The Hitman

The Target

"Hey, Nicole!" Jay shouted.

I sighed and put my toothbrush down, glancing through the mirror at the pristine, white bathroom. "What? And don't call me Nicole. I'm Nick Sievers, not a woman. Keep this up, and I'll have to find a nickname for you, too."

Jay chuckled and I threw the hotel towel through the open bathroom door. He yelped as the towel landed on him.

I hid my grin and leaned against the doorframe, watching him struggle with the fabric. "What's up? I don't have all day."

Jay finally managed to throw the towel on the carpeted floor and regarded it with utter disgust. I cleared my throat, but couldn't help laugh at his antics. Jay turned back to me and answered, "The target's on the move."

My shirt rustled as I pulled it over my head. "Really?" I rushed to Jay and he handed me the binoculars.

I searched for a few seconds before finally finding the man. He was walking slowly through the narrow downtown streets, one of many pedestrians mingling around with complete disregard to the slowly moving cars. He stopped every now and then to look at a window display. The man didn't even know what was coming his way.

I smirked. This would be easy. Richard's description had been pretty accurate. Almost too accurate. As if he had been planning this for a long time.

Something was off here, and I knew it. Call it an intuition, call it superstition. I had learned to trust my gut, and I wasn't going to turn my back on old Rich for a second.

But I was the best. As far as hitmen went, I was the gold standard. No overweight middle-aged man would get the best of Nick Sievers.

And as if that wasn't enough, of course there was my escape plan. But now wasn't the time for that. Now was the time to get moving.

I pulled on my brown jacket and sunglasses. With a glance toward Jay, I was off. I raced down the stairs and past the hotel's front desk. A woman working there serenely nodded, and I flashed her a wink. The glass doors slid open and I dodged a family hauling their luggage into the hotel.

Once outside, I meandered around for a bit before reaching for my cellphone. I frowned at it as if I was reading a text message. Since my sunglasses were tinted, I could watch the target without him knowing.

The man had stopped for a moment. Good. I pocketed my phone and began walking purposefully toward the unsuspecting man. I fingered the dart hidden in my pocket. The man, quite literally, wouldn't know what hit him. He would walk wherever he was going as normal, and the dart would dissolve after ten minutes. Then the fun started.

When dissolved, the dart would emit a deadly gas. The target would drop dead immediately, and there was no evidence as to who did it.

I cast my eyes down as I approached the man. But suddenly, there was a voice in my ear. Jay. "Don't kill him, man." I suppressed a groan and walked right past the target. I turned into an alleyway and leaned against a damp brick wall.

"Jay, why not?"

"It's a setup. Police are blockading Main Street."

I glanced around, but the only witnesses were a mangy cat and an old dumpster. I turned my attention back to the com system and shook my head. "Okay. I'll meet you at our rendezvous point."

Silently, I cursed Richard. Of course it was a trap. I should have trusted my gut. But now was the time for cool. I was Nick Sievers, and nothing could stop me.

I began walking casually, hands shoved in pockets. They shouldn't recognize me. I was wearing a different disguise than I had been what I met Rich. But....