The Hitman's Last Job(50)

Firing three rounds into his chest, the little assassin fell to the ground and bled out. Carl watched as he took his last breath. Then with one last bodily spasm, he was gone.

Jerry meanwhile was standing at the back of the room, and as Carl approached he started to plead for his life.

“Hey! I was trying to talk him outta killing you,” he lied. “We’re old pals you and me. We go back a long way,”
“How could you Jerry? I thought we were friends,”
“We are! We are it’s just….”
“Just what?” Carl asked although he knew what the answer would be.
“It’s just what Don Angelo orders…. Right?”


And Jerry fell backwards into the wall as a bullet hit him straight in the center of his forehead, tearing off a chunk of his head. It bled down his face and covered his shirt as he slumped to the ground. Carl looked to him with disgust. He knew there would be Mob revenge. He knew people would be sent to kill him, but he was disappointed it had to be Jerry.

He rifled through the dead men’s pockets and took what little cash they had, and the car keys in Jerry’s pocket. Then something else fell out, his dog tags. He picked them up, feeling a moment of serendipity. As he ran out into the parking lot he pressed the button on the key fob and saw the flashing of headlights on a green sedan. Climbing in, he could still smell Jorge’s cigarettes and overpowering cologne.

He looked to the clock. It was five in the morning. Checking his own pockets he felt his passport.

“Thank f*ck,” he whispered in the dark.


It wouldn’t be long until the cops were here. There was no way no one heard the gunshots. More than ever he needed to escape over the border. Luckily the roads were practically empty at this time, and if he drove steadily and quickly he’d be in Mexico in two hours.

~

Anna had arrived in Monterrey hours ago and had no idea what she was doing. Walking the streets for hour after hour, she tried to dodge the admiring looks of strangers and look as inconspicuous as possible. But it was difficult with her flaming, red hair and ethereal complexion. She stood out more than anyone.

Whiling away most of the evening she sat in a coffee shop and perused the local papers. She understood nothing but loved the look and feel of another culture. Then she saw an advert in one of the pages for a local art history museum. She ripped out the segment carefully and placed it in her back pocket.

Now she was still walking the streets and absorbing the feel of the place. She knew she’d have to find a place to stay soon but right now she was exhilarated with the feeling of being somewhere fresh. She had money and her youth, what more could she ever desire to start a new life? But she knew she desired someone to share her new life with and the tears sprung to her eyes again.

Walking passed a busy nightclub a middle aged gentleman in a beige suit caught sight of her. Chasing her down the street he tapped her on the shoulder. She spun round terrified and clutched at the briefcase tight. She knew there would a come a time when she’d need to stick up for herself.

“Are you lost?” the man seemed genuinely concerned. “Are you alone?” he asked in perfect English.
“I’m just on my way to meet someone,” she lied unconvincingly.
“I don’t think I believe you,” he looked deep into her eyes as though he were trying to read her mind. “What are you really doing here? American girls don’t come here alone. This isn’t your average spring break destination,” he smirked.


Anna couldn’t figure out if he had ulterior intentions or not. But exhausted, lost and deflated she relented. “I ran away,”

“Oh?”
“And I just arrived here,”
“And you have nowhere to stay?”
“No. But I can afford to rent a place,” she instantly regretted admitting she had money. He was going to rob her for sure.
“So why Monterrey? Why not one of the usual hotspots for runaways? Maybe Tijuana? Cancun?” he was mocking her and she didn’t like it.
“I just had an affinity for this place I guess. Thought maybe I’d bump into someone,” she slumped her shoulders and sighed as she wished she’d never left Carl.


Thinking she’d probably made a mistake in seeing him with someone else, she surmised that stress can cause an anxious person to see just about anything.

“You are a mysterious lady,” the man offered her a cigarette and she politely declined. “On the run, waiting for the universe to reunite her with a lost love. Am I right?”


She nodded. “You could say that,”

~

The sun was rising as Carl reached the edge of the city. He hadn’t been back here in years and he was instantly hit with the memories of running through the landscape with his cousins. And then he thought of his parents. He shouldn’t have fled America without telling them. And he suddenly had a craving to hug his mother. It had been too long since he’d spoken to her and he was sorry she’d been caught in the crossfire between him and his father. Still…. She took his side and that was unforgivable. She should have cared for her child no matter what any man told her to believe.

As he entered the center of the city he longed to see Anna again. There was just about nothing he wouldn’t do to hold her again, to say sorry for what she’d been through this last week. He couldn’t imagine what damage it had done to her.