4. Chapter Four #2
I scoff. “No. You’re the one who thinks he’s tough but you’re not. You use your strength against me. That’s not honorable. That’s cowardice and you know it. Now, are you going to tie me back up or am I going to have to do it myself?”
For the first time since meeting Finn, I see pride in his eyes. He’s impressed with me.
I do have my own power.
Finn
I tie Aria back to the bed before I head off to meet with a client.
I still have to make money, now that I’m not working with Viktor any longer. I took a huge pay cut when I broke things off with Dante a few years ago now.
My new client is a middle-age man who meets up with me at a shitty, run down bar. It’s the type of bar where no one asks any questions. His name is Jakob Anderson and he wants his wife dead.
I slide into the back booth and wait. I’m wearing a green jacket that I told Jakob I would be wearing.
We exchanged information over the website I use to book clients but I still like to meet in person to make sure they’re legit.
And get paid in cash. No better way to guarantee someone has the money than to pay me in cash.
Jakob finally arrives, looking skittish. He spots me in the booth and takes his seat opposite me. “Mr. Dark?”
That’s the fake name I use on my website. No way am I going to let these fuckers know who I really am.
“Yep. Jakob Anderson?”
“Yes.”
“Have the money?”
“I do. In my car.”
“The whole hundred grand?”
Jakob nods.
“And no one will think it’s strange that you took out a hundred grand in cash?”
“I took it out over the course of the past few weeks. This needs to happen soon. My wife is the one who makes the most money out of us. She has a great life insurance policy.”
“So you want it.” I eye Jakob over. He’s not ugly but he’s also not handsome. Just average. “What does your wife do?”
“What does it matter what she does? I want her dead.”
“It matters. What if she’s a fucking cop or something?”
He sighs. “She’s a surgeon. She has no time to even raise our kids anymore.”
“And what do you do for work?”
“I used to be a teacher until I got laid off. Now I… do DoorDash sometimes to pick up some extra money.”
“So, let me get this straight. You want your wife dead because you think she’s not a good mom because she works as a surgeon and you’re a laid off teacher?”
He flushes. “I know how it sounds, ok? But it would be better for the family if me and the kids had her life insurance money. We could live off it for years. I could be more involved with my kids, not having to work.”
“You don’t work now.”
He somehow gets even redder. “I do work. I just told you. And you’re not one to judge. You kill people for a living.”
“So, the hundred grand is your wife’s money, I take it?”
“It’s in a shared bank account but… yes. That’s why this needs to happen soon before she realizes the money is missing. I’m going to be taking the kids for a getaway this weekend so she’ll be all alone. She has a long shift at the hospital but she’ll be home eventually. When that happens…”
“I’ll make it look like a robbery gone wrong. And you’ll get off scot-free. Lucky for you.”
“Don’t judge me. You of all people do not have the right to judge me.”
“I just go where the money is, Jakob. You’re the one who wants to kill his wife and mother of his kids. Those kids are going to grow up without their mom. Just think about that.”
I have no moral code, personally. I don’t give a fuck about Jakob’s kids. I just like giving men like him a hard time. They’re the low of the low. The scum of this earth. At least I’m doing something with my life.
“Just do what I paid you to do,” Jakob hisses.
“You haven’t paid me yet. When I get the hundred grand, I’ll do what you want.”
“Then let’s go out to my car.”
Jakob hands me a thick envelope from his glove compartment. I count the money. It’s all there.
“It will be done,” I promise him.
Jakob and I part ways. Him to return to his wife who he just hired me to kill and me to return to my kidnapped victim. We’re a bunch of fucked up men.
Jakob’s house is cute, if you think things are cute. I never find anything fucking cute. It’s a simple ranch house but you can tell it’s lived in, even from the outside. Planters hang by the front door. Chalk drawings cover the driveway. A basketball hoop hangs over the garage door.
Jakob is going to give all of this up because he wants more money in life. Because he feels inadequate his wife makes more money than him and isn’t as involved as she should be even though she’s a surgeon. How ironic. I’m going to kill someone who saves lives.
I’ve never felt inadequate about anything in my life before.
Until well… Aria. She has a surprisingly good way at getting under my skin.
Somehow, it makes me kind of like her. I still want to torture the ever living shit out of her but I also kind of…
don’t. She’s so unafraid. She stands up to me.
She manages to look me square in the eye.
I can respect all of that. Most people run screaming and crying at the sight of me.
I wonder if Jakob’s wife, Marie Anderson, will cry at the sight of me. I wonder if she’ll fight.
I watch her house until she arrives home late from her shift. She looks tired as she gets out of the car. Must be tiring being a doctor. I feel just the tiniest bit of sympathy for her. She’s just an innocent woman living her life, saving lives, and yet, her husband wants her dead.
That’s not going to stop me from killing her though. I never let emotion lead my life. I have a job to do and I’m going to do it.
I pull the ski mask over my face and make sure my gloves are in place before I leave the car. It’s a dark, quiet street. No one will even know I’m here.
Since I have to make this look like a robbery, I break in through the back door by picking the lock. I leave the back door open.
Marie is in the living room, watching TV, but as I get closer, I notice that she’s crying. Crying over what though, I have no idea.
My foot creaks on the floorboards. She gasps and turns to me, then freezes, before she screams. I pounce on top of her and cover her mouth.
“Be quiet,” I snap.
She nods.
I remove my hand and to her credit, she remains quiet. “Now, why are you crying?”
“What?” she whimpers.
“Why are you crying?” Marie is a woman in her forties but for some reason, she reminds me of Aria. A woman getting fucked over by the decisions of men. An innocent woman who doesn’t deserve what I’m going to do to her.
“What?”
I sigh. “Just answer the fucking question.” I get off her but I don’t pull my gun out yet. I’m intrigued by this woman. I want to hear what she has to say.
“It was a long day at work,” she finally says. “I’m a… doctor. I lost a mom and baby today. And my husband isn’t even home for me to talk about it with. He’s gone with the children. Thank god. They’ll be ok. Thank god. Take whatever you want. Take everything in our house. Just leave me be. Please.”
“Do you want to know something? Your husband hired me to come kill you.”
She goes still, taking a long time to process my words. “No. He wouldn’t.”
“He did. Jakob Anderson, your husband. Got laid off as a teacher. Resents you for making more than him. A real asshole in my opinion. Did you know that he took your money to pay me to do this? A hundred grand. In cash. Right out of your bank account. How pathetic and sad is that?”
“No,” she sobs, clutching her hand to her mouth. “No.”
“He did. He wants your insurance money. He thinks you don’t spend enough time with the kids. Fucker. You’re a surgeon. Who does he think he is?”
“Please don’t kill me. Please.”
There is a part of me that is tempted to leave Marie alone. Maybe I’d go kill Jakob just for shits and giggles.
But I’m not going to let Aria get to me. I’m still Finn Murphy, ruthless hitman.
And that’s who I’ll always be.
“Any last words, Marie?” I pull out my gun and point it at her.
“No, please.”
“You’re going to regret that as your last words. Anything better?”
“You can join my husband in hell.” There’s a fire in her eyes that reminds me so much of Aria.
Good. I always prefer killing people who have a backbone to them than pathetic ones.
“I’m already in hell, Marie.” Then I pull the trigger. The silencer hides the bulk of the noise.
The bullet hits Marie right in the head and she falls back onto the couch, not moving. She’ll never move again. I leave the TV going as I pick up her computer and a tablet and any jewelry I can find. I make a mess of things so the police will think it was a robbery gone wrong.
But if they ever find out Jakob was behind this, then fuck him. He can go to jail for all I care. I never use any identifying information that can be traced back to me.
Jakob has seen my face but I’m not in any police database. I’ve stayed off their radar for a long time and I intend to keep it that way. I can also always kill Jakob if he’s caught before he can talk to the police. Easy enough for me.
I leave out the backdoor and drive away from Marie and Jakob’s house. His kids are going to be devastated when they return home. I actually do feel the tiniest bit bad for them. I remember what it was like feeling helpless as a kid. How my father made me feel so afraid.
But I learned how to be tough and so will these kids. They’ll have no other choice. Their rich mom is dead and their dad is a fucking deadbeat who killed her.
I return to Aria. The sight of her naked on the bed is tempting. She’s asleep. She looks so peaceful compared to her usual scowl she wears around me. I smile to myself. She’s a spitfire and I fucking love it.
I grab her clothes from the dryer and toss them onto her. That wakes her up.
“Finn? What?”
“Get dressed.” I untie her. “We’re changing houses.”
“What? Why?”
“So Dante can’t find us. Get dressed.”
She doesn’t hesitate to slip her clothes back on but I notice that she doesn’t hide her body away from me as she does it. She stares right back at me, showing me she’s not afraid.
“You’re afraid of Dante?” she asks, looking smug.
I need to put her in her place. “I just killed a woman tonight. A doctor. Her husband hired me to kill her so I did.”
The smug expression on her face disappears. “Are you…”
“Serious? Yes. I’m completely serious.”
“Did she deserve to die at least? I mean, was she a bad doctor? Hurting her patients?”
“No. From my understanding, she was a great doctor. She was completely innocent. Now, let’s go.” I can feel Aria’s eyes on me as I leave the room.