I can't sleep

I should be asleep right now, but I can’t allow myself the luxury.

My lack of rest for the last 48 hours has nothing to do with not being tired. I am absolutely exhausted and would give just about anything for even a few minutes to nod off.

I can’t let myself fall asleep for even a second because I know they are close by now, and intent on silencing me forever. Their plan worked too well, and I am the collateral damage in the plan. I represent their worst nightmare come true and I am now nothing more than a thing which must be removed at all costs.

I really believed I had covered all my tracks perfectly. Did I become complacent? Or, did they just get better at hunting me down.

I spent the last twenty years of my life working to keep my true identity opaque from everyone. None of my handlers have ever seen my true face, or any of the many false identities I made for myself.

Yet here I am, alone in the Brazilian rain forest, and hearing my pursuers closing in on my position. I do have a few more surprises for them. They will never see the landmines I strategically placed on the three paths leading to this hideout. I planned for them to attack me using at least three fully armed squads of troops. If the mines find their targets the first two soldiers in each squad should die instantly with the third soldier being injured. This will alert the rest of the squad to the dangers they are facing and slow them down. What they don’t know is after the minefield they will have to deal with the trip wires I set in place another dozen yards away. Not on the minefield path but running parallel to the path assuming the remaining soldiers will be smart enough to get off the path with a minefield.

BOOM, BOOM.

Two sets of mines just exploded. The third group must have been slower than the rest and now represent potentially a full squad of soldiers still advancing on me.

I have one more escape path available to me. Can I make it to the tunnel before they get here? My brain is so foggy from fatigue I can hardly concentrate. Yes. The tunnel it is. Time to go, NOW. I turn around to exit the back of the hideout, only to see one of my pursuers just standing quietly with his pistol aimed at my head.

“Hello Max. Or do you have a different name you would like to use for the last time?” he asks.

I lower my own weapon and have to admit defeat.

“Hello John, tell you what, you can call me by my real name, if I can call you by your real name?”

“My name actually is John. I’m sorry it has come to this Max, but as you know, this is just business.”

“I understand John, trust me, I do. Having been in the business for over twenty years now one always assumes their latest job will be their last. Since we will obviously be saying goodbye for the last time would you care to fill me in on what I missed? I really thought the planning for the job was perfect.”

“Ok Max let’s talk. But before we do, are there any other surprises out there for my teams?”

“Oh, I left quite a few out there. It would be best for you to just call in an airstrike to this location after we are through.”

“Can do. Now, what is it you want to know? Let me start by saying your portion of the planning was very good Max, too good in fact. If you hadn’t fired such a perfect shot, we might not even be in this situation right now.”

“Too good? Please tell me you are joking? I was given my target and followed my instructions to only fire one shot. I practiced that shot for weeks until I knew there was no way I could ever miss.”

“Yes, that is the problem. We needed the kill shot to look like it came from behind.”

“Don’t blame me for your other shooter messing up on the timing. I was perfect.”

“I know. Too perfect, as usual. We now have quite a mess to clean up pinning the blame on the other shooter.”

“I read the papers. Who is this Lee Harvey Oswald character you framed?”

John chuckles slightly as he lowers his pistol from pointing at my head. I notice he doesn’t holster his weapon. He just doesn’t believe he needs to point it at me anymore. This could be my opportunity.

“Lee Harvey Oswald, former US Marine who defected to the Soviet Union a few years ago, only to resurface back here in the US and bring along his Russian bride. He’s CIA, but you knew that, right?”

“I suspected as much. I just knew he couldn’t be part of our group. Is this why you killed him too?” I asked.

“Oswald was just a pawn in this chess game. Can I tell you the best part? He wasn’t even in the building during the hit.”

“So, who was the other shooter?” I asked.

“A name you will never know, nor need to know. Just another hitman, like you. Only we positioned him on the building next to the Texas School Book Depository.”

“That part I did know. While I was setting up on the south side of Dealey Plaza I saw a glint of light off his scope. Positioning him on the top of the other building was brilliant.”

“Thanks, Max. Glad you approve. Now tell me, why did you set up on the south side. We wanted you at the railroad tracks behind the grassy knoll.”

“Simple, I knew there would be too many people on the knoll who could either mess up my shot, or come looking for me afterwards, including you. So, I set up in the trunk of my car in the lot on the south side of the plaza. It gave me a much better line of sight to the target. And, the acoustics of the plaza allowed for the sound to echo and make everyone look that direction anyway.”

“Did you see a man standing on the knoll with a movie camera?” he asked me.

“What?”

“Yep, some guy named Zapruder had a Bell and Howell 8 mm movie camera and filmed the shooting.”

“Again, not my problem” I stated. “I did what you paid me to do. Fire one shot and make sure President Kennedy died. And now, here you are ready to kill me.”

“I’m sorry, Max. but this is how it has to be. No one can ever learn how we did this.”

“I’m sorry also John. What you don’t know is I’ve left a trail for a future generation to find.”

“You’re bluffing, Max.”

“No. Quite serious in fact. A full confession will go out 75 years from now. By that time, I knew I would be long gone, either by you, or just natural causes. Why? Because the world needs to know how they have been deceived for generations. They need to know the truth about who you are and who really runs this world.”

“Well, Max, now that I know this confession exists, I won’t stop until I track it down.”

“No, no you won’t be the one to do it.”

John’s demeanor changed from the knowledge he had the upper hand in this discussion to the harsh reality he was going to die. I only had to slide my right foot a few inches to the right to activate the hidden detonator.

“My name is Bergthor Nilsen. Goodbye, John.”

John was quick to raise his pistol, but not quick enough for me to kick out my right foot and activate the detonator hidden on wall.

My life flashed in front of me, culminating with my last assassination. The shot I fired, which took the life of US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

75 years is a long time from now. Maybe long enough for the shadow group actually running this country to be unmasked. If not, then I can only hope my confession will get the job done.

BOOM