Nobody's Property Illustrated Series, #103

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"Nadia vs. Predator: The Case of the Fallen Sandwich Shop Spokesperson"

In the year 2036, one Nadia Mallorie Willis, a petite mostly auburnette of merely five foot two and maybe a buck fifteen, with a streak of light golden brown often mistaken for blonde running down her right side of her mane, walked down the familiar street of her hometown of Luna Vista, California. Despite not even having reached her twentieth birthday just yet, but fairly soon to, she was already making a name for herself as a bounty hunter with a reputation for taking on the dead or alive warrants for the most dangerous and violent registered sex offenders in Southern California.

Luna Vista buzzed with rumors that the notorious figure, Harry Reprogle, a former sandwich shop spokesperson, was not only still alive, but living in Luna Vista.

“The fool!” Nadia said under her breath to herself, momentarily gazing at the “poison pen” quill and inkwell tattoo that ran down the side of her lower left arm before facing toward her favorite happy place of solace – the woods at the edge of Luna Vista. “Why would you come HERE of all places to hide from the law? Don’t you know what happens to people who harm children here?”

Once a prominent sandwich shop spokesperson for a chain of submarine shops that nearly went defunct as a result of his downfall, when he was caught with over twenty thousand images of inappropriate images of children on a flash drive in his home, Harry Reprogle’s downfall had been swift and ruthless as he well deserved. He even spent fifteen years in prison, but violated his parole, and was rumored to be dead or in a foreign country that didn’t extradite back to the United States. A dead or alive warrant worth a staggering five million credits for him alive and two million for him dead.

“I can do a lot with two million dollars,” Nadia said to herself, with a viciously cruel smile. She had absolutely zero intention of bringing Reprogle in alive.

On a holographic screen device that resembled the smart phones of twenty years ago but had hundreds of times more storage capacity than the first computer her mother had ever used just before the turn of the century, Nadia cross-referenced Reprogle's known associates and recent activities. She looked again at her poison pen tattoo. “The little shit who writes her own fate is on your trail, Reprogle, and your days are numbered.”

The hunt was on, and Nadia knew she had to tread carefully in the dangerous game that awaited her. Armed with only a hunting knife that managed to still be legal even under the restrictive regulations of her home state, Nadia ventured into the dusky woods, with a sense of purpose. She made out size 13 shoeprints along the unofficial trail through the woods where she’d once intentionally lured another connoisseur of underage flesh named Caleb Lockwood to his death just a few short years ago. Acting on a hunch, Nadia made her way toward an old abandoned cabin in the woods that was rumored to be in use by Reprogle as a hideout.

Though her hunch proved to be correct, Nadia quickly found herself in peril of her very life as the encounter turned violent. “You’re not taking me alive, Willis!” an angry voice shouted at her as a bullet barely missed her right ear, singing the ends of several red and golden hairs.

The second shot would be a more direct hit. Though she was never so foolish as to chase after bounties without her body armor, Nadia faked a fall and played dead.

As she suspected he would, Reprogle came out of the cabin. She continued to feign lifelessness on the ground, knife in hand and ready. He walked up and stood over her.

“Well, I guess I should hide the body…” he said to himself. “But first, let’s just make sure you’re dead.”

As Reprogle attempted to point the gun directly at Nadia’s head, her upper half sprang up and she jammed the blade of her knife right into his femoral artery. In an act of reflexion, Reprogle fired the gun, totally missing Nadia and hitting some dirt and grass instead. Nadia knocked him out with a single punch, standing over him as he hit the ground.

Immediately, she made a call on her holographic phone to the Luna Vista Police Department. The local homicide detective, Marla Fletcher, answered. “Hello, Nadia. What’d you get yourself into this time.”

“I caught Reprogle. I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to turn him in alive…he tried to shoot me in the head, and I stabbed him in the thigh in self-defense. I really tried to avoid his femoral artery, but it is what it is…”

All Fletcher could do was laugh. “Sounds like self-defense to me. Of course I’ll have to investigate before I officially rule out foul play…but I’ll be there in a few minutes…are you in the woods, by any chance?”

“Yeah, the old Gilman residence.” Nadia replied.

“Well, shit happens, Nadia, but damn…I’ve never lost three million dollars defending myself.”

Nadia managed a laugh. “Yeah, I guess you’ve got me there.” She’d faced similar choices before, reflecting on her past experiences. Six years earlier, on the night she met him for the first and last time, she had confronted her biological grandfather, Percy Barnett, who had threatened her mother's life. In both instances, she accepted that survival sometimes required decisive action. Now just as then, there was no remorse in her eyes; only the recognition that she had done what needed to be done.

Nobody’s Property (nobodysproperty.com) is a fictional illustrated series, published periodically by Blake Hutchison dba Sansevieria Media. It is for entertainment purposes only. Please do not commit attempt to commit any of the illegal, homicidal, and/or vigilante acts such as those committed by Nadia or any of the other characters on nobodysproperty.com

DISCLAIMER: It is NOT currently recommended to attempt to read this illustrated series on any device at any public educational facility or library in the U.S. State of Florida at this time.

© Nobody's Property Illustrated Series, copyright 2018- | all rights reserved. This illustrated series is for entertainment purposes only. Please do not attempt any homicidal, vigilante, or other illegal acts."