Justice and Her Boys

Chapter One

The man with dyed silver hair smiled slowly at the old guy sitting in front of him with hulking bodyguards on either side. He settled back into his own chair with an air of confidence as the guy nodded, agreeing to his proposal.

"Mmm, this seems like a good deal," he said, turning to his bodyguard who passed him his phone. "I look forward to working with you, Tom."

The silver-haired man smiled in response, "And I with you."

He was lying, of course. After tonight, they would definitely not be working together. In fact, his name was not even Tom. It was Boun. He had convinced the old guy to invest money in a non-existent business deal. By the time the old fart had figured it out, he would be long gone. Besides, the guy deserved it. From the outside, he may seem like a legitimate businessman but if you looked closely you could see the same neck tattoo peeking out from both his collar and those of his bodyguards. Speaking of his bodyguards, every once in a while, they would shift so that their suit jacket would reveal the bulge of a hidden gun. These facts were obvious to Boun since he knew that behind the guy's legitimate business lay many illegal activities as the old fart was basically a mob boss.

Boun stood to leave and one of the huge bodyguards handed him a briefcase as he passed by. He couldn't help the small smirk that slipped onto his face as he strode out of the hotel restaurant towards the lobby. People were chatting and eating around him, their faces illuminated by candles and the dim lights on the walls. The sky outside the large windows was dark. Neither the stars nor the moon could be seen as they were hidden by dark clouds. There was another thing Boun knew was there but could not see. A black van with the logo of a plumbing company painted on the side. The company itself was real but the van had nothing to do with plumbing. Not even a little bit.

Inside the van was silent apart from the quiet buzzing of computer equipment and the click-clack of fingers moving quickly over a keyboard. The fingers furiously typing belonged to Gulf. He was currently finishing removing all traces of his digital presence in the hotel systems. All the hotel security staff would see was that their CCTV had failed in the restaurant and the lobby for around twenty minutes. It would look like some sort of error. They would have no idea that their systems were purposefully hacked to prevent anyone knowing about the meeting in the hotel. Finally, he was done, and Gulf blew out a long breath as he stretched out his arms above his head. He took off his glasses to rub his eyes before shoving them back on as he noticed something on the CCTV feeds. Frowning, he grabbed his phone and dialled. He watched the man on the screen pick up his call.

"Boun, someone is following you," Gulf hissed down the phone.

Boun slowed his pace and contained his urge to look around. He opened his mouth to reply to Gulf before quickly closing it again. If someone was following him, they might be able to hear him. Instead, he glanced up to find a security camera and then pointed at it and gave an almost imperceptible shrug. Gulf got the signal that Boun wanted him to continue talking. It was lucky that they knew each other so well.

"You need to slow a little more and head to the garden exit to your left instead of the main exit."

Boun stopped walking and slipped his phone back into his pocket. He tucked his hand close to his body before giving a thumbs up so that it could be seen on camera. Gulf smiled at the action as he started typing again. Boun tried to Gulf as much time as possible so he remained paused where he was, pretending to be waiting for someone. He glanced at his watch a few times as his back began to prickle. It felt like there were eyes on him and it was making him more and more uncomfortable.

"Come on, G," he whispered under his breath.

Then he began slowly wandering towards the garden exit. He hoped he had given Gulf enough time, but it was too risky to call him again to check. The cold night air rushed over his body as he stepped outside, making him shiver. He continued into the beautiful garden. Unfortunately, he could barely see anything in the dark so he could not fully appreciate the sight. Plus, the feeling of impending doom was also putting quite a damper on his ability to appreciate the beauty around him. Boun knew he could not turn around nor give any indication that he knew someone was following but resisting the urge to look was getting harder and harder as he headed further and further into the dark garden.