Grant Emerson was a shrewd man and he liked this about himself.He had also come to learn in the preceding weeks that Reynolds Sheen was a resourceful man too. Just as resourceful as he was. For days, he had planned how to take the man out quietly without drawing attention until Hamish, that impatient fool decided to rain on his parade with that damn ultimatum of his. The memory of Hamish's words were bile in his throat. 'We agreed that you would take him out, didn't we?' He reserved a special loathing for everything about the man. His tone, his manner of speech, his inflated ego, the way he looked at everyone else form the bridge of his nose as though he was somehow convinced he was a better person that all the rest of them. Grant hoped the day would come when the Johns conglomerate would lie in ruins. His job done, his final act would be to kill the man himself, just for the gratification he would get out of the act. He could almost see it.After the call, he made arrangements t

Never minding how insufferable the man was, never minding his many faults, it was very unlike Jovian's boss to arrive at a function late. Reynolds Sheen was a punctual man. Perhaps, punctual to a fault. This Jovian knew well. He knew it like he knew the back of his hand, or the back streets through the city. He was on guard duty, as usual. But this time, the job came with extra weight to it. He was guarding Mrs Kayla. She had not started showing yet, being only a few weeks pregnant, but Jovian knew what was at stake. In the months to come, when she grew heavier and less capable of carrying out certain tasks, he would have to be ever present, watching over her like a mother hen. A eagle aware its eaglets can be prey too. Like the falcon of the air, keeping watch for danger. Even though he had trained half his life to protect and serve the Johns, the mother and her urnborn child were, to him, more than he had ever had to handle regardless of how simple and containable they seemed. M

Jovian's search could barely be called a search. Not in the real sense of it.The scene of the wreckage was practically waiting for him in the middle of the highway, on the path back to the Johns' mansion. When he arrived at the scene, the police were already there, dressed from head to toe in their black uniforms, their little guns poking out of their holsters. In their matching outfits, they always looked ridiculous to Jovian. Undertrained. Undisciplined. Un-everything. All they were to do too often was how to look sharp in a uniform.Jovian got out of the car and approached the scene. From what he could see, Reynolds had given whoever came after him hell. This did not surprise him. Not even a little bit. The man had almost beat him in hand to hand combat, a thing he previously thought improbable. Call him arrogant, but he knew how proficient he was. He knew because he had spent years honing his body into the perfect weapon. But in mere seconds, Reynolds put years of training to

Of all the things he despised about the country, Riker despised the fear that people carried about, hoarding it close to their hearts. Cowardice was a stain, Riker had always believed. It was a thing that ought to be washed clean out of the body and the soul. Of all the things the people feared, they feared the police the most. Perhaps, he did not share the same fear and trembling that they felt because he had grown up affluent. His father had the police in the palm of his hand. How else would he have evaded that hit and run charge in high school? How else would he have buried that case in college when Reynolds Sheen came after him. He had tried to understand their fear so many times; he still could not. While other people caught sight of the police and froze like animals caught in headlights, for Riker, they were but a minor disturbance. He cared little for them most days, less other days. This was why he was filled with unbowed rage when the man said no to him."I don't want an

The courtyard of his grandparents home was a square of land which was carefully tended to. There were several large trees scattered around the property with shrubs and flowers of varying kinds growing freely. The air smelled clean but it also carried the faint scent of smoke from the chimneys of many nearby houses. The light from the sky was dimly illuminated by small lanterns that hung in various positions on the branches of all of the trees in the yard. It cast a soft glow over everything as though it was a warm summer night despite there being plenty of shade for anyone who wished. There was no breeze that evening. In fact the air was hot the point of discomfort. Heat was already starting to creep around, but this didn’t bother Reynolds at all.Instead he continued to strode on instinct to the middle of the land, and when he got go his preferred spot, he began to dig. He was careful not to hurt any of the empherals on the land. Not trusting his body to hold his weight, Reynolds