Read The Hitman's Last Job Online
Authors: Max Freedom
The Hitman's Last Job (7 page)
“
Fuckin’ teenagers,” Angelo grumbled. “Anyhow, everyone’s here
right?”
around the table and saw his most beloved henchmen around him. They
all nodded respectfully.
“
Good…Well I’m sure you all know why I’ve brought you here
today?”
nodded.
“
It seems as though we have a real problem. One I’m quite
frankly surprised to have,” he shook his head in
disappointment,”
“
I have to say, I’m as shocked as you are,” Jerry leaned in.
“That Carl was a good kid. Knew him for years I did…. And Lucas was
like a brother to me,”
“
Yuh…it’s always the quiet ones you have to look out for,”
explained Angelo solemnly. “So what’s the plan? What do we know
about him?”
“
Well he’s an ex-Navy man,” one of the young ones said from the
bottom of the table while flicking through his phone. “And pretty
much a loner. Only 4 friends on Facebook, no Tumblr account, not
even an Instagram. Has a Twitter but hasn’t posted anything in
nearly six months and that was just a retweet,”
“
I literally have no idea what you just said kid,” Angelo
laughed. “Again in English?”
“
What I mean to say is that this Carl guy has no online
presence, and no social life that we know about. So unless he has
some sort of underground, super-secret life then he kinda flies
under the radar don’t he?”
“
Hmmm…..” Jerry was deep in thought. “What about those Facebook
friends? Anyone we know?”
“
Hang on let me check,” the young man flicked through his phone
furiously before finding the details. “Ah! Got’em. Well three of
the guys are Navy too but are still in service so we can’t get
close to them. But the last guy….it looks like his old
man!”
“
Ah! So we have a start,” smiled the Don as he leant forward,
and placed his fingers together in thought.
interrupted with a plate of food and Angelo looked irritated but
then was quickly pleased when he saw the pile of fries.
“
So…internet kid,” he spoke with a mouth full of food. “You get
me the father’s address and you,” he pointed to a small and silent
man with sinister eyes and a nervous twitch. “Jorge, you’re coming
with us,”
grinned maniacally.
~
It was early
morning. Carl was walking through the streets of the little town on
the edge of St Louis while constantly looking over his shoulder.
The anxiety was unbearable and although he knew that it was
unlikely the Don and his men would know where he was, he knew that
it wouldn’t be long until they did. He turned around to check he
wasn’t being followed one last time and then swerved into a women’s
clothing store. If he was seen buying women’s clothes they’d know
he had Anna and he’d be a dead man for sure. He felt the ridiculous
need to dive in amongst the clothes racks but tried to retain some
composure. He quickly picked out some basic underwear, half a dozen
comfortable looking t-shirts, sweaters and a few pairs of leggings
before taking them up to the counter.
“
Oooh is it someone’s birthday?” the attractive sales assistant
asked as she began to ring through the clothes.
“
My girlfriend’s,” he lied smoothly and the word stuck in his
head and sounded strange as he said it. It didn’t seem weird to
think of Anna as his girlfriend but it was strangely
comforting.
slightly dizzy as he paid and left the store. Things had moved so
fast and so dramatically that he felt as though he was dreaming. He
raced back to the motel and found Anna watching TV with a scared
look on her face.
“
What is it?” he said as he placed the bags down beside
her.
tumbling down over her pale naked body and she was staring wide
eyed at the television. She pointed weakly to the screen.
“
Look,” she whimpered. “Do you think it’s a warning of some
kind?”
beside her. A news report was blaring loudly and he could see the
female reporter standing in front of a burning building. Her words
hit him fast:
“
I’m standing here at the Sleep Eazy Motel in Chicago’s south
side, where a mysteriously set alight fire in the middle of the
night took the lives of 6 guests as they slept, and 2 members of
staff,”
hands begin to shake and he gripped the bedsheets to steady
himself.
“
This is more than a warning,” he grimaced. “This is a preview.
We need to move….and now,”
quickly set into motion as they packed up their belongings and Anna
threw on some clean clothes. She didn’t think that she had ever
worn new clothes in her life, she was always given her cousin’s
hand me downs. The feel of the new labels and freshness of the
fabric was new to her. She breathed in the smell as Carl closed to
door behind them. The TV was left on in the background and as they
ran across the parking lot Anna could still hear the news
reporter.
“
We’ve had many acts of arson in this state in recent years but
nothing on a scale like this. The police have declined to
comment,”
Jorge had got
the details from the internet kid and was now sitting in his Buick
while admiring his new shoes. He had a real penchant for snakeskin
boots and these were super fine. He bent down to graze his fingers
over the purple scales and they felt divine. Quickly turning his
attention back to the house he saw there was still no movement.
This was the boring part of the job, the waiting, the boredom. It
was a job of two worlds - either hectic, villainous excitement or
just waiting.
He flicked
open his lighter and lit a cigarette. Something about the way
Zippo’s burned always pleased him and he remembered the smell of
the motel walls from last night as they peeled down in flames
before his eyes. Arson wasn’t his favorite act of violence. He
thought it would maybe come second to slashing. He sat in his car
and remembered his childhood fondly; summers in Puerto Rico with
his grandparents, and cold winters in Chicago in a neighbourhood he
pretty much had free reign over.
One of his
favorite hobbies was to torch random people’s cars just to watch
the ensuing chaos. But that fun came to an end when he set fire to
a young mother’s VW as she jumped out for a moment to run an
errand. He hadn’t realized that her six month old son was in the
back fast asleep. He had to lay low after that even though the kid
survived but still…. He had gotten cocky and complacent, sloppy
even. After that he just stuck to abandoned buildings and stolen
vehicles, and as he got older the habit faded he only threw lit
matches for cash. It was a peculiar skill he was rather good
at.
In the wing
mirror he noticed an old, beaten up people carrier in that
particular shade of beige that only old folk like.
“
That must be him,” Jorge whispered to no one in particular as
he lit a cigarette.
out the blue smoke and watched it dance on the breeze. Across the
road an old yet athletic man was carrying in groceries from his car
while talking into an outdated cell phone. Jorge watched him from
the comfort of his car through his beady eyes and smiled as he
thought about what he’d do with him. He eventually tucked his
cigarette into his cars ashtray instead of flicking it out the
window – they weren’t finding his DNA on the crime scene - and
swaggered over the street. He pressed the doorbell. Silence. He
knew the old man was in there, he was just playing hard to get.
Reaching out a sweaty hand he pressed the doorbell again. Still
silence. Jorge soon tired of the old dude playing coy and he
knocked on the door loudly.
“
Who is it?” the old man called.
hear the panic in his voice. He obviously wasn’t used to visitors.
In his strongest Puerto Rican accent, he put on especially for
privileged white people, he playfully yelled:
“
Yo man! Girl Scouts! You wanna buy some cookies?”
immediately blustered into the hallway and Jorge could see him
through the blurred glass.
“
What do you want?” he was terrified but nevertheless tried to
stand his ground. “I have a gun you know?”
“
So do I,” came the glib reply from the Puerto Rican with the
dazzling smile. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” that
playful voice again.
“
I have no cash in the house!” was all the man could say to try
and placate the terror he was feeling.
“
Look man I don’t want your money. I just need to
talk,”
“
Please leave! Or I’m phoning the police!”
late. As he reached out to the phone that lay by the front door
Jorge had smashed in the glass with the handle of his gun and
unlocked the door. He instantly grabbed the man by his cardigan and
pushed him into the wall.
“
Don’t play games grandpa….”
“
What do you want?”
“
You’re Carl Reiner’s father ain’t ya?”
old man’s face turned pale and Jorge could see the fear in his
eyes.
“
Take that as a yes,” he put him back down on his feet. “So
what can you tell me about him? Is he here?”
“
No he’s not here. Hasn’t been in a long while,” his voice
shook with sadness.
“
Well you won’t mind if I take a look around then?” Jorge said
menacingly as he began to knock ornaments from the mantel piece and
books from the shelves.
enjoying himself and this was part of the interrogation process
that Jorge loved. The fear in people’s eyes as he violated their
personal space was priceless. But more than anything he loved the
way they looked so helpless. He glanced over to Reiner Senior who
wasn’t trying to stop him from trashing the place. Jorge walked
into the dining room and knocked a glass off the table like a
naughty child. It shattered loudly on the floorboards and Reiner
flinched at the noise. Jorge saw how scared he really was.
“
Look please….I don’t know what you want and I don’t know where
my son is. Haven’t seen him in years,”
“
Is that so?” Jorge could see honesty behind the old man’s
eyes. He knew he was telling the truth but still…. He wanted his
playtime.
the rope from the inside of his jacket, he wound the ends around
his hands while looking Reiner in the eye. Next he strode over and
quickly grabbed him by the arm and twisted it behind his back. The
old man screamed and grimaced in pain, but Jorge didn’t care. He
just pulled at the other arm and secured both wrists together.
Reiner made a pained and pathetic noise as he was dragged by his
shirt collar down the stairs into the basement.
It was a dark
yet strangely homely space filled with Reiner’s various hobby
crafts and old photographs. It wasn’t the usual dungeon that Jorge
was used to but it would do. He placed his captive in the corner
and tied the rope to a water pipe. He looked down to check that it
was tight enough and he saw that Reiner’s hands were quickly
turning purple.
“
Good job,” he muttered to himself. “Soon the pain will be
unbearable,”
measure he kicked his prisoner in the groin. He yelped in agony but
again Jorge didn’t care. He liked to watch the struggling. It was
times like this he wished he was prepared, and he thought it would
have been nice to have some snacks to hand. He’d sit in front of
the old guy and kick back, relax and watch the torture. All he had
though was cigarettes. He lit one and blew the smoke into Reiner’s
face who immediately began to cough.
“
Why are you doing this?” his voice was becoming increasingly
desperate.
“
I won’t have to do anything if you tell me where Carl
is,”
“
But I don’t know! I mean I wish I knew… I miss my
son,”
“
Urgh…. You’re a real sorry son of a bitch you know that?”
Jorge spat on the ground.
at the pitiful state of Reiner Snr and compared him to the young
hitman that he knew.
“
How did that man even come outta you?” he asked mockingly.
“He’s twice the man you’ll ever be,” and he watched the old man
begin to cry.
getting nowhere. Old Reiner obviously knew nothing and was only
likely to piss himself rather than give up any useful
information.
“
When was the last time you saw him?” Jorge prodded one last
time.
“
About 4 years ago. We had a big argument. He’s never been
back,” and he looked genuinely sorry.
“
Hmmmm…..” Something about his expression made Jorge believe
him.
the sort of guy that just let people go. Instead he left him there
in the corner and turned the light off as he walked up the
stairs.
CHAPTER 9
Carl and Anna
were running headlong into nowhere with nothing but what they
carried.
“
We’ve got to stick to the back roads and away from the motels.
They’ll be checking every single one in the state,”
“
But how can they have that many men on the ground? They can’t
really have eyes everywhere!”
“
Believe me girl they do… more than you could know,” he blurted
out angrily as he dipped into an alley way.
“
What are we to do?” Anna was frantic. “Where do we
go?”