Subtle Target: Six Assassins Book 2

by Heskett, Jim

  Ember checked around for any suspicious cars or anyone looking shifty. Lydia might have more guys on her payroll on the lookout.

  Instead, Ember saw a typical Denver day, with people milling about sidewalks, jogging, riding bikes, escorting their briefcases to their cars as they prepared to commute.

  She downed the rest of her coffee and left the car. Zipping up her jacket, she made a straight line to the back of the complex toward the laundry room. Again, the door was still propped open with a little block of wood. This building had such god-awful security. Didn’t anyone notice how cold it was in the laundry room?

  Up the stairwell, pistols drawn, hidden in her sleeves. The nice thing about fall and winter was the jacket could so easily conceal a weapon.

  She poked her head out into the hallway and didn't see anyone lurking or guarding, so she jogged over toward the door. She pressed her ear up against it for several seconds and heard nothing.

  Ember breathed, considering another knock and smash. But, it didn’t sound like anyone was home. Plus, she didn’t like the possibility that anyone might wander out in the hall and see her. This apartment would become a crime scene, sooner or later. Roland had kept Shane the cook’s dismembered body here, only a couple days ago. Loud noises could draw the cops.

  So, she made quick work of the lock and then entered. And when she did, her heart sank. A plastic sheet covered much of the living room. And, on top of that sheet, Roland’s dead body. His broken arm was in a sling, with a single bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. A look of total surprise on his face. He died like he lived: not fully aware of his surroundings, or the consequences of his actions.

  “Ahh, Roland,” she muttered. “Sorry, buddy. You weren’t meant for this line of work. Lydia never should have involved you in it.”

  Lydia obviously hadn’t done this herself, which meant the two guys she had spared the night before were probably responsible. If she had killed them, would Roland still be alive? Maybe. Maybe they’d already killed Roland before they came to visit her.

  Or, Lydia had other soldiers. Somehow, though, Ember doubted it. If Lydia had a larger crew, she probably wouldn't have only sent two guys to face her at the condo last night, especially since these were all non-Club members. She was paying these guys out-of-pocket.

  Ember next checked the desk and found the drawer with the drugs had been cleaned out. So, Lydia had been here already. "Well, shit. Guess I should have collected this stuff the other day when I had the chance."

  But, the body in the living room meant Lydia would have to come back.

  So, Ember pulled a chair over to face the front door, and she sat with her twin Nighthawk Custom Enforcers pointed at it. Then, she waited.

  * * *

  Two hours later, Ember realized that Lydia probably would not make an appearance anytime soon. Maybe she didn't care about Roland's dead body in the apartment. Maybe her drugs and evidence of transactions were the only things she cared about.

  So, Ember made one last sweep of the premises to check for incriminating evidence, and she wiped down anything she might have touched and hunted for any stray long, black hairs. Then, she headed back to her car. With only a few hours left until the mafia meeting, Ember decided to drive out to Coleman elementary and scout the spot.

  The drive down to Parker took a half-hour. She tried listening to a true-crime podcast on the way, but the podcast host had a weird voice, and it kept getting on her nerves, so she switched over to the radio. She never listened to the radio. But today, it didn't matter. She needed background noise to stop the buzzing in her brain.

  The school was exactly as Gabe had described. An aging main building sat opposite the parking lot, four stories of weathered brick. The gym was attached, and there were two smaller satellite buildings around the same lot.

  Ember walked the perimeter of the school. Several of the upper windows had been broken out, and large sections of the buildings had been tagged by graffiti artists. From what she could tell, there were no homeless squatters living here. Ember expected that the Belcamino family probably would have cleared all of them out by now. Especially if this was the kind of place they used for regular meetings. There were no sleeping bags or tents or cardboard box shelters on the grounds, either. A real ghost town sort of vibe here.

  The gym had only one exterior entrance, a set of double doors. But, it was chained shut. That meant they would all have to access it from inside. Given that Ember anticipated Belcamino guards would be stationed throughout the building, the tight spatial arrangement of it all limited her options.

  Ember rounded the building and opened the front door, which they had not bothered to lock. There was a wide-open room, branching off to hallways from three sides. A large and tall desk sat in the middle, like some sort of reception. Cobwebs littered the corners of the desk.

  Ember guessed she had to go south to reach the gym. She passed along dozens of metal lockers, many hanging open. Stale textbooks sat abandoned. Where had all the school kids gone this year?

  Her phone rang, and she checked the screen to see a call from Fagan.

  "Hey, boss lady."

  “Snow’s coming. Maybe tonight.”

  “Yeah,” Ember said. “Any other weather insights for me?”

  “I was just checking to see if you’re still alive.”

  “Did you get the answer you were looking for?”

  Fagan grunted. “I wanted to tell you we went to the service for Hank and Sarah. I had several Branch members keeping an eye out, but no one saw anyone suspicious.”

  Ember paused, hands on her hips, and watched the sun glint off the windows to the parking lot. Listening to the sound of her own breathing on the phone. “I see.”

  “The good news is they’re the only two casualties of the poisoning. Everyone else is expected to make a full recovery, eventually.”

  “Was it a nice service?”

  “It was. With fake names, of course, but the ones who spoke about them? Their words were real. I don’t know how well you knew the two of them, but they were well-liked in the Branch.”

  “I’m sure it was fitting.”

  “If you’re feeling bad about not going, don’t be. Hank and Sarah would have understood.”

  "I don't have time to feel bad about that. Not with Lydia still after me. I'll feel bad about it tomorrow if I'm still around to feel things."

  Fagan cleared her throat. “I understand. How is that going?”

  “I have an endgame. Working out the logistics now.”

  “Whatever you do, be smart about it. With most everyone recovered or recovering, I can send help if you need it. I’m sure you’re planning something big.”

  Ember considered it for a moment. “With what I’m planning, a large crew would only get in the way.”

  “Okay. Just be careful.”

  “I wish I could tell you I always am, but since I might be living my last day, I probably shouldn’t lie to my mentor.”

  “Better not,” Fagan said. “Give me a call if you need anything.”

  With that, they hung up, and Ember pushed ahead into the gym and scoped out the area. There were wooden bleachers on either side of a basketball court and a small raised stage built into the west end of the room. Based on the number and position of the outside doors, Ember didn't think she would find exterior access to the stage. There was an interior door next to it, leading to the stage area. Probably not to the outside, though.

  Ember considered hiding behind the curtain now and waiting for dark, but that seemed tactically risky. She didn’t like being in this room with potentially multiple armed goons, with the only way out on their end of the gym. Always better to have a quick way out.

  Ember hummed a little tune as she stood in the middle of the room and turned in a circle. As she faced back toward the way she’d come, she noticed something interesting. A door, but she hadn’t seen it before. It was painted the same blue as the walls. Not a secret door, exactly, but something made t
o blend in with the wall.

  Ember opened this door to a stairwell leading to the second floor. Classrooms up there. She could go up to the second floor and wait there, then maybe pick off Lydia as she drove up, or even after the meeting. But, if she could avoid being inside the school at all, that seemed like a better plan.

  Ember walked back into the gym and took another look around.

  “No, not inside,” she said, her voice echoing off the tall gym ceiling. “Better to stay out there, where there are a million paths to escape.”

  Her best bet was to hide in the parking lot and kill Lydia either before or after the meeting. Maybe even to break into her car and wait for her in the backseat. It would be full dark by then, and Ember knew how to keep pace with the shadows.

  No matter how she did it, Ember would only have one chance to get this right.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  LYDIA

  Lydia checked her watch before she emptied the contents of her suitcase onto the motel bed. Three hours until the meeting. Her heart had hitched on a steady climb since this morning. Not only due to the meeting and all the various possibilities that could result. Also, the implications of what would happen if something happened to her there and she didn’t make it home in time to deactivate the bomb.

  Lydia didn’t want to kill her family. She loved her husband and son more than anything else in this world. But, it seemed like the only option. Roland had failed to take her down. The two men she had sent to Ember’s condo last night had failed to take her down.

  Lydia could not let Ember Clarke do to her family what she knew Ember had done so many times before. No torture, no slow and painful deaths. Ember was ruthless, and Lydia wouldn’t allow her to get her merciless grip around her family.

  Giving them a quick death would be a blessing compared to what that monster with the raven hair and skinny waist would do to them.

  Lydia tried not to think about the fact that if she had never agreed to take on this contract, she wouldn’t have put her family in this situation in the first place. If she could go back in time a week, she would have done a lot of things differently.

  None of that mattered now.

  Lydia had to believe she could pull this off tonight. The money this Belcamino deal would bring blew her mind. Not to mention the gateways to other contacts and business opportunities. She just had to get through this one meeting with no screw-ups.

  Take care of this one last thing, and then kill Ember tomorrow. If all went well, Vincent Belcamino’s hired hands would handle it for her as a perk of the deal.

  Or, if not, Lydia would have to do it herself. Maybe even with a gun, if it came to that. How hard could it be? Knock on Ember's front door at the crack of dawn tomorrow, and then put a bullet in her chest when she pulls back the door. Done and done, and the Branch would get off her back about not participating like they thought she should.

  And after that, if the financial promises of the Belcamino deal proved to be anything even remotely close to her expectations, she could quit the Club and never look back. But she also knew that the upside wouldn’t start paying dividends until later, which might be weeks or months away. Lydia had to play nice until she knew how this new venture would turn out.

  So many unknowns.

  All the different directions boggled her mind. A constant stream of perspiration collected at the back of her neck.

  She combed through her possessions and retrieved the black canister with the spray nozzle top. Smaller than a can of soda, she could conceal it in her palm. The spray nozzle had two settings: a cone stream in one direction, or a fumigation mode like a bug bomb. Lydia practiced switching the nozzle setting back and forth a dozen times until she felt comfortable with it. She didn’t know which one she would have to use, so she needed to be ready for either. The situation could call for quick thinking.

  Also, just in case, she slipped a gas mask into her purse. She hesitated to do this because there was a chance she would be searched by Belcamino people at the meeting. Maybe. The canister could easily disappear in her purse lining, but the gas mask was too large. Still, it was a risk she had to take. Above all, Lydia had to believe there was a scenario where all of this worked out in her favor, and she could make it home tonight to kiss her son goodnight and snuggle next to her husband in their bed.

  From the hotel fridge, she twisted the cap off a tiny bottle of vodka and chugged it. The hit of a single foul-tasting bottom-shelf liquor travel bottle didn’t do much to settle her nerves, but she couldn’t afford the fogginess of consuming more.

  Lydia tossed the empty bottle in the trash and then picked up her purse. She walked to the bathroom mirror and held it to her chest, then practiced looking calm in the mirror. Her eyes were bloodshot. Her lips quivered.

  “Good evening, Mr. Belcamino. May I call you Vincent?”

  A hitching breath escaped, and she paused a few more seconds before trying again.

  “You can do this.”

  This will work.

  It had to, or her husband and son would die when the bomb in her office ripped the house apart.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  EMBER

  Ember killed her car’s engine at the dog park parking lot. A nearby hill separated it from Coleman Elementary, but it would only be a short jog. It also hid her car from view. If there was no clean getaway option, then it didn’t matter what happened at the meeting.

  Ember turned to Gabe, sitting in the passenger seat. “You sure you’re up for this?”

  “I’m feeling much better. I can handle it. Trust me.”

  She pulled the keys out of the ignition. "If you say so. But, if something goes wrong, or you're in pain or feeling sick, don't be a hero. Get your ass back to the car. I promise I will not hold it against you."

  He held up his laptop. “I’m only going to be at the top of that hill, anyway. The car will be in view at all times, but I think I have the strength to sit and type on the keyboard. As challenging as it may look, typing is actually pretty easy for me.”

  “Fair enough, smartass,” she said as she handed him the keys. After a pause, she asked, “Why do you do this?”

  “Because you need backup tonight.”

  “No, not just tonight. Why are you trying to join the DAC? You could have a cushy job working for your dad, with the white picket fence and the 2.6 kids. You’re going to give all that up so you can have a life of looking over your shoulder?”

  Gabe shrugged. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Come on. You can do better than that.”

  His eyes searched the fabric of the car’s ceiling for a few seconds. “Okay, I guess I needed an adventure. Being an oil exec didn’t sound too adventurous to me.”

  “Like what you told me the other day about skateboarding.“

  “Yes, but a lot more than that. I need to feel my destiny is in my hands. This job seems like a way to do that, and to maybe even do some good.”

  “Do some good? You know we kill people for a living, right?”

  Gabe pursed his lips. “But you only take on contracts for people who need to die. Bad people. That’s how I want to do it.”

  Ember nodded and had no reply to that. He wanted it to be black and white, and she didn’t have time to have a philosophical discussion with him about the assassin’s moral dilemma. He struck her as the type who needed to find out for himself, anyway, and they were losing daylight fast.

  They exited the car, and Gabe lugged his bag over his shoulder. They climbed the hill as the sun set to the west behind them. Purples and pinks colored the sky. Near the top, they dropped down to a crawl and pushed forward until they could see the school. No lights were on, but there were four cars in the parking lot.

  Gabe set his bag down and took out his laptop, a remote control thing, and a drone the size of a large pizza. He turned on the drone, and it started to whir.

  “Wait a second,” Ember said.

  Gabe opened his laptop and plugged a stick w
ith glowing red lights into the USB port. “What’s up?”

  “Lydia’s car isn’t here.”

  He squinted down at the parking lot and shrugged. “Did she take another car?”

  “She doesn’t have another one, as far as I know. Can you run the plates and figure out which ones aren’t hers? Can you find out if one is a rental?”

  “I don’t think so. I mean, I could, but not fast. That would take some time.”

  She thought it over as Gabe loaded the program to scan the building for heat signatures. He palmed the remote control and fiddled with it to send the drone into the air.

  It zipped up like a tiny helicopter, whiffing into the evening sky. Soon, she couldn’t hear the buzz of the blades anymore as it flew higher and higher.

  Ember flexed her jaw. “Damn it.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  She reached into her coat pocket and drew her Bluetooth headset. “I have to go into the building. It’s the only way. Maybe I can nab her in a hallway when she’s coming out.”

  “Wait,” Gabe said as Ember stood up. “That’s not the plan. We’re not prepared for you to go inside.”

  She nestled the Bluetooth in her ear. “I know. But we have to improvise.”

  “At least wait until I have the app up and running. I don’t know where anyone is yet.”

  “No time. Sun’s going down. I need to get in there and find a spot to observe before everyone is settled. If I’m the last one in the building, then I lose some or all of my potential routes through it.”

  Before Gabe could get another word out, she hunkered down and descended the hill.

  * * *

  GABE

  Gabe thought of a few things to say as his mentor skulked down the hill toward the elementary school. But, he held his tongue. There wasn’t a damn thing he could say to make Ember change her mind about walking into a building potentially swarming with multiple members of a Denver crime family.