Thank you for all your feedback. It is always welcome -- good or bad. And a special thank you to my partner in crime, Fish_Tales -- you have been a joy to write with!
*
Emma wasn't entirely sure why she had chosen the seat right next to the man at the bar. Perhaps because he seemed normal compared to the rest of the group in the joint and was lost in his own thoughts, or so she thought.
Somehow, her presence seemed to irritate him, but Emma had her plan in mind, eat, drink and get the hell out of dodge until she could find someone to help her plight.
Soon the big lug named Carl scooted her coffee her way. The liquid sloshed slightly over the rim, but she didn't care. She needed to warm up and perk up her senses a little. Carefully she took a sip of the hot liquid and closed her eyes a moment, relishing the hot coffee and liquor that burned a path to her belly. Nothing had ever tasted so good after the hell she'd just gone through.
"Thank you, Carl." She told the bartender sweetly and flashed him a small smile, which earned her a snort from her bar stool companion. She stiffed slightly and after another long draw on her coffee, she turned her face to his, hoping she looked braver than she felt.
"I'm sorry, have I offended you in some way? Because correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe we even know each other." Turning back to her meager meal, she threw down some more nuts. What a state she was in. She had no change of clothes, no other money, no jewelry to pawn...she'd kill for a little lip balm and some mascara. It was the simple things. Instead she was stuck next to some jackass who was coming close to being a heckler.
****
The black cars cruised silently into position and their electric motors were switched off. The LED sign at the front of the bar said "Carl's Place."
There were six cars. Two at the front entrance. Two at the service entrance at the rear of the building and there was also a car at either end of the street. The cars were unmarked, but it was unmistakeable as to what they were: Special Police Force.
SPF.
The door of the car closest to the bar's entrance opened. A uniformed man got out of the car. He was dressed in black. He was part of their elite apprehension squad. He walked over to the other car on the opposite side of the entrance and tapped on the rear window.
The window noiselessly slid down.
The man inside the car was dressed in black. His silver hair was a sharp contrast to the black of his uniform and his small cap.
"Yes?" said the man inside the car.
"Sir," said the man standing outside. "We've had a tip-off that Emma Hopson is in the bar."
He stood there, his black helmet concealing his features. The rain continued to drizzle and the water ran in rivulets down his helmet and some down the back of his neck and under his jacket, but it didn't appear to concern him.
"Good," nodded the silver haired man. He waited. "But do I really have to be here and do we really need all this to apprehend her?" He looked at the other cars on the street. He also knew that there were two more at the rear and that the street had been secured.
"Sir, we also know that Liam Hansen is in the bar," he said.
The silver haired man raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, that's good. Better than good," he said smiling. Now he wondered if he had enough firepower. It might be better to call for more backup.
"Sir, our operative in there suggests that they may know each other. They are sitting together and conversing."
"Coincidence?" asked the silver haired man.
"Sir, there are never coincidences where Hansen is concerned," he said. "We suspect they're working together."
The silver haired man nodded and rubbed his chin with long, gnarly fingers. A general meeting with a dissident was not normally Hansen's MO. He wasn't a dissident type of guy. Hopson must have hired him to do something. They wouldn't be meeting about bettering the world. Not Hansen. They were planning something. If it involved Hansen, it would be something big and it would be something disruptive.
Like always
.
"Thank you," he said to the man standing outside the car. "We need to get them both. I need Hansen alive. He has contacts with all the dissident groups and he knows where they meet. We do not believe he has a great deal of loyalty to them. We have to get him. Maybe he will deal."
"Sir," said the other man. "Deal? Hansen has never dealt before."
"We can bargain with him," said the silver haired man. "Give him something he wants."
"Sir, like what?"
"Freedom, money, whatever."
"Sir?"
The silver haired man knew what he was thinking.
"Oh, don't worry, Corporal," he said, "Liam Hansen has caused too much trouble to ever actually be released. We deal with him to find out what we can....then we kill him."
The other man's face was completely hidden by the dark plastic of his visor, but there was no doubt he was smiling under there. The night vision capability built into the helmet meant that he could also see the silver haired man smiling.
