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Author's Note: Hi there :) In case anyone didn't read it, I posted a blog a little while ago stating that I'd run out of ideas for Target Practice and that I was stopping the story for the time being. Well that didn't work out so well. Two days after I wrote the blog, I got struck with a brilliant idea. So I sat down and wrote 3 pages, which in turn became a whole chapter shortly there after. I now have enough ideas to finish off the whole story :) I'd like to thank djkauf for the editing, DC Comics for the characters and a brilliant game called Arkham City for getting me out of my rut.

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Chapter Eleven:

If anyone ever knocks a bubble bath in my presence, so help me God I’ll put an arrow in their foot. It’s funny how a simple change in perspective truly changes things. Before you wouldn’t have caught me dead in a bathtub, soaking in a mountain of bubbles. Now it was the greatest thing in the world. I used to be a shower kind of guy. I’d hop in, soap myself up, wash my hair and get out. The whole thing might take less than twenty minutes. But there was something about sitting in a nice hot bath, closing your eyes and just relaxing. It also helps the healing process after nearly two grueling hours of having your ass kicked.
It wasn’t just two hours, though. It was two hours every day for the last four weeks. I had pain in muscles that I didn’t even know I had. Ted was a vicious slave driver too, but it was so worth it. The day after my unfortunate meeting with Mr. Steele, I met with my tutor early in the morning and then went straight to Ted’s. He wanted to start simple so he decided on running. He said he wanted to see how much my body could take. Thanks to my most recent injury, it wasn’t much. He had me run around the block a few times in the hopes that I might surprise him. I didn’t and he berated me for it. But at the same time, he understood that I was still on the mend. After that, we spent most of our time in the gym. From that point on it was all about building muscle. He put me on a strict diet and made sure that I continued with my workout routines at home.

Every day for the next week, it was like this.

From the running and exercise, came the real work. That’s when he started me on some combat training. If I wanted to be successful, I had to learn how to truly defend myself. It wasn’t just about the bow; I needed to learn how to act without it. There might come a time when I was all out of arrows and had to rely on other skills. He started me on a blend of ninjutsu and muay tai. Ted also thought it might be a good idea that I take up other weapons too, throwing stars and knives. He ran me through hell and back with all the training. But it was worth it. I’m not sure if it was because of my newly discovered metagene or if I was a natural but I took to it all rather quickly. Especially the other weapons, throwing knives was just like shooting arrows and I had the same accuracy too.

At the beginning of this week, he dropped the bomb on me. Apparently, he wanted to see how good I might actually be. That’s when the two of us talked a little bit more about what I might be up against.

“The League has been around for years,” he said as I beat my fists on a punching bag. “No one’s really sure how long but they say the man in charge is practically immortal.”

“Immortal?” I asked, my face turning a nice shade of green.

He only laughed at that. “Not really immortal. I think it’s more like a father to son thing. I’m not sure who the first one was or what he might have been called but the only name he answers to now is Ra-s Al-Ghul.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “You’re serious?”

He shrugged. “I’m not making this shit up kid.”

He spent a while giving me a history lesson on these bastards. They were a rather influential bunch, taking credit for a great deal of things. Supposedly, Booth worked for them, as did the real assassin of JFK. There were also several other high profile assassinations that could be linked to the League in some fashion or another. But they also had standards, too. At least the modern version did. It’s believed the current Al Ghul took over in the seventies and that the League’s activities since his tenure have turned toward more political assassinations and less jobs-for-hire. Ted was convinced that al-Ghul himself wasn’t responsible for the death of my grandfather but he might have been involved. Like he mentioned before, The Seven weren’t exactly League favorites anymore. In fact, according to his source, all of them were running scared. Thanks in no part to Merlyn actually. Word on the street was, al-Ghul didn’t want anyone touching the Queen hit.

I shifted in the tub as my thoughts turned to the present. We only talked one more day about the League then he refused to answer any more questions about it. Ted was a tough guy but I could tell the League made him nervous. It made me think. I couldn’t help but wonder why someone like al-Ghu-l would keep his people from going after the old man. It didn’t make sense, but then again a lot of it didn’t make any sense. If the Seven were running scared from the League then why risk coming after me. If I was running from someone, I’d make sure not to make the news. So far, they weren’t really good at staying under the radar. The attempt at the school made headlines thanks to Carrie Hartnell, my new best friend---i.e. my worst enemy.

The car bombing and my subsequent disappearance made an even bigger splash. Here I thought Lois Lane was a thorn in my side but Hartnell made her look like a kitten. The woman just didn’t know when to stop actually. Apparently, while I was recuperating from my beating, Hartnell started making up her own headlines. I think it irked her that I refused the interview from a few weeks ago. The woman was a menace. The phone calls from her didn’t seem to want to stop either. Since surviving two attempts on my life, I’d become something of a celebrity. Before I was mad at all, the negative press but now I was getting kind of sick and tired of all the good press.

There were twice as many reporters camped out in front of the Tower now. There were so many that I had to send more than one decoy car out to fool them. The saddest part of it all was my nerves. I could get up; go through my daily routine, hell, even go to Ted’s without a problem. But coming home, going into that garage and looking at the empty spot where the Mercedes should be----that really got to me. Every time I close my eyes, I can’t help but see Luke’s smiling face. It hurts knowing that I got him killed.

A gentle rapping on the bathroom door broke my thoughts. I sighed heavily, slipping further into the bubbles. I even went so far as ducking my head into the water, hoping that the knocking would go away. After a few moments, I resurfaced only to hear the knocking still. I groaned heavily, it was probably one of the new girls. There was only one good thing about all this good press; it was causing the Board to back off immensely. They pulled almost all their new additions to my staff and actually allowed me to have some control over my money. John was still working on his side of things but it was looking good. We did manage to stop the buyout, which was great. I don’t think Mr. Steele was too happy but I didn’t really give a damn.

I was tired of being pushed around in my own place.

The new staff was Jade’s idea. She thought it might look a little better if we hired some women as well, something my grandfather and the male dominated Board didn’t think was necessary. So after removing the Board goons, Jade oversaw the hiring of six new and highly qualified women to work behind the scenes. I’m not really sure what they did only that they seemed to find me whenever I wanted to be alone and didn’t take no for an answer. So I was pretty certain that whoever was knocking on the door was one of my new interlopers, out to ruin my quiet time once again.

“Miss Queen” said a meek voice from the other side of the door, the knocking finally stopped. “I’m sorry to interrupt ma’am, but Miss Dearden is on the line. She says it’s important.”

That was the best news I’d heard in days.

I stayed in the bath for another minute before climbing out and grabbing my robe. I paused before pulling it on, taking a look at myself in the large mirror I had installed on the bathroom wall. To look at me one would never be able to tell I’d ever been anything other than Olivia Queen. All that was Jonas Oliver was completely gone now, the last bit having disappeared sometime last week. I was so caught up in the rigorous training I didn’t even notice. I felt a small pang of sadness over it all but at the same time I couldn’t be happier. I felt whole now, complete in my new life. Sure there would be some bumps along the way but those I could handle.

The old man handled the rest. My identity was taken care of months ago with all the bells and whistles too. The only thing left was my driving. In-between working with Ted and my tutor---with what little free time I had left---I took lessons. I did it discreetly, under an alias. Dad had been teaching me a little bit here and there so I wasn’t a complete amateur. So after only a few weeks of lessons, I was able to take and pass my test. My official license doesn’t arrive until next week some time but I now could drive any car I wanted. I celebrated the other day by taking the Viper out for a spin. It was everything I expected it to be. After driving it, I broke down into sobs, missing Luke more than I ever thought.

I smiled at the girl in the mirror as I pulled on my robe and left the bathroom. The meek messenger was gone but someone took the liberty of laying out some clothes on my bed. I groaned. I’d already made it pretty clear that I didn’t want people waiting on me like this. But no matter how hard I complained my pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears. Though Mr. Steele and the Board were still in charge of the day-to-day operations of the company, thanks to John, things were starting to go my way. The Board wasn’t giving me any more problems. There was still the matter of who might be feeding information to my enemies but John was confident that we’d get to the bottom of it soon. He was still in the process of running his background checks on everyone. I was pretty confident in his abilities.

I got dressed quickly, glad someone knew of my jeans and t-shirt motif. At least for around the Tower anyway. When I was trying to be more official, I glammed it up a bit. But to take a phone call and maybe do some light training in the gym, this outfit was good enough. Not that I would train in jeans of course but I usually keep spare workout clothes down there.

I pulled out my cell as I walked back into the living area. Mia and I got smart, especially after my repeated, untraceable phone calls. Now my cell---my brand new one---was totally encrypted. I’m not sure how she pulled it off but it would take a super genius to get through to me now. Thankfully, Mia was the only genius I knew. I typed in the scrambler number before calling her. It rang twice, letting her know it was me.

“You’re a hard person to get a hold of lately, Miss Queen,” she said with a mocking tone.

I laughed. “Been kind of busy, you know learning to save the city and all that.”

It took me two days to get Mia to talk to me after I told her and Roy I didn’t want them to have anything more to do with the hero business. She didn’t take the news very well. But all that changed when my stalker sent me another text message. Mia used all her know how but somehow the person once again eluded us. Whoever he or she was they were skilled enough to bounce their cell signal all around the city, leading us on another wild goose chase. It was discouraging but Mia was confident that she’d catch them eventually. In the meantime, the two of us started to refurbish the Green Arrow side of things. Mia expanded the Hub into a network of communication satellites all around the globe; the program was buried discreetly in a Queen R&D program. We also set up multiple servers throughout the city, each wired to devices that would erase all of the content on them in case compromised.

As far as the physical aspect of the Green Arrow went, we were still a work in progress. My new suit was still not ready. It was the second week in March now and I was starting to get antsy. Ted’s training consumed most of February and I was starting to grow more confident in my abilities. I still couldn’t beat him in a one on one fight but I was “progressing nicely” as he told me after each match. Green Arrow was also on her way to getting some kick as transport. The Viper was good in a pinch but I really needed something more mobile. So we went as far as setting up little stations throughout the city, complete with spare arrows, a change of clothes and most importantly my new rides: Hayabusha GSX-1300R-K8 motorcycles, green of course. We had six stations so far, each one strategically placed and discreetly disguised.

“So what’s so important that you had to interrupt my bath?”

“Have you been watching the news in the last few days?”

I shook my head even though I knew she couldn’t see it. “I’m lucky if have enough time to even turn the TV on.”

By this point, I was walking out of the penthouse and toward the elevator. I hated having a call like this in such a public place but I had some stuff to do in the office.

As the elevator door closed, Mia sighed. “Your friend from the school slipped police custody.”

I cursed. Not only was she a whip wielding deadly assassin, she also seemed to know that Olivia Queen was the Green Arrow. Definitely not a good person to have running around. I had Mia keep an eye on her all the same. After Roy and I kicked her ass at the school, the police found her right where we left her. They took her into custody but she never ratted me out. In fact, she didn’t say a thing. They ran her through the databases but no one had anything on her. Hell the only concrete thing the SFPD could pin on her was the death of the janitor. The last I knew they were checking international channels to see if anyone knew anything. I thought about consulting with my DEO “friend” but I didn’t want to get them involved in my business.

“What happened?” I asked. “I mean I thought they had her in a maximum security prison?”

I heard Mia typing rapidly. “According to the reports and the video from the prison, she feigned an illness and was sent to the prison’s medical facility. She somehow smuggled a makeshift knife in with her. She slit a nurse’s throat and took her place before they knew what happened. Then she set a small fire, triggering the alarms and causing a bit of panic. In all the craziness she walked right out the front door.”

I ran my fingers through my hair as the elevator stopped and the door opened. I started toward my office when I asked. “Tell me you’ve got her?”

Mia chuckled. “Please this is me you’re talking to.” There were more keys tapping away. “Thanks to my brand new super network and a little help from our Oracle friend, I was able to pinpoint little Miss Assassin’s location to a small hotel on the east side.”

I smiled. “You’re the best, Speedy.”

“Damn straight I am.”

We both laughed. I was still laughing when I walked into the little lobby of my office. Jade was sitting at her desk, looking very sharp today in a white blouse and green skirt. She was also blushing something fierce. At first, I thought she might be on the phone with a boyfriend, something she’s been known to do from time to time. Men fell all over themselves to chat her up, Roy was one of them. The first time they met, my dear friend was very smitten with her. I almost made a comment as I walked through the room until I noticed she was talking to someone. That someone was sitting in the chair opposite her, a man from the back of his head. Jade was blushing and even so far as giggling. I couldn’t remember ever seeing her so flustered by someone before.

“Ollie, you still there?”

At that particular moment, Jade caught sight of me. She quickly regained her composure. “Miss Queen” she said, taking on a more business-like tone.

That meant our guest was important.

The man turned in his seat, shifting so I could see his face. My heart skipped a beat, no wonder Jade was blushing, he was gorgeous. He had jet black hair, sparkling blue eyes that you could get lost in and this chin, I can’t even describe it. He had an award winning smile too, one that he exhibited rather nicely as he stood to greet me. Dressed in a crisp, expensive suit I knew this man was very important. There was also something rather familiar about him though I couldn’t place it.

“Olivia” he said, it was nice to hear my name come from those lips. “It’s so nice to finally meet you in person.”

Shit, that voice. I knew that voice.

I gulped and sighed at the same time. My heart skipped a beat again. “Speedy” I said softly into the phone. “I’m going to have to call you back.”

I clicked off before she could say anything.

The man walked through the room, still smiling. “I’m sorry to drop in so unannounced like this but I finally had some free time so I thought I’d pay you a visit, I hope you don’t mind?”

I numbly shook my head. Bruce Wayne, the Bruce Wayne was standing in front of me.

I smiled, finally finding my voice. “I don’t mind at all Mr. Wayne.”

I know I shouldn’t be enjoying whipping through the back streets on this testosterone rocket but I couldn’t help myself. I might be all girl now but the little boy in me still loved the idea of tearing it up on this super bike. I would like to say I picked it because of its speed and its maneuverability but I’d be lying. I liked those things about it a lot but in the end the girl in me won out and I picked it because it looked cool. I know that’s a horrible thing to say but it’s the truth. The fact that it was fast and powerful was just an added bonus. It also helped that Ted definitely didn’t approve of me driving around the city on it. Ever since he took me under his wing he’d become like an overprotective teddy bear. It would have been almost cute if he didn’t feel a lot like an scared father looking out for his little girl.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the analogy. Back when I first met him, if I’d known then what I know now, I would laugh until I couldn’t breathe. I can honestly admit that a small part of me had been afraid of him when I walked into that Gym with Roy and saw Ted barking out orders to people. It scared me even more when he accused me of being a girl and practically told me to get the hell out of there. It’s amazing what a couple of months, a spontaneous gender change and lot of long hours training together can do to a relationship. I know found it hard to imagine my life without Ted. Even though it had been only four weeks since we started, it felt like a lifetime. Ted Grant had an overwhelming effect on people; some might say that’s a bad thing but not me. When we actually worked in the Gym around other people, he pretended to be tough but as soon as he went overboard and saw me hurting, he let some of his soft side through. He tried to hide it of course but I caught some of the other guys smirking and even laughing in the corner. When they thought I couldn’t hear I heard them mumble about “beauty that tamed the beast.”

“What’s he like?” asked a voice in my ear, Mia’s voice.

“Who Ted? You’ve met Ted.”

“A yeah, I was talking about Bruce Wayne.”

I laughed to myself. I’d been so caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t realize I was thinking them and not speaking them. Of course, she wanted to know about Bruce, everyone wanted to know about him. I laughed again. “Bruce is a normal guy.”

This time Mia laughed. “Roy is a normal guy, Bruce is a billionaire.”

“I’m a billionaire too, am I abnormal?”

I could almost see Speedy rolling her eyes. “This coming from the girl who dressed up in a green costume and goes prancing from rooftop to rooftop.” She laughed. “Yeah, nothing abnormal about that.”

She had a point. I definitely couldn’t see Bruce Wayne dressing up in a costume and lurking in the shadows somewhere.

“So normalcy aside…”

I groaned. “Now’s not really the time to talk about it.”

In truth there wasn’t really much to tell. Bruce was there for exactly the reason he said he was there for. After meeting in the lobby, we went into my office and talked. He seemed particularly interested in my well being, going so far as to ask how I’d been handling myself since the old man’s passing. We talked a bit about my grandfather then changed subjects to the Board. He told me how Mr. Walters had been keeping him apprised of the situation and that that he was doing everything in his power to keep the other Board members from trying to toss me out on my rear. Then he dropped the mother of all bombs on me. HE told me that over the last year or so, he and my grandfather had been secretly buying up company stock. The old man knew that his time was short and that the Board was going to try to pull something crooked. The original plan was to pass all the stock onto my mother---his legitimate heir---but with her untimely death, everything fell to me.

His news floored me. It floored me even more so when I found out that with the stock I inherited plus the ones that the two of them were secreting away, I now owned well over sixty five percent of the company. So that meant even if they wanted to, there was nothing the Board could do to challenge my power. The company was fully mine. Mr. Wayne said we’d make it official next week but that the shares, which were once were his, now were mine. So in essence, the whole of Queen Industries was now mine without a fight. I had full power to do whatever I wanted, including firing every single Board member if I wanted. I knew the first order of business was to buy out Ross; I definitely didn’t need a pompous jackass around. I also intended to getting rid of Walter Steele.

“Earth to Ollie” Mia’s voice rang through my helmet.

“Sorry, Speedy, got a little distracted.”

“Not the wisest thing to do considering where you’re going.”

Ok, head into the game now. “How much further.”

“Should be coming up on your right.”

The motorcycle had built in GPS. True to her word, the hotel was on the right. I pulled into the alley alongside the building, making sure no one saw my approach. I made sure to leave the Tower at night, dressed in my running clothes. It was nothing new that I was doing a fair share of jogging now. It was all part of my getting into shape cover I’d been using. And just like always, Spencer and Locke met me in the lobby dressed to run as well. I ran with them for a few blocks, keeping pace. I usually ran about three miles a night now; it helped me unwind before heading to bed. As far as they were concerned tonight was to be no different. Except unlike the previous nights, I gave them the slip about a mile into the run. It wasn’t too hard to lose them. I made a turn around a corner, well ahead of them and then slipped into one of secret stations.

I watched them from the safety of my hiding place. They did show a bit of panic and searched the area for a good ten minutes before deciding to head to the authorities. Later when I was done, I planned to tell them I thought someone was following me and took off at a dead heat. I would then double back a few hours later, telling how I was so convinced I was being followed that I hid until I was sure the danger was past. It was a believable enough story if you didn’t try to analyze it too much. I just hoped that I’d be done with whatever it is I had to do here in less than a couple of hours.

I moved the bike to the back of the alley, making sure it was well hidden. Then I took a look around, trying to see if I could find easy access.

“Tell me about this place,” I said as soon as I took off my helmet, switching our comm. over to my earpiece.

“Most of this part of the city was abandoned. It’s been scheduled for demolition for a few years now but due to the recent economy, no one has done anything about it. Now it’s mainly home for squatters, people a lot like our assassin in many respects. There should be a fire escape nearby with third floor access.”

I looked around and nodded. “Got it. Let me gear up and call you back.”

I walked to the back of the bike where I had a custom fitted storage compartment. Each of the six bikes had them, big enough to fit one takedown recurve bow and a quiver of six arrows. I opened the compartment and took out my tools, reassembling the bow like a pro. I attached the quiver to my left thigh then reached back into the compartment for my newest tool: a small collapsible crossbow. I strapped it along with its holster onto my other thigh. The only thing I was really missing was the proper outfit. Tonight I was roughing it with a pair of black work out pants, combat boots and a green hoodie. It was definitely not something I’d wear into a situation like this but I was hoping that there wasn’t going to be any trouble. If the assassin wanted to put up a fight, I was more than prepared to put an arrow in her shoulder or if need be, in her chest.

This woman was a killer; I didn’t have the luxury of playing good guy tonight.

As soon as I was all equipped, I took to the fire escape, scaling it with ease. It amazed me how quickly I was able to climb it, thanks in no part to my rigorous exercise and training. Once in position, I decided to go with the crossbow. I loaded a bolt and slowly opened the window, slipping silently inside. The hall was dark and smelled of mildew. Taking a step, I was greeted with a creak of old wood. I took another cautious step, putting a bit of pressure down just to make sure it would hold my weight. Satisfied that I wouldn’t fall through, I made my way stealthily down the corridor. Now comes the tedious part. Mia knew she was in the hotel somewhere but she wasn’t sure where. That meant searching every room until I found her.

The search was long. I walked up and down the hall, slowly looking into every room with the crossbow first. After searching the whole of the third floor, I switched to my takedown bow and went up a creaky flight of stairs. There were only four floors to this place and if I was her, I’d probably go to the highest floor just to be on the safe side. I opened each door with the bow pointed ahead of me, an arrow nocked and ready to fly if need be. I debated bringing some of my “trick” arrows with me but in the end decided the old fashioned kind were just as good.

The search of this floor was just as tedious as the last. When I got to the final room, I made a silent prayer and pushed the door open with my foot. I went slowly, making sure to lead with the bow. The first thing I saw was a wooden crate near the window, a little camp stove sitting on it. I looked from it to the four corners of the room, waiting for an ambush. Two of the corners had nothing but the third had a sleeping bag and pack, some clothes scattered about it. I took a few cautious steps into the room before stopping to look at the last corner. What I saw surprised the hell out of me. It was my assassin, whip in hand, lying limp against the wall. By the angle of her head and the way her body was positioned, it was clear she was dead.

I kept my eye on her as I walked over to the camp stove. There appeared to be some kind of stew in it. I dipped my fingers into it, feeling how cold it was. When I pulled my fingers out, I sniffed them, recoiling at the smell. The stew had been sitting there long enough to a get a film of mold on it. I slowly walked away from it and turned to the body. Only half of it was visible, set aglow by the moonlight shiny through the window. I took a chance and pulled a glow stick from my hoodie pooch, cracking it quickly. I used it to search the rest of the body. Rigor had already set in, her skin was grayish, her eyes clear and milky, staring lifelessly up at me. Her lips were twisted into an agonized expression, the remnants of what looked like saliva around the corners of her mouth. I bent close but not too close because it was starting to smell.

“Speedy, we have a problem” I said, I didn’t get an immediate response. “Speedy, you there?”

“I’m jamming the signal,” said a raspy, dark voice from the dark.

It was to my left. I snapped around, raising the bow to fire. As soon as I got it up to take my shot, I felt a strong hand grab the shaft of my arrow, holding it in place. I could have fired but it would have been useless. Instead, I dropped my shoulders, showing my guest that he had me. It seemed to work but he took my arrow nonetheless.

“Carbon shaft, titanium tip” he said, his voice had a frightening edge of darkness to it.

“Stings like a bitch when it hits you too, care for a demonstration.”

“You’re not going to shoot me, Green Arrow because I’m not the enemy here.”

I scoffed. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

There was movement and then he slipped the arrow back into my quiver. “I’m here for the same reason you are, except in my case I was expecting her to be dead.”
He had me there. “I was hoping to interrogate her, see what she knew about the death of Jameson Queen.”

I’m not sure why I was telling him all of this. For all I knew, he was the one who killed her.

He seemed to read my mind too. “I didn’t kill her but I know what did” There was another flash of movement and then a black gloved hand appeared in my field of vision, the rest of him out of reach. In-between thumb and forefinger I saw what looked like a little dart.

“Poison” he said, pulling the dart away. “Very lethal from the looks of it. I’d say she was dead in less than a minute. I know only one group who would use something like this.”

“The League of Assassins” I said, answering with the obvious.

“The League doesn’t take kindly to its members going rogue and branching off on their own.”

“I took one of them out after he killed Jameson Queen.”

“So I’ve heard.”

His presence was intimidating, like he filled the whole room. I felt blood turn to ice in my veins as he spoke. Who the hell has such a presence like that? “So if you’re not with them, what’s your stake in all of this?”

“A mutual acquaintance tipped me off to the assassin’s movements. I came here in hopes of tracking them down and stopping them before they caused anymore harm.”

I raised an eyebrow. “In my city?”

I didn’t realize I was territorial until just then. But it felt good. Not that I wanted to make a habit of it, mind you, but I didn’t like the idea of another freak stalking in the dark around here.

“I’m not here to stay, just visiting as you might say”

It clicked just then. I knew exactly who this guy was. I felt like wetting myself. “You’re that nut from Chicago, aren’t you?”

He didn’t answer. “They’re not going to stop until you’re dead. A word of advice. Set a trap and draw them out, then follow them back to the hand that feeds them.”

There was more movement and the next thing I knew I saw a black shape at the window, crouched down and ready to jump. It was a man, that much I could tell. He was dressed in black from head to toe; the only thing visible was his mouth. Fear struck me as I looked at this menacing figure. I knew know why so many criminals in Chicago feared this guy, he truly was something terrifying.

“So that’s it?” I said, surprised and shocked.

He turned toward me. “I’ll be in touch, Miss Queen”

Then he turned and dropped out of the window, a flap of black billowing around him. I rushed to the window in hopes of catching where he might go. By the time I got there, he was gone. I cursed. What the hell just happened? Who the hell was that guy? Worse, how the hell did he know who I was?

There was a crackle in my ear. “Ollie, Ollie, you there?” Mia’s voice was frantic. “Please respond?”

I sighed heavily. “I’m here Speedy.”

“Thank God. I think someone was jamming me but I’m not sure how. What the hell happened?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea.”

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Thanks in advance...EOF