Secret Affection

Chapter 7

Grace was released from the hospital three days later and the second she hit New York pavement, she made a beeline to NYPD. I got a phone call later that night from her, saying how happy and ready she was to jump into this case. Thank God she wasn't in the room with me when she told me about her news, or my face would've given it away in a heartbeat. She told me that the next morning she's heading into the department and getting right to work hunting down the man they're calling, Crimson Bullet.

The name was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself, so I just decided to roll with it. I wasn't planning on going out of my way to commit murder, but if I received a hit and the police happened to sniff it out, I would respond to the name. Grace called me the next morning on the way to her first day, serious and stoic,

"Aly."

"Grace, it's like, 5 am. Couldn't this wait until, I don't know, a normal person time?"

"I'm headed to the precinct, Aly. I needed someone to pump me up."

"Grace, at this ungodly hour, all you're getting is a good luck and let me go to bed."

"I knew I should've called Roy."

"No, if you called Roy all you would get is a voicemail. You're lucky you didn't get mine."

"Do you think I shouldn't of jumped into this case?"

Yes.

"No, Grace. You're going to do fine, let's just hope the guy you're trying to find isn't a Ghost. Those types of people are annoying."

"Alright, I just got here, I need to go. Wish me luck."

"Good luck, Grace."

You're going to need it.

~*

Alexandra Marx. 5'3 blonde. Released on bail two days ago. Marx runs a portion of New York's sex trafficking. Target needs eliminated tonight, no questions asked.

I received a new text from my employer two days after Grace joined the NYPD task force. It was already 10:21 when I received the message, giving me less than two hours to find and eliminate my target. I immediately began hacking into the NYPD database, recovering any and all information they had of one Alexandra Marx. Discovering they raided an old warehouse out towards Kelly's Island was the only lead I had and I leapt for it.

Pulling my hood over my head, I quickly make my way towards my car, insuring my rifle is in the trunk. I make the twenty minute drive to an abandoned area surrounded by warehouses and park my car a few blocks in a more busy area. I climb up a fire escape towards a roof, seeing my target building too far away.

Here's hoping my running everyday did something.

I adjust my rifle so it's hanging against my back and sprint towards the edge of the building, jumping towards the next.  Once I'm in position, I wait for what feels like forever for anyone to show their face from the building. A little before midnight, a group of men walk out of the warehouse, but are surrounding a small figure. Taking a closer look, I see the woman I'm supposed to hit.

Moving target. Surrounded moving target.

I line up my shot and pull the trigger once one man gives me the straight shot. The woman falls into one of the nearby men, as the three remaining men begin to search the area. I stand up, adjusting my rifle around my shoulder and look at my dirty work.