Assassin Thirty Two

Two: Tough Day at the Office

He wanted Ivy there early so he could discuss the new case with her. They decided to meet at the manor and instead of being located in the library, he was outside by the stables, watching the horses gallop through the fields as they played polo. When he felt Ivy's presence, he turned around and smiled, handing her a folio.

"Good morning, 32. We have a very big case to discuss this morning, I hope you came prepared." His accent was thick and heavy.

"I always am." She replied, her hold on the papers in her hand tightening.

"Come, take a seat." Reluctantly sitting at the small table and chairs, she awaited to hear the details about the new case she had been assigned.

"This is your biggest case yet. Maybe even one of the most important ones I've seen in years." He stated and poured two cups of tea. Ivy nodded her head and watched as the steam billowed off of the hot liquid, swirling clouds of white and warmth until it evaporated into the cold, crisp air of the early spring morning.

"Your target is Mr. Valentino Black. Our client specifically asked for you to complete this mission as they believe you're the only one who can take him down. I must warn you now, agent 32, Mr. Black is the most dangerous target that we've had in a very long time. Therefore you must kill from afar, if you're seen with Mr. Black and become a suspect of his death," he chuckled darkly before taking a sip of tea. "You'll have many people looking for you and they won't give up until you're dead."

Ivy clenched her jaw and stared at the photo of Mr. Black. There were several photos of Mr. Black. One of them was him walking in a perfectly tailored suit with a woman hanging from his side. Another photo was a mugshot. He had scar that cut through his dark eyebrows and his light brown eyes that had tints of green and gold were captivating. Ivy secretly admitted that he was good looking, especially with his chiseled jaw but what sent chills down his spine was the sinister smirk he wore.

"You need to understand 32 that this case is dangerous. There are great risks and you will need to move silently and quickly, one slip up and you'll have hundreds of his men tearing down the country to find the person responsible for their boss' death."

"I understand the consequences if I do not complete the case successfully." Ivy replied in a cold emotionless tone.

He nodded head slowly, as if he had made the wise choice of passing the case over to Ivy, but he knew that Ivy was one of the most successful assassins in their industry, he'd be sending her on a suicide mission if he didn't believe she could follow through with it.

"Very well 32. Everything you need to know about Mr. Black is located in that folder, from photos of the target to potential problems you may face, like his body guards that follow him 24/7. The client requests that the target dies silently and quickly so you'll be meeting with Adam tomorrow to discuss the best sniper to use."

Picking up the folder, Ivy nodded her head and walked back to the house to prepare for her study date she had with the thick folder regarding Mr. Black's information.

After several hours of reading and her dining table was covered in white from the hundreds of pages, Ivy stood up with a groan of tiredness escaping from her lips. Looking out of the window, she watched as the rain poured, trickling against the window and she huffed. Instead of venturing outside in the rain, Ivy decided to just order dinner from the pizza parlour down the road and have it delivered.

Ten minutes later and one pepperoni pizza on its way, Ivy was startled by a knocking at her apartment door. Rushing to the door, she opened to see the pizza guy standing there with a pizza box in his hand. The sudden smell of it made her stomach grumble and she grinned.

"Mrs. Smith?" He asked, looking up from the order docket in his free hand.

"That's me." Ivy lied. Her real surname wasn't Smith but when ordering things online or just doing things that normal people do, that work normal jobs, she had to use the last name Smith for security reasons. After all, the surname Smith was one of the most common names in America.

"That'll be fifteen dollars." The kid said and Ivy hurried into the kitchen to grab her wallet.

Pulling out two ten dollar notes and five ones, he spoke up. "That's a lot of work you have there." Looking over her shoulder, he stood in the doorway patiently waiting and then she glanced at the work on the table.

"Yeah, a last minute project that's due." She sighed before walking back to him and handing him the money. He handed her the pizza and then grabbed the money off of her.

"That must be one really big project then, may I ask what you do for a living?" Ivy hid her smirk with an innocent smile.

"Human resources."

The kid nodded his head in admiration before pushing his glasses up with his finger. "You have a good night Mrs. Smith." He called out before Ivy closed the door. The aroma coming from the hot pizza bellowed through Ivy's apartment and instead of making room for it on the dining table, she grabbed a plate and a bottle of beer from the fridge and made herself comfortable on the couch. Noise from the tv echoed through the room and Ivy watched the bright, artificial colours illuminate the dark living room. Some sort of high end reality tv show was on and Ivy normally despised watching such fake nonsense but it wasn't until time had passed and she reached for a piece of pizza that was no longer there when she realised just how invested she suddenly became with these people's lives.

Leaving the tv on to fill in the lonely silence, Ivy stood up with a stretch and grabbed the empty pizza box and the beer bottle. The city lights flickered through the window and Ivy reached over to close the curtains as she began to clean up, starting with the mess on the table.

After a quick clean up of the place and a relaxing hot shower, Ivy jumped into her bed with a heavy sigh. With a million thoughts running through her head, Ivy wondered why her boss had handed this very important case over to her? Was she really the best in the business? Agent 12 had some pretty amazing skills so why wasn't he chosen? Or Agent 6 who had been in the industry for more than twenty years and knew the ins and outs of everything? All she could understand was that her target was one important man and if she didn't follow every single step in the plan she had made, she wouldn't be seeing another day of light.