The Hitman’s Retirement – Chapter IV

IV. The Kvasnak Family

Cheyenne took a deep breath and then started her story.

“My great-grandparents immigrated to Wyoming from Czechoslovakia during the coal mine population boom in 1920. At that time, the town was a bit of a melting pot with different ethnicities coming in to work the mines. No one thought any other name was that strange. But my grandpa had other ideas. As a businessman, he shortened the name to Kaye to make it easier to pronounce. ‘If they can’t say the name, they won’t remember the name. If they don’t remember the name, they won’t buy the product’ he would say. So, our family became the Kayes.

“Dad moved away for a while but returned after he married mom to help with the family ranch outside of town. By then my two brothers were born. Cody was sixteen when I was born so he lived here only a short time and then went away to college. Not a lot of people from town remembered him.

“I grew up here and joined the military when I turned eighteen. With the exception of a few short visits, I haven’t really been back.

“Jackson, as you know, moved back after college. Met a local girl and married. He took over mom’s family business so most people assume he is a Dunn. Legally he is a Kaye but publicity wise he goes by Dunn.

“Cody was living in Washington working as a lawyer and getting interested in politics. He had started using the full name Kvasnak because he thought it was unique. Unlike grandpa his motto is ‘If they can’t say the name, they will look up the name. If they look up the name, they will remember the name.’ Smiths get overlooked because of their sheer number. A Kvasnak will stand out.

“Dad is actually the one who discovered what was going on with the mine. He did some digging and has found evidence of wrong doing. You being here pretty much confirms what he found. He wanted to run for mayor to bring attention to the matter but when he shared with Cody what he had found, Cody thought it was too dangerous. Plus, Cody wanted to get into politics. He thought he could swoop in and expose the wrong doing and then leave to pursue his interests elsewhere. He didn’t actually expect to win. The family just wanted someone to notice what was obviously going on.

“He never mentioned he had family here. Dad and mom never tell anyone he is their son. With the amount of corruption dad found, we all thought it would be safer for him that way. Dad doesn’t want to leave the area. I helped out by burying Cody’s family trail online so that no one can make the connection.”

“Nice job on that,” Tony interrupted. “I had no idea and I have looked up everything I could on Cody Kvasnak.”

She nodded. “I am good at what I do. But ever since he won the election, he hasn’t felt safe. He even had his wife and kids leave to protect them. The family figured something was about to happen so they called me and asked me to come and protect him.”

“But coming out here was my idea,” Tony corrected.

“Well, your idea was technically Yellowstone. Which was fortuitous on my part. Nice line about the honeymoon. I was totally blindsided by that. It was a much better lie than what I would have come up with.”

“What was going to be your excuse?” he asked a little excited to be comparing notes.

“Work. Boring old work convention.”

“You would have come without me?” he asked a little hurt.

“I told you your excuse was better.”

He nodded and accepted that.

“When I found out we were coming through here I couldn’t believe my luck. I just needed to make sure we stopped and stayed here for a while. Sorry about Yellowstone.”

He shrugged. “I’m not really an outdoor type of person anyway.”

She laughed. “I know! That should have been my first tip off.”

“But the car?” he asked. “The car broke down.”

“Oh, that,” she beamed, “I never go on any job without my little EMP device.”

His wife was a genius. “An EMP?” he said slowly. “But why did you have to do it so far out of town? I mean, the cost of that tow truck really cut into expenses.”

“I didn’t want the pulse to hit anyone else. I mean, it would have looked a little funny if the car broke down the same time as a whole neighborhood lost power. I had to wait until there were no other cars around. It was a little stressful.”

His wife was a considerate bad guy. That made him love her even more.

“Then when I checked the engine, I pulled a few wires to ensure it wasn’t going anywhere.”

“Brilliant,” he conceded.

They sat in silence for a moment.

“So, you came to protect your brother,” he said.

“And you came to kill him,” she said.

“About that,” he said remembering he had, in fact, come to kill her brother. “We have a bit of a problem.”

She looked at him. “Someone else is coming to clean up the loose ends, aren’t they?”

He nodded. “In two days.”

She wasn’t sure where he was going with this.

“We need to come up with a new plan. Fast.”