I slept like the dead and missed the morning and the day. Again! This was getting a bit tedious. I guessed this was my new circadian rhythm. I suppose I could have stayed up for another hour or so after Gemini had slunk away leaving me all hot and bothered, to see the dawn. But I had been sad, exited, lonely , and exhausted. And horny, let’s not forget that!

  I had to face it - I had a crush. Admitting that, even to myself, was harder than I thought. To say Gemeni took my heart and soul was a bit much, but it felt more than just lust or an infatuation. The kiss last night made me smell colors and see music. It made me felt weird and antsy. And did I mention horny?

  After coming home last night, I crashed on my temporary bed like falling timber. I had probably snored like a sawmill as well. I would probably need flannel jammies by now. The first thing on my mind when I woke up was Gemini. It shouldn’t have been, but she was damn hard to shake. She had followed me into my dreams, and I was certain she would drive me even more crazy in no-time.

  Damn me if I wasn’t falling in love. Lesbian stereotype much? How do supes do U-Haul?

  I didn’t have time for this! I needed to force Dimitri to get the fucking amateurs of my case. Hopefully he’ll would something about this Tony Marsh. I would beat every bit of information I could get from him.

  I scrambled out of bed like something from the Black Lagoon. I had thought that just because I was supernatural these days, that mornings, or what passed for mornings which was early evenings, would be more pleasant, but I was dead wrong. I still felt like shit waking up. And I wanted coffee! Lots and lots of coffee.

  I wished that I had been able to get my espresso machine from my old apartment, but it hadn’t been a priority. I would have traded all my guns for that machine right now. I could live with just knives, couldn’t I?

  Not only did my new supernatural body make my mornings not better, but my mouth also smelled like something had crawled in and died there. I could probably kill anything with my breath alone. I tried to think about what I did before going to bed. And then I remembered that I had downed about a bottle of whiskey after realizing, that cold showers didn’t work that well. The stench from my mouth, the state of my underwear, and Gemini still being on my mind convinced me that booze wasn’t an answer either.

  Damn that woman and her lips!

  I put some water on and got my jar of Nescafé out of one of the boxes. There was a time when you wouldn’t have caught me dead with instant coffee, but some mornings I could drink anything if it contained caffeine. Some mornings I could chewed the stuff right off the bag. Hideous, but the taste alone could wake the dead.

  I drew a deep breath. I could still smell Gemini. Her scent was a subtle, but I could pick it out anywhere. I would wallow in it if I could, but I had no pillow or clothing from her. Just the lingering scent that would soon disappear.

  I was feeling very sorry for myself. A maudlin feeling, at least some of it was maudlin and the rest was sexual frustration and need. The other part I had no time to look at. It would take my mind off what I had to do. Not that she wasn’t already all over my mind. Every other thought I had was of Gemini.

  I pulled myself together and headed for the shower hose. I made up my mind to leave Gemini and all the rest for another day. Distractions could kill you. I took a long shower, letting the warm water rinse away any doubt. The water bill would bankrupt me later, but I didn’t care.

  I made a call to some of my contacts to make sure Dimitri would be at Stephen’s Corner that night. No need to go to Psychopath Central if he wasn’t there. I wasn’t that keen on meeting Sergei, because I was sure he was going to push it if he was at the meeting. I wasn’t really in the get-pushed-around mood.

  I had some ideas of what I needed to do after my little talk with Gemini. I ordered some more of my special knives, but with a white gold inlay. Luckily for me, precious metals like gold were soft and had low enough melting point to be easily fused with the ceramics. I also ordered some hollow point ammo for my guns. Also, with white gold. It had been a bitch to make sure they used a gold-silver alloy and not modern white gold. Not to mention trying not to sound like a raving lunatic when telling them what I wanted. Gordon had almost gone ballistic when I asked for pipe bombs with a mix of lead pellets, steel bearings, and white gold pellets.

  Safe to say I had no money left after my shopping. I did have my fathers’ stashes, but there was none close to Chicago. They hadn’t trusted the Outfit enough to have a stash close by.

  I had several other ideas of weapons that would probably work. Ff I had the time to make them. If I survived this, I would need a sword of some kind, preferably a short sword. I figured that while Breeds could heal if they change to a true-form, they wouldn’t regenerate limbs. A severed head would be hard to heal, no matter what kind of supernatural you were.

  I grabbed my 49:ers jacket and downed the remaining cold coffee like it was medicine. Maybe it would kick-start my brain, though I doubted it. Cold coffee isn’t the yummiest thing in the world, but anyone who is a heavy coffee drinker knows that sometimes it doesn’t matter where the caffeine came from as long as there is caffeine. Swamp water would have tasted better than cold Nescafé.

  I took two Berettas and pocketed some of my knives. I was getting fonder of my knives with every day. I couldn’t really say why, but they seemed more appropriate somehow.

  Hey, look at me I’m Psycho Maria.

  I would need some damn long therapy sessions if I survived.

  If Wilson caught me with concealed guns, I would probably get arrested. At least for what he believed was my own good. I was going to have to chance it, because going unarmed to see Dimitri and Sergei was not an option.

  The thought alone made me shudder.

  The sun had already disappeared behind the buildings when I stepped out onto the street. The western sky was a weird bright grey yellow color at the horizon and the air tasted like rotting leather. It was the smell of rotting things that you can smell in some alleys when garbage fermented. The smell was pungent even though it was cold.

  It wasn’t that late; the sun set quite early this time of year. There were a lot of people out and about. I had gotten t the last of the rush hour with stressed out people trying to get home. I realized then that it had to have been a business day, but I couldn’t say what day it was. Perhaps Wednesday? It didn’t really matter, though. What I was doing didn’t need business hours. Killers didn’t work nine to five.

  I stopped and treated myself to a real Chicago-style hotdog with the works. Nice breakfast with all the nutrition you need. With that many preservatives I would probably live forever. I would have to get more to eat later. It wasn’t a good idea to have a full stomach when meeting Dimitri. He always tried to feed me some of his homemade Russian sausages that look like large gray brown turds. I shuddered at the thought.

  I made my way down West Wrightwood trying to pass the time. It was still too early for Dimitri’s office hours.

  The weather was turning cold, but not so cold the snow wouldn’t melt. That was at least a couple weeks away, and the cold didn’t bother me like it used to. I felt like I could have tossed my jacket and I still wouldn’t have been cold.

  I stopped into a store to buy some Jolt, hoping I would feel the buzz of too much caffeine again. Ever since I was turned into Freaky Fred’s sister, caffeine had lost most of its kick. I still loved it and it almost woke me up, but it had lost that edge I always felt when drinking the first pot of coffee in the morning. Perhaps the super-fast healing also affected my body’s response to caffeine. Perhaps I needed some caffeine pills? But then again pills could never replace that taste of fresh coffee in the morning.

  Perhaps pills were better than Nescafé. Because Nescafé was an abomination that needed to get wiped off the face of the earth together with decaf, those new hard plastic packages you need a chainsaw to get through, and chocolate-chip cookies. The cookies were on the list because there were some things you just couldn’t resist. Nescafé was on the list because I had succumbed to the Devil and bought it.

  I kept a close eye out for anyone following me. So far no one had been on my tail and that was good.

  I had a whole new situational awareness now. Sound, smell, sight all kicked in and helped me see things I would never have noticed before. I could pick out by scent those who were nervous or afraid. I could sense power, sex, and some emotions with my new abilities. I heard sounds and conversations I would have needed a mike for before.

  It was intoxicating and it scared me. It all seemed so natural, using all these abilities, but what was the limit of my capabilities? Was I really a match for one of the stronger weres? How would I know? I hadn’t even taken any precautions, like silver bullets. There was nothing in my arsenal that used the weaknesses Gemini had told me about. I hadn’t bought any gold or silver to make my own bullets, and it would take a couple of days for Gordon to deliver my weapons and ammo. Hopefully I wouldn’t need them before then.

  Well, even if some weres came after me, I guessed that a bullet to the brain would seriously slow them down, if not kill them. And being shot would still hurt like hell and slow them down no matter where the bullet hit. But it would take several bullets.

  The closer I came to the pool hall the more wannabe gangsters I saw. A hundred yards from Dimitri’s place there were too many people on the street. Some were even waving guns around, like a five year old with a new toy. I usually like amateurs, but these guys were nervous. All twitchy and very conspicuous.

  Not good.

  I took a detour while studying the people. Some acted more like professionals, but most were amateurs. I could smell the nervousness and fear. Something was going down, and I guessed it was me that was supposed to go down, so to speak.

  I pulled out my phone and dialed Dimitri’s number. Several signals went through, but no one answered. It could mean nothing, but I was sure it meant something bad.

  My new instincts told me to creep closer. Closer to the kill. Stalk it. Hide in the shadows and then silently go for the kill. Anger fueled the need to kill, and a low, almost subvocal, growl escaped my throat. No one on the outside was anything but human. They all smelled and felt like normal humans. There were hints of supernaturals, but those scents were old.

  The inside would be a different matter. The few dealings I had had with Dimitri, travelling to Chicago for Mike or Silvio, had taught me that he was aggressive if he could get away with it and was always looking for weaknesses in people he met. He would rip off anyone if he could get away with it. Right now, it seemed like he wanted to cash in on my death.

  I scanned the area. They had lock-down the whole building, surrounding it with people who were probably put there to act like customers. Dimitri was probably hiding in the basement. The little weasel.

  I pressed redial five or six times before someone answered. It was Sergei.

  “Yes?” Sergei’s voice was cool, but I heard a bit of tension in it.

  “Bitten off a bit more than you can chew?” I asked.

  “Who’s this?” Sergei asked even though I was sure he knew.

  “Very funny, Sergei. Should I tell you that you don’t have a clue about how to keep it low key? Nah, you already know. You’ve got amateurs skulking in the shadows outside like they’re in some bad spy movie, for God’s sake. They haven’t got a clue of what they’re doing, Sergei. I thought better of you.” I was sounding really sarcastic, and it hit home because I heard Sergei’s gnawing his teeth through the phone. “You shouldn’t have tried to set me up, Sergei! I will deal with you and Dimitri as soon as there is time. Don’t forget to look behind you, my friend.”

  I hung up. If that didn’t set it all off, I had no idea what would.

  I needed as many people out of there as possible, so that I could go in and shoot some vital body parts off Sergei and Dimitri. They hadn’t done anything especially bad or wrong according to how organized crime worked. It was all for one, and none for you – if they got away with it. That is the key to breaking the rules. The thing was they hadn’t gotten away with it because they were sloppy and dumb. I had spotted the rag-tag group trying to look casual. If you ever saw these guys, you would hold on to your wallet, wig, and pants. They looked and acted like they could mug you for two cents and cigarette.

  What Dimitri should have done, if he had been smart, was to relocate to another location and then try and take me out on route. I wouldn’t have been too suspicious about another location. Sometimes it isn’t a good time to meet at the usual places. But he got greedy, or perhaps he got orders – not that it would have changed anything. I was still going talk to him.

  Sergei and Dimitri had climbed on my list of people I needed to kill. Killing them would lay many souls to rest. Perhaps it was time to do something about that.

  I returned my focus on my surroundings. I knew my call would make some people nervous. I wanted panic and chaos. I wanted fear and paranoia. Because every one of those feelings would help those amateurs to make mistakes. Mistakes that I could capitalize on.

  There were groups of people trying to walk the perimeter. They were noisy and there was no logic in their sweeps. Moving through the shadows, I had an almost irresistible urge to yell “Yo’!” and shoot the whole bunch.

  I slipped away keeping my scent and power as concealed I could with that ability of mine. I was almost like a reflex now, masking my scent and dampening my power. No need to stay and watch amateurs mill around like headless chickens. They would team up and go looking, trying to find something they weren’t sure of how to look for. I would return later and see if I could get inside.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  My anger and rage were boiling just underneath the thin veil of control I still had. I had to keep a tight rein on it so I wouldn’t go berserk. Too many people were after my hide, and I was getting to me in the worst way. If I had been less in control of myself, I could have turned the street into a shooting gallery, with the idiots outside as the ducks. But that would have been a waste of bullets.

  Sergei and Dimitri were a whole other thing. Their life expectancy was very short at the moment. Unless they could provide me with something that was worth their lives. I had trouble seeing what that could be. There weren’t many things that would keep them alive right now. My anger was way beyond that point. It would have be something worth the damn Nobel Peace Prize to make me leave them alive! I would not make any more stupid promises like I did to Simon!

  To pass the time. I made some other calls trying to get a fix on Tony Marsh. He seemed to be somewhat hard to find, but after a few phone calls I had his latest address. He had an apartment on North Pulaski Road, not far from Garfield Park. A long way from where I was. He probably wasn’t at home anyway, I decided. It was dark and all baddies were out doing dark deeds. Even little ol’ me.

  I was still running a information deficit. Dimitri usually had information on everyone and everything, but how much he knew about the supernatural was difficult to estimate. That came in second, of getting the amateurs off my ass though.

  I had no idea how I would get to Dimitri. I had to come up with a less suicidal plan than “go in and kill everyone and everything”. If I was back to; kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out, any information died with them.

  The weather had turned from average to crap. The wind made the rain come sideways and it made the streetlights seem to dim and flicker. The spray turned everything hazy. And it was starting to get cold as well. Cold enough that even I felt it.

  I hoped the bastards all got pneumonia!

  After spending several hours at an internet café, I went back to check on Dimitri’s place. It was early morning when I returned. I hadn’t gotten much done, but I had some leads now. Thanks to some slanderous online communities and couple of papers, I had found out some more information on Tony Marsh.

  Tony Marsh worked as a bouncer, between bounty-hunting and killing people, at an underground club called J’s. Apparently he wasn’t the most reliable of employees, but as I understood it, no one dared fire him. And it didn’t cost them that much to have him on the payroll. Apparently, he was cheap.

  I kept to the small paths and backyard as I neared the pool hall. I started to climb a roof three buildings away to get a good vantage point. It was a natural lookout place, so I was pretty certain there was someone there. And I was right.

  There was a guy walking around the flat roof trying to keep an eye out in all directions. Stupid and unnecessary, but it made my job easier. I listened to the communications between the man and whoever was running this. They weren’t talking but used the clicks on the radio to answer the calls.

  I could easily pick out the call and in which order they all answered. They were quite disciplined, more so than I would have thought from what I saw a couple of hours earlier. Perhaps they were just setting up shop then and I had gotten lucky spotting them before they had gotten to their posts.

  I jumped off the fire escape and took a hold of one of the beams supporting the roof. I hung there, easily supporting my weight. I felt like I could hang there forever without getting tired. As soon as the guy walked past and checked the fire escape on his little route, I swung myself up behind him silently like a shadow. I let the one knife slip into my hand.

  I knocked him out before he even knew I was there.

  I gathered up his radio and his gun. He had carried a Forty-Five and it was in bad shape. I didn’t have much respect for anyone who didn’t take care of their tools. If you didn’t care for your gun it could jam, or even worse, blow up in your face. It didn’t happen often, but it did happen. And like all other accidents, most people tended to think that it could not happen to them. Idiots!

  I took the gun apart and threw away the pieces. I wouldn’t want to take any chances with a piece of shit equipment like that. You could not sell that piece of crap to anyone.

  The weather was getting even worse. It was snow-mush coming from the north-west now. I couldn’t have asked for better weather, but for everyone else it was the worst. Everyone was doing their best to keep out of the hard wind and rain. No one was looking up.

  I put the ear-piece on and pocketed the radio. I moved to the far end of the roof so I would have a bit of roof to get my speed up. I was quite sure I could jump to the other building with half the distance, but why chance it?

  I listened carefully to all the sounds. I heard no one close enough to disturb me. They would not hear me jumping either.

  I jumped to the next building in a swift jump. Thank God for the flat roofs in this area.

  The other building was one story lower as was Dimitri’s building. The other roofs had no guards. I guessed they thought one lookout at the highest point on the block was enough. Perhaps they weren’t that professional. I looked at the roofs of the other nearby buildings to double check that there were no other lookouts.

  I could hear people move around, but I didn’t think they would look up in this weather, and even if they did they would see little. It was hard enough to see down the street where it was lit, let alone seeing beyond the lights. I supposed that to them it would all seem like a grey swirling wall soaking the heat out of them. The guards outside were struggling to keep warm and dry. They stomped and hugged themselves trying to get their body heat up. Sometimes they threw envious glances at the pool hall. I could not have asked for better weather. It would hide my movements. They might freeze their asses off, but I had little problem keeping warm.

  The jump to the last roof went off without a hitch. The darkness and the wall of snow mush in the air muffled sound and sight. Landing on my feet I smiled to myself. I didn’t even need to tuck and roll when I landed. This was fun! I felt great.

  I heard the call-in signal in my ear. I answered the call-in with the clicks I had heard before, and in the order that the guy had sent it. I waited for a couple of minutes, but nothing stirred, so it seemed that I had gotten away with it. I remained still for several minutes and listened, just to be on the safe side, but nothing changed. Everyone went about their business.

  I moved quickly towards the center of the roof. Less chance of anyone spotting me. Again, there was a request for call-in and I answered it as I had before. Still, no one suspected anything.

  Focusing on keeping my movements light and deliberate, I moved to the roof access hatch. It was locked, of course. I rattled the hatch trying to make as little noise as possible, but enough to be able to figure out how it was locked. The small sound sounded like a padlock. Not a very heavy one or sturdy one. Probably just a small simple normal convenience store padlock. But that was enough to make me pause at the moment. I needed some other sound to mask me tearing the latch loose.

  But then I realized that this was your normal tin covered hatch. Folded and thin sheet metal. That I could bend silently open.

  I picked one of the corners and slowly and patiently bent the corner up like a opening a can and just as easy. The metal rolled up with not much sound, and I could slip my hand inside and twist the padlock loose.

  The room below was dark. I neither smelled nor heard anyone close. I slipped in quietly dropping down in a crouch. I remained still for some time. This floor was quiet, but the second floor was all but quiet.

  There seemed to be about ten people downstairs, and they were lying their asses off and laughing. The ongoing debate was about who was the best shooter.

  I snuck down the stairs keeping an eye and ear out for trouble. There were so many people running around here, so I doubted anyone would notice one more person going downstairs. As long as you look like you know what you’re doing people seldom question you, even if you open their closets.

  If I opened any of these guys’ closets, I would probably puke.

  Dimitri's pool hall was in the basement of the building. He had converted the basement and an adjacent underground garage to a big pool hall. Much bigger than basement itself. It probably should have been closed down for not following the fire codes, but Dimitri had enough connections that he didn’t have to bother with things like that. If the roof hadn’t been so low, he could have made it into a nice underground club instead.

  I paused at the cellar door. It was the service entry, packed with cardboard boxes and garbage. I drew a deep breath listening with all my senses for anything weird or out of the ordinary.

  I pause to answer the call-in request again and tried to remember what the place looked like the four other times I had been here.

  From what I remembered, the basement had only two exits and there would be some innocents down there, so I couldn’t just start firing. I needed to get to Dimitri’s office without attracting attention.

  Dimitri would never close his pool hall even if there was a war going on. He wanted innocent people around. They made good shields and hostages, should he need them.

  I knew a lot about Dimitri and his business. Mike had always believed in keeping his employees informed. So did Silvio. Every time I had to meet with Dimitri there were extensive files to read. Most of the information was the stuff of nightmares. Dimitri wasn’t the psycho that Sergei was, but he had no qualms about letting Sergei loose when it suited him. He knew all about Sergei’s escapades and did nothing to stop it.

  I grabbed one of the larger boxes and stepped through the door. I bumped into someone standing just inside. “Hey, move yo’ ass!” I snapped and walked inside keeping the box between us.

  “Fuck you!” came the snappy response.

  That’s imagination for you. Well, at least he did move out of the way.

  He had no idea who was behind the box. It was big enough that I could put it between me and anyone curious. And the inside was dark enough and with a lot of pillars to zigzag between, which was all in my favor.

  What wasn’t in my favor was the fact that I counted ten guys with guns posted all over the place. Plus I knew that a lot of the idiots that frequented this place were packing as well.

  Dimitri’s office was in the corner near the fire exit or more properly named Dimitri’s escape, since no-one but him were allowed to use it. I moved with the confidence of someone who worked there. And I reached the office door without as much as a glance from any of the men posted around the hall.

  I pretended to fumble with the door handle as I opened it. From the sounds inside the office, I could tell that there was three people in the room. Dimitri, Sergei, and one other. Sergei was to the left of the door, Dimitri, probably in his chair from the sound of it, and the one I didn’t recognize was just behind the door. The big one-way mirrors did them no good since they couldn’t see my face. I pretended to struggle again with the box as I put my foot inside the doorway. Then I pushed the door open with my foot and stepped inside.

  Before Sergei realized something was wrong, I had kicked him in the groin hard enough to shatter his balls. The other reacted by reaching for his gun. I pushed the door closed with one hand, turned with the motion grabbing the hand pulling the gun from the holster and then elbowed the man in the throat as hard as I could. I turned full circle and crouched with my gun out pointing at Dimitri who had not moved an inch.

  Sergei was gasping for air, trying to get enough air into his lungs to scream his head off. I knocked him out before his moans of exquisite agony turned into something someone would react to. Whether I would leave him alive or not, remained to be seen. The other guy was already dying, suffocating from a crushed larynx.

  “Hello, Dimitri,” I said grimly.

  “Ah…Maria. You seem to have acquired some extraordinary talents lately.” Dimitri sounded calm, but I could smell his fear.

  Freaky Fred had it absolutely right – it was a rush!

  “So I have. Seems to be the company I’ve been keeping lately. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that do you?” I went round the desk and shoved Dimitri a bit further away from whatever guns he had stashed there.

  Dimitri licked his lips. “No. Not that they haven’t been asking around for you, Maria. But Since I didn’t have much on your current whereabouts, there wasn’t much I could give them, now was there?” He licked his lips again. “What do you say we cut a deal, Maria? I give you all info I got and you let me live! How about that?”

  I moved in a burst of speed. “Why should I even consider that, Dimitri?” I could feel my body starting to change. Claws and teeth were growing and my voice was grimmer and harsher. “Tell me, Dimitri…why?”

  He swallowed loudly and the pure fear that he emanated was intoxicating. “Because you don’t have time to torture me…” he squeaked, “and that I can pull almost everyone off the street. We wouldn’t take on your contract!”

  Dimitri was babbling. I felt sorry for him, but I knew then that I couldn’t leave him alive. There was no way I could trust Dimitri to keep his word. He was too much of an opportunist to be trusted. I kept an eye through the one-way mirrors. So far no one suspected that anything was amiss.

  “I don’t have much time, Dimitri, so we do this quick. How many do you have on my contract?”

  “Ah…perhaps ten crews. No definite number, but I gave it first and foremost to two of my boys.” He licked his lips. “They’re good. Not pros, but talented and smart. Best I have seen for a long time.”

  “Details, Dimitri!”

  “Both have their own turf. Antoine Keller has his crib around West Cuyler Avenue.”

  “You been watching old MTV shows, Dimitri?” I laughed at him. It was the kind of laugh you only give people you want to insult.

  Dimitri ignored me. “And Simon Burns lives somewhe-”

  “Simon Burns? Talented? Boy, you got low standards, Dimitri. I know where Simon hangs. I bet he thought he’d kill several flies in one go, taking on my contract. He will be sooooo disappointed. He should have listened to my warning.”

  Getting rid of Simon Burns had long been a dream of mine, and now it seemed that I would get to kill him...I hoped.

  I knew Simon had been branching out, but I never figured him for a contract guy. More of a hired muscle than hired killer. He and I were going to have a little talk. Another one, not that he knew we had had a first one.

  But I could not kill Simon Burns right now. Wilson would have me arrested faster than I could say “probable suspect” and that would be a problem. He would keep though. And I had promised him a second chance.

  “Okay…” Dimitri was getting more comfortable and I didn’t like that.

  “Who from the Organization is on the contract?” He would know and he was scared enough to tell me.

  “No one. They’re not touching this one…something to do with your fathers? I’m not sure.”

  “Try another one, Dimitri. The Russian mob was never on good terms with my fathers and vice versa.”

  “That’s true, but they respected them. And I heard a rumor – but just a rumor, mind you – that someone called in a favor yesterday to make sure no one affiliated took this contract.”

  That wasn’t good. I had no such friends and even if I had I would never ask them to call in a favor as big as that. That was one huge favor to call, so whoever had called it had done something big for the Russians.

  “Where can I find them, Dimitri?” I asked.

  “I don’t…I have only one name – Lexi Hill.”

  Fuck! Dimitri couldn’t know that Lexi was laying on slab at the Cook County Morgue. Everywhere I turned there was a dead end.

  “Is that the only name?” I growled.

  “Gods yes! And now you know as much as I do. We had a deal, right?” Dimitri’s eyes were looking everywhere but at me. His scent was changing from fear to stress. I guessed that he had managed to trigger some alarm. Not one that was heard down in the pool hall, because that I would have heard.

  “Sorry, Dimitri…there are downsides to being an opportunist.”

  I stepped around Dimitri and grabbed his neck. With a twist I snapped it like a twig. He didn't even look surprised.

  I felt a part of me die as the light in Dimitri’s eyes faded.

  I had never killed like that before, an unarmed and helpless man, but I had no real choice. Dimitri wouldn’t have kept his promise, and he was too dangerous to keep alive. If it wasn’t for his willingness to back-stab anyone if he thought he could get away with it, I would have left him alive. Now I had no way to get the amateurs off my back, but that would have been the same outcome if Dimitri had lived.

  Now, all that was left was to silence Sergei as well.

  I leaned over Sergei and snapped his neck. That didn’t bother me as much, because I doubt anyone categorized Sergei as a human being. He had been a monster in every way but in body. I only hoped that all his victims, where ever they were, offered up a small prayer for my soul. I would need every prayer for where I was heading.

  I lifted the box again and walked out of the room.

  I felt tainted now. I had crossed a line. I had never thought I would kill an unarmed man in cold blood, no matter what the reason. But now I had, and it shamed me. But I knew I would do it again if the situation was the same.

  The guy I had bumped into was still at the door when I returned with the box.

  “What?” Asked the guy I had bumped into on the way in. “Didn’t you just bring that out here?”

  “Yeah, but they didn’t want all of it.” I muttered trying to get passed him.

  “Got chewed up, huh? Just what you deserve. Asshole!”

  “Fuck you!” I answered like I was sulking. “Open the fucking door, so I can put this away.”

  “Screw you!” The man said, but he opened the door.

  “You wish!” I answered as I did my best to keep the box between us.

  Unfortunately, he caught a glimpse of me as I passed. “Hey…”

  I pushed him inside the hallway with the boxes and triggered the release of the knife. In one sweep I had him against the wall with my knife under his chin. I hesitated as I held him to the wall. I just didn’t want to kill anyone else today. Not in cold blood.

  “Shut it if you want to live!” I snapped. The guy nodded very, very carefully. “I’m going to knock you out, but understand this – that the next time I see you, no matter where, I will kill you if you’re armed. Now, turn around.”

  The man was just a nobody, and I had had enough of killing for one night. Even if he could name me, he couldn’t give away anything the questions I had asked Dimitri. He got to live another day.

  The guy did as I asked. He cringed as he tried to anticipate the blow. I saw him squeeze his eyes shut – waiting. I knocked him out fast. There was no need to prolong his agony. I put the guy on the floor in a small storeroom on the first floor. I made sure he could breathe properly before I left.

  I needed to get away before someone found the dead people in the office and the unconscious guy in the storeroom. My chances of a clean getaway were decreasing by the minute.

  I opted to leave by the front door this time.