AWAKENING (Alfonzo)

by Frank, S. W.

  Yei’s lip curled in disgust. People were such idiots. Their self-worth was tied to perishable goods and expensive items. She shunned their frivolities, opting to purchase wearable items from local merchants, farmers and struggling mom and pop shops. They could be found everywhere she traveled, except many people did not look. They settled for convenience and entered the shiny fake world of malls and mega-marts.

  Sometime, during the rambling conversations with herself, she fell asleep. Many long hours later the taxi stopped and her eyes opened. The unimpressive hotel was lit, a scattering of cars sat in the parking lot and at this late hour there was very little activity. She quickly exited gripping her backpack.

  Yei resembled a college student in her frumpy jeans, sneakers and Ivy League baseball cap. She hurried inside the lobby to the lone attendant and requested on a lower floor for the night and waited patiently as the bug-eyed man checked the computer. “I got a single, seventy-five a night. Want it, it’s all we got?”

  “Okay.”

  “Name?”

  “Joy Ling.”

  “I need identification, please.”

  She rummaged through her wallet, handed him a California driver’s license belonging to a young woman she’d never met but whose ethnicity, height and general features were similar. The underpaid clerk did not bother to scrutinize the identification, because to the unsophisticated eye most Asians look similar. Ignorance.

  “We take Mastercard and Visa.”

  “I have cash.”

  “Sorry, we only accept credit cards.”

  The credit card was a way of tracking, although for hotel purposes it was charged in the event a guest damaged property or rang up a large bill for the phone or whatever the hell guests do nowadays.

  Her eyes watered. The pitiful helpless young traveler, damsel in distress routine. “Please is there any way you can make an exception? I flew here from California to stay with my boyfriend thinking he loved me, but I see I was stupid. He has many girlfriends, one was there when I arrived. We got into an argument and….and….” she sniffled watching the man’s demeanor change.

  “Okay…tell you what. I’ll give you the room. Gimme two hundred dollars but you gotta’ be out before eight or we’re both in big trouble.”

  She nodded, reached in her wallet and gave him the money. He shoved it in his pocket. “I can’t give you a key. Come on, I’ll unlock it for you.”

  She silently followed.

  They took the stairs to the second floor and he pushed open the door leading to the hallway. Looked around then walked briskly to a door, swiped a card then turned waved her in. “Don’t forget, out before eight.”

  She nodded. She’d remember.

  ****

  It was three in the morning. The hotel staff chatted in the lobby. Yei heard their laughter from the stairwell. She’d changed out of her clothes into a maid’s uniform she swiped earlier from the employee locker room in the basement. There were two maids on duty for the small hotel, one went home sick an hour ago and the other was downstairs. One of the voices downstairs, talked about the ill woman to the clerk. They were laughing and Yei found nothing funny in their malice. Thankfully, they were too engaged in gossip to pass the time instead of working or else she would not have the opportunity to earn her money. All, five million of it.

  The contract gave a window of forty-eight hours. She already used thirty-six of them. Usually, she gave herself a week or more between contracts, high-tailed it out of town or laid low until she could. This one, gave an incentive to disregard the practice. A one million dollar bonus if it got completed on schedule. Two million for the Senator, five for this Gregorio and one as a bonus came to a grand total of eight million dollars, for two days work.

  She climbed the stairs, clutching the dust rag, wiping the railing as she ascended and reached the third floor landing. Before she touched the handle, the hallway door opened and a man stood there. He wore an inexpensive suit, the kind you buy in large department stores for less than one hundred dollars. It cost one-tenth of that to make in Taiwan.

  “Ma’am this floors off limits, didn’t the manager explain that to you?”

  Yei feigned ignorance, switching from perfect English to a heavily accented choppy speech. “He say ask guests needing nothing.”

  The man frowned, “We’re good, thank you.”

  “I sorry, no trouble. No tell I fired.”

  The suited man was in the doorway, holding it ajar with his body. “It’s fine. You won’t lose your job.”

  Yei nodded, “Thank you, thank you…you nice man.” She smiled then turned. She did so slowly and peripherally observe he did the same. He hadn’t released the door yet. Yei spun around; the long blade concealed in her cloth was pushed smoothly through the rear of the man’s neck. He made no sound, as she gripped his collar and tugged him backward to change the direction of his fall. He crashed against her and she stumbled, then unable to right herself due to his weight, landed on her ass atop a stair going up with his head in her lap. She quickly rolled him aside then scrambled to her feet, before he began to bleed on her uniform.

  Time began to speed in pace with her feet. She was in the hall, the other agent spotted her coming up from his seat, reached for his weapon but he never drew it. Yei’s knife throw caught him in the forehead and he crumpled. She bent down and searched his pockets for the key, found it and unlocked the door from her crouched position.

  The door swung open and nothing.

  No gunfire.

  No Gregorio pleading for his life.

  A room with an unoccupied bed.

  She stood, forehead crinkled in confusion. Had they moved Gregorio? There weren’t shadows against the wall or movement, not even the quiet breaths of someone in hiding. She stepped inside and once she did, a warning told her to retreat but it was too late.

  The blows came with such force; the air blew out of her instantly. The blade in her hand clattered to the floor. In the darkened room her attacker poised for a death blow. Her bruised body found strength and she fought back, ducking low then thrusting strategically with the points of her fingers to where the attacker’s testicles should be. She made contact, slid around him and elbowed the center of his spine. This caused a short grunt and the shadow responded with a roundhouse kick flattening her to the floor then grabbed a handful of her clothes and she was hoist in the air like paper. He was bringing her down to snap her spine. Her head turned toward the line of light entering from the hall and he froze solid.

  She could not see his face clearly but Nico recognized her, “Yei?”

  He set her upright. The man standing in front of her was a ghost from the past. “Nico?”

  “Dammit Yei, what the fuck are you doing here?”

  “The same as you!”

  Nico shook his head, there wasn’t time for small talk. “Did you leave a mess?”

  “Death can get messy.”

  He growled. Peeked in the hall, saw the body there and dragged it in the room. “There were two men out there, where’s the other guy?”

  “The stairwell.”

  “Fuck, stay here,” he said then disappeared down the corridor and returned with the second agent’s body and dropped it on the bed.

  She inquired about Gregorio and Nico pointed to the closet, “He hung himself.”

  “And the other agent?”

  “Experienced a heart attack sitting on the john.” He removed the knife from the body, quickly wrapped it in a bedspread and shoved it under the bed. He did the same with the second agent as he tried to buy time before anyone discovered the bodies.

  Yei watched him meticulously work and stayed out of his way. She stood motionless. Now, that the threat was over, her adrenalin slowed and the aches radiated throughout her torso. Nico’s blows caused damage. Of course, they were meant to. Each attack occurred at a strategic spot. If Nico had not recognized her, he would have snapped her in half and she wouldn’t have had the strength to stop it. Nico was the ultimate
enforcer and to engage in close combat with someone of his caliber was an extremely risky undertaking. Survival prompted the response, yet in her moment of reassessment, she questioned her action, especially when she noticed the dagger attached to his belt. She hadn’t noticed it before because if she had, their fight would’ve ended with his blood.

  Nico picked up a shoulder bag and slung the strap over his head. He glanced toward the open bathroom door. The man sitting there seemed to have fallen asleep taking a dump. The sight was priceless. Franky hadn’t known what hit him. When Franky saw him, he tried to scramble up from the toilet but Nico fist struck hard and fast. Franky didn’t have a chance. The powerful hit to the heart sent the man back down to die atop his filth in cardiac arrest. It was an appropriate ending for the crap he did.

  “Let’s go.” He ordered as he started for the open window.

  Yei inhaled then took one painful step. A sharp ache radiated to every limb. She stopped. The soreness made walking difficult.

  Nico rolled his eyes. Fucking amateur!

  He picked her up, twist her around his back and warned, “Hold on. You let go and I’ll leave your ass.”

  She held on, sucking in the pain when he climbed out the window, gripped the base with gloved hands then began his descent. He used the brick’s imperfections to scamper down three stories. Lots of rock climbing with the boys at Chelsea Pier made the descent easy even with a hundred and ten extra pounds on his back. When feet touched solid ground, Nico surveyed the dark. They were on side of the building, and he could see the precincts’ west wall. At this hour he’d have an unimpeded drive to the pier where Alberti’s yacht waited to sail him home to Barbados. He’d get her to the pier then he’d go solo. He wasn’t sent to babysit anybody and the last time he did, he got in serious trouble. Air fanned the nape of his neck and a pitiful moan like an injured cat elicited a frown. Damn, how was he to know he’d been sent back-up? He hadn’t been told and if he had he would’ve declined the help. He worked alone and the times he hadn’t, his partner was Vincent.

  He moved through the dark, staying out of the lights and got to his car. He put her down and she slid in the backseat where she lay on her side watching him with slanted eyes. Nico started the engine and cruised from the area, driving along darkened streets as he head for the highway.

  “Nico?”

  He looked in the rearview mirror at his passenger, “What?”

  “I think you broke my rib.”

  “Then be glad that’s all I did.”

  “I have to get to New York by tomorrow.”

  “Good luck with that.”

  “I need your help getting there.”

  “We part ways after this sweetheart, sorry.”

  The expressway traffic was light. The car maintained speed with other vehicles. He couldn’t help her. When she got in this business, she should’ve considered the danger. An ass-kicking came with the territory for novices. He eased off the gas when he spotted a cruiser on the side with a radar gun.

  “I heard rumors about you, are they true?”

  “Depends on what you heard.”

  “You’ve disgraced the family.”

  Nico chuckled, “That’s all, huh?”

  “Was she pretty, prettier than me?”

  “What’s with the million questions?” He knew where she was going. They had a history, albeit short-lived. They met four years ago, during one of his ‘assignments’ in Bangkok. Double-hit, easy job till she showed up. Some other bozo put out a contract on the same guy and sent her. She nearly fucked up his job when she tried to take out the guy in a seedy club and nearly, got herself killed. Nico saved her ass that time, too. She almost didn’t make it out the club and he had to hit the target before he went into hiding, since her botched attempt served as a warning. He took out the mark and an innocent bystander in the process, thanks to Miss Can’t Kill Right. Anyway, they hooked-up. Heck, Yei’s hot, but one night don’t amount to shit. She knew that, so this ‘is she prettier than me?’ nonsense made him scoff. “It’s not always about looks sweetheart.”

  Yei hadn’t a clue then and apparently she still didn’t. She was a ‘free-lancer’, one of those private contractors whose loyalty lies with money. She’d take any job for anybody. He had a problem with that, and he didn’t trust her. Selange he trusted.

  “There’s a time you thought I was pretty.”

  “Why do women waste their time comparing themselves to other women when they’re individually unique?”

  She paused then said, “Because we have yet to discover our uniqueness.”

  Nico’s eyes were riveted on the side mirror; the cruiser was coming off the shoulder. “Then go see a mother-fucking shrink!”

  “Roll down the window back here, it’s hot.” Yei requested.

  To shut her up he did it. The cruiser raced forward. Now it rolled on their tail. “Shit!”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Got company sweetheart. The law, keep quiet goddammit. I’m Hank Andrews from New Hampshire, Six Gribben Lane, who are you today?”

  “Um…I’m your girlfriend, Joy Ling, dinga-ling and now I’ve fallen asleep, good night.”

  She spread out on the seat and feigned sleep. Nico shook his head. The woman’s comedic timing was worse than Vincent’s.

  ‘Whoop-whoop!’

  Nico signaled then cruised to the side of the roadway. The trooper’s car stopped and an officer emerged but not before aiming his light on the car’s rear window. The officer cautiously approached. Nico noticed the anxious hand touching the sidearm. American cops were trigger happy scaredy-cats. “License and registration, please.” The trooper asked as he leaned toward the driver’s window.

  “Sure, did I go over the speed limit?”

  “You got a busted tail light.”

  Nico reached in the glove compartment for the fake license and registration then passed it to the officer.

  “Your passenger’s alright?” The officer asked as he swiveled the flashlight to the backseat and light fell on Yei’s body curled in a ball.

  “Yeah, girlfriend, she’s sleeping. We’ve got a long drive to New Hampshire.”

  The license matched a New Hampshire address as did the registration.

  “Miss, can you sit up please.”

  Yei didn’t move.

  Nico tapped her on the ass, “Sit-up Joy, we’ve been pulled over.”

  She gave an exaggerated moan and sat up, “Ah, what you do Hank, you speeding?”

  Satisfied the young woman wasn’t a reluctant passenger or worse, the officer addressed Nico, “Be back, sit tight.”

  The trooper headed to his vehicle and Nico heard rustling in the back seat. He spun around and caught Yei’s arm before she made it out the door. In her hand was a weapon. The silver six points were sharp and he guessed what she planned to do. “Ah, no-no-no. Sit your ass down. This officer isn’t dying by our hands missy.”

  “He’s seen our faces.”

  “I see you’re wearing contacts, so am I. is your hair that natural color, mine neither, get where I’m going amateur?”

  She settled in the seat. Nico glanced up and saw the officer returning, “Lay your butt there and do anything stupid I’m killing you. Got it?”

  “Fuck-off!” Then she feigned sleep.

  “Here you go sir. I gave you a citation for the busted light. Get it fixed then send the receipt and the ticket is waived.”

  “Thanks officer.” Nico replied, he took the summons, “be careful out here, you guys have a dangerous job.”

  “Yeah, take care and don’t forget. Fix it, send the receipt and you’re fine.”

  “I will, so long.”

  They were on the road again and Nico glanced in the rearview mirror. The officer was in his car, then going through the half-circle which took him to the southbound lane. He sat there, waiting for speeders. Sure enough, zoom and the trooper was in pursuit. Nico addressed his unwanted passenger, “If you want to stay in this business and liv
e, you better put a clamp on that impulsivity. One day it’s going to get you killed!”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Giuseppe closed his coat to the chill and walked ahead of his guards, unafraid of potential threats. He traveled with his best men at all times, but refused to cower behind them like a woman.

  Roberto’s father requested his presence, their meeting place a secluded end of the pier overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The old man, stood there, formidable and no sign of the heart condition, Roberto mentioned. The man was the height of his father, not quite five-eight but with the body of a man who’d seen rough streets. He was flanked by his four sons, an odd-ball assembly of heights and builds, with unreadable expressions. Giuseppe didn’t need to guess why he’d been asked to meet here, he already knew the reason. He halt in front of the old man and greeted him with a customary kiss on each cheek, “Buongiorno Don Benaducci, how are you?”

  The man gripped Giuseppe’s shoulders, “Not well Giuseppe, there is pain in my heart.”

  Ah, so Roberto had not lied on this, either. “Then, you should rest. Take a long vacation. There are many beautiful islands which can relax a man’s bones and revitalize his flesh.”

  The old man smirked, “Eh, you seek to kill an old man telling him such things.”

  Giuseppe put his hands in his pockets, “So, why this meeting in the cold, why not a social call in the warmth of my mother’s home?”