Contract: Sicko (Sei Assassin Thriller Book 2)

by Ty Hutchinson

  “How long does it take to remove four screws?” I asked, turning back to Akil, who was lying prone on the floor with his shades still on.

  “This coin keeps slipping, but I only have one more screw.”

  “Maybe removing the sunglasses might help.”

  He ignored my advice and continued to fiddle with the last screw. I thought it might be faster if I did it. Just as I started walking toward him, the sound of shattering glass erupted behind me.

  Akil jerked up with bulging eyes. I spun around to find a machete clearing the glass from the windowsill.

  “They’ve found us!” Akil shouted.

  Within seconds, a young man climbed through the window, swinging a machete. I drew my knife, rushed forward, and slashed at his forearm. He let out a yelp and dropped his weapon. His cry of pain didn’t last very long. The second pass of my knife tore open his neck.

  I turned back to Akil, who lay frozen against the wall. “What are you waiting for? Open that grate!” I said, hurrying over to the front door and slamming the deadbolt into place.

  By then two other men had made their way through the window. The first one in rushed toward Akil with his machete out front, but I cut him off with a leg kick to the side of his right knee, dislocating it, He dropped to his other knee, and I plunged my knife into the back of his neck. Another one down.

  I spun around in time to avoid a downward slash from another machete. I was weaponless, as my knife was still lodged in the dead man’s neck. The second attacker grinned as he realized my situation and followed with two more wild slashes. I sidestepped each one, but I was quickly nearing the wall behind me.

  On his third attempt to slice me open, I caught his wrist, stepped in, and slammed an open palm straight into face, snapping his head back. I bent back his wrist to loosen his grip on the machete. He countered with a punch with his free hand. My forearm took the brunt of the hit, but he had grazed my cheek. I yanked him toward me, forcing him to step forward or fall on his face. At the same moment, I stepped in and slammed my forehead into his chest. A groan and a rush of air left his lips. My strike caved his boney chest, stunning him enough for me to wrestle the machete from his hand.

  Still gripping his wrist, I swung the machete down, severing his arm at the elbow. He yelled and grabbed hold of his shortened limb, tucking it against his abdomen. I thought his eyes would pop out of their sockets when I threw his arm at him and shouted, “Catch!”

  I spun around, hoping Akil wasn’t still working on loosening that last screw. What I found was an empty room with the front door wide open.

  Chapter 33

  The second I stepped into the hall, another member from the KK gang nearly decapitated me. His machete lodged in the wall behind me. I reacted quickly, delivering a series of rapid punches to his face followed by a straight-leg kick to his midsection. That last move sent him flying backward into another man.

  Up until then, the gang members I had faced were no more than five feet six or seven and rail thin. Not this one. He stood at least six feet tall and appeared to be carrying an extra twenty solid pounds for a man of his size. He had a shaved head and a large keloid scar that stretched from his left ear down to the corner of his mouth.

  He pushed his fellow compatriot to the side and took a defensive stance, raising his arms and motioning for me to come at him. I wasn’t afraid, but I also wasn’t stupid enough to engage in a straight-up fistfight. I moved back to where the machete was stuck in the wall, planted a foot for leverage, and yanked the blade free.

  He laughed and then bounced, surprisingly light, from foot to foot as he grabbed his pants about mid-thigh and yanked them up a bit.

  We were separated by roughly twenty feet. I spun the machete in my hand to get a feel for the weight of the blade versus the handle.

  This move caused him to laugh. “Come on, Kung Fu master,” he said with a heavy accent as he readied himself for my attack.

  I moved forward, but stopped after one step—the machete didn’t. The steel blade rotated end over end rapidly, slicing through the air. Thunk!

  Bull’s eye. The blade had lodged itself in his forehead at an angle almost perpendicular with his nose. A red river appeared, splitting at the bridge of his nose and creating an upside down Y that continued down the sides of his face.

  He remained frozen in his defensive position; he hadn’t budged, not even a smidgen. He wasn’t looking at me; his eyes were crossed inward, focused on the wooden handle. For a second, I wasn’t quite sure if I had done as much damage as I thought I had. The other KK member stood still, mouth agape.

  Slowly his lips widened into a smile and his shoulders bobbed as a low laugh sputtered to life. He grabbed hold of the handle with both hands and breathed forceful breaths through a clenched jaw. He pushed up on the handle and then down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. He continued to ease the blade out of his head. I swore I heard his skull crackle—time to exit.

  I sprinted up the stairs. I was sure Akil had headed for the roof.

  After the fifth floor, the stairs continued to an open doorway leading to the rooftop. It was mostly flat save for a few foot-and-a-half-tall air vents and a couple of water reservoirs. There was no place to hide, not even behind the large satellite dishes.

  I ran the only way that made sense: toward the far end of the roof. Just as I cleared the water tanks, I spotted Akil on the roof of the next building. The buildings were separated by no more than three feet at the most, and sometimes they were so close, crossing from building to building was as easy as stretching a step.

  “Akil!” I called out.

  He glanced back but didn’t slow.

  I picked up the pace, skirting the air vents along the way. “Akil, stop now!”

  Each time I called out, he ignored me. My fists tightened and my nails cut into my palm as I pumped my arms. I had risked my life back at his apartment to save him, only to discover he had viewed that as an opportunity to run. Pathetic.

  Akil wasn’t very athletic, and he wasn’t very fast. Two-foot-high walls signaled the edge of each building. He slowed each time to climb over, while I hurdled them. He was about seventy-five feet from me when he suddenly dropped out of sight. It was only when I got there that I understood why.

  Chapter 34

  Mdivani stuck with the gang of men when they left the bus terminal, remaining about thirty yards behind them until they reached an outdoor market, where he closed the distance as they made their way through the maze of produce stands. They stopped at one selling mangosteen and talked to a middle-aged male vendor with shifty eyes and a swiveling head. The vendor’s lips moved rapidly, and he punctuated his words with repeated jabs at the apartment building opposite the market. That’s where Akil’s hiding.

  Up until he arrived in Vietnam, Mdivani wasn’t hired to execute a target. His orders were to watch Sei and report her actions to the Wolf. But that all changed right before he left France. The Wolf had given him permission to act on Akil’s contract.

  Mdivani wasn’t picky about how he completed his contracts. His only concern was that he did what was required to receive payment. If his hunch was right, that these men were looking for Akil and had found him, why not let them do the dirty work? Mdivani didn’t have an ego. All he needed to do was provide a picture of Akil’s body for proof, and he would collect payment. If these men had other plans, then he would act appropriately at that time. For now he was content to wait and see how the show played out.

  He purchased a bag of cherry-red, rose apples and took a seat on a wooden crate. From there, he watched three men climb up the fire escape to a third-floor apartment. Two remained outside guarding the entrance while two more entered the building.

  As soon as the three on the fire escape entered the apartment, he heard yelling and then a commotion. He wasn’t moved by it nor were the people shopping around him. He took a bite from an apple, glanced at his watch, and wondered how long it would take. He wondered very little about what would happen to
Sei.

  It didn’t take long for the noise inside the apartment to subside. Did she protect her investment? A vendor near him shouted and pointed at the building. Mdivani looked up and saw Akil running along the rooftop.

  He quickly swallowed the mouthful of apple, tossed the bag of remaining fruit at the feet of an elderly woman begging for change, and gave chase from the sidewalk below. He wasn’t worried about the target getting away. Eventually Akil would run out of rooftop.

  While skirting shoppers, parked motorbikes, and few street dogs, Mdivani heard a familiar voice call Akil’s name. He scanned the rooftops and spotted Sei not far behind Akil. He now had an answer to his earlier question.

  With Sei back in play, Mdivani could no longer sit back and enjoy the show, especially now that he also noticed two of the men he saw earlier pursuing Sei. He kept his eyes focused on Akil as he traversed the rooftops of three buildings until he dropped from sight.

  Chapter 35

  When I reached the spot where Akil had disappeared, I realized he had dropped down into the patio of an apartment. A crisscross of clothing drying on lines covered most of the area. I slipped between them and landed softly on my feet, next to a few potted jade plants. An old lady sat quietly on a small stool in front of me. She had pink curlers in her hair and wore an old yellow-and-white-checkered housedress. She puffed away on a small cigar as she flashed me a toothless smile. She seemed to be enjoying the action unfolding before her and pointed to the door leading into the apartment. I nodded politely and ran past her.

  I hand-vaulted over a table and two chairs and headed out the front door of the apartment. I glanced in both directions of the hallway, looking for the stairwell. It was to my left. I hurried down to the fourth floor. That was where I spotted Akil at the far end of the hallway. He was hanging halfway out of an open window.

  “Akil, stop!”

  Once again he ignored me and disappeared from view.

  I stuck my head out of the window and saw him climbing down a vine-covered trellis that led to a tiny walkway about five-feet wide. To the right was the road. To the left, the passage continued for about twenty feet and then hooked right and disappeared from my view. I swung my right leg over the windowsill and eased myself out, hoping the trellis would hold us both.

  <><><>

  Mdivani entered the building he last saw Akil running on top of and headed up the stairs. He removed his Beretta from the rear of his waistband and screwed on a sound suppressor he kept in his knapsack. Up the stairs he climbed, peeking up the center of the stairwell, expecting to see Akil making his way down. He didn’t, nor did he hear the clomping of footsteps on the stairs. Either Akil had stopped somewhere or he found another exit out of the building.

  When Mdivani reached the second floor, he stepped into the hallway and looked left and right. Empty and quiet. He continued up and did the same on the third floor. When he reached the fourth floor, it was also empty and quiet like the other floors except the window at the far end was open. I’ve got you now.

  He moved quickly down the hall, holding the Beretta out in front. When he was a few feet away from the window, he slowed and looked over his shoulder. He still hadn’t seen Sei.

  <><><>

  “Akil, stop!” I shouted.

  I had closed the gap between us. He was about a foot and a half away. If I didn’t still need information from him, I would have released my grip, dropped down, and allowed him to cushion my fall to the ground.

  He had just passed the second floor window and could jump from his position, but he would still risk breaking an ankle if he didn’t land right. Not ideal since the Asian Hulk and his sidekick were chasing me on the roof.

  I did my best to pick up my pace so I could position myself alongside Akil. Once there, I would pull him off the trellis and down to the pavement. The fall would be manageable. But Akil, surprisingly kept his distance. At any second I expected him to let go and fall to the ground.

  I hadn’t seen the two gang members since I entered the building but wasn’t convinced I had lost them. I kept looking up, expecting to see them leaning out the window. They weren’t, but a Caucasian man aiming a gun was.

  <><><>

  The vines were thick and unruly, blocking most of Mdivani’s sightline toward Akil. Sei was just to Akil’s left. He leaned out as far as he could and aimed his weapon, positioning the sights of his Beretta at the top of Akil’s head. Behind him, he could hear footsteps stomping toward him, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Akil. Not just yet.

  A split second later, Mdivani fired and watched Akil fall to the pavement and roll backward under the awning of the neighboring building.

  Mdivani then spun to face whomever it was he had heard running toward him. It was the two men who had been chasing Sei on the roof. He wasn’t sure what their intentions were or why they were approaching him so aggressively, but Mdivani wasn’t about to wait and find out.

  He fired a round straight into the forehead of the first man running toward him. His legs buckled, and he collapsed to the floor in a dead heap. The larger man behind him had a nasty wound on his forehead, and blood covered his entire face. Even though his friend had just taken a hot slug, he didn’t slow his approach. In fact, he picked up his pace.

  Mdivani pulled the trigger, and the bullet struck the man in his cheek but didn’t seem to have much effect. Mdivani fired two rounds into the man’s chest, and this time the giant fell to the floor. When he leaned back out the window, Sei was gone.

  Chapter 36

  I ran behind Akil, keeping my hand firmly pressed against his back so he wouldn’t slow. The assassin’s bullet had just missed him. Had he not jumped when I told him to, he most likely would be lying dead on the pavement.

  However, what I found most troubling was that the assassin had tracked us to Phnom Penh and with pinpoint accuracy. He may not be a great shot but if he keeps finding us, it’s only a matter of time before his bullets find their mark. He had already missed Akil twice. Or in other words, that was twice luck had favored Akil.

  After we rounded the initial corner, the walkway ended in a T intersection. “Left,” I said.

  We turned and ran fifteen feet to another T intersection.

  “Which way?” Akil shouted.

  “Right.”

  The maze of passageways wound between buildings and through enclosed courtyards. When I thought we were far enough from the assassin, I grabbed hold of Aki’s collar and yanked him back to a stop. I shoved him against the building and kept both hands fastened tightly around his shirt.

  “I don’t care what information you have. If you ever run from me again, I will be the one who ends your life. Am I clear?”

  Akil sort of nodded as he looked me over. “Where’s your knife?” he asked.

  I leaned in, my face inches from his. “I don’t need a knife. Remember that.”

  A woman screamed in the far distance, prompting Akil to look in that direction. “Okay,” he huffed. “Let go of me.”

  We continued running through the narrow passageway until we were a good distance away from that building.

  “Who was shooting at me?” he asked, looking back over his shoulder.

  “I believe it’s the same person that tried to shoot you in Ho Chi Minh.”

  “I thought you said we lost him.”

  “We did. He found us again.”

  He shook his head. “How? How did he know we would be there?”

  “I believe he’s a tracker.”

  “A what?”

  “He finds people. He appears to be exceptional at his job. The up side is he’s not great at killing.”

  Akil crinkled his brow before turning away.

  “I know what he looks like. It’ll be harder for him to approach us.” I placed my hand on Akil’s back to hurry him.

  “Are you sure?” he asked with a dismissive breath. “You were wrong the first time.”

  “Akil, you have two people who want to see you dead. Don’t make
it three.”

  Chapter 37

  Mdivani exited the building and ran into the passageway. He expected to find Akil dead, but instead he found nothing. I thought I got him. Given that Sei was also MIA, he assumed there were still together and running. He followed the walkway to where it hooked to the right and ran into a T intersection. He looked right and the passageway continued straight back out to the road. He looked left and saw another T intersection.

  There was a shop to the left of him selling woven baskets of various sizes. Just outside the entrance an elderly man sat on a folding chair fashioned out of bamboo. He had deep weathered lines that cut into his dark-skinned face and inhaled repeatedly on a hand-rolled cigarette.

  Mdivani removed his phone from his pants pocket and showed a picture of Akil to the old man. “You see?” he asked, pointing in both directions of the passageway. “Where?”

  The man said nothing and took another short pull.

  Mdivani let out a loud breath and pocketed his phone before heading toward the T intersection. Off in the distance, he could hear sirens. He wondered if the bodies had been found. To the left was an old lady sweeping the entrance area to her building. Mdivani showed her the photo. “You see?” he asked, pointing at his phone.

  The woman steadied his hand and leaned in closer. She then stabbed her fingers at the menu, closing the picture and revealing a grid of icon applications on the phone. She swiped through them before asking how much for the phone.

  “What?”

  “How much phone?”

  Mdivani jerked his hand out of her grasp and nearly knocked the fragile woman to the ground with his arm as he moved around her. He could still hear her cursing even after he had disappeared from her view. The wail of sirens had become increasingly louder, confirming his earlier assumption. Soon the area would be crawling with police. He continued showing the photo to every person he passed but had no luck. Sei and Akil had vanished without anyone seeing them. Mdivani wasn’t deterred. Everyone left a trail.