Assassin (5 page)

"What's wrong?" Rain asked.

"Do you always pick such flashy things?"

Rain looked down at the car and grinned.

"No, actually, I'm usually pretty low-key, but..."

"You're nervous, you just got a brand new platinum credit line, and you wanted to impress me," Case smirked at her.

Rain thought it over for a second and was surprised to find that the woman was right. Usually she was on top of those kinds of things, but this case was too important and she was nervous that she was going to mess it up now that she was expected to work one on one with somebody else.

"Yeah," she replied a little sheepishly.

"I'm glad that's all it is. I'd have told Antonio to find you another line of work if you were just into living the high life," she said.

She dropped her bag into the back seat and pulled open the passenger side door. She slid into the car and waited for Rain to join her. Rain dropped into her seat and started the car. She paid the attendant and then they were on the PCH, driving north along the coast.

"Why is living the high life bad?" Rain asked in order to continue their earlier conversation.

"It's not bad, it's just not good in our line of work. It's really easy to get used to having the best of everything. You start to rely on it, get addicted to it. Then anything less is a hardship. It takes your focus away. It becomes a weakness. And you can't afford to have too many weaknesses in this line of work."

"So, how long have you been 'in this line of work'?" Rain asked her.

"Three years."

"How come I'm not being trained by the one who trained you?"

"You are. I trained me."

"So you did freelance and then Mr. Carlotti hired you?"

"No. I've worked for Antonio since I turned eighteen, eight years. He just noticed me a few years ago and decided I'd make a good assassin. I was sent to a couple of his guys, but they... Basically, they laughed at me, so I trained on my own."

"Those guys still working for Antonio?"

"No. They're dead. Got caught on one of their jobs. The Target happened to have a shotgun and didn't take too kindly to being shot at."

"So, he got away."

"No. I was sent in to clean up the mess."

The drive was silent while Rain took in the information she'd just been given. The sun was rapidly heading for the horizon and Rain started thinking about dinner. She hadn't eaten since that morning at the airport, while she'd waited to board the plane. She'd refused to eat the airline food.

"You hungry?"

"Yeah, we should head back to the city anyway. I have some things I need to take care of," Case replied.

Rain found a place to turn the car around and soon they were headed into downtown Los Angeles. Rain found a parking garage and Case tipped the valet a hundred dollars to stay with the car and make sure it remained untouched. Even though it was just a rental, she really hated complications, like explaining a missing BMW because some punk decided he liked the car.

Case carried her bag with her and Rain decided to follow her lead. Case walked purposefully into one of the many jewelry stores that lined the streets of Downtown and headed for the back. Rain glanced at the display cases and saw huge gold chains and numerous gold charms that she knew were a big hit with the girlfriends of the local gang members.

A man behind the counter came over to greet Case.

"Hey, Case, how's biz?"

"Fine. Got some shit for you."

Case unzipped a side pocket on her bag and pulled out an off white surgical glove with a knot at the wrist. The man took the bag and pulled out a switchblade from his pocket. He pierced the glove and a dozen pieces of nicely cut jewelry tumbled onto the glass countertop.

"A job?" he asked, referring to the glove that was their usual sign for when the merchandise came from a hit rather than a standard robbery.

She'd begun using Carlito for fencing stolen goods when she was still just a thief for Antonio. Then a burglary had gone bad and she'd had to kill two security guards to get away. That's how she'd come to Antonio's attention. She'd only fired two bullets, but both had found their marks in the hearts of each of the guards. Antonio had tested her personally on his private range and she hadn't even had to try. All her shots landed in the bull's eyes.

Now, when she was in the area and some of her hits called for her to stage a robbery, she still came to Carlito to move hot items along.

"Yeah. This morning," she replied.

He nodded and then started sorting through the pieces with his blade.

"I'll have to move these someplace else. No one wants this kind of shit here."

"You could take 'em apart. Melt the gold down for something else and reset the gems."

The man grunted noncommittally.

"How much?" Case finally asked.

He mumbled under his breath, adding up the different pieces and what he could get for them, then subtracting different amounts until he came up with a good profit for himself and an uninsulting price for Case.

"Six hundred," he offered.

"Nine hundred," she countered.

"Seven."

"Eight."

"Seven-fifty."

"Deal," Case said and reached out her hand to shake on it.

Carlito scooped up the jewelry and walked behind a curtain in the back. Case plucked the shredded glove off the counter and pushed it into her jeans pocket next to the pair still there.

Rain leaned down next to her ear.

"You did a job just this morning?" she asked in a low tone so no one else could hear.

Rain was a little shocked. Case just didn't seem like someone who should be in this business and yet she appeared totally calm about it all.

"Yeah. It was kind of short notice. Sort of like you. I didn't hear about you until a few hours ago."

"No shit," Rain said.

She'd figured Antonio would have had Case notified immediately.

"Yeah, Antonio's kind of a spur of the moment kind of guy. I'll bet he decided your fate in half a heartbeat," Case looked up at her with a knowing grin.

Now that Rain thought about it, Case was right. Antonio had just decided what Rain was going to do for him without giving it, or her, a second thought. She realized that though getting Antonio's attention was a good thing the first time, it would probably be best to go unnoticed forever after.

Carlito came back out and handed over a bundle of hundred dollar bills with a fifty on top. Case thumbed through it quickly and then stuffed it into her back pocket, as she snagged her bag off the counter.

"See ya 'round," she called over her shoulder.

"Yeah, later," he said.

They walked out of the store and started down the street.

"Where do you want to eat?" Case asked her tall companion.

"Where's good around here?"

"Depends on what you want. I know a good Mexican place. There's a good pizza place a few blocks from here and there's Chinese back the way we came."

"How 'bout pizza?"

"Sure."

Half an hour later, they were working on a large 'everything but anchovies' pizza. Case decided it was her turn to start the conversation and asked a few questions of her own.

"So, how did you get into the business? Doc mentioned you were working for Franco?"

"Yeah I was his bo... I mean his go between," Rain corrected herself.

The sheet with the new code phrases she'd had to memorize had been explicit about coding everything when in a public area. It had been different when she was just a bodyguard since she was almost never in a public place that wasn't owned and operated by a family member, and she wasn't supposed to speak much then anyway. Her new position basically gave her the feeling of being undercover while being undercover. The layers of deception were a little staggering.

Case smiled.

"You're learning," she complimented.

"Thanks. Anyway, he gave me the job after he saw me take one of his guys down a peg or two."

"What'd the guy do?"

"He pinched my butt."

"So, you're good in a fight?"

"Yeah."

"I'm looking for specifics. Did you take a self-defense class? Are you a bar brawler? What?"

"I'm a fifth-degree black belt in Taekwondo."

"So, you're a Master. Nice. I've only got my first degree in that discipline."

"You hold degrees in others?"

"I hold a second degree in Karate; I'm Sandan, or third degree, in Jiu-Jitsu; Yondan, or fourth degree, in Aikido; and I'm certified to teach Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do."

Rain whistled low. This woman was prepared for just about any kind of physical attack a person could level at her.

"You couldn't have learned all that in just the last three years, so it wasn't for work," Rain stated.

"No, I started training a month after I turned eighteen. It was one of my hobbies."

"One of your hobbies?"

"Yeah, computers were the other. It filled up my time when I wasn't running for Antonio."

So, she'd started out as a drug runner.

"So, is that why Antonio pegged you as a.. delivery girl?" Rain had to think for a second to remember the proper code for assassin.

"No."

Rain waited for an explanation, but Case didn't say anything further. In fact, Rain could see that Case had completely closed up. She looked around their table at some of the other patrons of the pizza joint and then came back to Case's face.

"So, when does my training start?"

"It already has. But we'll get into specifics tomorrow. There's a few books I want you to read and a bunch of websites you need to familiarize yourself with. I also want a demonstration of your martial arts skills."

Case looked down at the mostly demolished pizza. They'd paid for their food and drinks at the counter, so they were free to leave whenever they were ready.

"You got a favorite hotel you want to stay at?" Case asked.

"Um, I like Hampton Inns. They give you free breakfasts in the morning," Rain grinned.

"All right. Let's go find one. We can stop at a bookstore on the way, see if they've got what I need."

They left and were back on the road after collecting the BMW from their attentive valet. Case gave the kid another hundred for keeping the car safe for them while they were gone.

A quick stop at a Barnes and Noble and Case had several books and a couple of magazines for her new student to peruse. They covered everything from hunting rifles and martial arts, to auto mechanics and computer programming. A short time later and they were all checked in at Rain's favorite hotel.

Case looked around the room and chose the bed furthest from the door by dropping her bag on top of it. It crossed her mind that Rain didn't have any luggage with her and therefore, no change of clothes. That situation needed to be rectified.

"Okay, we've got home base settled. Now, let's go shopping," Case declared, and they headed back out to the car.

At least it would look like that's how she'd planned it. The fact that she was totally winging it with this new apprentice hadn't escaped her.

Their first stop was a Target, which Case thought was rather funny, her morbid sense of humor catching Rain a little off-guard. Rain picked out a few changes of clothing, as well as sleepwear and a few toiletry items.

Then they headed to a computer retailer and Case picked out a laptop for Rain, along with a ton of peripherals that Case insisted were necessary. When Case picked up several CD-ROM games, Rain raised an eyebrow at the 'necessity' and Case just grinned at her.

"I have to entertain my inner child somehow," Case explained.

"Your inner child likes running around dungeons and shooting demons?"

"Yup. I bet your inner child would like it, too."

"I doubt she would even know how to tell the good guys from the bad," Rain replied.

"Oh, that's easy. You're the only good guy and you're on your own. Everyone else is the enemy. You can only rely on yourself to keep you safe."

"Sounds kinda lonely. Is there a way for more than one person to play at the same time? You know, kind of like a team effort?" Rain asked, suddenly realizing there was a whole other level to their conversation.

"Yeah, actually, there is. We can use the cable I picked up for your laptop to hook it up to mine and then we can play in a death match. It's fun. You'll see."

Rain just smirked and nodded. Inside though, she was frowning in thought. She was pretty sure she'd just gained some major insights into her new teacher. She just wasn't sure she liked them very much.

Their next stop was a martial arts outfitter. Case had Rain pick out a uniform and belt and chose a collapsible bo for herself. Rain saw the weapon and picked one up too, though hers was a bit longer to accommodate her height. Rain charged the items to her new credit card.

The next thing she knew, they were at a dark apartment building and Rain wondered at first if they were visiting one of Case's friends. Once they were allowed inside, however, Rain realized why they were there.

There were several tables set up with various guns and ammo laid out on them and Case went directly to one of the tables with handguns neatly stacked next to each other. She pulled out a set of surgical gloves from her jeans pocket and snapped them on, then picked up one of the guns. She held it easily in her hand, hefted the weight, checked the clip, mock aimed it, and then set it back down. She went through a few others and then turned to regard Rain.

"What's your preference?"

Rain remembered her two shiny silver Colt XS series LW Commanders, with their beautiful rosewood grips, waiting for her at home, and half-sighed with wistful longing.

"I usually carry a set of Colt Commanders. It's what I'm used to," she shrugged as though she didn't care.

"Hmm, they're good, but I think I want you to use a Smith & Wesson 9mm. Commanders are pretty, but the silver caste gives off too much of a reflection. They make you a target."

Case picked up the gun she'd mentioned and flipped the handle, so that she was holding the barrel, and offered it to Rain to inspect.

"Plus, the 910 model holds ten rounds, instead of eight, and that can make a big difference, if things go wrong. It's a touch smaller than what you're used to, and a couple ounces heavier, but we'll go to the range tomorrow and check you out on them."