Page 18 of Mine to Keep
Uria is humming a song off-key, without a care in the world. Too bad for her, she’s marked for death.
Her back is to me when I advance on her, placing my hand over her mouth to muffle her screams. Uria immediately fights against me, but I have the element of surprise and I’m stronger than her.
Without pause, I jab the knife under her ribs, puncturing her diaphragm, and up into her heart. Uria’s body spasms, a faint groan of pain escaping her lips.
To ensure she’s dead, I twist the knife before pulling it free and letting her body drop to the floor.
“Wait!” I hear from behind me, and I don’t think; I just turn and throw the knife at the person that snuck up on me.
The woman with my knife embedded in her chest looks familiar. Her wide eyes meet mine, a look of shock and surprise on her face. Blood flows from her mouth as her clumsy hands try to pull the knife out.
Fuck! It’s the wife that ordered the hit. Did she come to try to stop me, or warn Uria she paid close to three hundred thousand dollars to have her offed?
Another.
Fuck.
Up.
“Fucking dammit!” I seethe, watching the woman topple over, landing on her chest, impaling the knife deeper.
This was supposed to be a quick, in and out job. If there were ever a textbook kill, it would have been this one.
So why is there a second body on the floor? How did she get in? I closed the door behind me, even locked it just in case.
Using my booted foot, I kick the newcomer over to her back. She flops over, a set of keys right beside her. Her husband must have had access to his mistress’s place, and she stole the keys.
“Wrong day to have a conscience,” I murmur as I bend down and yank my knife free.
I whisper all kinds of curses into the air, aimed at The Void for putting me into another fucking botched job. My first fucked up job was in my early days as a contract killer. The second, not even a month ago.
Third time is the fucking charm.
I’m done.
Moving quickly, I go to Uria’s kitchen and grab a butcher’s knife. I go back to the room to set the scene. I make it look like my newcomer came in to attack Uria with my knife, and Uria fought back, stabbing her just as she was stabbed.
I make the living room and kitchen look as if there was a struggle, knocking things over and adding some of their blood to the hallway. It’s risky, since someone could call the cops, but I’m banking on someone hearing the noise. It would be suspicious if two women were found murdered in an apartment of a crowded building and no one heard anything out of the norm.
After I’m satisfied with the scene, I make sure the knife only has the newcomer’s prints on it before I leave. I’m more thankful now for the latex skin than I’ve ever been, as I can’t wipe anything down without it looking like a job. If the house isdusted for prints and none of Uria’s are found, there will be a much larger investigation than this cut-and-dry scene.
Before I step out of the apartment, I listen at the door to make sure no one is in the hallway. Then I slip out quickly, jogging down the stairs as I pull out my phone.
I call my handler to tell her this latest round of bullshit.
“Sunshine?” she says, a hint of a question in her tone.
“It happened again,” I say in a thick country accent with a smile as two people walk up the stairs beside me. I keep my head down, hoping they only see the veneers and the huge tattoo on my neck.
It takes Peggy a bit to understand with my accent. “Like Adelane?”
“Just like that,” I say and chuckle, hating that I seem incompetent after so many years in the game.
“Shit, Knox,” Peggy whispers. “What happened?”
I give her a rundown, speaking more carefully since I have the accent working against me. I tell her how I staged the scene with hope that it’ll look like two women fighting over a man.
Peggy tsks. “That wasn’t your fuck-up, Knox. It was hers. The Void gave her strict instructions before they took the contract. Once she paid, there was no taking it back. Her change of heart is on her.” She scoffs. “I’ll get The Director on the phone. He’ll probably call you for debriefing.”
