The Hitman’s Retirement – Chapter II

II. The Target

It was after 8:00 PM by the time they returned to the hotel. Tony waited patiently for Cheyenne to climb into bed. Part of her residual army training made her an early bird and Tony was counting on her going to bed early. Tonight though, she did not. Much to his surprise she was still wide awake at 10:00 PM.

Even his tolerance and patience were being exceeded while he waited for her to doze off. Instead of being able to locate the target’s house during the day he had to spend the time retrieving data from the broken phone. Which meant he was going to have to find it for the first time in the dark of the night. Doable but sloppy work. But it had to be done that night. Cheyenne was expecting for the two to get up and get an early start to the Park.

Finally at 10:30 he decided he was going to have to come up with an excuse. “You know,” he said, “I am having a tough time falling asleep.”

She looked over at him. “Well, this is our honeymoon.” She smiled.

Oh, that was a tempting offer. He shook his head to stay focused. “That is true,” he said smiling. After all, he did want to still be married after he completed the this job.

“But not tonight,” she said giving him a kiss. “I’m too tired.”

If this would have been any other night he would have been disappointed at her apparent sudden switch in gears. He breathed a sigh of relief that he called her bluff. She snuggled beside him for a moment.

“I think I’ll take a shower to help me sleep,” she said.

Perfect! “I think I’ll take a little run around the neighborhood,” he said standing up.

“Oh,” she said a little surprised. “Okay. I might be asleep before you get back.”

He was counting on it. “I will try not to wake you.”

They kissed and she slipped into the bathroom. He changed into his running gear just in case she came back out and saw him. Before he left the room he noticed the room’s complimentary pad of note paper. He drew a heart with some flowers around it and wrote “I love U” and placed the note on her pillow. The water to the shower turned on so he left the room.

Thirty minutes later he pulled the truck to a stop in a small neighborhood park’s parking lot. He had driven by the target’s house and kept going until he found a parking lot to pull into. After quickly scanning the area he jumped out and pulled the gun out from the tool box in the back and slid it behind the seat. A duffel bag was also behind the seat and he pulled it out. Inside were black sweats and a black hoodie. He quickly put them on and changed his shoes to a pair of dark military issue boots that were inside the bag. A black ski mask was also inside and he grabbed that and threw it on the seat before climbing back in the truck. He drove out of the parking lot and back toward the target’s house. But he stopped a few blocks away and parked in front of a dark brick house.

From what he could tell, this seemed to be an older part of town. Although it was nighttime, he couldn’t see any cameras on the houses but he could be wrong. He climbed out and left the gun in his truck. Instead, he pulled a knife out from under his seat and sheathed it around his waist as he was walking. He walked to the back yard and cut through to the alley then slowly made his way to the target’s house using as much shadow as possible for cover.

He normally liked a clean shot from a distance. Just his way of putting his military sniper training to good use. He didn’t like close contact. It was messy work and so many things could go wrong with a close contact kill. But one of the benefits his brother-in-law’s delay caused was an extra suspect.

That day while Tony worked on retrieving data from the phone, Cody Kvasnak had a busy day offending a certain big time gang member. He made some kind of derogatory, albeit true, remark about a well-known gang leader and how his town wanted to rid itself of “all such filth.” It was a soft shot but Tony seized on it. A little research showed that particular gang leader’s preferred weapon was a 10-inch steel bladed knife. As it so happens, Tony had a knife similar to that in his arsenal.

By no means would this be a perfect frame up. But it didn’t need to be perfect it just needed to slow down the investigation a little to let any other leads grow cold. Plus, Tony highly suspected that there were certain law enforcement personnel also on his employer’s payroll that would be all too happy to find evidence pointing away from their boss.

But a knife meant it was going to get personal and messy. He was definitely going to need to shower when he got back to the hotel. This also meant he was going to have to actually get into the target’s house to complete the job. An aspect he had not prepared for.

It was nearly 11:30 PM before he found a way to get into the house. He managed to pry open a basement window and slid in. He waited for his eyes to adjust and made sure his mask was on properly. The house had three floors and judging by the lights when he was watching outside, the target was in the northeast corner on the top floor.

He proceeded cautiously. Patience was key in the situation and now that he was actually in motion his patience returned to him. Slowly he made his way up the first flight of stairs. When he entered the kitchen, he thought he saw a slight movement and stopped. Nothing. But he wanted to be sure so he waited a few extra minutes. No sense rushing into a mistake now.

Still nothing. He proceeded slowly toward the next flight of stairs in the living room. Another shadow. Something was definitely moving in this house. He stepped back into the shadow and waited. Waiting on a job was something he did well. He once outlasted a cat.

Still nothing. He was sure he was not alone but whatever or whoever was in the room obviously was aware of him also. There was no other choice but to draw the other person out.

He placed his right foot out and took a step.

Suddenly in front of him was another figure. Also dressed in black and the face covered.

Did the gang really decide to come after the mayor? As this crossed Tony’s mind the other person slid his foot out and knocked Tony down in a sweep. Tony stood up quickly and looked around. The other person was gone. He looked up the stairs toward the mayor’s door and quickly climbed up the steps. Once he got to the top though, the intruder knocked him into the wall. So much for the element of surprise.

Tony pushed back and knocked the other person into the banister. With his weight he managed to push the other person until he was leaning back the rail. Tony was hoping the weight would break the banister causing the other person to fall to the floor below but the banister never gave out. Instead, the other person was able to use the rail for extra leverage to push Tony out of the way. Not only was the person able to push Tony back but he also managed to deliver a few powerful blows to Tony. They didn’t knock him down but they managed to make Tony take a step back.

This was no gang member. If Tony had to guess it was ex-military. Did his employer already send in the cleanup crew?

The other person stood in front of the bedroom door. Was the intruder going to get Tony’s kill? Tony walked toward the door and stopped when his attacker turned. They stared at each other. No, that person wasn’t after the target. That person was protecting the target.

Tony showed the palms of both his hands and walked slowly toward the door. The other person didn’t move. The mayor hired a bodyguard.

This had to happen tonight. One or two bodies didn’t matter to Tony but for the safety of his new family the job needed to be completed. He slowly drew closer to the other person. No weapons had been drawn. It appeared the other person was relying on sheer physical combat skills. Tony kind of admired that but he was also tired and wanted to go back to the hotel and get some sleep. He got as close as he could and then pulled out the knife.

The guard fought him off and managed to give him a solid punch in the ribs. The pain dropped Tony and made him mad. He swung his knife and felt contact on the side of the person’s leg.

The guard quickly opened the bedroom door and disappeared inside locking the door.

By the time Tony managed to get the door open the room was empty. An open window on the other side of the room was the only possible way of escape. He quickly searched the room to make sure they weren’t hiding. They weren’t. The mayor and his guard were both gone.

Which meant two things. One, the job would not, in fact, be completed tonight. And two, the job just got harder with the added bodyguard factor.

Because of those two things and also because the guard had really caused him some pain with that last blow Tony let out a string of curses that fit his mood. He was going to have to delay his and Cheyenne’s trip a little bit more.

Tony’s patience was gone.