Teenage Assassin: Episode 1
Written by
M.W.Taylor
© Copyright M.W.Taylor 2011
All rights reserved.
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My last class was geography, and the hands on the clock seemed frozen, as if time stood still while the teacher droned on at the front of the class.
I could really have used a quick nap, but the last time I tried to catch a few winks in Mr. Werner's geography class, I ended up in study hall for half an hour after school.
I can't afford to waste time like that, nor can I afford the attention. I have to maintain a low profile. Unlike other kids in high school, I go out of my way to NOT draw attention to myself. I'm more than happy to go quietly un-noticed. I need it to be that way.
I found myself staring at the clock again, as if somehow I could make time go faster by willing it to do so. I had a lot to do this afternoon and geography class seemed pathetically un-important in comparison. I was probably going to be tied up late into the night.
Finally the buzzer went, and I was out of class and at my locker in a shot. Minutes later I was out of the school and on my way to the mall.
It isn't what you might think. Typical teenage girl hanging out at the mall, gawking at boys and hanging out with her girlfriends... that's not me. I'm going to the mall to watch someone. Yes, it's a guy, but he's in his forties, and I'm not going to gawk at him with love in my eyes.
Actually, if I let him look in eyes, which of course is not going to happen, he might stop in his tracks at what he saw there. You know that old saying... “if looks could kill”?
At the mall there aren't too many kids around yet. It's still early, and most don't have the kind of plans I do once school gets out.
Moving fast, I find the storefront I'm looking for quickly. The sign above the store says Optimum Optical, and there's a pretty impressive display of the latest trendy glasses and sunglasses in the front window.
A smaller sign on the door says Dr. Harold Latimer, O.D. and the store's hours. Below Dr. Latimer's name are several other optometrist's names listed in a smaller font, an indication that Dr. Latimer is the big shot around here. In fact, Dr. Latimer owns the store, as well as quite a few others in the Optimum Optical chain.
The parent company is his, and he has grown the Optimum Optical empire right across the United States. I'm really kind of surprised that Dr. Latimer even bothers to work as an optometrist anymore instead of just managing his little empire and counting the millions of dollars it makes him.
Actually, I should say I WAS surprised. I've got a pretty good idea now why Dr. Latimer still works as an optometrist in this particular store, and that's the reason why I'm here now. Let's just say I'm not here to get my eyes checked.
I pretend to window shop through the glass at the store across from Optimum Optical. It's a trendy clothing store that's popular with kids my age. Not really my thing, but it makes me blend right in. Just another teenage girl clothes shopping after school. Nothing out of the ordinary here. I might as well be wearing camouflage fatigues in a forest.
So you're probably wondering why I'm watching Optimum Optical and know so much about it's owner Dr. Harold Latimer, or Dr. Harry as he tells everyone to call him. It's business. I'm going to kill Dr. Harry.
Most people would laugh if they heard me say that. That's the beauty of it all. No one would ever suspect me, a perfectly normal looking seventeen year old girl, of being a killer. And that's why I'm so good at what I do. My targets NEVER, EVER, see it coming.
It's a perfect cover really. I mean, not only am I an innocent looking kid, but I'm a good looking girl, and I know it, so I play up the cute factor even more. I don't go for the hot, make you want to spank me look. I go for the cute and innocent, “what a sweetheart” look. The kind of girl any guy would be happy to take home to Mom and Dad.
I pull it off very well too. Most people would be happy if their teenager looked more like me. Of course, they probably wouldn't be so happy if they found out their innocent looking teen was a stone cold killer.
Everything looked like business as usual inside Optimum Optical. There were a couple of customers inside browsing, and it looked like there were a couple more waiting to see one of the optometrists.
I sat down on a bench within sight of the store, and thought through what I was going to do next. I'd considered going in and making an appointment to see Dr. Harry, but I wasn't convinced that was the best approach.
I like to deal with targets on my terms and in a situation where I'm in control. Getting an appointment to see Dr. Harry as a client would certainly get me up close and personal, but it would be more on his terms and in a situation where he was in control. Of course, I'd have the element of surprise, and Dr. Harry would have no idea who I was or what I was planning, but I still wasn't keen on the idea. I was going to have to come up with something more creative that put me in the driver's seat.
As I watched, several more customers entered the store, and a few left. Dr. Harry seemed to be doing a good business. No wonder he was wealthy. So much for karma. Dr. Harry was a scum-sucking dirtbag, and yet he was stinking rich. No wonder I'm an atheist. I don't want to believe in any god that thinks this is a good way to run the universe.
I was still watching the store when the light-bulb went off in my head. I love it when a brilliant idea hits me in a flash like that. I'm not vain, but I have a healthy respect for my own intellect. I may not be the smartest person on the planet, but I'm definitely swimming with the ones at the top.
Strolling away from the store and through the mall, the rest of the plan gels in my head. I like to keep things simple. Less to go wrong, and easy to execute (no pun intended). The simpler, the better. The more complicated things get, the more chance for something to screw up along the way.
As I head out the doors of the mall, I'm running down a checklist in my head. I've got a few supplies to get, and a few things to arrange. If all goes well, and I see no reason why it shouldn't, Dr. Harry should be dead in less than a week. The beauty of it is, that he's going to die by his own hand.
When I get back to my apartment, I pull up several sites on the internet, and within 20 minutes I've ordered everything I'm going to need and paid for next day delivery. With what I'm getting paid for this job, a few extra dollars in shipping charges is nothing.
Truth be told, when I found out why my
client wanted Dr. Harry to die, I had to bite my tongue to stop from offering to do it pro bono. Thing is, Dr. Harry deserves to die, but my client is wealthy and can afford to pay for my services. It's also kind of satisfying, in a poetic justice kind of way too because Dr. Harry will essentially be paying for his own death.
You see, my client is Mrs. Latimer, Dr. Harry's wife. It's not as uncommon as you might think for a guy's wife to want him dead. Mrs. Latimer isn't my first client to put a hit on her husband.
There's a lots of reasons why a woman would want her husband dead. There's the obvious ones like cheating and physical abuse, but there's a whole bunch more you probably never would've thought of.
I don't tend to get emotional. Can't really afford to in my line of work, but Mrs. Latimer's reason struck a chord with me... hit home on a personal level.
You could say the good Dr. Harry is a cheater, but it goes way beyond cheating. WAY BEYOND!
The women Dr. Harry cheats on Mrs. Latimer with aren't even willing participants. You see, Dr. Harry has been using his Optimum Optometry as a hunting ground to prey on un-suspecting young women. Teens and young adults who come in for an eye exam, and end up getting MUCH more than they bargained for.
When a young women comes in for an eye exam that meets Dr. Harry's approval, he slips them a dose of a knock-out drug, telling them it's something to dilate their eyes for the exam. They think he's giving them something that's a normal part of the eye exam, so they don't realize anything's wrong until it's too late.
In fact, that's the sinister genius of Dr. Harry's plan. So far, none of the girls have ever found out what really happens during Dr. Harry's eye exam. After the knock-out drug kicks in, the next thing they remember is waking up groggy, and Dr. Harry telling them they had a reaction to the eye dilation drug.
Some feel weird, and have a funny feeling everything isn't right, but they have no memory of what really happened.
The bastard would probably still be getting away with it with no one the wiser if it wasn't for the fact that he's such a sick puppy that he tapes the sessions. Apparently, it isn't enough for Dr. Harry to sexually assault and rape young girls without their knowledge, he likes to watch it over again, so he tapes himself doing it.
Kind of stupid actually, as he's effectively creating a whole body of evidence to convict himself if he ever gets caught, but he doesn't have to worry about that now. He's never going to get caught, at least not by the police.
Mrs. Latimer stumbled across his secret video collection, and let's just say it's not something she can live with. After throwing up and then passing out when she saw what was on the videos, she spent some time trying to decide what to do before a friend of a friend gave her my number.
That's how I get all my business, the ONLY way I get my business. Word of mouth. Someone I've helped out in the past refers me to someone they know who needs someone who can do what I do.
Even then, it's not a simple question of calling me up and asking me to kill someone for you. I'm not that stupid. I go through my own screening process.
The number they call is an untraceable cell phone number that is unlisted and unknown to all but a very few people. I don't answer the number. They get a voicemail for a housekeeping service and are told to leave their name and number. The person that referred them will have told them to leave their name as a reference as well. Then I check with the person who referred them to get some background on the person and make sure the referral is legit. Then I do my own background check into the person. I'm not the best hacker in the world, but let's just say there isn't much I can't dig up on a person online.
After they check out in the preliminaries, I meet them face to face on my own terms. I set up a meeting at a time and place of my choosing, without them even knowing about it. They have no idea they'll be meeting me face to face until I show up. That way I know 100% for sure that I'm not walking into a set-up. It's also the best way to get a good read on a person as they haven't had any time to prepare for the conversation we're going to have.
You might think this sounds like over-kill, like maybe I'm being paranoid.
Maybe you're right, but I'll tell you what. When you start killing people for a living, let me know if you still think I'm paranoid after your first hit. I'll bet you a thousand dollars you change your mind.
There's an old saying that touches way too close to home. “Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they ain't out to get ya.” I don't plan on ever getting caught. I most certainly will never go to jail. I'll die first.
Anyway, Mrs. Latimer checked out. I met with her, heard her story, and took the job. Dr. Harry is going to die for his sins, and the world will be a better place when he's gone.
***
It's just after 8pm, and I'm on my way back to the mall. I've got a few more things to check on where Dr. Harry is concerned.
Optimum Optical closes at 9pm. Most people in Dr. Harry's position wouldn't bother to stay around that late, especially when you're a millionaire franchise owning optometrist, but Dr. Harry, as I think we've already established, isn't most people.
I need to find out what Dr. Harry's routine is on the nights that he stays at work until closing. Does he help the staff with end of day stuff? Somehow I doubt it, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have his own end of day routine before he leaves the store.
Maybe the creep likes to watch something from his video collection before heading home. I wouldn't put it past him. I can just see him locking himself in his office and settling in for a little sicko video viewing all by himself. Probably keeps a box of Kleenex handy too.
Anyway, I'll keep an eye on Optimum to see what time he leaves. Obviously I'm not in the same spot in the mall that I was earlier. It's late, and a teen window-shopping just doesn't blend in like they do during the busy part of the day.
No, I'm down several stores from Optimum, sitting on a bench that's mostly obscured from view by a large planted tree, at least from anyone looking from down by Optimum Optometry. You know, it's amazing the length they go to in malls these days to make them look nice. Full sized trees, planted in massive pots through-out the mall... go figure.
To anyone passing by, I look like any teen you might see anywhere, reading their iPhone, probably waiting for a ride home. Except, I'm not waiting for a ride home. I'm reading up online on how to cook up a very specific poison from the seeds of a certain plant.
Did I mention I'm good at science? Actually, that's a bit of a lie. I'm freakin' awesome at science. Chemistry, biology, anatomy... you name it, I rock it. I'm not being arrogant. Sayin' I'm good at science would be being arrogant... you know that old saying “false humility is the worst form of conceit.”
Yeah, I like to quote people a lot, and I'm also top of my class in English too. You might call me a nerd, and you might be right except this nerd can kill you in less than 10 seconds without thinking twice about it.
It's ten to nine now, and I'm keeping a closer eye on Optimum. The staff inside are scurrying around like busy little rabbits, tidying up and getting everything ready for another day tomorrow.
No sign of Dr. Harry yet. Maybe I'm right about him locking himself in his office after work.
There's not too many people left in the mall now. In fact, there's nobody anywhere near where I'm sitting. A security guard went by a few minutes ago on his routine walking route, and I raised my eyes from my iPhone and gave him a shy smile... just your cute, innocent young lady being polite.
He smiled back, nodded slightly in acknowledgement, and kept walking. Good boy. Keep your mind on your job.
8:55pm. I stand up, slip my iPhone into my pocket, and glance subtly back at Optimum. Still no sign of Dr. Harry. I start strolling back through the mall, heading towards the stairs that lead to the underground parking garage.
Dr. Harry drives a grey BMW 5 Series Sedan, which is easy to find as it's parked in his reserved parking spot not to far from the door to the stairs.
I know what you're thinking
. That could be a problem, the fact that his spot is close to the stairs, but it's not THAT close to the stairs. Also, the roof slopes down two spots over from Dr. Harry's making it hard to see the area around his spot very clearly from the door. In fact, it's hard to see his spot clearly until your almost standing in it.
Couldn't have picked a better spot myself. Despite what they tell you as a child, you should actually be a little scared of the dark, sometimes a lot scared.
Fear of the dark is a self- preservation instinct that is genetically programmed into us the moment we're conceived. Deep, deep down, on a base level in the center of our beings, we know some of the worst things we could ever think of are the things that slither at the edge of our peripheral vision in the dark.
Surprisingly enough in this day and age, there are no close circuit TV cameras down here in the garage either, which is an added bonus because it makes it much easier for me to stay hidden in the shadows and wait. CCT wouldn't make it impossible, but hey, I'll take it where I can get it.
You're probably thinking that just because Dr. Harry comes out at a certain time tonight, what makes me think he does the same thing every night.
Well, first of all, so far Dr. Harry seems to be a man who likes his routines, and those type of people usually run their days like clock-work. Second, I'm just looking to get a rough idea of how long it is from the time Optimum closes to the time Dr. Harry arrives at his car.
Doesn't have to be exact. I just like to know a rough ballpark of the time frame I'm dealing with. Obviously one has to plan for contingencies in these kind of situations, and while I'm a bit of an over-planner where that's concerned, it's still nice to have a general idea of what I'm working with.
I'll be back at least once more too, just to see if what I observe tonight is repeated on another evening. And that's actually a little over-kill too.
TEENAGE ASSASSIN: Episodes 1 to 4 *** ONLY $0.99 FOR THE HOLIDAYS - REG $3.99!!! *** Page 1
