DECEPTION
By Natalie Sammarco*
The rain was barely slipping from the dark clouds that hung over the city. My pace quickened and my heart leap at the site of the upcoming coffee house where I knew the man would be. It was a face I will never forget. The door swung open and I waited as two ladies shuffled out before I marched into the room. The aroma of coffee beans was in the air and also a distinctive scent of peppermint. My eyes went directly to where he had been sitting the last two days. There he was again. One leg crossed over the other, hand clutching a steaming cup of coffee, and his thin pale face pointed down toward a newspaper. He looked like a very successful business man, someone you wouldn’t want to mess with. It’s now or never. I made my way over to him and sat down across from him. His eyes never left paper as he asked,
“Can I help you?” His voice was smooth as velvet. I stared at him and with all the strength I could muster said,
“I saw you kill Nathaniel Perry.” The man did not stir, merely kept looking at his paper. He carefully folded it and then turned his sharp eyes toward me, the blue more piercing and magnificent than the ocean.
“Where’s your proof? Assuming you didn’t go to the police with solid evidence as I am not in handcuffs, so you’re looking to blackmail me, where’s your proof?” The man looked almost bored with this conversation but his gaze never shifted.
“I don’t want to blackmail you. I want to join you. Teach me to be a killer.” I tried to say it with as much confidence as I could muster. I returned his stare and didn’t break it. His brow raised and an amused grin came upon his face as he asked,
“Why?”
“Same reason anyone else would want to, revenge.” His grin left his face in a flash and he quickly gathered his things. He stood and smoothed his clothes over his tall frame. He then snapped his fingers and headed toward the door calling over his shoulder,
“Well hurry up, time is of the essence.” Though it is stupid to follow some man you just met, I was dealing with a hit man. I knew there risks involved to begin with, I don’t think following him will render any worst consequences than what I’ve already said to him. He walked quickly and seemed to be absorbing everything that was happening around him. He did not speak so I asked,
“What is your name?” He looked annoyed that I broke the silence. I had to step into the street to avoid some rude old lady from knocking into me.
“There will be time for questions later. You may call me Viper.” I had to quicken my pace to keep up with his long strides, which was difficult in the city with all the other people trying to rush by. A train roared by somewhere in the distance, the regular hustle and bustle of the city was continuing as usual but I had a bad feeling about this. What was I thinking?
We finally arrived at a parking garage where Viper promptly leads me to his car and we jumped inside. His car was nothing less than I expected, brand new, spotless, fast. He started speeding up the parking garage which made my already uneasy feeling even worse.
“Why are we going to the top?” Viper’s eyes narrowed and he stomped on the gas. The car wound around the garage at an uncontrollably fast pace. It was at this moment that I realized he would kill me for what I knew and that would be the end of my plans. I gripped the edge of my seat as the car finally made it to the roof that was twenty stories and surrounded partly be a river. He drove straight toward the edge, as if he was just going to drive off it.
“You’re insane!” I shouted just before he whipped the car around and let it come to a screeching halt right next to the edge. I tried to jump out of the car before him and start running but he was too quick, before I knew it something metal hit me in the back of the head, hard. I fell down and he grabbed me around the neck, dragging me across the pavement to the edge. He held me over the edge and put a gun under my chin.
“Who the hell are you? Are you a cop? Are you wearing a wire? Do you have any idea who I am?” His voice was commanding and his eyes looked crazy. The once serene blue color now looked like the sky before a storm.
“I’m not a cop! I told you I want your help to kill someone! I can pay you!” My voice was weak and cracking. I looked over the edge at the dark water that awaited twenty stories below, a fall that could be possibly be survived granted he didn’t shoot me first. He looked at my face and the utter fear that was portrayed seemed to be enough to convince him that I was telling the truth. He loosened his grip on me and straightened out his clothes.
“Hope you know what you’re doing.” He then hit me across the face with his gun and I saw no more.
“Get up. GET UP. Oh for god sake I didn’t hit you that hard get up!” Viper was kicking me awake. I was lying on the floor in what looked like a huge garage. My cheek was throbbing and dried blood was caked on my face.
“Where are we?”
“This is my workplace Jacob. Do you like it?” He smiled with a sense of pride at the dull room which I now realized contained, guns and fancy looking equipment. This guy’s out of his damn mind. He took my dumbfounded expression as a positive and didn’t wait for me to respond, rather he just kept talking. “In three days I can tell you all the skills you need to become a great hit man, implementing those skills is another thing entirely.”
“What’s the catch? How much do you want?”
“It would be much easier if I had a second pair of eyes and ears. I will train you to be almost as good as me and then you will work beside me. I must warn you that once you join me, there is no going back. If you seek an early retirement in the near future, you will retire your life. I can’t having someone running around who knows everything about me even if you pinky promise you won’t tell.” He spat out the last part with much resentment as if he had already been through something like it. I also figured that if I said no to his offer that he would kill me now anyways just for knowing what little I know.
“I want fifty percent.” Worth a shot right? He let out a devilish laugh and replied,
“You will get nothing over thirty.” His eyes gazed at me unblinkingly and I realized there was no room for argument on this matter.
“Done.” And it was done. My life as I knew it, would I make a new profession off of this? Who knows.
“First rule; never turn your back on your enemy.” For the next several hours he talked to me about the basics of not involving family or loved ones, how to follow someone and watch them without being obvious about it, how to pick locks, how to shoot a gun and reload and put on attachments, how to cover your DNA tracks. By the time he finally drove me home my mind was reeling. So many details and so many things to look for I don’t know if I was cut out for this, but I must get my revenge.
The next day the sky cleared and the sun shined bright over the city, the light twinkling on the glass of the skyscrapers. I was supposed to meet Viper at the park at noon. I understand he doesn’t trust me enough to know where his house and headquarters is, but we’re in the middle of a busy park. What can possibly be discussed and learned when there are so many people around? I spotted him calmly sitting with his legs crossed on a bench reading a newspaper. Why would someone who works for themselves choose to wear a suit every day? I calmly approached him listening to my soft footsteps pad on the ground. He once again spoke without looking up from his paper, he was very observant without even seeming to be.
“Perfect timing. I just finished reading. Take a seat” He seemed to be in a much more cheerful mood, as if we weren’t two people on a mission for death. I sat next to him and realized that behind his paper was a manila envelope. He folded his paper around it and handed it to me. “Your first job. Once you get accustomed then you will be able to flawlessly get your own revenge.” He made to get up and I interjected,
“Wait I thought you said it would take a while to teach me everything? We barely spoke for a day and now I’m supposed to know everything?” My mind was reeling. In one day he barely talked to me and the next he already expects me to be an expert. Something fishy is going on. I don’t think I can trust this guy. What if he…He interrupted my train of thought and said,
“Half of learning is doing. There are some things you can’t teach; you just need to experience it. I have faith in you.” With that he put his hand on my shoulder and quickly walked away. I walked home with my mind still cluttered. I walked through the busy city wondering if anyone had any idea that things like this actually happened. People hurrying to work, lost in their own world. Their only problems are those of work or their family life. I arrived to my apartment and immediately opened to envelope. Inside was an itinerary and a profile of a man. Anthony Faccioli. Age 35. Divorced. Occupation: dentist. It wasn’t the name but the face that looked so eerily familiar. My father used to be the chief of police and I could swear that I had seen this face before. I went rummaging through my father’s papers that he had left behind in his desk. Sure enough my father had his record right on top of all of his work. This was getting weird. My father’s police files indicate that this man was involved in organized crime. It was one of his most grueling cases that he worked on for the longest time. Why would Viper give me one of the city’s most wanted criminals on my first job? I guess he takes his “learn by doing” attitude very serious. The itinerary instructed me where to go and when and what to do which I found somewhat comforting. Holy shit. The date and time on the itinerary was for tonight at three am. He gave me no time to prepare and I just now realized he didn’t even give me any equipment! As if he could read my thoughts, there was a knock at the door that made my heart leap to my throat. I looked through the peep hole and did not see anyone there. I cautiously opened the door to find a box sitting there. I slid the box inside and locked the door. I’ll deal with this later. I don’t know what to think right now. I’ll sleep for now so I am more than ready to be up at 3 am.
I could barely sleep at all. I laid in bed and stared up at the ceiling thinking of how it was way too big a coincidence that he would give me the profile of the man that my father had worked so hard to try and stop. Unfortunately my father died before he could complete his investigation. Maybe this is a sign that I must complete my father’s work and sometimes you have to take the law into your own hands. Or maybe it’s something else entirely. Screw it. I can’t lie around anymore. I got up and looked at the red glow of my alarm clock; 11:47. I had little time to prepare myself but my mind was already set. I knew exactly what I had to do. I opened the package that Viper had sent to me. The contents of the package were a gun, an extra clip, gloves, a mask, a silencer, tools to pick a lock, a Zippo lighter, wire cutters and various other objects. Viper’s suggestion was to make the killing look like an accident. He said once the man is killed to turn the gas on the stove and blow up the house to make it look like a gas leak was the cause of the fire and to burn the body so badly that it could not be identified. His system had many flaws but I didn’t plan on following his advice anyways. I didn’t trust him one hundred percent.
Time was ticking away and with each second I became more confident in the plan that I created. I threw out the itinerary. I have my own plans. Just before I was about to leave I grabbed one of the guns that my dad had hidden around the house. Hopefully it will bring me good luck. I stashed the gun in my pants and slipped out of my apartment as quietly as I could. No sense in waking the neighbors at this time. Never have I thought about how loud my footsteps can be then right at this moment. I moved quickly hoping that the black sheet of night would cloak me. The kind of people who were out this late at night had intentions not much better than my own. I heard a rustling coming from the alley and nearly yelped. I whipped around to face the direction that the noise had come from. It was just a bum looking through trash. I let out a small nervous laugh and continued my journey.
The sky looked beautiful outside. The stars were bright and the moon was peeking out behind grey clouds. The wind whistled lightly past my ears and sent a chill up my spine. I was almost at my destination, just a few more houses down. I took my mind off nature and focused at the task at hand. First things first, cut the power to avoid security systems. I took out the wire cutters and snipped the main power off. The house did not change a bit as it was already completely dark inside. I looked to the windows to see if there was any movement inside the house. As I waited in breathless silence, I could feel my heart beating against my chest. The house did not stir, whoever was inside was asleep. I exhaled and felt a wave of relief wash over me. I crept silently to the back door and pulled out the necessary tools. I played with the lock for a few minutes, stopping every now and then to listen if someone had heard the tiny clicking noises emanated from the lock. Finally I got it. I slowly opened the door and pulled out my gun. I crept inside and looked around. The house looked just like any other normal house, shoes by the door, miscellaneous items on the counter, paper and books left out on the table and pictures of family. I rounded the corner of the kitchen that lead to the family room and was greeted with a punch in the face and an all too familiar voice that spoke,
“Hello there. You are a sneaky bastard aren’t you?” Vipers icy words rang in my head as my brain buzzed from the blow to the face. “How is it that you found where I lived?” As he spoke he kicked the gun out of my hand and pulled my collar to a standing position. He had a gun pointed at my head and a look of complete malice in his eyes.
“The man I saw you kill was my father.” I spat the words at him, every bone in my body filling with rage. “I never wanted to work for you. I wanted to know what you know and I wanted to kill you. I found out where you lived through my fathers connections. I started following you around and studying you. I’ve been waiting for this moment for too long.” At that moment I pulled out my father’s gun that I had grabbed before I left and pointed it at Viper. He let out an eerie laugh and spoke,
“That gun is full of blanks you idiot. Do you really think I would actually teach you to be like me? I knew who you were and I figured you would come for me but I didn’t think you would be so stupid as to think I would believe your story. I knew you didn’t want to be a hit man. I set you up. If you had gone to Anthony’s house he would have been waiting to kill you instantly when you stepped on his lawn thanks to my little tip to him. Your father was a pathetic cop. Always twelve steps behind Anthony but still an annoyance. That’s why he called me to get rid of that little annoyance. He was thrilled to hear that he would be able to kill the bastard’s son, so he was willing to help me out in setting up. He called me and told me and you hadn’t arrived at the time I told you to which is when I knew you were coming for me. Unfortunately for you, you will die like your father.” He had a sickly grin on his face that made my skin crawl. I aimed the gun at his arm and pulled the trigger. He let out a yelp and dropped his gun so I kicked it away from him.
“The gun you kicked out of my hand was full of blanks, that’s why I grabbed my father’s gun. It’s fitting that you should die by his weapon.” For the first time I saw a glimmer of fear in Vipers eye as he knew there was no way out of this.
“Be reasonable you aren’t going to shoot me. If you do you are not any better than I am.” He clutched his wound and the creepy grin was once again spread across his face. He was right though, if I killed him I would be no better than he is. I lowered my gun and tried to think of what to do.
“You’re right. I’ll just call the police and have you rot in jail for the rest of your miserable life.” I turned to grab his phone on the wall but then I heard him scrambling.
“Never turn your back on your enemy.” He raised his gun but before he could fire I shot him right between the eyes.
“Yeah, I remembered.” Viper fell to the ground in a heap. I looked at him with a sense of sorrow. I did want to kill him but deep down I knew I would only do it if I had to. He usually looked strong and powerful but now it was sad to look at him. I wanted to get this sicko out of the city but I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this. I had everything that went down between us on tape. My father still had a lot of equipment from the force and I borrowed his camera. I was hoping that if my father was watching me that he would be understanding of everything that had happened. A small part of me believes he would.
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*Natalie Sammarco es estudiante de Literatura Inglesa en el Departamento de Lenguas, Literatura y Cultura de Illinois State University.