With a Pull of a Trigger

Chapter Two

Reini glanced at Eena before going to the nearest bookshelf and glancing at the man’s collection of books. “This guy’s book collection is amazing,” muttered Reini as she looked at the thick books, almost all of which were hardbound.

“Yes well,” said Eena, looking at the lock before her, “the rich and the powerful are known to be quite stereotypical. They are misled—deluded—to think that just because they’re rich, they ought to look smart too. And so they buy books they won’t even read, forever sitting in their expensive bookshelves, catching dust and never the buyer’s interest.”

Reini took a thick book and held it in her hands, staring at the cover. She opened it after a few seconds and shook her head. “I don’t think this guy’s one of those people. The book’s old, well used, and well cared for.”

“What’s the book?” asked Eena curiously.

Reini closed the book and looked at the book’s spine. “Wow,” she breathed out. “War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.”

Eena whistled in awe.

“It’s unabridged. And it’s a first edition. And it’s in its original text,” said Reini after opening the book again.

“Russian?” asked Eena as she finally inserted her first tool in the lock.

“And French,” replied Reini.

Eena twisted her tool, a small metal rod. “This guy’s rich, powerful, and intelligent. How is this guy even single?”

“I don’t know,” said Reini, wistful as she returned the book to its former place. “Being alone brought him to the company of books, I guess.”

“Perhaps,” agreed Eena as she worked on the lock, “or maybe he’s just waiting for someone.”

Reini took a deep breath and nodded curtly. “Perhaps.”

“It’s open,” said Eena, standing up and bending a bit to stretch her back. She put her tools on the table and opened the drawer.

Reini walked to where Eena was and looked at the contents of the drawer. She wrinkled her nose at the assortment of papers inside. “Neat outside, scattered inside,” she remarked.

“Believe it or not, this is what my desk drawer looks like back at the headquarters,” said Eena, smiling at Reini.

Reini groaned. “I told you to clean your desk! I don’t want to have to bring bug spray to work every day like two years ago! We’re still near each other, you know? Our desks are about twenty-five inches apart from each other. You have got to clean your workspace.”

“Don’t worry; the janitorial service will clean it.”

“Not your desk, they won’t!” exclaimed Reini. “When we get back to the headquarters, I better not have to bring a bug spray or I will convince Amrie to bring you on a mission that involves sewers.”

“Fine, fine,” sighed Eena as she took her purse and grabbed a pocketbook from her purse, opening it to reveal a hole with two pairs of latex gloves where the middle part of the pages used to be.

“Impressive,” said Reini, her eyebrow raised.

“I aim to please,” said Eena who quickly gave Reini her latex gloves.

Reini put her gloves on and got her purse, quickly taking her mask and lacing it behind her head. Eena quickly did the same, and Reini looked at the drawer, pressing the pearl at the upper right edge of the mask. After a few minutes, she and Eena nodded to each other and then started to get some envelopes in order to know the man more.