shut him up as fast as possible. It's very annoying and I've abandoned trying to fix things.

"The usual?" asked one of the bakers.

I smile, something I've been doing a lot of over the years I've been here.

"Yup and can I have extra cinnamon rolls?"

"Of course" the baker says and smiles back at me.

While he packs some bread and rolls into a bag, I make my way to one of the farmers.

"It's a beautiful day today" I say as a greeting to one of my favorite shopkeepers.

Maria was the first to take care of us and was the most caring woman I have ever had the pleasure to meet. She offered us free food and helped us so much, I thought of her as a mother figure.

"Very beautiful, yes" Maria said.

"How are you doing?"

"I am very well, thank you for asking. How may I help you today Amelia?"

"Just the normal order, if you don't mind" I say and give her a smile.

She smiles back and says "I never mind helping you out"

She gets to work putting some fruits in a plastic bag and I walk back over to the baker to give him money in exchange for the pastries. The small market place was starting to get more crowded at this point. I tried to make my way back to Maria which I did successfully.

Once at her booth, I made sure to keep out of other people's way. Civilians walked around and stopped at a couple food booths. I scanned the ground around me. I noticed a couple familiar faces and a couple new ones. Maria tapped my arm and gave me a plastic bag full of fruits and vegetables.

That's when I noticed a familiar face that I haven't seen in a long time. One that shouldn't be here, one that didn't belong. It was gone a second after I spotted it.

'It can't be'

"Have a nice day Amelia" Maria's words cut me out of my dazed state.

I looked back at her and smiled.

"You too, Maria" I say.

I walk back into the crowd of civilians and try to make my way back to the street nearby. As I maybe my way through the crowd, I spotted another familiar face that shouldn't be here.

'Ash. I must be seeing things'

'No, they are really here. Their searching' explained Guardian.

'Searching for who?' I ask.

'You know the answer to that'

'What's happening?' Jax intervened.

'Nothing' I say.

I speed walk to the street where my black motorcycle is parked. Why today? Why now? If they're here, that means we were spotted at some point. Maybe raiding White Mask warehouses and busting drug dealers wasn't a great idea if you wanted to lie low. For fuck's sake, sooner or later they will find where we are hiding and place Jax in a prison cell.

'They won't' Guardian says, interrupting my train of thought.

'How can you be so sure?'

Once I make it to my bike, I place the bags of food in my bag and I wait for Guardian's answer. After waiting a couple minutes, I give up waiting for an answered. I place the backpack on my back and look to the sky. The nearby houses look great in the early morning sunlight.

That's when I spot it. A weird glint, on top of one of the houses. My heart stops when I realize what it is. There's a sniper overlooking the market where the operators are. I take off in a run towards the house. I jump off the ground and start climbing towards the top of that specific house. The top of the house is quite wide and I have space to climb over the edge without alerting the sniper. I drop my bag onto the roof without making any noise.

Once I check the sniper, I note that he's deck out in black and is on his stomach. A small radio is standing right next to him. The sniper's main focus is the market. I make my way slowly to the sniper. A plan started forming in my head. I could knock him out and tie him to something nearby. When he wakes up, I could question him.

Soddenly, the radio starts emitting a static noise and then a voice speaks through.

"I have no visual on the target. Do you have any luck up there Glaz?"

I freeze. The sniper that is not too far away from me is the Russian that taught me how to draw. At this very second, Glaz is reporting that he hasn't seen anything. He's reporting that he hasn't seen the target. The target which can only be me and I'm standing right behind him.

My friends, life's wack and if anyone tells you anything different, you can tell them to go to hell.