The Assassin
I leaned my shoulder against the plexiglass wall of the phone booth as the dial tone hummed in my ear. Tiny knots tightened with every ring.
Rarely did Ares request a call. He preferred face-to-face meetings to avoid our voices on potential recordings. Phone calls were reserved for emergencies. The few we did always bore bad news about one of the others he had stashed in his jacket. A disappearance, an apprehension - a death.
When I was younger, he used to frame the news as a warning. That the same thing could happen to me if I wasn’t careful.
Now, he told me for the sole purpose of keeping me in the loop. As his highest ranked worker, and likely successor, it was my job to keep track of the others below me. While we may not work together often - or at all in some cases - it was important to know who was alive and who wasn’t.
A raspy cough finally answered after a few rings. Ares cleared his throat, trying to wipe away the cracks in his throat. “I’m in the hospital,” he said, not bothering with greetings.
My brows rose. “What?” I asked, my concern showing more than I intended. “Are you alright? What happened?”
“Nothing happened. Karma is just catching up to me.” He coughed again. “Doctors are running tests. They think something’s wrong with my lungs.”
“Where are you? Do you need me to-”
“No,” he cut me off. “Don’t come. I’ll be fine. Just didn’t want you to worry if things were quiet on my end for a few days.”
“Worry? Do you think I like you that much?”
He chuckled. “You like those paychecks, don’t you? Just dropped the last one into your account. The buyer was so pleased with the outcome that they paid a little extra.”
“It was my girl’s idea.”
“The new one?”
“Mhm.”
“Well, I’ll be damned,” he mused. “She must be coming along well, then.”
“Yeah, she is. I’ve been really impressed with her lately.”
“Well, when can I meet her? I’d like to see if this impression is coming from her skills or her looks.”
I rolled my eyes. “When you’re medically cleared and rested, we can set something up.”
“Should I book a fancy restaurant? Wear a nice suit and tie? You know it’s not every day, I meet one of the girlfriends.”
“Don’t stress over all that right now. Just focus on getting better.”
“I will,” he promised.
“Alright,” I said, pulling the phone away from my ear. I was about to hang it back up on the silver rack when his voice came through the speaker again.
“Mateo,” he called.
My brows came together as I placed the phone back against my ear. One of the main rules of calls was to never use names, places or assignment information. Why the hell was he breaking one? My fingers tightened around the neck of the phone as I shot back a short response.
“I put you down as my emergency contact,” he said. “Used your pager number. If anyone contacts you, pretend you’re my son.”
I opened my mouth to ask more questions, but knowing Ares, he wasn’t going to answer any of them. Especially if they required him to be vulnerable. I learned that a long time ago. “Okay,” I said, swallowing the words I really wanted to say.
There was a click, and then the line went dead. The high-pitched howling filling the silence reminded me of the deafening sound of a flatline. So soft yet so loud.
I stood there for a few moments, stuck underneath the novel stones laying on my chest. They were pushing me underneath the ocean of emotions I kept hidden away. Not deep enough to drown, but not high enough to easily catch my breath.
I wasn’t a stranger to the anxiety of the unknown. After losing my whole family, I almost drowned in it. I had to learn, quickly, how to keep up with the waves - to swim through them rather than fight against them. What had been difficult before came easier now.
Whatever is going to happen will happen, and there’s nothing I could do about it. It is what it is.
I hung the phone on the hook and stepped out of the phone booth. The cool breeze brushed against my face as I walked down the sidewalk towards the apartment complex.
My hand slipped into my pocket and grasped the cell sitting inside. My fingers itched to take it out, text Maria, and let her know what was going on. But, I didn’t know if she would care.
Ares had never been anything to her but the owner of the collars on our neck. And while she could break free at any time, she didn’t because of me. Because of what she thought she owed me.
I remember our conversation about retirement and the soft, quiet life she wanted to live when she left this life behind.
I wondered if she’d take it once Ares stepped down and I took up the mantle.
Hell, being the handler was a promotion with a little less work.
Rather than being in the field, I’d be the one working behind the scenes, managing jobs and keeping the others in check.
I could live a different life while doing that. Get a house on the beach. Open a little store selling knick knacks or some shit. Watch the sunset glisten over the water every night with a drink in my hand and Simone’s head on my shoulder.
It’d be nice - not having to hide in the shadows all the time.
I unlocked the door to the apartment and followed the scent of hot pizza to the living room.
Simone was in the same place I’d left her: cross-legged on the floor, a half-eaten slice of pizza in one hand and a pen in the other.
A plethora of neon sticky notes, documents, and notebooks filled to the brim with cursive surrounded her.
I leaned my shoulder against the side of the doorway and tried to imagine her the way she was when we were in Turks and Caicos.
The glow of her sun-kissed brown skin. The sunlight in her eyes. The carefree smile on her lips.
Happiness had found her in the little moments. I wanted to bring it to her in all of them.
Simone glanced up from her work, noticing my presence. “Hey, you’re back,” she said, offering me a small smile. “What did your handler want?”
“Nothing,” I lied. “Just checking in.” I nodded at the notes. “Did you finish picking out all the agents associated with Vasquez and your father?”
Simone stared at me for a moment, noticing the shield I’d put up.
Her lips tugged downward as she turned her attention back to the notebook at her side.
“Mostly,” she said. “Right now, I’ve got about seven names including my godfather.
I know all of them. They were all colleagues or bosses of my father’s. ”
I took my place back in the empty spot amongst the notes beside her. “You sound surprised.”
“I know I shouldn’t be by this point, but…
” She shook her head. Her fingers trailed over the edges of the paper where the names were written.
“Some of them babysat me. Picked me up from school if my parents were working late. Showed up to the house when we had Superbowl parties. They all even attended his funeral. I don’t understand how they could make their tears look so real. ”
I leaned forward to peck a kiss on her shoulder. “Because it’s something a heart like yours could never do. Remember, they’re snakes, Simone; they adapt to whatever skin benefits them at any given moment.”
“Yeah,” she murmured, solemnity still clinging to her voice. She blinked away the moisture forming in her eyes and looked back at me. “Here,” she said, shoving her half-eaten slice towards my lips. “You’ve barely eaten today.”
I opened my mouth and took a bite of the pizza.
Simone watched me chew, her eyes softening with an emotion I couldn’t name.
She raised her hand to my mouth and wiped tomato sauce off the corner with her thumb.
Her hand lingered on my face, her clean fingers caressing my jaw.
“You know you can talk to me,” she said.
“You don’t have to be strong for the both of us all the time. ”
“I know.” I leaned in to kiss her. “And I will when I’m ready.”
Simone kissed me again, this time our lips lingering against each other in slow, lazy kisses.
At times like this, I wished I could kiss her all the time. Her lips were so lush, so soft, so sweet. If time worked differently, if our lives weren’t so busy, I don’t think I’d ever stop.
Simone gave me a smile as she pulled away. Her eyes studied my face again, taking advantage of the guard I’d let down. Her expression dimmed as she caught a glimpse of what was hiding behind it.
“So, do you have any ideas for the next name on the list?” I asked, changing the subject before she could try to pry again.
“Yeah,” she said, her smile growing wider. “And I think you’re going to like them.”