Page 36 of Praying Mantis

“Let me run upstairs and see what I can find out. I would put them on speaker, but privacy is key within our community.” Louisa gets on her tip toes and kisses my lips, then she’s off to our bedroom.

“I love that girl, Sean, but she scares the shit out of me just now.” My mom stares at the door Louisa just left from.

“Same Mom, same.”

Louisa

Stepping into our bedroom, I grab the burner phone from the hidden compartment in my luggage. After turning the phone on, I dial the number to the man who has done even more fucked up stuff than me. He’s a contracted killer for the Italian mafia.

The phone barely rings. “Praying Mantis, what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Always the comedian. Killing them with comedy now?”

“No, murder is always profitable for me. I know this isn’t a house call. What can I do for you, kid?” This guy is five years older than me and the way he talks to me is like he’s fifty or something. It always makes me smile.

“My boyfriend is the son of Patrick O’Hannon. His father’s right-hand man is as dirty as they come. I need to get rid of him but keep the trail away from anything that screams Praying Mantis did it.”

“What’s dirty to you?” he asks as I hear him banging pans around in the background. It must be close to lunch where he lives.

“He’s an informant for the FBI,” I say, knowing this is a punishable death for anyone in this business.

“Fucking piece of shit.” I hear him spit which reminds me of the school guys spitting on the man they just killed for ratting them out. “Okay, there is a new family in Mississippi that has been leaving a unique call sign with each hit. A point-blank shot with a Smith and Wesson 1911 pistol between the eyes and two prayer coins, one over each eye.” This is why he was the first person I knew to call.

“Thank you so much, always the helper.” I chuckle

“Anything for you. How’s your mom doing?”

“Nope, not going there. Thank you again. Ciao.” He’s offered to off her a few times for being a cunt to him. She’s taken kills from him before I really started my life as a serial killer.

I hang up on him while he laughs at me, asshole. After powering off my phone, I head down to Sean’s office to fill him in on what I found.

I walk into his office and see him behind his father’s desk. He takes my breath away at how much he looks made to lead this family.

“Hey babe, I spoke to my contact.” He looks up and smiles at me.

“What did they have to say?”

“He suggested I simulate a mafia hit. I won’t go into details, plausible deniability.” Sean’s smile fades from his face. I think I might have hurt him from keeping it a secret. He waits a few minutes before speaking again. This time he smiles and it reaches his eyes. I think he definitely understands what I’m trying to say.

“Smart and sexy, I hit the jackpot with you.”

“Well duh. Now I just need to figure out when to do it. Are you going to want to be with me when I do the hit?” It’s been a question on my mind for a week now and I’ve always been afraid to ask.

“I want to do it. I can’t though. I need to have an alibi and have people other than my girlfriend and mom seeing me.”

“Do you FBI agents do poker night or something?” I tip my head to stare at him.

“They do, but none ofmyfriends do although maybe I can do a gym night. We always seem to meet up by accident and if Tony knows I’m going then he will too.”

“Perfect. Now I’ll follow him tomorrow night and end the fucker’s life.” I smile at him as he leans down to kiss me. I wrap my arms around his neck as he pulls me down into his lap.

“I’m glad you’re on my side or things could’ve ended up pretty badly.”

“Happy you came to grovel at my feet instead of keeping me pissed off at you?” I tease him.

“So thrilled,” he whispers across my lips. I turn in his lap to see he’s working on plans for the strip club and expanding on that and also working with some gun traders. We sat there talking about the business and what I can do to help. This is the perfect life for me and now I have a partner in crime in every sense of the word.

Sean

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