The Final Hour (Victor The Assassin 7)
Page 34
‘I don’t want you sending more killers after me.’
‘Likewise, I don’t want you showing up with another grievance.’ She thought for a moment. ‘But what’s the point, if your employers know who I am? I’ll be finished anyway.’
‘I found you on my own,’ he answered. ‘They merely helped point me in the right direction.’
‘Well, your proposal does make a certain amount of sense, but I’m afraid I must decline.’
‘That’s truly unfortunate,’ the killer said, stepping closer.
‘Let me finish,’ she was quick to add. ‘We don’t need to be at war with one another. Let’s call a ceasefire instead. Then disarmament. Peace…’
He understood, as she expected him to. ‘And after peace comes alliance.’
‘You catch up fast.’
He said, ‘You work for people who want me dead.’
‘I work for myself. Contracts come in from all sorts of clients. Sometimes their goals are in opposition. I don’t pick sides. I’m a Swiss girl at heart. And not all jobs can be fulfilled. It’s common enough, even with the best intentions. Besides, the contract on you has been open a while now. There have been three attempts. The client understands the difficulty. I can withdraw it quietly without creating a fuss.’ She paused. ‘So, can I add you to my roster?’
The killer said, ‘I’m going away for a while. I don’t know when I’ll be available.’
‘I’ll be around when you return. There’s no deadline on talent.’
‘I’m very expensive.’
‘I should hope so,’ she said. ‘The contracts that come through me are not for amateurs.’
He thought for a moment. ‘I need something first.’
‘Name it.’
‘I want certain people to think I’m dead. There are unidentified remains in Helsinki – an Estonian, stabbed and incinerated in a gas explosion. If there is anything you can do to help convince these people that corpse belongs to me, then I’ll be open to your idea.’
She nodded. ‘That’s do-able. I have all sorts of friends with all manner of benefits, so I can’t see why not. I can put things in motion today, if you are agreeable to my proposal. You can be dead by the end of the week, so to speak.’
‘Then consider me agreeable,’ he said, and sounded so. ‘In fact it’s been too long since I’ve worked on the freelance circuit. Contracting for intelligence agencies has proven more trouble than it’s worth.’
Phoenix was delighted. In a closely contested duel, it was sad that someone had to lose, and yet a draw was always unsatisfying. Far better for both parties to emerge victorious.
She stepped closer to him, now there was nothing to fear. ‘May I ask you a question? It’s somewhat personal. Something that’s been scratching at my curiosity for a while now.’
The killer said, ‘You may ask.’
She understood the subtext, but asked anyway. ‘How is it that, after all you’ve done, with all your enemies, you are still alive?’
‘Simple,’ he said in quick response, but then took a moment to respond fully, and when he did the answer was as ordinary as it was enlightening. ‘I never pick a fight I can’t win.’
She smiled at that and fetched her glass of champagne from the sideboard. ‘Would you join me for one? To toast our new-found friendship?’
‘Do you have a fresh bottle?’
She nodded. ‘I have a cellar full. You may take your pick.’
The killer said, ‘Then I’d like that very much.’