On The Scale Of

Chapter 11

"Her last known purchase was at a pharmacy; for medicines to what I assume could be cold cough, so she probably stayed in bed. I've narrowed down her residence. It's at Greenwood."

Greenwood. "The same clinic that Lance Hogan's wife worked at?"

A pause. "Who?"

Oh, right. My spotter had little information regarding Lance Hogan. Much less about his wife. It still strikes me odd that the dentist hadn't appeared in any record.

"Never mind."

"Your client hid the file along with the payment in an oak tree located at the southeast side of Melville park. Goodbye." And with that, my spotter ended the call.

I've been to Greenwood in one of my transactions before. It was known for its generally shady atmosphere, and its penchant for crime scenes. It isn't a surprise that someone like Brinkley lives there.

I placed my empty can of cold beer on a wooden dresser beside me and walked to my cabinet. I took my base sniper out of its compartment and inspected it with care. Good condition. Usable at best. I like its smooth texture because it complimented its sleek design. I knew from the moment I saw this sniper that this one was meant for me. The sniper I used before this; the one I used to snipe the trio in the RCBC case was originally owned by Girlie. I discarded the gun afterward and bought my own from an arms dealer trusted by the Org. The main reason was that Girlie's gun felt noticeably heavier. Either in a metaphorical or literal sense. Franny on the other hand, was mine to taint alone.

I used a silky cloth to wipe my sniper's exterior, thoughts of home unexpectedly jumbled in my head. Daniel will be going back to LA soon, so it won't be long before this uneasiness within me goes back with him as well. Then there's Catherine...

Sitting crossed leg on the floor, I tried to ease the tension from my shoulders and sagged back against the cabinet's door. She's worried about me, I know. We've always had this comfortable distance between us, but she continues to force herself to care about me so much, just to compensate for Leonard's lack of. She's aware that I've gone way past her care now that I'm old as fuck. And to top it all off, Nat knows I kill people. Literally the one job I have is to not let any of them know and this mumbo jumbo magic shit happens and suddenly she does.

I squeezed my eyes shut in distress. This is exactly why hitmen sever their familial connections.

But then again, I'm no ordinary hitman. I smiled despite myself and went to open my bullet case. Crap. I'm out of 'em. I searched through my stuff, looking for any spare but found none. I flipped open my laptop from my bed and entered a black market website. I logged in my account and ordered a set of sniper bullets enough to last seven to eight more shots, depending on how agreeable my luck would get. The seller and I agreed to meet in Greenwood. Talk about hitting two birds with one stone.

I hovered my mouse pointer over an icon for Exiled Kingdoms Online in my desktop, tempted to check my character. I should play again soon. I bet I missed tons of quests already.

35 minutes later...

After I had retrieved both the target's profile and the payment, I left the park in haste to start preparations in my apartment. I rented an old car from Zoom's Garage on the way there. It'd be difficult to navigate Greenwood with a cab without raising suspicion.

In her profile, Jane Brinkley was a plump woman in her late fifties, with curly brown hair and overly-tanned skin. As Girlie had mentioned, Brinkley was a Pyramid schemer who managed to scam lots of people into bankruptcy. She also succeeded, impressively, in stealing thousands of dollars from the Org. My spotter, a fellow Org member, wondered why this hit fell on my hands since this was already taken by someone else. Maybe Girlie stole it from them. She was all about getting me to gain back the Org's trust. Like I could care any less about my hitman reputation.