#2 Shades of Gray: From Moscow, With Love
Page 2
Chapter Two
A Past Mistake
Nineteen days earlier...
October 3...
Wednesday...
6:01 P.M...
The Light Side...
Russia...
The end of the day swept across Moscow's Red Square as hundreds of tourists visited St. Basil's Cathedral, GUM department store, the Historical Museum, and many other attractions. The clear western sky exploded with hues of orange and red as the sun started its descent. Twilight approached this part of the Light Side of the planet, and it was a place where the sun existed, separating day from night. Dry Clouds didn't pollute the air or obscure the heavens, and darkness didn't rule the land. Eventually even this part of the world would be covered if the Dry Clouds were not stopped; they spread about an inch every week.
Ten days before meeting Kat, Kim walked out of GUM department store and put on sunglasses before stepping out into early evening, protecting her eyes. A native of the Dark Half of the planet, the sun's light hurt her even near the twilight hours. She pulled back her blonde hair, tied it in a pony tail, buttoned up her long dark gray coat, and pulled on black gloves. Kim straightened a black knapsack slung over one shoulder as she noticed a woman holding a little girl in her arms and grinned. She had fond memories of her own mother that was until Kim turned eighteen. Her mother had left her and her father without a word nearly twenty years ago. At this time in her life, Kim hadn't yet discovered the truth about Theresa.
Kim made her way out of Red Square, then hurried to Kalancheveskaya Street, and rushed to the rooftop of the Leningradskaya Hotel, making sure no one saw her. The sun plunged over the horizon, and darkness flooded the sky as she removed her sunglasses and placed them in the pocket of her coat. Kim pulled on a knit mask to hide her identity, not that she expected anyone to see her. She inhaled deeply, filled her lungs with the brisk air, and exhaled. Her hot breath appeared as mist. Winter would be there soon. The air smelled clean unlike Noir's, and it energized her and made her feel more alive. She waited for two hours near the ledge, kept to the shadows, and monitored the lit sidewalk below with binoculars. Kim glanced up at the cloudless night and noticed the stars were so bright. She couldn't even imagine that Noir's sky had looked like this once.
She placed her knapsack near the ledge, moved to a different part of the roof, and pulled out a large case a Guild Prep/Cleanup Crew hid the day before. Kim removed the sections of a M24, put the sniper rifle together, then went to the ledge, and peered down the block through the scope. Her target would leave the tea house within the hour. Many people went in and out of bars, eateries, and stores. Kim glanced at her watch, saw it was time, placed a silencer on the rifle, and knelt beside the ledge. Peering through the scope, she aimed at the entrance of the tea house. She removed a H.H.C. from her coat pocket, opened up the Closing File on the touch screen, and studied the picture of the Mark. Voice had told her the target would be leaving around this time, so all she had to do was wait.
Minutes turned into an hour, and soon a woman walked out of the tea house along with four armed bodyguards. Kim aimed for the woman's heart, waiting for a clear shot as people walked by on the sidewalk. A limo pulled up, and one of the bodyguards moved to the vehicle and opened the back door. She put her finger to the trigger, ready to pull it, when the target paused and turned. A little girl ran out of the tea house and took the woman's hand. The child held something. Kim glanced up from the scope.
Kimberly's view...
Voice said nothing about the woman having a child. Hades! It should have been included in the Closing File. I peer back through the scope, taking aim again, and I place my finger back on the trigger. The woman and the child walk forward to enter the limo and pause as the little girl kneels to tie her shoe. The child lays an object on the sidewalk, grabs her laces, and ties them.
My hands tremble, so I remove my finger from the trigger. Hades! I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm acting like this is my first kill, but that happened years ago, and I have long since harden my heart to my work. I take several deep breaths till my hands stopped shaking, and then I place my finger back to the trigger. I can't let whatever's affecting me to get in the way; I need to take the shot.
The child laughs, and after finishing with her laces, the child picks up the object. She glances up at her mother with adoration.
I berate myself as I delay in taking the shot. It's my job; I have to kill the woman. For Ares' sake! It doesn't matter if the child's watching. My usual calm heart pounds with indecision. I can't let the thought of the child seeing her mother murdered affect me. Even in the cool air, sweat speckles my brow beneath the mask and absorbs into the material. I aim again, and this time I won't hesitate. A street vender approaches, selling glowing balloons as I still struggle with the shot.
Hades! Pull the trigger! Who cares what happens to the little girl? I look up from the scope, thinking of my past. Look how I turned out without a mom. I shake my head to erase the feelings of abandonment, peer one last time into the scope, and with shaky resolve, pull the trigger.
A balloon pops...