The Bounty Hunter and His Prey

Shira     I just got back to my hideout with my latest haul, massive gems, and jewelry of pure gold. This will sell nicely on the black market. I chuckle to myself as I throw myself carelessly onto my couch, flipping on the television. They are talking about my heist on the news and I can't help but smile to myself. No one will be able to stop me. No one's even come close. Sure I've been arrested before, but I always find a way to slip away and escape again. I am not one to be contained.     Lately I have been more careful with the heists I pull. A couple of my henchmen got caught and are currently sitting in jail. Thank god they know better than to squeal. If they did, they will end up dead. Plain and simple. No one betrays me and lives to tell the tale. I laugh as the announcer says my bounty has been raised and need to be stopped immediately. Like that's going to ever happen. Not on my watch. Not even on my guard's watch. They can try but nothing will work. There will always be a way to slip through their fingers. Men always fall for the beautiful bad girl eventually and free me on a cheap promise to see them again.     I may only be 19, but I have become the most notorious thief in the entire world. When the news is finished I get up from my place on the couch and go to the bathroom. I undress and brush out my raven black hair before I get into the shower. My hair always gets tangled when I have a good run away from the law. I hate it. I settle in the hot water, letting it ease my muscles and my mind, the scent of my shampoo filling the air. When I am finished I carefully get out of the shower and wrap my hair up in my towel and go to my bedroom, laying on my huge Alaskan king size bed. Life is good. I lay down contemplating what to do next, what treasures to steal and bestow on myself. The thoughts slowly helping me fall asleep. ~~~~~ Axel     I watch the news, angered. I see that yet again, the thief called Shira has struck again and gotten away from police. How stupid can they be?? She always seems to get away from them. I don't trust them one bit. The bounty on her head is growing by the day. If I could just catch her.. everything in my life will be solved. I don't have much problem with money now, hell I've caught several people and am living in comfort. But her. The prize on her head. It would be my biggest score yet. I have to catch her. I have to bring my name into the spotlight. Next time she is on the run, I will get her. I will follow the police chase and get her myself. I can't let her slip from my hands as she slips from those dogs in the police force. She will be mine.     I go to my study and pull out a map. It's a map of the city and the surrounding areas. All over it is pen and pencil Mark's. The mark resembles where she has been seen, where she has stolen, everything. It might seem like an unhealthy obsession with some, but to me, this is normal. This is the life of a bounty hunter. I sit down in front of the map, running my fingers through my light brown hair, thinking. I've been trying to pinpoint where Shira is hiding, but she always seems to evade me. f**k her. f**k everything. I will be the one who brings her down. I will make sure of it.     The map seems to taunt me, laughing at me for not being able to find the missing piece of this puzzle that needs to be solved. I suspect maybe she might be hiding somewhere out of sight, but where? Damn her and her ability to vanish into thin air. She appears, then vanishes without a trace. She's like a ghost. I slam my fist on the table throwing the map to the side. I get up looking out my window, contemplating my next move. Watching people is always interesting to me. I like to make up scenarios in my head. I see a young couple and a small baby, snorting to myself. They probably had a child before marrying. Although, it seems like that's the new normal anymore. Not that it's wrong, but I'm sure they get looked down upon.     I watch the clouds roll in, darkening. Must be a storm coming, of course there would be one. Not like I had any plans to go out looking for the little thief while I had a chance. Something always seems to ruin my plans when I think I may have a lead. I pace back and forth in my study until I'm sure the floor is warm through. Then, it comes to me. The perfect plan. I know how to get her into my clutches and she will never be able to escape. I will make her my prisoner, but to devise such a plan, I will need help. I wonder if I can find one of her guards and pay them off to give me more information. Probably not. She probably pays more then I could ever pay them in a million years.     Why am I so obsessed with this? Am I going crazy trying to find her?      No. Most certainly not. I look out the window again watching the people run as the rain starts, trying not to get wet. I laugh to myself, it calming my nerves some. Observing people has always been my specialty. I can tell if you are lying the second the words come out of your mouth. No one gets by me. Never. And I am never going to let this woman be any different. While she is beautiful and certainly not bad to look at, she is a filthy criminal, and that will always tarnish any charm she might have. Tomorrow, I will begin my search.