The Hitman's Last Job (3 page)
Read The Hitman's Last Job Online
Authors: Max Freedom
over to the doorway of the bathroom and thought about taking a
shower. It would be the first time she had bathed privately in her
whole life. Her father always made her keep the door open but now
she’d be able to finally enjoy the warmth of the water on her skin
like the way she was supposed to. She leapt up with a sense of joy
in her heart. It was amazing what little acts of freedom could do
to you.
She walked
into the bathroom she saw that there was no lock. She hesitated for
a second worried her captor would come back at any moment and find
her naked. But then she reasoned that he could have raped her in
her own bed back home if he wanted to. He could have taken
advantage of her when she was tied up but he chose to sleep upright
in a rickety chair instead of sharing a bed with her. Something in
her gut told her she was safe. She pulled off her coat and turned
on the hot water.
CHAPTER 4
Carl pulled
into the diner and saw a familiar vehicle. It was Lucas’ Dodge
Viper, it had to be. No one else around here gave much love to that
ostentatious shade of yellow. As he parked nearby he saw him, one
of the Don’s cronies. He was leaving the diner with a coffee, a
donut and that smirk of satisfaction he never washed off. Despite
the fact that Carl tried to stay hidden Lucas noticed him
immediately!
“
Carl! Buddy, how’s it goin?”
“
Good….yeah…. Good,”
“
Hey, you don’t look so great. Rough night?” he asked before
realizing what he said. “Oh yeah! Of course! That hit over on the
south side. That god damn rat bastard Tommy, it was comin’ to him
alright,” Lucas chewed on his donut for a moment in thought. “Say,
let me get ya breakfast,”
“
Oh…No it’s cool… thanks. I can’t stay long,”
for a second. “Well at least let me walk you in,”
“
Ok,” Carl relented.
being paranoid but he couldn’t shake the feeling this young
associate of the Don was trying to keep an eye on him. They walked
into the simple diner and Carl ordered two breakfasts and two
coffees. The men sat in a nearby booth while they waited.
“
So…. Was it messy?” Lucas asked while sipping on his coffee.
“I mean like… loadsa blood?” He was speaking so glibly he could
have been talking about baseball or making an omelette.
“
It was yeah… But nothing too bad,” Carl thought back to the
incident and was disgusted with himself for realizing that he
couldn’t actually remember what Thomas Martin’s body looked like
after he shot him in the head. He’d been too preoccupied with the
girl…and too used to the job.
“
And his daughter? Such a shame she had to go too,”
“
Yuh… It’s always bad when it’s a lady,” Carl tried to talk
calmly.
“
Sure is,”
“
But seriously that Tommy,” Lucas swallowed the last bite of
his donut and licked his fingers. “Was a real lowlife… a proper
cunt,”
“
I can’t say I knew him,”
“
Well ain’t that a blessing,” Lucas laughed.
“
What did he do that was so bad anyway?”
“
Always chasin’ something that doesn’t belong to him, he might
have been alright before he got addicted to whatever the fuck he
was addicted to. Got caught drink drivin’ and when the cops pulled
him over he was carrying a shipment of the Don’s cash… We think he
squealed,”
“
Jesus! That’s heavy!”
“
Sure was! And it was 100k too….not exactly pocket
change,”
“
What a dope,” was all Carl could say as he thought about the
girl’s father. Slowly a little piece of the picture was slotting
into place as he caught a glimpse into the girl’s family
life.
“
Dope ain’t even half of it. That man beat his daughter Anna
black and blue her whole life…. Such a shame, she never really had
a chance,”
back to the bruises on her shins and the way she acted so demure
and delicate.
“
Your order, Sir,” a waitress interrupted them and the two men
looked up almost offended at her intrusion.
“
Thanks,” Carl said flatly.
“
Well, I better let you get back to your day. We should catch a
beer soon,”
“
Sure!” Carl lied. He didn’t like fraternizing with the mob
unless he really had to.
walked back out to their cars and drove away.
That was
weird… Carl thought to himself. Lucas had never been so friendly
before. He hoped he wasn’t on to him. But then how could he be? He
arrived back at the motel and felt hungry as he caught the smell of
bacon and warm bread on the seat beside him. He couldn’t wait to
eat but first…pain meds.
~
Anna was
enjoying the hot water as it ran through her hair. It warmed her
mind as well as her body and she couldn’t believe that such a
simple daily chore could be so enjoyable if it was done alone. She
had to admit though that the motel bathroom was a rather slimy and
dirty room. As she looked around she noted the mould on the walls,
the lime scale on the taps and the hole in the ceiling. Then she
noticed something else. Something metallic and precious glimmered
through the steam on the side of the sink. It looked like a
necklace.
Anna reached
out to look closer and saw that she was looking at dog tags. The
name said Carl Reiner. Now she knew who he was! Or at least she had
something to call him by. Suddenly she could hear the sound of the
bedroom door opening and she placed the dog tags back before
jumping in the shower again. A gentle knock sounded from the
door.
“
You still hungry?”
“
Starving!,”
“
Sure,”
grateful that he didn’t just barge into the bathroom unannounced.
In fact he had been more polite to her in the last twenty seconds
than her father had ever been. She dried herself quickly and
wrapped a towel around her body.
“
Thanks for breakfast!” she smiled as she exited the
bathroom.
“
Haha!”
“
What are you laughing at?” Anna seemed perplexed.
laughing and shook his head. “I just killed your father and
kidnapped you and you’re just standing there in a towel thanking me
for some bacon,”
She suddenly
felt silly and childish and sat back down on the bed sadly. She
didn’t realize she was doing anything wrong.
“
Look,” Carl took a mouthful of his sandwich. “I didn’t mean to
poke fun at ya, it’s just strange that’s all. Don’t ya
think?”
“
Well yeah….. but… I was just being polite,” she began to
nibble on the crust of her breakfast nervously.
remembered what Lucas had said about her father.
“
So… I’m guessing your old man wasn’t such a nice guy
then?”
“
You could say that again….”
“
You don’t miss him do ya?”
“
Nuhuh…” she shook her head.
her eat hungrily and could see her frail body as the towel hung
limply from her.
Meanwhile Anna
was thinking back to the dog tags. “So you’re military?” she hit
out.
“
That obvious?” Carl smiled and Anna loved the sight of his
happy face. He obviously had fond memories of his service
days.
“
Yeah I’d say pretty obvious. The backpack, the hair…the dog
tags in the bathroom you left behind with your name on,” she
smirked. “Rooky mistake,” she giggled.
believe how stupid he’d been. She could have escaped and told the
police his name. He was sleepy and sloppy, and he’d fucked up.
“
Why didn’t you run? You could have escaped and told a cop that
Carl Reiner had held you captive,”
“
Yeah but you were comin’ back right? You said you were coming
back. I was waiting for you,”
so innocent and naïve to Carl’s ears. They were so peculiar and
sad. It was as if she didn’t want to leave, that she wasn’t afraid
of him at all but instead was rather attached. Like she had
transitioned from her father to him in one slick move and wasn’t
looking back. He didn’t realize Stockholm Syndrome could develop so
quickly. He had to make a decision fast…either kill her or dump her
somewhere where she could get help.
“
Well….” He began to choose his words carefully. “Is there not
somewhere you’d rather be?”
for a moment and then shook her head. “Nope. I mean… I don’t have
anywhere else,”
“
What about friends, other family members?”
“
I wasn’t allowed friends and no… no family. They all left us
in the end,”
Jesus what have I got myself into?
Carl cursed himself. If he killed her he wouldn’t have this
dilemma but he just couldn’t do it. She was so sweet, so fragile
and docile. He wanted to envelope her in clean clothes and hugs and
tell her everything would be alright.
“
Are you not even a little sad your father’s dead?”
“
Nah,” she finished her sandwich and tossed the empty wrapper
in the trash.
“
You don’t even wanna know WHY he died?”
“
He was a son of a bitch. I’m guessing that’s why,” she
spat.
“
Well yeah, I mean, from what I heard he wasn’t the greatest
but still… he was your old man,”
“
I’m glad he’s gone and I have you to thank,” Anna’s face
turned from childish to churlish in a split second as she
remembered her childhood with anger. “That man didn’t know how to
be a father. Each night of my life I prayed before I went to sleep
and I prayed that he couldn’t touch me again. I prayed that God
would kill him and set me free and you know what? He answered my
prayers. He set me free and he brought you into my life to give me
wings. I’ll never grieve over that asshole. If that makes me a bad
person then fine but I had time to think when I lay here all tied
up last night. And I thought of you and how grateful I am. Carl
from the bottom of my heart I thank you… I thank you for putting an
end to my misery,” she had worked herself up into a frenzy of anger
and her cheeks raged red.
aback and sat in his seat with a blank expression on his face and
his mouth wide open. Was this a trick? Or could someone really hate
their own father that much?
“
He really hurt you that bad?”
“
Like you wouldn’t believe, since I was nine years
old,”
realized what she meant and decided to drop the subject.
CHAPTER 5
Don Angelo De
Lorenzo was relaxing in the busy restaurant. His pockmarked skin
shone with oil under the dim lamp light and his hair was slicked
back immaculately. He was devouring a bowl of lobster bisque with
his rubbery lipped mouth.
“
Hey, you know who I saw this morning?” asked Lucas.
“
Who?” Angelo didn’t bother looking up from his
food.
“
That Carl guy…. You know the Navy Seal,”
“
I know who Carl is,” Angelo said angrily. “What about
it?”
“
Well…. I dunno he was just like…real shifty,”
“
Shifty?”
“
Yeah! Like all weird….”
“
Yeah well he’s a bit of a weird guy. These military types are
comin’ back from the middle east with all sortsa problems these
days,”
“
No nothin’ like that, I mean he seemed nervous talking, kinda
eager to get away. And when I mentioned Tommy’s daughter he started
blushin’. Went as red as that lobster there,” Lucas nodded to the
almost empty bowl.
“
Oh yeah? You think somethin’s goin’ on?”
“
I dunno… I mean maybe,” Lucas chewed on a bread stick and took
a sip of wine. “I just can’t put my finger on it,”
“
It’s probably nothing,” the Don shrugged as he focused on his
food.
“
But you know what? He ordered two breakfasts… but he was there
alone,”
“
So what?” the Don wiped his mouth with a napkin. “He’s
probably a hungry guy!”
“
Yeah but he didn’t go home. I followed him for a little bit.
He pulled into the motel off the freeway on the south side, only a
few miles from Tommy’s place,”
“
Oh yeah?” Angelo’s eyes widened and he scowled. “I wonder why
he’d do that….” The cogs in his mind started whirring. “He sure was
slow gettin’ to mine last night,”
“
Yeah, and I just can’t trust the guy. I reckon he’s up to
something,”
“
We’ll see…” Angelo swept back his hair. “I want you to go out
there to the motel. Tell me what you find and be quiet about it.
Don’t go knocking on any doors or nothin’,”
“
Sure… I’ll be in touch,” Lucas threw a 50 dollar note on the
table as he left.
Carl and Anna
were lying on the bed side by side. She felt the impulsive urge to
cuddle into him but couldn’t’ bring herself to do it. What if he
got the wrong idea about her? But over the course of the morning he
had softened to her more than he thought was possible. She reminded
him so much of someone he knew when he was younger. Someone he
couldn’t help anymore.
“
There’s a sad look in your eyes,” said Anna.