Assassin (30 page)

Less than half an hour later, they were on the road.

CHAPTER 27

"NOW, WHERE ARE we going?" Rain asked in exasperation.

"We just have one more stop before we go to the Target's residence," Case said calmly.

Rain felt her level of frustration rising as Case turned down a new street to presumably bring them closer to wherever it was they were going. Case had barely said anything to her over the past two hours as they'd gone from one place to the next. Each time, she'd ordered Rain to stay in the car without any explanation and then returned with mysterious packages that she again refused to discuss. There had been a total of five separate stops and each time, Rain had hoped Case would fill her in on their assignment, but each time, Case had simply started the car and headed off to a new unnamed destination.

Rain remained in angry silence for the rest of the ride. Since Case obviously wasn't going to talk until she was ready, there wasn't much else Rain could do.

After a while, they entered what appeared to be a warehouse district. Case continued to drive past the tightly packed buildings until she pulled onto a road that took them directly to a medium-sized warehouse sitting alone in a large fenced off area. Case parked in front of the huge hangar-like doors and exited the car without a word. Rain ground her teeth a little and then got out of the vehicle to follow her. If Case wanted her to stay in the truck this time, she was going to have to say something.

Rain walked around to the back of the truck where Case was pulling out some of the packages Rain had seen her with earlier. Case handed her a box.

"Here. Open it and separate the wires by color," Case ordered, as she opened a larger box and started pulling out what Rain recognized as explosive charges.

"What the hell is going on?" Rain finally asked and put the box down in the back of the truck.

She wasn't moving until she got an answer.

Case continued working on the charges and didn't even glance Rain's way.

"It's part of the assignment, so stop asking questions and just do your job. We can talk about it later." Case paused what she was doing and turned her head to stare coldly at the taller woman. "Unless you'd like to take it up with Antonio."

Rain felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle and her rigid posture deflated a little as she considered Carlotti's response to one of his subordinates refusing to do something simply because they didn't have all the information. She sighed in resignation and picked up the package as she pulled out her pocketknife to start slicing open the box.

With both of them working together, it didn't take long to place the explosives where Case designated. When they were done, Case led them back to the truck and brought out three more boxes and a bag.

Rain noticed the black metal box Case had come back with from their first stop, and she was surprised when Case opened it to reveal a large sum of money. A good portion of it seemed to be missing though, judging by the dip in one of the neatly arranged stacks. Case pulled out a thin bunch of one hundreds and folded them before placing them in her jeans pocket. She closed the box and pushed it to the side.

Then she pulled the larger of the two cardboard boxes closer and opened it. She withdrew half a dozen guns, all of which were already in small clip-on holsters.

"Are we going to war?" Rain half-joked.

"I told you. The place is heavily guarded. We shouldn't have to shoot our way in, but we can't leave any witnesses and they're not going to just line up for us."

Rain felt a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach begin as Case handed her two of the guns and then stuffed another two in the back of her own jeans. A third went near the front of Case's left hip in a position that would make it easy for a quick right-handed draw. She gave the last gun to Rain without even looking up. Rain reluctantly took the guns and mimicked Case's placement and then fluffed her leather jacket over the weapons just as Case had.

Case tossed the empty box back into the truck and opened the bag. She pulled out a silencer and then withdrew one of the two guns from her shoulder holsters. She started attaching the silencer to the gun and nodded for Rain to do the same. Then she replaced the gun in its holster before pulling out the other gun and repeating the actions.

They were both quiet as they worked side by side on their weapons. Case let the welcome silence pull her into the familiar routine of preparing for a hit, and she purposely ignored everything but the two metal objects in her hands. She knew she couldn't think too much about what she intended to do.

And she certainly couldn't talk about it. Talking about it made it real. Case would deal with the consequences later, if she survived today, but not until then. If Rain couldn't handle that, then it was her problem.

Case finished screwing on the silencer and grabbed another handful of them from the bag to put in her jacket pocket. Rain hesitantly followed suit, and then Case zipped up the bag and opened up the last box.

It was packed with ammo clips and Case filled her remaining pockets with as many as she could, motioning for Rain to grab some, too. After they'd emptied the box, Case closed the truck's back hatch.

Case walked around to the driver's side without a word and climbed into the truck. Rain hurried to the passenger side and tried not to swear at Case's reticence. At this point, she wouldn't have been surprised if Case drove off without her. But Case did wait for her to strap herself into her seat before starting up the truck. It was a little uncomfortable sitting in the captain's chair with two guns pressing into her lower back, but Rain repositioned herself and just sat up a little straighter.

As Case began driving them away, Rain waited for the woman to pull out the detonator she'd seen her stuff into the glove compartment. But Case just kept driving until they were back on the main road.

"I thought we were supposed to blow that place up?" Rain asked in confusion.

"That comes later. This was just prep work. Now, we go take out the Target," Case informed her. "But first, we need lunch. Taco Bell okay with you?"

Rain nodded and they were soon pulling up to a drive-thru window. They ate in the car while Case continued to drive. Rain almost didn't eat, but they'd skipped breakfast and it was after noon already, so she pushed the butterflies away and kept chewing and swallowing until she was done.

Case seemed to be perfectly calm and Rain wondered for the hundredth time what was going on. Case had withheld information before, but she'd given reasons for doing so. This time, Rain had no clue as to why she was being kept in the dark and it was really starting to get on her nerves.

Just as she was about to voice her questions once again, Case turned onto a road that was clearly marked private property. It was lined with tall trees, and after a few minutes, they pulled up to a black wrought iron gate with a stylized C in the center of it.

A security station off to their left emitted a guard and Case prepared to greet him.

"Hi, Case. It's been a while," the guard said as he walked up to her truck.

"Yeah. I've been working a lot lately."

"Right." He looked uncomfortable at the mention of her 'work,' since he knew what she did for a living. "Well, he just called down, so you can go on through."

"Thanks, Rick," Case smiled as he nodded and returned to the guard station.

Case had been hoping the trackers that were still on her car would get her inside. It showed she was still in the dark about her own impending death, so she wasn't a threat. Plus, who in their right mind would attempt an attack when it was obvious the enemy had forewarning?

A moment later, the gate opened down the middle and the two halves slowly swung inward to allow Case entry. Rick waved as she put her truck into gear and moved forward. The road continued for a little longer and then the thick trees dropped away to reveal an expansive glade with a typically extravagant-looking mansion sitting in the middle of it. The place was so big, it actually had a small parking lot set off to the side, and Case took advantage of the first empty space and parked.

"The Target knows you're coming?" Rain asked, completely bewildered now.

"Don't talk," Case muttered, as she exited the truck and headed for a side door of the mansion.

Rain shook her head and followed. The door opened before they reached it.

"Hello, Case. We weren't expecting you today," a woman greeted her and held the door open for both Case and Rain to enter.

"Yeah, well, I was in the neighborhood," Case explained with a sarcastic smile.

"Right," the woman said with a disbelieving look, but she knew better than to ask any questions.

Rain just kept her head down and nodded her greeting when the woman eyed her.

"Come on," Case said and Rain trailed after her as they left the kitchen.

They entered a large reception area with two staircases that circled the sides of the room leading up to the second floor. Case went up the stairs on the right and then led them down a plush carpeted hallway. They went down three more halls, passing several armed men standing at attention at each of the intersections, before stopping in front of a pair of large white doors. Case turned the gold knob of one of the doors and pushed it open as she walked in.

"Ah, Case," came a familiar voice and it took Rain a moment to place it. "And Rain. What a pleasant surprise."

Case closed the door behind Rain and then walked around her to stand in front of the woman. She glanced at the three bodyguards standing around the room and then back to the man behind the desk.

"Antonio," Case said evenly.

Rain could only stare in shock.

"How have you been? I heard the training was moving along nicely," Antonio commented and gestured for them both to sit.

Case stepped forward and then turned slightly as though she was going to let Rain go ahead of her. Then she drew the gun from her left shoulder holster and shot the closest guard, followed by the next closest, and then the last one.

In the two seconds that had taken, Carlotti had jumped up from his desk and headed for the rear exit. But Case was already tracking him and shot him in the leg, blowing out his knee. He crumpled to the floor and Case calmly replaced the silencer on her gun, while she watched him try to crawl back to his desk, probably to get the gun he should have already had on him.

Rain didn't move. She seemed glued to the spot, while the part of her brain that wasn't rendered catatonic was quite amazed that Antonio hadn't screamed yet. Then she realized the determination on his face, along with the anger, was a result of his pride, which would never allow him to give Case that kind of satisfaction.

Case holstered her gun and then grabbed Carlotti and dumped him in his desk chair. She pulled him around the side of the desk so that he couldn't reach anything in it. Then she pulled out a syringe and a small glass bottle with clear liquid in it and placed them on the table. She ripped the sleeve off his shirt and roughly tied it around his thigh, just above the wound in his knee, to lessen the bleeding. Then she motioned towards the syringe.

"I'll ease the pain, if you do what I tell you," Case finally spoke.

Carlotti's response was short, but not very sweet. He spit in her face. Case immediately backhanded him and then wiped the saliva off her cheek.

"One more time. You do what I tell you and I make the pain go away," she said. "Otherwise," Case left the rest unsaid and then kicked his knee.

This time, he couldn't remain silent, and Rain flinched at his high-pitched shriek.

"You can scream all you want. No one's going to hear you," Case said.

It was true and Antonio knew it. The office's soundproofing insured that anything that went on in his inner sanctum couldn't possibly be overheard by anyone not actually in the room. Even someone standing outside with their ear pressed to the door wouldn't hear the slightest sound.

As Antonio tried to cope with the stabbing pain in his leg, he nodded. If it had been anyone else, he might have considered holding out, but he knew Case wouldn't think twice about slowly cutting him up into little pieces, and cooperating would leave him in a better position to retaliate when he got the chance.

"Good boy," Case said and picked up the syringe.

She filled it with a small amount of liquid from the bottle, and then jabbed the needle into his upper arm and emptied the contents into him. It wasn't enough to make him pain free, but it did take the edge off, and Antonio couldn't help feeling a little grateful.

"Case?"

Rain finally found her voice and motioned for Case to come over to her. She tried not to notice that her hand was shaking.

Case put away the medical supplies and pulled her gun. She held it in front of Antonio's face, and he nodded in unspoken acknowledgment. He wouldn't try anything.

Case walked over to Rain, and they walked a little further away from Carlotti.

"What the hell are you doing? Is this your plan?" Rain whispered in disbelief.

Case nodded.

"Yeah. I'm getting out. Antonio may want me dead, but it's not gonna happen."

"Are you insane? You can't just waltz in here and take Antonio Carlotti hostage. What do you think you're going to accomplish? Besides getting us both killed?" Rain questioned, trying not to let her voice become loud enough for Antonio to overhear.

Case shook her head.

"This is the only way to get us both out alive. Your order to kill me wasn't made public. That means that probably only the top bosses know about Antonio's plans for me. Once they're out of the way, we're home free," Case said logically.

Rain's eyes went wide in sudden realization of what Case was planning, and she shook her head vigorously.

"No. No way. You want to take on the entire Mafia?! You are insane!"

Case kept her eyes steady.

"Maybe," she admitted.

Rain didn't know how to respond to that. Agreement during an argument didn't help keep it going. Rain sighed.