Code Name Orchid

Chapter 3

      "I already told the other detective everything I know," the manager tiredly told Michael, "She came in with a Mr James Forsyth who had made the booking, they sat at Table Nine, they both had the lobster, they didn't have dessert, and they left at ten fifteen. Aren't you people checking with Forsyth's family and friends to find out who his date was?"

Well that was a waste of time Michael thought to himself as he left the restaurant and walked back to his rental car. Forsyth's family and friends would have no idea who the woman was, and even if he had told any of them who she was it would no doubt be a fake name. He thought again about what Chantelle had said about her meeting with Hannah that night. Hannah said she would see Chantelle again soon, but why? What interest would his wife have in a cocktail waitress? As he got into his car he had an idea.

"You want to do surveillance on my apartment?" Chantelle said down the phone to Michael.

"Yes," he replied, "Like I said before, Hannah always follows through on things she plans to do. I am going to park outside your apartment block at nights starting tonight. If and when she decides to visit you I'll be waiting for her."

"What if she comes during the day?"

"I don't think she will. Hannah is a night person. She'll come at night, maybe when you're at work she'll break in and wait for you in your apartment."

"Now you're scaring me, Richard."

"Try not to worry. I'm almost certain she means you no harm. Maybe she's looking for a friend."

"Are you joking?"

"No I'm not. You said she complimented you on your hair. I think she likes you."

*****

He stood in the garden of his back yard in the dark looking towards the back fence. It was so dark he could hardly see a thing. Tonight after taking the garbage out to the bins, he was enjoying the cool night air when he saw it, a slight movement towards the back of the yard. He strained his eyes. It was probably the neighbour's cat. Nothing happened for a minute, then the movement again, was that the shadow of a person ducking behind one of the shrubs? Now he felt nervous, someone was trespassing on his property, hiding behind bushes watching him. As the head of a crime family in DC he had many enemies, but would any of them dare to attack him at his home? 

He backed up to the door and reached in to find the light switch to turn on the two powerful outside lights which would light up the yard almost as bright as day. He flicked the switch. Nothing. He tried it again, but still the lights failed to come on. He looked over to the two spotlights mounted on the wall. In the darkness he could just make out that they were both smashed with broken glass lying on the ground below.

In his pocket his phone suddenly chimed causing him to jump.

"Yeah, what is it, Jimmy?"

"Shaun, a heads up. I just heard through one of my contacts that there's a contract out on you."

"What? Do you mean by the Fergusons? Nah, we own all the hitmen in this town."

"This is a blow-in, and they say he's good. Never misses his target, so you better watch yourself."

Shaun disconnected the call. Now he was worried. The rival family had ordered a hit on him by an out-of-towner. He strained his eyes again looking into the darkness. Yes, there it was. The silhouette of a person coming slowly towards him from the back of the yard. It was probably the hitman. He reached into his jacket pocket for his gun, but then he remembered it was inside the house. He bolted through the back door, slammed it shut and locked it.

Harry, Ray, get out here," he shouted to the next room.

A moment later Shaun's nephew and another man who was employed as the crime boss' bodyguard strode into the room. "What is it?" Harry asked.

"There's someone in the back yard. I think it could be a hitman the Fergusons have hired."

Shaun sat down in front of a computer and pressed several keys. "Damn!" he snapped, "The camera out the back isn't working, just like the lights which are smashed."

"A hitman? Here to kill you?"

"Yes, grab your guns, get out there and kill this son-of-a-bitch."

A minute later, after turning off the inside lights in the house, Harry with his gun ready cautiously opened the door, standing to one side of it with Ray on the other side.

Shaun retreated to the next room, listening intently. After a minute he heard the sound of two shots being fired, then the sound of two more shots, but muted this time.
That was probably the hitman's gun, he thought, but were Harry and Ray still in the game or were they dead? He strained to try and hear something but the silence was deafening.
Then the faint sound of the back door creaking open. He held his breath while pointing his gun at the faint outline of the door. A vague silhouette appeared in the doorway. Shaun pulled the trigger over and over until his gun clicked empty. 

He reached into his pocket for another clip, but the light suddenly came on. He glanced up to see a young woman with long brown hair and dressed in black pointing a gun at him.

"Drop the gun Shaun," she commanded.

"You're the hit man?" Shaun gasped, "A girl?"

She smiled at him. "Yes, Shaun, a girl. Now drop that gun."

He let go of the gun so it dropped to the floor. "What happened to Harry and Ray?" he asked.

"Oh they're dead," she answered casually.

"Whatever the Fergusons are paying you I'll double it."

"A tempting offer but if I did that it would be bad business. Word would get around that I couldn't be trusted."

Shaun just stared at her is she took a couple of steps closer to him, all the time with her gun aimed at his head. Her face was the last thing he ever saw.