Chapter 2 - Strange encounter

“Evening, gentlemen. The clubs are a little lower on that street. I’m sure they’ll notice all their bouncers took their breaks at the same time.” I snickered.

I had said this as a joke, but they looked like bouncers in front of high-end bars and clubs. For some funny reason, the song “I wear my sunglasses at night” by Corey Hart popped into my mind and made me chuckle.

I turned to open my car door, but the man behind me pressed his hand on my car’s side, preventing me from following through with my action. This irritated me.

“We’re here for Umbridge.” The man’s voice was calm but menacing.

I froze. The bouncer-type men could be competition. I mean, Mike was worth a substantial amount. I got him first, so I was not inclined to give him to them.

I could see Mike’s once beautiful face through the window. His hair was a mess from my tackle, and he still had gravel stuck on the blood-crusted scratches on his cheek. What surprised me the most were his eyes. They were wide with fear, almost pleading with me not to hand him over.

“Sorry, I caught him first. He’ll be in jail in the north part of the city; if you want him, you can pay his bail. Until then, he’s mine,” I hissed that last part, earning myself an angry face from the big man before me.

I swiped the tall guy’s hand away from my Beetle and opened the door. I sensed he was about to place his huge fingers over my shoulder, so I grabbed his forearm and sidestepped, ducking under his arm, bringing it toward his back. I hit my knee just below his thigh, and the big, muscular, tall guy was now taking a knee.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to take a woman by surprise?” I said to him close to his ear. “I’ve already had a bad day chasing this guy. I don’t want you to make it worse.”

Even though I had brought him down, he was still almost my height. I shot a glance at the others, who just stood there, completely frozen. I patted the man’s back and let go of him just as I entered my car. Once I was safely inside, I started the engine and shifted the stick on the first gear, avoiding the SUV in front of me. I swerved back on the road and did my best not to look in the rearview mirror. I didn’t want to see if they were following me.

“Were those your friends?” I said to Mike, who looked like he had a heart attack in the backseat.

I shifted once more, then stepped on the accelerator and zoomed through the streets, heading straight for the police precinct.

“H-how did you do that? One minute he was up, and the next, he was down. I barely saw you move!”

“Oh, thanks! I train a lot.”

I trained a reasonable amount, which helped me build muscle and strength to deal with guys like those. I had a natural predisposition for this type of thing. I had always been faster and stronger than most. It was just something I was born with.

“Well, training or not, you just took down one of their vampire security,” Mike called from the backseat.

“Again, with that absurd conspiracy. Vampires don’t exist, Mike. We’re not living in a fairytale. This is real life, and you have to own up to your mistakes. Now, shut the fuck up so I can think.”

Once I returned to the office, I’d have to ask Moe if the contract was open. Moe was my bail bondsman. He was the one who hired me for this job. I’ve worked with him on many contracts, so I doubted he would have given me an open bond without telling me first.

The arrival of the two SUVs and the intimidating men who came out of them puzzled me. I hated going in blind. Moe would have a lot of explaining to do.

I parked my car in the back of the police precinct and coaxed Mike out of my car. When he didn’t budge, I pulled him out by his hair and pushed him in front of me, guiding him toward the back door.

I buzzed the intercom and waited for security to answer.

“Yes?” Asked an almost robotic-sounding voice.

“It’s Max. I’ve got a “skip,” one Michael Umbridge for processing.”

“Someone will be down shortly.”

We waited until two police officers opened the door. One took Mike, who shot me one last pleading look, and the other took the papers from my hand. The police officer curled up his lips and blew a whistle.

“That’s the fourth one this week. Damn, Max, don’t you ever do anything else?”

“Come on, Dan, you know I got to make a living. Besides, this is way more fun than dating.”

Dan regarded me with a look that begged to differ. I simply shrugged my shoulders and pursed my lips. He returned inside to get the paperwork signed, and when all was in order, he gave it back and handed over my cuffs with a wink.

“If you’d let me take you out, I’m sure I’d be able to show you what you were missing out on,” Dan said in a husky voice.

I had lost count on the number of times this guy had made the same proposition. It’s not that I wasn’t interested… well, sort of, but it would just complicate my work. Macho guys like Dan would hardly encourage me to keep my job, stating that it wasn’t safe, nor was it ladylike. He would never allow a woman to be as kick-ass as I was. It would hurt his pride. Besides, I thought I had the upper hand being a female bounty hunter. I mean, who would suspect a small woman like me of being able to bring felons in. I was less likely to stick out.

“I don’t date coworkers or associates. You know that. It would complicate things.”

Dan laughed at my comment and repositioned his navy blue police uniform. He made sure I could picture his perfectly toned body underneath it, then raked his fingers through his messy blond hair.

“Well, one day, you’re bound to say “yes,” so I’ll keep trying.” He said with another wink.

I started walking backward and waved goodbye, then I looked at my watch and sighed. I could probably make it back to Moe’s bail bond office before it closed if I hurried up. I turned on my heels and dashed for my Beetle.

It was Friday night, which ultimately meant party night. The city was buzzing with cars and pedestrians.

I got to Moe’s with fifteen minutes to spare before closing time, and when I got in, I sat in front of Bea’s desk and waited for her to return. Bea was Moe’s wife and his secretary. They were partners in this practice, and I really liked them both. They were good-natured people. Moe had been in the Military but had taken his retirement after being wounded. It left him with a limping leg, and a couple of shrapnel still lodged in his backside. Both Moe and Bea were probably in their mid-fifties. They didn’t have kids, so I sort of filled that gap when I started working for them a few years ago. They took care of me like I was their own.

Bea came back to the reception area and locked eyes with me.

“Max! We didn’t think you’d be back tonight. Any luck?”

I grinned as I placed the papers on her desk, and she gingerly picked them up for inspection. She then entered all the information on her computer and pushed back her rolling desk chair to go in the back to make my cheque.

“Bea, is Moe here?” I asked while listening to the sound of her opening cabinet doors in the adjourning room.

“Yeah, Hun. He’s still here.”

I heard Bea call her husband from his office, and a few minutes later, Moe appeared in the reception area and took me in. I followed his gaze and noticed that I scuffed my jeans near the knees, and my hair had fallen down from my bun. If I had intended it to look messy when I made it, now it literally was. Not to forget my busted lip.

I cursed mentally at Bea for not mentioning anything about my looks.

“Any trouble with your target tonight?” Moe asked, concerned.

“Same as usual. He ran, then made a pathetic attempt to fight back and escape. You know the drill,” I said, brushing off the dirt from my pants. “I wanted to ask you, was the Umbridge contract open? Two SUVs flanked me when I placed the guy in the back seat of my car. Men-in-black-type dudes said they wanted him and even tried to subdue me to get the guy. I took care of it, but still…” I furrowed my brows in a questioning stare, then crossed my arms over my chest.

Moe seemed puzzled.

“You know I only give you private contracts, Max. The Umbridge case wasn’t an open one. You had exclusive rights to him.”

“Then who the hell were those fuckers?” I growled as my brows knitted together.