I’m not paranoid
It was her fourth day in a row sitting at her desk. The order coming down after her superiors found out she was attacked. Her father told her not to report it, her father had told her just to let it go. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t just let it lay where it was, she couldn’t just forget. But she told them, she filled out the paperwork. And because of that Johanna now had to sit at her desk and fill her days with mindless busy work.
Reports came in, information on arrests and charges and everything that she was involved in before all of this happened. She sifted through the paperwork sitting it to the side looking for any abnormalities while she was supposed to be filing it. She was looking for names and dates and anything that looks familiar that could lead her to exactly what was going on. She had to keep the anger buried; she had to keep it deep down at the bottom of her stomach. Every single time someone looked at her the thought ran through her brain, were they judging her?.
The police were much like any other organisation that was closed off. People would talk, rumours and innuendo spread like wildfire. And in a situation like this where there was evidence and paperwork to show that she had indeed been attacked, in the parking lot of the precinct no less, all of that ran wild. Rumors as to why questions of who and what and where. All questions that Jo wanted answered herself. Her eyes moved from her desk up to the clock sitting above the doorway to the main hall. The hands seemed to not even be moving. She only had a few minutes to go on her shift, then she could go home, crack open a fresh beer and do what she had been doing every night since it happened and drink until she fell asleep.
It wasn’t right.
it wasn’t healthy.
The doubts had started to creep in. How far did this go? How deep was this rabbit hole?. They had got to her father, they had got to her. She hated the idea that there was corruption in the police, but of course she wasn’t naive to the fact that these things happened. In her four years rising through the ranks she had not seen it to this level.
There was one person in her division who had been caught stealing evidence and selling it on the street. He was caught, he was put through the legal process, and he was fired and then sent to jail. It was right, it was justice, and it made her feel good about her job and the organisation.
But all that pride, all that love, it had melted away over the last couple of days. Not just with her mindless drone work, but also with all of the theories and feelings going through her mind. It was maddening. If she knew she would have a target, a moment, she could formulate a plan and know who to trust and what to do. But not knowing? She felt like she had a target on her back, everyone was her enemy and everyone was a spy. Everyone was ready to betray her at any moment. It’s not paranoia if it’s true right?
She had zoned out.
She didn’t even hear Officer Mueller walk you behind her. But as he reached out and touched her shoulder Johanna jumped out of her skin. “Whoa, apologies Krieger. I said hello but you seemed off.” Johanna took a deep breath and gave a lighthearted smile waving it off.
“It’s ok. I was just thinking.” And she had been, it wasn’t a lie, she was just stretching the truth not letting him in on what was on her mind. The paranoia of it all and even now knowing and feeling that this man, someone she had trusted her life to out on the streets, someone who had helped her arrest criminals could be one himself. She swallowed hard and slowly got to her feet realising the time. The shift was over, it was time to go home. Has she gathered I think she slipped a few papers into her hand, a few names had seemed familiar to her, places and dates.
Officer Muller stepped back and gave her not his eyes trailing down to the papers, and then she saw it his eye twitched, the corner of his mouth moved before sliding back up into his easy-going smile. A chill went up her spine. The next few seconds seemed like hours before officer Muller tilted his head, took a step back and spoke “Have a good night Krieger. See you tomorrow”
Johanna swallowed hard and gave him a polite smile and nod moving out towards the door. One hand gripping the papers, the other on her sidearm. No one was going to jump her again.
Does wrestling matter?
“I guess wins against Roxi Johnson don’t mean as much as she...or I..believe.”
Johanna Kriegers voice cuts through the darkness as everything comes into view. Her eyes light up as her mouth twists into an evil looking smirk.
“See, a few weeks ago I stood in the ring ready for the biggest match of my SCW career. Alex and I lost the mixed tag team titles, I was alone in a match. The training wheels taken off as it were. And if you look at my SCW career, and only my SCW career, I have been impressive. And I don’t think anyone can dispute that.”
“A championship, wins over some of the best. A brutal match with Song.”
“But all of it came to a head when I stood in the ring looking Roxi right in the eye. It was the first real test in Sin City against a sin city legend one on one. And I passed with flying colours. One on one with a former world champion and when the match was said and done I had my hand raised because Roxi Johnson made a small tap….”
“I made. A former bombshells champion. Tap.”
She can’t help but laugh with a small shake of her head. Her long blonde hair tied up high in a bun. Johanna looking more natural than usual. Instead of wearing make up and her ear pain with black leather it’s just Jo. No make up. Normal street clothes.
“I feel as if this isn’t being talked about enough. I don’t want to sound egotistical, but the truth is that my accomplishment and the threat that I possess and show in this division is being swept over and ignored. All of the talk is about Alicia going up against Jordan for the third time. All this talk about things that happened in that battle royal like Candy getting hurt, and Kiera going nuts and snapping. Meanwhile I took her wife, a woman who is a bigger legend than most people give her credit for, and I beat her in the middle of the ring.”
“I wasn’t even in that battle royal. I didn’t get a chance to earn a shot at Jordan.”
“And now, here I am a few weeks later and I’m in a tag match with former world champions on both sides of the ring. I get to team with Austin James Mercer, and I just want you all to think about that. I got to win the championships with Alex Jones the current world champion, and now I get to team with a man who burst onto the scene in sin city and became the world champion beating one of the most dominant men to ever stepped foot in this company. Because that’s what we do in Wolfslair, apparently.”
She can’t help but smile again, her arms holding over her chest.
“And Austin and I will be a very intimidating team. But with that being said I can’t just stand here and guarantee victory. Because Austin and I aren’t facing a team like say, the Trenton Tigers, no we have to go up against the black sheep. And as much as I do not like to he prays on a team all you have to do is look at the combination, look at their accomplishments, and realise that if you do not respect what they have done you’re going to be in for a long night.“
“Truth be told Austin James Mercer going one on one with Kristipher Ryans would be a main event at any climax control, any paper view, and at any company in North America or most places around the world.”
“And then, there’s the other side of it.“
“Mikah and myself. I would look like a complete idiot if I stood here and sing the praises of Mrs Johnson and completely ignored what Mikah brings to the table. Three bombshells championship rains, two of which were for an incredible amount of time. Now I will hear a lot of people use stupid excuses about her and say that she’s been out of the game for so long and that she didn’t have strong opponents and that the bombshells division now is better than it was back then.”
“Just rampant stupidity.“
Johanna raises her eyebrows with a smile her shoulder shrugging up and down as she laughs under her breath again stepping forward. Her large tattooed arms relaxing by her sides as the top corner on the left side of her lips curls upwards again
“I’m not the usual bombshell that you will see in this company. I watch, I study, I know how strong I am physically, I know how good I can be in that ring. But I’ve watched as people like me have come into a company like this full of arrogance and they’ve been beaten by their own ego. You won’t get that with me. And that is what makes me dangerous. While I can freely acknowledge and talk about the fact I am dangerous dangerous woman, that I’m strong, skilled, smart and I also know that there are people who can beat me.“
“Based on her history, Mikah is one of those people.”
“But, what if Austin and I win?. Austin gets to beat another former world champion and remind everyone that he is a 6 foot six wrecking machine. And I get to add yet another former bombshells champion to my list. And this isn’t personal, I’m not gonna go out there to try and rip her apart or embarrass her or destroy her. I’m gonna go out there to make a statement. At climax control Austin and I are going to show just how good we can be.”
