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Dana was anxiously pacing the crowded make shift lounge as three men, all typically dressed in black and built like trucks, watched the screens for any sign of movement around the large house. Her father’s money had provided her the well-needed protection but her instincts were more valuable to her than any of the expendable men sitting in front. She had the newest technology surrounding her occupancy, cameras that recorded sight, sound, heat and used night vision, laser alarms rigged around all floors and two panic rooms hidden behind secret doorways. No one was going to come in or out without her knowledge, hell if the neighbours even sneezed she’d know about it.

Of the guards in her home she had grown closest to Louis, a large Hispanic man with a passion for the Lakers and corn chips. He had worked for her father, a high-powered businessman with a penchant for firearms, and had even taken a bullet in his right shoulder when an assassination attempt was made on the senior Fairbanks member, there was no doubt about his commitment to Dana and her family. Truth be told she was relieved to have him around after her life was threatened and even more so when her father had passed away last year due to cancer. There were just some things money couldn’t buy. Here she was six months later hiding out in her own home like some common criminal house bound for jacking a car. She was growing weary of the confinement and her patience was being tested to the limit.

After refusing to go under witness protection, a decision she was now maybe regretting, she had taken the law into her own hands. If they were going to come after her they were going to have a fight on their hands, Dana wasn’t going down easy. She had taken after her father, stubborn and dangerously independent to the point that she pushed limits to their boundaries to gain that exhilarating kick that only danger or love could exhume.  She wasn’t sure why today she was so apprehensive, she’d heard very little in form of threats recently and was half hoping that the hit placed on her had been eradicated, she knew this to be foolish thinking though. The brunette walked briskly into her kitchen that had also become over run with various technical equipment including her pistol and blade, one could never be too careful. She let her hands glide over the smooth silver casing and hoped she’d never have to use it in the near future. Dana swung open the refrigerator and scanned the contents, dissatisfied, she closed the door. Producing a glass from the cupboard she strolled back into the lounge and eyed up the crystal decanter containing a fine scotch, it would do. Carefully pouring herself a nip, she breathed in the earthy scent that half stung and half cleansed her head. Before she had time to take a drink one of the men interrupted.