Page 1 of Bullet for My Good Girl

One

Vitto

18 months ago

Killing her was supposed to be easy.

She's an easy target. Petite. Hangs around with a bad crowd and is naive to the world that she's stepped into.

Killing her should be easy.

I could have cleared this contract months ago, in fact, I was supposed to, but I'd made the mistake of getting too close to her.

She doesn't know that I'm around, but I've gotten close enough to know what she smells like after she gets out of the shower. Close enough to know how brightly her face flushes after she uses her bright pink vibrator while she lies in bed.

I've been stalking Stella for months, waiting for the right time to take her out. At first, I told myself that I didn't want to kill her because the price wasn't worth my time. It was easier than I'd like it to be for me to find her, but the jerks that wanted her dead refused to up the price on her bounty. So, I just watched her.

I watched and fantasized about her.

Following Stella has become something of a nightly routine.

She became part of me. But now this obsession has to end.

Today, I'll have to kill Stella and get on with my life.

A deep, annoying buzzing sensation vibrates in my pocket. With an annoyed grunt, I pull out my phone and look down at the screen. The notification is encrypted. The letters would've made no sense if I didn't know what I was looking for. Of course, I've been accepting hits and reading bounties for as long as I can remember, so I know exactly what the letters on the small screen mean.

The people who want Stella Spiro dead have upped their price once again. It's not long before other assassins start to come after my girl.

I hiss in aggravation and clench my fists tight, so my nails bite into my skin.

She's not my girl. She's just a girl.

One that I'm going to have to kill.

Quickly, suddenly anxious to get this night over with, I slide my phone back into my pocket and pull out my wallet at the same time. Peeling off thirty dollars, I drop it down on the vinyl Mahogany table-top. More than enough to pay for the three cups of coffee that I've been nursing since I got here earlier in the morning. It's already way past midday, and I'm sure the waitress is happy to see me leaving so she can get back to serving other customers.

"Have a nice day." The waitress mutters under her breath as I make my way to the front door.

"It'll be better than yours," I say as I step out into the musky, repugnant stench I've come to expect from downtown New Jersey.

The rundown apartment buildings and the sewage-laden streets give a perfect breeding ground for the criminal element like me.

I could shoot someone right here in the middle of the street, and very few people would turn around to check out the scene. I love living in the Tri-State area; it makes my line of work so much easier.

Pulling the hood over my head, I walk slowly towards my black Ford Camry. It's a 2010 edition, so it doesn't stick out, but it's still reliable enough that I don't have to worry about it breaking down when I need it. I've darkened the tints on the car, just to make sure no one can look in the windows while it's parked. Though, it's not like there's anything anyone would be able to see from the outside. I've been in the killing business for a long time. I know exactly how to hide my equipment so no one can find it. Opening up the back passenger door I unzip the upholstery of the back seat and grab the thin but long duffle bag from the frame of the car. The strap is made of triple-woven fibers, so it's near impossible for someone to rip it off my body. They could get it off with a knife, but I doubt anyone would be dumb enough to do something like that.

After I secure the duffle bag over my shoulder, I pull out a small Beretta and a hunter's knife, just to be safe. I intend to take Stella out from a distance, but it's better to be safe than sorry. I don't know what could happen once she's inside the party house like she's supposed to be.

Every day around this time, she meets up with a few friends—or at least she thinks they are friends. In reality, the people she hangs around with are only using her for the money that she can bring in. Being part of the Spiro family means she's got a lot of money to burn.

Except, she doesn't burn her money; she trades it for powder that she can snort up her nose.

Stella is a sweet girl trying to run away from her past in the same way so many other people have tried and failed in their lifetimes. I don't know what she's trying to block from her mind, but she sure does pay a lot of money to do so.

The bounty doesn't give any reasoning for why they want little Miss Stella dead, only that it should be discreet and quiet. My specialty.

Keeping my hood pulled up over my head, I make my way down Conley street and into the dilapidated three-story building that is right next to where I know Stella will be for the night.

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