The Hitman’s Retirement – Chapter III

III. The Next Complication

Tony was still upset when he reached the door to the hotel room. He had a bona fide situation on his hands. First of all, his target slipped through his hands which never happens. It had been a long time since he tasted failure and he did not like it one bit. But now he had to do some scrambling. He was going to have to postpone his trip a little longer so that he could finish the job. In order to finish the job, he was going to have to ditch Cheyenne which meant more lying. He shook his head because he really didn’t like that part.

After he did all that, he was going to have to track down the target again knowing the mayor had hired his own gun. Which means the mayor must have known someone was coming for him. Not as small town as Tony thought. That showed a little sophistication Tony had not anticipated.

He was also keenly aware that time was running out. It would now be day 5. In two more days, a cleaner would be sent in to take care of all of the loose ends. He knew he was considered a loose end. By association, Cheyenne would also be considered one.

On top of all that, the guard had done a number on him. He held his side as he walked hoping to contain the pain enough so he could get inside and into bed. Surely, Cheyenne must be asleep and if he could just be quiet enough she would never know he was returning close to 3:00 AM. No jog would have lasted that long. And he was going to have to tell her lies in the morning he really didn’t want to end the night with a lie.

As quietly as he could, he opened the door and slipped inside. He paused a moment to let his eyes adjust to the dark and then he crept to his side of the bed and climbed in. His side shot up a flare of pain just to remind him of his failure and he winced. He quickly looked over to see if Cheyenne stirred but to his surprise, she wasn’t there. Instead, he could see the light on under the bathroom door. She must be using the restroom which means she is going to know what time he came in. Great, he thought. Perfect way to end a stupid night.

While he waited for her to come out his mind scrambled to find an excuse. What he would have said to her he never found out because shear exhaustion overtook him and he fell asleep.

The next morning, he woke up to the pain in his side when he tried to change positions. As consciousness slowly grew, he remembered his predicament and sat up. Which caused even more pain and he winced.

To his surprise, Cheyenne was still sleeping beside him and his grunt caused her to stir.

“What time is it?” she asked without opening her eyes. He couldn’t help but chuckle a little in disbelief. She was usually awake and going by 5:30 AM. He could tell by the cracks in the curtains that the sun was already up.

He looked at the alarm clock. “8:00 AM,” he said. How could he have possibly slept in so late? This was so out of character for him to sleep so soundly when there was a job to be done.

She sat up quickly but also winced in pain.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked.

“Must have slept wrong,” she said and looked at him. “What’s wrong with your side?”

“Slept wrong,” he answered.

She nodded and then stood up. He noticed she limped to the bathroom.

“Something wrong with your leg?” he asked.

“Just an old Army wound. It flares up every now and then.” She came out brushing her teeth and sat back on the bed.

“I never noticed before,” he said. “Let me look at it.”

She tried to brush him away but he already had his hand on her thigh. Through her pajamas he could feel a bandage. He remembered he thought he had cut the guard last night in about the same area of the leg.

She pulled away from him and stood up causing him to hold his side instinctively.

He looked at her and her leg. She looked at him holding his side.

“Where were you last night?” they asked each other in unison. Neither one answered they just looked each other in the eye. “It was you!” they said together.

“You are the armed guard!” he said slowly standing.

“You are the hitman hired to kill my brother!” she said slowly sitting on the bed.

“I’m not here to kill Jackson,” he said.

“No, my other brother,” she replied. “Cody.”

“Cody Kvasnak is your brother?” he asked sitting down again and putting his head in his hand.

“Yeah, I actually have two brothers. Surprise!” she held her hands out.

He thought about it for a moment. “Why don’t any of you have the same last name? You’re supposed to have the same last name. That is a common thing in families.”

“Our bond is more with our first names,” she said. “Cody, Jackson, Cheyenne…”

He listened but didn’t understand.

“All names of Wyoming towns,” she explained.

“That makes no sense,” he said not appreciating her parents’ love of Wyoming at the moment.

“Let me ask you this,” she said turning the conversation. “How long have you been a hitman? And does this mean you don’t really work on Wall Street?”

He thought about it. This was something he had never shared with anyone before. But if he did have to tell someone and judging by the look on his wife’s face he had no choice but to share he was relieved it was with her. “Ever since I got out of the Navy. When I was in the military I discovered I had a talent for a certain type of work. When I returned home nothing interested me and I couldn’t find decent work. So, I went back to what I had been trained to do by Uncle Sam.”

“You’ve been a hitman the whole time you knew me, then?” she asked slowly.

“Well, yeah, but this was going to be my last job. I was hoping we could just disappear somewhere out here. You and me together. This job was going to pay enough to set us up with a respectable type of life.”

She nodded but didn’t say anything.

“What about you?” he asked finally. “Do you really sell insurance?”

“Oh, no!” she said. “How boring would that be?”

“But I have dropped you off at the office in the morning. Where do you go all day?”

“The library. For runs. Coffee houses.”

“Oh,” he said a little hurt.

“To be fair, I thought you were also going to work.”

He nodded. “That is fair.”

They both sat on the bed and scooted back to prop their backs against the headboard. Neither one had much to say at the moment. Both a little hurt with the lie, but also relieved the truth had come out.

“Weren’t you worried I’d come home last night to find you gone? I mean, you thought I was going for a jog and you were taking a shower to help you sleep when I left.”

“Oh, I left you a note,” she looked over at the nightstand and didn’t see it. “It must have fallen to the floor. It said there was a family emergency and I’d be back a little later. Jackson actually came and picked me up. I was waiting for you to go to bed but you just weren’t cooperating.”

“Ditto,” he sighed.

“Your last job, eh?” she asked.

“I was going to retire for you. I didn’t like lying. Not to you anyway.”

“Same,” she said. “It’s too bad the last job was supposed to be my brother.”

“Supposed to be?” he asked. “How close are you really?”

She playfully jabbed her fist into his shoulder. “Stop,” she said.

They sat for a few more moments.

“Seriously,” he said. “What is up with your family name?”