“What was her boyfriend’s name?”
“Nathan White. He died too young.” And hopefully he’s cooking someplace right now.
“Okay. Give me a minute.”
The door shut, and then there was the sound of the chain being taken off. Twenty seconds later, the door popped open and the woman stepped out holding a set of keys in her hand.
She fumbled around a bit, but got the door open.
Leo picked up his duffel bag and rifle case. “Thank you so very much.”
The woman nodded and watched him drag all of his stuff into the apartment. He shut the door and took a look around.
There were almost no personal touches to the place, no pictures, paintings or anything like that. The furniture was well worn, but the place was neat. In fact, it looked a great deal like Leo’s own apartment.
In a back bedroom was a computer with a huge screen. Other unidentifiable electronic and computer gear was stacked on metal shelves.
Jackie’s bedroom was also minimalist containing only a bed and a stack of computer books.
Leo settled down on her couch and took out his rifle and cleaning supplies.
He might as well clean his rifle while he waited for Jackie to show up—if she hadn’t been arrested by the FBI.
###
Tyrannicide was monitoring the news feeds and knew something was wrong. Three members of the Black Hand had been arrested. It began a pre-programmed subroutine, deleting many of its external links, just keeping enough open to continue to watch for certain events that would bring it back on line. Then it settled down to wait.
###
Jackie spent what seemed like days at the FBI office in Denver, going over her story, what she knew and what she thought had happened. Over and over again, from various angles, she was interrogated to the point where she had a blinding headache.
She did learn a few things, though. And it just brought on more questions that she didn’t have answers for.
Finally, she pleaded to be able to go home and promised to come back in the morning for further ‘interviews.’
She wasn’t very surprised to find Leo sitting on her couch when she got home.
He had apparently been dozing. His rifle case now sported stickers from various rock bands and guitar and amp manufacturers.
Standing, he came over to where she was waiting in the doorway.
“You taking up playing the guitar?”
“No. It’s a great disguise for a rifle case though. How are you doing?”
She closed the door. “It’s been a shitty week.” Leo took her hand and led her to the couch.
“So, where have you been, with the FBI?”
“Yeah. They want to talk to you in a bad way. But they’re scared of you for some reason.”
Leo smiled.
“Did you miss while shooting at that sniper or deliberately aim at his scope?”
“I couldn’t bring myself to kill him, nor destroy his rifle, so I did the next best thing. There’s been enough killing in this town and I didn’t need to add to the body count. Did you find anything out?”
She settled back and said, “Well, Nathan’s real name was Niksa Ciganovic. He was Serbian and emigrated when he was five years old.”
Leo looked thoughtful for a moment. “The last name sounds familiar. Yes. Milan Ciganovic was one of the founders of the original Black Hand. He died in 1929, in Serbia, after spending World War I living in this country. So Nathan is the end of a long line of people who ran an assassination ring.”
She nodded. “Apparently so. The FBI is hot after it, and the associated publicity. I just want to get on with my life and forget all of this.”
“What about the software?”
“It’s gone. I was able to trace it back from where I loaded it onto the Internet, but from there it’s disappeared. The FBI is following up, but I don’t think they’ll have much more luck.”
“What about us?”
“I don’t know. I don’t even know your real name; I just have more questions than answers.”
He took her hands into his. “How about this to start—the name I was born with was Max Jennings. I suspect that my father was a professional killer; no matter, he was an alcoholic bastard. I was recruited to be an assassin after I was thrown out of college when I was a suspect in my father’s murder. I killed eleven people, all of them at a range of over six hundred yards. And one with a letter opener when he tried to recruit me to kill you. I’m not proud of what I did, but I’m no longer that person. Can we work beyond my past, perhaps to a future for both of us?”
“I don’t know. Really, I don’t. So much has happened in the past week ... I’m going to need some time to figure it all out.”
Leo found a piece of paper and a pen and wrote some addresses and a phone number.
Handing them to her, he said, “If you change your mind, you can reach me here—I’ve also included my apartment address, though I don’t have a phone there. Probably, it’s best to try and reach me through the coin store. If you need anything I’ll come running. Anything at all. Even if you just want to talk.”
She took the paper, not knowing what to do or say. He looked into her eyes, gently kissed her on the lips, gathered up his things and quietly left, tearing another gaping hole into her heart.
###
Leo was examining a 1909 S VDB Lincoln penny that was very close to having a Very Fine grading, but might be Extremely Fine. The problem was that, for each type of coin, there are different things to look for in determining if a coin meets a certain grade. The difference in what Leo would pay was three hundred to six hundred dollars. Naturally, he wanted to buy it as cheap as possible, but had some leeway as he did have a customer looking for one in about this grade to complete his Lincoln penny collection. That there were only 484,000 of them minted made it one of the most valuable Lincoln pennies anyone could own.
The door to the shop opened and Jackie stepped in. It had been three months since he had seen her and had been constantly thinking about her. He had been torn between trying to get in touch with her and wanting to let her have the time and space to deal with her problems. But he carried the picture that had been taken for her targeting package in his wallet and thought about her often.
She had let her hair grow out and it only added to her beauty. It helped that she was wearing a summer dress that showed off her shapely figure.
Stunned, Leo set the coin down on the counter and walked over to her. Taking her hands into his, he said, “Jackie, what are you doing here?”
“I heard there was a coin store that needed some computer expertise. So I thought I’d stop by and offer my services.”
“Anything else?”
She looked into his eyes. “I think we have some unfinished business to take care of ...” The she reached up and kissed him.
--The End--
If you enjoyed this check out the next book in the Kill Code series
ABNORMAL END
And for more news and information on upcoming books be sure to check out my web site at http://www.josephfranciscollins.com
About the Author
A former competitive rifle and handgun shooter and International security specialist, Joseph Francis Collins brings these field experiences and much more to his writing. Currently, Mr. Collins works as a paramedic/firefighter and a computer security specialist, and is working on his next novel. He lives in Iowa with his wife and a small menagerie that includes various rescued critters.
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