She waited patiently, though she couldn’t see much. Then, two more vehicles came and she figured they’d found the body and the children. She started her car and turned and headed for home. She sighed deeply, it was a good kill. No mistakes, no evidence. What evidence there would be, would be muddled up.
She knew whoever the detective was that got this case would sorely be disappointed, or not. To date, she’d killed seventy-six scumbags in Chicago. She was sure they had some kind of taskforce looking for her, but she didn’t mind. She knew they had to follow procedure, to cover their asses. She was glad she didn’t have to follow the rules as she had in the navy. That had driven her crazy and she felt hampered and suffocated.
Nobu was waiting up for her. She arrived back at the apartment and had come up the maintenance elevator. Then she let herself into the apartment.
“Glad you’re back. How did it go?”
“Smooth as butter, baby.” She grinned.
“So, there were kids there?”
“Yeah, he had a couple of young ones in a cage and a young teen girl in another cage. There was also an empty cage. I figure the police can sort it all out. That was some damn fine intel Nobu, thank you.” She smiled tiredly.
“I’ll get the disposal bag and you can put your clothes into it. Then we’ll get your hands cleaned up.”
“Thanks, I’m ready for bed.” She smiled.
“I know I always say it, but I’m glad this is your hobby. I can’t imagine what those children have gone through, but thanks to you, they’ll at least live a halfway normal life. At least, I hope they do.” Nobu said earnestly bringing out a black plastic garbage bag.
“I’m glad it’s my hobby too. I wish I could do more, there are just so damned many of them.” She said as she began to strip her clothing off and placed them in the bag. She peeled off her hand coverings, tossing the mess into the trash, it looked like wadded up cling wrap. Nobu would clean her utility belt and knife and weapon for her, and ensure everything was sanitized, for the next go round. She didn’t know what she would do without him. He’d been there for her when she’d needed him. He was a good friend, her best friend. Really, her only friend. The life of an assassin was an isolated one.
She went to her bedroom and then into the bathroom. She turned on the tap for the bathtub, she needed a bath after dealing with that scum. She wished she could go wholesale slaughter on them all, but it just had to be one at a time. Getting into the hot water, she sighed with relief. Now she had to turn her mind to the London job. It had been a while since she’d been in London. She had a few days to get over the Italy jetlag, then turn around to England.
She enjoyed London, the food and the theater. There was something always new to see and going on. She’d even visited the Buckingham palace, seen the guards and all those fun touristy things. She might be a killer, but she was also human and who didn’t like to be a tourist?
Slipping into the water she sighed. She loved hot baths, it reminded her of the hot baths in Japan. She’d gone to a few as did Nobu. They had torn Japan up with their exploration. She’d seen it as a child, but had experienced it as an adult and she loved it there.
“You want anything to drink or eat?” Nobu called into her room.
“No, thanks. I’m going to bed right after my bath. Good night Nobu.”
“Night.”
She smiled, Nobu took such good care of her. He always made sure she had what she needed, even if she didn’t know what that was. He’d make someone a great husband. She was sorry that his dating life hadn’t gone as he’d hoped. That was life. There was someone out there for him. She hoped he would find him. For herself, that would not be the case. Her life would be a solitary one. She was okay with that. There wasn’t much help for it and she couldn’t even imagine what kind of man would love a killer.
Ϫ
Haiden stood before the window, paint brush in hand. He enjoyed painting by the large window since it let in true light. His gray cat, Jezebel lay on the large table, stretched languidly among the tubes of oil paint. He eyed her, she had a propensity for biting the tubes. When he wasn’t painting, the tubes of paint were kept in a box. He watched as her tail twitched back and forth rapidly, a sure sign she was thinking about stealing one of the tubes.
Sticking the brush between his teeth, he picked the fat Himalayan up and deposited her on the couch. She promptly lifted her tail and showed him her fluffy butt as she jumped off and went to find a better lounging place. He grinned and went back to painting. He wasn’t a great painter, but he enjoyed the creativity of it. His style was impressionism, he liked using colors to give the impression of what he wanted to convey.
He had many paintings of Hawaii, and the lifestyle and people there. He’d grown up in Hawaii, his father Hawaiian, his mother haole, who’d come to the islands when she was a girl. She’d met his father in high school. Love at first sight. Haiden was the baby in the family.
A cloud passed over, defusing the
