The Hitman's Secret Love Child: Second Chance Romance

by Terry Towers

  With a sigh, I was about to leave Austin’s bedroom when I heard the soft creak of a floorboard in the other room. For a brief moment my entire body froze up before creeping to the doorway and peeking out, using the doorway to my advantage, shielding the majority of my body from the other person’s line of sight.

  A grin spread across my lips when I saw the person in the other room. It was the piece of shit who was sent to hire me. He seemed oblivious to my presence and I was totally all right with that. In another minute or so he’d be dead.

  Bracing myself to propel from the bedroom and shoot the man in the back of the head – no need for small talk – I immediately reconsidered. The last thing I needed or wanted was to have the police seeking out Robyn for questioning. Easy enough, I’d follow him out.

  Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

  He left and with me trailing behind. While he waited for the elevator, I took the stairs, rushing down the floors so quick it was as if the devil himself were on my heels. Confident I beat him to the lobby floor, I jogged through the lobby and out into the afternoon air. Crossing the street, I waited for him to emerge, hiding behind a food cart.

  Moments later he emerged and headed toward the train station with me hot on his heels. The man was completely oblivious. I mean, fuck, I bet I could have walked up beside him and he never realize it was me. How strung out do you have to be to be that unperceptive? Either way, it was to my advantage.

  Instead of heading to the train platforms he slipped into the bathroom. Giving the station a look around, I smiled. It was nearly deserted and it was one of the older stations in the city that didn’t have any cameras. This couldn’t be any more perfect, really.

  Taking a final look around me I entered the bathroom behind him. The disgusting excuse for a human being was leaning over the pedestal sink, snorting a line of coke off the equally disgusting porcelain sink. Pathetic. Killing him would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

  Pulling a knife from the holder strapped to my calf, I silently crossed the small room and stepped up behind him.

  “Occupied, asshole. Fuck off,” he growled as he lifted his head, his glassy hazed eyes lifting to meet my gaze in the mirror. It took a moment, but there was recognition in his eyes. “Well, lookie here, just the person I need to have a talk with.”

  In one swift movement, I was across the room and my blade was at the front of his neck, the tip digging into the flesh. In this situation, most men would have fear in their eyes. Not this man. He had powdered courage running through his veins, his sense of pain drastically dimmed.

  “Where is she?” he asked.

  “Somewhere safe.”

  His eyes narrowed at me. “You’ve fucked over the wrong people, asshole. Gabriel won’t stop until he gets what he wants. It’s you and that bitch on a platter.”

  The crackhead was going to go into a monologue that I had no intention of indulging. Any minute someone could walk in on us.

  “I’m not the one who is going to need to be worried.” In a fluid movement the knife slipped into and across his neck. Blood gushed from the cut, the force of the pumping shooting it across the sink to splatter against the mirror. He gurgled something as his eyes went wide and his body began to get heavy against me. Pulling the knife from his neck I stepped away, letting his body collapse to the ground as he clutched at his neck, writhing in pain. Yanking off a piece of paper towel from the dispenser, I wiped the blade clean before slipping it back into its place against my leg and then stuffing the paper towel into the trash can.

  I left the bathroom, sight unseen.

  Chapter 13

  Robyn

  “He’s got so much games, Mommy,” Austin exclaimed, motioning to the array of games Constantine had.

  “So many,” I corrected. Even though I laughed at Austin’s excitement, the stack of games had me shaking my head and wondering how he ever found the time to leave the house if he indeed played all of those. There was so much I wanted and needed to know about this new and improved – although improved was yet to be determined – Constantine.

  “Many.” He plunked himself down in front of the television, controller in hand. “Wanna play, Mommy?”

  I looked at the game on the screen, some shooting game, and declined. “No thanks. I’m going to go get settled in.” I don’t think he even heard the last part of my sentence; the game had started and his eyes were glued to the screen. I’d give him a half hour.

  Exiting the room, I was about to go back downstairs, but curiosity was getting the best of me. Constantine hadn’t said I couldn’t explore. Perhaps me not poking into his personal effects didn’t necessarily need to be said, but I was putting my life and the life of my child in his hands. A little exploration wouldn’t be too unreasonable.

  As I had the mental debate on the morality of snooping around, I found his bedroom, opened the door and entered. It wasn’t a flashy room, neat and organized with a king-sized bed in the center and a long dresser with mirror against the wall. The big feature of the room was a large floor-to-ceiling picture window that allowed the bright sunlight to lighten the room. Walking into the room, I looked out and smiled. The view was incredible, the room overlooking a large lake. On the other side of the lake was a three-story house.

  Leaning against the window I looked left and right, wondering if I could see any other neighbours – I couldn’t. All I saw was trees. Not overgrown, natural growth, but the forest, if you could call it that, was manmade. We were in the suburbs somewhere. Hmmm.

  Turning away from the window, I surveyed the room a bit more. There was a double door to one side of me and an archway that led to an ensuite bathroom.

  A pang of guilt hit me. I shouldn’t be in here. This was his space. Personally, I’d be pissed if I were helping someone and when I left them alone they snooped all through my home. But then again, it wasn’t just me that I had to be concerned about. This was about self-preservation and the safety of my child. I needed to know the man I was putting my life in the hands of. I used to know him, but that felt like a lifetime ago.

  Decision made, I crossed the room to what I presumed to be the closet. Pulling open the double doors, I discovered I was correct. It was a large-assed closet with a line of suits and shoes on one side and an array of cabinets and drawers on the other. Man, I think he had more clothes than I did when I was living with Gabriel.

  I let my fingertips caress the soft fabric of his suit jackets as I inspected the room. Nothing too out of place but then again, it wasn’t like he’d just put something questionable or incriminating right out in the open. I began with the drawers. Socks. Jeans. T-shirts. Nothing out of the ordinary.

  Opening the last drawer, I stopped and stared down into it. It looked different somehow. I opened the one next to it and pushed the clothing aside. One wasn’t as deep? Hmm. I placed my fingertips at the bottom of each drawer and compared. Yes, I was right; the second was several inches shallower.

  I started to gather the t-shirts in my arms from the shallow drawer when a shot of guilt rushed through me. This was wrong. I was about to put them back and scamper from the room with my head hung in shame when my eyes caught the little pinhole that I assumed you needed to use to open the secret compartment.

  Changing my mind yet again, I placed the t-shirts in the other drawer and after a little prying pulled up, taking care not to break it, until the false bottom came free. Placing the bottom on the floor next to me, I gasped as I looked in at the contents of the drawer, a hand going to my mouth and stifling the sound.

  Money, my God so much money. Reaching into the drawer I picked up a strap of one hundred dollar bills and flipped through it. Ten thousand dollars. There were twenty straps of hundreds in the drawer. Placing the money back into the drawer my eyes caught sight of a little plain wooden box about six inches wide by six inches long, three inches deep.

  With my hands trembling slightly, I picked up the box and flipped open the lid. If I felt surprised a moment ago, I was in complete a
nd utter shock now. The box contained mementos from his time with me. Tears came to my eyes when I looked down at the photos of us. Life had seemed so simple back then. We had all the answers, or at least we thought we did.

  I picked up a picture of us in our prom attire. It was the very last picture ever taken of us. He had his arm around me and I was looking up at him as if the world began and ended with him. In that moment, it had. Thinking back, reliving the memory in my mind, it was one of the happiest nights of my life.

  But then the truth had come out and my world had been shattered.

  Placing the photos back into the box, I looked at a tiny velvet box. A ring box. I knew I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t help myself. Picking up the box, I opened it up to reveal a tiny diamond ring. Trembling fingers pulled it out of the box and before I even knew what I was doing, I slipped it onto my ring finger. It fit perfectly.

  “Wow.” I had my suspicions that he was going to propose after prom, but he’d never straight out told me. Was getting me the ring part of the reason he’d robbed that store? With the ring still on my finger, I began looking at some of the other items in the box. The movie ticket stubs to the movie we went to on our very first date. A business card to the hotel we stayed at during prom. So many mementos of our time together...

  The sound of a thump downstairs made my entire body freeze. Oh shit! Was that Constantine? Oh my god! Frantically, I put everything together the way it was and rushed from the closet. Exiting the bedroom, I took one last look; everything looked to be in the right place. I quickly made my way downstairs to see that it was indeed Constantine coming home.

  He looked different than when he left, a little dishevelled. Or maybe it was just my imagination.

  “Hey, Constantine.” I started to wave when my eye caught sight of a little sparkly gleam on my hand.

  Holy shit, the ring!!! Grabbing at the ring, I attempted to pull it off. It wouldn’t go over my knuckle. How in the fuck did it go on so easily if it won’t come off now!

  Constantine looked up at me and smiled. “Are you two settling in okay?”

  “Ummm.” I placed my hands behind my back, attempting to act casual. What in the hell would happen if he found out I was snooping? Would he boot our asses out of here? Dammit, it was a stupid idea to go poking into his personal stuff.

  His smile faded a smidge and he gave me an intense look, as if he were attempting to read my mind. Did I look that guilty? I forced myself not to cringe under his scrutiny and instead flashed him a wide smile.

  “We’re doing pretty good, all things considered. Austin is loving your collection of games and I’m just getting acquainted with the house.”

  His expression turned to a playful smile. “You wouldn’t be going snooping through my underwear drawers, would you?” There was teasing in his tone, but it was hard to take it as a joke when what he was teasing me about was exactly what I’d done.

  Fess up, a voice in the back of my head screamed. Fuck that, I screamed back at it.

  I’d run to the bathroom, soap the living hell out of my finger and pray to God I could get it off that way. Then sneak into his room and return it. Shit. Leave it to me to get myself into these situations.

  He started toward me.

  “I’m just heading to the washroom. I’ll be right back. Would you like me to make supper?” I didn’t wait for his reply, spinning around, my hair whipping into my face. Pushing my hair out of my eyes, I practically ran up the stairs, tripping on one and catching my balance moments before I would have face-planted or even worse be sent tumbling back down the stairs.

  ~*~ TT ~*~

  Constantine

  That was… weird.

  A frown creased my brow as I watched Robyn rush up the stairs. What in the fuck was wrong with her? With a shake of my head, I shrugged off my suit jacket and slung it over the armchair in the living room. But then again, she had been under an immense amount of stress recently…

  Making my way into the kitchen I made a cup of coffee, courtesy of my handy Keurig machine. Once done, I made my way upstairs to check on Austin and find Robyn so we could have a discussion on the next steps. It was only a matter of time before the information that Robyn was gone and Gabriel’s right-hand man was dead on the floor of a train station bathroom got back to her husband. In combination with me not confirming the kill, Gabriel would have men out hunting down us both. I would have to get to him first before the ball started rolling and became difficult to stop.

  My first stop was Austin. Peeking into the room that was set up for him, I had to grin. He was completely oblivious to my presence he was so engrossed in the game.

  “Shoot!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air after someone shot him. He let out a loud huff of air in frustration, reset the game and began again.

  Chuckling to myself, I proceeded to the washroom. As I came closer, I heard faint grunting sounds coming from within along with running water. What in the hell?

  “Are you okay, Robyn?”

  The sounds inside immediately stopped.

  “Robyn?”

  “Ummm. Yeah.” She sounded slightly out of breath.

  “Are you okay? Sounds like you’re in pain or….” Constipated?

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  “Are you sure?” I wasn’t convinced, though whatever was going on in there I doubted I wanted to get involved with.

  The water was shut off and a moment later the door was flung open to reveal a very flustered-looking Robyn. “Hi.” She raked her left hand through her hair. Her hand was a bright red like she’d been scrubbing at it.

  “What did you do?” I reached for her hand, but just as my fingers clasped onto hers she pulled her hand back and thrust it into the front pocket of her jeans.

  “Nothing, everything is good. All good. Nothing wrong.” She rocked back on her heels and gave me a forced smile.

  She was a horrible liar. Craning my head, I looked over her shoulder and into the bathroom as if the room would give me a hint as to what she was up to. It didn’t.

  “Hey, what’s on your shirt?” she asked, leaning into me, her green eyes narrowing.

  “Huh?”

  I was so focused on attempting to figure out what had been going on that I didn’t even clue in that she was now fingering the collar of my grey shirt.

  “Is that blood?” She leaned in even closer as she stared at the drop.

  Ahhhh shit.

  Chapter 14

  Robyn

  Boy, that was close. My hand was throbbing, the stress of this situation winning. I swear to God that I must have scrubbed off several layers of skin attempting to get the ring off. Guess I gained more weight than I had thought since prom. Finally, it came off and I released a hearty sigh of relief, but his knocking on the door sprung me back into action as I began my attempts to clean the soap and gunk off it.

  “Just one more minute,” I called through the door. Once satisfied the ring was back to its original condition I slipped it into my front jeans pocket. The ring settled into the bottom of my front jeans pocket and it was a burning reminder of my intrusion.

  I had a lot of new and nagging questions about the past, but asking them would only give away what I’d done. I’d have to find a way to bring up what I wanted to know for my own peace of mind and perhaps for the closure I’m sure he needed as much as I did.

  Throwing open the door, I found Constantine on the other side, poised to knock again. Geez, impatient much?

  “Is that blood?” I looked a little more closely, reaching for the collar of his shirt and wiping my finger across it. It still had a tacky feeling. Bringing my finger to my nose, I took a sniff; the substance had a metallic smell to it.

  He looked down at the red blotch on his collar and shrugged.

  I took the non-response to mean yes. “Why is there blood on your collar? Whose blood is it? Are you hurt?” He didn’t look hurt. “What happened at my apartment? What did you do?” Who did you kill? That final question didn’t l
eave my lips.

  “We need to sit down and discuss a few things.”

  The ring in my pocket was forgotten as I looked up into his face and saw the seriousness in his eyes. “Okay…”

  Grasping my elbow in his hand, Constantine led me to his bedroom and directed me inside, following behind and closing the door as he cleared the doorway. “Sit down.”

  He motioned toward the bed.

  Wordlessly, I walked to the bed and perched myself on the edge. “What happened?” My eyes darted over to the closet, then back to meet his.

  “I went to your apartment and the man who hired me was there.”

  My eyes went wide as I stared at him, my mouth falling open momentarily. “Did you kill him in my apartment?” Ohmygod! Gabriel would be after me in spades now. And the police, wouldn’t I be their main suspect? It was my apartment, one that I’d fled without a word to the landlord, after all.

  Constantine looked at me as if I’d grown a second head. “No, of course not!”

  I released a sigh of relief. “Then what is the blood from? Are you hurt?”

  “It’s from that little weasel who hired me. I didn’t kill him in your apartment, don’t be crazy, I’m not an amateur.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. I refused to allow my thoughts to linger on the statement that he wasn’t an amateur.

  “I killed him in the subway washroom.”

  My bubble of hope burst and I deflated both internally and physically.

  Grasping my shoulders in his hands, Constantine sat down beside me. “Don’t worry, there is nothing to link it to either of us.”

  Despite how horrible Gabriel’s minion was, he was dead because of me and his murderer was staring me in the face. “Did he attack you?”