The Assassin
Have you lost your mind? Maria signed, her anger screaming through the silence.
The sight of blood on my clothes already set alarms off in her head, but when I asked her boyfriend who was conveniently sitting beside her on the couch to hack the hospital security cameras and erase the footage of me, she absolutely lost it.
Why the hell would you save her? She continued, her fingers moving as fast as they would go. Those bozos were doing you a favor!
“They weren’t going to kill her,” I said, my voice tight. I could still envision the greed in their eyes and hear the grime in their voices. Killing Simone was the last thing on their minds.
Why did that bother you?
“Maybe he still has some morals,” Miles spoke up. He was sitting on the couch, listening to us argue while he typed away on his laptop. “I mean, he couldn’t just sit back and watch them defile her.”
Maria turned her daggers to Miles.
He flinched under the intensity of her stare and turned his eyes back to his computer screen. “I was just saying…” he murmured.
“He’s right,” I said, offering him a nod in thanks for his help. “I have a tolerance for a lot of terrible things, but not that.”
Or you care about her. Maria stated, her hands unwavering. Admit it: you couldn’t stand the idea of anyone else’s hands on her.
I scoffed. “You’re being ridiculous.”
Am I? Every night this week, where did you go? What have you been surveilling?
“I’ve been working on a-“
A plan? There is no fucking plan! You don’t really want to kill her anymore. You’re stalking her for a different reason now. You’re just too afraid to admit it to yourself!
“I’m not afraid of anything.”
A few hours ago you were. Her eyes softened. And I wish I could tell you it’s alright to care about her. But whether you like it or not, she’ll be a threat to us until she’s dead. You can’t keep stalling on the inevitable. If Ares finds out-
“Ares, Ares, Ares,” I grumbled. “Is that all you ever think about?”
No. I think about what he’s capable of doing to you. She stepped closer. You’ve told me the stories. I’ve seen some of the scars. I just…I don’t want him to hurt you again.
“I wish I could promise you he won’t. But, so long as he doesn’t find out, we don’t have to worry about it.”
“Uh, guys,” Miles said. His eyes were on the television that was playing the news.
On the screen was B-roll footage of an alleyway, the entrance marked up with yellow tape and blue lights bouncing off the brick walls.
An anchorwoman stood in front of it, speaking into her mic.
“Authorities report four members of the infamous Crimson Vultures were found dead here in this alley. All of them suffered gunshot wounds to the back of the head. Police have no suspects yet, but have reason to believe this might’ve been a retaliation attack from another rival gang. ”
“Shit,” I muttered.
You didn’t clean up? Maria signed, her face falling in exasperation.
“I didn’t have time. Blood was pouring from the back of her head.”
And you didn’t think to go back after you dropped her off at the hospital?
“They’re criminals,” I said with a shrug. “The police aren’t going to look that hard into their deaths.”
Until they question her and realize a fed was involved in this. Sighing, she stepped away from us and ran her hands through her hair. Her feet started moving without permission, carrying her back and forth across the floor.
Miles rose from his seat. He walked up to her and ceased her pacing with a simple touch of his hand on her shoulder. “Relax,” he whispered as he pulled her close. “We’ll figure this out.”
She shrank in his embrace, allowing all of her walls to crumble. Her breathing steadied, and some of the tension fogging up the room lifted. For a moment, there was hope all would be well again.
Then both of our pagers went off, mine on my hip and hers on the table, their vibrations echoing through the room like alarm bells.
We didn’t need to look to know what that meant.
Ares wanted to see us.