"Are you sure this is the right place?" said the man.
"Yea, he told us she'd be here," said the second.
"He said she'd be fast, is this silver shit really going to protect us?"
"He said it makes them weaker."
The men were both armed with shotguns. They both had handguns in their belts and a lot of ammunition between them. They called themselves 'Hunters' but she knew the type, hide in a tree stand and hope their prey walks by. They had made their way into an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town.
"Weaker, yes. Shame it's not real silver," she said.
The voice seemed to come from everywhere, the men panicked and racked their guns.
"Where are you bitch?" said the first man.
"Oh, that's not polite, Edward," she replied.
"H... How do you know my name?"
"I know a lot of things. The man who sent you, how much is he paying you?"
"That don't concern you, we'll collect on your bounty and we'll be rich," said the second man.
"Ah, bills getting tough to keep up with, Chuck? So much you've taken a job from a Paladin," she replied.
"H... He said he was a man of God, that he was doing the church's bidding," said Edward.
Both men were pulled to the shadows, milliseconds before the round hit. Missing it's intended target, the round from a high powered rifle struck the wall in front of them, exploding the brick that it hit.
"Mm, thank you. Both of you, stay very still," she said.
Less than ten seconds later, one of the large paneled windows exploded inwards and the sniper crashed to the ground. Cathy stood looking down at the man as he groaned in pain.
"The silver you are wearing isn't real. You were set up as bait, gentlemen. This man is the one who hired you, right?" she said.
"I can't tell, you fucked him up," replied Chuck.
Cathy took his wallet and threw it over to Chuck. He picked it up and looked at the ID.
"Yea, that's him," he replied.
"Edward, I can feel the tension in your arm. I promise you, if you try to level that shotgun at me, I'll remove your arm before your finger gets to the trigger. You both probably realize what I am by now. What this man lied to you about is who I kill. I take the worst of your world. Men and women who rape and murder and somehow evade justice. I have a very strict code, I do not kill innocents. This man believes all of my kind are the same but he is a zealot, someone who actually kills anyone who gets in his way. He should have more than he promised you in his wallet, take the cash and walk away," said Cathy.
"What are you going to do to him?" asked Chuck.
"He's going to tell me who he's working for then the Police are going to talk to him about the 3 men he killed and buried in a field not far from here. Trust me, they won't be asking him about the cash."
"How do we know you won't kill us as soon as we turn our backs?" said Edward.
"Edward, I moved you out of the way of the shot he fired at your head. It let me see where he was, he hid his scent very well. If I wanted you dead, I'd have let him do it but you're not bad men, are you?" replied Cathy.
"Ed, let's just take the cash and split, man. This is fucked," said Chuck to his friend.
Edward pulled the cash from the wallet and threw it to the ground. Both of them backed up a few feet then ran back to their truck.
"Naughty man, using innocents as bait. I didn't get to the farm quickly enough but those 3 men are on your conscience, not mine. Who is your handler, James, who are you working for?" said Cathy.
"G... Go fuck yourself, demon, I work alone," he said, spitting out blood.
Cathy picked him up and looked into his eyes. She hypnotized him and asked him again. Satisfied with his answer, she dropped him to the ground. She remembered something and pulled a tooth from his mouth.
"Cyanide, such a painful way to die. I'll be sure and give this to them too," she said and pulled out her phone.
About ten minutes later, 3 Police cars and an ambulance arrived at the warehouse.
"Are you here?" said the Detective, seemingly shouting into the night.
"I have very good hearing, Detective, no need to yell," Cathy replied with a smile. The Detective jumped.
"Hate it when you do that. He's pretty messed up, Cathy, is he going to live?"
"His wounds are mostly superficial, Morgan. He had this in his mouth too, I remembered and pulled it out before he could use it."
"Cyanide again. I'll, uh, get a bag."
The Detective let her drop the tooth into a clear evidence bag.
"The three missing men are at this farm. He killed them and buried them so they wouldn't talk. He sent another 2 here and intended to do the same to them once they drew me out. They're nobodies, just gullible guys he found in a bar. His rifle is in a room near the top of that building opposite, his van, along with evidence you'll need to tie him to the farm, is parked on 5th street, white transit with that tag," she said, handing him a piece of paper.
"I really wish I could hire you, you make my job much easier."
"We both know I wouldn't pass the background check. Over 100 years old, penchant for drinking the blood of evil men, not sure that would look good on my file," she said with a laugh.
"Well, just know I appreciate who you are, Cathy. I take it I shouldn't ask about what you learned?"
"Correct. It's out of state anyway, I'm hoping to end this peacefully for once. The council are keen to stop this back and forth with them, especially with innocents getting caught in the crossfire. Did they release her?"
"Yeah. The DA said the evidence wasn't enough to hold her. They think her confession was coerced and her lawyer jumped all over the fact one of my Sgt's beat the shit out of her. I had to suspend her."
"She didn't learn to shut up, did she. I'm guessing your Sgt has kids."
"Yea. I can't blame her but can't condone it either. Do you want to know her last location?"
"No, then you can tell the truth about not telling anyone. Let me know if you need my help with him."
