Page 105 of Rugger: The Huntress

I watched from a short distance as she took the lead. She was clueless and didn’t have a clue where we were headed or where she was exactly. Still, she strutted as if she was on a pre-planned mission.

She knows this place.

The revelation came to me as she reached forward to move the long sheets of plastic out of her way to enter the dark, chilly room. She was almost too good to be true. How she’d discovered one of my hidden gems was beyond me. Though it was obvious she’d never visited, she was familiar with the layout. What she knew, Google Maps hadn’t taught her.

“You know this place,” I called out to her.

She halted mid-stride and squared her shoulders.

With a nod, she admitted, “I know all the places, Sonnie.”

Figured. I summed, but kept quiet. She continued walking. I stood by the entry point, admiring her physique and conviction as she conquered the room.

“What I don’t know is why we’re he–”

She’d reached the center of the room. Her heel collided with the metal chair in front of her, awakening another presence.

“Sonnie–”

There was movement. It startled an unsuspecting Rugger.

“Sonnie,” she called out to me, again.

“I’m here, Gazelle.”

I obliterated the distance between us. From behind, I lifted the black fabric from her eyes and took two steps back. She was frozen in place.

I rounded the two beings that were both paralyzed with grievance. One for the death they understood was near. The other for the death they’d assumed had occurred.

“Hermen,” Gazelle uttered in sheer disbelief. “I thou– I– he died.”

“He hasn’t but tonight he will.”

“Sonnie,” she gasped, turning toward me, “Seriously?”

“That’s your assignment, Gazelle. This wasn’t business. It was personal. I understood that and would never take that away from you. So, I preserved the kill and falsified evidence of his demise. You don’t need all the degrees you have to put two and two together. He’s right here and he’s yours to do as yo–”

Pew.

The first bullet pierced his abdomen.

“ARGH.”

He screamed, but the cloth stuffed in his mouth muffled the sound. I didn’t realize Rugger had drawn her weapon or that she’d prepared it for discharge.

She leaned forward and removed the blindfold from his eyes. Blood leaked from his stained white shirt onto the chair he was seated in. Even if another bullet never entered him, he’d die from the depletion of blood by sunrise.

“Good evening, Professor,” she greeted him.

“Mmm. Mhmm. Mmm.”

“Settle down, now. I promise this won’t take long.”

She placed one foot in front of the other and began pacing the concrete flooring.

“Mmmmmm!”

“I’d replayed this moment in my head for two years. This isn’t exactly how I expected it to go, but this will suffice.”

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