Monday morning. The start of a new week, the start of a new case. She stood in her favourite coffee shop, needing her morning fix to get through this day in court. This case was gonna be a hard one and she wasn't sure she was gonna be able to win. Of course she would try, she would not go down without a fight, she just saw the writing on the wall and it wasn't in her favour. Too many witnesses had already backed out.
Looking down at herself, she didn't stand out at all. A boring grey dress with long sleeves and a pencil skirt. Her hair put back in a low ponytail. A black briefcase with her papers and what else she would be needing. She looked professional.
She stood there waiting in line, just listening casually to the other people around her talking, and suddenly she recognized a voice. She slowly turned her head, not wanting to make anyone catch on, and there further down the line stood three men, looking like they had just finished a morning run.
She took in all their features. The hair on each of them matched what she had seen the week before. She tried imagining them wearing masks and it could be them. Not could, it was them. She was sure. As she listened to them talking, hearing all three voices, there was no doubt left in her. It was them.
She studied them discreetly, smiling a bit as she now could put faces on the names. They were real lookers all of them. If only the city knew what kind of men were running around cleaning up, the women would be going crazy.
"What can I get you?" She was snatched out of her thoughts by the barista.
"A large café latte with oatmilk," she answered.
The young man behind the counter turned around and started making her order. She looked back at the three men again. They were still talking, not catching on that they were being watched. She took out her wallet and pulled out a 100 dollar bill.
"The rest of this is yours if you help me out," she said as the barista returned with her coffee.
"Really?" He looked happy by the sight of the big bill.
"You see those three men further down the line?" She asked.
The line moved slowly but finally it was their turn. Dean stepped up to give their order.
"One black coffee, one Americano and one cafe latte with cinnamon," he said.
"Coming right up," the barista said.
The men chatted a little more while waiting for their order to be made. As the barista came back and put the coffee cups down, Dean took out his wallet but the young man behind the counter held up his hands and stopped him.
"They've already been paid for," he said.
"By who?" Roman stepped up.
"Some woman. She told me to give you whatever you want. Oh, and she left a note for you," the barista answered and handed them the note.
Roman unfolded the note and all three men looked down at it.
"Coffee's a real life saviour on a Monday morning. You saved me, now I save you right back. Have a nice day, hounds."
"Who left this?" Seth leaned over the counter.
"I don't know her name. She's a regular though. Comes in here almost everyday," the barista answered.
There wasn't anything the three men could do about it now. Whoever she was, she was gone and they hadn't looked around at the people who had been in the coffee shop while they were in line.
They made their way home where they took turns showering. After getting dressed Seth dumped down on the couch and turned on the tv. A new big case was starting today and the judge had allowed it to be transmitted live. Probably he had been paid to do so. Live tv would scare off the remaining few witnesses and the accused man Titus O'Neil would probably walk free due to that. They all knew it but they had to make sure before deciding whether or not to go after him.
"It's started already?" Roman asked as he walked into the livingroom.
"Yeah, Ariel Turner has the case. She's one of the best. If she can't win this, no one can," Seth said.
"Then maybe we'll step up," Dean said, making his presence known as well.
"Maybe..." Seth left the word hanging as he looked closely at the lawyer as the camera zoomed in. "Wait a minute..."
He jumped up from the couch and stormed into their home office. Seconds after Roman and Dean heard the printer and then Seth came back with a photo of Ariel printed out and a black marker in his hand. He sat back down and started drawing on the photo and then held it up, showing how he had painted a black mask on her.
"Gentlemen, I give you Black Ghost," he said.
"Holy shit!" Dean said and took the photo. "It's her. It's really her."
"We can't be too sure. She could just look like her," Roman said.
"She was the lawyer on the Sami case last week. Do you honestly think it's a coincidence? She lost the case so she took matters into her own hands," Seth said.
Roman still looked between the photo and the tv screen. He knew Seth was right but still he wasn't too sure if they should believe it or not.
"All I'm saying is not to jump to any conclusions," he said.
"Fine, I'll prove it," Seth said and once again googled for her name. "Here. A list of all her cases, inclusing everyone she lost. Dean?"
"On it," Dean said as he too googled something. "I got a list of every target Black Ghost has been known to take down."
They held the phones up next to each other. All the names matched. Roman nodded and looked at the tv again.
"Black ghost," he said.
"Black ghost," Seth repeated and smiled. "Ariel Turner."
"What now?" Dean asked.
"Now we follow the case as planned. She might win it," Seth answered.
"You don't wanna go after her?" Dean asked.
"No, not yet. Besides, we're fighting on the same sight. Let's see if she can handle this before we get involved," Seth answered.
