She settled back and said, “Well, Nathan’s real name was Niksa Ciganovic. He was Serbian and emigrated when he was five years old.”
Leo looked thoughtful for a moment. “The last name sounds familiar. Yes. Milan Ciganovic was one of the founders of the original Black Hand. He died in 1929, in Serbia, after spending World War I living in this country. So Nathan is the end of a long line of people who ran an assassination ring.”
She nodded. “Apparently so. The FBI is hot after it, and the associated publicity. I just want to get on with my life and forget all of this.”
“What about the software?”
“It’s gone. I was able to trace it back from where I loaded it onto the Internet, but from there it’s disappeared. The FBI is following up, but I don’t think they’ll have much more luck.”
“What about us?”
“I don’t know. I don’t even know your real name; I just have more questions than answers.”
He took her hands into his. “How about this to start — the name I was born with was Max Jennings. I suspect that my father was a professional killer; no matter, he was an alcoholic bastard. I was recruited to be an assassin after I was thrown out of college when I was a suspect in my father’s murder. I killed eleven people, all of them at a range of over six hundred yards. And one with a letter opener when he tried to recruit me to kill you. I’m not proud of what I did, but I’m no longer that person. Can we work beyond my past, perhaps to a future for both of us?”
“I don’t know. Really, I don’t. So much has happened in the past week… I’m going to need some time to figure it all out.”
Leo found a piece of paper and a pen and wrote some addresses and a phone number.
Handing them to her, he said, “If you change your mind, you can reach me here — I’ve also included my apartment address, though I don’t have a phone there. Probably, it’s best to try and reach me through the coin store. If you need anything I’ll come running. Anything at all. Even if you just want to talk.”
She took the paper, not knowing what to do or say. He looked into her eyes, gently kissed her on the lips, gathered up his things and quietly left, tearing another gaping hole into her heart.
Leo was examining a 1909 S VDB Lincoln penny that was very close to having a Very Fine grading, but might be Extremely Fine. The problem was that, for each type of coin, there are different things to look for in determining if a coin meets a certain grade. The difference in what Leo would pay was three hundred to six hundred dollars. Naturally, he wanted to buy it as cheap as possible, but had some leeway as he did have a customer looking for one in about this grade to complete his Lincoln penny collection. That there were only 484,000 of them minted made it one of the most valuable Lincoln pennies anyone could own.
The door to the shop opened and Jackie stepped in. It had been three months since he had seen her and had been constantly thinking about her. He had been torn between trying to get in touch with her and wanting to let her have the time and space to deal with her problems. But he carried the picture that had been taken for her targeting package in his wallet and thought about her often.
She had let her hair grow out and it only added to her beauty. It helped that she was wearing a summer dress that showed off her shapely figure.
Stunned, Leo set the coin down on the counter and walked over to her. Taking her hands into his, he said, “Jackie, what are you doing here?”
“I heard there was a coin store that needed some computer expertise. So I thought I’d stop by and offer my services.”
“Anything else?”
She looked into his eyes. “I think we have some unfinished business to take care of…” The she reached up and kissed him.
About the Author
A former competitive rifle and handgun shooter and International security specialist, Joseph Francis Collins brings these field experiences and much more to his writing. Currently, Mr. Collins works as a paramedic/firefighter and a computer security specialist, and is working on his next novel. He lives in Iowa with his wife and a small menagerie that includes various rescued critters.