The man stopped as he saw the woman in one of the rooms at the side of the hallway, clearly busy. He paused and stared at the woman rummaging through the shelf and drawers and occasionally stacking whatever papers she could find.
The woman did a double-take as she saw the man standing still and watching her. "Hey," she greeted her colleague, whom she hadn't seen in a few days.
Reynolds walked near the wide-open door, his mouth stretched, seemingly upset.
"How did the briefing go?" Freeman asked.
Reynolds leaned on the door frame, put his hands in his pockets, and shrugged.
"Really," Freeman, who could tell her friend's demeanor, sat at the edge of the table and folded her arms.
Reynolds continued to stare at his friend, unwilling to say anything.
"Oh my god! Is this about the other day?"
He stood in the doorway, silent, wanting his friend of almost 7 years to give in to his tantrums.
''I told you, she just wants me to do some task that simply includes receiving and delivering parcels, that's it," Freeman said as she was now annoyed at her friend, roughly putting some papers in her bag.
"Right, such a 'simple and personal task' she's sending one of the officers, yeah, totally believable.'' Reynolds finally replied, reciprocating the annoyance.
The two paused and glared at each other.
Freeman took a deep sigh. She sat on the chair facing the man and leaned forward. She pressed the table with her fingers, trying to calmly explain the issue at hand. "She simply said that I have to be at the London Airport by Friday morning. I will be met by an Officer on duty and will be briefed from there on where to go next."
Upon finding new information, Reynolds straightened his body and closed the door behind him. He dropped down into the nearest chair in front of the desk, waiting on more info.
Freeman looked at her friend, who was now in a better mood, and rolled her eyes.
"So, whatever it is, it's not in London." He was curious.
"Nope. Freeman shook her head
"Congratulations on your first solo task outside the country."
She squinted her eyes as he looked at her friend, "That sounded envious."
"Nah, I'm just." He stretched his body on the chair and his head towards the ceiling.
"Seriously, what exactly happened?"
"Branson wants me to go after the car."
"It could be rented by a third party, if that matters." She advised.
"Right, it could be rented by a homeless person with an ID, for a few bucks, for all that matters, some places don't even require an ID. Not to mention, the plate is out of state. Is he perhaps stupid, or is he intentionally sabotaging me?"
"I think we both know the answer to that." She added.
"Right.. The entire venue has cameras, and not a single one of them caught him entering or exiting. What part of this does he not understand that someone working there or was working for that day at the event might be involved? He couldn't even mention that during the meeting, all we have is a blurred picture of a man getting in his SUV with a license plate from out of state."
"What do you suggest?" Freeman understood her colleagues' implications.
Reynolds turned to his friend and dragged the chair closer, he put his elbows together on the table like he was about to tell her something important. "First, by questioning the girl again, intensively this time."
"You want to bring in the Vampire Heiress to the interrogation room? They couldn't even bring her out of her room last time." She slightly laughed at her friend's naivety.
"Yes! The only person who can tell us about that Paladin! Is her. She fought him one-on-one. You saw the Traffic cameras, by the way, how did she even latch on to that car?"
"What did they say?"
"That, she's just a young girl who's grieving the death of her father, and an assumption that it was just a young Night Walker's passionate vengeance."
"Wait, what about the third parties?" She enquired.
Reynolds snapped his fingers and pointed at his friend at sudden realisation.
"That's what I'm saying, but the name David Rice is forbidden from being mentioned in this congregation, especially by low-tier workers like us."
"Really?"
"Yeah, because whenever he's involved in something, the meeting gets to the higher Rooms and the doors get closed and shit get shoved under the rugs, or they go round and round just to avoid saying his name directly. Imagine having that much control over a literal governing body."
''Maybe because his mommy is the current Chancellor," Freeman stated as she walked near the shelf. "Or they're scared of him because he is 'The strongest." She almost cackled at the last sentence.
"What?
"Didn't you see his speech?"
"When?"
"Remember when I was assigned as the Councilwoman Boker's handler during the Europe summit in Berlin? He was the guest speaker for the youth; let's just say it was a disaster on our country's part. People did not take it well. Imagine getting trolled on the app you co-own, his fanboys were losing it. They were telling him to delete the accounts of those who were calling him out." She shook her head.
"That's why I'm not his stupid app, I would have said something, and gotten myself fired. He sounds insufferable."
"Yup, insufferable with lots of money, they all dance around him like clowns, especially with next year's election."
"Fucking lobbyist."
"But, there's a rumour that there's a rift with that Jumper among the House, so the representatives might change.
"Why does it matter who wins? All they care about is lining up pockets, investing in private companies, and buying houses and offshore accounts.
"Talking about companies, you're going to love this," Freeman pulled one of the files from the shelf and threw it on the table.
Reynold quickly picks it up and focuses from top to bottom of the page, his pupils dilating on each page.
"Wait, I don't get it." He said it out loud over the last page.
Freeman rolled her eyes over her friend's dumbness and got near him, and pointed at the page. "It's a shell, the company does not exist. Meaning no silver, no gold, no warehouses. No, actually the warehouse exists, but like I suspected, rented by a third party. Created only last year on December 17. Last page, you'll see the address of origin."
"I did not doubt you for a second," He said as he leaned closer to her, "We can kiss, if you want."
She did the same
"I would like to see you try."
"Really?"
"No.... !"
*******
Chump jolted up from his sleep, rubbing his face and trying to grasp the moment; he had fallen asleep with his clothes and shoes on. He rummaged around the sheets for his phone.
''Shit..," He had been sleeping all day since his plane landed. He glanced around the moderately priced hotel room: white sheets, a carpeted floor, and a huge view of the Australian city. He walked to the window. "Looks like a city that sleeps early, nice cold shower, bar that serves a good beer and cheeseburger." He tilted his head in excitement.
********
Chump stood looking at the bungalow-style urban home on the other side of the street, which was deteriorating on the outside. He stood under the street light with almost no vehicles passing at devil's hour.
He tapped the link on the messaging app.
'Orphanage closed due to abuse allegations, three kids who grew out of the privately funded home for children, accused the warden of physical and emotional abuse-- using starvation as a form of punishment. Many plaintiffs are predicted to come forward.'
"Shit."
*******text message******
Not sleeping
It's like noon here
Oh (emoji)
When was this?
It has been going on for months now
Why didn't you tell me? (emoji)
(emoji) It didn't just pop up on one search. I had to dig through, looks like they are hiding it.
Should I still go check? But all necessary papers will have been seized by now.
Use your brain, I suppose.
Fine
Don't get in trouble and create trouble.
"Fuck this I'm going in," Chump spoke to himself trying to calm himself of the nervousness as he stood on the lonely road.
''It's creepy in here, but at least it's walkable, and no crackheads that's a bonus."
Chump made his way around to the back, climbed the railing fence, and ended up in the thick bush on the other side. He screeched and ran out of the grass, continuously slapping the back of his neck. "It's okay, it's okay, it's just dry leaves."
He cleared his throat and fixed himself, keeping his integrity to himself.
A poster with a cross and two hands clasped around it greeted him as he picked the lock and went in. ''Salvation Group, bringing families together under God." Chump took a picture and sent it.
*****text message*****
You're in!
Yes
No cameras?
Nothing near me might be in other rooms.
Be careful, use the prototype.
I'm the one who made it
(emoji)
~~~~~~~
Chump dropped onto the chair as he was tired from running from room to room and checking every corner of this huge, creepy home for almost an hour.
"Shiit.." He muttered in disappointment. "Should've gone to the dorms instead. Oh right! There are kids still living there." He scratched his head in annoyance.
His eyes darted around in the dark room, not knowing what to do.
"You must have suffered a lot, huh? I hope you get justice; we never did. I would've taken you guys with me and run if we were together." Chump spoke to himself alone in a dark room with a hint of pain in his voice.
"You'll be alright, we eventually were, shiit we ain't got no choice did we." Chump abruptly stood up and slapped his thighs, ready to leave.
"Wait..." He straightened his body at sudden realisation, " Where is he?" Chump flashed off the room, one after another, using his abilities, after almost 20 minutes, rechecking everything.
******phone ringing******
what?
He's not here
What are you saying?
I'm telling you he's not here, he's never been here.
Are you saying that our guy was never at the orphanage?
Yes..
How can you be sure?
Not a single picture of him is here, ah..Ah I know what you're going to say, this entire place is filled with pictures of kids who were ever brought here. These people are sick, they will do anything to get donations. What makes you think they will leave a kid out?
Hold on, let me check the picture that they took... Wait.
What?
The link to the news. It's gone!
What do you mean?
I checked it like 15 minutes ago. It's not here anymore. Something is not right.
Of course, it's not right. This is crazy.
You should probably get out of there.
Yup, I'm gone.
Be careful.
I know.
Chump, whose focus was on the phone, saw a shadow of someone walking towards him along the corridor. He was only able to move his body an inch as he froze in his steps; chills ran down his spine as sudden realization hit him, and he paused to catch his breath. His mind went in circles about whether to crash through the window and run out or to fight head-on, even though the threat could be minimal; he was now being confronted. It could be just a thief, which could work out in his favor, or it could be someone that he had no intention of meeting; a security guard, a Detective investigating the case, or an Officer from APAF. If it was the latter, he was done for; he was going to get arrested and his boss would probably get probe and they would be brought in front of the International Council of Delegates for illegal investigation in another country.
All of this running through the mere mind of a 25-year-old.
Until he saw it!
The entire orange part of the flame emitting from what looked like the finger illuminating the unlit entryway.
The magic, they say, was deadly but old and gone, an ability that was more of an anomaly.
Now he knew what he was going to be up against, he was double-fucked; because it didn't matter, he was not winning or outrunning.
Whoever it was brought the flaming fingers near their face to burn something, it made their face clearer; a rough stubble and a scar that ran from their mouth to the eyebrows. He looked middle-aged.
The man made an audible sound as he seemed to blow out smoke, his steps echoed on the halls as he got closer to him.
"Edmund Alias Emery," the man spoke with a very thick, coarse voice.
"How did you know that name?" Chump choked on his voice as it broke mid-sentence.
"Ahh.. whoever left you at that orphanage wrote that on a piece of paper." He was nonchalant.
"What do you want? Chump tried to make his delivery better than the last time, trying to keep calm.
"Well, I came here to ask you the same thing, young man." The man leaned on the edge of the wall few steps away from him, laid his head back like a person in front of him, who could be a threat, was nothing.
"I ask first," Chump protruded his chest, trying to size up the man.
Shadow of a smile curved up on the visible side of the man's face, as he found the behaviour of the kid amusing.
"I like the device on your head. Did you make it?"
"Yes," Chump match the man's tone.
The man ticked the ash off the cigarette bud, "A young Reaper who is possibly a tourist is running around the city, leaving a trail cause that idiot ran a traffic light a few times. How many hours did it take from here to Sydney and back?"
Chump cleared his throat in embarrassment, but was also eager to answer, "45 minutes." He cleared his throat once more and added, " So you're not with that guy."
"Who? The rogue paladin? I don't think you can call him even that."
The bud of a cigarette flared as he sucked the burning tobacco. "Well, if it matters, he's not of any interest to me." He added
"So you know what happened here?"
''More or less, I'm sure those great detectives and judges will bring justice to those kids."
"That's not what I mean."
"Aah.. He was brought here for adoption, not adopted, then he was, but then he wasn't also here." He gestured his hands, moving around the tiny flicker of light.
"What about the parents?" Chump spoke louder as he was getting frustrated by the man's vague answer, but also being careful not to seem disrespectful.
"A couple in their early forties had a daughter, 12. Who got leukemia, desperate, painful, got the opportunity to save her, but unfortunately died four years later.
He straightened and turned his body towards the door to leave.
"Who are you?" Chump hastily asked the man as he saw him leaving.
The man turned his head slightly with a smirk on his face, "Thought you wouldn't ask."
"I'm not of any interest to you or to anybody. Also, you did not meet anybody here today.'' His words got clearer as he spoke the last few words.
"But it was interesting enough for you to come here," His sentences tremble.
"Go home kid, to your sister. Catherine was it?"
"We don't go by those names anymore."
"Fair enough. It was great meeting you, kid." He disappeared into the wide-open door.
Chump tumbled a step back, he grabble his chest and had a hard swallow, trying to understand.
''What the fuck just happened."