The Mermaid & The Crocodile (The Kill List Series Book One)

by Edee M. Fallon

  That was one more burden lifted. God works in mysterious ways indeed.

  After another fake promise to Jenks, I ended the call and sat down on the couch with my whiskey and the envelope I retrieved from the bird’s nest. I chugged from the bottle to ready myself for the mind fuck I knew was contained within the folds of paper in my hands. I took one more shot for good measure.

  Little Bird,

  You were always a smart girl. I’ve missed you so much. I’m sorry it has come to this, but I didn’t really have a choice. I wanted to try to make things right with you. Looking back, all I see are my failures as a father. I’ll never regret teaching you how to survive, but I’ll always regret taking away your childhood.

  If you are reading this, then it is already too late for me. I am begging you to walk away so you can have a chance at a normal life. But, I know you better than anyone. If you insist on finishing this, at least follow the directives I’ve left for you.

  I’ve detailed everyone you need to take care of. Everything you need to know is in the files from the safe. Now it’s time to set your trap. Eddie is going to be your way in. He’s still new to the game and trusts the wrong people.

  You can handle this. You know what you have to do. You’ve been training for this day your entire life. Failure is not an option.

  Dad

  The Kill List

  Anthony Valdez

  Eduardo Valdez

  William Ramirez

  Gustavo Morales

  Ignacio Garcia

  Luis Rodriguez

  Did I ever have a choice? I finished the entire bottle that night.

  A loud banging at my door woke me from my whiskey coma. Even though I had barely awoken, I already knew I was going to have a massive hangover.

  “Go away, Jenks,” I said, positive it was him without having to ask who’s there.

  The banging continued as I realized my error. I wasn’t hungover. I was still drunk.

  “Open the goddamn door, Berty,” I heard him say while he continued pounding on the door with his fist of fury.

  “I said go away!” I screamed from the comfort of my bed before smothering my head with a pillow.

  “Open this fucking door or I swear to God, Berty, I will rip it from the hinges!”

  Groaning and super fucking pissed, I yanked the covers back and left the warmth of my bed. He had better have a good goddamn reason to be waking me up this early or he was going to be eating my fist for breakfast. I opened the door to a disheveled—and stinky—Jenks. He appeared to be wearing the same clothes as the night before and the swelling had begun to taper around his blackened eye. It was now a marvelous array of purple. I opened my mouth to ask about it, but the smell coming off him chased my question away.

  “You need a shower, Jenks. You smell awful.”

  “Yeah, well I feel awful, too, if that makes it better,” he said as he pushed past me and stepped into the room, sniffing the air as he closed the door behind him. “You reek of whiskey, Berty. Did you drink that whole bottle?” he asked when he saw the empty bottle on the coffee table.

  “Why are you here? What time is it?” I asked, completely ignoring his question. I thought the empty bottle spoke for itself.

  “You said you were going to leave today,” Jenks uttered as he followed me into the sitting area.

  “It’s like six in the morning. Can’t I sleep in a little?” I said around a yawn I couldn’t contain. Plopping down on the couch, I grabbed a pillow and hugged it to my chest as I laid my head back and closed my eyes once more.

  “Berty, it’s almost two in the afternoon,” he answered, causing me to sit up and eye the clock on the wall to confirm his statement.

  “Ugh, fine. I need to take a shower. Order me some breakfast, will ya? Oh and don’t touch my shit, either.”

  He looked away guiltily. Ha-ha, I caught you, you sneaky bastard!

  “I mean it, Jenks. Don’t touch my stuff or I’ll know.”

  “Are you threatening a federal agent, Ms. England?”

  “Screw you, asshole. I don’t feel like shooting anyone today, especially not you. Order me some food and coffee … Lots of coffee.”

  I rushed through my shower knowing that Jenks was definitely snooping around. All the files had been locked away in the safe the night before and the key was on a chain around my neck. If he found what I had hidden, I’d be leaving the room with a shiny set of bracelets around my wrists; I was not in the mood to get arrested or detained. Jenks wasn’t above using his legal power to force my obedience.

  When I walked out of the bathroom, Jenks was already eating at the table.

  “I ordered for myself as well and charged it to your room. Hope you don’t mind,” he said with a cheeky smirk on his face.

  Asshole.

  “Did you decide where you’re headed to next?”

  “No I haven’t and I wouldn’t tell you even if I did. It’s best we cut out communication for a while. I’ll let you know when I settle somewhere,” I told him matter-of-factly as I took a seat at the table and poured myself a cup of coffee. His eyes focused on my face, trying to read me. I knew he wasn’t buying my lies, but he didn’t call me out on them for some reason. Honestly, I hadn’t decided my next move yet. I couldn’t stay in the hotel forever. As much as the thought of having a permanent housecleaner and room service for every meal appealed to me, I needed something a little more private.

  “Go home, Jenks. Take a damn shower. I’m staying here for another night. It’s too late in the day for me to hit the road.”

  My stomach grumbled as I lifted the silver lid so I could dig into my breakfast, but was stopped short at the sad sight before me. “Damn it. You let my hash browns get soggy. Total fail, Jenks.”

  “Don’t try and change the subject, Berty.”

  “I’m not,” I said as I took a bite of greasy bacon. Breakfast any time of day had always been my favorite meal.

  “I don’t like it, Berty. I’d feel much better if I knew you were headed away from here,” Jenks said, dropping his fork then balling up his napkin before tossing it onto his empty plate.

  As he stared at me, I tried to recall the first time I’d met him. The memory went further than my conscious could recall. He’d watched me grow up. He’d witnessed all my triumphs and failures. He cheered me on and scolded my errs more times than I could remember; more times than my real father. It suddenly occurred to me that there was a possibility that Jenks would just disappear from my life once my father’s affairs and cremation had been settled. Tears welled in my eyes and I looked away from him, trying to contain the sob that was lodged in my throat. I still hadn’t cried.

  “Berty?”

  “Stop worrying so much. It’s fine. I’m fine. I can take care of myself. Come back later for dinner and we can talk some more,” I told him, unsure if I’d ever see him again if I didn’t invite him back. As much as I wanted to leave this life in the past, Jenks was one of the few people I trusted in the world. I wasn’t ready to give that up just yet. Uncertainty and anxiety were all I had to look forward to once we parted ways.

  “Okay,” he said as he got up from the table. It looked like he had aged ten years in the past twenty-four hours. His normally tidy appearance was now anything but. His hair stuck up in odd angles where he had been running his hands through it all night, accentuating the grayness around his temples. The tie around his neck was pulled loose and the top button of his shirt undone. The swelling had gone down around his blackened eye, but it still looked tender. As I looked him over, I realized that I couldn’t recall ever seeing him look so ragged. It was if he was taking the death of my father harder than I was. Maybe he felt like he had failed him. Maybe his attempt to save me was his way of trying to find redemption for his own failures. We were both too stubborn to recognize that it wasn’t either of our faults. All we could do now was try and move forward.

  After locking the door behind him, I poured myself another cup of coffee and grabbed my laptop
from my case and sat on the couch of my room to search for hotels in Ft. Lauderdale. It was close to Miami, but far enough away that I wouldn’t have to worry about running into anyone who might know me—namely one Agent Mark Jenkins. Once I’d found and booked a room, I moved onto the next part of my plan. Knowing I couldn’t live out of a hotel forever, I switched my search to real estate in hopes of finding a place to stay for the duration of my mission. With a few quick calls, I had set up appointments for the following week to check out a few places in my price range.

  My knee bounced up and down as the caffeine worked its way through my system. With not much else to do and a need to expend some energy, I headed down to the lobby to see about canceling my reservation and finding help transferring my stuff to the hotel I’d be moving to. The concierge offered to have one of the hotel’s drivers deliver it for me and arranged to have everything moved that night.

  I would have to sneak away again to check into my new room before Jenks found out. He was a pain in my ass. My life and plans would go a lot smoother if he stopped following me around. Inviting him to dinner put a damper on my plans, but knowing that it could—or would most likely—be the last time I ever saw him, I didn’t want to let the opportunity slip past me. I had never been afforded the chance to tell anyone I loved goodbye.

  Did I love Jenks? I wasn’t sure. I never really thought about it. Other than Estefania and Hugo, he was all I had left.

  Not wanting to be confined in my room, I headed towards the beach to clear my head that was still foggy from my whiskey consumption. The sun was shining brightly off the white sand and blue-green water. I found an empty lounge chair and decided to lie in the sun while I attempted to figure out how I was going to make my getaway. Couples and families played on the beach and in the surf. I almost smiled, but my lack of either hit me suddenly like an arrow to the heart, and not in the cupid kind of way. For the first time in the last twenty-four hours, I really felt how alone I was, like I existed in a bubble where no one could hear me screaming.

  Anger and hate boiled up inside of me, making me realize that maybe I wasn’t dead to all emotion. I would need those feelings to propel me forward. Leaving the lounge chair and the beach behind me, I made my way back to my room with my father’s words echoing in my thoughts.

  You know what you have to do. Failure is not an option.

  Upon reaching my room, I still didn’t have a plan for escaping Jenks and my babysitters. Realizing that I would need to ditch my car soon, I decided to call one of my dad’s old associates to see if he wanted it. My Toyota wasn’t anything special, but parts were always in need to a car thief. Hugo answered my call immediately and we arranged to have one of his “employees” come and pick up the car that evening. My plan was beginning to fall into place. Sitting at the breakfast table with my laptop, I booked two sets of airline tickets. The first was under my own name flying out of Ft. Lauderdale International to J.F.K. The second was under an alias—Lilith Gorgo—from La Guardia to Tampa and eventually Key West International.

  Knowing that Jenks would follow me to my gate and check to see if I was scheduled on a returning flight, I had no choice but to get on that plane. It was going to be a pain in my ass and cost me precious time, but I could not find a way around it. After landing at J.F.K., I would take a taxi to Grand Central, hop a train to somewhere then take another taxi back to La Guardia to make sure I hadn’t been followed. Jenks knew I was planning something and if I didn’t watch my back, I’d end up somewhere I didn’t want to be.

  Since I had figured that much out, I finally felt okay to relax a little before dinner. I was still exhausted from my rude awakening that afternoon and decided a nap was in order. Lying down on the couch, I closed my eyes and quickly fell asleep.

  I woke up again to knocking at my door. It was too early for Jenks, so I knew it had to be either the hotel staff coming to transport my things or Hugo’s man coming to collect my car. Standing up and stretching, I walked towards the door. Looking out the peephole, I saw a man in a hotel uniform. Not knowing if he was really an employee or not, I snuck back to my room and grabbed my gun. Taking a chance rarely paid off in your favor.

  “Who is it?” I asked in my sleepy voice.

  “Hi, I’m here to collect your belongings for delivery,” the man on the other side of the door stated.

  “One moment,” I replied, stuffing the gun in my waistband again.

  I opened the door to a large man with a trolley behind him. Anything of utter importance would be traveling on my person during the journey there and back again. All my weapons, except the one tucked in my pants, were locked in my case and packed away in one of my large rollaway suitcases. I kept a rolling carry on and my laptop case with me for my travels, concealing my files inside the case. As much as I hated parting with my weapons or the pictures and heirlooms from my now burned down home, it had to be done. The attendant made quick work of removing my things. I tipped him well and asked him to have the front desk call me when my things arrived.

  A few minutes after he left, Hugo’s man knocked at my door. I handed him the keys and he handed me an envelope.

  “What’s this for?” I asked him.

  “Mr. Hugo sends his condolences, Ms. England. Is there anything in the car that you might need?”

  Shaking my head, I said, “No. It’s already cleaned out, but thanks.”

  He nodded his head once and backed away.

  Jenks would be arriving at any moment and I couldn’t take the chance of him seeing whatever might be in the envelope. With much reluctance, I stashed it in the safe until after dinner. I walked out on the balcony to watch the pink-orange sky fade into shades of deep blue.

  Step one of my plan was now in motion and gaining momentum. Once I got on the plane tomorrow I would finally be starting my journey down the road to hell, good intentions and all. My phone beeped from inside the room. Closing the door behind me, I grabbed it and fell onto the couch. Jenks had sent me a text, which was not his style. I was immediately on alert.

  I can’t make it tonight, Little Bird. I’m sorry. Try to keep out of trouble.

  Hmm … I wasn’t expecting that. Even though it wasn’t my place to ask, I wondered why he canceled on me. I’d never known him to cancel anything. He was too anal-retentive.

  Okay. Breakfast tomorrow? I want you to take me to the airport.

  I waited for his reply that never came. With my night now free, I decided to head up the coast and check into my new hotel. Grabbing my purse, gun and spare disposable cell, I headed downstairs to the lobby. Since it worked so well the night before, I decided to walk the beach and head over to the next hotel to catch a taxi, surreptitiously checking over my shoulder since I was fairly certain Jenks still had me under surveillance.

  As I walked down the shore, I realized that it wasn’t like Jenks to ignore me. He was the only person I was certain would come running if I ever needed anything. I wondered what had him so preoccupied. Then it hit me. Maybe there was a break in the case. I sent him another quick text.

  Something you need to tell me? Don’t hold out on me, asshole.

  Stopping at the water’s edge to await his reply, my mind began to drift. These were my mind’s anxious ramblings: How I wished I were here for a different reason. What if Jenks had them in custody now? Maybe it was wrong to assume that the death of my father was the only case he was working on, but I couldn’t think of any other reason he would blow me off. What if Jenks really did it? What if I didn’t have to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life? What if it was really over? What would become of me once this was done? What purpose would my life hold? If failure wasn’t an option, what price would I pay for success?

  The questions swirled around my head like a tornado. The endless possibilities overwhelmed me. For the first time in my life, I was in charge of my future. I had the power to control the direction of my life. I had never had the freedom to decide anything for myself. The fear hit me like a runaway train. My bre
athing became erratic and I fell to my knees. Thank God there wasn’t anyone around to see my breakdown.

  In that moment, I hated my father. I hated him for putting me in this position. I blamed him for the death of my mother, too. Was he not as guilty as the man who pulled the trigger? Was it not his choices that led me to this life of solitude? Maybe Jenks was right. Maybe I could save myself. Inhaling deeply, I tried to calm myself down. Focusing on the lapping waves, I cleared my head of thoughts of my future to try and regain my focus on the now.

  My phone chirped to alert me of a text. My hands shook as I reached into my pocket because I knew that this moment could forever change me. Silently praying for an immediate resolution, I slid the unlock bar across the screen and typed in the passcode, holding my breath as I opened the text message.

  I’ll see you at breakfast.

  What? That was it? It took a great effort not to toss my phone into the turbulent water in front of me. Groaning in frustration, I quickly replied.

  An omission is still a lie. Don’t make me hunt you down and torture you. You know I can…and I will.

  My phone chirped again a minute later.

  I can’t talk right now. It’s not what you think. Calm down. I’ll see you in the morning, Little Bird.

  No matter what he said, I knew deep down that something was up. As much as I relied on my instinct and no matter what my gut was telling me, I had no proof of the lie I was positive Jenks was trying to feed me. At least if he was distracted I would be able to complete my plan for tonight without incident.

  Standing up, I brushed the sand off of my denim-clad legs and started walking towards the lights of the next hotel. Instead of calling a taxi to meet me down the street, I took a chance and hailed one from the valet area. Maybe I was being too paranoid or maybe I wasn’t paranoid enough. Either way, I was fairly certain that someone was watching me even if I hadn’t spotted anyone. They were good at hiding in plain sight. Fortunately for me, I was better.