Kill & Steal

Mathieu pondered over Charlie's question and shrugged. "I guess not." The male lead the female in a faster, yet casual pace, in order to lose their shadow. His gut told him the shadow did his best to catch up to the duo, only for him to turn in the street corner and find no sight of them.

A male voice clears his throat and speaks to the shadow. "Over here." It was Mathieu, waving a hand, leaning against the wall of an alleyway. He looked calm and unfazed, wearing his shades and a surprisingly warm and friendly smile. He stepped forward to the stalker and removed his shades. "What do you want? An autograph?" Mathieu pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from his pocket and signed.

"No, you idiot," the stalker's hand slammed the pen and paper away from Mathieu's grip and held the thief by his collar, shoving him further into the alleyway. Mathieu fell on his back and feigned fear as he struggled to move away from the stalker. His eyes shone fear as the stalker retrieved a knife from his pocket, leaning down at Mathieu. Arm raised, he prepared to stab, only to be confused at the amused expression on Mathieu's face. His eyes glinted with excitement and his smile was a smile of a madman at the brink of death.

Oh how he loved to confuse his chasers.

The momentary confusion was all it took. It was a window of opportunity for the female to emerge from behind the stalker. She moved swiftly with precision, jabbing a knee at the stalker, and taking the knife away from his grip. She gave no time for his recovery; an upper cut lands the man's jaw, followed by a kick to his stomach.

Mathieu pushed himself to his feet and watch Charlie overpower the stalker easily. Said stalker was on his back against the wall, his face bruised and bleeding. He was held by his throat with the female's left arm. "Tell me who sent you, or you die," she threatened. Her right hand held the knife, ready to stab. Mathieu walks up to them, whistles and taps her right hand, followed by a shake of his head. Charlie glared at Mathieu, but receded at his request. She loosened her hold, and the stalker falls to the ground. He flashed her a side grin and diverted his attention back to the beatup man.

He squatted down and spoke in a disappointed tone. "You should've taken the autograph, man." Mathieu took whatever he could find on the man- wallet, cellphone. He removed the wad of cash and returned it to the stalker's pocket. Mathieu was only interested in the IDs, abounding in fakes, and then the curious case of the burner phone. Untraceable and could only receive calls, not make them. "Hmpf," he mumbled and got to his feet. "Let's go." He'd pocketed the stalker's stuff and held out a hand for Charlie. The female held his hand firmly and gave one final look at the stalker.

She looks at Mathieu. "Do you know who he works for?"

Mathieu shrugged. "We'll find out soon enough."

The pair walked away from the alleyway and continued on their way. In his mind, Mathieu was already working on narrowing down his long list of haters. Charlie, on the other hand, had grown extremely attuned to their surrounding. In the kind of life they lead, stalkers tend to abound. One learns early to always be prepared. Learn it soon or later, you might be too late.