Halo #2
“How you doing little sugga, remember me?” Golden kneeled down to the six-year-old little girl playing in her backyard with her dolls.
Strange how the same brother of mine could be, a loose cannon can easily turn into a soft cloud on command. The Hashmi family seemed like a typical happy one. The white picket fence, a pretty daughter, nice car and living above middle-class ranking.
But there was more to it because Razvi and his wife Fajr made their money from being apart in a newborn smuggling ring. They worked with six other people who bought newborn babies from mothers or families who wanted to sell. Then, they sell the babies on the black market.
Razvi and Fajr have been doing outside work on their own and that’s not good for their other partners. We were hired to kill them and take their daughter Hiba to grandparents’ home who will raise her.
We took the job and I was glad we did because I needed to let out some stress. We were told to kill them let the Hashmi’s know why they were dying and kill them the best way we seem fit.
“Hi! You are my daddy’s nice friend with the puppy!” Hiba’s innocent smile and excitement when she saw Golden was cute.
He smiled back and took the puppy from behind his back. Hiba screamed in excitement and started petting the dog. Violet was our aunt’s teacup yorkie, Golden played the new neighbor who moved in on the corner house of the block two months ago.
Depending on how much a client paid us. We took jobs that meant we had to play certain pretend roles in our target’s life.
Golden was the best with his words, he could finesse anybody, so we knew having him play the new kind neighbor with a cute dog was best. Hiba was very familiar with him and did not panic.
“Violet missed you a lot so I figured I would bring her over for a visit. But I need you to promise me something. You must throw me and Violet a tea party. I heard you were the best on the block.”
“I am! Come on!” Hiba held Violet and Golden followed her to her playhouse.
As soon as he had her full attention, me and Greek made our way inside the house from the back door. Before we arrived on the block, I hacked into the neighborhood’s ring camera footage.
I manipulated the feed and a different image shown on the cameras. We arrived in a fake Comcast Xfinity working van and we parked in the driveway of the home. It was just our luck that the house had a tall privacy gate around it.
“I’ll take Razvi, you take his wife.” Greek told me.
The house had two floors, Razvi was on the first floor, and Fajr was on the second. I made my way upstairs and I could hear the TV coming from the master bedroom. The door was half closed. I pushed it open all the way, and her back was to me.
She was folding sheets with her yoga clothes on. I made sure to close the door all way and stayed where I was until she walked in the linen closet. While she did, I went and sat down on the edge of my bed holding my gun with the silencer on it.
Fajr dropped the laundry basket out of her hands when she saw me.
“You can scream but it won’t do any good. I wouldn’t run if I were you because we both know I’d kill you before you took a step.”
She held her breath and looked at me like I was her worse nightmare. Even though I was serene. Her complexion dropped and she turned pale, her eyes became wet and her mouth was dry.
I chuckled and said, “You must know who I am and why I’m here.”
“You’re one of the Stone brothers.” She said it so low that I barely heard her. The fear from her body circled the entire room.
“I am.” I responded.
“I-Is Razvi…our daughter---
“Habi is perfectly fine and will always be. Don’t you worry about her, no harm will go her way. Your mother and father will raise her and from what me and my brothers saw from them. She’ll have a great life, aside from her missing you and her dad.”
Her tears ran down her face. “Asad paid you to kill me and my husband?”
I nodded my head.
“That piece of shit started cutting our payout by half. Half! We have a lifestyle to maintain, a child to take care of. You let him know that I said I’ll reserve a seat next to him in hell.”
“I’ll let him know.” I went in my pocket and took out a mini Ziplock bag.
“You have a choice. You can take these two pills. In ten minutes, your heart will slow down and stop. It will appear to look like a heart attack and that will be the end of it. Or you can lay down on this comfortable bed, I’ll put a pillow over your face.
Then I’ll count to five and shoot you twice in the head. The choice is yours but whatever you decide. You should know your husband body will be next to yours which ever you decide.”
Fajr started crying harder and she picked up the picture of Hiba. I gave her a second because I am sure it was a lot to take in.
“I want it quick, so I pick option two.” She barely got the words out over her crying.
I got off the bed and gestured for her to lay down. I allowed him to keep a picture of her daughter. Fajr laid down with the picture close to her chest. I grabbed the pillow and before I covered her face she spoke.
“Don’t count out loud.”
“Got it.” I covered her face and held the pillow in place with my gun.