Free Elite by Joseph C. Anthony

Blank.
    “He’s something, isn’t he?” Richfield asked Daniel, as if reading his mind.
    Richfield seemed to be the exact opposite of Blank. He had a deep voice and spoke with great diction. He seemed to be a very grounded and educated man, who was used to dealing with people.
    “Yeah, I still don’t understand why he came to me though,” Daniel put in.
    “I asked Mister Blank to find a particular person for a very special project I need done,” Richfield explained, folding his arms and rubbing his stubble with his right hand. “And he thinks that person could be you, if you want it.”
    Daniel shook his head, still confused. “Isn’t this a security agency? I don’t understand. I’m in radio sales. I’ve never even been in a fight in my entire life. I know nothing about personal security.”
    “That’s just it Daniel,” Richfield attempted to explain, “For what we’re trying to accomplish, you don’t need any of that experience.”
    He paused and looked at Daniel, as if wanting him to display even more confusion after the comment which had still not explained anything to Daniel.
    When Richfield seemed satisfied that he had created enough confusion within Daniel, he stood up from the desk and strode around behind it.
    “We are no ordinary security force,” he continued as he plopped down into his cushy desk chair. “There’s a reason they call us Elite. See, I used to be in the CIA…”
    “Really?” Daniel unavoidably interjected. He would have never guessed that this seemingly insignificant man sitting across from him was in the most secretive government agency in the world. Although it did explain the mystery surrounding that place and its people.
    “Yes, twenty years. I know it’s hard to believe but it’s true. I can’t be too specific about everything I did, just know that I killed people – A lot of people. Many of them prominent individuals in their given society. A couple of them were even American. I worked as an Assassin for the CIA. I can’t tell you anymore, I shouldn’t have even told you that much, but it is important that you understand where I came from.”
    Daniel just sat, staring in disbelief. Richfield’s light blue eyes had suddenly become much darker behind his big, black eyebrows. Daniel couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Here was a man, telling him about all the people he’s killed for the government, and that man is asking him to come work on a “special project” for him. It seemed almost impossible to Daniel that this was real – that Richfield could be telling him the truth. And yet, there was something about Richfield that made Daniel believe all of it.
    Daniel took a quick glance over at Blank, who was looking back at him with that same stupid mobster smirk on his face. Did nothing faze that man?
    “Anyway,” Richfield continued, “All that time, I considered myself one of the most dangerous men in the world. To know that I could kill any person, anytime I wanted to, and that there was nothing they could do about it. The CIA always had what they considered a good reason for me to eliminate everyone that I did, so I didn’t feel guilty per say, but when I got out I couldn’t stop thinking about some of my targets. Especially the really prominent ones who had taken so many precautions to keep themselves safe from assassins like me. Folks who had surrounded themselves with so many people that they trusted to protect them, but were unable to prevent me from accomplishing my mission.
    “On top of that, I didn’t know what to do with myself. Not only had my body aged, resulting in me no longer being the weapon I once was, but I had no real life skills. Killing was the only thing I was good at, and there’s really no market for that in the real world.”
    Richfield let out a bit of a laugh as he finished that last part. Daniel just stared at him in stunned silence before swallowing, a bit harder than normal. Here he was, sitting before Charles