Dead to rights (follow up from Merlot wins in the end)

I'd had a few weeks off enjoying the ocean with my two boys Belgian Malinois I'd had a hectic month so time off was just what I needed, every time supplies were required I'd put my usual disguise on! As far as the locals new an elderly lady in her 55's to 60's lived here not a young curvaceous 5'2 brunette, I'd had so many aliases I had forgotten my own birth name! I'd gotten use to the many disguise's & was becoming to comfortable being someone else I never celebrated a birthday as I didn't even know when the actual date was! Come to think of it I wasn't even shore of my actual age, Years ago I new that this would be a solitary life! One of loneliness & that! Is why I chose this profession, The first kill was the hardest! Once I'd learned how to cut off my emotions it just kept getting easier! In fact you could say I'd become colder than Ice. We were getting low on stock & I needed to do a run into town, I lived so far away from civilisation I doubt anyone would even venture out this far and even if they did I had made sure they'd never find my place, all access roads or tracks leading curious people to snooping any where close to my retreat would eventually take them back to the local beach cantina it was a long roundabout trek but it worked out all the same, I'd covered my tracks like I've said many times matriculates in everything I do, check! triple check! never leave any stone unturned always stay three steps in front of everything & everyone.

I made it into town, then went to the safe house where my encrypted computer was, checked all the camera's to make sure there were no unexpected or unwanted visitors, nothing out of the ordinary which is always a good sign! I opened up my computer I had a job, Mmmmm this was from a handler I'd never dealt with before & they were offering three times the amount I would usually receive! It seemed a-bit suspicious? It was either a set up or the mark was a high profile individual, I ran the information that was sent, transferred it to Marci that's where I needed to be, time to get back, the stores were already loaded and off I went all the while checking my surroundings making sure that I wasn't being followed.

I arrived home in time to to prepare the Emperor I speared when diving earlier in the day, the monk was unloading the boat and I put my boys on patrol I was feeling a little uneasy the offer I'd received earlier was making me overly paranoid. I checked all the traps, Cameras & my ordinance I needed to be vigilant, more now than ever, I always followed my gut and this last offer was making my stomach do summersaults, something was majorly off? I couldn't quite pinpoint the annoyance I wasn't sure if it was the money on offer or the mark itself? I really needed to get to Marci & do some recon of my own. Three days later and I arrived in Marci it was imperative that I arrived quickly!

This was one job I really needed to do a thorough background check on my potential target, I couldn't help feeling dubious and I needed to get a handle on it before I confirmed the job offer. I tracked down the potential job I flew to Bard, Valle d'Aosta it was a village that was wedged between two mountains in the narrowest part of the Aosta Valley, there was a charming old-world village down below with higgledy piggledy passages and elegant mullioned windows, almost everywhere you looked there were carved stone balconies. It would be a fantastic place for a holiday if I was actually here for that kind of relaxation, I tracked down the potential target he was a know body a single man who owned his own forging business from what I could tell he was well liked, respected by all & seemed to be just an average everyday person that you would see in any little town, nothing out of the ordinary stuck out about this fella other than the fact he worked extremely long hours; He'd be up at 4am working on forging various piece's for the locals! After awhile he'd venture back inside organise his breakfast and anything else then he would work all day until 8pm only stopping once for lunch otherwise I had nothing, I spent the next several days doing recon, when he wasn't around I'd planted cameras, mic's, sensor's & anything else I thought would help give me an edge.

The more I looked into this man the more intrigued I was becoming? Why would anyone want a hit on this bloke; everything was wrong all the info I'd received for this particular mark it seemed fabricated! I stayed low and continued to watch him even closer I still had nothing I spent at least several weeks observing this man's every move and nothing popped out of the ordinary! If I was sceptical before I was way past paranoid, who was he? And why had he become a target in the first place? This man was to consistant with his routine! He was too perfect, Everyone has some kind of flaw not this one though he was meticulous! What secret is he hidin? I had know idea! I needed to double back go over my tracks see what I was missing, If it was there I just couldn't see it?? It was really starting to piss me off what the (fuck) was I missing? It's unusal for me to spend so much time on one job! What I needed to do was track down the client the one who ordered the hit & find out who they were, I'd made it a habit to be extremly diligent about all details of any potential target, I didn't want to kill an innocent I only ever went after the real scumbags the one's that we're a hinderance to society oxygen thieve's, they were the only ones I would eliminate at least then I could live with some kind of conscience well a resemblance of one any way. What was this all about more research would be required this was gonna cost me! Trying to find the client is lot harder then trying to find the mark, This mean't I needed to use every resource & contact I had to track the client ugh this also means interaction with another being if I could track them down myself I wouldn't hesitate however this went way past my expertise. Beside's you can never tell who the client or client's where if they were high profile or if they're just total Drug Kingpins, Trafficking low lives, I usually don't give a shit about the client but this latest job was extremely suspicious especially since the Man I was mean't to take out just seemed like your average joe! Either way whoever the client was he or she had a lot to answer for & if I find out that this whole thing was a setup! I can assure you someone was going to pay dearly, not with just a whooping either, I was going to make an example of them in such away absolutely know one would be tempted to set me up again. It took me a little over a week before one of my contacts reached out to me I always called him the Worm, everything I did regarding info was done via computer & the worm was the best in the industry for hacking and tracking, he's pretty quick when it comes to his profession, there was never any interaction only by encryption so for all I knew the worm could have been a female not that I'd care which I didn't as long as they got the job done I really did't give a damn I just wanted my money's worth & this bit of information I was after was going to cost me a pretty penny damn this means my retirement plan had to be adjusted.

Mmmmmm this wasn't good the client was this Russian Dirtbag Igor one of the biggest black market traffickers on this planet, he had know morals he'd sell his own grandmother if he thought he'd get paid enough money for her, Now I wish someone would put a price on this arsehole's head I'd gladly knock him off for free, as far as I was concerned one less filthy pig on this earth made know difference to me unfortunately there was an unspoken word that people in my industry always stuck to! Unless the client double crossed you they were coincided persona non grata. First question that came to mind was why did Igor pay such a large amount of money to get rid of that man? Who was he to Igor or better still what dirt did he have on the Russian, I'm gonna need all the dirt & intel on this one Awwww Fuck this was really gonna it's gonna be an expensive venture it's a good thing I was bloody loaded, I'm gonna need the worm to do some major info deep diving now I'll need him to give me absolutely every piece of trash on the Russian so I can ascertain what his interest is in that fella, I'm not really sure if the worm will be capable of getting the intel I require I'm just gonna have to trust him & his expertise. It wasn't long and I recieved a message telling me to go to the nearest train station to pick up a package, This means I'm gonna need a disguise I got dressed headed off watching out for any suspicious character's you can never be to careful, I retrieved the package with know drama's or tail's even better, It took me the better part of two days to go through all the photo's & information on the Russian, Fuck I really needed a shower to scrub all the filth off my body there was nothing Igor wasn't involved in he had his fat podgy fingers in all kinds of nasty crap, I've never felt so dirty in my life the Russian had his hands in alot more than I realised, the money I paid the worm was well worth it! In fact it was worth double what I actually gave him, I swear one of these days I'm taking the Russian out only problem I'm shore theirs plenty of other's out their willing to take that son of a bitches place. I'd found out the mark was Igor's right hand man he was also one of his trusted boyhood friends it turned out he betrayed the Russian by kidnapping several groups of young girls between the ages of 5 & 14 from what I figured he'd managed to save at least 50 girls before he was found out, however he wasn't the type to be messed with either, he took out the entirety of Igor's elite team they were the best of the best who the fuck was this man? Who ever he was he wasn't to be taken lightly, I had to admire him though he had some pretty big stones to go up against Igor's elite thug's, I half wished he'd finished the job & taken out the Russian as well! Mmmmm was I going to take the job? That was my next question, regardless of what the mark use to do he did save some pretty young girls so in my eye's he was someone worth keeping alive, It mean't he had a conscience. It still seemed like I was missing the bigger picture though! yeah I understand Igor being pissed at loosing a few girls & his elite team being eliminated but that didn't explain why he had such a large ransom on this blokes head. What was I gonna do? take the job or leave this bloke to his own demise?

It was all up to me now, there wasn't a stipulated deadline & I had dead to rights which mean't I was the only one contracted, so I could take my time! all the important info had been collected I did all the necessary recon that could possibly be done, I had camera's and mic's set up inside his house & his Forge I could afford to watch this fella for a bit longer & the money wasn't an issue Mmmmm I reckon I'll observe him & see what he's all about. Why was I so intrigued by this contract?