Miss Jenny Jones
The Hollywood Hitman
JJ kneeled down at the side of her mother’s bed. She gently held her mother’s soft hand, leaned over, and kissed her mother’s cheek. Her mother's eyes opened sleepily as JJ pulled up her mother’s favorite crocheted blanket.
“Nurse? Are you new?”
JJ felt her eyes sting. “No, Momma, it’s JJ, your daughter.”
Her mother squinted. “Oh, oh, yes, JJ. You look older… the light must be bad. I’m tired, too. What day is it? Is it time for breakfast?”
JJ squeezed her mother’s hand tenderly. “It’s Sunday night.”
“Oh, oh, yes. I remember now. Are we going to Jillian’s for Christmas still?
You know… I don’t know why you and Halo are friends…
she beats you out of all your auditions.
You need to try harder or Halo is going to keep getting your jobs.
” Mrs. Jones squinted at her daughter. “You don’t look like my JJ… ”
“It’s me, Momma. Remember? The light is bad in here.”
“Oh, yes. The lights in here are terrible. Why are you wearing a hat indoors, dear? Are you leaving?”
“Soon, Momma. You know I love you, right?”
“Oh, oh, yes. I love you, too. Is your father coming to visit me again tonight?”
JJ stared at her mother’s wistful smile and fought back the tears as the memory of her deceased father came to mind. “Maybe?”
“He’s been slacking in his visits, you know… why am I here again?”
“Momma, they are running more tests. They say you are doing well.”
“I’m so tired… what day is it?”
JJ quickly wiped a tear away. “Just another day, Momma. Why don’t you get some rest now?”
“Yes, I think I will. Good night, nurse.”
JJ watched her mother’s eyes close and she wondered if she would ever see them open again.
Everything at Halo’s memorial had gone sour.
Irwin Miller showed up and practically threatened her.
Ari got her and Christina out, but not before one of Irwin’s goons stopped her and Ari.
He was a huge man with long hair. Ari’s Chinese driver and the big man stared each other down for what seemed like hours.
She was expecting them to start brawling right there in the lobby of the Beverly Hills Hotel.
JJ absentmindedly put on her jacket as her thoughts drifted back to what Ari told her on the ride back to his home that night.
She had to leave town and leave the next day.
Ari even pitched in ten thousand dollars to help her get back to New Zealand.
She thought that was odd. He told her to not contact anyone.
Not Jillian or Doug’s mother. No one. Just leave.
JJ looked around and realized she was standing downstairs in the luxurious lobby of the best Alzheimer’s care unit in California.
JJ wiped a tear away, thinking about Halo and how she set up her mother for life in this place.
They wouldn’t have been able to afford a week here, let alone a year and a half. She missed her friend terribly.
Out in the cool, dark night, JJ let her tears flow as she made her way across the parking lot.
She kept wiping her face on her coat sleeve.
Using her key fob, she unlocked her Audi and sat down hard on the plush seat.
After a moment, and with a heavy sigh, she began searching her purse.
Finding her tissues, she blew her nose. Pulling down her visor to check her runny mascara, she saw someone in her back seat.
The man was huge. Before she could scream or bolt, she saw a long barrel of a gun pointing at her head.
The tissue fell from her shaking hands as her body froze in utter fear.
She felt her seat get hot and wet and knew she should have taken Ari’s advice and left when she was supposed to.
The only thing she could focus on was that huge gun.
It seemed like years that she sat there waiting for the roar and the bullet to come.
Then, from behind the gun, a deep, accented voice was commanding her to do something.
She tried to listen, but she could not hear him through the rushing roar in her ears.
He spoke to her again in an even more commanding tone.
“Miss Jones, take a breath before you pass out.”
Suddenly, she realized she was holding her breath in anticipation of a bullet smashing into her skull. She inhaled and then began sobbing as soon as she exhaled.
“Miss Jones. My name is Simo. You will get a hold of yourself. We are going for a ride. Understand?”
She was still sobbing and gasping for air. She managed a nod as she stared into the mirror. A moment of clarity found its way into her brain. This was Irwin Miller’s goon from Halo’s memorial… and she was not dead yet.
“Miss Jones, start the car.” Simo’s ice-cold voice came from behind her, snapping her clarity away.
She watched her hand shaking violently as she pulled out the key, put it in the ignition, and started the Audi.
“Before you drive, I want you to understand. If this gun goes off… there will be nothing left of your head. Trust me, I know this. Understand?”
JJ nodded her head, with the vision of a closed casket at her funeral because her head was missing. Then an odd thought struck her: Just who would be at her funeral?
The ice-cold voice cut through her thoughts. “Put it in drive, head to 405. Stay in the speed limit and no funny business. There are worse things than having no head. Understand?”
JJ nodded as her hands had trouble gripping the steering wheel.
“Miss Jones, I want to hear you say it,” commanded the voice.
“Y—yes, Sir,” she sputtered.
“It’s Simo. Now drive and flip your visor up.”
JJ did as ordered. With a trembling hand, she put the Audi into gear and headed out of the parking lot.
She made a left turn on Wilshire and headed toward the 405 freeway.
Slowly, as she drove, her mind was starting to come to.
She suddenly wanted to scream at the man behind her and ask him why he was going to kill her.
With all the resolve she could muster, she decided she might as well know why.
“E—excuse me, Mr. Simo…” She heard the huge man sigh and his icy voice was gone, replaced by a nonchalant tone.
“Miss Jones, you want to know why I am here with a gun pointed at your lower back, yes?”
Startled by his reply, she nodded.
“This is my line of work. As to why? You already know why.”
JJ shuddered. The man’s voice was so uncaring and bereft of compassion that the Audi’s interior felt twenty degrees colder. “How much?” she managed to squeak out.
“One hundred thousand.”
“I—I can’t even match half that…” Again, she heard him sigh.
“Miss Jones, right now you gonna either be angry or start begging. Angry is going to hurt you, begging takes away your dignity. Understand?”
“Yes,” she squeaked.
“Good visit with your momma?”
“What? Oh. No, not really,” she replied and felt her hot tears streaming down her face.
“Her mind, eh?”
“S—she barely remembers me anymore.” She began sobbing as she continued. “I—I guess she won’t be missing me…”
“Least she told you she loves you.”
JJ’s eyes snapped open wide. She looked in her rearview mirror; she was only able to make out his huge outline. “H—how do you know that?”
“I bugged you at the airport.”
“You were the guy who dumped my purse!” she exclaimed.
“Never let a strange man put things into your purse, Miss Jones.”
“Now you t—tell me…” she retorted and quickly wiped her cheeks with her damp sleeves. She heard the big man sniff the air.
“Better late than never… did you pee yourself, Miss Jones?”
She nodded and felt more tears rolling.
“It happens.”
For the next several minutes, JJ drove in silence. When the interchange neared, she spoke up. “Uh… north or south?”
“Head home, Miss Jones.”
Her knuckles went white from gripping the steering wheel as she dared ask, “Is that where you are going… going to do it?”
“No.”
“Why not?” she blurted out. She followed it with, “Sorry.”
“Have to make it look right. Just disappearing makes too many questions… besides, we have an audience watching us.”
She scanned about, then looked in the rearview mirror. Far back behind her was a lone pair of headlights. They shined bluish, like from an expensive car. “Is that Joel back there?” She nearly jumped out of her seat as the man’s laugh boomed out.
“Miss Jones, you know Joel Miller better than that. He thinks he is smart by hiring another crew to make sure I do my job.”
“Oh. Mr. Simo… I—I’m not begging here. I—I have to ask…”
“If you can pay me off?”
“Yes!”
“No. And call me Simo.”
She felt herself slump, then anger flared, and an idea formed in her mind. “Simo, can I contract you to kill Joel Miller?” Nothing but silence. “Simo?” she asked, looking into the mirror. “I have ten thousand dollars at home I got from Ari Ascher. I have more in my retirement…”
More silence. She began to panic. Did she upset him and now he was going to hurt her? “I—I’m sorry if I upset you…” She watched his outline and it seemed like he was holding his hand up to his ear as if he was listening to something. “Simo?” she squeaked.
“Miss Jones, shut up… not mad. Just drive,” he hissed.
She watched him in the mirror as they passed by construction that had huge lights beaming on the freeway. He was really good-looking for sure, his nose was prominent and his dark eyes were looking at her, but he was concentrating on something else. His voice made her jump.
“Miss Jones, I will be talking out loud. No noise and no stupid shit.”
She nodded. After a few moments, the man named Simo began speaking in a different language…
seemingly to no one. She did get a glimpse of black surgical gloves on his ham-sized hands.
There was an icy quality to his voice… no, it was more like an ice dam ready to break under intense pressure.
Maybe this was a good thing for her. She listened closely, hoping to glean something she could understand. Nothing. Then his conversation ended.
“No, Miss Jones, Joel Miller is my employer. It is like biting the hand that feeds you. But I’ll take your ten thousand as your payment to make it painless.”