Atonement

•4•

Tom and I drive  around town, not even going anywhere in particular. Just getting out and being in good company has completely made me feel better. Tom is a good guy, I think we're going to be good friends.
"So you're saying the job was promised to you, and you didn't even find out Haz got it until the day you met him?" He asks.
"Yeah" I nod.
"Man.. that sucks." He sighs.
"What really sucks is that the only reason is because I'm a girl. As if my gender makes me any less capable of doing the job!" I exclaim.
"Haz can be a bit.. sexist I guess. He's only ever worked with men." He informs me.
"I just can't believe my father didn't see me as anything more than an incompetent girl." I sigh.
Tom frowns at me as we pull to a stop light.
"I'm sure that's not true." He says.
I take notice of a grey Sedan driving behind me. That car has been behind me for fifteen minuets now, they have to be following us.
"What's wrong?" Tom asks.
"Get the plate number of the car behind us." I say as the light turns green.
He quickly turns on my backup camera, reading the plate and typing it into his notes as I speed off down the street. I make several sharp turns, and swerve around a few cars. There's no way they're going to catch up to me in that car. Mine is too fast.
"Who was that?" Tom asks as I turn once more, not able to see the car behind me anymore. I let a bit of pressure off the gas pedal, pulling down an alley way and waiting.
"I don't know, but we need to get home and run these numbers." I say.
After waiting a few more minuets to make sure it's clear and that we're not being followed anymore, I pull the car out of the alley and go home. We walk inside, and I pull Tom to Eli's office.
"Everything okay?" Eli asks.
"I need you to look up this license plate." I say, handing him Toms phone with the number on it.
Eli types the number into the computer, hacking into files for us and finding any information on the car. His brows scrunch together, reading something.
"What is it?" I ask.
"The car is stolen, and apparently it belonged to a priest." He says.
"Who steals a car from a priest?" Tom asks.
"No clue." I shrug. "Eli do you think you could look through some street cameras and try to get a view of the drivers face?"
"Yeah." He nods. "Let you know if I find something."
Tom and I leave him to do some searching. Why would someone follow me that long?.. unless they were following me because Tom was in the car. I hate not knowing the dirt on Harrison and Tom, they could bring us so much trouble and we wouldn't even know it.
I hear screams sound lightly through the walls, obviously someone is down in the basement getting tortured. I skip over to the door and Tom raises his brow at me.
"You're going down there?" He asks.
"It's my happy place." I say.
"You're fucking insane." He says and I laugh.
"Just a little bit. Don't wait up." I say, opening the door and going down the steps.
As I walk in, the smell of fresh blood hits my nose, and the sight of Haz ripping the flesh of the tied up man makes me feel cold. I enjoy doing the torture, but watching someone else do it almost makes me feel sick.
"Need any help?" I ask cheerily.
Haz stops in his movements, looking up to me with a confused face.
"You want to help?" He asks.
"Course." I nod.
He walks over to me slowly, tilting the knife in my direction.
"Go ahead"
I take the knife from his hand, noticing the blood stains on his arms and clothes. He's been at this guy for a while, its obvious.
"What are you in for?" I ask the man.
"Unpaid dues." He says, nearly knocked out.
"Hmm, can't have that." I say, dragging the blade across his skin. His pain filled groans echo through the nearly empty basement. I know who this man is, he's owed us so much money for a long time now. My father always gave him a pass, but now it's different, and this is the one change I can say I'm happy about.
I take out all my frustration and irritation on the man, finishing him off. Blood is splattered all over my clothes and skin, my pony tail now messy and hairs falling in my face. Haz does a slow clap, walking up to stand beside me.
"Impressive." He says.
"I still don't like you, but that was fun." I say and he shakes his head.
"You're probably the most annoying person I've ever worked with in my life." He states.
"Feeling is mutual." I say.
The door opens, and we hear footsteps coming down the stairway. Eli comes into view, waving us up.
"Come on I found something."
I walk up the stairs with him, Haz following closely behind even though this doesn't concern him. We walk into Eli's office, and he plops into his chair, pulling pictures up on his computer. The images are pretty blurry and pixelated, almost completely unclear. I can barely make out the blonde woman.
"At all recognizable?" He asks.
"No.." I sigh. I don't think I've ever seen this woman in my life.
"What is this about?" Haz asks.
"Tom and I were followed earlier." I say.
"And you didn't tell me?!" He exclaims.
"Didn't know I was suppose to." I shrug.
"I'm the boss now, you can't just be followed and tell everyone but me." He says. "You're suppose to come to me first so that I can take care of it."
"Yeah as if you'd really care about someone following me." I roll my eyes.
"I promised your father I'd protect you, and I plan on keeping that promise." He states.
I stand there silently as he looks over the photos Eli has on his screen, obviously not recognizing the woman either.
"I want these sent to my laptop, and any other information on this car." Haz says. "If we can find it we can put a tracker on it."
"Yes sir." Eli nods, getting back to work.
Haz turns to me, pulling me out of the office.
"Next time, you tell me. Okay?" He says, almost a hint of compassion in his voice.
"Okay." I nod.