Chapter 2

“Nice to see you too Danni.” Rudy announced.

Danni glared hard at him. She felt disgusted. There was something about Rudy that made her want to go home and take a shower to wash away her disdain. It was the same feeling at every meeting but in the end she always gave in. She would reluctantly agree to meet him one more time and take another assignment. And there was only one reason for that, money.

After graduating from high school she entered nursing school but soon discovered it wasn’t for her. Danni was a thrill seeker and wanted something much more exciting so she joined the armed forces. It was much more interesting than nursing and she seemed to thrive on the discipline and routine. Also, the brass quickly realized she was not only a fast learner but exceptionally talented as well. Before long she was offered an opportunity to join the Special Forces Unit. She excelled and was soon near the top of her unit but then things went sour.

One day when a male unarmed combat instructor was showing her some moves, she thought he was getting too physical with her. She had told him to stop and when he persisted she got physical with him. The Forces could have put her through a court-marshal but while the captain recuperated in the hospital she had come to an agreement with the big brass. Since they didn’t want to air their dirty laundry in public they promised to drop all charges and give her an honorable discharge, but only if Danni agreed to stop the sexual harassment allegations.

After that she had drifted around a bit and managed to burn through most of her discharge pay. She was also getting bored with civilian life when an old friend who quit the Armed Forces earlier told her about Rudy and his assignments. They involved sneaking into various third world countries to retrieve documents and family heirlooms for rich refugees who had been forced to flee their homeland.

It seemed an ideal job for somebody with her skills and training. Also, it offered more excitement than an ordinary job could give her and the pay was very good. The only problem was the legality of it. After a couple of assignments Danni realized there was sometimes much more to the documents and valuables she retrieved than met the eye. But since the money was good she had learned not to question too deeply the implications of her actions.

So far she had completed half a dozen assignments for Rudy. That was done despite the fact that she come to despise him so much that she swore to herself that each assignment would be her last.

However, Danni had grown so used to the easy money that she fell into a rut. When a task was completed she would take her cut from Rudy and live the high life for a while. She rented a plush apartment in a choice area in Los Angeles, wined, dined and partied in fancy restaurants and bought herself some expensive toys, like her motorcycle. There were also the expensive hobbies like membership in an exclusive gym that allowed her to stay in top shape. Sky diving and hang gliding, mountain climbing and vacations in exotic places were also on her agenda.

Then, when the money started to run thin, Rudy would contact her and offer her another job. It was eerie because he always seemed to know just when the money was running out. He was a bastard but despite her misgivings, she always accepted his jobs.