My Job

I knew Albert was dead. I knew because I killed him.

I lived beyond my means. I craved the best things in life. Designer clothes, expensive wines, exotic trips, and room service in the best hotels all cost money, more money than I had. That wasn't a problem until the credit card companies cut off my credit. I needed easy money.

 I started gambling. The money came rolling in. Slot machines paid well, and the Black Jack table was my friend. It didn't matter if I hadn't heard of a sports team, I would bet on their winning. It didn't matter if I hadn't heard of the sport; I would pick the winner. I had a winning system for the Roulette Wheel. I was the Queen of the World.

 Then, I started losing. I lost small amounts at first, but that wasn't a problem. I knew I could recover my losses with the next big win, but the next big win didn't happen. The small losses became big losses. I ran out of money. I knew my luck would change if I could just ride out the losing streak. I needed to borrow money.

Albert was incredibly attractive. He was six foot three inches tall with light brown hair and green eyes. He was also very charismatic. I met him when I was playing Roulette. I should explain that I was losing at the Roulette Wheel when a player took the chair next to me. All the other players paused when he sat down. Like me, they wanted to absorb the magnetism of this man. I knew my luck had changed for the better. My losing streak was over.

 "You are my good luck charm," I told the alluring man. "I was losing before you sat next to me. Now I am five thousand dollars richer. Let me buy you dinner with my earnings."

           "I wouldn't dream of letting you buy dinner. I insist on buying you dinner." I was hooked when he gave me his magnetic smile.

"I've had a streak of bad luck," I admitted when the appetizers arrived. "You turned my luck around; I know I'll be even luckier if you tell me your name." That sounds corny, I know but, I was feeling good because of the luck this handsome stranger brought with him.

           "Albert, at your service. Is there a name lovely enough for you?" Albert asked.

 "It's a little old fashioned; my name is Opal." I only hesitated a second before I continued. "I've had a streak of bad luck, but I know my luck will turn. I've already had better luck since meeting you. I just need to make larger bets so I can recoup the money I've lost. I need more money than I have to place the larger bets."

           "I know you were born under a lucky star," Albert encouraged. You are too beautiful to suffer bad luck for long."

 I didn't think Albert was trying to flatter me because I know that men find me beautiful. Nature gifted me with perfect blond hair and blue eyes fringed with dark lashes. Good genes gave me a knockout figure, which I kept with vigorous exercise. Albert wasn't the first man to tell me that I'm beautiful.

           "Let me loan you one hundred thousand dollars to get back on your feet," Albert offered.

 Offering money to a compulsive gambler is like offering vodka to a raging alcoholic. I took the money.  

           I gambled it away before the month was over.

 "You owe me two hundred thousand dollars, and I want to be my money, right now," Albert said when he came to visit me one month later.

           "I only borrowed one hundred thousand," I protested.

 "You didn't think the loan was interest-free; did you?" Albert sneered.

           I needed a little more time and another loan. "If you loan two hundred thousand more dollars, I'll repay you with your outrageous inters when I start winning again."

 Albert's charming charisma was gone. In its place was with anger. "No more loans!"

           I just stared at him.

           "I know that you don't have any money. I also know that you don't have any collateral. Albert cut off any protest that I might have made. "However, you can work off your debt." Albert was smiling now. It was a very sinister smile.

           "I don't have any skills that will make that kind of money," I protested.

 "Ah, that's where you are wrong," Albert replied. "I have been looking for someone like you. You are attractive and likable. People trust you."

           "What's the job?" I was almost afraid to ask, but it was better to know what Albert was thinking.

 "I want you to find other gullible fools like you and loan them money. You don't need to tell them about the high-interest rate," Albert smirked.

           "You plan to coerce them, just like you are coercing me," I accused.

           "Hey, I didn't force you to gamble away one hundred thousand dollars of my money," Albert taunted. "You did that all on your own."

 "I don't have a choice, do I?" I looked at Albert with all the innocence that I could muster.

           "You're taking this pretty well." Albert gloated. 

           "I know when I'm beaten," I confessed. "Let's have dinner. then you can tell me about my first assignment."

Albert's charisma returned during dinner. Many people are charming when they think they have the upper hand. I'm amazed that Albert was unaware of the danger surrounding him.

           Albert outlined my first assignment. The victim was a nerdy computer programmer. Albert wanted him to hack into international banks, but the man had resisted Albert's job offers. My job was to find a way to convince the programmer to work for Albert.

           I barely listened to all the boring information that Albert kept spewing. I knew that I would never do that job.

 Dinner ended when Albert started to feel unwell. Drinking ethylene glycol (antifreeze) with your red wine causes severe and painful health issues. Organ failure associated with the poison causes pain so severe that victims can howl for hours. Death usually occurs within three days.

 For the next three days, I called all the local emergency rooms. Pretending to be Albert's sister, I asked if a man matching Albert's description had been admitted. I learned that he had been pronounced dead on arrival.  

I realized that I had a talent. I started working for myself, and business was good.

One day I received a message from a potential client. He had the proper referrals and contacted me with all the secret code words. I knew that he wasn't an undercover policeman.

 Not all clients want to me in person, but this one insisted. I agreed to meet him at the crossroads of two busy streets the following day. The client would give me the details, and then we could discuss my fee.

Expecting the client to be nervous, I arrived at the meeting place fifteen minutes early. I was wrong; the client wasn't nervous at all.

           Albert was right in front of me on the street, smiling his sinister smile. "Hello Opal," he said. "I heard about your new career. I'm willing to pay you five hundred thousand dollars to kill the person who tried to kill me."

           "What did Albert know?" I asked myself, "Is it possible that he doesn't know it was me?" There was only one way to find out. I accepted the job.

           "Let's meet for dinner so you can tell me all the details," I said.