The HiT Series

by Margaret McHeyzer

  “What the fuck happened to your face, Anna?” My face is all inflamed, my left eye has bruised over, and is now swollen to just a small slit. My right cheek resembles a balloon.

  “I’ll explain when we get to the cabin. Have you got your gun and ammunition?”

  “Uh, what?” he’s still looking at my face and hasn’t quite understood my question to him.

  “Have. You. Got. Your. Gun. And. Ammunition?” I say it slowly emphasizing every word.

  “Yes.”

  I drive well above the speed limit to get back to my cabin. Once we get there I stop Ben from leaving the car until I check the surveillance on my laptop. Only Ethan’s there and he looks like his organs are shutting down; there’s a very clear live feed of him struggling in the steel box. The way I’ve positioned the laptop, Ben can’t see him.

  “Once we’re inside I’ll explain everything. But don’t try to take me down Ben; you won’t be successful.” Ben’s eyes widen, his mouth hangs open and he’s frozen in the seat with shock as I pull my two Glocks out of the compartment and tuck them into the waistband of my jeans.

  Ben eyes my babies and recognizes these aren’t standard off-the-shelf guns. He looks at them carefully and knows they are custom made.

  Ben continues to stare and then finally reaches for his weapon. “Don’t, Ben. I don’t want to harm you.” His fingers twitch toward it, but he decides against it. For once he’s actually silent.

  He follows me inside the cabin. He looks around as he assesses the scene in front of him. Chairs upturned, spots of blood on the floor near where Ethan raped me, and a half roll of duct tape on the floor.

  “Anna, I’m trying my hardest not to jump to any conclusions, but what I’m seeing does not look good for you. I see your face has been beaten, there’s blood on the floor, chairs knocked over and you have two guns in your waistband. What the fuck’s happening here?” He’s acting like a police officer questioning a suspect.

  I gesture for Ben to follow me and I ease myself on the sofa. I’m sensitive and hurting from Ethan’s beating and rape. I still have my Glocks in my waistband and I’m holding onto my laptop.

  “Ben, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  “What is it?” Ben sits in the recliner opposite me. His demeanor tells me he’s waiting for an explanation.

  “My name isn’t Anna Moore.” I’ve never been so open with anyone in my life, except with Ethan, but I don’t really count him because he’ll be dead soon. My mask has totally evaporated and now I sit before Ben as the real me.

  “Then who are you?”

  “My real name is Anna Brookes.”

  “What?” his eyes squint, and he’s trying to figure out why that name is so familiar to him. I remain silent for a moment and just when I’m about to start explaining, it dawns on him. “As in Henry Brookes, Chief of Police?” he asks.

  “Yes.” I straighten my back and watch him. He stands and paces around the floor. I think that’s his nerves making him twitch because he does it often.

  “You’re the girl with the golden aim.” This is a nickname I’ve never heard before today. And now both Ethan and Ben have said it.

  “Yes.” I remain quiet while he’s pacing and now running his hands through his hair, tugging on the ends. He looks totally confused.

  “But you…your Dad…what…I don’t understand.” He’s struggling to put a sentence together. But stops as he says the last three words and comes to kneel in front of me.

  “There’s more I need to tell you, Ben.”

  “What? More? I…what? I…what?” he stands up straight in front of me and starts pacing again. “I really don’t understand what you’re saying.”

  “Ben, you may know me as someone else.”

  This time he stops his pacing. He doesn’t move, other than turn his body to face me, his face devoid of emotion, “You’re not a government agent are you?”

  “No I’m not.” I stand, slowly raising my hands in surrender to show Ben I’m not a threat to him and I’m not going to hurt him. “You need to stay calm Ben. My professional name is…” I delay telling him by mere seconds and take a deep breath and on my exhale I finally admit “15.”

  The explosion of emotions happens the moment I say my name out loud. He draws his gun and has it pointed to my chest. His face is a barrage of warring emotions; the most obvious, though, is betrayal. I can see his eyes filling with tears. His body’s going into shock and he’s starting to shake. “15’s a myth,” he yells.

  My heart’s beating out of my chest, but I haven’t drawn my weapon. I’m not a threat to Ben and he isn’t a threat to me. He’s just completely stunned. I stand in front of him with his weapon pointing squarely at my chest, knowing in my heart he won’t pull the trigger.

  He’s confused and in a state of disbelief, but I know he won’t harm me, because he knows I won’t harm him.

  “15’s a myth,” he repeats his last sentence again, whispering now. “No, why the fuck are you saying that?” His brow furrows in confusion.

  “My professional name is 15.”

  “Stop saying that. 15 is a ghost. 15 isn’t real. 15 is a…” he trails off but his weapon’s still pointing to my chest. I see he’s frozen and doesn’t know what else to say.

  “Is an assassin,” I finish his sentence for him. “I’m 15.”

  “You can’t be. Because if you are, I need to arrest you. I don’t know that I can.”

  I take a step toward him and see he’s holding on to his weapon so tightly his finger is twitching over the trigger. I take a deep breath and take one more step. I can tell by his eyes how he’s struggling over what to do, so I take my final step.

  The gun’s resting against my chest, pointing directly at my heart. One bullet is all it takes and I’ll die, just like anyone else. I slowly reach my hand up and place it on the hand holding the gun. My eyes never leave his.

  Tears are clinging to his cheeks and he looks so conflicted and torn. I gently push the gun from my chest until it’s beside his body, and remove my hand from his, as we stand toe to toe just staring at one another.

  “I…I’m confused, Anna. Why are you here?”

  “Ben you need to know I’m not going to hurt you, but I need you to listen carefully. First though, I need to go check on Ethan.”

  “What the fuck? Ethan’s here? What have you done to him?” He raises his weapon again.

  “If you know who I am, Ben, and you’ve heard the stories, then you know what I’m capable of. I told you, I’m not going to hurt you. I need you to stay here while I check on him and then I’ll explain everything to you.” Ben lowers his weapon as I recoup my silencer from where I left it. Ben watches me with alarm and suspicion.

  I walk toward the steel box and enter my code. Thankfully, Ben doesn’t try to follow me and he stays in the family room. Well, I hope he stays, because it appears Ethan’s taking his final breaths. I move over to the cabinet and get the adrenalin shot and stab him in the chest.

  Ethan sits up and screams out in pain. “Now, Ethan, I’ve plenty of adrenalin here so I can keep you alive just long enough to make you suffer. You know the answer I’m looking for, so tell me before my contact calls me, and I’ll make it quick by putting one final bullet in your brain. I’ll end all of your suffering. If my contact calls me before you say anything, I’ll draw this process out until you’re begging me to end your life and just when you think you can’t handle any more? I’ll fuck you over by keeping you alive, while every organ shuts down and you take your last painful breath. Now TELL ME!” I spit out the last words with fury.

  Pathetic excuse for a man, as much as I want to kill him, I also want him caked in his own putrid body fluids and bleeding out. I want him to suffer for all he’s done to me.

  “One more.” His breathing is now labored; the adrenalin can only do so much. He struggles to say those two words but finally gets them out.

  “Just one more?” I stand tall and ask him, he nods his head weakly.


  “Please, kill me.”

  I smile at him and draw my weapon.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Ben’s at the door to the steel box. He’s looking between Ethan and me.

  “Ben, please go back out. I won’t kill Ethan, but…” I trail off and turn to Ethan and shoot his groin.

  “Fuck!” Ben screams. What’s interesting is he doesn’t raise his weapon at me. He’s just rooted on the same spot, tugging at his hair.

  “Ben there’s more to this situation then you’re aware of, and Ethan just told me the last piece of the puzzle. Leave and go back to the family room. He’ll be dead soon.” His body is shutting down and I only gave him adrenalin to keep him alive long enough so I could get the information I need.

  But now, I’m going to let him die in the most painful way possible. He’ll bleed out slowly and his organs will fail, one by one. “Goodbye, Ethan. Thank you for the information. You’ve been a great help.” Ethan’s body slumps, his erratic breathing is barely audible and his eyes have rolled into the back of his head. Ben and I stand there as we watch Ethan struggle to take breaths.

  “I can’t watch this.” Ben turns and leaves.

  I stand and watch Ethan’s breathing become more and more difficult.

  One shallow breath.

  A long pause.

  A second shallow breath.

  A longer pause.

  A third shallow breath.

  With a great deal of satisfaction, I step out of the safe room and close the door behind me. I expect this will all be over soon. Daddy Mancini will be here in a few short hours, and he’ll be meeting his son in hell. Unfortunately, I need to wait until Agent calls with any further information about the other hit on Ben’s life. He can’t leave my side now, because I can’t protect him if he isn’t close. But, I’m not sure he’s going to want to stay once I tell him all I know.

  I go into the family room but stop at the kitchen where Ben’s found a bottle of Jack. He has the bottle on the counter and one shot glass next to it. The bottle’s been opened and only a few shots are missing. Ben’s service pistol is sitting on the counter as he leans forward with his arms stretched in front of him, gripping the edge of the countertop.

  He’s just staring at the bottle and hasn’t heard me come in. I clear my throat to start this very awkward conversation, “Ben how about you leave the alcohol and come sit with me? You need a clear mind to hear everything I have to tell you.”

  “Did you ever love me?” Bang, what a question, straight off. He doesn’t lift his head to look at me. Ben’s sole focus is that bottle of Jack in front of him.

  I stand still and take a deep breath.

  His anger wins out over his calm exterior and he forcefully throws the bottle of Jack against the wall. The bottle flies and smashes into pieces. Bourbon saturates the wall it hits and runs down slowly, making a puddle on the floor. “Did you love me, or was it all just to get to Ethan? I don’t understand why you’d need a scheme if the only thing you wanted was to kill Ethan.”

  “I never wanted it to turn out like this.”

  “You haven’t answered my fucking question.” He turns his head slowly. He’s pissed off. But his voice is eerily controlled and calm.

  “I fell in love with you the moment I saw you at the bar. I’ve struggled with that every moment we’ve been together,” I say. I take a step closer to him and hope he doesn’t back away from me. “You‘ve melted the ice around my heart.” Another step closer, “You’ve made me want to be with you.” Another step, “You took my breath away.” One more step, “I have never loved anyone in my life the way I love you.” Last step, “I really do love you, Ben.” My arms reach up to go around his waist, “More then you could possibly know.” Ben’s arms enfold me and I lean right into him.

  We’re standing in a tight embrace, not wanting to let each other go. Ben’s lips are on my forehead and his arms around my back, holding me firmly to his body. I don’t dare say anything because I don’t want to break this raw, emotional, loving connection. Who knows how long we stand here like this, maybe a minute or an hour, but neither of us want to break away and destroy the closeness.

  I take a deep breath, and as I’m holding onto Ben, I speak. “Ben, you need to sit so I can explain everything you need to know.”

  “No, Anna, I don’t want you to tell me what you think I need to know. I want you to tell me everything.”

  My heart drops because he’s asking me to do what I’ve never done in my life. I need to open up and my mask needs to stay hidden while I tell Ben my story.

  “The night I met you in the bar, I’d never seen or heard of you before. I wanted you so much and I know you felt the same. The fire and energy between us almost silenced my heart.” I stopped not knowing how to phrase the rest that needs to be said. “That day was also my twenty-eighth birthday, and that day I killed the man who sent his goons to kill my father and take me. He was Hit 147, which was also your room number. I knew right away something was different with you. After we had sex and were lying in bed, you started telling me how you’re the Chief of Police in St. Cloud, which is when I lost control. Because that just brought back memories of my Dad, which is why I left you as quickly as I did. And I knew right then I loved you, even though I couldn’t be with you.”

  “And?” Ben says nothing more, but waits for me to keep going. I shift uncomfortably, not because of what I have to say, but because of what Ethan did to me. “Why are you moving like that?”

  “I’ll get to that later. Let me finish.”

  He nods his head and lets out a deep breath.

  “That afternoon I was packing to leave when my Agent called me to meet with an employer. I met with him and after an interesting encounter I was given a job.” I smile at the memory of the bodyguard who thought he could disrespect me with impunity.

  “Do I want to know what you mean by ‘interesting encounter’?” He uses air quotes and he looks stiff and uptight.

  “No you don’t.” I let out a small humorless chuckle, knowing this next part will push Ben over the edge. “The target I was paid to kill was you.”

  His stiff and uptight demeanor changes into pure and utter shock and horror. He’s struggling to breathe and is gasping as he turns a stark white.

  I leap over to him in two strides and sit him all the way back in the recliner, just in case he passes out. My body’s protesting in pain, but I push that to the back of my mind, because it’s not every day the world’s most dangerous assassin tells you she’s been paid to kill you.

  “Me?” his voice is small.

  I nod.

  “You’ve been hired to kill me?”

  I nod.

  “Do you want to kill me?” What a peculiar question.

  I shake my head.

  “Are you going to kill me?”

  I let out a deep breath and my entire body slouches forward. My shoulders totally let go of all the tension they’ve been holding and I put my head in my hands that are supported by my knees.

  “At first, Ben, there was no doubt in my mind I was going to take you out. I was going to make it look like an accident so your siblings could rest easy. It was the hardest decision I ever had to make considering I had already fallen in love with you, but I was going to do it.

  “Then, that night at the supermarket, I wasn’t expecting to see you there and as soon as I turned around and saw you, all I wanted to do was have your hands on me. Every day I had to fight with myself about killing you. But when Ethan came along and threatened you …”

  “Wait what? What’s Ethan got to do with you killing me? Fuck, how weird does that sound? ‘You killing me?’” He’s shaking his head like he’s just discovered he’s in an alternate universe.

  “Ethan Martelli is an alias. His real name is Anthony Mancini, Jr.”

  “As in Anthony Mancini the mob boss?” Ben asks, but I can see he’s slowly coming to his own realizations.

  “As in Anthony Mancini the mob boss’
s son.” I let it sink in before I continue talking.

  “Anthony Mancini is who hired me to kill you. Ethan only became aware I was hired for the job in the last twenty-four hours. He had his own plans to take you out. He actually had set you up to make you look like a dirty cop.”

  “Why am I of interest to them?”

  “Predominantly because you stand in the way of the drugs they’re processing here and shipping out of St. Cloud. And because you didn’t take a bribe that was offered to you years ago, and because you killed Ethan…I mean Tony Jr.’s brother. But unfortunately, that’s not the end of it...” Ben’s shaking his head and doesn’t seem to be coping well.

  “What else is there to know?”

  “Your parents’ death was not accidental. It was supposed to be a warning. They were hit because you didn’t take the bribe.” It takes a moment for my words to take effect, but when they do I see wrath, infuriation, and wild savage emotions as he stands and starts hitting the wall and throwing anything he can, not caring about the destruction he’s causing.

  I’m not frightened by his behavior because I remember when Dad was killed I felt the same way. I just slipped my mask on and took out the three men responsible. Ben’s yelling and crying and breathing heavily all at the same time.

  He pulls his weapon and runs to the safe room, trying to get into it. But I closed the self-locking door when I left a dead Ethan inside. “Open the fucking door, Anna.”

  “He’s dead, Ben. I watched him take his last breath.”

  “I don’t fucking care. Open the fucking door!”

  “It doesn’t matter what you do to him because he’s already dead.”

  Ben keeps crying. Uncontrollably. Loudly. Frantically. Hysterically. He’s kicking at the door and slamming it with tight fists, he trying to break it open. He slows his actions and leans his entire body on the door. He stops trying to attack it and slides down to the floor, his entire body quivering.

  He looks up at me. “I killed my parents,” he whimpers, so much hurt in those four words. So much grief and despair he looks broken.

  “You can’t blame yourself. Even if you knew they were in danger, the Mancini’s would have found another way to kill them. This is on them, not you.” I envelop Ben in my arms and don’t let him go. He resists me at first and tries to push me away, but eventually he stops struggling and just lets me do this.