[Written for 2020's Write to Rank contest]

"Let's face it—you'll never win. Give yourself up."

Footsteps echo through the night as Jaxtyn Lochner paces up and down the alleyway, eyes intently scanning the rooftops. Running a hand through his dark, disheveled hair, he irritably sighs.

"Please do enlighten me. How many times have I eluded your tricks?" His hand stills, and he reaches for the gun hidden in his leather jacket. Spinning around, he glances up and down the shadowed buildings for the hundredth time.

After doing a complete three-sixty, he finally speaks. "Irrelevant. Where are you?"

"Twenty-two, Lochner." My lips curl up as I watch him pause for the slightest of seconds before proceeding to search for a clue, any clue. Alas, he would never be able to find me, no matter how close he got.

His badge, glinting under the moonlight, is the only indicator of his expertise and status, the years of training he underwent. Jaxtyn, Special Agent Lochner, abruptly stops, glaring at the sky. "What are you talking about? Show yourself."

Sitting at a beautiful vantage point on a roof directly behind him, I shake my head. "You hunted for me relentlessly, yet in the past three months alone, I evaded you twenty-two times. I thought the FBI would be more adept at their job."

Without waiting for a response, I continue on. "When will a real agent come in to investigate?" I snickered, "No wonder you couldn't trace me down."

The Bureau assigned Jaxtyn, the young genius, to arrest me a year ago, hoping that the hot-shot sharpshooter would finally be able to bring me in. Turns out, even he failed to track me, hopping from state to state on a wild goose chase. My favorite was Florida, but he would vehemently disagree. I didn't earn the alias Praeforte for nothing, after all; my opportunities are infinite and power absolute in the underground world.

Usually, an agent would be transferred to another case if he or she makes no progress, yet Jaxtyn specifically requested to indefinitely remain on mine. The idea of catching me was ingrained in his imagination when there were so many easier "criminals" to find.

I suspected it was because of the fun I had while dancing around his fruitless traps.

Jaxtyn clenches his jaw, grinding his teeth against each other. "I'll always be smarter than you; you best remember that when I eventually lock you up where you deserve to be."

Tilting my head up, I close my eyes and laugh. Doubling over, I nearly stumbled off the ledge, yet my hand instinctively shoots out for balance. "Keep telling yourself that; whatever helps you sleep at night."

Frowning, I rest my chin on my fist as a thought jolts through my mind. "How have those pills been helping with your insomnia?"

The temperature suddenly drops to freezing. "That is none of your concern, Bri—Mejia." Jaxtyn hastily fumbles with his words and attempts to correct his grave error.

A few tension-filled seconds tick by. "We're on a last name basis, aren't we now? I thought we had a budding friendship in the works."

"I never was and never will be associated with scum like you." His retorts are just sugar thorns, just like his personality.

Scoffing, I reply, "What happened a month ago would beg to differ."

In an instant, Jaxtyn whips out his gun and aims it to where he heard my voice. His fingers tightly grip the weapon as his eyes flash with uncontrollable anger. "What game are you playing?"

Looking down in disapproval, I toss my hair and tsk. "Honey, you, of all people, should know by now that the world is our chessboard."

He stiffly lowers his arm the slightest bit, wary to carefully watch his surroundings. "I'll show you how the game is played."

"You are sadly mistaken like you always are. I'm the queen, and you're my pawn to sacrifice. Don't ever forget it."

Surreptitiously moving away from Jaxtyn, I disappear among the stars.