A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating. My college classes have been demanding a lot more work since there's actually lesson plans and teaching involved now. This chapter is kind of boring since it's setting up the story. I'm a little worried since I've never wrote in first person before except in academic type papers. Please leave feedback so I know what to change and how to make it better. Thanks. Hopefully you all enjoy this chapter and it was worth the wait.

Jackson Rippner thrived on being busy. He hated being stuck inside or at his company's office. Luckily he didn't have to deal with it very often. He had worked hard over the years to get where he was in the company. He was one of the first people asked for all the high profile jobs.

The trouble with today was he had just successfully finished a big job and had yet to be assigned to anything new. Jackson picked up a stack of old paperwork to go through while he waited.

It wasn't until after lunch that Jackson got a call from his boss to come see him. He was hoping it was about new possible job. He wasn't sure how much longer he would actually be able to occupy himself at the office.

Upon entering the office he was handed a thick folder. Nothing was written on the outside and Jackson wouldn't have time to thoroughly look at it until later when he was alone.

He listened as his boss explained that a business man had contacted them about having a job done. A Mr. James Doyle had recently found out his wife was cheating on him and he wished to have it taken care of.

"He has requested the best person we have if you're interested."

Of course he was interested. Why wouldn't he be?

"When does he want it done by?" Jackson asked anxious to get started on something new.

"Well he wishes to meet with whoever is doing it later this afternoon. I'm sure he can give you all the details you need then."

"Excellent"

"And Jackson don't screw this up. He's a very important client who is paying you very well."

How could he possibly screw up an easy, routine job such as this? He'd have it done in no time.

After leaving Jackson had a little bit of time before the meeting and made sure to scan the folder given to him earlier in the day. He wanted to make sure he had all information he would need for later and had any questions answered before James left. The less record there was of communication in his business, the better.

Jackson was surprised to find out Mr. Doyle refused to come inside for the meeting as he didn't plan on staying long. He didn't wish to risk anybody seeing him entering the building in case somebody knew what actually went on in the building. His worries seemed unfounded to Jackson since the real business of murder for hire had been hidden extremely well by the façade of a completely different, legitimate business.

Mr. Doyle was the one supplying the paycheck so Jackson was willing to go along with almost anything if the person was able to pay him well enough. Shortly before three he left the building to go meet his new client discretely back in the alley located besides the building. This was the whole reason for the selected time since the streets would almost if not completely empty with people being inside working until closing time.

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I can't believe my school sent me home again. My mom were going to kill me. I swear my teacher has something against me. The last time this happened I promised it wasn't going to happen again. With my luck the school had probably already called my mom by now so the longer I stayed out the better it was for me. I was probably going to be grounded for forever this time when I finally got home so I might as well stay out while I can.

I passed my favorite restaurant on the way home so I decided to enjoy my last little bit of freedom by ordering something to eat. Nobody seemed to be around even though across the street was a row of businesses that I passed by everyday.

My food came quickly since they weren't busy and even though I hadn't been sitting there long I found it odd I still hadn't seen many other people around. Granted I'm normally in school at this hour so this may very well be normal for this hour.

The waiter brought my check when I finished. I was in the middle of paying when I noticed an expensive car park next to the curb on the opposite side of the street. Which wouldn't have been all that interesting but instead of going inside he looked all around before quickly disappearing down a nearby alley. That was definitely not normal behavior by any standard of mine.

"Your change, miss"

I snapped my head back when I realized I had let myself become distracted by it. "Sorry. Thank you"

"Have a nice day" The smile he flashed at me was absolutely wonderful.

As I began to walk home my curiosity got the best of me. I couldn't just leave and go home now. Not when something exciting was finally happening around here. It was normally so boring. I had to find out what was going on here with this suspicious acting guy. Best to watch from a concealed spot I decided in case something bad really was going on. It was another ten minutes before another guy who was dressed impeccably came out of what was the accounting building and disappeared as well into the alley.

Well that's odd. Why couldn't he just meet that man inside? Surely it would be easier since you would think he would need a calculator or computer to do his job. He obviously wasn't doing accounting work. There goes my imagination again creating crazy conspiracy theories about what they were actually doing outside. This is what always gets you in trouble. Now I'm talking to myself which is never a good sign.

My vibrating cell phone in my pocket pulled me back to reality and forced me to stop watching as I flipped my phone open. I didn't even need to look at the caller id to know it was my mom calling to tell me I should have been home by now. I quickly flipped the phone shut ignoring the call. It wouldn't take me long to walk home from here so I decided I'd rather ignore it and deal with the consequences of that decision later. You would think my mom would be used to this by now and stop worrying so much.

As I left my hiding spot to walk home I noticed the younger guy look over at me for the first time. His eyes were so strikingly blue though that I began to think I was imagining things again. Whether he really was or not I started feeling very uncomfortable and picked up my pace to get home faster.

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