27. Killing Time
South
I don’t bother getting into more than my pajama shorts and a tank top, grabbing my straight razor from the toolbox to stuff in my shorts. By the time I get to the street he’s hauling ass toward town.
I shake my head and make my way to the restaurant, following the speed limit. What is it with that place? Is the food that good?
Good enough for a clandestine meeting with his biological father. Who’s also his boss. A man that owes him quite a bit already. From what I overheard he was also in Tera’s house. She won’t mind. I do. I’ll either lay out a few rules of behavior or kill him depending on how he acts with Shade.
I thought about continuing the sleeping act, as if I could have slept through that ringtone. Then a cold, familiar feeling started building inside. I don’t feel like he’s running away but I can’t shake the thought that if I don’t follow him he won’t be coming home.
I trust my gut more than anything. And it’s telling me that I’m going to break a few bans tonight. I should be giddy about that. Instead, I’m irritated at the interruption of my time with Shade. Not to mention he didn’t have permission to leave.
By the time I pull into the parking lot he’s already inside and several cars are in the lot. All the bland white SUVs the four assholes drive around. So subtle. Plus Shade’s black sports car.
The place looks closed. It’s after 2 a.m. so it isn’t surprising. And the asshole woke Tera up for this idiocy. You would think a man of his age would have more respect than that. I’ll be sure to check in with her tomorrow when I drop off her present.
That gut twinge keeps me in the truck with the lights off, waiting. For what I don’t know but something feels off. As long as I don’t interact with anything no one will see me. All they’ll get is an empty white truck off to the side like an abandoned vehicle
Two cars slowly pull into the lot with their lights off.
Melissa gets out of one, dressed like a movie version of a hitman and loaded for bear. She pauses in front of the vehicle and looks back as two men get out of the other car. Both dressed all in black and carrying an arsenal.
They talk for a moment, Melissa angrily gesturing around the building. It looks like good help is hard to find in this business. You’d think she would be used to stupidity after sleeping with the four assholes. I’m a little pissed one of them isn’t out here with her. Here’s hoping one of them is on the inside and will tip his hand. I’d like to do a clean sweep tonight if I can. Self-defense isn’t a ban.
They separate, each man going around the building on either side as Melissa goes through the front door. As if she could be stealthy in those heels. Tera would be embarrassed for the amount of time it takes her to pick the lock. No alarm though so she’d get points back for that.
I shake my head as I slip out of the truck. The day was so perfect and now I have to deal with this. I don’t mind it but I think Shade is going to remember this day very differently than I do.
I slip around the back with a casual walk and catch the first guy looking around the dumpsters. For what, I don’t know or care. He opens one of them and peers in. I silently walk up to his back, flick open the straight razor, and slit his throat in an easy motion.
He doesn’t have a chance to struggle, continuing to move as if nothing is wrong until he feels the blood pouring. While he’s reaching to find where it’s coming from I crouch and hook my arm around his thigh to lift, tipping him into the dumpster and closing the lid when I’m done.
I need to start exercising again. I’m sure staying in this town will require it. My back is already aching. Matthias owes so he can organize cleanup for the mess. I already plan on taking an aspirin and teaching a lesson after this.
I make my way around the building and find a rear entrance propped open. I pause and take in that stupidity before walking through. It’s like he’s asking me to kill him at this point.
It doesn’t take me long to catch up to him. I’m walking normally and he’s crouched with a submachine gun locked and loaded as he keeps steady and advances. Points for his skill at staying quiet but it seems like overkill.
He doesn’t notice me any more than anyone ever does. I crouch behind him and slice through his throat from one side to the other in an arc. Blood flicks away from the razor with the motion and I clamp my hand over his mouth to keep him quiet. Not that it matters much. I can hear Melissa yelling something, overriding any noise the guy could make with her dramatics.
I take the gun from him as he weakens and let him fall where he wants. He doesn’t even struggle, the fight washed out of him instantly. I set the gun next to him. I’ve never liked using them. The amount of noise is ridiculous.
It’s weird that neither one struggled. They weren’t expecting to see any action, which is stupid. There’s a room of supposedly deadly assassins in there. Shade’s skills aren’t in any doubt. I’ve seen his handiwork written piece by piece. The rest? Not so much.
I get to the doorway leading to the back room and prop myself against it to see what’s going on.
The table that I’ve been at exactly once before is full. Andi and her three boyfriends on the left with Shade next to them. The four assholes are turned in their seats to face Melissa dead ahead with an older man on the other side of Asian descent. Then the right side of the table has a man in a full suit that looks eerily like a long haired, dark eyed version of Shade two guys on his right and one on the left. A giant bodyguard stands behind his seat.
An assassin family reunion.
No one notices me as I listen for a moment. I don’t want them to see me so they won’t. Tera calls it the super sneak power. My magical ‘gift’ to make me an efficient super villain. No one sees me and cameras don’t record me. I call it ridiculous stupidity, faulty wiring, and Tera interference. We all have our methods.
“He was guilty,” Shade says in a cold voice. He should sound monstrous by now. My irritation with him is growing.
“Bullshit!” Melissa screams hysterically. The gun she had pointed at Andi is now aimed at Shade.
“We always have proof, Melissa,” Ira says with a tense jaw. “We don’t do anything without a kill order.”
No matter what her reasons are for this stupidity she’s no longer valid as a breathing person. The second her gun started swinging toward Shade I started moving.
I knock the arm with the gun up and she reflexively pulls the trigger. While she’s trying to figure out why she’s shooting the ceiling I slice her throat. My eyes meet Shade’s over her shoulder and my gut tightens into a twisted shape I don’t recognize.
For once the clean kill doesn’t feel like enough. I picture Shade’s closed off expression as he stared down the barrel of the gun and decide she owes a little more.
I slice again across her throat and hold her arm up to cut under her armpit. Again over the soft skin of the bend in her arm and flick it down the inside of her forearm. By the time I’m done she’s gurgling at my feet, the only thing holding her up is my grip on her arm. I let go and watch as she dies. It doesn’t take long but somehow this is one of the most satisfying kills I’ve ever had.
“Baby?”
I glance at Shade’s stunned face and raise an eyebrow.
Andi heaves and turns away, two of her boyfriends following suit while the last one gapes. Several guns are pointed at me in a pathetic display of unity between the four assholes. Everyone else is frozen in place staring at me. I turn to the older man gaping at me.
“The other two are dead. The hallway and the dumpster outside. You’re cleaning it up because you owe for waking Tera in the middle of the night like a damn heathen. None of this will happen again,” I inform Matthias. He stares at me like I’m a mirage.
I turn to Shade with my dead gaze and look him over. He seems fine so I let it go. But he’s not getting off easy for this little stunt.
“You get embarrassed easily so your punishment for this will be at home.”