Book Ends

Chapter One – Every end has a new beginning.

"You have two options," the voice was calm, "you can stay, earn more money than even you know how to spend, or you can leave. But you must know by now Vause, you only leave this business one way." They both know which way; it came with a wooden box, six feet below solid earth.

This job had given her years of practise for perfecting her poker face. "It doesn't look as though you're giving me much choice."

"I'm not," Kubra spoke back.

She didn't let the surprise show in her face; she had always felt as though Kubra favoured her. She was good at her job, in actual fact, she was the best that there were at her job, the very top of her game, and Kubra knew it. She had organised numerous complicated importation operations resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars for the company. Sure, the company would survive without her, but it certainly wouldn't be as profitable. She had known when she called the meeting with Kubra that he wouldn't let her go easily; she had imagined he would ask her to head one last operation before her departure, but not her life.

"Its nothing personal Kid, its just business."

Alex nodded; she looked at Kubra from above her thick rimmed glasses, "Looks like I'm sticking around."

"Smart choice," Kubra relaxed back in his chair, smiling at Alex, "where's your little plaything today?" he asked.

Thinking about Piper still came with a sting. "Had to let her go," she lied, "she was becoming a liability." She swallowed, burying the memory of her ex-girlfriend walking out on her.

"Will she talk?" Kubra's tone had changed, he sounded almost threatening.

"I made sure she didn't know enough to be a real danger" she confirmed. Kubra considered this for a moment, before deciding that he trusted her judgement.

"Good, ok, so back to business?"

"All is going well in Cambodia, head of security owes me a favour and he really can't afford to pass it up," she gave a wicked smile, "the drop should go ahead without any hiccups."

And so the conversation went on; Alex told Kubra what he wanted to hear, and Kubra updated her on the movements of various politicians, police officials etc. As "head of logistics" Alex knew most of the people she needed to know to get the job done, but every so often a new name would appear, or a change of number would occur. They always kept two steps ahead of the law, and three steps ahead of their competition.

She left the meeting and headed straight for the airport, checking through her various passports. She was a national citizen of many countries, under various aliases. It was easier now, without the added complication of her ex-girlfriend, to keep a track of which name she was using and which passport she needed. The flight ahead was long, New York to Paris, Paris to Bangkok, and finally Bangkok to Phnom Pehn, Cambodia.

She usually used flight time to sleep, although with Piper, they had found other ways of occupying themselves in the sky.. But today she was nervously going over the details of the operation ahead. Had Kubra allowed her to walk, the operation would be going exactly as she had told him it would go.. But she had no intention of staying with the company, she had to escape Kubra, and she had to do it now.

Of course, it wouldn't be easy; she was followed by bodyguards who reported directly Kubra. Even if she did manage to make a clean escape, it wouldn't be long before Kubra's men came after her. She knew that by running away, she may be running straight towards her own death, but staying meant living a life without any real meaning.

Alex looked out of the small window into the white of clouds, and she thought about Piper, who had given life some kind of meaning. When Piper had left, she had done so even knowing that Alex had just received information that her mother had died. Piper wasn't cold like that, she must have been desperate to leave. Knowing this hurt Alex even more, she had been so happy, she loved her job, and she loved Piper, but she had failed to see that when she was busy with work, Piper was waiting for her to be finished.. But her work was never finished, it was on-going, and as she became more successful, it became ever-growing. Kubra trusted her with more valuable, complex operations, and she had less time for Piper, and Piper was becoming bored of waiting in hotel rooms.

Kubra had been understanding when she told him about her mother, he gave her a much needed month off. She flew to New York and with nobody by her side, she buried her mother. That night she lay in the bath, in the empty house that had once been a home, and she cried, she cried for her mother, she cried for Piper, and she cried for herself. She cried until the water had become cold, she drained some, and topped it up with hot water. Beside the shampoo and conditioner bottles was a bottle of whisky intended to keep her company for the night, she unscrewed the cap and took a swig, wincing at the burn in her throat. It was at that moment she accepted the conclusion that for as long as she did what she did, she would be alone. Half a bottle and a hangover later, she had decided it was time she made a change to her life.

This would be her last operation. She organised for a complication to occur at security in Bangkok which would conveniently separate her from the guards, they would remain behind in Bangkok while she went on to Cambodia. She had also organised for somebody to collect the payment on her behalf. Once she knew payment had changed hands, she would ring Kubra faking panic at being separated from her guards, he would consider her safety and organise a new time for the payment drop to be made. Only, when he made the call he would be told it had been paid; only the description wouldn't be that of Alex, in fact it wouldn't be that of anybody they knew, and as drop-offs were only ever organised in areas where they couldn't be recorded, he wouldn't ever find out who. He would naturally assume that the operation had been sabotaged by another Cartel, he would never imagine Alex would screw him over. By the time he put the pieces together, she would be on a flight to Bangladesh, with $70,000.

Her plan after this was a little sketchy, she would flight hop to random locations for a few months, before heading back to the US, where she would lay low and eventually get a normal job. She didn't have any family, or any real friends, so she would be starting out all over again, this gave her a slight advantage in escaping the Cartel, but she knew that for a long time she would be just as alone as she was now. Still, she had to try. The seatbelt sign sounded, she was due to land in Paris within the next half an hour, and as she always did, she wondered about Piper and where she was now.. Perhaps she would be proud of her if she knew? Perhaps she would want her back? She couldn't help but hope, it was all she had left.