1 chapter one

Jennifer Maier had always been a peculiar child.Always more prone to violence than anything else.Jennifer has only three friends:pain,anger and distraction.She once broke Ben's arm because he called her pretty.She said:"something as dark and dangerous as I am could never be something as clean as 'pretty'.I won't allow you to make me believe an illusion".She was ten.

No one liked her because she was unpredictable.One moment she was smiling and the next she was throwing tantrums and getting into fights.At seventh,she walked into a police station  with bruises around her neck,arms and face.She claimed that her father was an abusive man who liked to let his hands say  more than his words.The truth was that she'd been in a fight;which she lost.Her way of blowing off steam was getting her father arrested.

It isn't hard to tell that someone like Jennifer made alot of enemies.Jennifer is currently the CEO of a chain of the the world's second best hospital branch.The sixty three year old man who previously owned the branch was her mentor.Since she took over the success keeps doubling each year.Regardless of how intelligent this woman is,she never takes anything seriously.

Which is why Martin, the chief investigator of the NYPD  was finding it hard to believe that she had a stalker.He could tell just by looking at her that she was the type of woman who always got what she wanted.She had brown shoulder length hair, golden skin,perfect white teeth,was 5'6 with green eyes that had a black ring around them and a full body.She wasn't fat nor was she thin,she had the right amount of everything.

Everytime she faced the sun;it seemed the black colour in her eyes tried to swallow the green.Martin wondered if that was made her do horrible things. That she'd be pushed into a corner and without her knowledge,the darkness would overcome any good in her.He doubted this,but Martin was a man who couldn't help but see the good in everyone.Even the famous Jennifer Maier.This woman doesn't know anything about hard work, he thought.She knows nothing about working so hard you think you might sweat blood.Or having hands so dirty no amount of water can wash away the days work.

"As much as I love being admired Sir,I have more pressing matters at hand".She obviously knew how beautiful she was.There was something almost majestic about the way she carried herself. Martin had read the report on the accusation she made on her father.It surprised him that she not only did something so utterly selfish but got away with it for two months.If her mother hadn't come back from rehab and cleared things up with the police;her father would have spent years in prison.And yet the possibility never bothered her.

The only reason she wasn't arrested herself was because of a Mr Steward,who was her psychologist at the time.He explained in detail and medical terms just how messed up young Ms Maier was.When the judge apologize to Mr Maier and commented on how difficult having a daughter like Jennifer was,he smiled.His response was,"she is a beauty and a mystery.if she didn't have so much evil in her maybe she'd change the world".His words were all over newspapers by morning.

It was rumored that,that comment was what made her kill him.The official reason for his death was an overdose.However,according to Jennifer's grandmother;her son would never touch drugs.He left that to his wife.Martin wondered how much evil a person would have to have inside them to kill their own flesh and blood.

"Tell me again why you think someone is stalking you Ms Maier, really sell it this time".Jennifer rolled her eyes and bit her inner cheeks until she could taste blood.She closed her eyes because of all the frustration.This is the fourth precinct she's gone to in the last five months and still no one believes her.As she kept her eyes closed, she couldn't help but imagine squeezing the sarcasm out of this Martin.When she opened her eyes,she couldn't help but notice the look of annoyance on the man's face.Weird,she thought.Men usually don't mind looking at me.

"Well,I'm not 'men',sorry to disappoint".Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment when she realized she said that out loud.Instead of apologizing, she continued as if nothing happened.

"It started five months ago.I was on my way to one of the hospital to assist in a major surgery".At the look of surprise on Martin's face,she explained. "I studied medicine in university, sometimes I assist with surgery, especially if a patient insists. No sense running a business you know nothing about".Martin wondered if she became a surgeon because she loves helping people or because she loves cutting them open and watching them bleed.Anyone who heard the rumors about this woman would wonder the same."Go on".

"I looked up from my phone and saw a man...I think..umh,...I'm not sure.He was dressed in an oversized sweater, and pants,all black.I couldn't make out the gender of the person because of the nature of the clothes."Martin wondered if by 'nature' she meant cheap,but he decided she meant baggy."Then why do you assume it's a man?"Jennifer hesitated for just a moment and  in that moment he was almost sure he saw fear in her eyes.'Almost' being the key word.Jennifer Maier just wasn't the type to fear.Infact,if the ice queen existed,she probably learnt everything she knows from Jennifer.She brings fear instead of feeling it.

She's the type of woman who could make you doubt yourself and forget years of therapy with just one look."A woman knows when she's in the presence of another woman".If Martin was a 'read between the lines'type of man which he wasn't, he would have thought what she really meant was 'no woman could ever make me feel unsafe'.

"So,you think you have a stalker because a 'man' in black who stood in the shadows was looking at YOU,Jennifer Maier.The second most successful surgeon in the country.Im sure it's not uncommon for someone like you to be looked at.Is that all?"

"No,that's not all.The same person seems to be everywhere I am".She pulled out her phone and for a minute Martin wanted to joke about how the stalker left her his number incase of emergencies, but decided against it.Not for her sake but for his own.

He is one stupid move away from a suspension.Theres also the fact that this woman happens to be best friends with the mayor;who asked Martin to take this case.Well,he actually ordered him but Martin likes to think of it as helping those in need.

Even if the one in need makes more in a month than he does in a year.Jennifer shows Martin picture after picture.Each one is different.Jennifer swimming,hiking, at what looks like a birthday party.At first all he noticed was how beautiful she looked in each one.Shaking it off because the sooner he solves this case the sooner he can move on with his life, he took the phone and examined the pictures again.

At the corner of each picture stood a figure dressed in black.His face couldn't be seen because he was either standing in the shadows or had a hoodie covering his face so it isnt  visible in any of  the pictures."Owh"

"Really?that's all you have to say?!"She asks this so loud Martin was certain her voice could be heard beyond the thin walls of his office.Which reminded him that maybe it was time to move into that new office with his name on it.He'd avoided it since the promotion.Partly because he hates change as much as the next person.And mostly because;the case that got him that promotion is also the reason he drinks himself to sleep.

""Ms.,what can I say;you were right.If you don't mind me asking;if you have evidence to back up your story,why haven't the other officers you've gone to taken your case?"

"They think I'm making it up,that I have enough money to pay someone to pretend to stalk me.Most people think I live for attention and apparently they have 'real life' cases to deal with."

"And you don't?"what he really wanted to ask was why she put air quotes when she said the words real life.But lunch is coming up in twenty and today is pizza day,all because of Ben Rodgers who managed to get sponsors to get the brave officers of New York free lunch everyday.Ben is actually a politician who would do anything to get people on his side.His current target is police officers."Owh,my,I do!"The way she said  that suggests she's British which is weird considering she was born in Pennsylvania.

Martin wasted a good minute thinking about this.He finally realized that by pretending to be British and having him confused Jennifer was proving that she does,in fact,live for attention.The two share a laugh and for a minute it's like they're old friends reminiscing.But then Martin does what Martin does best,he opened his mouth."Maybe you should try consulting a shadow hunter or the men in black themselves to help you find your own man in black"

Martin half expects her to storm off,hopefully dropping a few dollars along the way.He gets ready knowing that if that happens he'll be out of a job by Tuesday,he'll drink away his disappointment till Friday when his landlord tells him he can't afford the apartment without a job.Truth is ,he didn't afford it with a job either but he always found a way,this new paycheck was supposed to change all that.Until,he blew it because he just had to get his joke in.

Three weeks in the new position and he's already close to being suspended and now he just basically signed his resignation letter.The mayor wont be happy to hear how he handled this.maybe I'll become a stripper  mother always said I had nice legs,he thought.Lets hope the guys agree.

A soft sound pulled him away from his train of thought.A giggle and it came from none other than the master of the ice queen herself.This would have surprised Martin if only he hadn't seen it.Through the glass door,and in the middle of the storm of officers trying to be as brave as Ben made them out to be.There,stood the last person he expected to see on pizza day;the man in the shadows himself.Martin made the mistake of trying to get Jennifer to identify him and by the time they both were facing the man's direction, he was gone.And if that wasn't bad enough,lunch was over and with it the pizza.