A Necessary Kill (11 page)

I appreciate his faith in my ability to do this, if nothing else.

We didn’t want to risk exposing ourselves any more than we already had, so we decided to lay low in Allentown overnight before moving on in the morning. We’re holed up in a cheap motel on the outskirts of the city. It’s a basic place—parking lot facing a row of rooms, each identical to the next inside, with a double bed, crappy TV, and basic bathroom facilities.

Ruby’s been in the shower for almost an hour.

I’m lying on the bed, staring up at the broken ceiling fan, trying to think of a plausible and effective way to assassinate the leader of the free world. I’ve never struggled to carry out a hit before, at least not in terms of how to go about it. Some jobs have been harder than others, granted, but the difficult part was always carrying it out, never deciding how to approach it in the first place. This is new, unfamiliar territory to me, and right now I would give anything to have one conversation with Josh. He would know what to do in a heartbeat.

I rub my hands over my face, wiping away the fatigue. I haven’t slept in forever. I just can’t silence my mind long enough. I mean, forget trying to kill Cunningham for a moment, I still need to figure out what the guy’s actually trying to accomplish. I know Josh is probably all over that, too, but I need to know so I can prepare for it.

Why do all this? Why kill nearly half a billion people and make a quarter of the world’s land mass uninhabitable for the next God knows how long in the process? He already had it all. America’s the richest country in the world. He single-handedly eradicated organized drug-related crime. Unemployment, the homeless, poverty—all at an all-time low. Why destroy other countries?

Ah, fuck it. My head hurts.

I stand just as the bathroom door opens. Ruby appears with a towel wrapped around her.

“Oh my God, that feels good!” she declares loudly.

I stare at her. The towel isn’t doing a good job of covering her body. It’s high on her thigh and low on her ample chest. My gaze is drawn to her upper body. The image burned into my mind of her standing before me, back in her cell, as naked as the day she was born, covered in a frightening network of self-inflicted wounds.

Wounds which no longer seem to be there…

“Hey, I’m up here,” she says, smiling.

Flustered, I look at her emerald eyes, which are playfully taunting me. “Sorry, I was…”

“You were staring at me again. This is becoming a bit of a habit, isn’t it? Here…” She grabs hold of her towel in both hands and opens it like a curtain in a theater, revealing her naked body. “You want a better look?”

I put my hand up to block my view and turn my head away. “Jesus, will you
stop
flashing me? Do you even know what dignity is?”

She closes the towel again, laughing. “Dignity’s for pussies.” She gestures to her body. “
This
is as much a weapon to me as a gun is.”

“And a mighty fine weapon it is, but that’s not why I’m looking. What happened to your scars? The ones that ‘keep your demons in’—or whatever it was you said…”

And yes, I just air quoted then. Got a problem?

“Oh, those?” She smiles. “Just before I got myself committed, I had a makeup artist friend of mine put them on for me. I figured they’d help with the charade.” She moves over to the chair in the opposite corner by the window and sits down, crossing her legs with unnecessary exaggeration. “It’s just a body wrap, essentially. Like those fake tattoo sleeves you can get.”

I sit back down on the bed facing her. I’m impressed with her commitment to the role, if nothing else. She still has a glimmer of insanity behind her eyes, but as I look at her now, she’s a far cry from the woman I rescued this morning. She looks normal… feminine—not a hint of the feral, twisted, killer I first saw.

“So, talk me through the whole criminally insane thing. What was your reasoning behind it?”

She shrugs. “I slipped up on a job and got caught.” She leans back in her chair as she speaks. “If I had been tried, I’d have been given the death penalty without question. I knew I needed to get out of it, and, if I could, I knew I needed to lay low. For a
long
time. I didn’t have a lawyer, but I’d watched enough TV to know that pleading insanity was probably my only option. I ran through the routine in my head over and over again. Then on my last court appearance before sentencing I got in character, and within minutes they sent me to Stonebanks in Baltimore.”

I smile. “Well, I’ve seen you play the part, so I can understand their reaction…”

“Once I was inside, I actually thought it could work quite well… I figured I could sneak out whenever I had a contract and hide out there between jobs. No one would ever think to look for me in an asylum, right?”

I nod, understanding the logic. “Kinda like a Winter Soldier thing? Nice idea.”

She frowns. “Who?”

I really need to lay off the comic-slash-movie references when Josh isn’t here—it just confuses people…

I shake my head. “Never mind. So what went wrong?”

“It turns out I kinda played my part a little too well. They put me in solitary on a priority watch, which made it impossible for me to get out. Luckily, the last visit before my ass was hauled off to the funny farm was from my friend who managed to put the body wrap on me for the scars, so at least I could keep up the act once I was inside and be left alone. Not sure what I would’ve done long-term if you hadn’t come for me, though.”

I shrug. “It’s been a stroke of luck for the both of us there, I think. But, ah… I gotta ask, seeing as we’ll be working together. The hit you got caught on… a guard in the asylum said you torched a retirement home full of old people. That’s a bit much, isn’t it? Even for someone in our line of work…”

She smiles, like she’s forgiving my ignorance. “Yeah, I
did
torch a building full of old people. And that’s all anyone knows, officially.”

I raise an eyebrow. “And unofficially?”

“The care home I destroyed was a front for a pedophile ring, and it was full of child molesters. Every single one of those twisted fucks had spent their lives ruining other people’s and had gotten away with it. The father of a kid who killed himself after years of abuse spent thousands of dollars investigating it, and it led him to that retirement home. The job came to me, and I did it for free. And I hope each and every one of the sick bastards is still burning.”

I clench my jaw muscles, empathetically angry at the thought of people being allowed to live after committing such atrocities. I also feel a swell of pride for Ruby, in a purely professional capacity. I’m pleased for her that she was able to use her abilities to take on what I would consider a noble cause and provide that grieving father with the closure he needed. It’s good for us to sometimes use our skills and our job to do something honorable and just. It’s a shame there aren’t more of us around who think the same way.

I feel myself glaze over, lost in a moment of rage and understanding.

“Are you… okay?”

“Huh?” I snap back into the moment. “Yeah, I’m good—sorry. And I’m glad you’ve got my back on this. Don’t get me wrong, as I’m sure you can appreciate I tend not to trust people all that much. But professionally speaking, I’m glad you’re on the team.”

She smiles. “No one could pass up this payday, whoever the target. Speaking of which, have you got any ideas on how we’re going to do this?”

I shake my head. “Nothing concrete, no. We’ve got another couple of stops to make yet—two more people on the list I want to try to recruit.”

“Yeah, I was gonna ask… where did you get my name from, anyway?”

“I went to see Ashton Case. Figured he’d know some people crazy enough to wanna help me out. You’ll be pleased to know your reputation for being certifiable is strong in the community. He said to use you as a last resort… said you were off the reservation.”

I smile and she laughs. “Yeah, I’m
almost
as bad as you!”

“Hey, my reputation was given to me… I just work to maintain it. It’s good for business.”

“Smart strategy. Guess that’s why you’re a legend…” She smiles at me, her eyes twinkling.

“Well, I can’t take all the credit, but I won’t argue.”

“So, who else has signed up so far?”

“Just the guy I went to see before you. Jonas Briggs…”

She claps her hands like an excited teenager. “Oooo, I’ve heard of him! He likes his poisons, if I remember right?”

I think back to the needle he held to my neck when he first confronted me. “Yeah, that’s the guy.”

“Bit of a loner, but he’s got a solid reputation.”

“Well, I thought he was a bit of a prick to be honest, but he seems useful enough, and he’s on board. We’re meeting him in Atlantic City three days from now.”

She nods. “So where’s our next stop?”

“North Carolina… Greensboro.”

I see the change in her expression. Her smile drops instantly and her body tenses. She uncrosses her legs and shifts in her seat.

“North Carolina? Please don’t tell me you mean—”

“The European… Yeah, is that a problem?”

She sighs heavily. “Not sure… Fernando and I go way back.”

Fernando?

She smiles regretfully. “He’s, ah… he’s my ex.”

I close my eyes as a wave of disbelief and a sense of impending dread wash over me. I let out a sigh of my own. “Great…”

“We’ve not seen each other for a long time—eighteen months, easily. He took a contract in Greensboro doing some exclusive work for a gangster down there who opened up a chain of companion clubs. They were new to the game but had a lot of cash—and a lot of enemies. Fernando took the guaranteed payday and started working for him, taking out the competition. But he got a little too friendly with some of the girls working there, and we broke up.”

I massage the bridge of my nose between my thumb and index finger, quickly running through my mind all the possible ways this could be a pain in my ass.

“There’s no ill feelings between us, that I know of,” Ruby continues, maybe seeing my distress. “I wasn’t exactly the doting girlfriend… It’s the nature of our business, I guess. But I actually liked him, and it hurt for a while when we separated.”

“Okay, just promise me this won’t be a
thing
, alright? On top of everything else, I can really do without the Jerry Springer crap… ”

She stands quickly and salutes, which causes her towel to drop to the floor. “Promise, Chief!”

I fall backward on the bed, staring at the ceiling again. “God help me.”

08:42 EDT

We left our motel at dawn, hitting the road for the seven-plus hour drive to Greensboro. As daylight chased us, another cloudy day revealed itself. Thankfully, the rain’s held off so far, but it’s thinking about it.

I didn’t sleep much for a variety of reasons. One being I was on the floor. Ruby
graciously
offered to share the bed with me, but given the outstanding lack of discretion she’s shown so far, I didn’t hold out much hope of surviving the night. Which is another reason I didn’t sleep well. Despite being on the floor, I still didn’t feel completely safe from any potential—what’s the word—
attempts
by Ruby to entertain herself, shall we say. Maybe I’m flattering myself, I don’t know, but I think I at least have grounds enough for concern.

Consequently, it’s taken a couple of hours on the road to really get my head in the game. I’ve been driving mostly on autopilot since we left Allentown. Ruby stayed awake all of ten minutes after setting off, and she’s been sleeping ever since. The traffic’s been light, although we’ve just hit I-81 going through Harrisburg and it’s starting to get busier.

“Are we there yet?”

I glance across at Ruby as she stirs, opens her eyes slowly, and stretches in her seat, speaking through a yawn.

I smile. “No, there’s a long way to go yet, I’m afraid.”

She doesn’t respond, but after a few minutes of shuffling in her seat I can feel her staring at me.

“What?” I ask.

“Tell me something,” she says, sounding curious. “You’ve seen me naked more than once. And I’m pretty sure you had an eyeful in the sewers… Why haven’t you tried to get it on with me yet? Most men would’ve by now…”

I shake my head. I hate this type of conversation.

I don’t take my eyes off the road. “I’m not
most men
. I’ve got someone waiting for me who I love very much. I’m not interested.” I turn to look at her, smiling weakly. “No offense.”

She regards me for a moment and then smiles, finally looking away. “That’s nice. I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks. Although, I’ll admit it’s not the best thing right now.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t see her. I’m toxic at the moment, and anyone near me is literally putting their life in danger. To protect her, I have to distance myself from her. And… and it’s hard, y’know.”

She’s silent for a minute. “Jesus… you
are
a pussy, aren’t you?”

I look over and see she’s smiling playfully. I frown. “Be aware that I am yet to develop any reservations about shooting you.”

She pouts. “What about the whole ‘no women, no kids’ rule?”

I laugh. “That’s not a rule! This isn’t a movie—if you’ve done something awful enough to warrant someone sending me after you, then you’re going to die, simple as that. Yeah, I won’t shoot a kid, but that’s my own choice. I know plenty of people who probably would. Besides, you’re not a woman—you’re a killer.”

She shakes her head. “
I’m
not a woman? Do you want me to prove you wrong? Because you know I will…”

“No, I’m good thanks. Not that you’re not lovely and everything, but I’m driving and, y’know, too much of a good thing, et cetera…”

We share a laugh, and the lighter mood helps me relax more. Makes me think back to the good ol’ days when I was talking to Josh on the phone, traveling solo around the country. Despite working hard over the last few years to ensure my days of doing that were over, right now I’d give anything to trade this in and go back to those simpler times. Just for a little while.

We shoot past a sign for Chambersburg.