Martoni called me one morning and told me the villa was all mine.
“You can pick up the keys any time,” he said. “It would be good to see you.”
This seemed the perfect opportunity to retire.
I ran the idea of a holiday past Lauren.
“I could do with a break,” she said.
“How about work?”
“I could do with a break from that too.”
“We could go out there and spend some time, see if you like it, maybe live there a while.”
“That sounds great. And we can talk.”
“Sure. I’ll book the tickets.”
I realised I’d run out of manoeuvring space and didn’t care.
The next day I put my place on the market.
***
On the plane, I looked over at Lauren and said, “I think I might take some time off work too.”
“Whatever that is.”
“I hope you like Sicily.”
“I hope so too. Do you know anyone out there?”
“I do have a contact.”
“Now why doesn’t that surprise me?” she said.
Below, the earth looked green and good.
Outside only azure sky.
We landed and stepped out into the wall of heat.
A message from Martoni was waiting for me on my mobile.
The End
Other Works
If you liked Portrait Of An Assassin then you might be interested in the following novellas in the Knuckle Cracking Series, published by Close To The Bone.
1. Bad Luck City
Matt Phillips
2. One Day In The Life Of Jason Dean
Ian Ayris
3. Marwick’s Reckoning
Gareth Spark
4. Back To The World
Jim Shaffer
5. An Eye For An Eye
Paul Heatley
6. A Dish Served Cold
B R Stateham
7. Too Many Crooks
Paul D Brazill
8. A Case Of Noir
Paul D Brazill
9. Big City Blues
Paul D Brazill
Paladins
Various Authors
Down In The Devil Hole
David Jaggers
Rogue
An Anthology
Gloves Off
An Anthology
Tales From The Longcroft Estate Volumes 1,2 & 3
Darren Sant
Portrait Of An Assassin - Richard Godwin Page 14