Zero Degrees Part 3: Miss Murderess

by Leo Sullivan

  “The agency killed Buff and Zeus? They faked my death. Why?” I cried harder as he held me. When I grabbed his shirt it ripped and I felt my fingernails dig into his flesh.

  “I don’t think they killed your friends. The agency had no reason to do that, but I know for a fact that they faked your death.”

  “Why?” I asked as tears streamed down my face. My mind was on Zeus and Buff. I needed to find out what was going on.

  Were they alive?

  “It’s the agency’s protocol for all field agents to have their past erased. I thought you knew that. My dad was supposed to tell you. The agency does that to ensure that you have no easy traceable ID in the event that something was to go wrong.”

  As Miko talked I had a flashback to when his father had said, “They take precautionary measures to erase your past as it relates to your present.”

  “So legally I’m dead. People think I’m no longer alive!” My voiced screeched as tears clouded my eyes. I dug my fingernails deeper into his chest. He winced, but continued to hold eye contact as the stark reality of what was going on became clearer to me. Suddenly I became angrier. I shoved him off me and almost kneed him in his balls. He grabbed the corner of the wall for support.

  “If the agency is playing with people’s lives like chess pieces, I don’t want anything to do with it!” I yelled and I picked up my luggage cart prepared to leave and see if Zeus and Buff were okay.

  Miko grabbed my elbow with a firm grip on my arm. My instinctive reflexes kicked in like I had been trained and I punched him in his sternum. The blow knocked the air out of him and a wheezing sound escaped from his mouth as he keeled over.

  “If you try to leave…right now… something very bad might happen to you,” he said gasping for air like he was sipping on oxygen through a straw. I just looked at him as people passed, not caring who saw us.

  “Why? Is this some type of fuckin’ gang?”

  “No… it’s the United States Government. They’re worse than a gang,” he croaked.

  “Well, if that’s the case I don’t want anything to do with this bullshit like I said!” I snapped. “I thought I was going to be doing some gangsta shit, not working for the stupid ass government anyway!”

  “Zero, you’re no longer a civilian. You’re a trained government agent, so start thinking like one. I told you your past has been erased. At this point there is no turning back. You have an assignment. Is that understood?”

  I stopped everything I was doing and stood there like I was a damn zombie as people walked by giving me and Miko crazy stares. Then I listened to the voice coming from the earpiece in the canal of my ear. Black’s raspy baritone somehow brought me back to my senses as I looked around.

  “What has happened to Zeus and Buff? What has happened to me?” I asked with tears still streaking my face. I knew that my vow not to cry again was out the door.

  “I assure you that the agency has nothing to do with whatever situation your friends may be in, but as for you, your faked death was protocol. You’re a highly skilled agent. Do you have any idea what the consequences would be for you and me if you pulled out now?” He asked.

  “No, I don’t know.”

  “Yes, you do know Zero. Get on that flight and do what you have to do. Don’t think about Zeus, Buff, or anything else. You’re an agent and this is your first assignment. Go terminate your mark and come back to the states is that understood?”

  I nodded my head to the voice as I mopped at the tears from my face.

  “Yes sir…yes sir.”

  I just happened to look over at a gift shop and posted on the side of a greeting card stand were two agents dressed in nice, black suits. They were the same two white men Black was talking to in the hotel lobby that day. I pretended not to notice them as Miko staggered back over to me. His face was scarlet red and his eyes were blood shot.

  “Goddamnit, it felt like a horse kicked me. I think you broke my fucking rib Zero,” he complained as he winced in pain. I stared up at the clock on the wall as the crowd bustled around us. It was 9:10 PM and I needed to get through the crowded baggage claim and onto my flight. Black had ignited a fire in my gut. I had a duty, a task at hand that I was obligated to do. I needed to push Zeus, Buff and my predicament out of my mind and stay focused.

  For some reason when I called out Black’s name he didn’t respond. I couldn’t help but wonder if my mentor had abandoned me before my mission was to start.

  God help me.

  Chapter 8

  ZERO

  I arrived in Russia on a bone chilling cold day. The sky was dark with an ominous over cast and soft, indigo clouds that floated like blimps. The traffic was bustling as people promenaded the huge thoroughfares and byways. Air pollution was dense intertwined with an infusion of fog and dry, cold weather.

  I arrived at the prestigious National Moscow Hotel. Its affluence was unconquerable and it was like nothing I had ever seen before. It was a towering architectural structure with a magnificent dome top. National Moscow was located on Mokhovya and Tverskay Street and faced the regal Kremin Wall in the heart of Moscow.

  ****

  I hadn’t seen one other black person since I

  had arrived. When I walked into the luxurious lobby a tall, lanky bellboy with a face full of bad acne hurried to carry my meager luggage. He slyly stole glances at me and the hump on my backside.

  As I expected, he didn’t speak a word of English, but he understood American dollars. After I fished a pile of cash out of my purse, we played the tourist sign language game. I tried to ask him where to get something to smoke, but my Russian must have been terrible because he would only look at me and nod his head up and down as he continued to ogle my breasts and thighs.

  Once we made it to my suite, he sat his ass down on the love seat and began to take off his clothes.

  “Unt uhh, hell naw’ll, if you don’t get your ass up out of here!” I yelled at him as I pointed at the door. He hopped up like there was a fire drill as he pulled his pants up and stumbled along. As soon as the door slammed shut I heard Black snicker with giddy laughter in my ear.

  “What is so damn funny?” I asked.

  “When you were speaking in horrible broken Russian and signaling with your hands with that roll of cash in your hand saying that you wanted to smoke something, he was thinking you wanted to pay him to suck something.”

  More laughter. “We should put that up on YouTube.” He laughed some more.

  “Not funny! You hear what I did to Miko? I was about to break that white boy’s neck,” I said and walked over to pick up my luggage. My suite was as big as an apartment with all types of amenities.

  “Speaking of Jujitsu chops. Did you fracture one of Miko’s ribs?”

  I looked around the spacious suite as I began to unpack.

  “Sorry Black it was a reflex action. He put his hands on me and I reacted.” Then on second thought something dawned on me. I dropped my luggage and looked around.

  “How did you know I was signaling to him with my hands? Is there cameras in here too?”

  As I spoke Black interrupted urgently, “Zero, go to your window! Look. Your mark his just arrived!” He said in a commanding voice.

  I strolled across the carpeting and looked down below to see a caravan of black Escalades pull up to the hotel. I opened the window to get a better view. Exhaust fumes enveloped in the murky cold as I strained my eyes. My heart lodged in my throat. It was like an important dignitary had just arrived. I watched men scurry from the vehicles. A few of them carried walkie talkies. I could see the bulges under their heavy winter coats.

  “Damn, he has about ten people with him and they’re looking around like he is the President or some shit.”

  “Don’t panic, Moskv is a creature of habit. He is also a Lothario predator who preys on women to do despicable things. He will not risk being seen with a black woman because of his status.”

  “Hold up what is a lather… whatever?” I asked as I loo
ked out of the window and felt a chill run through my body.

  “Lothario? That’s a man who loves to seduce women.”

  “Oh,” I said as I looked down below and watched the Russian billionaire get out of the car. He wobbled like a pigeon when he walked. His fort of henchmen quickly surrounded him as he entered the hotel.

  “Fuck! Shit!” I cursed as I pulled myself away from the window. My arm was numb from leaning against it and my mind whirled in confusion.

  “Just do as you’ve been trained. Your heart beat is accelerating too fast, slow it down. Relax, breath.”

  “How did you know my damn heart was accelerating?” I asked perplexed. He didn’t answer, but I knew it had something to do with the plug in my ear, technology and my respiratory system. For some reason it seemed that there was something sinister about that.

  “Where is my gun and knife? What is it that I’m supposed to do?” I asked and heard my voice screech in a high pitch. I wasn’t scared, but I realized after seeing the Russians enter the building that I wasn’t as fearless as I thought.

  “Look behind the headboard. There is a secret compartment there in the mattress,” he instructed urgently. I was all over the place and my pulse was racing as I ran over, reached behind the headboard and felt around. I found the weapons. There was an elegant twelve inch hunting knife and next to it was a fifteen shot Glock with a silencer, a small vial of cyanide poison and a miniature telescope. I retrieved everything from the mattress. My heart pounded in my chest as I crept across the carpet and stuffed weapons in my cluttered purse. I kept the small vial of poison in my hand.

  “What do I do now?” I asked looking around the suite. I could feel unseen eyes watching me.

  “Slow down. This is your first assignment, so you must be in control of your breathing and heart rate. That affects your composure,” he said.

  “How do you know my…?” I was about to ask, but instead I stumped my foot in agitation.

  “As I said, Moskv is a creature of habit as with most men who prey on unsuspecting women. His ritual is to go to a bar, lure a female victim up to his lavish suite and then victimize her with the offer of large sums of money and if that does not work he will sedate his victims with a potent drug and then violate them brutally. His specialty is analingis-”

  “There you go with those big ass words again Black. What the fuck is that?” I asked in annoyance.

  “He’s a real ass man. He likes to do things with women’s anuses and he may even ask you to defecate on him.”

  “Whoa! Whoa! Defecate as in shit on him?” I asked with a frown on my face like I could actually smell it. For some reason I was gesturing with my hands as I stopped in my tracks.

  “That does not concern you. Your job is to go back to his room, poison him, shoot him or slit his throat. Just kill him and get out within an hour, or abort the mission before his trained security comes to check on him as is routine. Because of your location the signal often does not come in. Being that I have other troubling matters going on with the agency, I am not going to be able to communicate all the time. I have to work on other duties, so often you will be alone. Is that understood?”

  I nodded my head as I put on a light sweater and checked my reflection in the mirror. I turned my sexiness up a notch just as Amore’ had taught me. The vial of poison was sweaty in the palm of my hand. I placed it in my bra, inhaled several jagged breaths of confidence, expelled courage in a deep sigh and walked out.

  It was on!

  Chapter 9

  ZERO

  All the way down on the elevator ride, I watched through the murky crystal glass that overlooked the grandiose splendor of the pristine lobby. As the elevator descended in perfect sequence with my heartbeat, I struggled to stay calm and keep my composure.

  I stepped off the elevator in perfect time as Gregory Moskv made his way across the mauve carpeted floor as several of his men strolled in front of him. He seemed to be in a heated argument with one of them. The guy he was arguing with looked to be no older than twenty one and was extremely handsome with long eyelashes and a chiseled face with a strong jawline. He wore a stylish mane of curly blonde hair in a Mohawk style that cascaded down to the middle of his back. I also noticed several tattoos and piercings as he walked tall and slender with wiry long legs. For those reasons, he stood out. I also noticed that two of Moskv’s men were missing. I suspected that they were someplace watching, or may have taken a smoke break.

  His young blonde companion was the stark opposite of him in appearance. Moskv was old, fat and ugly and the younger man was slim and very good looking. Maybe that was why the perv was fucking with him like that. He was probably hating because old boy with the Mohawk was young and could get a woman to fuck him without forcing her.

  “Where are two of his men at?” I asked talking into the ear piece to Black as I strolled causally, attempting to catch up to my mark.

  No answer.

  Black was gone.

  The lobby was nearly vacant with only a few people. Just as I strolled right behind the slovenly dressed Russian, he lashed out and back handed the handsome blonde guy, striking him in the face. He then kicked him hard in his ass and said something to him in Russian. He scurried off ahead of his boss just as I sashayed by and intentionally brushed against Gregory Moskv with my wide hips. I passed shaking my fat ass from side to side, allowing my sweet smelling perfume to allure him.

  I heard a gurgling sound that could have passed for a pig’s snort. I turned around in full stride, peered over my shoulder and made eye contact. I watched him looking at the sway of my hips with a fiendish scowl as a pink tongue that looked like a miniature serpent slid out his mouth. I put a little more “umph” in my strut because I knew that he was watching and gave him an inviting smile as I had been trained to do.

  He sped up his pace and walked behind me as he shrugged his other two bodyguards away with a wave of his hand. I had counted five.

  Again, I thought two were missing.

  I glanced back again and smirked to myself. Moskv was honed in, walking fast behind me like honey to a bee.

  Got him!

  ****

  The bar/lounge in the hotel was dimly lit with exquisite flickering candles with a timidly shallow, amber glow. I was surprised to hear Beyonce crooning as I took a seat at the bar and admired the elegant decorum of the place. I could see the lone bodyguard with the blonde hair sitting at a table to my right in my peripheral vision. For some reason he was staring at me with intensity. I tried to play it off, but there was something about him that disturbed me.

  The bartender was a chubby man who looked to be in his late thirties with balding hair and a beak like nose.

  As soon as he saw me he threw up a hand for me to wait. There was a smell of jasmine and mahogany wood, along with some type of cologne that permeated as I looked around and held on to my purse.

  Just as I had hoped the fat Russian slid onto the bar stool next to me. I turned and gave him a thousand watt smile and pushed my breasts forward showing him my full cleavage. His eyes roamed the plains of my scrumptious curves with a bushy, arched brow, and tiny beady eyes.

  As he pushed up on me, he said with nicotine breath, “Wow, not only do you smell heavenly, but you’re gorgeous. I’m Gregory Moskv,” he said in broken English I detected a slight slur in his voice like he already had been drinking as he looked at me with puffy, sagging eyes.

  I smiled. “Nice to meet you Gregory. My name is Ebony.” I bowed my head showing more cleavage.

  “Ebony. That’s a beautiful name. Are you visiting?”

  “Sort of, I’m here on business,” I replied and crossed my legs. The waiter came and the two of them exchanged words then stared at me with lustful smiles. I could tell that they were both marveling at my exotic beauty as they chatted.

  The waiter walked off and as he did so he casted a long inviting glance at me. That was when I noticed the tattoo on his neck. At the time I couldn’t make out what it was, but I l
earned later that it was a covert sign of the Russian Mafia that Moskv was the ring leader of.

  “You drink Russian vodka, huh?” He asked anxiously as he rubbed his hands together, nodding his head for me to agree with him. That’s when I noticed he had on an iced out Patek Philippe Sky Moon watch that cost about five million dollars. It sparkled like a chandelier on his wrist and reminded me that the sloppy dressed, old, fat Russian dude was also a billionaire.

  “What kind of business do you have?” He asked looking me up and down, admiring my body.

  “I am a fashion designer,” I said, turned around on the bar stool and darted my tongue out to moisten my glossy lips like a seductress. I re-crossed my legs, showing him some peek-a-boo pussy. I was conscious that my short silk skirt rode up my thighs and I wasn’t wearing any panties. I then pursed my lips and leaned forward all in his space.

  “I’m a single woman, so I have to work.”

  “Hmm. You’re too gorgeous to be single. I’m surprised you are not married,” he said all heated as he began to unloosen his shirt collar. My eyes drifted to the other side of the room and I saw his red head bodyguard watching me intensely. He had more of a stern look on his face than the blonde guy with the Mohawk.

  “Why thank you. I just haven’t met a man who can tame me.” I smiled as I swayed from side to side on the bar stool giving him my best, “I wanna fuck you” face.

  The waiter returned with our drinks and smiled at me like he was up to something as he placed the drink in front of me.

  “Drink up!” Moskv coached as his meaty fingers grabbed the small squat glass filled with Russian vodka that I imagine had enough drugs in it to knock out a horse and passed it to me. For some reason the waiter was watching me too with a goofy ass smile on his face. It was as if he was waiting for me to drink whatever potion he had concocted.

  I held the glass up to the light as if admiring it and wet my lips as they watched in anticipation. Then I declined politely.

  “I don’t drink clear liquor. I prefer dark,” I said with a grin and sat the glass back down. They looked at each other. The waiter frowned at me then threw his towel on the bar like he was upset about something. I spied him attend to another patron and suspected that it was one of Moskv’s bodyguards.