The Boarding School

Finished Job

 Hugh Hoheisel

The dark haired young man ditched his gear in a bush near the river and without hesitation jumped in, swimming to the other side. Colorful language littering his mind's mouth, he wondered how'd he find Luke. "I swear I'll kill Zoe if I ever see her again," he muttered to himself, climbing out on the other side only to see the beams of flashlights coming through the woods. The twenty-two year old didn't have time to make sure not to leave a trail as he booked it down stream, cursing. 

His inner clock told him it was five in the morning before he finally lost them. Not for long, he figured. Lucky for him, no one in the search party decided to look up, where he rested against the trunk of a pine, his legs keeping him balanced on the branch. "Shouldn't have run," he muttered, before adding, "But we couldn't have talked our way out of that one. Didn't have a choice." He shook his head, nearly losing his balance. 

He needed a change of clothes, he noted as he climbed down. Other than that, he couldn't change his appearance much unless he wanted to shave his head. Actually, he thought, his hair was rather long at this point and he could afford to cut it. Would it make a difference? Probably not. No cutting hair. He wouldn't do a good job anyway and that would draw attention. 

By the time he reached his stuff, it was eight in the morning. He dug out a pair of dark khakis, a dark grey grain T, and a jacket full of pockets. He removed his pistol and replaced it with a knife. There would be no shooting his way out of this one, but if it came to a fight, he might as well have something, and a knife wouldn't cause as many questions. He used the river to wash up his face and hands and brushed his hair to give him the appearance of tidiness.

First off, he decided, zipping the bag up and hiding it again, find Luke. Second off, he headed off towards town, find Luke. He scowled when he saw Luke's and his descriptions on TV. Down the sidewalk he saw an officer.

"Hey," he greeted Officer Koliba. Koliba eyed him, but didn't reply. "Any closer to finding those two suspects?"

"Have any tips?"

"None whatsoever," Hugh shoved his hands into his pockets shrugging, "Wish I had. Is there a reward?"

"Sure is, one hundred thousand dollars."

Hugh whistled, swearing under his breath, before asking, "Why'd anyone want the mayor dead?"

"Why do insurgents want anything?" Koliba shrugged, "Now if you'll excuse me, I've my business to be about."

"Course. Don't let me get in the way." Hugh watched the officer walk on with pursed lips. He stood there for several seconds longer than he needed, musing. Talking to the officer reminded him he had a job to do, a job he hadn't finished. He glanced at the clock on the store wall. The target would be arriving sooner than he'd be able to get back to his bag for a gun. It would be a lot easier if Luke were there. Still, he'd lose credibility and a load of money if he missed this hit, besides a new murder gave him a chance to create a false trail and, if he was lucky, throw off any snoops.

The young man lingered just out of sight of the security cameras around back, keeping time with his inner clock. The assistant was always on time, never a minute late or early. She's be arriving exactly fifteen minutes passed noon. It was a quarter till now. Bored, he took out his knife and casually tossed in in the air, catching it by the handle. Luke hated when he did that, but he claimed it helped him think. Ten minutes, five minutes, still no plan.

They wanted her dead before she went inside. Sighing, he pocketed his knife and entered the building next door and climbed to the second floor. If he could injure her, they'd take her to the hospital.