Prologue
The bullet bit in her flesh and sent her careening to the ground behind the car. She bit her lip hard not to scream and let the other know that she had been disabled. She took a brief look at the wound. Not life threatening. She would know about that… For the last 10 years she had been trained to disable, debilitate and kill people with the cold and precise professionalism of a surgeon operating on someone’s brain. And now it was time for the showdown.
The events of a few days ago played in the back of her mind: her mother’s last breath, the sense of peace and freedom on the poor woman’s face and her own relief knowing that the person she loved most would never know what she was: a cold, ruthless contract killer. But now it was over. No more. They had lost the only chance to reach and hurt her through another person. Now there was no one else: with her mother lying in her grave, her last tie with humanity was gone.
She started moving carefully in her hands and knees, finding another vantage point. Her opponent made a small miscalculation. Before making sure the coast was clear, he lifted his head from behind the car that served him as cover. She saw a short mop top of curly blonde hair and a small patch of white forehead. She didn’t need more. She stood up on her knees with the speed of lightning and shot once.
A muffled thud was heard. Underneath a mop top of curly hair, straight in the middle of a low forehead was a round and precise gunshot hole. She briefly put her fingers to his neck and ascertained death then grabbed the man’s gun and car keys. Then she sat at the steering wheel using the first aid kit to clean and bandage the wound in her leg, stopping the bleeding. She was free now. She was free to do what she had to do – what she swore she’d do. She took the large manila envelope from the dashboard and looked through it. She shook her head and took a deep breath.
It was going to be hard…harder than anything that she had done before. How the hell do you get close to the most popular and guarded man on Earth and convince him that someone wants him dead and you are his only chance to stay alive?
“Alright….20 minutes break” said Michael through heavy breaths, reaching for a towel. He dried his face and neck and went out of the dancing studio. Today he decided to call the dancers to Neverland and practice there. He had just finished arranging the entire property and moved in and he was so happy to show his friends around. He started walking aimlessly along the alleys, taking in everything and smiling big: this is my home….my refuge. This is Neverland. And I am Peter Pan. Suddenly, he noticed a commotion at the main gates. Bill, his chief of security, was talking to a young woman through the gate. Oh no, these fan girls! Have they already found out where he lived???
The girl was making a lot of gestures, and pushing a large manila envelope through the bars. Bill took it and looked inside it, taking a few papers and scanning through them. Even from the distance, Michael saw how Bill’s face simply fell. He sprinted to the gate, intrigued beyond anything.
“Michael! Come here!”
Bill’s voice was shaking a little. He gave the girl that envelope back and took Michael aside. He put his hands on Michael’s shoulders and looked at him long and hard.
“Michael, do you trust me?”
“With my life. You are like a mentor, a father figure to me. What is it? Who’s that girl?”
“Michael, if you do trust me, then listen to me: talk to this girl. Let her speak and listen to her without prejudice. Alright?”
Michael frowned. Bill was so earnest and…and a little frightened, too.
“Alright, let her through the gate. I’ll talk to her.”
“Without prejudice, Michael. Remember that.”
Michael nods yes and the girl passes through the gate. She is tall and slim and has long red hair pulled back in a tight pony tail and green eyes.
“I understand you want to tell me something important. My name is Michael.”
“My name is not important, Michael. I came here to offer my free services as your bodyguard.”
Michael’s jaw dropped. OK, no prejudice, but that was too much.
“Sorry?”
“Call me Shadow. I want to protect you. I don’t want money. I don’t want anything from you.”
“My dear girl, I have an entire team of bodyguards already. I am touched by your offer, but…”
“None of these guys are good enough to protect you from what’s coming for you. There is a dangerous gang – The Black Serpent – who want you dead. These guys are pros. Forget about the Chinese Triads, forget about Cosa Nostra….these guys do not have political views, religious views or racial discriminations. They will kill whoever they are paid to. And there’s a contract on you.”
Michael’s jaw dropped progressively. He couldn’t believe his ears. Bill must have got out of shape, to put him face to face with this lunatic girl.
“Look in the envelope, Michael” continued the girl. “It contains the exact dates of all your performances in your up coming Bad Tour. It contains your route from each airport to each hotel where you will be staying. It also contains a scheme of each hotel with the position of your suite clearly marked out.”
Michael started sifting through the papers in the envelope and his knees nearly gave out: nobody but a handful of people knew these details!!!!
“How did you get this? How do you know all these?”
She calmly rolled up her left sleeve. There was a tattoo representing a black snake coiled around a pistol on her forearm.
“Because until yesterday, I was a Black Serpent, too.”
