Housekeeping

“We have all the time in the world, Jack.” Dominic watched as tears struggled to climb the man’s swollen, bloodied cheeks. His fat lips quivered when his one eye that could still see watched Dominic grab a thick pair of wire cutters from a nearby toolbox.

“Please, I don’t know. Swear to God I don’t know.” Dominic sighed and shook his head as he walked over to Jack, the wire cutters in hand. “No, come on! I don’t know anything!”

Domnic made a small click with his cheek before he said, “Jack, you have to understand why I find that-”

Jack interrupted and replied, “Yes, I know, but I’m telling you, I was just the fence. I don’t know who they were.” Dominic nodded.

“Yes, you said that, but unfortunately for you, your peers have given you a stellar reputation. ‘Honest Jack’ because you always shoot straight, face to face. And you’re telling me you don’t know who you met with?” Jack raised his hands up as far as he could, with them being tied down to the chair.

“I know… look…” Dominic waved his hands and finally clamped his fingers down on Jack’s mouth.

“Jack, I get it. You have a reputation to uphold. But to be clear, you also don’t have fingernails.” Jack sighed and stayed silent for a moment.

Finally, he said, “Christina Malik. From my understanding, she’s a big fixer in the corporate world. Thought it was strange when she called me. But once she laid out what she had, it was pretty clear why.”

Dominic was quick to ask, “Did you look at any of the data?” Jack only shook his head and looked down at the concrete floor, letting blood drip off the tip of his nose. Christina Malik, Dominic didn’t know the name, but he had found the man in front of him with just ‘Honest Jack’. The name was more than plenty. “Well,” Dominic said, “That’s good to hear,” before drawing his pistol.

“WHAT!” Jack yelled. Dominic only shrugged before pulling the trigger twice, sending two bullets straight through the man’s chest. His body collapsed into a sack of meat in the chair. The stench of iron had become mixed with sulfur, meaning Dominic was done. He stepped out of the construction site and took a glance down both ends of the street before crossing over. There, his black Audi A4 was waiting.

As soon as he got into the driver’s seat, Dominic opened the console beneath his right arm and pulled out a phone. He simply pressed the one and waited as the phone rang.

After a few chimes, a small chill ran down Dominic’s spine as a soft and slightly cracked male voice said, “Mister Rourke, how was your rock turning expedition?”

“I have a name. Christina Malik.” There was only static as Dominic waited. When nothing else came, he said, “I guess you know the name.” Dominic heard a deep sigh after that.

“Yes. I apologize for my silence. That name was unexpected.” The way the man’s voice gently danced on every word made Dominic uneasy. Even when he was in shock, he seemed to just glide through the sentence. Of course, when that voice told Dominic something he wanted to hear, it was something that made him feel quite safe. Dominic started his Audi and listened to the V6 come from a roar to purr as he waited. After that, the man said, “Well, I suppose I’m missing something. I’m assuming you’ll follow this lead.”

Dominic took in a deep breath before asking, “Should I not?” A chuckle came through the phone’s speaker.

“No, as far as I’m concerned, Miss Malik has been dead for some time. I was hoping you could make sure to… actualize that reality for her.”

“Should it look like an accident or-”

“No,” the man interrupted, “It appears people think our house is out of order. I’d like to say otherwise. Plus, people get sloppy when pressure is applied. That’ll make it easier for you, especially since I’ll have to ask for radio silence from this point. As I said, the house is out of order. It’ll be safer for you to operate independently.” Dominic smiled as he pulled off the curb and drove back into New York.

“I’m glad you care so much.”

Expecting to hear that chuckle again, Dominic felt his heart drop when he heard the man say, “You are a valuable asset, Mister Rourke,” in a flat tone.

“Good to know,” Dominic said, keeping the knot in his throat down.

“I’m sure Miss Malik has been in a somewhat arrogant state since the theft. Arrogance breeds a false sense of safety.” Dominic nodded as a couple of NYPD cruisers flew past him.

“You think everything I need will be on her devices?”

“I’m assuming, of course. You’re the one on the ground. As I said, I’ll call you Mister Rourke. Good night.” The phone went dead, and Dominic drove towards Kennedy International as the entire street began to flash red and blue.

With some internet searches and a few phone calls, Dominic found Christina Malik. She was a freelancing fixer for the various corporate blobs across the United States. Only recently had she engaged in foreign corporate wars, but after a failure, she returned to California. Expecting to find her with a large mansion in Beverley Hills, Dominic instead watched her from the abandoned floor of an office building in downtown San Francisco. A dark floor in any city meant he was completely hidden in his black peacoat, so he didn’t complain. A hue of bluish white light was trying to crawl into the floor, but Dominic was sitting too high above the city for it to succeed. And there would be no reflection or glint from his binoculars, so Dominic had a free view of her penthouse.

He was one or two floors above, so only half of the front door was cut off from his view. Dominic chose the office not for the penthouse though, but the garage a far distance back. Miss Malik took to her father’s British side and had an easily identifiable sapphire blue Jaguar. Her security was a small squad of four men, but highly trained. A SEAL, a couple of Berets, and a retired CIA operative. He wasn’t so much a bodyguard as a part of her espionage team and based on a very… eventful night of observation, they were lovers of some kind. The moment Dominic learned about the SEAL, he already chose his plan. Shock and awe, emphasizing the shock more than anything else. Engaging in hand to hand or getting caught in a fair shootout would get Dominic killed. He knew that. After watching for a few days, Dominic knew the three men had settled into a retirement. There was no patrolling disguised as pacing, and they even let her open the door occasionally. Dominic knew that would end the moment Malik heard about Jack. She had just come out of the shower, making sure she brought her clothes into the bathroom.

When she came out, Harris, the CIA operative, waited for her. He quickly showed her an iPad. After some words, she nodded, then spun around and had him finish zipping up her white cocktail dress. Then she headed for the door, with her guards following close behind. Dominic immediately brought his binoculars down to the street to the building’s garage door. Once a few minutes passed, a blue XF Jaguar pulled into the building. That meant Malik would be in a car with a retired CIA agent and probably an armed driver. The guards would most likely follow her in a black Range Rover. Dominic would have to hit that car first. He’d wait until they were leaving their destination. He needed their route home to find a spot to ambush. At that, Dominic put his binoculars back in his inside jacket pocket and went back to his car.

Knowing some days ago that Dominic would do shock and awe, he made sure to find the one gas powered F-150 in San Francisco his organization had. It was tall, black, and had a back seat big enough to hide a duffel bag with an M4A1. Plus, the thing would make a good ram. He stepped up into the truck’s cabin and waited for a minute. As soon as a pair of headlights lit the wall across the street from Malik’s building, Dominic started his truck. The blue Jaguar pulled out of the garage, along with the Range Rover, as expected, and made a left, away from Dominic. After a quick check of his mirrors, he pulled into the street.

He navigated through the city streets, keeping his distance as he followed the blue Jaguar. After a few stop lights, Dominic realized the driver was keeping to the speed limit perfectly, and not at all trying to jockey for a better spot in the traffic. Malik was keeping a low profile. Made sense in Dominic’s mind. Even though it would only be a local police report, any paper connected to her name might be a crack. More and more stoplights passed until the Jaguar made a quick stop before making a U-turn in the middle of a busy street. Dominic decided it was best to just drive past and watch. In his rearview, he watched as a snow-white silhouette stepped out of the blue Jaguar while the Ranger Rover backtracked. A small jump to Dominic’s heart flooded his mind with adrenaline. He was on a packed street in a massive truck. If he made the U-turn to follow, they would notice him instantly. Knowing where Malik was gave Dominic the confidence he needed to accelerate and take the next distant left.

He gunned the truck’s V-8 down the street, that might as well be an alleyway. Barely able to avoid the cars, and possibly scratching one, Dominic charged out into the parallel street and made a left to follow the Rover. He rushed for the light, hoping the yellow would become infinite. Instead, the light flicked red, and Dominic was forced to stop in the left turn lane. He made sure to pull the truck out as far as possible and watched the street he last saw the Range Rover on. As the other directions at the intersection went, Dominic didn’t see the SUV, but, for a split second, he saw a sapphire blue something roll through the distant intersection. The moment the light went green, Dominic took the hard left and rushed to the light. It went red, but he had the right turn, so he took it, causing a car to honk, but it gave him the second he needed to see the Jaguar’s bumper pull left into a parking garage. Dominic turned his car into the right-hand curb and got out.

He followed on foot by jogging down the ramp, knowing whoever was in the car would be walking out a door to the sidewalk. As he followed the pale green light down, Dominic entered a small private garage and immediately saw the Jaguar. His eyes also darted to the bubble of a camera. In Dominic's last profession, such a sight would be a concern, but it was made clear to Dominic that there wasn’t a need to worry anymore about those. The pin he was given as being a part of the organization had a kind of mask to it. So Dominic walked forward and approached the car. No one was inside. The only face he saw was his own when he looked at the tinted windows. His reflection showed Dominic an almost black set of bags under his eyes, and his paling olive skin. The black hair on his head still had its composure, though. After a beam of white light shined across the floor of the garage, Dominic focused and placed the small device from his pocket under the bumper of the car. Once he felt the magnet snap to the car, he ran to the wall and ducked behind Malik’s Range Rover. The car with headlights was a normal economic something that Dominic avoided as he sprinted back up the ramp.

He looked before crossing the street so he could get back into his truck and look at his phone. When it came on, the map app showed a blinking red dot and said it was a few dozen feet from him. Dominic felt his heart settle. All that was left was to pick a spot. His mind immediately reminded him of the highway that went over 3^rd Street. He started the truck and took the nearest right, where he saw a road going a few dozen feet over his head. Once he looked right and saw the pillars holding up the highway, he sent the truck down the dirt alley. He followed the columns of concrete for a minute before finally making a three-point turn so the truck would be pointed at the road. He then turned the key and left himself in a wall of darkness. The streetlamps over the sidewalks and road weren’t able to spill light over the alley. All that remained was waiting. Dominic looked down at the phone and saw the car still in its parking garage, only a few blocks away from his current position.

Another twenty minutes passed, forcing Dominic’s fingers to blow up the map. He scanned up and down the street to look for what occupied Malik’s time. His fingers stopped once they found a name, Saison. It was a restaurant, high-end based on the prices. A small pit formed in his stomach when he saw the place. He had planned his ambush for Malik to head straight home, not to head for a movie or club. If she did, he would just have to follow again. That thought made him raise his lip, but he didn’t have a choice. Knowing it would be some time, Dominic closed his eyes and waited.

A beep made Dominic’s eyes shoot open. He looked down and saw the red dot moving. With a pair of wide eyes, he watched to see if it would make the right. It reached the intersection and then sat. One second, two, three, and another sixty passed before he watched that dot make the right. That was enough for Dominic to start the truck again and turn off the headlights. He put the phone up on the dashboard and watched the red dot close in. Dominic quickly rummaged through the duffel bag to grab the M4 and its extra mag before revving the truck’s engine. Dominic’s muscles had already rushed ahead of him as they tensed up for the crash. The app kept ticking down the distance. 200ft, 150ft, 100ft. Dominic decided that once it reached 60, he’d throw his foot down. He saw the 70 and knew he only had a second to react. Dominic slammed the gas and felt the truck rush forward. He heard the woosh as the columns blurred his peripherals. Then, in the last second, he saw a flash of sapphire blue.

After feeling his nose shatter from the punch of his airbag, Dominic blinked to push away the blur in his vision before throwing open his driver side door. Once he felt the asphalt of the street beneath his shoes, Dominic looked at the damage. To his surprise, Dominic had hit both the Jaguar and the Range Rover. The front of the Jaguar was completely smashed in, with a massive dent on the SUV’s back end. His eyes followed the Rover to its windshield, where Malik’s two guards tried to recover. Dominic immediately sent ten rounds through the glass. Blood quickly splattered the front shield, leaving only the Jaguar. He kept the sight of his rifle up as he pushed towards the Jaguar. The truck had pushed it thirty feet away into the opposite pillar holding up the highway. When he approached, he immediately saw the glossy pupils of the driver. That meant Malik’s last bit of protection was Harris. Dominic saw the back door of the car was already open. He looked inside and found the man struggling for a gun. With a quick squeeze of his trigger, Dominic had nearly decapitated the man before looking for Malik. A trail of blood from the back seat of the car led Dominic to Malik, using her arms to crawl away in the gravel. Dominic didn’t waste his time and ran over to Malik, whose phone was clutched in her left hand.

He ripped the phone from her and placed it in his jacket pocket. Dominic finally brought the barrel up just a little, so it was parallel with her chest before he said, “Bad move, Christina.” Then he gave another squeeze and watched two rounds fly through her chest, ending his time in San Francisco.

Dominic used his network and had the truck destroyed along with the gun before getting on a small private flight.

When he closed his eyes to relax, a woman’s voice said, “Sir, a phone call.” Dominic opened them to see the petite woman that acted as the jet’s resident attendant. He took the phone and gave a nod so she would leave before putting his ear to it.

“Mr. Rourke, you did not disappoint.” A chill went through Dominic’s body when he heard that elegant voice.

“Glad to hear.” He let there be some silence between them before Dominic asked, “How was your end of things?”

The man replied, “Oh, most productive. The data you recovered from Mrs. Malik ties everything together nicely. It appears those above us are having… disagreements. People are picking sides and I guess Miss Malik chose hers.”

“Does that mean we’ve got a clock on us as well?”

A warmth came over Dominic when the man replied, “Haha… no Mr. Rourke. Be rest assured, we have all the time in the world.”