In The Safety Of A Lie - COMPLETED!

Chapter 2

Content Warning: Violence

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Presently

Joey Markes finished tightening a zip tie against a man's wrist. There was no way the man would get free. He glanced up at his co-conspirator aiming a gun at the prisoner. "He ain't going no where."

"Good." Jimmy Valdez eyed up the tightness of the ties as he lowered his gun. "The boss wouldn't be happy if he found out that we made a mistake by not tightening those zip strips."

Joey reached down and pulled the man's chin up with his gloved fingers. "Who else knows about the flash drive?"

The man didn't say anything. Joey grabbed him by the throat and tipped the chair over. His eyes were intense. "Tell me what you know. Now." He growled, no patience remained in his voice.

The flash drive contained important dirt on Senator Robert Downs. It wasn't their job to know exactly what was on the drive, just to make sure it was destroyed. Their job was to make sure that he was never tied to anything that could hurt his career or his personal life. This was just business as usual.

Joey was known by many names. A fixer. A wet boy. A cleaner. None of those names defined him, however. He was just doing his job. A job that left little to be desired and no satisfaction.

"Don't leave any marks. We need to keep this clean." Jimmy walked up next to Joey. He eyed the prisoner up.

Joey's jaw hardened. He pulled the chair up and repositioned the man. He looked up at Jimmy. Darkness flooded his gaze. He arched an eyebrow, not sure if he was really asking for permission.

Jimmy knew the look. He'd seen it dozens of times. Perhaps it was because they'd served together for a number of years before starting this job. Either way, it was a look of pure trouble. He took a step back and nodded his head. "You better not leaving anything that could link back to us."

"You know me better than that." Joey pulled out a knife. The wounds would be too hard to confirm once he was done with the job. Joey looked back at the prisoner. "I'm only going to ask you once. Who else knows about the flash drive?"

"If you're not supposed to leave marks, why would I tell you a thing?" The man spat out, clearly trying to fool them with mock anger. It wasn't enough to hide the fear that could still be seen in his eyes.

Jimmy knelt down in front of the man. The intensity in his eyes was unmistakable. "The plans have changed. We need answers. Your cooperation level will confirm whether or not you die a fast death. Either way, you will die today."

The pair of men exchanged positions. Joey knelt down to the man's level as Jimmy left the room. "What's your answer going to be?"

The man searched Joey's eyes for truth. Those that knew Joey well also knew of the kindness that he was known for; however, the enemy only could see the coldness that Joey's job had marked him with. This was business. He had to be cruel. Perhaps that's why the job didn't allow any relationships other than a one night stand here and there. A relationship could melt him and not make him as effective of a killer that the job demanded. It could make him sloppy. Unfocused.

Jimmy returned to the room with a gas can. He began drizzling it around the room.

"What's he doing?" The man's eyes widened. His voice had begun to elevate in pure, undesirable panic.

"Don't focus on him, focus on me. What will your answer be?" Joey waited patiently. He knew what Jimmy was doing, he didn't need to look at him to confirm. The smell of gasoline was pungent. The knife was beginning to feel heavy in his hand from lack of motion.

"Nobody else knows about it! I swear!" The man's voice quickly hit a high note; the panic had completely filled him. He couldn't keep his gaze focused on Joey, his eyes darted around the room at all the gasoline. He struggled to break free of his ties, but it was useless. "I won't tell anyone! Just let me go, man!"

"Is this the only copy?" Joey pulled the flash drive out of a pocket and displayed it in front of the man. He didn't blink, just weighed out every word the man said.

"Yeah... yeah, that's the only copy!" The man was jittery as he spoke, clearly proving he was coming down from some kind of high that only a drug could provide.

Jimmy walked over and sprinkled the gasoline all over the man.

"Hey! What the..." The man frantically spewed out. His eyes couldn't get any wider. "I'm telling you the truth!"

"I know you are." Joey nodded his head and backed up a few feet. "We told you that you were going to die today. How, is the only thing that made up our mind on just how much pain you were going to feel."

"But I'm not ready to die!" The man squeaked out. He was young; mid-20s at best. It was a waste to have to do this to him.

"Should have thought about that before you decided to put together that flash drive." Joey said calmly.

"It's nothing personal, just our job." Jimmy added and backed away from the man. He nodded at Joey to finish the mess. Both men had coverings over their shoes, preventing the gasoline from getting on them.

Joey circled around to behind the man. He raised the knife up to his throat. Part of him felt bad for needing to end a life over something that was probably pretty stupid. He kept trying to think rationale though. This man was a drug addict that probably had a long list of felonies. He didn't deserve to be alive in the first place. Doing this was just making the world a better place. At least, that's what he kept telling himself.

"Please! Don't do this!" The man was blubbering out tears and spit as he pleaded for his life.

Joey paused. He looked down at the knife and the back of the man's head. He pulled away, folding the knife and stuffing it in his pocket. His jaw hardened. He reached into his other pocket and pulled out a covered needle head and syringe. He surgically put them together, allowing air to fill the syringe.

"What... what are you doing?" The man was shaking more now. He gulped, refusing to move his eyes from Joey.

With a sudden, quick movement, Joey jammed the syringe into the man's chest, aiming at his heart. He injected the air into the man as he violently began to convulse. He backed away, watching the life drain from the man's eyes. It was a little bit more merciful.

Both men waited, making sure the job was complete. They began to exit the building, lighting a match behind them. The heat of the flames would melt the zip ties and create a scene that looked like a man burned to death in his own house. It wasn't the cleanest method, and there was always a chance that it would lead to an arson investigation, but it wasn't a hard method either. Striking fear into the man was the only good way of making him talk — to ensure what he was saying was truth.

"You let another one get to you, Joey." Jimmy commented. He was a little older than Joey and saw him as a little brother — sometimes to Joey's dismay.

"He might have been stupid and clearly was an addict, but he may not have been a bad person. He didn't deserve to die like that." Joey didn't look over at his friend. "It was probably for something stupid anyway."

"We don't know that." Jimmy looked back at the house already in a blazing flame and pointed. "That could have been a very bad man. It's not our place to say whether or not he was. We have a job to do and some people are going to be in more pain than others. You might have fooled him into thinking you were a terrible man, but I know the truth."

"What truth?" Joey's jaw hardened.

"That when it comes to hurting people, you don't have the stomach for it." Jimmy said it clearly.

Joey couldn't help but agree. He wasn't sure why he was even doing this. He hated to hurt people. He had since he had become a sniper serving his country. That training had put a target on his back and had made him an obvious choice for the senator's cleanup crew. The only thing that he could say was that he was good at his job. Even that may not be enough to redeem him.