Blind Trust

by Peiri Ann

  Seeing I had just quit Purcell, I was conveniently in need of a new job.

  Purcell had requested me after three years of being enlisted in the U.S. Army. I had acquired better training than a lot of the others and they wanted to use my “elite skills” to help the government. They used me and I was happy to quit them. I wished I’d done it sooner, but the pay was good and I needed it. It’s peculiar how the economics of life can twist the person you want to be. The person you think you are.

  My mark, Greene, was at a hotel gathering. He was the host.

  I had a couple of ways I could take him out. I could wait for him to come out, but who knew how long that would take. Or I’d have to go in, catch him alone, and take care of it that way. Only thing was, going in, being around all those people put my face in the spotlight.

  I couldn’t be seen. I was on two hit lists I knew about and now some new one. But I had to do something. After the long drive out here, waiting was out of the question.

  “Excuse me.” I approached a woman sitting alone in the bar of the hotel. She had the look: young, tight skirt, and loose blouse with enough cleavage showing to draw in an old man like Greene. If she had the squeaky voice to match, my plan would be successful.

  “Yes?” she squealed.

  Perfect.

  She smiled; it was obvious she was older than she looked, and Botox was likely her best friend. “May I help you with something, young man?”

  I took the seat next to her. “Are you here alone?”

  “I am now,” she said, grabbing a coat slung across the back of her chair and throwing it behind the bar. “How can I help you?” Her hand cupped her chin as she leaned her elbow on the bar’s counter.

  I grabbed her thigh and turned her to face me. She was cold but quickly warmed the longer my hand stayed on her leg. “Sweet talk me,” I ordered.

  “Right now?”

  “Obviously.”

  She batted her eyelashes. “And where will this lead?” She puckered her lips, turning her head a little more my way.

  “Wherever you want it to.”

  “I can show you a few things if we leave this bar. I can take you to my room and let it talk for me.” She was good enough.

  “Tell you what. I got this friend. He’s out for a good time. I need you to use this… talent and help him out tonight.” I pointed at her in an impertinent manner.

  “And what about you?” She bit her bottom lip, cocking a brow.

  Bland and uninterested, I said, “You can have me after.”

  “What’s in it for me?”

  I slid my hand up her skirt to grab the side of her ass. “What do you want?”

  She gasped. “Young boys sure have some strong hands.”

  My lips twisted into a wicked grin. “What do you want?”

  “I don’t give my love away for free. Not to kids or friends.”

  I laughed. I knew she was hookin’. “What’s your price?” Hookers were the best to run a hit with. They would get you your man, take your money, and keep their mouths closed.

  “If he takes the full ride it’s ten thousand.”

  “You get him alone with you in a restroom. That’s all I need. You don’t have to turn tricks. Get him out of that ballroom and get him in the furthest restroom. If you choose to suck him off to distract him a bit, that’s fine too. I’ll give you eighty-five hundred.”

  “Fine. Cash first.”

  “No, that’s not how your business runs.”

  She growled and glared at me. Her hand fell from her chin, smacking the bar’s counter.

  I leaned back in my chair. “Take it or leave it, Toots.”

  She stood. “I’ll take it. And throw in an extra five for the grab.”

  “You liked it. It’s free.”

  Her hands flew to her hips and her eyes narrowed. “I like your game, kid. Who is it?”

  “Alfred Greene.”

  Her interest sparked. “Oh, Attorney Greene. I’ve had my eye on him since he walked through these doors.”

  “Do it now. Wait for me outside by an all-white Hummer. I’ll have your payment.”

  “My payment of nine thousand dollars.”

  “Your payment of eight thousand. I’m knocking off five hundred by the half hour.”

  She trotted off, ass tighter than her skirt. I’d have to remember to wash my hands after this. The bar area was dark with soft yellowish lights lined along the top of the walls. It was mostly empty, save for a few at the bar and a couple at a far table.

  “Excuse me, sir. Can I get you a drink?” I turned on my stool to face the blond bartender, who looked about my age.

  “No man, I’m alright. I’ll be out of here in one second.”

  “There is a sitting charge,” he said.

  I dropped a hundred-dollar bill on the counter.

  “Sit as long as you want.”

  “Yeah. Bring me some hand sanitizer.”

  Nineteen minutes later, Toots was walking out with Greene. He looked about five-nine, two hundred ten pounds. He was so damn touchy the hooker didn’t even like it. And he didn’t care how many people could see him grope this woman in public. The hotel’s lobby was nearly full, and he caught a few disapproving eyes.

  I got up when they hit a corner and followed behind, keeping a good distance. She trailed him down a long hallway; the people milling around started to lessen. Once she got him into a restroom, I waited five minutes before going in behind them.

  “I’m sorry, this area is occupied,” Greene’s heavy voice called from a stall.

  “Thanks, Toots,” I said.

  She walked out of the stall, wiping her mouth and straightening her skirt. “I’ll be waiting for you.” She winked.

  “Uh huh, see you in a bit.”

  She left the restroom.

  Greene’s drunken eyes settled on me.

  “Hi, I’m Kyle Shultz. You don’t know me, but that’s okay. Very shortly, it’s not going to matter.” The man was getting higher by the second. “Pull your pants up and come on.”

  If he passed out, he would be way too big for me to carry. And he didn’t seem to comprehend pulling up his pants.

  I’d been hoping I could get him to another room; I didn’t want Toots to come back snooping around and see him dead. She’d know it was me. But what the hell. I had her as an accomplice.

  As I screwed the silencer onto my gun, I watched Greene haze in and out. He was ultra-drunk, head swaying as he tried to keep his eyes open.

  The execution always got me. Just at the moment I planned to go through with it. I’d be good until the last minute. Right before…

  I breathed. “Seriously, I don’t know what you did,” I said. “But I’m sorry you fucked up and I have to punish you for it. On a lighter note, it will live with me longer than it will live with you.” I sucked in my pride as I inhaled, and blew out my regret as I pulled the trigger.

  The bullet hit Greene in his head as he stood. He fell back, sitting on the toilet, pants still down.

  I snapped a shot of the hole in his head, just in case they needed proof, and then I left the hotel. I found Toots near someone’s white Hummer. I hadn’t actually known there was going to be a white Hummer in the parking lot. Cool.

  I dropped eighty-five hundred in her hands and headed to my car.

  I thought she’d go back into the hotel, but she got in a Beemer and pulled out with another guy. Maybe someone she met in the parking lot while she was waiting on me.

  I texted the number that texted me earlier.

  Me: One is out.

  Two minutes later my phone alerted me of a new e-mail that let me know I just had a deposit.

  I liked this guy, whoever he was. He didn’t make me wait around and he trusted me. He didn’t know me from a can of paint, but he always took my word for it.

  My original plan included a nap but Janet told me she couldn’t keep an eye on my mom tonight and I needed to hurry back to town. She blew my mom off for some drunken friend
of hers. She had some nerve. I bet that girl didn’t even know who Janet really was and they called each other best friends.

  Me: Janet, I’m texting you again, letting you know how bad of a friend you are. Don’t text me back. I’m not your friend for the next day and a half.

  This drive back is going to take forever, I thought as my phone buzzed with a text. Probably Janet responding after I specifically told her not to text me back.

  Arch: Shultz! You cannot do that. Plus, you love me toooo much. I’m sorry.

  Me: It’s illegal to text and drive.

  Arch: Sad Face!

  I cranked up the radio, ignoring her.

  “Kyle, you need to come to this house right now!” my mom shouted through the phone.

  I don’t know why I answered the damn phone in the first place. “Mom, I’m in the middle of something right now. I’ll be over there as soon as I wrap it up.”

  “No, Kyle. Now!” she yelled.

  “Mom, why are you always yelling about something?” I pulled the phone away from my ear, awaiting her yell.

  “Kyle, I expect to see you in forty-five minutes.”

  “Mom, I am over an hour away from your house. I’ll be over in eight hours. Take it or leave it.”

  “No.” She hung up.

  Shit…

  I’ll never know what I did to that woman to make her yell at me day in and day out. I thought I was a good kid… maybe. But my mother was always yelling. She shouted my name, shouted me orders, and anything else she wanted to get across to me. Maybe she just thought I was used to hearing people yell all the time, since I was in the army. But I enlisted when I was seventeen; she was yelling long before that.

  The time was around ten a.m. I was tired and just now making it to Levi’s house. Luckily, he was a loner. I liked the loners. No witnesses, nothing to wait around for. Sometimes this job was too easy.

  This was number two, worth over a million dollars. Whatever this guy did, I was very happy about it. Wait… that made me sound really bad. I wasn’t happy he had to die, nor was I happy that I had to kill him. Actually, there was no way for me to rectify that statement, it all sounded bad.

  I snuck through his back door and crept upstairs to his bedroom. I lay beside him in his bed. He slept soundlessly…peacefully. The thought of a quick catnap grew heavy on my mind. That incredibly long drive had taken a lot out of me.

  Levi yawned, stretched, and blinked before he noticed my presence.

  I jabbed a needle in his neck before he was able to focus on me completely.

  After shooting Greene, that was enough blood for today.

  Levi’s eyes grew hazy as he stared at me in confusion, searching his neck for the needle I’d already removed.

  “Hi, Levi,” I said, capping it. “I’m Kyle Shultz. You don’t know me, but in a minute it won’t matter.” I stuffed the needle in my pocket. “Seriously, I don’t know what you did. But I’m sorry you fucked up and I have to punish you for it. On a lighter note, it will live with me longer than it will live with you,” I concluded, watching him lose focus, his head droop to the side, and his eyes close.

  I took the pic, sent the text, and took a catnap in his living room. Not that I wanted to be disrespectful to the dead man, but I was truly tired. I mean dragging-my-legs tired. And the car would not have been comfortable.

  Arch: Did you make it back, Kyle? Can you please go talk to your mom?

  Me: Do I know you?? Your day and a half is not up.

  I was going to see my mom. I just needed to finish my job first. I was thankful I was able to finish before my twenty-four-hour time limit was up. I decided that I would go home, clean up, and change before I went to her house. This talk with my mom was going to run me all night. She’d probably come up with thirty things to accuse me of or blame me for. She had too much time on her hands; her mind ran rabid with thoughts and senseless ideas.

  Rick’s car was sitting on the street in front of my apartment, and he and Ron were standing at the main door.

  “I hoped I’d run into you here,” he said when I walked up to them. His smile was wider than his shoulders.

  I pushed the door open. “Wassup?”

  “You stood me up yesterday. I came by to catch up.”

  I walked through the main door with him and Ron on my heels. “Are you gonna be one of those guys I end up dating because he won’t leave me alone?”

  “Definitely. I’m going to be your new boyfriend. Get used to me, baby, I like commitments.” They climbed the stairs behind me up to the second floor of my apartment building.

  I stuck the key in my door. “I’m not your type, Rick.”

  “I don’t have a type. But you have potential. All jokes aside, I wanted to hang out.” He followed me in. “You need some friends anyway.”

  “If I don’t have friends, what makes you think I want them?”

  “Everybody wants a friend.”

  “Not me.” I walked to my room and he followed me there, too. “You mind giving me a little personal space?” I asked with my arms thrown out at my sides.

  “I don’t believe in personal space when I’m starting a new relationship.” He said it so seriously I looked over my shoulder, checking his facial expression. It held amusement and humor as he looked around my room.

  I laughed. “I’m going to change. Don’t check out my body.”

  “Oh, yeah,” he sang. “Jackpot!”

  I shook my head, looking through my closet for a button-down shirt. I needed something to make my mom chill out. If I walked in with an all-black tee shirt, all-black jeans, and my boots, she’d know I was up to something.

  “Ay man, why your pad so big? My spot looks nothing like this,” Ron yelled from the front.

  “I asked for it,” I called back, pulling my shirt over my head.

  “Shit, bro, you’re ripped.”

  “I thought I asked you not to check me out.”

  “No homo, I’m not into guys but I compliment when it’s owed. I know a good-looking guy when I see one,” Rick said, standing by my dresser which was further in my room by the balcony doors. Originally he had been looking in the mirror, but I apparently distracted him from himself.

  “You say no homo, looking at me with googly eyes. Look in that drawer behind you and throw me a tee shirt,” I said, pointing.

  “Ay bro, how do you get your hair to stick up like that in front? You use gel or something?” He rummaged through my drawer and found a shirt he thought was suitable and threw it at me. All he really needed to do was reach in, grab the first shirt his hands could touch, and toss it to me.

  I caught it and pulled it over my head as I walked over to the mirror. “No. It actually just does that on its own.” I checked out my hair in the mirror behind him. I ran my fingers through it. All it did was stick up, I wished it would lie down or push back. But hair wasn’t my thing. I didn’t put any effort into perfecting it. Wash and dry was it, along with the occasional haircut.

  “I wish I could get my hair to do that.” He admired himself in the mirror, playing with his blond-streaked hair. His might have been the same length as mine, but it laid down.

  Lifting my arms, I checked myself to make sure I didn’t stink. I was good. “I had intentions on showering.” I walked over to my full-length mirror next to my dresser as I buttoned the blue-plaid shirt I pulled from the closet. “But with you here, I’m scared you might jump in with me.”

  “Why are you always going somewhere? Don’t you sit down at all?” He stood next to me in the mirror, looking like he was checking our heights and comparing his physique to mine.

  “I’m much bigger than you bro, and I’m taller too by a couple inches.”

  He grinned. “I knew you’d fit in well with me. You know me so well already. How’d you know I was looking?”

  “Because you’re into guys,” I joked. “I gotta go check on my mom before she sends the Feds out for me. I’ll come by when I’m back.”

  “Okay. Ron! We’re
out, Kyle’s gotta go.” He smacked my arm, keeping me from walking away. “Real quick, before you leave, make a muscle.”

  I raised my left arm and flexed. He mimicked me and looked back and forth at his arm and mine.

  “Dammit!” he blurted, slapping my arm down. “Well, at least you don’t look better than me.” He smoothed his hands over his low-cut beard, smirking.

  I laughed and left the room. He reminded me of my brother Nixon. It was kind of comforting and kind of weird at the same time.

  Ron had made himself comfortable on my couch with a beer and a protein bar, getting crumbs on my damn floor. He stood and a few more trickled onto the coffee table.

  “Ron, before you leave, there’s a vacuum in the closet and make sure you clean that table. Just because you’re a big guy does not mean you have to be a slob. Clean that shit up.”

  “He’s a neat freak,” Rick stated conclusively. “Please go beg your mom to go back twenty-four years and fuck my dad instead of your dad so we can be brothers.”

  “Dude, you are too weird,” I told Rick, shaking my head.

  He slapped my shoulder. “You’ll get used to it. I’ll see you later. Ron, make sure you clean that up. You don’t come to someone else’s home and messy it up. Have I taught you nothing?”

  “Yeah, whatever,” Ron said, grabbing the vac.

  My phone buzzed. “Hello, Mom. I’m walking out the door, on my way over right now.”

  “He sure is, Mom,” Rick yelled into the phone, too close to my face. “He’s kicking me out the door right now so he can make it to you.”

  I pressed my hand to his face, pushing him away.

  “Who was that, Kyle?” Mom asked.

  “Richard.”

  “You met a new friend?”

  “Yeah, I guess.” The vac turned on, drowning her out. “Mom, I can’t hear you. I’ll see you in a minute.”

  I woke up feeling like I’d been hit by an eighteen wheeler truck. “Ugh…” I groaned. “Water…”

  “Oh good, you’re alive,” Janet cried, coming around the corner.

  I rubbed my eyes, looking around my living room at my lavender walls, a bookshelf that seriously needed a twin, and the pictures on my far wall. Immediately, I remembered Hayden Reynolds and my mom and dad.