Chapter 10
TEN
Sweat made the woman’s hands clammy. She rubbed them together. Her breaths fell over each other as if she’d just run a marathon. She eyed the rotary phone next to her. A gust of wind blew, making the open curtains swish.
The woman was never nervous like this. Some would say she was cold-blooded like a reptile. Nothing fazed her—not what was demanded of her, not what she was expected to do. No amount of blood and gore and screams and tears rattled her. She worked like a machine.
Efficient and icy.
But this job was different. There were some lines she didn’t cross.
Tonight, she did. Tonight, she felt something.
Raw emotion whipping inside her and twisting her insides.
She gazed out the window into the starless night sky.
Thunder cracked but rain was still to come.
A storm brewed as the wind picked up, sending chills up her arms.
And then the phone rang. Right on time.
She stared at it.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
“It’s me.” She answered the phone like this whenever it was time for this call.
The familiar voice filtered through—throaty with a tinge of eastern European accent. “Is it done?”
“Yes. The target was delivered to the destination.” Her finger clutched the fabric of her sweater.
“Good. You will receive the payment in twenty-four hours. You are needed in Philly for the next job.”
The woman wasn’t supposed to ask questions. She never bothered to. But this time the words tumbled out of her mouth. “He was only a kid. What did you want with him?”
Silence. A deafening silence before the man spoke again. “Do not make the mistake of asking questions. Consider this your final warning. Is that clear?”
Her chest squeezed. There were very few people she feared—and he was one of them. “Y-yes.”
“Good. Now prepare for Philly. You’ll receive instructions with your payment.”
“Understood.” She felt weighed down by the memory of the gangly boy and the thrill in his clueless eyes as she walked him to his death.
The realization crystallized inside her with pristine clarity. Without a flicker of doubt, the decision had been made.
It was time for her to quit.