The .40 Caliber Mousehunt by Stephen Pytak

Author:Stephen Pytak
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: internet, mercenaries, revenge, vengeance, mouse, gunslingers, hacker fiction, fbi fiction, masked killer
Publisher: Stephen Pytak

Needing desperately to talk, Razia met a lawyer friend for lunch at an upscale coffee and sandwich shop downtown at 20th and M.

“You can’t tell me some people didn’t, like, want her dead,” Razia said. Her sad eyes matched the color of the coffee she was sipping.

“Like who?” asked Christina, who was holding a steaming cup of herbal orange tea up to her nose to savor the aroma.

“This stays with us, whatever I say.”

Christina nodded.

“This is what I think. I’m not sure. But it’s all I got. There’s this chick. Works for the bureau. Scours the underworld, kicking over cans, looking for gold, trying to keep the system cutting edge. Anyway, she’s got a bit of a complex.”

“OCD?”

“No. She’s out for number one.”

Christina cocked her head ever so slightly, her hazel eyes filled with intrigue and curiosity.

“Anyway. I ran into her a few times. Tried to stop me from doing a story once. Was about this guy. Made spy software. Genius. He was going places. She was looking to buy his stuff. He was interesting so I went ahead. She hated that...Can't keep everything secret.”

“So?”

“She’s the one who hired Eden to knock down that site. Eden told me it wasn’t like a job. It was more like ... a game,” Razia said.

“Like what?”

Razia shook her head as she looked around to see who was in ear shot. Behind her was a man in dark leather in a high-back chair. He was playing solitaire chess, facing the window. He seemed oblivious to the conversation.

“We got to be friends,” Razia said.

“You and Eden?” Christina asked.

“Yeah. We’d talk like every day. E-mail. Texting. Call her on my cell. Told me a lot about herself. I was thinking about going out to see her, maybe Thanksgiving. She invited me over,” Razia said. Then she let out a heavy breath, pushed away her coffee, put her elbow on the table, then her forehead on her palm. “Oh God. Oh fuck. Can I tell you something?”

“Sure.”

“I don’t know why I should bring this up, but I have to tell somebody.”

“What?”

“I really cared about her.”

“Yeah,” the lawyer friend said.

“More than anyone.”

The two exchanged a glance.

Razia’s eyes were filled with trepidation, tears and a tad bit of terror.

Christina raised an eyebrow in revelation, then shuddered at the thought.

Razia bit her lip, then confirmed what Christina was thinking with a slight nod.

The chess player responded to the silence, froze as he reached for the black rook, and cocked his head slightly towards the two women, as if hoping to pick up the next few words.

“Um…Raz?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re Muslim.”

“I know,” Razia said.

“Isn’t that kind of…?”

“Yeah. Kind of.”

“How long you seeing her?”

“It’s not like that. Never got the chance to tell her about it.”

“You tell your folks?”

“You crazy!?!?” Razia said, voice raised. She threw up her hand, spilling her coffee. “Shit.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Christina said, grabbing napkins from a dispenser and racing to stop the black liquid from rolling off the edge of the table top.

Razia brought her hands to her face, wiped the moisture from her eyes, then exhaled a bit of a laugh.

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