Chapter 1 - The ''skip''

I flipped the corner of the book’s page I was quietly reading on the small café’s exterior terrace.

The last rays of the sun shone brightly on what was a perfectly normal day for me. I had ordered my usual—ordering was an exaggeration because I came here every day for the last month, and the server didn’t even have to ask me what I wanted since I always got the same thing.

The young man brought my coffee with a smile and quickly dashed to another table to take a customer’s order.

Without taking my eyes off the book, I searched for the handle of my mug, and when I found it, I brought the cup to my lips and sipped on the delicious hot liquid. I hummed in delight, then set it back on the table and raised my eyes to survey the terrace. I was technically on duty, but my target had not arrived yet.

The sun was setting, and I didn’t care to stay here longer than necessary. If the target didn’t come, I would try again tomorrow.

I returned to my paperback book, ignoring the stares of men glancing my way. I didn’t understand what warranted their attention in me. I dressed in what I felt were comfortable clothes—I had a pair of stretchy black jeans and a white t-shirt under a brown leather jacket. I wore ankle-high military-styled boots with the top of my socks sticking out. I had done my hair in a messy bun, a couple of wisps of black strands falling close to my face. I hadn’t even bothered to put makeup on. People told me I didn’t have to wear makeup since my lashes were naturally full and curled like I had permanent mascara on.

I didn’t think I was a beauty. I wasn’t graceful or slender like most girls in the city. I was small but had a toned body that could pack a punch and bring down a brick wall. Girls found me too tomboy, and guys found me intimidating… mysterious enough to approach, yet too intimidating to have a relationship with me.

But I didn’t mind. Finding a decent guy in my line of work was quite rare.

“Now, what’s a pretty girl like you doing all alone in a pretty place like this?” Said the gruff voice of a man.

I internally groaned and rolled my eyes. Like, I had never heard that one before. Seriously, guys needed to have better pickup lines.

I ignored the poor bastard and resumed reading my book until the man came closer and pulled out the chair in front of me.

“Are you waiting for someone, sweetheart?”

“Not interested, Guy. I’m just here to enjoy the coffee and my book, which, coincidentally, you’re ruining for me. Why don’t you go bother some other poor girl? I’m sure plenty of women here are desperate for a male’s attention.”

My uninvited guess didn’t make any movements suggesting he was ready to leave, so I closed my book and sighed, but when I looked up at the bothersome person, I saw it was the guy I was actually here for.

Well, this would be interesting.

He was tall, with dark brown hair and a good complexion. I thought girls would swoon over a guy like that, but his arrogant smirk and ladies’ man charm were a complete turnoff for me. Not forgetting to mention he had broken parole and missed his court date for embezzling ten million dollars from Harrington and Leigh Corporation, the company he previously worked for. He sold private information from that company to the black market for a pretty hefty sum on top of what he had stolen.

Yeah, that guy was a sleaze, and I was here to bring him to the nearest police station.

I forced the loveliest, sweetest smile I could muster and batted my eyes in his direction, feinting complete surprise and shock at being in the presence of a gorgeous man.

“I’m sorry, that was rude of me,” I said while forcing blood in my face, so I would look shy. “I didn’t catch your name.”

I saw him run his eyes over my body, stopping a little too long at my breasts, then flashed me a flirtatious smile.

“My name’s Mike, darling. But you didn’t answer my question.” He added with a wink.

“I was waiting for you, I suppose,” I just needed confirmation before proceeding. “Mike, would that be short for Michael, by any chance?”

“Michael Umbridge.” He extended his hand.

Gotcha.

I shook his hand and licked my lips. “I’m Max. A pleasure to meet you.”

“Would that be short for Maxine?” Mike chuckled as he scooted closer to my side and brushed against me.

“You’re close. My name is Maxime, actually. It’s French.”

“Hmm, sounds exotic. Would you be free tonight? I have a mind of taking you out.”

Yeah, not going to happen. You’ll be behind bars before you know it, I thought.

I briefly looked into Mike’s eyes, letting what he had just offered sink in. When I didn’t reply, he happily coaxed me, adding, “It’ll be a night you won’t soon forget.”

I grinned. Mike’s proposition intrigued me—not that it mattered since I wouldn’t be going out with him, but I was still curious about what he thought would make it worth my wild.

“And what would that look like?” I asked tentatively as I swirled my finger over the rim of my coffee cup. I bit my lower lip and looked at him under my long lashes.

“I’ll take you to a pleasant restaurant, drink some wine, then maybe a walk in the park and after, we could go back to my place…” Mike placed his hand over my thigh and slowly slid it upward.

Wine, dine, and sex. Wow, that guy was really straightforward. Either he thought I was easy, or he really thought highly of himself.

It was a shame I had to cut to the chase. I had rather enjoyed fooling around with him. It made me miss the days when I was careless and dated whoever I wanted.

“Sounds dreamy, but I’m afraid I have a strict policy against dating felons. You’ve been a bad boy, Michael. I’m going to have to bring you in.”

I placed his bail papers on the table, and as soon as he saw them, Mike shot up from his chair and jumped over the small fence that separated the terrace from the sidewalk.

I groaned. I hated when they ran. Why couldn’t they just come with me without resistance?

I threw money on the table and followed my target. Mike was fast; I had to give it to him—but I was faster.

He turned left in an alley, which I knew was a dead end. Before my monthly stakeout, I laid out the entire sector in case this happened. He just cornered himself without even realizing it.

Mike was approximately five feet away from me when I turned the corner. I dashed forward and tackled him to the ground. He elbowed me in the face, and I recoiled a little from the pain and surprise. Guys hardly ever got the better of me. I preferred to be in charge.

I could feel my lip had split from the blow, and blood was dripping from my chin.

I didn’t want him to slip out of my grip, so I snaked up behind him and placed his head in a headlock. He lifted himself up, me hanging from his back like a backpack. Mike quickly backed into the brick wall behind us, hitting me in the process.

“You sure know how to show a girl a good time,” I said with a grunt, as I recovered from the hit. My back throbbed with pain, but I couldn’t let him go. “You’re coming with me whether or not you like it.”

“I’ll double… no, triple the amount you’ll get for bringing me in. You know I have the money if you read my file,” Mike croaked as I put more pressure on his neck. “You don’t understand… if they find me… I’m as good as dead… I’m fighting for something bigger than all of us….”

That’s what they always said. None of my “skips” ever wanted to go to jail. They always had good reasons not to show up at their court date and all. They almost sounded like a broken record. If they didn’t want to be in this situation, they should have been good citizens and followed the law.

“You’re going to have to do better than that, darling.”

I used my legs to push off the wall and made Mike take a nosedive toward the gravely ground once more. I twisted one of his flailing arms in his back and pulled it up. I knew the pressure it was creating was painful, but when he didn’t calm down and stopped wiggling, I repositioned myself on top, grabbed one of his legs, and pulled it up, immobilizing him.

“H-how are you so strong? You’re tiny!” Breathed out Mike, his cheek against the asphalt.

“I’ll take that as a compliment and not as an insult. Now, I’m going to cuff you, and you will come with me to the station.”

“Please, you can’t! Believe me… They’re vampires! They’ve created synthetic blood and are marketing it as something else! The information I sold was about blood production and its use. I have a list of names. If you bring me to jail, they’ll find me and kill me!”

I had to hand it to him. I had never heard a story like that before. I gave Mike points for creativity.

“You expect me to believe you stole ten million dollars from a vampire organization? I mean, I’m not saying I believe you, but really… why would you steal from them if you knew they were vampires?” If vampires existed, you could be sure as hell I wouldn’t have stuck around—much less steal from them unless I had a death wish. Good thing such beings were only fairytales. “Harrington and Leigh Corporation deals with a lot of eccentric things, I’ll give you that. It’s a multi-billion dollar empire, but that’s hardly any proof of them being vampires. The only thing they suck is rich people’s money. I’ll ask that you get checked by a doctor… you may have hit your head when I pushed you down, which would explain the nonsense you’re spewing.”

I placed the cuffs on him, helped him up, and pushed him toward the alley exit. My car wasn’t parked far, and I had had my fill for the day. I would bring Mike to the station, get my paperwork signed by the police, and then return to the office to collect my bounty.

But before I could do that, two black SUVs flanked my car when we neared my old VW Beetle.

I quickly shoved Mike into the back seat and hurriedly closed the door. I swirled around and met an extremely tall man dressed in a black two-piece suit wearing sunglasses. More were pouring out from the cars, dressed in the same fashion.

Now, this would be interesting.