Return of the Nameless Hitman

A faint breeze blew across the open water of the lake, making the warm afternoon sun tolerable as the small fishing boat floated serenely in the small hidden alcove.  As he watched the red and white float attached to his fishing line move along gently in the water, his mind wandered back to his past.  A past he had dreamed of putting behind for the longest time and yet now, he could not put it to rest.

Upon completing his final “job” for the Godfather Chairman of New York, he had donated all of his possessions to a local church in Las Vegas, paid off his rent, and purchased a one way ticket to Portland, Oregon.  Having grown up in the Willamette Valley, he always felt that Oregon would be his future retirement home.  Upon arrival, he had purchased a modest cabin on the side of a remote portion of the Cascades and believed that he would be content spending the rest of his days fishing, hunting, and simply exploring the beautiful landscape of the surrounding area.

But after so many years of restless sleep due to the constant threat of dealing with the mafia, he had found it difficult to relax, even when floating around on the open water of a lake.  But even as he learned to sleep somewhat normal again, the more he relaxed, the more time he spent recalling all of the various “hits” he had performed, rethinking what would have worked better or what he could have done to make the kill just that much more efficient.  He never thought about who had lost their lives.  That wasn’t his concern as he was paid to remove the life from their eyes.  But he had prided himself on efficiency and never leaving a trace.  The police were becoming more and more sophisticated at finding evidence, but that just made it more of a challenge for him.

With being retired for nearly two years now, he fishing had grown monotonous, his freezer was full of venison and elk, and he hadn’t found satisfaction in living at the much slower pace of life.  Having turned forty (40) years old just a few weeks ago, he had come to the conclusion that something needed to change.  But unfortunately, he only had one real skill set and he had put that in his past.  His military life had taken him through World War 1 and then a tour of duty in the occupation of Haiti where he had perfected his sniper skills.  Short of taking on a security detail or acting as a body guard, he really didn’t have much choice but to return to his old profession.

With resolve, he had finally made the conscious decision that he would return to the world he had left behind.  And as if a sign was needed, upon the commitment he made, the red and white float disappeared as a fish took the hook and bait.  He let out a whistle as the jerked back on the pole, setting the hook, and listened to the sound of the reel letting loose of the line as the fish raced away.  He thought “back in business, hook, line and sinker!” as a smile crossed his face and for the first time since retirement, he was truly content.

He considered returning to Las Vegas to set up business, but after some soul searching, he decided to use Seattle as his home base of operations.  With a major airport and only a half day drive from his cabin in Oregon, he would have the ability to split his time between work and business.  And with the distance, the chance of accidental meetings with people within the underworld was very unlikely.

His shadow partner had been shocked to receive the phone call a few weeks ago, confident that the hitman had retired for good after the last job in New York.  While they had grown to trust each other explicitly, they still maintained a shadow based relationship for each other’s safety.  Neither man knew the identity of the other or even where the other was located.  Having fell into this voice only relationship by chance, they had quickly found that this mutually beneficial relationship paid tremendous benefits.  The shadow was known by all the major families as someone they could call to take care of difficult jobs.  The hitman had no idea how many individuals worked with the shadow and he really didn’t care.  There was never any pressure to take an assignment and the shadow would always carefully lay out the details before he asked for a go/no go.  The shadow had learned to anticipate what information was important to the hitman over the years and now seemed to only bring “jobs” that matched his specific expectations.

As he walked into his furnished apartment, his phone seemed to wring on cue.  Waiting patiently, he counted four rings before picking up the receiver.  Without saying a word, his shadow partner explained the job.  After a few minutes, he simply said “Go…..Send the package to the Post Office box 349 and I’ll it pick up there.”  Hanging up the receiver, he went back to straightening up his things and decided spaghetti was for dinner.

Two days later, the package arrived at Post Office box 349.  He slid the manila envelope into an inside pocket of his trench coat and walked quickly back to his apartment.  Upon entering, he poured himself a cup of coffee and began to sort through the information as provided.  One of the highest ranking family members in Philly has a cheating wife and he doesn’t seem to approve.  He wants both his wife and her lover killed, but he is very specific in the details.  The hitman reviewed the picture of the beautiful young wife that was nearly half the age of her Mafioso husband.  Then he reviewed the picture of a young gangster from within the same family.  He appeared to be the same age as the cheating wife, which seemed to explain a lot, but didn’t get him off the hook.  He had chosen the wrong candle to dip his wick and would pay the ultimate price.  Making it even worse, the two had no imagination and seemed to think that no one would notice their weekly “dress shopping” time with the lover as the only escort.

Seventy two hours later, he watched as the two lovers pulled from the driveway in front of the Family Estates.  Giving some distance, he slowly pulled in behind the sedan and followed the vehicle as it progressed its way through town.  Just as the intel had told him, the sedan pulled into an older, well maintained residential area parking on a side entrance to a smaller home.  He pulled over and watched from a distance as the young man stepped from his car and went around to open the door for the young blonde woman.  The two were smiling, arm in arm, as they walked up the concrete steps before entering the home.

Having staked out the location ahead of time, he pulled around the block parked on the parallel street directly behind the first house.  The owner of the home directly behind worked for the postal service and would not return home until 5 pm.  Exiting his car, carrying a black duffle bag, he calmly walked down the driveway and into the back yard.  Casually looking around, he scanned the back yard of the first house before scaling over the fence.  Walking slowly up to the back door where he had been a few hours earlier, picking the lock while knowing the young gangster was at the family compound.  Much to his satisfaction, the door knob turned without a sound and the door slowly opened.  The hitman had investigated the house earlier in the day, making sure to grease the hinges since upon his initial entrance, they had let out a small screeching sound.  Now, the door opened quietly.

The next part of his investigation was making sure he knew where the floor would creak and grown as he walked through the house.  Walking carefully, he stepped around the locations he had identified earlier in the day and stood just outside the bedroom.  Pulling his gun from his it’s hidden holster and a knife held in his other, he peaked around the corner to see the young man standing behind the blonde as she bent over the end of the bed. 

He had been given very specific instructions.  The young man was to slowly bleed out, primarily from some trauma involving mutilation of his private organs.  Both of them were to know who had put the hit out and then she was to watch, helplessly, as her lover slowly faded away.  Her death was to be quick and painless.  While the kingpin had ordered her death, he still loved her and didn’t want her to suffer.

With the two lovers focused on intense intercourse, they never saw the dark intruder walk up behind and with a single quick motion, slice open the nut sack from behind, spilling out both gonads to hang between the man’s legs.  The action happened so quickly and the knife was so sharp that it took a couple of seconds before the man realized he had been given a death blow.  In shock, he jumped to the side, glancing down as his exposed organs and with a look of terror, he inhaled as he began to scream. 

Before he could get a scream out, the intruder stepped forward and jammed the barrel of his gun into the man’s mouth and said “SIT ON THE BED NOW”.  The man, completely in shock, simply did as he was told.  The woman had scurried to the top of the bed, pulling blankets up around her naked body in a defensive gesture. 

Somehow, the woman was able to say in a confident voice “You’re a dead man walking.  When my Peter finds out what happened he will kill you and your entire family.  You have no idea who you’re fucking with.  Your dead, you hear me, you’re DEAD!”

Allowing a small smile to cross his lips, he responded “Who do you think sent me?  Now remain quiet and I won’t hurt you.  Scream and I will make this long and painful”  Looking at the young man that was quickly turning white both form the shock, but also from the rapid blood loss.  He continued, “Mr. Ghotti sent me to give you two a message.  He knows about your little trist and doesn’t approve.  So, he sent me with specific instructions on how you, young man, should die.”

As the hitman said the words, the young man began to lean to the side, onto the bed, slowly losing consciousness.  As he did, the woman gasped, seeing that he was truly dying right in front of her eyes and she began to sob uncontrollably.  Less than 60 seconds later, the man was dead.

The hitman continued “Mr. Ghotti, or as you like to call him, Peter, sent his regards and while he ordered your death, he wants you to understand that he truly loves you and this makes him sad”.  He waited a few seconds to let the words register, then in one fluid motion, placed a pillow across her face and shot her in the head with a single bullet.