The Hitman's Last Job(17)

“I won’t have to do anything if you tell me where Carl is,”
“But I don’t know! I mean I wish I knew… I miss my son,”
“Urgh…. You’re a real sorry son of a bitch you know that?” Jorge spat on the ground.


He looked down at the pitiful state of Reiner Snr and compared him to the young hitman that he knew.

“How did that man even come outta you?” he asked mockingly. “He’s twice the man you’ll ever be,” and he watched the old man begin to cry.


This was getting nowhere. Old Reiner obviously knew nothing and was only likely to piss himself rather than give up any useful information.

“When was the last time you saw him?” Jorge prodded one last time.
“About 4 years ago. We had a big argument. He’s never been back,” and he looked genuinely sorry.
“Hmmmm…..” Something about his expression made Jorge believe him.


But he wasn’t the sort of guy that just let people go. Instead he left him there in the corner and turned the light off as he walked up the stairs.


CHAPTER 9

Carl and Anna were running headlong into nowhere with nothing but what they carried.

“We’ve got to stick to the back roads and away from the motels. They’ll be checking every single one in the state,”
“But how can they have that many men on the ground? They can’t really have eyes everywhere!”
“Believe me girl they do… more than you could know,” he blurted out angrily as he dipped into an alley way.
“What are we to do?” Anna was frantic. “Where do we go?”
“Shut up a minute, I’m thinking,” he winced in pain as his back ached.


He leaned against the wall for support and looked to the sky. Something caught his eye and he placed his hand over his brows to block the sun.

“Hey… I think I see something” and he jogged up the alleyway slowly with a slight limp.
“Fuck! Don’t leave me,” she ran after him.


Carl stopped halfway down the alley and looked up the side of the building. He was eyeing up an apartment that looked abandoned.

“Wait here,”
“No! Don’t leave me!”
“I’ll be two seconds,” and he disappeared out the alley.


He came back a few moments later with a look of optimism.

“There a sign on the front. It’s been foreclosed,”
“So?”
“It means it’s empty dummy,” he laughed. “Come on,”


Carl led Anna up the fire escape taking two steps at a time.

“Now what?” Anna was both confused and exhilarated at the top.
“Now we get in…. believe me I know what I’m doing,”
“I don’t wanna know how!” she looked away as Carl pulled out a pen knife and expertly opened the window.


He slid it up with a smile. “Home sweet home… now let’s hope there’s no alarm.

“This is f*cking crazy,” Anna was outraged.
“Well you got a better idea?”
“Guess not,” she mumbled.
“Uhuh,”


And they climbed in to find an apartment that had an atmosphere akin to the Mary Celeste. The furniture was intact and there were cups and personal objects scattered about the place, as though the owner left this morning. But the thick layer of dust showed otherwise. Anna thought that it was terribly sad someone’s home had to be evacuated in such way. She wandered into a bedroom and saw the bed sheets were turned back. It was a sorry thought that some poor soul awoke to start the day but then never returned.

Meanwhile Carl was searching for more important things. He opened a cupboard in the hallway.

“Urgh... The power’s off,”


Anna turned a tap on in the bathroom.

“But the water’s on!” she was at least happy at that.
“Well that’s a start,”


They both eventually came back to the living room that was connected to an open plan kitchen. It would have been a cosy bachelor pad for someone at some point. Anna looked through the cupboards and was pleased to see that there was food still in them, albeit terribly unhealthy food.

“Well we won’t run out of Ramen anytime soon,”
“Ah well… it’ll prepare you for college, if you decide to go”


She smiled. “Hey! At least there’s this,” she held out a bottle of vodka.

“I didn’t think you’d be much of a drinker?”
“I’m not… but if there’s ever a better time to start I’d like to know,” and she opened the bottle and smelled it. She immediately winced. “Argh!”


Carl laughed and took it from her. “Never tried vodka before?”

“Not straight, no,”


He looked to her and remembered what a kid she was. But it was refreshing to meet a woman her age that wasn’t an obnoxious party animal for once. He pulled out a couple of shot glasses from the cupboard and led her to the couch.

They sat down comfortably and Anna settled in a nook under his arm. Feeling his warmth she snuggled in close and smelled his cologne. Meanwhile Carl felt so grateful to have her company and felt like the luckiest man in the world, despite the impossible situation they were in. He kissed the top of her head and weaved a strand of her silky, auburn hair between his fingers. Sensing his mood she turned up to look at him with those big eyes.