John Locke - The Love You Crave

Maybe gives her a look. “The women too?”

“You were always supposed to kill the Mayor’s wife. He didn’t tell you? Jesus. Must’ve been afraid you wouldn’t show up.”

Maybe’s face turns red. “I would have shown up.”

Hailey looks at her. “Maybe, maybe not,” she says, then laughs at her joke about Maybe’s name.

Maybe says nothing.

Hailey says, “Let me guess: you’ve never killed a woman before.”

Maybe says nothing.

“Are you going to freeze up on me?” Hailey says. “I need to know. Hello? Can you speak to me, please? I mean, we are planning a high-profile hit together.”

Maybe says, “Are you dating him?”

“ What? Oh.” She smiles. “You’re jealous!”

“No, of course not.”

“Sounds like it.”

“Whatever.”

“ Whatever!” Hailey says, mimicking her.

She drives quietly a couple minutes, then glances over at Maybe and says, “Look, I’m sorry. I’m being a jerk. Truth is I don’t know much more than you. I’m all keyed up because…I hate killing innocent people, especially women. He knows that.”

“How old are they?”

“The women? Well, it’s not like they’re children, thank God. They’re older than you.”

Maybe says, “Women, children…it wouldn’t matter to me.”

Hailey studies her face. “Are you serious? Because I could never kill children. And he better never ask me to!”

Maybe says, “You’re too pretty to have been treated badly in high school.”

“Excuse me?”

“If there were high school kids here, it wouldn’t be hard for me to kill them. I’d just remember the ones who treated me badly in school. I’d think of them, and shoot these.”

“You could do that?”

“Sure.”

“What about grade school kids?” Hailey says.

“What about them?

“Could you shoot a kid?”

“Yes.”

Hailey gives her a look. “How?”

“What do you mean?”

“Jesus!” Hailey says.

After passing the condo twice, Hailey drives all the way to the public beach parking area, a full mile east of the condo.

She says, “We should probably change into bathing suits and cover-ups.”

“Right.”

“You don’t happen to have a large sun hat in your suitcase, do you?”

“I’ve got a ball cap and sunglasses.”

“That’ll do.”

They get out and head to the public bathroom, change into their suits, and put their clothes in their totes to further conceal their weapons. Maybe puts a second clip into the back pocket of her jeans.

“Is your silencer attached?” Hailey says.

Maybe nods.

The two assassins make their way toward the water, careful to step around the real estate sunbathers have staked out and claimed as their own for the day. Maybe doesn’t understand why so many people are sporting angry sunburns. At some point, they’ve got to know their skin’s on fire.

When they get to the hard-packed sand, she says, “What’s our boss’s name?”

“He should be the one to tell you that.”

They walk in silence a few minutes. Then Maybe says, “Have you slept with him?”

Hailey stops. “Look, honey. You need to take a step back. Not because it’s none of your business, but because I can tell he’s really got a hold on you. You can’t let a man get hold of your mind like that. My ex did that to me, and it was hell on wheels.”

“Is that a yes?”

Hailey sighs. “It’s a no. I’ve only met him once.”

“When was that?”

“About six weeks ago.”

“You’ve only been doing this for six weeks?”

“No. I was hired and trained by someone else to do this type of work, but he retired about six weeks ago, and passed me off to your boss. I insisted on meeting him.”

“What’s he like?”

“I can’t go into any details. But I can tell you he hates the fact I know his name. Not that I’d ever use it against him. To be honest, I’m not sure I’m cut out for this. I thought I was, but…I don’t know. This…” she makes a sweeping gesture with her hand to indicate the hit in general, then shakes her head and starts walking again.

“What about it?” Maybe says, catching up.

“It’s not what I signed up for.”

“What did you sign up for?”

“Snuffing business men.”

“Why?”

Hailey says, “Why am I doing it, or why does he pay me to?”

“The second one.”

“I think these guys pose as hit men and hire you and me to do the jobs they’re supposed to do. In my case, they used to get all the information on a businessman who’s supposed to be killed. When the guy would go out of town to a meeting or convention, I’d get him to lure me to his room. I was married to a serial cheater once. Would’ve killed him if I could, so I figure these men have it coming. I get paid very well to punish them.”

“What if a guy doesn’t invite you to his room?”

“That’s happened only once out of four times. But you solved that problem.”

Maybe thinks a minute. “The college professor?”

“Yup.”

“That was my first paying job.”

“You’re welcome.”

“So,” Maybe says. “There are just two of us working?”

“Far as I know.”

Maybe stops. Hailey says, “What?”

“We’re here.”

“What’s the plan?” Maybe says. “Walk in, start shooting?”

“You think it might be that simple?”

Maybe checks her watch. “It’s after five. They’re in the condo, having a fuck fest. Probably celebrating some shady deal. The women are taking showers now, getting ready to go out to dinner. The men are sitting around, drinking a beer. The front and back doors will be unlocked.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Six people in the house? Three separate couples? They won’t lock the doors till they leave for dinner.”

“If they leave.”

“Right. If they’re cooking tonight, it’ll be the men grilling. Either way, the women are showering. We can take them out last.”

“Should we go in together?”

“We’ll check the doors first. If they’re both unlocked, I’ll go in the front, which is the second floor, and you can go in the back, the walkout. I’ll kill whoever’s on the main floor. By then you’ll be up the stairs. I’ll go to the third floor, and you can cover me.” Maybe sees Hailey staring at her.

“What?”

“You sound like you’ve been doing this all your life.”

“Feels like it, too. Ready?”

They don’t need to test the back door. One of the women is standing next to it, sneaking a cigarette.

“Change of plans,” Maybe says. “We’ll go in together.”

They make a wide arc to the front door. Maybe turns the handle and whispers, “Go left, I’ll go right. When we finish this level, go downstairs, shoot the woman. I’ll go upstairs and take out the rest, if that’s where they are.”

Hailey takes a deep breath and nods. She puts her right hand in her tote bag.

“After you,” she says.

Maybe opens the door slowly, peeks inside, then enters. Hailey comes in close behind, closes the door, and locks it. Both women remove their guns from their totes, and set the bags down.

Maybe and Hailey are standing in the front hallway. There’s a spiral staircase to the right of the front door. From her vantage point, Maybe can see up the staircase, and, leaning over the railing now, can see the stairs below.

In the lower level there’s a rumbling noise that sounds like a clothes dryer working overtime. Straight ahead is the empty living room. To the right is the empty kitchen. There appears to be a bedroom off the living room on this floor, and now that Maybe has entered the kitchen, she sees there’s a dining room on the other side of it that faces the ocean. The dining room has a sliding glass door that leads to a deck. The door is open, but there’s a screen door to keep the bugs out. On the deck is a table with four chairs. Two men are sitting at the table, facing the ocean. They’re smoking cigars. Maybe slowly walks to the screen door and shoots them both in the back of the head.