“What can I say, Jaxx, it would only be a lie.”
A snigger comes from him, knowing he’ll never trust her. He can always rely on her to tell the truth, most of the time, that’s why she brokers the jobs.
“Interesting place to have a chat, don’t you think?”
She smiles, but says nothing. She leans against the tombstone watching as the priest flips open the bible.
“Funerals are interesting, you can learn a lot from them,” she says, to no one in particular.
Jaxx glances back at the scene again, “Who’s the body?”
“No one you need worry about.”
“Fine, so why am I here?”
“Interested in doing some work?”
“What’s the job?”
She pulls out a tablet and hands it over, “Nothing too complicated. A bullet to the head and the pay is good.”
He scrolls through the file. Jesus. The pay was more than good. This job would have him set for life, if he took it.
The woman turns away from the scene as someone begins to speak. Jaxx tears his attention away to look back at the woman beside him.
“When?”
“Three days from now. All you have to do is make it public.”
“I want half upfront, the rest upon delivery.”
She lays a hand on his shoulder, looking up, “Now that our business is concluded, I’ll see you around.”
He grabs her wrist as she starts to walk away and pulls her close, “Not so fast.”
A smile comes to her lips. She gets to her tiptoes and plants a kiss on him.
Three days later…
It is all about the feel of the trigger pull. The sound only a precision suppressor can make as a bullet travels through the chamber, exiting. The beauty is in the art of the kill not the kill itself. For Jaxx, it is all about the visceral act. The cash is just the bonus.
Double-checking the sight and the wind, Jaxx takes a calming breath and settles in. A twitchy finger means death in Jaxx’s business. A twitch means a man is too old for the game, and Jaxx can wait all day for this target. I could hang up the gun. The thought of retirement seems odd to him, but a few years off-grid, it’s a much better idea.
The woman comes to his mind, and he wonders if perhaps he shouldn’t have vetted this job a little more than clothes off. It’s too late now. Bora Bora here he comes, and with a couple of busty beauties. He adjusts the scope and re-checks the wind, and waits.
Fifteen minutes later, an understated black Escalade pulls up across the street. Looking through the scope as the target comes into view, Jaxx breathes. The trigger pull, and the target is dead. The woman holding onto his arm stares down at the body for a moment. The scream escapes seconds later.
Jaxx doesn’t stay to watch the scene as the gun is dissembled in seconds, and is shoved into a bag. The single casing near his foot, retrieved. Slinging the duffle over his shoulder, Jaxx exits the room two minutes later. A block away, he hails a taxi.
“Where to buddy?”
“Union Station.”
The driver pulls the vehicle back into traffic. Jaxx grabs his cell from his back pocket and slumps into the seat. He presses send. A few minutes later, a smile comes to his face as the remaining cash appears in his account.
Two years later…
He had long put this city in his rear-view mirror, long since hung up the gun. Yet, some cities have this way of sucking a person back in. Some for the romance of it, others for the sheer sadistic pleasure of watching you squirm. This city was the latter and happily twisting the knife.
Jaxx counts the windows of the condo across the street. It helps him stay in control; but nothing stops the gut-burning rage in his belly. He wants to kill someone in the worse way. He’s growing restless. The sound of the door opening and closing causes him to look round.
She’s wearing leather and high heels, walking authority as she approaches. Her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail giving the impression of a classy, sophisticated dominatrix, but he knows better. She’s not a woman you submit to unless you have a death wish. She’s not a woman to cross.
Behind her, her right-hand man: Sergey. The Russian soldier with the stars to prove he wasn’t to be taken lightly. With the slightest of nods from his boss, he is ready to kill.
Sergey stops a few feet away as she continues towards Jaxx. When she reaches, a hand slides up his arm and along his shoulder stirring old, pleasant memories.
“Been a while, Jaxx.”
“Maybe too long.”
“Perhaps, but you may make appropriate apologies for it,” she purrs.
Lowering his head, he captures her lips. She parts them invitingly. God I want her, he thinks, but this is a business call, not a personal one.
Pulling back, she gives a throaty, sensual chuckle that always manages to get under his skin. Goddamn, thinks Jaxx. The snapping of her fingers pulls him out of his fantasy.
Sergey steps forward, producing a tablet and scrolls through until he finds what he needs and hands it over. The woman smiles reviewing the contents before handing it to Jaxx, but as he reaches for it, she playfully pulls it away.
“Thought we had a deal?” he asks.
“Not – so – fast, sweetheart.”
“What?”
“I have a proposition for you.”
“Another one.”
“A better one, darling.”
“I think you should stop trying to offer me better ones.”
She pouts, “You can’t honestly blame me for that, can you?”
Jaxx eyes the Russian while wondering what game she is playing as the twinkle in her eye only provokes him.
“Name it.”
“It would appear the immovable object you are gunning for has a mutual benefit for me,” she says, handing the tablet over.
He looks at the screen, “You can’t be serious.”
“I never joke about a business opportunity. Do this for me, darling and I’m your debt.”
“Brave move.”
“Strategically sound. No one will consider my involvement in this shit show. They’ll see you coming. Besides, if there’s going to be a head bitch, it may as well be me. I don’t see the problem for you,” she says.
“You don’t?”
The conversation is over. She spins on her heel with the bodyguard close behind. He glances out the window. Looking back over his shoulder in time to watch her stop at the door and smile back.
“I always knew you were the man to bet on, Jaxx. So if you have doubts, don’t. I always say vengeance is best served with a side of payback, and what pay back it’ll be at your hand. Besides, they deserve what’s coming. Ciao.”
She blows a kiss as she struts out of the room. Jaxx looks at the information on the tablet again. Scrolling back to the image of the two men shaking hands only strengthens his resolve. The woman is right; they both deserve what he is about to do.
Jaxx reaches his apartment when he notices the guy suddenly, turning around heading in the opposite direction, taking off out the exit stairwell door. Jaxx gives chase, realizing the guy was probably supposed to watch him. Slamming through the door a second later, and giving a quick listen, he hears feet running downward. Jaxx heads down two steps at a time.
“Hey!!”
Jaxx doesn’t expect the guy to answer, to stop for a quick chat followed by a pummeling. He just keeps running. Surprisingly, the sounds of ricocheting bullets don’t follow. Obviously, his orders were only to spy on Jaxx.
Emerging outside into an alleyway, Jaxx catches an unexpected fist to the side of his face. Spitting blood, a pissed off Jaxx realizes his recklessness could have cost him his life. The other guy gives Jaxx a sinister smirk, throwing another fist. Jaxx gets a hand up to block the punch, placing a solid upper cut to the guy’s chin. He follows it up with a left jab, a right straight and a left hook.