Page 38 of Assassin: Part 1

“Verified without a doubt?” Enforcer asks, voice neutral.

“Family of one of the missing kids put out a call, and I put people on it. We found the latest barrel she dumped at the back of her property. The others were too decayed to get any confirmation, but we got to this one in time. It’s confirmed. Victim for that one was a ten-year-old boy. Acid did too much damage to identify, but they managed to get one strand of hair. Long shot but might be something.”

“How long between abductions?” Hunter asks.

“She waits a month between to make sure everything’s cleaned up before she gives in to her compulsion again. She’s got it down to a science.”

“How many are we suspecting?” I ask, my mind spinning with questions and possible problems. “And are the cops getting suspicious?”

“Local law enforcement are lazy and think the kids are all runaways. Hacking into their systems shows they put a lot of those cases as such, and no work has really been done to follow up.”

“Is there an obvious type?”

“Boys generally are dark haired, white, and on the weaker side. The girls range. The only thing common between each of them is that they’re all between the ages of eight and ten and white. Different hair and eye colors, but all small and skinny.”

“She doesn’t want to risk them fighting back or running away,” I summarize. “You said she has them on her property? Property is remote, then?”

“Yeah, big plot of land outside of the town she lives in. A hundred acres, mostly forested. She can dump those barrels without anyone being the wiser.” Reaper slides pictures across the table. “No cameras, no sensors, and she thinks she’s completely untouchable. Her entire town thinks she’s a sweet woman who likes to bake cookies and help out with church events.”

“Church?” My eyes narrow slightly. Someone so wholly connected to a community will be noticed missing in no time. Or some stupid bitch will think she should stop in to check on her out of some kind of assumed duty, and it’ll be a mess.

“Rarely, but enough that it might warrant us not keeping her at her home. There is a possible old shack at the far corner of the property that could be used.”

“Do more surveillance. I’m not liking this one yet.” Too many variables could come back to us. “If law enforcement is lazy and we want her out of the way, then we set things in motion for them to find out about it.”

Reaper doesn’t react outwardly to my shutdown of the suggestion, but I don’t care. I expect them to do what needs to be done and ensure nothing will ever be traced back to us.

We work in the dark, behind a veil of shadows that crawl along the edges of society. Anonymity and ridding the world of the scum that hides in plain sight. Including behind the hard lines of crime worlds. We can’t afford to make a single mistake.

“Is there another one?” Enforcer asks. “Or was this the only option?”

“I have a second option.” Reaper pulls out more photos from another folder. “Higher profile, but multiple requests have come through. Compared to the woman, he’s going to be much bigger news and more of a risk of it coming back to someone. If we’re going after him, we need to do it very carefully. Everything must be airtight.”

It’s French diplomat Pierre Dubois, whom most in the criminal world know well. Well, those in the circles that traffic young girls. The man has been on my radar for years, but taking him out would raise suspicion on me immediately.

“What brought him up now?” I ask. There has to be a reason someone this high profile has been suggested.

“He’s getting greedy. Multiple reports from different channels indicate he’s been asking for multiple girls at a time to be sent to him rather than individually. Apparently, he doesn’t like to have to wait if he’s not satisfied enough after he kills the first one. Over the last couple of months, he’s purchased three girls at a time, each from a different group. Russian, cartel, and Albanians. Word is out that three wasn’t enough the last time, so he’s wanting an extra two.”

The tension escalates. None of it surprises me. Word has traveled down that there is some worry he’s going to expose the wrong people.

“When is the next purchase happening?” I ask. My mind is whirling with the possibilities.

“Two weeks. He’s in the Americas until then on some sort of political business. While he’s there, he’s with too many people, which means when he gets back, he’s going to be even worse than before.” Reaper’s gaze moves around the table, implication clear.

“He kills them all afterward?” Enforcer questions, picking up the picture and looking at it again.

“Snaps their necks. Doesn’t want the mess of bullets or knives leaving blood stains”

“Or possible DNA,” Hunter muttered. “We’re going to need someone to pin it on. Who has he pissed off lately?”

“He’s been working on a back-door deal with a couple of Italian Dons about getting them access to deals and contracts in France,” I state. This might be my last chance to get to this bastard before it slips away, but we have to be very fucking careful, and I can’t allow any of them to know it might have my name brought up. “The deals are almost complete, but he’s been stringing them along. There’s nothing coming out of that. He’s going to take their money and then blame the French government, saying they’re looking into him.”

No one questions how I know that. It’s my job to know everything in the world that might affect me and what I do. After all, everyone in the criminal world talks. Nothing stays secret for long unless you ensure it.

And men in this world love to brag.

“Then we have the perfect cover.”