Assassin of Steele

Chapter 12

*By: @amy_bda*

Rina knocked curtly on the door that connected the politician's chambers to their own. A glance at Ace confirmed that everything was ready for the assassination to be carried out. She had the syringe of adrenaline already prepared, a cap over the needle-point just-in-case. It was hidden in Ace's clothes – due to his superior pockets. She disliked relinquishing control, but in this case she was forced to trust him. Unfortunately, any professional women's clothing that she could find still didn't have decent pockets, a short-coming that always inconvenienced her. However, in this case, she would just have to trust that Ace would be capable of carrying out the task at hand.

The politician called the two assassins in, oblivious of the danger he was in. Ace shot Rina a quick thumbs up and a smirk. She chose to ignore the latter. Clearly, everyone might be overestimating him. She just hoped that her faith wasn't misplaced. If he screwed up, she would kick him right back to base, lacking what he considered his most valuable faculties.

Rina stepped inside, Ace on her heels. She did a quick assessment of the room. It was a large living/dining room area, with plush chairs around a small coffee table, and high-backed chairs around a rectangular table. In the corner there was a small kitchenette, sure to be full of knives and other sharp cooking implements, though Rina was sure that the man had never done any cooking in his life. All together, a fairly modern setup. Uncluttered enough to give them room to efficiently move around, but enough furniture to block easy access to him if anything went wrong. There were 3 exits, the main exit to the hall, one that probably led to his bedroom, and the one they'd just entered through. 3 large windows, however they were the large kind that wouldn't open, and they were too far from the ground to safely exit.

As Rina stepped more fully into the room, she moved subtly to block the politician's easy access to the main door. Ace stood in front the the door to their suite. He was trapped. Now all they had to do was prick the bastard and do some semi-decent acting.

The man himself sat at the coffee table, luxuriating in a chair. In front of him spread a feast of expensive food, and the TV was playing the news in the background. Rina waited in stoic silence, whilst Ace tapped his foot. Rina glared at him until he stopped.

Finally, the politician looked up from his dinner. "It's good of you two to join my team on such short notice." He spoke in person the way he did in on the news, in a big, commanding voice. However, unlike on TV, he dropped the charisma, and instead spoke in demanding tones, like he expected everyone to drop what they were doing and follow his orders. "Do sit down."

Rina disliked leaving the exit open, but sat down to maintain her façade. It was best to play along until they were able to get in a good position to take him out. Ace, too, sat down in a chair. He sat back into the leather seat, unlike Rina, who was perched on the edge. Despite the look of relaxation, it was clear that Ace was on alert.

"We need to talk about what I expect from you two while you're with me."

Rina tried not to leap out of her seat and kill him right then and there. It would make them too obvious of a suspect. Instead, she nodded politely, keeping an eye out for an opening.

"Firstly, let's talk about assassination attempts."

Rina kept her face stoic, but was on high alert. She noticed Ace was slowly moving to a more ready position on his chair, ready to leap up if needs be. The statement had set off alarm bells for both of them. However, Ace's voice was smooth and charming, and denoted nothing of his feelings. "Have you had any before, sir? If so, who do we need to be careful around?"

The politician dropped his food into his plate, wiping his hands on a napkin. "Let's drop this game of ours, shall we. How big of a fool do you think I am, to just hire two random strangers on the street?"

Ace added, in a strained voice, "Sir, do we need reference letters for you? I have well-known and respectable contacts who can authenticate us." He slowly started making a subtle move towards the politician. Though Rina's instincts screamed at her to leap up and kill him there, to yell at Ace to do so, that could lead to a struggle. Any struggle would denote to police that this wasn't an accident. So she remained in her chair, hoping the politician wouldn't notice his advances.

"Do sit down, and drop any foolish notion of attacking me. We really do have a lot to discuss, Ace Striker. Rina Steele, I'd suggest not doing anything stupid. I have eight real bodyguards waiting by the door, and though you may be the best assassins, I doubt eight against two would be easy for you, especially without incriminating yourselves."

Rina cursed under her breath. Things were about to go to shit.