Chapter 24: Mantis – Ontario – slightly earlier that same day
At 9 AM, for just the third time, Mantis approached the condominium door with the number 2607 on it. She would have preferred more surveillance time to be certain of her target's habits, but time was suddenly a factor.
Just as she had on the two previous scouting missions, Mantis used her signal scrambler on the condominium's door. Her employer had distributed the handy little device to his operatives as standard equipment. She had a pet name for it; she called it her 'electric pick'.
As she performed a routine scan of the vacant condominium, Mantis thought about the concern she had had after having learned the location of her next target: the target's dwelling was 24 stories high! Mantis could not expect to perform the hit in her usual and favourite way: from above.
She recalled worrying that she would have to perform the hit at ground level: something she had rarely done in her career and a style open to far more risk than almost any other type of hit. I'd rather perform a drive-by shooting – I'd already be in the get-away car!
As she finished her cursory scan, she looked out to the balcony, and directly across and down two floors to her target's condominium. She shook her head, laughed quietly, and in a low volume, said, "Only in the big city!"
Her worries had quickly turned into good fortune two days ago, when Mantis discovered that not only was the building across the boulevard taller than the target's; moreover, she found a vacant condominium in it that was two floors higher than her target's abode. It was perfect!
As usual, Mantis had several routines to perform and went about them with precision and confidence. As she did so, she recalled her second encounter with good fortune, which began during her follow-up conversation with Tigris, her employer, when she had initially refused the job. It went like this:
"This is Mantis. I have reviewed the contents of the target's dossier and I am rejecting the contract. Repeat; I am rejecting the contract!"
"Unfortunate to hear, Mantis Religiosa, the client will be most . . . disappointed. Can I pass on your reasons why, before I find another asset to complete the assignment?"
"Yes, Tigris, you can inform your client that I am comfortable eliminating the villainous drug lords, exploitive arms dealers, and dictators masquerading as politicians. I am also not more than indifferent eliminating transgressors who have embezzled a bit here or bullied a bit there; however, I strenuously object to anyone requesting that I neutralize the most visible and well-liked philanthropist female on the planet Earth. I also see no advantage that the rest of society gains by my doing this!"
"Mantis, after all these years, are you asking me to believe that you have developed a conscience?"
"Tigris, when you interviewed me 12 years ago, you gave me advice that I have followed to this day. You told me then that I should have two personas. You explained my work persona should remain fiercely amoral, and then I could feel free to choose whatever disposition I felt like having for my private one."
"I am impressed, Mantis: I do offer that advice to candidates even to this day, and may I compliment you for always having delivered with perfection up to now."
"Don't get me wrong, Tigris, but $200,000 is not much of an incentive to eliminate such a high profile candidate. Even if I succeed, I would likely have to lay low for over a year, losing out on income in the process!"
"So, it is more a matter of an insufficient fee?"
"Oh, I wouldn't venture down the negotiation path with me, Tigris, if I were you, because I wouldn't harm her for 10 times the offered price! How's that for negotiation?"
"I would suggest you make a reasonable starting counter-offer, Mantis Religiosa: no one collects $2 million off one contract."
"I don't doubt it, Tigris, but then I doubt you'll find many true professionals who would risk such a career-ending venture."
"True, however, there is always someone new or unfavoured available to complete the job."
"Then go ahead and risk them. Hopefully they won't expose you in the process!"
"What do you mean by that remark, Mantis?"
"I mean that rookies often foul up, Tigris, in unpredictable ways, and as for the 'unfavoured' as you called them, they usually find themselves in that position because they fouled up last time."
"You are a clever one, Mantis, but I have yet to hear if you intend to make a counter offer. Remember, everybody on Earth has a price on his . . . or her, head, possibly even you or I. It is merely a matter of situation and negotiation at the appropriate time and place."
"Tell your client what I said – not for 10 times the price!"
"I will pass on your sentiments regarding this matter; however, I need not alert you that the next time you hear of this assignment, you will probably be reading about its successful completion on your iPad."
As she assembled the rifle stand, she laughed realizing that in retrospect, that conversation indeed proved to be a first negotiation stage.
Eventually, the client made her an offer of $2.5 million payable in Deutsche marks. Mantis now saw her retirement ahead as early as the youthful age of 33: the thought of this was enlightening and motivating!
After she positioned the rifle stand, Mantis performed the rest of her normal routines, but then checked on another situational one. She opened the condominium balcony's sliding door to confirm the variance in actual wind speed to that which the Internet weather report stated it would be, because at this height, and with other tall buildings near, she knew there could be considerable variance. Other nearby tall buildings could create a wind tunnel, accelerating wind speed considerably. One last test would confirm her expectations. It turned out there was no difference: wind velocity was a non-factor this morning.
She opened the rifle case and removed the various pieces within it. After she used the Murphy's Oil Soap in the usual way, she looked through the telescopic lens of the unassembled Lapua rifle to view her target. Although she was eager to complete her task, she reminded herself that, as usual, she had provided Tigris with a specific time for the hit to occur, and she would adhere to that plan.
Thinking about time sent Mantis into her final time-check routine: 9:40 AM. 10 minutes to go! She recalled setting the hit time to 10 minutes before the hour because she discovered through her surveillance that her target was a creature of certain routines herself. During both previous surveillance occasions, Mantis had discovered that her target sat stationary reading the newspaper from 9:25 to 9:55 AM, and then moved around performing other tasks thereafter. It made sense to set the hit time for a time in between these times. Mantis had arbitrarily selected 9:50 as her hit time.
Mantis looked through the telescopic lens and saw the target reading a newspaper, motionless except for the occasion sipping from a teacup. Perfect!
Mantis noticed that even 24 stories up in the air, hidden from prying eyes and at this early hour of the day, Ruth nevertheless looked immaculate. In fact, Mantis thought she looked co-ordinated and very stylish.
Mantis looked over her target's dossier one last time, and noted how beautiful the woman was. Even in the dossier photograph, her target was well-coiffed and resembled royalty. She will make a lovely corpse!
Shaking off a shudder of shameful conscience, Mantis's darker side – the one that she suspected all humans possessed if they understood money – she rationalized 'Two point five million!'
At 9:43, Mantis's pre-warning timer went off, and she assembled the rifle with her usual robotic-like precision. After she locked the rifle onto the stand, she looked through the telescopic lens again, as per routine. She noted that her target appeared engaged in a cell phone call. No problem – take your time, dear!
At 9:49 and 20 seconds, Mantis positioned herself to squeeze the trigger. At 9:49 and 32 seconds, the target, Ruth Clarkson-Smythe, rose to her feet and quickly moved out of sight! What! How can this be? Is a different phone ringing? Did the doorbell ring? Was a second kettle boiling? Did she need the washroom?
&
nbsp; Mantis moved the rifle on its tripod to see if the old codger who had been sitting on the balcony smoking a pipe the whole time, had caused Ruth to move. Mantis saw that he had not moved an inch. She concluded that Ruth's phone conversation must have caused her sudden departure!
For a moment, Mantis hesitated, hoping Ruth would return to her seat. When this failed to happen within 20 seconds, Mantis decided that something had compromised the hit. Her experience told her that every second that she waited hereafter simply increased her risk.
She began to disassemble the Lapua as fast as she could. She started thinking about the only other time in her career that a compromise had occurred.
While in Bangkok, before what would have been her third career hit, Mantis had a similar start to a job. It turned out she had missed a note in the dossier that her corrupt politician target went for Shiatsu massage therapy once per week. They did this on Tuesdays always, and close to the same time of day. Mantis had planned that hit to take place on a Tuesday.
She recalled now that her solution then was to shoot him in the underground parking lot as his chauffeur drove him to the massage appointment. Although Mantis succeeded, she considered herself fortunate to have escaped afterwards only because she had a nearby vehicle.
Mantis looked at her wristband. The time was 9:55. Mantis closed the rifle case after placing all the Lapua pieces in it except the telescopic viewer. She used the telescopic viewer to try to locate Ruth one last time. At 9:58, Mantis saw Ruth putting on an overcoat. She's leaving – I can still get her in her parking spot!
Mantis collected the case, and sped out the front door towards the elevator. She managed to get to the ground floor by 10:00 on the dot. She headed outside to her car, which she had managed to leave in one of only three legal public parking spaces in front of the condominium. She opened the trunk and placed the rifle case inside, but as she went to remove her alternative close-range weapon option, Mantis saw Ruth driving slowly up the underground parking ramp on the other side of the street.
Mantis slammed the trunk leaving all weapons inside it, slipped into the driver's seat, and then drove south following Ruth, who had, fortunately for Mantis, turned south in the same direction Mantis's car faced.
As Mantis noticed Ruth moving into the far right lane, Mantis considered how much worse this could have been. To begin with, she regarded herself as extremely lucky to have found the vacant public parking spot in front of the condominium.
In addition, Ruth could have taken a right turn heading north: she would have been out of sight by the time Mantis had made a dangerous u-turn attempting to follow. As she saw Ruth's car exiting onto the #401 highway heading west, Mantis felt relief that she had caught up to Ruth in time to follow her onto the highway. Phew!
As Mantis drove behind Ruth in the early stage of pursuit, she reasoned she had no choice but to replay recent events in her mind and ask herself some questions. Right now, she had to maintain control of a two-ton vehicle driving 65 miles per hour, in weather that was changing from sunny and bright to grey and storm threatening. She wondered if the change in weather was about to imitate her changing fortunes. What went wrong?
Mantis wanted to reach for the dossier to read for clues, but could not risk it while driving. She wanted to call Tigris to alert him she had to abort, but doing so would constitute an illegal mobile call, and she could not risk police stopping her. Finally, she realized that even if she wanted to exercise her last-resort choice, to perform a drive by shooting, she could not because all her weapons were in the trunk.
Mantis was not a private detective! Even if she had no agenda eventually to kill the pursued driver, she found that following anyone in a car on a busy highway was difficult. As she followed in her rental car, Mantis struggled to keep pace with Ruth Clarkson-Smythe's sedan. Having to drive like this was a significant nuisance!
Before long, Mantis followed Ruth as she turned north on an adjoining highway called #400. Ruth remained in the slower right lane during the manoeuvre, and for this Mantis was grateful because she was still uncomfortable in her pursuit role.
Suddenly though, Ruth changed lanes and Mantis, unfamiliar with the route and the exits, knew she must follow suit. Frantically, she copied Ruth's move, and in order to accomplish this, she needed to use both her side and rear-view mirrors. When she did this, she noticed perspiration on her forehead. This disgusted her and made her scowl. Apparently, this job had actually caused Mantis to sweat. I'll remember this when I finally pull the trigger, Ruth!
Zarulium Chronicles I - Destination Nazca Page 27