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Chapter 13
Gabriel parked his truck a few blocks down from the motel and walked the rest of the way with his 9-millimeter pistol tucked into his waistband at the small of his back beneath his black leather jacket.
All his senses were on full alert now as he moved stealthily through the early morning dawn.
No one would see him unless he so wished it. This is what he did – this is what he was good at.
He was no longer Gabriel, the man. No longer the gentle, compassionate man Rachel had fallen in love with.
Right now, he was a killer - a predator – ready to swoop in and kill with precision and without mercy… he was The Hawk.
He stopped near a cropping of trees not far from the motel, his dark eyes taking in everything, missing nothing. His ears listened for any sounds that should not belong. A gentle breeze flittered against his face, lifting a few strands of dark curls, bringing with it the early morning smells of breakfast being cooked at a nearby diner and the diesel of a Federal Express truck idling while its driver made his first early morning deliveries.
It also brought smells of urine and rotting things he’d rather not dwell on. It wasn’t a good neighborhood.
All the better, he thought silently, in this kind of neighborhood, people would be less likely to pay me any mind.
Gabriel turned his attention to the cheap motel. A large neon sign that had seen far better days stood near the street stating, “L ST S OP M EL.” He noted four vehicles in the parking lot, but he also knew that the rooms wrapped around to the back past the parking lot. And he knew Stone’s room was on the back end.
The early morning sun was beginning to brighten the sky, casting a soft glow onto the quiet business section. Gabriel knew he’d have to move quickly.
Following a mental map in his head, Gabriel moved silently around the motel, keeping to the bushes along the fence that ran around the property. He already knew the place well, having staked out the area the day before. He also knew that there was only one other person staying on the backside of the motel and that person’s room was on the opposite end of the building from Stone’s.
It was the perfect situation… perhaps a little too perfect, but Gabriel was ready for anything that Stone might throw at him.
Reaching the back of the motel, Gabriel squatted down, letting the bushes hide him. He scanned the parking lot, mentally adding up everything he saw – yup, two cars on opposite ends – the silver Mercedes being Stone’s. Gabriel was surprised the car had lasted through the night without having been stolen or stripped, or at the very least, broken into.
He waited patiently for a few more minutes, making certain that everything was as it seemed, then he rose up and stepped out, walking briskly, confidently across the parking lot. As he approached the door to Stone’s room, he felt his cell phone vibrate in his jacket pocket.
Rachel…
No, he wouldn’t answer it. He wouldn’t even look, he knew that if he did that the guilt of what he was doing, knowing that he had lied to her, would cause him to second-guess himself and that was a dangerous thing to do in his line of work.
No, it was best to just ignore it and get this over with. Stone needed to be dealt with and Gabriel knew the justice system too well to be satisfied with just letting the police handle the matter.
Reaching back behind him, he withdrew his gun with one hand while he pulled the silencer out of his jacket pocket with the other. With a disturbingly familiar ease, he attached the silencer then stood off to one side of the motel room door and rapped his knuckles twice against it.
Silence. Not even movement within the room could be heard. He knocked again to be sure. Again silence. Stepping back, he pointed his gun at the lock and shot twice. A soft *POP* *POP * sounded as the wood splintered around the lock. Giving the door a hard shove with his shoulder, it swung open.
The room was dark except for the shaft of light that came from the open door. Gabriel held his gun out before him, his eyes quickly, but carefully taking in the messy room. The bed sheets were carelessly pulled to one side, half hanging off the bed onto the floor. Trash was strewn around the room, empty cartons of Chinese food, hamburger wrappers and soda cups.
Cautiously, he moved in, crossing over and lifting the bedspread to check beneath the bed before moving to the bathroom. It too, was empty.
Where the hell was he?
Gabriel began looking about the room, careful that he didn’t touch anything. He looked for anything that might tell him where Stone was or what he was up to. He’d just about given up and was ready to leave when he spotted a crumpled piece of paper on the floor behind the open door.
Crossing over to it, he bent down and picked it up. Straightening the crumpled paper out, a chill raced up his spine when he saw what was written on it… the address to his apartment. How did…
His breath froze in his lungs when he made the connection.
“Dio mio,” he whispered. “Rachel.” He shoved his hand into his jacket pocket pulling out his cell phone, praying that it had not been her trying to call him for help.
His fingers hurriedly punched in the code to listen to his messages, all the while, he chanted under his breath. “Non sia prego lei, non sia prego lei. (Please don’t be her, please don’t be her)”
He held the phone up to his ear and listened to the automated voice tell him he had one new message. He squeezed his eyes shut, holding his breath. Dio, he would never forgive himself if he’d ignored her call and she was in trouble.
“Emergency! Call me!”
George! The air rushed out of his lungs with relief. What the hell did he want? Gabriel shook his head and hit the disconnect button. He looked at the piece of paper again and knew something was wrong, terribly wrong.
He had to get back to the apartment… now. He left the motel room at a run, his long legs quickly covering the distance between the motel and his truck. His heart was hammering in his chest by the time he slid into the driver’s seat and shoved the key into the ignition.
Something wasn’t right, Gabriel thought silently as the truck roared to life. How did that bastard get the address to my apartment?
“Emergency! Call me!”
George’s quick, tense message came back to him and another chill of foreboding curled in his stomach until he thought he might puke. He wouldn’t dare…
Grabbing his cell phone, he punched in the number for the pay phone he and George always used, while at the same time hitting the accelerator of his truck with his foot.
~*~
George sank onto the small bench seat in the phone booth then hesitated a second before reaching out and finally picking up the receiver. Sweat trickled down the sides of his face and his hand trembled. “Time to pay the piper,” he murmured nervously and brought the phone to his ear.
“Se così tanto mentre i capelli sulla sua testa sono dal posto quando ottengo al mio appartamento, ci non sarà un foro abbastanza in profondità affinchè si nasconda da me.
(If so much as a hair on her head is out of place when I get to my apartment, there will not be a hole deep enough for you to hide from me)” Gabriel’s voice was soft and deadly.
“Gabe, I-”
“What the fuck were you thinking, George?” Gabriel snapped, cutting him off.
“I-I… stava provando soltanto... a aiutare (...was only trying to… to help),” George stuttered, his heart pounding so loud that he couldn’t hear himself think. He wouldn’t even ask how Gabriel knew. Somehow he always knew.
“Aiuto? (Help?) Do you realize what you’ve done?” Gabriel asked furious. “Rachel is at my apartment, you son of a bitch and you just gave that bastard a free pass!”
“He has her, Gabe,” George spit out, knowing that he had just forfeited his life.
Silence from Gabriel’s end of the phone.
Then, “What did you say?”
The cold sound of death shivered up George’s spine.
“I…” he swallowed hard. “Dio, Gabe, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean…” he swallowed again. “I called the apartment about 15 - 20 minutes ago to tell you what I had done so that you could prepare for Stone showing up. I knew you wanted this over with, Gabe, so I tried to help… Non ho significato anche... (I didn’t mean to…)”
“She answered the phone and told me you weren’t there. She found your note to her – she was upset that you had lied to her – she was crying. I hadn’t expected her to be there, Gabe, I swear it, ya gotta believe me. If I’d known I never woulda done what I did. I told her to get out of the apartment, but while we were talking…” George closed his eyes, remembering Rachel’s screams. “He showed up there and grabbed her. I called you immediately.”
Just then Gabriel’s cell phone beeped, indicating another call was coming in. “Hang on,” he growled and switched to the other call.
“If you wish to ever see her again, come to
“Nooo!” Gabriel heard Rachel scream in the background. “It’s a trap, Gabriel, don’t come!”
“Shut up, you bitch!” Gabriel stiffened as he heard the muffled yet obvious sound of Stone’s fist hitting Rachel’s face.
“You’re a dead man, Stone.”
Soft, low laughter sounded in Gabriel’s ear. “Come and get me then, oh mighty Hawk.”
The line went dead.
A deadly calm settled over Gabriel as he switched back over to his call with
George. “
He hit the ‘end’ button and tossed the phone onto the seat next to him. He couldn’t think about Rachel now. It was time to hunt. A cold smile curved the corners of his lips. It had been a long time since he’d had to hunt a kill. A thrill of adrenalin shot through him getting him excited. He would enjoy this. For the first time in his life as an assassin, he would actually enjoy the kill.
Slowing down at the next intersection, he flipped a U-turn and headed towards the warehouse district.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Hitman – Chapter 14