Free Assassin Affairs by R. S. Smith Page A

learn that he got released last week. The doctors said
that he was well enough to be returned into society to live a normal
life.”
    “Those
morons!! Oh my God, oh my God!”
    “We'd
like to set-up a phone tap, so that we can monitor and trace any
calls for ransom demands. We'll handle all the details.”
    “No,
no, I don't want that. You can do whatever you want, but I won't be
taking any orders from you or any of your men or the FBI or whomever.
Money is no object for me. I want to bring in my own people, people
who will take orders from me, not tell me what to do.”
    “Who
do you have in mind, ma'am?”
    “Damn!
I don't frigging know!” she shouted back at the Commissioner as
she paced the room.
    “Well,
this is strictly off the record, and you never heard it from me, but
there are people out there who specialize in helping with such things
for a price.”
    “So
tell them I'll hire them. Let's get the ball rolling!”
    “I'm
afraid it's not that simple. These folks work outside the law. I have
no direct contact with any of them; they're as elusive as shadows in
the night. They're not the sort you'd want involved in your life
unless you absolutely had to do so. With the proper cash incentives,
I could get the word out that you're interested in making contact. It
would be very expensive and you could end up making your life more
hellish than it is now. It's never safe to dance with the devil.”
    “Commissioner,
I'll have a hundred thousand dollars cash in your hands by nightfall.
Use it however you see fit. You handle the selection; I'm not
street-smart enough to manage it. Tell them there's a million dollar
up-front payment and an additional ten million dollars when they
deliver my Jessica back to me. If this Lionel creature suffers an
agonizing death, there will be a bonus.”
    That
evening she delivered a large envelope full of cash to the
Commissioner, reminding him that time was of the essence. She
returned to a houseful of agents working on the case, had a nightcap
to calm her nerves, changed into her nightie, and went to bed a
nervous wreck. About an hour before dawn she was jostled awake to
find a hand covering her mouth and the barrel of a pistol planted
firmly against her throat. Although the room was lit only by the
outside moonlight, she could tell that the culprit was a woman about
her own size and age.
    “Shhh,
keep fucking quiet if you want to live, bitch,” she whispered.
    Joanna
nodded and the woman released her hand, keeping the weapon at her
throat.
    “How
did you get in here?! This place is full of cops,” she said in
a slumbrous tone.
    “It's
what I do, lady,” she bragged, with a barely audible air of
self-confidence. “Now tell me about this job you want done.”
    Joanna had
anticipated an early contact, but was overwhelmed by the young
woman's impressive introduction. Not wanting to risk wasting valuable
time, she had already assembled the million dollar advance. As she
began to talk, the woman interrupted.
    “Wait
a minute, how do I know this isn't some sort of trap?” She
bluffed when she added, “You need to know I have a team of
snipers outside with night-vision scopes in case it is. Things could
get really messy really fast, Missy. Are you wearing a wire?”
    “No,
of course not. Why in the hell would I be wearing a wire?”
    “In
my line of work, one learns to expect the worst from people.”
The woman put away her pistol and pulled out a switchblade knife. The
outside light glittered on its metal blade. “Move over,”
she ordered. “I need to check you for a bug.” She slipped
under the covers, cozied up alongside Joanna with the blade at her
throat, and said, “You should know who you're in bed with, I
suppose. You can call me Laura. Now start telling me everything I
need to know while I check you out.”
    Laura was
even more of a control freak than was Joanna. She was also bisexual
and had harbored longtime fantasies of the celebrity. While Joanna
whispered