Nobu went back to his computers, careful to keep his coffee cup away from the equipment. He was always harping to Imani to be careful. She usually was. He had four computers, but his favorites were Thinkpad X1 Carbon and the MS1 GS65 Stealth. He was also a serious gamer as well as Imani’s handler. He didn’t know what else to call it, he had to handle her assignments, her flights, her identities and all the other things that went along with an assassin. He’d not seen himself in this place when he’d gone to his high school guidance counselor when it was vocation day.
Meeting Ima had changed his life and the trajectory of his life. He couldn’t say he was sorry. Ima was not only his best friend, but she was also his boss or rather, he thought, his partner in crime. After she’d killed that airman, the guy who’d tried to rape the Japanese school girl, there had been a big investigation. He and Ima had watched both the AFN, Armed Forces Network, news as well as the NHK, Japanese news.
There was a huge manhunt, but nothing ever came of it. There had been little to no evidence and no one had ever connected the school girl to the murder. Nobu wasn’t even sure the little girl had even connected the two.
Nobu logged on, he used several encryption algorithms, Sodium, CyberChef and Blowfish to enter into the murky waters of the Darknet. Anonymity was their only defense to living a normal life. It was Nobu’s job to make sure that he and Ima didn’t have to look over their shoulders, and he valued his life.
The operations room that held all the equipment, weapons and gear that Imani needed was kept locked behind a triple cipher. Ima had bought the apartment six years ago, in the heart of Chicago. It was a three bedroom on the eighteenth floor. When she’d moved there, she’d contacted Nobu, who’d gotten out of the Navy and had gone into programming in California’s Silicon Valley.
“Nobu, come to Chicago, I’ll fly you out. I have a proposal.” She’d said mysteriously six years ago.
He’d missed her, though they had kept in touch, so he flew to Chicago, wanting to see her and the city. She’d brought him to her apartment, and he’d been stunned.
“How in the hell can you afford this place?” He’d asked, incredulous and the view from the massive window on the eighteenth floor.
“I’m an assassin.” She’d said simply. He remembered turning around from the window and stared dumbly at her, his mouth open. Imani had killed one other person in Misawa, nearly a year after the airman. But this was so different. This was crazy.
“What the hell do you mean, I’m an assassin? What does that even mean?”
Imani had laughed at him and thinking back, Nobu laughed at himself. He should have known his friend would go this route. She’d invited him to sit on her large leather couch and launched into her pitch.
“Okay, hear me out Nobu, before you say anything. After getting out of the navy, I knew what I needed to do. I’m good at it. Remember the laptop you got for me when we went to Tokyo? So that I could get on the darknet? Okay, well, I set up a site, assassin for hire. I’ve been doing great, as you can tell.” She’d said, her hand indicating the apartment.
“So, I’m wanting to branch out. My laptop is on its last leg, and though I’m good with computers, I need someone, you, that can work their magic, keep me safe and ensure I don’t get caught. I need someone I can trust. Someone who won’t judge me. That is you Nobu. I trust you and have always trusted you. I’ve been following your career and I know you have the skills to set up a working site with safeties in place, encryption and all the other things that are needed.” She’d looked at him with those big begging eyes.
“You’re an assassin.” He’d said stupidly.
She had laughed and hugged him. She payed him handsomely for the work that he did, much more than what he was making in Silicon Valley. He also lived in the huge apartment. It was just too cool and exciting to say no to.
“I’ll have to modify one of the spare bedrooms.” He’d told her.
“Do what you need to do. That is why I want you here. You pick your bedroom and you modify the other.”
So, he had, he’d set up a faraday cage in the chosen room, then had put in a steel door with a cipher lock, that needed retinal scan as well as voice. No one was getting into that room. Because Imani had purchased the apartment, they could make all the modifications they wanted. When the work was done, they’d said it was a panic room, and the workers shrugged, accepting the explanation.
Nobu sat back from his computers, and looked at the far wall. He sipped his coffee. She had her props, as she called them. Wigs, clothing, weapons, and other paraphernalia she used in her work. He heard a chime on one of the computers and turned back around. Imani had expanded. She had four different sites, assassin for hire. Three advertised three male identities and one female. Though for Ima, it didn’t matter, she went in what ever disguise suited the job. No one need know who was actually doing the killing, but they’d both found out that her male identities pulled in the large jobs.
Nobu hit the keys and a message popped up on the Angel of Deathwish site. The other
