Part 5

I read through Paul Jameson’s file and clicked proceed. The assignment information sheet opened up and I checked the requirements. He had to be terminated within two weeks of acceptance and the payment was four hundred thousand dollars. I looked at the attached photos and clicked on accept. The screen went black as the file erased itself.

I booked a flight from O’Hare International Airport to LAX in California. It was a four and a half hour nonstop flight. I closed my eyes and went back to the aerial photographs marking his yacht in the marina. I went online and found eleven yachts available to rent in the same marina. I chose one with a view of his yacht and booked it.

It was almost five thirty by the time I was done with my planning and I decided to go back to the diner for dinner. I would stay for the band night afterward. I had a week to get ready and I would leave for California on Friday morning.

Charlotte had asked if I’d be there and that question had stayed in the back of my mind. Was she just being friendly or was she interested? It was difficult to tell since she was friendly with everyone. I drove back into town and parked my truck in the exact same spot I had that morning. Charlotte smiled broadly when I walked in and sat down at my table.

“Will wonders never cease,” she said. “It’s the first time I’ve seen you in here after dark. What’ll it be?”

“Whatever’s on special is fine,” I said without looking at the menu. I greeted a few of the patrons I knew and Max sat down in the chair opposite me.

“I heard you took a little joyride to Chicago on Wednesday,” he said. Max Wentworth was thirty-six, married to Louisa and father of three year old Jane and ten year old Max Junior. He was employed by the Epworth Police Department and he didn’t live far from Charlotte. He was also a regular at the diner.

“Did Warren complain again?” I asked with a smile and Max chuckled.

“He got you doing a hundred and twenty past Peosta. You beat your previous record,” Max said and I smiled again.

In a community this small you had to make friends and when you reached a certain level of comfort with them they let you get away with certain things, like speeding down the road to the highway.

“Next time he should wait further up,” I said just as Charlotte returned with that night’s special. It was pot roast with mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob, peas and apple pie for dessert.

“When are you going to ask her out?” Max asked as he watched the exchange between us.

“What are you talking about? We’re just friends,” I said and he laughed at me.

“The way you look at each other, there’s way too much flirting going on and I’m not the only one that’s noticed it.” Max rapped his knuckles on the table and stood up to let me eat in peace.

I stayed for a while listening to the bands. Some were okay, one was really terrible and another one was decent. I stood with Max and a few other guys from town and I kept feeling like she was watching me. Every time I turned around though, she would be smiling with her friends and then catch me looking at her.

For the next five days, I followed my assignment routine and increased my training regimen. I made arrangements for a gun drop at a locker facility just past LAX and a car to be waiting for me in the parking lot. I requested two Jericho PL’s and a Karambit. I selected a passport that was well traveled. James McKavanagh would be flying to California on Friday morning and walk onto his yacht by Friday afternoon.

Just after midnight the ringing phone woke me. It was Charlotte and I switched the bedside lamp on again and answered her call. “Charlotte?”

“Please help me.” Her whisper was urgent and then I heard her scream. The line went dead seconds later.

I turned into Charlotte’s street exactly four minutes later. I parked at the corner where a cluster of trees hid my truck from her house. I stood in the middle of those trees and watched her house. The windows were dark and it was quiet in the street.

I walked along the line of trees and slipped through an open window in the living room. I took in the disarray of furniture in the living room. The scuffle had originated in here, I could see it play off in my mind’s eye, where he surprised her, where he grabbed her and how he pulled her toward the bedroom.

I knew the layout of her house and I could move through it with my eyes closed. I heard the scrape of a shoe against the polished wooden floor of the bedroom. I crept forward slowly and came up behind him where he sat astride her on the bed, choking her.

I grabbed him from behind and locked my elbows as I started choking him. I pulled him backwards and he immediately loosened his grip on her throat. I could feel his Adam’s apple moving up and down as he tried to speak. I pulled him off the bed and onto the floor, lying on my back with him on top of me. I tightened my arm around his neck and wrapped my legs around his lower body to keep him from thrashing around.

One, two, three, four, five…I counted in my head. The brain needs about fifty milliliters of oxygen per minute to sustain life and I felt his body relax as he lost consciousness. I had chosen to suppress his carotid artery rather than crushing his windpipe. 

I released my arms and pushed him off me. I didn’t want to kill him, well I did, but I shouldn’t, there would be too many questions. I figured I had about twenty seconds before he regained consciousness. It would take him roughly another twenty seconds to start moving.