Les Femmes Fatales [2]

▪ Seven

Her heels clicked against the pavement as she walked with cat-like steps, quick and cautious. Her pearly white suit stuck out in the darkness of the night and she raised a hand to her hair that was in a ponytail and let it loose. Her dark straight hair instantly fell to her back and she shook her head, her hair, like a horse's mane moving to one side and then the other. She ran a hand through it, styling it to the side before stopping in front of a black car, taking out her keys from her small white bag and unlocking it. She got inside, closed the door and fastened her seatbelt as she turned on the engine, catching her dark eyes through the rear view mirror as she checked to make sure she could drive off. As she realised she could leave, she instantly did.

She had barely passed the first cross on her way to her home when her phone started ringing. She glanced at the name on the screen, and with a sigh, she picked it up. "I'm on the street, what do you want?"

"You didn't reply when we sent messages in the groupchat, are you going to patrol tonight?"

"Tomorrow, Branka," she mumbled as she checked left and right and turned down a more narrow street. "I'm going to go home, take a bath and relax. And in case you'd like to know, I have a business trip in two days. So, do keep in mind that I won't be active for about three days."

"Yeah, we know you're busy, Qara, don't worry about it," she replied as Qara heard someone laughing from the phone.

"Was that Aili?"

"I'm at her apartment, yes, Amadi is also near. Anyway, you shouldn't talk while driving, see you tomorrow."

Before Qara could reply, she had ended the call, bringing her to scoff as she placed the phone back in its place. She shouldn't be on the phone while driving just after she had answered all of her questions first, sure.

It had indeed been a tiring day for her as there were plenty of preparations that had to be made for her business trip in two days. She would be accompanying the Secretary of Defence, a woman she respected greatly and she had grown closer to during the time she had been abducted by the Liberation Team, about two years ago. Mrs White had a meeting in Russia and she had asked Qara specifically to accompany her as one of the languages she knew was Russian. She had instantly agreed, and so, in a few days, she would be flying to Moscow.

Mrs White hadn't been such a prestigious individual when she had been held hostage by the Liberation Team. She and her husband were wealthy, though, and as far as she knew, the original target had been her husband, who had openly challenged the Liberation Team and had judged their work and their morals. She dinstictly remembered Mr White's protests when the members of the Liberation Team had been caught and Flux had been decided to be left free after his involvement in helping the Defenders win, as they had claimed.

Qara herself hadn't been all that pleased with the announcement that one member of the team that had kept her hostage for about a month would be let free just like that, but then at some point she joined the Defenders herself. With her recruitment, she had come to know and trust the other members of the team and even if she didn't understand their reason - not that anyone had tried to enlighten her on the matter - she respected the decision to let him roam the streets freely. Besides, in these last two years, there had been no mention of him. Perhaps he had indeed changed his ways and there'd been a change of heart.

The streets were empty as she headed back home and parked in her parking lot just beside her home. She stepped out and locked the car and she was about to head home when she thought she heard a whimper from somewhere near. She froze as she listened carefully, arm raised and her keys at hand.