The Hitman's Last Job (12 page)
Read The Hitman's Last Job Online
Authors: Max Freedom
“
Hmmmm….” Jerry’s mind went blank. “I wonder where the fuck
they went,”
“
Well if you don’t mind me havin’ a say. I have a brother in
law in St Louis. Drove down there plenty of times. If he’s not
hidin’ in a field, which I suppose he’s not, then he’s probably
wondered into one of those quaint motels on the edge of
town,”
“
Are there many near where the car was found?” Jerry asked
desperately, his excitement was palpable.
“
Hang on,” frantic typing sounded. “Yuh… well four miles away.
A little place called Evergreen Motel,”
“
Thanks Callahan. I owe you one!” and Jerry hung up
abruptly.
heavy feeling swept through the detective as he became riddled with
guilt. Something told him this Carl was a good guy. A military boy
that got himself in with the wrong crowd and he wished he’d never
said anything. But what could he have done? He reached into the top
drawer again and pulled out a hip flask. He sipped from it gingerly
and felt the burn as the liquor washed down his gullet. As soon as
the winter was up he was going on holiday.
~
The sun was
shining bright through the window of the little VW Beatle. Anna had
seen one of these cars once in a movie, but she’d never been in
one. She soon realized it was a rather disappointing experience.
The seats were hard and each tiny pebble that went under the wheels
felt like a bolder. Still, she was appreciative of the ride and she
looked down to her feet in her new sneakers and felt the blisters
throb.
She looked
over to Carl and saw him sleeping heavily. His eyelids were
twitching as he dreamt and she wondered what was going through his
mind.
“
Gerald?” she broke the silence.
“
Yuh?”
“
Do you always pick up hitch hikers?”
“
Hmmmm… not always. But I’m always on the road so maybe every
week or so I’ll pick up someone nice like yourself and help them
out,”
“
That’s real nice of you,” Anna smiled in the rear view
mirror.
“
Oh really it’s nothing. It’s just what the scripture teaches,”
and he smiled happily.
met anyone so innocent and carefree before and figured he’d never
had a bad experience in his life.
“
So do you travel for work?” she asked.
“
Uhuh… I’m a good old fashioned Bible salesman,”
“
You’re kidding? I didn’t know those actually
existed,”
“
Well,” Gerald shrugged. “Here I am,” and he smiled that goofy
grin again.
and friendly that Anna couldn’t help but be suspicious. She’d seen
enough horror movies in her lifetime to know how scenes like this
ended. She looked out to the desolate landscape and realized the
predicament of their situation. The sheer wild terrain all around
them and the sense of isolation, it terrified her.
“
You look like you’re contemplating something there?” Gerald
talked to her through the mirror.
“
Just that… Don’t you get lonely and frightened out here on the
open road?”
“
Frightened? No!” he laughed. “This is freedom. This is the
true spirit of America,”
churned over his words in her mind.
“
Have you always travelled alone?”
“
Oh no. No. I had a wife once. She used to come with me on all
my trips. But we were just married two years when the cancer took
hold of her. She died before I could make it home to say goodbye,”
the severity of his words however were not impacted on his
face.
smiling at Anna in the mirror as she turned towards Carl. Seeing
him beside her warmed her heart.
“
May I ask if you’ve been married long?” Gerald asked so
innocently that it made Anna blush.
“
Er… not that long at all,” she didn’t care to
elaborate.
“
Well ain’t that nice. You should appreciate every moment you
have together. You never know when you’ll have to say goodbye,” and
he looked to the sky as if he could see to heaven. “But everyone
waits up there for us when we have to go,”
“
Do you think everyone is reunited with their loved ones?” she
quickly felt terrified at the thought of being with her father for
all eternity.
“
Yeah I really do. The way I see it is that we are all in debt
to God and then person by person he makes us repay that debt.
That’s when it’s our time to go back,”
know what to say to that and she just looked out the window as the
trees passed by.
“
I don’t know if I like the sound of that,” she mumbled under
her breath.
Jerry was
trying his hardest to run up the stairs in the Don’s home but in
true Angelo style it was the longest and most exhausting staircase
Jerry had ever seen. He was sweating as he got to the top and he
had to stand for a moment to catch his breath. In the distance he
could hear the music of Frank Sinatra playing. He followed the
sound until he reached the door of Don Angelo’s office. Knocking
gently he waited for an answer. Silence. He knocked again.
“
Yuh, who is it?”
“
It’s Jerry, boss,”
“
Sure come in,”
the door he was instantly startled to see a young girl about twenty
years old emerge from under the Don’s desk. As she stood up he
could see she was only in her bra and panties.
“
Don’t mind her she was just leavin’” Angelo zipped up his
pants and leaned over his desk to pick up a cigarette.
scurried out the office and down the hallway, with a wad of cash
clutched in her hand.
“
Oh, I didn’t know you’d finally met someone. How romantic,”
the sarcasm was dripping from Jerry’s voice.
“
Don’t talk shit, Jerry, I’m not in the mood,”
“
Havin’ pecker troubles again boss? If you don’t mind me
askin’,”
“
Yuh… the doc said it’s on account of my weight but what the
fuck does he know? Anyway….” He lit his cigarette and exhaled. “You
got news for me?”
“
Sure have! Callahan tracked down Carl’s SUV to a quaint little
country road on the edge of St Louis,”
“
St Louis? What the fuck’s he doin’ there?”
“
And there’s somethin’ else. The car was on fire. I mean
literally burnt to cinders. But no bodies,”
“
The clever bastard…” Angelo sucked on his cigarette angrily.
“He thought he could lose us….”
“
I reckon he walked the four miles to a small truck stop on the
edge of town,” and Jerry rifled through his pocket to look for the
scrap of paper he’d written the name down on. “An Evergreen Motel…
that’s where I think he went,”
“
What’s with the motels? He seems to have a thing for
them,”
“
I reckon it’s where he keeps the girl,”
“
The girl…. Such a shame she got dragged into this,” Angelo
looked to the smoke drifting from his cigarette. “But too
bad,”
solemnly.
“
So… Call Jorge. I want the both of you out there immediately.
With a bit of luck you’ll find them both holed up in their new love
nest,”
“
On it boss,” and Jerry gave a thumbs up as he turned to
leave.
When Carl
finally woke up it was dark.
“
Shit… how long was I out?”
“
Pretty much all day,” Anna held onto his hand.
foggy as he looked out the window to figure out where they were. He
squinted into the darkness and Gerald saw his confused look.
“
We’re just comin’ up to Austin,” he announced.
“
Already?”
“
Yup… So your wife here has been telling me all about you being
a Navy Seal!”
Anna with a befuddled expression.
“
Wife?” he silently mouthed to her.
nervously and rolled her eyes.
“
Oh… yeah. Just a regular job you know,” he lied to end the
awkwardness.
“
Oh. Nonsense Sir. You’re a real hero,”
“
Thanks,”
“
So… Folks, where should I drop you off?”
“
Anywhere I guess,” Carl replied.
in silence until central Austin came into view. Anna thought it
looked like a charmingly modern yet clean kinda place. A place she
wished she had more time to explore, but as had become normality
over the last few days, they had to dash.
“
How about here?” Gerald asked as he pointed at an empty
parking spot.
“
Lovely,” and Gerald pulled in. “Well I guess it’s
goodbye,”
to Carl, he had that fierce look of control and determination that
she loved so much. He sensed her fear and held her hand
tightly.
“
We’ll be fine,” he whispered. “We’re nearly there,”
nodded.
“
Ok… Let’s go,”
out the car with Carl making sure he definitely had everything this
time. Gerald tipped his hat and smiled as they closed the doors and
thanked him profusely.
“
Good luck!” he waved and then he was gone.
disappeared to a pin point in the distance, and Anna wondered where
the night would take him.
“
It’s funny… meetin’ people like that. They’re the most
important person in your life for a little while and then they just
go,” Carl remarked.
“
I wonder what happens to them,” Anna was still looking into
the distance.
“
And I wonder if they think about us,” and Carl put his arm
around her.
on the cheek and swept her hair back behind her ear. He leant in
and kissed her cheek softly. She cuddled into him close and turned
to kiss him back. But then she pulled away. Carl felt her tension
and looked her in the eye.
“
What’s wrong?”
“
Now what? Another empty road… another night on the
run,”
“
I promise as soon as the night is over we’ll be hurrying our
way over to Mexico. We can get the first bus and we’ll be there in
no time,”
“
Hmmmm…..”
“
You don’t seem happy about that,”
“
I’m just scared….” and she cuddled back into him.
“
Come on… let’s go find somewhere for the night,”
“
Yeah, hopefully we can find a cheap motel around
here.!”
and looked to the briefcase of money under his arm.
“
I think I can do better than that,”
down the street until they arrived outside an old, opulent looking
hotel.
“
Wow, this must be five stars!” Anna looked up in
awe.
“
I think it is. Come on… we deserve a treat,”
entered the magnificent hallway, to be greeted by a concierge who
eyed them up somewhat suspiciously as they walked to the reception.
After convincing the arrogant girl at the desk that he could indeed
afford it he booked the most expensive suite they had, a penthouse
on the top floor. As the bellboy took them up in the elevator they
smirked to one another and burst out laughing the second they
walked out onto the top floor.
“
That girl…. With the bad smell under her nose,” Anna giggled.
“Her face when you just showed her all that cash,”
“
Yeah, I wish I’d taken a picture,” he held out the key as
their door approached. “I hope you’re ready. This should be really
special?” and he slid in the key card.
open the door the most spectacular scene was revealed. Anna gasped
as she looked around at the plush living area that looked out
through tall glass windows. Next she popped her head around the
bathroom door and squealed when she saw the Jacuzzi.
“
I’ve always wanted to sit in one of these!”
“
Ah you just want to sit on the bubbles,” he laughed and
tickled her in the ribs.
and squirmed under his touch and he picked her up and carried her
away.
“
You gotta see the bedroom,” he declared.
her through the suite before playfully tumbling her onto the
bed.
“
Oh my God. This bed is huuuuuuuuge!”
“
Yeah… King sizes are the best,”
“
We have loads of room to play,” Anna lay on her back and
flirtatiously opened her legs while she stared at him
seductively.
resist and jumped on top of her. Kissing her passionately he held
her tight as if he could never get enough. She wrapped her legs
around him and they pressed up against each other as if they never
wanted to let go. Eventually Carl broke away and glanced to the
phone.
“
What’s up?” Anna asked anxiously.
“
Fancy ordering room service?”
The two men
were in Jorge’s Buick as the night descended on them.
“
You ever been to St Louis?” asked Jorge.
“
Never, but I hear it’s a shithole,” Jerry answered
grumpily.