To Krista With Love

Today was supposed to be a celebratory day, I worked so hard over the last 6 months to get to this point. The adrenaline rushed through my body and blood pumped in my ears. Tiny beads of sweat started to form on my upper lip and under the rim of my black beanie. My fingers flexed alongside the trigger of the .338 LM XS1 as my hand gripped the pistol grip. I lay flush against the floor, in the dark. The only light the night offered was the moon filtering through the shades. I checked the chamber to make sure I was loaded. That was a nervous habit I had always had a bad memory of. My target would not be arriving for another hour, I was practicing. Tonight had to go as planned, so much was riding on me pulling this off. Some people may be nervous to do something like this but I have become an addict. I think it’s the unknown, the mystery for me. To be completely honest I got bored! I know what you're thinking, how does someone get bored and end up holding a high powered rifle in the middle of the night dressed in all black waiting for a target. It’s not really a long story at all, I kind of laugh when I go over the details in my head. I placed the rifle in a safe spot in the room, a spot only I could get to. Tonight was my graduation, what I was graduating to I had no idea but I knew that the beginning had changed my life and I wanted more. Looking around this hotel room everything looks normal, nothing out of place absolutely pristine. That used to be my life, and it is still very much a part of my life but oh how things have changed. Let me take you back to my first mission. It was a regular day just like any other day. The kids were off to school and I was off to do grocery shopping while dad rushed off to work. I had one child in middle school and two in high school. Between school, after school and the weekends we were always on the go. When I pulled up to the grocery store I sat idle for a while. Sometimes this was the only time I got to myself to think without all the noise. I recognized all the familiar faces, smiling and waving at those that I knew. That day I was especially tired of all the noise. I wanted to find something just for me that I could focus on and enjoy. I got out of the car and made my way into the grocery store. About an hour later I was headed back out cart filled to the rim. Three growing boys in one house, they went through food as if it never existed. After getting the groceries in the trunk I went around to the front of the car and just before getting in noticed a little black book tucked under my windshield. It looked like one of those religious pamphlets that people usually leave when they don’t find you in your car to harass you. I plucked it out from under the windshield, chucked into one of the grocery bags in the back and made my way home listening to some smooth jazz. Once I got back home I put the food away and in the last bag was the little black book. I picked it up, put the bag away and headed to the sofa to relax before the boys got home. I poured myself some wine, and took a long sip. It’s 5 o’clock somewhere. I sat down and propped my feet up on the chaise. I flipped through a couple of pages and they were empty, strange. It wasn’t until I got to the 10th page there was a Safe deposit box number with the name of a bank written beneath. My only thought is that maybe someone thought they were putting something else under the windshield and placed this by accident. I didn’t even know who to return it to. I checked all the pages and nothing. It wasn’t until I got to the back of the book that I felt a harder covering protecting the inside of the book. I had to use the tip of my nail to get in to come up. Once I did there was print on the back of the inside cover. In cursive writing it said to Krista Stephens, with love the unknown. I dropped the book, you see I was Krista Stephens and I had no clue who this unknown was. I started to pace the floor. The kids wouldn’t be home for another 3 hours so maybe I could check the bank out. I grabbed my chrome book and went to google. The bank's name was Lamedia bank and it wasn’t located too far from me. It seemed to be a pretty small bank. I started to pace the floor again. After a moment I stopped and made the decision to go. I grabbed my keys, my purse and the little black book. I was sweating bullets, by the time I got to the bank I was drenched. I parked in the furthest parking spot from the door and tried to get myself together. I really had no idea what this was, for all I knew Jay could be planning a surprise he did things like this. If I didn’t check it out I would never know. I got out of the car, swung my purse on my shoulder, brushed my loc's back out of my face, straightened my dress and headed toward the entrance. Once inside the cool air from the ceiling fans help to dry some of my moisture. I pulled the little black book from my purse and made my way to a teller. It was pretty empty inside, only one other person was online so I stepped to the second teller. I said good morning and simply asked if I could get into my Safe deposit box. She asked for my ID and the safe deposit box number. In just a couple of key strokes we were on our way to the back. Once in the safe deposit room she pulled the box and said she would give me some privacy. I was a little nervous about opening it, I paced in front of it for about 5 minutes before I took the key and opened it. One I pulled the lid back and my mouth dropped. Inside was 20,000 dollars, A fake ID to the local water company, a credit card and two syringes filled with a clear liquid inside of them. Beneath all of that was a sheet of paper. I pulled it out and began to read, At the very top it stated Mission 1. To make a long story short at this juncture because time is tight lets just say I followed the instructions. We can get into why later, with my therapist. I followed in this order and did everything exactly as explained:

1. Go to Corners uniform clothing store and purchase a blue long sleeve shirt, blue khaki pants and white sneakers with the given

2. Go to this address 1234 Stanley drive, Atlanta, GA 30000. Ask for the last name Clarke's at these dry cleaners. There will be a vest and hat for Dinizger Water Supply.

3. Once you have the vest drive to this address a Dinizger water supply van will be waiting for you. Park in the lot across the street and make your way to the van changing into the blue shirt, blue pants, hat and white sneakers in the back.

4. Inside the back of the van are 10 gallon water jugs that Dinizger delivers to various companies in the local area. One of these buildings is located at 4567 Rainey Court. You will drive here and deliver two water bottles. Before we go you will take the two syringes that were located in the safety deposit box and inject them just under the lids of the two water jugs.

5. Once delivered you will bring the van back to this location and leave all materials except the little black book and the 20,000 dollars in cash.

Once I was back at the address that I picked the van up and was safely back in my car I went into full panic mode. What had I done? What was in those syringes? Was this a prank? I had to pull myself together because the boys would be home in only 30 minutes and they couldn’t see me like this. I was hoping Jay would mention something and we would laugh about the whole thing. When I arrived back home, things were quite the same. Nothing was out of place at all. I got there before the boys got off the bus, made them lunch and started on dinner. The evening was normal, Jay never mentioned anything which kept my stomach in knots. There was something else though something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I was in a pretty good mood, I haven't laughed or really enjoyed being around everyone like this in so long. This felt natural and normal. Nothing lasts forever, I learned very quickly exactly what I had done when I delivered those water bottles. The next morning was Saturday so we enjoyed breakfast together and flipped through tv while the kids played on their phones. A breaking news sign flashed across the screen and when it went away two men stood outside of an office building wearing hazmat suits speaking into the camera very quickly. I had to shush the kids so I could hear. The news anchor was saying that 15 people had been killed in what looked like a bio-hazard attack at an office building located at 4567 Rainey Court, this was the second time my mouth dropped. Thank god everyone looked in shock because my face was especially in shock. I went into the downstairs bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. Did I just murder 15 people? My heart was racing, I placed my head in between my legs to keep from throwing up. Once I could feel my body again, I straightened myself up and looked in the mirror. I took three deep breaths and counted to 10 in my head. Jay knocked on the door and asked if I wanted to go hiking and I was in the mood. Why not? So that’s what I did, and I used the 20,000 in cash to have us a little shopping spree. So here I sit in this hotel room waiting, the unknown gave me 5 targets, the water company my first and this guy is my last. As you can see I have upgraded my arsenal. I could take you through the rigorous do’s and don’ts along the way but that’s for another time. My target will be here in t minus 10 minutes and I have this whole ritual I do, ensuring I never miss. Whoever thought that a little black book, $20,000 and a boring at home life could create the Ultimate Assassin.