The Hitman

The Reason

Nick Sievers' POV

Coughing violently, I sat up and groaned. As my vision began to clear, I realized I was on a helicopter, Brook standing over me.

I smiled. "Mouth to mouth? You couldn't resist, eh?"

She shook her head and grinned. "Oh yeah. Nothing like kissing a man's cold, dead lips."

Suddenly, I remembered something. "Where's Jay?"

"On the other helicopter getting stitched up."

I frowned. Other helicopter? I thought we only had one.

Someone cleared their throat and Brook glanced behind me. Charles. I stood up and turned to face him.

Except that it wasn't Charles.

It was Agent Anderson.

Lila Sievers' POV

The man in front of us paced back and forth, back and forth. His muscles rippled as he shifted his arms from one position to another. It was as if he was waiting on something.

Henley's hand gripped mine, and I mustered a smile for her. But her tearstained eyes just bore into mine, full of fear and hopelessness.

"My mom will come. And when she does, you'll be sorry." I lifted my chin, trying to feel braver than I thought.

Our kidnapper stopped pacing. He turned toward me and snarled. "Of course she will come. With the full force of the FBI at that, but it won't be enough."

He chuckled. "Even your father is coming."

Our....our father? He hated us. He wanted nothing to do with us.

So why would he come?

The man continued. "Believe me, I know they're coming. In fact, it's all part of my plan. The moments the clock strikes midnight, this entire island will blow up like a stand of fireworks."

Nick Sievers' POV

I reached for the knife in its sheaf to attack Anderson, but Brook stepped in front of her. She gripped my wrist and shook her head. "Nick," she warned, "don't do this. Anderson saved your life."

"Why?" I asked. "To send me to trial and then kill me?"

Anderson held up her hands. "Hey. Even the worst of criminals gets a trial."

"Is that what this world has come to? I'm just trying to save my daughters' lives. Would the supposed land of the free stop me from doing that? And you call me the criminal?"

"You would be blind to claim you weren't one. You....you tried to kill Conway!"

"But is he not still alive?"

"Attempted murder! God, I don't know what Brook sees in you. You may be handsome-"

"Ah, so you admit it."

"Can it, Sievers. As I was saying, some people may find you handsome, but inside you're really an ugly person."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not a mirror."

"Why you-"

"GUYS!" Brook shouted. She looked between Anderson and I expectantly. "Right now there are more important issues at hand. Namely, saving my daughters' lives."

Anderson stared at me for several more seconds before breaking my gaze. "Fine," she said. "Now, if Sievers could kindly stay off my throat for a second, I would like to explain why I'm here."

She paused before continuing. "I am here to make an offer...."

Time Skip

As the island of Pearl Harbor grew closer, I exhaled and checked my watch. 11:30.

Footsteps approached behind me, but my eyes never left the moonlight reflecting off the sea.

"I'm sorry, but I had to ask," a voice said, "why do you care about the girls?" I whirled around to see my father standing there.

I shook my head. "I love them more than anything in this world. They mean everything to me."

My father frowned and offered me a puff of his cigar. I held up a hand in refusal. My father shrugged and put the cigar back in his mouth, then exhaled before asking, "Then why did you leave them?"

I sighed. "It was one of the hardest decisions of my life. But after Brook and I got a divorce, I turned to the only thing I really knew. The only thing I had ever grown up with. Hatred. So I killed, and I knew there was no way to bring children into an environment like that."

My father frowned. "She's certainly something. Why did you get divorced?"

"Because we got married."

He rolled his eyes and exhaled a cloud of smoke. "As sarcastic as ever, I see. What must I do to rid you of it?"

"There's nothing you can do, I'm afraid."

"But really, why?"

"I'm not ready to divulge all of my secrets yet, father."

We fell into a tense silence, my father's cigar one of the few lights in the sky. I exhaled and glanced back toward the FBI's helicopter, where Jay was.

"They still don't know what you do?"

I turned back to my father, frowning. "Sorry?"

"Your children. Do they know your job?"

I shook my head rapidly. No. I did everything in my power to protect them." I sighed and added, "But it wasn't enough."

My father nodded and turned back to study the harbor below. We slowly began to lower toward the ground, and my hand subconsciously went to the knife in my pocket.

Someone was going to die tonight.