Free Web NovelChapter 63: Hit gone wrong
Lyvana and Emily walked through the parking lot, giggling and leaning on each other. They had just finished a long dinner wit a few too many drinks. For the first time since the day began, the weight of everything had lifted; they’d managed to forget about the men, the drama, and the stress, and simply enjoyed being with each other.
They were so distracted they didn’t notice the movement behind them. A man moved through the rows of cars, watching them closely.
As Lyvana reached for her car door, the man pulled a gun from his jacket and rushed toward them.
He never reached them.
Before he could shoot, Marco appeared from behind a pillar. With a quick, silent move, he grabbed the man’s throat and slammed him against a concrete wall. Marco disarmed him and delivered a sharp blow to the man’s jaw.
The attacker went limp and fell to the ground, unconscious.
Lyvana and Emily were already inside the car, still laughing about a joke Emily had made. They didn’t hear a thing.
Marco dragged the unconscious man toward the black sedan parked nearby. He tossed the gun into the glove box and quickly tied the man throwing him into the back seat.
As Lyvana’s car pulled out of the parking lot, Marco followed at a safe distance.
He looked at the man in his rearview mirror, his face grim. He needed to find out who sent this killer — and he was going to make sure the girls arrived home safe.
....
Marco drove to an old, empty warehouse on the edge of town. It was a perfect hideout — no one ever came here. He dragged the man inside and tied him tightly to a wooden chair.
Marco picked up a bucket of freezing water and splashed it directly into the man’s face.
The man’s head snapped back. He gasped for air, coughing and shaking the water from his eyes. He tried to move his arms, but the ropes held him still. He looked up and saw Marco standing over him.
He looked confused and terrified.
"Who are you?" the man rasped, his voice shaking. "What do you want?"
Marco leaned in close, his face inches from the man’s. "It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is who sent you to that parking lot."
The man tried to look away, but Lily stepped forward from behind him and held up the gun Marco had taken from him.
"You were going to use this on two innocent women," she said quietly. "That was a very big mistake."
"I don’t know what you’re talking about!" the man yelled.
Marco didn’t say a word. He just slowly put on a pair of leather gloves. The sound of the leather stretching was the only noise in the room.
"Let’s try again," Marco said. "Who paid you to shoot Lyvana Montclair?"
The man stayed silent, his eyes darting between Marco and Lily. He tried to act tough, but his hands were shaking against the ropes.
"I don’t talk," the man spat out. "Do whatever you want. I don’t know no Lyvana."
Marco didn’t get angry. He actually smiled, but it was a cold, scary look. He turned to Lily. "He says he doesn’t talk boss. What do you think?"
Lily leaned against the table, playing with the man’s phone. "I think he’s lying. Let’s torture him and see if he talks."
The man’s face went pale. He tried to jump out of the chair, but Marco caught him easily and shoved him back.
"Yes boss," Marco asked, his voice low and dangerous. He grabbed a pair of pliers from the table and held them up.
"You have ten fingers. We have all night. I’ll ask you one more time. Who hired you?"
The man stared at the pliers. He realized these weren’t just random thugs; they were professionals.
"Wait! Wait!" the man choked out. "I’ll tell you! I don’t know his real name, okay? He gave me an envelope with 5 grand. He said if I kill the girl, I get another five thousand. That’s good money, man! Look... look, I-I can share it with you if you just let me go."
"Ten thousand dollars?" Marco repeated. He let out a short, mean laugh. "You’re risking a life sentence in prison for the price of a used car? You’re even more pathetic than I thought."
Elsewhere, El sat in his car by the edge of the old market, his hands shaking on the steering wheel.
He was freaking out.
He had tried to be careful, just like his brother had told him, but now he realized he was in deep trouble. He had hired a hitman to do the job, but from a distance, he had watched in horror as a buff man had snatched his man right there in the parking lot. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
That goon had worked for him before. He was always clean and never left a trail. But now, two hours had passed and he didn’t know where he was.
Maybe they killed him, he thought. Or worse. Had he seen his face well enough to give him up incase he had been arrested?
Suddenly, his phone buzzed. It was a private number. The people who had hired him were calling. He broke into a cold sweat.
They had already paid him $100,000 upfront to make sure Lyvana was gone. He had no results to show them.
He swallowed hard and answered the call.
"Is it done?" a distorted, electronic voice asked.
El opened his mouth, but no words came out at first. He knew that if he told them the truth — that he had hired a hitman, who had been captured — he might be the next one they came for.
El gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white.
"N-no," he stammered. "I had a... a little problem. The target has a bodyguard."
There was a long, heavy silence on the other end of the line. The only sound was the static of the distorted call. El felt like he couldn’t breathe.
"A bodyguard?" the voice finally crackled. "You were paid to handle variables. Not to report them."
"I know, I know!" El said quickly, looking around the dark market to see if anyone was watching him.
"You have twenty-four hours," the voice said coldly. "If the girl is still breathing by this time tomorrow, we will consider the $100,000 a refund... and we will collect it from you personally."
The line went dead.
El dropped the phone onto the passenger seat, as though it were hot coal.
