At First Sight

by Joe Pascente

  While Worm continued to narrow down which room was hers, Ace went over the plan with Bows, Rocky and Boulder once more before giving them each an earpiece communication device that would act as a walkie-talkie and the go-ahead to disperse.

  Of course, Rocky had a few “suggestions” of his own, but Ace shot them down without taking the time to really listen. Ace could almost hear Rocky’s teeth grinding in frustration. Rocky took the lead, being the first to walk outside the church. Boulder and Bows followed quickly thereafter walking out the front doors and across the street.

  Ace locked the doors behind them, carrying his gun case with one hand, while the other held onto his lucky gold cross that hung around his neck. He had it on every mission, except for one, in which he suffered a nasty lower back injury—caused by getting thrown into a glass table by his intended target. If it wasn’t for Boulder coming to his aid, he might’ve bled to death. Since that incident, Ace always made sure to wear his lucky cross. He didn’t think of himself as a superstitious person, but during his missions, he didn’t take any chances. He usually hid the necklace under his shirt, for he was sick of his crew giving him antagonisms about his “beliefs.”

  While Bows and Ace were still together, she had asked him about his religious views. She wanted to know about his cross in particular.

  “Why do you even bother wearing that silly necklace? I mean, you assassinate people for a living, for Christ’s sake.”

  Ace thought it over, and simply replied, “Forgiveness, Bows. It’s a powerful notion.”

  Bows laughed in his face and replied, “If that’s what you need to tell yourself to sleep at night...”

  That was a long time ago, but of course, Ace’s crew still didn’t respect his religious beliefs—especially knowing he had the highest body count out of the entire crew, thus far.

  Worm was getting closer to narrowing down the search for Dr. Haven’s room with only 11 options left. Making sure his earpiece communication device was working properly, Ace wished him luck. Worm wished him luck as well, for Ace had the more challenging task of this mission.

  The rest of the crew all responded back on their earpieces within seconds. Everyone was on the same channel, as they were now headed towards the Watermark Hotel’s entrance. However, the hotel manager wasn’t letting anyone in since the fire alarm was still going off.

  “Seven rooms to go, Captain.” Worm announced.

  Bows pressed her earpiece and told the team why there was a standstill happening at the hotel, while Ace gave the order to wait outside since they had no choice in the matter anyways.

  Making his way towards the back hallway of the church where the spiral staircase was located, Ace took a deep breath and started climbing the stairs one by one. He listened to the creaking wood stairs groan and breathe. His palms were quite sweaty and the gun case was slipping from his callused grip. He thought it must be from the extreme heat, but then he noticed his heartbeat racing.

  Confident and focused: those were usually the words to describe Ace’s mentality on missions, but at this moment, he was clearly overly nervous and overwhelmed. He couldn’t place why exactly; as he had been doing this for years and this wasn’t even the first time he was mission leader.

  Halfway up the spiral staircase, he had to grab the railing beside him, for fear he would fall backwards. Something wasn’t right. He wasn’t physically and mentally in the right state for this mission, but he knew he had to get focused quickly. Shaky hands and an unfocused mind was a sniper’s worst enemy.

  Just breathe, Ace. Breathe…

  One step at a time, Ace made his way up the stairs, which seemed to be endless, to the very top of the church tower. And with each stair, the heat seemed to engulf his lungs, making Ace gasp for clean air in the dusty staircase. He attempted to pray, holding onto his gold cross as he spoke to whoever was listening in the sky above. At first he felt a bit silly praying right before he was about to assassinate an innocent person, but then he convinced himself that everything happens for a reason; and the reason his team was supposed to terminate this woman was because she destroyed people’s lives.

  She’s no saint. I’m doing the world a favor by getting rid of her.

  Meanwhile, outside the Watermark Hotel, Rocky and Boulder stood behind a very important-looking Bows. She was speaking to an employee of the hotel with her hands on her hips and giant sunglasses over her eyes.

  “How much longer is this going to take?” Bows interrogated.

  The hotel employee retorted, “As soon as we make sure there aren’t any fire hazards present, we will let everyone back inside.”

  “We haven’t even checked in, yet.” Bows said.

  “Well, don’t hold this against us. This is an unusual circumstance. Please, enjoy your stay here at the Watermark.”

  “Oh, I’m sure we’ll have a killer time!” Bows said, with a grin on her face.

  Boulder rolled his eyes at Bow’s obvious pun. He wasn’t too fond of his brother’s girlfriend, thinking she thought too much of herself most of the time, but his brother was happy with her so he tolerated her as best he could.

  After what seemed like forever, Ace reached the top of the staircase and budged the tower door open. Stepping inside, Ace looked upon a small octagon-shaped room, with large windows on each side, letting the bright sunlight streak in. Ace took a breath of fresh air and began to feel much better.

  His shakiness was subsiding and his heartbeat was slowing down to a proper relaxed state. He loosened his grip on the steel gun case, setting it down on the wooden floor. He looked down upon the Watermark Hotel and realized this tower was the ultimate position to assassinate Dr. Haven from. The next phase was to confirm with the rest of his crew that he was now in his preparation stage.

  The sweat dripping down his face was a bit distracting while he was placing the separate pieces of his weapon together. Once the sniper rifle was all composed, loaded, and aimed at the hotel entrance, Ace laid flat on his stomach and was now in ‘set to kill’ position. It was a waiting game at this point. It was now time for the rest of his crew to do their jobs, so he could have a clear shot at Dr. Haven.

  He looked into the gun sight and knew with perfect clarity—he was ready…

  II. Under the Sea

  There were crowds of guests filing out of the hotel and onto the beach like a mass of ants swarming around an anthill. The fire alarm could be heard from the edge of the beach, where Angela was now standing with both of her feet in the sparkling ocean water. She didn’t wipe the sweat droplets from her forehead or upper lip, knowing she would be swimming under the water soon enough. Angela turned her head back to the beach to look at the beach bag she had placed just a few yards away from her.

  She had already taken her cut-offs and pink spaghetti-strapped tank top and put them into the beach bag with her phone, purse, and sunscreen. Hearing the fire alarm continue to drone on, she couldn’t believe she had been such a rebel. Angela also couldn’t predict how much time she had to enjoy the water before her pesky bodyguards would tackle her and carry her over their shoulders back to her prison cell. She tried to spot Jacobi or Mr. Hicks, but with all the commotion happening on the beach, she couldn’t spot either of them through the crowd. The bright sun wasn’t helping her see clearly, but it felt wonderful on her pale skin. Since she was inside most days, she didn’t have a great base tan.

  With a smile on her face, Angela briskly stepped into the waves, which slapped her shins and splashed her thighs with a refreshing mist. Tilting her head back, she took the hair tie out of her hair and put it around her wrist feeling her golden locks blow in the light breeze that was coming off the ocean. When she was waist high in the water, she whirled around looking back to the sandy shore, feeling as though she was being watched, but still couldn’t make out Jacobi or Mr. Hicks.

  What a mess you’ve caused…you might as well enjoy this whi
le you can.

  Diving into a massive wave, Angela felt the chilly water engulf her petite body. Her mind went back to the days when she was just a little girl, daydreaming about being a mermaid. She didn’t have a care in the world back then. Those were the days she had all her walls down and was so willing to let people in. She didn’t have to protect herself from untrue stories about her in the paparazzi or get hurt from the men who pursued her for her newfound money.

  Angela let go all of her stress and anxiety while she was under the water. Continuing to swim her heart out, she didn’t think about her current situation. She just enjoyed the time she had made for herself in the ocean’s abyss. Stretching her body out, she felt the pull of the currents choose where her body drifted. Never once did she realize how close she was to death’s door. But for the time being, she was perfectly content.

  III. Distraction

  Jacobi was frantically searching the beach and the open ocean for any hint of Angela’s athletic figure, but there was no sign of her. In all actuality, he thought she might not have come to the beach at all. Or maybe she did—and an outraged maniac had already attacked her, drowning her in the ocean. Thinking about all the possible scenarios, Jacobi realized how concerned he was for Angela. He was hired to protect her and even though she tricked him to get away, he was still responsible for her well-being.

  Mr. Hicks was calling Jacobi’s cell phone from the hotel parking lot, but the signal wasn’t strong enough, resulting in one dropped call after another. Frustrated about his cell phone service, Mr. Hicks decided to search for Angela on his own. The medicine Dr. Haven had recommended already seemed to be helping his cough calm down. He popped in a cough drop while he untied his dress shoes and stripped his socks off throwing them into the car passenger seat. If there was one thing Mr. Hicks hated, it was the feel of sand under his feet—especially with shoes on.

  Trudging through the sand with a scowl on his aged face, Mr. Hicks cursed himself for forgetting his sunglasses in the hotel suite. He couldn’t see a damned thing with the sunlight blinding his vulnerable squinty eyes.

  I’m getting too old for this shit.

  Hearing the fire alarm finally shut off from the hotel, Mr. Hicks made his way through the crowds of hotel guests. They were all gathered together in between the hotel parking lot and the beach. At this point, the hotel managers were outside informing the guests of the false alarm, letting everyone know it was safe to reenter the hotel. Passing by a woman and two large men through this crowd, Mr. Hicks wondered what type of grown woman still wore bows in her hair.

  As more and more guests scurried back inside the air-conditioned hotel, Mr. Hicks tried to call Jacobi once more. He hung up as soon as he dialed his number because he saw his partner frantically maneuvering along the shore with his hand above his eyes, trying to search for Angela.

  “Jacobi!” Mr. Hicks shouted in his direction.

  Jacobi spun around and saw his partner walking towards him. He was relieved, knowing two pairs of eyes were better than one.

  Back at the church, Worm was informing the crew he had the search narrowed down to two rooms. And they were both on the executive floor of the Watermark Hotel.

  Bows and Rocky were distracted with their spontaneous make out session on the beach, while Boulder pressed his earpiece and informed the team the hotel was now allowing guests back inside. Rocky and Bows quickly composed themselves and decided it was time to get down to business. They walked inside with the other guests, and after some clever persuasion, Bows used her fake credit card and driver’s license to book a room on the executive floor. The bellhop escorted the three miscreants to the elevators. The young bellhop attempted to show them to their room, but Boulder told him to get lost without tipping him a dime.

  Once inside their room, Bows looked at her reflection in the mirror and lifted her knee-high dress to her upper-thigh, revealing a sharp six-inch blade tucked beneath her thin leather and laced garter. This was her weapon of choice, as she wasn’t a fan of guns. She wasn’t particularly a fan of any weapon usually, as the men in her crew handled most of the dirty work. Nevertheless, Bows wasn’t a helpless damsel who was just a pretty face; she was trained for hand-to-hand combat and basic weaponry. If it came down to a fight to the death, she was confident she could hold her own with a short blade. Even the smallest cuts could be deadly if she severed the right vein.

  Rocky and his older brother were expert fighters who could assassinate any target with the use of their strong hands, but some of the times, their targets weren’t in hand-to-hand distance and they needed to be prepared to use their guns. Rocky made sure his handgun was locked and loaded, slipping the black Hogue .45 into his gun holder suspenders.

  The Hogue .45 was Rocky’s favorite gun, which he had received as a gift from Duke, for his previous birthday. Boulder put his sports coat on, hiding his guns in his gun belt and winked at his younger brother. Rocky knew this meant it was time to get his head in the game. The brothers were the first line of offense, and if their target somehow escaped from them, they knew Jacobi would get the job done, as he was the second line of offense being in the church tower.

  Worm used his earpiece to confirm he had finally deciphered which room was Dr. Haven’s, and congratulated himself for a job well done. He also began to cry again over his breakup with his girlfriend and Ace had to yell at him to get off the earpiece. Once, the crew had Dr. Haven’s room number, they made sure to put silencers onto their guns, and looked both ways in the hallway, to ensure no maids, or guests, were around as witnesses.

  Bows was ready for her part in the plan now, as she was the diversion for their mission. Her specific job was to cause a scene in the lobby, making sure if any of the guests called the front desk about strange sounds coming from Dr. Haven’s room, the employees would be too distracted to deal with it.

  Bows had many talents and she took pride in each of them. She could sing, dance, and act with the best of them. And it was time for a bit of acting. She had to fake a seizure and have dramatic convulsions on the lobby floor starting sharp at 10:40 a.m. She had five minutes to prepare, as she rode the elevator down to the first floor. She knew she had to be convincing, but not overly worrisome for the hotel workers because she didn’t want an ambulance called over her “performance.”

  While Bows was walking through the lobby, wondering where the best spot for her dramatic scene should take place, Boulder and Rocky were outside Dr. Haven’s suite. They had two options at this point: break into Dr. Haven’s suite with the device Worm had developed that could unlock any room in this hotel; or knock on the door and wait for Dr. Haven, or one of her companions, to open the door and invite them in.

  Of course, Boulder wanted to knock first, but Rocky was afraid they’d lose the element of surprise. Boulder won out by beating Rocky in a quick game of ‘Rock-Paper-Scissors.’ They had 20 seconds before Bows started the distraction phase of the plan, and this would be precisely when Boulder would knock on the door.

  Bows put one high heel in front of the other and walked directly up to the front desk, deciding she would get the most distraction being close to the employees, and looked at the grandfather clock placed against the eastern wall. It was time. She wasn’t nervous in the slightest, for she felt at ease “on stage.” She was a natural born entertainer and she craved the spotlight.

  “May I help you, Mrs. Barrette?” the hotel desk clerk asked, remembering her fake name.

  Bows blinked a few times, but didn’t say a word before collapsing to the floor after a loud sigh. All at once, the employees came around from the desk and surrounded Bows’ convulsing body. Hotel guests in the lobby shrieked at the sight of Bows on the floor. A crowd soon formed around Bows, and while she was lightly shaking and gasping for air, she was hoping Boulder and Rocky were getting the job done swiftly.

  But, no one was there to open Dr. Haven’s door after Boulder knocked, as Angela was
in the ocean, and her bodyguards were on the beach…still searching for her.

  CHAPTER 5

  RUN

  I. Bulls eye

  “The hell with this! We don’t have time to waste, let’s use this gadget thingy,” Rocky said, reaching into his pocket and grabbing the small device Worm had designed. It wasn’t anything special; the device looked like a metal cigarette container with four neon green lights on the top. There was a faint whirring sound as Rocky placed it upon the door lock. Each neon green light shined individually for about four seconds and then the door unlocked, with a clicking noise.

  Boulder grabbed the door handle and opened it slowly. The two brothers walked into the room, each holding one of their guns out in front of their bodies, ready to shoot Dr. Haven and her guests on the spot. Rocky went left, while Boulder headed towards the right, and searched the entire suite, but found no one. As soon as their search was complete, Boulder communicated to Ace that the suite was clear.

  Ace ordered Boulder to stay in the room and wait for Dr. Haven to get back in case she was still making her way back into the hotel from the fire drill. He also ordered Rocky to get Bows and make their way back outside the hotel, making a perimeter spiraling away from the hotel. One way or another, Ace was going to corner Dr. Haven, and complete his mission.

  Rocky made his way down to the lobby area, and spotted Bows sitting down with an icepack on the back of her neck. The hotel employees were gathered around her, making sure she was sipping the glass of water they had gotten for her. Bows spotted Rocky as he came to her aid.

  “Baby, are you all right?” Rocky asked with loving concern.

  “I don’t know what happened, my love. I felt dizzy and collapsed, but I’m feeling much better now. Can we get some fresh air?” Bows asked.