I Knew Better

Of course, they only gave me one star. I knew the job seemed sketchy when I took it. First, they were keeping some details secret that were key to the job, and second, they kept giving me incorrect locations. What utter idiots.

Ring

Damn, she saw it.

Ring

I really don’t want to have this conversation.

Ring

“Hello…” I say as I answer my phone but am cut off.

“Why do you have a one-star review?” Kathy asks in an exacerbated tone.

“Listen, they kept hiding details and giving me the run around!” I reply, knowing she won’t like that answer.

 “And?” She asks, I can feel her pinching the bridge of her knows in her posh skyscraper office.

“I may have refused to finish the job the way they wanted.”

“I told you, this job would be difficult.”

“But you didn’t say children would be involved.”

“What? That wasn’t in the report.”

“Well, there were two kids there and one of them was a mark.”

“That’s not allowed, they broke their contract. Give me a minute,” She states, before hanging up.

“Well, that was rude of her,” I say to myself.

Kathy has always been a bit of a rude agent. She’s very demanding, but she has my back and is probably the best agent I’ve ever had.

Ring

I answer the phone and before I can say anything, Kathy says, “I have a new job for you. The brokers hate breaches of contract, and this isn’t the first offense of your previous employer.”

“Are they my new target?” I ask.

“Yes, the brokers are compiling the data and will send it your way. They’re also going to remove the one-star review.”

“Hopefully, this new data is better than what they gave me.”

“It will at least be somewhat accurate; we already know they lied on the job request. Luckily, there is some data of theirs we know isn’t fake.”

My phone vibrates as I get the first set of data sent to me.

“Just received the data,” I say.

“Good luck, and good hunting,” Kathy replies.

I hang up and open the app Hitnation. The A.W.G., Assassins World Guild, put a lot of time and money into this app. It has a clean interface and is relatively easy to use. This app is one of the many ways they’ve been able to corner the market and gain so much power of the underworld. It’s also where people will leave their reviews, jobs, and data for hits. All of it monitored by brokers and assigned by agents.

Searching through the app I find my new job. Their name is Jovan Kriska, an ambassador from Italy. His family moved there from Croatia when he was younger and now, he serves as Italy’s ambassador to Croatia. Why has he been taking out hits on these people though?

I scroll through the info that was sent and try to parse through what is true and what is a lie. The basic info seems true, but the motives feel off. There are mentions of him being a humanitarian building diplomatic relations and investing heavily into various medical facilities. However, the criminal side of things tells a different story. Every job is counter to what he’s a proponent of and is very random. A tech mogul in Greece killed by poison. Sabotage of a dam that provides power to a nearby city. Very weird, he does seem to have a decent number of complaints from other agents. Most of them are similar to mine. I’ll have to head to Italy and maybe I’ll find out more, it’s not my job to know his motives though. This is a job that I’ll enjoy though.

It’s a two-hour flight from Amsterdam to Rome commercially. I’ll see if we have any planes, I can hitch a ride on. The A.W.G. has ways to get me on any flight I need and sometimes we even get private jets if we’re in a rush. I’d fly myself, but that’d take too long. I want to get there while any info we have is fresh.

Luckily, for me, I hadn’t unpacked since my last job just ended. I grabbed my bag and exited the flat making my way down to the street. It takes me about five minutes for me to get a cab and it’s about a fifteen-minute drive to get to the airport. Then after the two-hour flight it’ll take another half hour to get downtown to my condo in Rome. The target will have a four-hour head start on me most likely, that’s if everything goes according to plan. I imagine they’ve already been notified of their terminated contract and status as a target. That’ll make my job a bit more difficult.

We pull up to the airport and I pay the driver. I power walk my way through the airport and find the staff doors that allow me to the hidden parts of the airport. While not the most lavish of secret tunnels I’ve been in these are very functional. After working my way through the maze, I find myself at the concierge office for the A.W.G. The woman working at the desk has pixie cut green and pink hair and wears a crimson suit.

“Job code,” she says with a smile.

I pull out my phone and present her the job in the app. She quickly scans the barcode attached to the job before handing my phone back. After a moment she pulls out the chip reader. It’s a small ring-shaped contraption with a pad on the bottom. A red laser shoots out of the top of it towards the pad.

“May I see your wrist?” she asks politely.

I roll up the sleeves of my navy cardigan and place my arm inside the machine, so the laser hits the inside of my wrist. With a brief pause the laser turns green and a sharp beep occurs.

“You’re all set,” she states, pulling out a piece of paper, “You’ll be going to gate C16, here is your boarding pass.”

She hands me the piece of paper.

“You’ve been provided first class on the house as an apology for the client’s breach of contract. Enjoy your flight.”

She gestures toward a door and smiles.

“Thank you,” I reply smiling back as I exit the room.

It takes me awhile but eventually I exit the tunnels and find my gate. Boarding is about to begin so I made it just in time. I quickly board and find my nice and comfortable seat and settle in for a short nap. I close my eyes and drift away, so that the flight will go by quickly.

As soon as we land, I find my way to the taxis and head to my condo. On the car ride I check the app to see what I missed. Seems about an hour ago he ditched his phone and left his home in Rome. We know he hasn’t left the city, but we lost track of him. I’ll just have track him down myself using the data we do have and my own skills.

Upon reaching my condo I head upstairs and unlock my door. Walking inside I notice the lights are on. Slowly, I set down my bag and pull out one of my Glocks and a magazine for it. I load it and make my way deeper into my condo.

“No need to be so hasty,” A deep voice says, the slow trickle of a liquid into a cup follows it.

I continue forward and see an older gentleman sitting on my couch sipping tea. I immediately recognize him as Jovan. His navy suit finely tailored and pressed. I point my gun at him ready to fire.

“Why shouldn’t I kill you now?” I ask.

“Because I have an offer for you and this,” He replies and waves his hand.

A laser shines through the window on my chest. While normally that might be terrifying, the windows are bullet proof. Even an RPG couldn’t break the glass, believe me I’ve tried. Clearly Jovan, doesn’t realize this though. I wouldn’t put it past him to have more guards or something nearby.

“Fine, what is your offer?” I reply.

“Excellent, I knew you could be reasoned with,” He says, as he sips his tea, “Take a seat.”

He gestures towards a seat on my couch, as though he owns the place. I can see why so many people have complained and he’s left so many one-star reviews. I sit down, keeping the gun pointed at him.

“The proposal I have for you is that we forget my broken contract,” He says, “If you do, I’ll provide you with enough money that you’ll be able to retire.”

“Money isn’t why I do this job,” I reply.

He raises an eyebrow and sets his tea down.

“Very well, I’ll add in a yacht.”

“I have one.”

A bead of sweat forms above his temple and slowly runs down his face.

“Fine, I’ll give you anything you like.”

“I do this job for one reason.”

I lift the gun and shoot him in the forehead. As I do a sound similar to that of someone tapping on a glass tank but much louder rings out. I look up to see the bullet proof glass is dented, a large bullet stuck in the glass. What an idiot. He really thought that would work. I wave at the sniper, and they wave back. I open the app and look to see who’s nearby, and see that Tyler Greene is most likely the sniper. I quickly send him a text telling him better luck next time. Hopefully, the broker’s give me a higher rating than Jovan did.