The Hitman

                                                                       Chapter 5

She was running. Her lungs burned from lack of air as she struggled, trying to get her feet to cooperate. There was someone behind her, chasing her. She didn’t know who it was, but her instincts told her that the person wanted to kill her, so she kept running.

She had no idea where she was. Nothing looked familiar, nor did anything look ‘right’. She knew it was nighttime, yet she could see no sky or moon. She knew she was in an alley, yet she saw no buildings or dumpsters. Everything seemed to be just on the outskirts of her vision, eluding to it, but not defining it.

He was closer now. Somehow she knew it was a ‘he’ and he was gaining ground. She tried to speed up, but her feet suddenly felt as if they were encased in cement. They felt heavy and it became an effort to move them. He was going to catch her; fear along with bile rose up her throat to choke her. She swallowed hard as she turned around to face her unknown attacker.

He stood in the shadows, several feet away so that she couldn’t make out his face, but she could see the outline of him and he looked eerily familiar. They both stared at each other and she was finding it increasingly harder to breathe. She gulped in large amounts of air as fear of what was to happen paralyzed her.

“What do you want from me?”

“I want your soul.” It was but a whisper, but she knew that voice. Her heart fluttered as her hand came up to her throat.

“Gabriel?” Though his face still remained in the shadows, the outline of his body reassured her that it was him. Tall, muscular, she could even see the outline of his long curls as they fell down just past his shoulders. “Gabriel?” she called again as she took a step towards him.

“Nothing is what it seems, dolcezza. The one you trust will hurt you and the one who would hurt you will save you.” He took a step back further into the shadows.

“Wait, Gabriel, I don’t understand.” She took another step towards him.

“Guardarsi da, il mia amore,” came the whispered reply. “Beware . . .”

“Wait, Gabriel, please come back, don’t leave me!” The shadowy figure stopped, then began to move forward again as if he’d changed his mind. But she realized that as he moved closer, he seemed to change. Now the figure that moved slowly towards her was shorter, stockier . . .

He stepped out of the shadows and she gasped when she saw his face. It was twisted into an evil smile and a gun appeared in his hand.

“Martin . . .”

Rachel woke with a jerk, a scream frozen in her throat. It was a moment before she realized where she was - safe in her own bed and still another few moments before she remembered that Gabriel was there too. It all came back to her in a rush . . . Gabriel . . . he’d come for dinner, and then after Abigail had gone to bed, he’d kissed her, they had made love and it had been wonderful.

Rachel shivered as she remembered how he had touched her. Glancing over at the empty space next to her on the bed, she wondered where he was now. The place where he had lain was cold to the touch. Surely he hadn’t just left without a word, he would have said goodbye… wouldn’t he? She sat up, holding the sheet to her chest as she reached over and turned the small lamp on. She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach and she tried to push it away.

“Gabriel?” she called out softly as her eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room. She spotted him standing by the window. He’d put his pants back on and he was gazing out the window. He was standing partially in the shadows and the dream that had awakened her suddenly came to the forefront of her mind causing her to shiver as fear crept into the outskirts of her mind. “Gabriel? Are you alright?”

                                                                  ~*~*~*~*~

He hadn’t been able to sleep. The warmth of her body pressed against his so trustingly had been the final straw. He couldn’t go through with it. He couldn’t kill her. Slipping out from beneath the covers, he’d donned his pants and had paced the length of the room several times before he’d finally stopped before the window to gaze out into the back yard. He’d picked up his gun, just to feel it in the palm of his hand and for the first time in his life he regretted what he did. What he’d become.

Though he’d never regretted before being a hitman, he always thought that if circumstances had been different he would have chosen a better profession. A more legal profession. He had never had a problem with killing. It wasn’t exactly something he particularly enjoyed doing like some did, but still, to him it was just a job and he did it to the best of his ability.

But now . . . he glanced over at Rachel sleeping in the bed. His heart skittered wildly for a second as he took a deep breath. His hand tightened around the butt of the gun as he slowly released the air that was burning in his lungs.

She’d changed his life. Forever. Even if he hadn’t planned to retire after this job, he would have walk away from it all, because of her. For her.

For the first time in his life he was in love. It seemed to be a time of firsts for him. Regret and love. He shook his head and returned his gaze out the window. One thing was for certain though: he hated this feeling of helplessness, of being vulnerable. It pissed him off and made him edgy. His dark thoughts turned towards Martin Stone. That was a no-brainer. Stone was a walking dead man. It would be his last kill; it would be his retirement gift to himself knowing that Rachel would be safe from the bastard.

Gabriel never understood men like Martin Stone. Obsessed with power and money and willing to take down anyone who got in their way, including their wives. Knowing that Rachel fell into that category angered him. The more he dwelled on it, the more his blood boiled, so when he finally heard her stir, heard her call to him and turn on the light, he snapped.

~*~*~*~*~

Turning slowly towards her, his eyes were cold and hard. Nothing showed of the warm, loving, sensitive man that had loved her only a few hours before. The man standing before her now was a complete stranger and Rachel suddenly realized what a fool she’d been. He began to walk towards her and as he did, he raised his hand to reveal a gun that she hadn’t noticed before. It was big and had a silencer on it. She gasped, quickly backing up until she hit the headboard. Gabriel stopped at the foot of the bed, his arm held straight out pointing the gun mere inches from her face.

“Oh god, no, please Gabriel,” Rachel sobbed trying to turn away from the gun. “Why are you doing this?” Pure terror gripped her hard as she tried to think of what to do, of how to keep him from hurting Abigail.

“Do you know how much you are worth to your husband dead?” he asked coldly. He hated himself for scaring her like this, but she had to know. She had to know how close she’d come to dying and that her husband was responsible for it.

Rachel looked confused. “Martin?” What did he have to do with this? Her mind raced for a possible explanation. Then the memory of the dream she’d just had flashed in her mind’s eye and she gasped softly.

“Do you know how much you are worth, Rachel Stone? Do you know how much you are worth to your husband? Do you?” he asked through clenched teeth. She shook her head; her eyes, wide with fear, never left his. “Let me explain it to you then. Your husband thinks you are worth more dead than alive.” His hand tightened around the butt of the gun as his fury peaked. “The bastard hired me to make him richer and to make you very dead.”

She was shaking violently now. She was beyond shocked. She wanted to deny it, but it was a hard thing to do when someone was standing there pointing a gun at her face. “M-martin h- hi-hired you t-to kill me? You’re, you’re a hitman?”

“Yes,” he hissed, hating the fear he saw in her eyes, the fear that he had put there. Gritting his teeth together he started to squeeze the trigger, thinking that maybe he could pull this off after all. His cold emotionless eyes bore into her as he tried to exorcise her from his heart. “Son of a bitch!” he growled viciously, his arm jerking away at the last second and emptied the gun into the pillow next to her.

Rachel cried out, flinging her arms up to protect her face. Her body jerked almost violently in time with the muffled popping of the gun. It wasn’t until his arms came around her that she realized that she was unhurt and she began to struggle against him. “No! Let me go, oh God, no!” It was useless to fight against him. His arms were like iron bands around her, holding her arms down to her sides as he gathered her against the warmth of this body. She collapsed against him and sobbed.

He cradled her against him, rocking her gently, letting her cry it out. He reached behind him and grabbed a corner of the comforter and wrapped it around her, covering her nudity. Finally she was quiet except for the occasional hitch in her breathing as her head rested against his shoulder.

“Why didn’t you kill me just now?” she asked softly, still not able to believe what had just almost happened. Little bits of feathers drifted through the air around them from the now destroyed pillow, adding to the surreal feelings within Rachel. The unfamiliar stench of gunpowder made Rachel realize this was all too real… a living nightmare that she could not awaken from.

“Because I can’t, cara mia. I tried, Dio, how I tried!” he replied in frustration. “But you weren’t the woman I expected. You weren’t . . .” He let his voice trail off and swallowed hard, feeling the loud thunder of his heart in his chest. God, he loved this woman and now he was going to have to let her go. He gently tilted her head up so he could see her eyes. They were still filled with fear – fear of him. “You have nothing to fear from me, Rachel. I will not harm you or Abigail, but you must hear what I have to tell you.”

He lifted her off his lap and placed her on the bed. “Get dressed and come to the living room. I have something I want to give you and then you will never see me again.” He stood and grabbed his shirt and gun, then left the room.

Rachel sat there for another minute or two contemplating what Gabriel had told her. He was a hitman! She couldn’t believe it! She also found it equally hard to believe that Martin would pay someone to kill her. She glanced over at the phone on her bedside table and contemplated calling the police. Would they believe her? What would Gabriel do if he discovered she’d called the cops on him? Would he kill her then? What was it that he wanted to give her? Slowly she rose up from the bed and pulled on a pair of comfortable jeans and a shirt. He’d told her he wouldn’t harm her or Abigail and strangely she believed him. She would hear him out, see what he wanted to give her and then he would leave. You will never see me again . . . why did that not make her happy?

Entering the living room, she found Gabriel pacing the length of it impatiently. He glanced up at her and stopped, watching her closely. “Did you call them?”

She stopped and met his dark gaze, knowing what he asked. “No, I thought about it, but-” She didn’t finish her answer. Her heart twisted in her chest as it finished the sentence for her, silently . . . but I couldn’t because I love you! God help me, but I do!

Gabriel took a step towards her seeing the vulnerable look in her eyes, but then stopped himself when he saw her tense up. “There are some things you need to hear. Things you won’t like, but it’s important that you understand.” She nodded and moved to sit down on the couch. Her hands held tightly in her lap, she looked up at him waiting to hear what he would tell her.

Reaching into the inner pocket of his jacket, Gabriel pulled out a cassette tape and handed it to Rachel. “What is this?” she asked, looking at it curiously.

“It is a recording of your husband with my contact negotiating the terms of your demise.” Rachel froze, her heart lodged in her throat. Up till now, she’d still half believed that what Gabriel had told her about Martin hiring him to kill her was a sick joke, but now she had proof. Now she had to face the cold hard reality that her husband wanted her dead.

“I don’t understand,” she whispered softly staring at the cassette tape in her hand. “I would have given him a divorce. I asked for a divorce!”

His heart broke as he watched her struggle with the information he was giving her. He wanted to gather her up and protect her, but he knew it would be unwanted. “It’s all about money, Rachel. Your husband wasn’t willing to part with a dime of his money and he knew that if he allowed you to divorce him, he would lose a good portion of what he’s built in addition to alimony and child support.”

She shook her head in denial, not wanting to accept that Martin would have her killed over money. “I don’t want his money, I never did.”

“It doesn’t matter, bella. Even if he knew this, he couldn’t take the risk of you changing your mind later.”

“How much is he paying you?” She wasn’t sure why she wanted to know, but for some reason she needed to hear it. For some sick, sad reason she needed to know how much Gabriel had accepted to end her life.

“Don’t, bella. It doesn’t matter. I should never have taken the contract in the first place. I don’t kill women.”

Her lifted her gaze to meet his. “Then why did you?”

“Because I want out,” he answered quietly. “I can’t do this anymore. I want to live a normal life with a wife and kids. I want to grow old and spoil my grandkids. I’m tired of being on the run. I want to go home to Italy and help my papa run his business making furniture like I was supposed to . . .” he trailed off glancing out the window. He hadn’t intended to say all that. To reveal so much.

“When was the last time you saw your mother and father?”

“Twenty years ago,” he answered without thought, lost in the memories of a childhood that seemed to belong to someone else now.

“Oh, Gabriel . . .,” she whispered, her heart going out to him.

Gabriel shook off the feelings of nostalgia and turned angrily to face her. “I don’t want your pity, God damn it!” He leaned down to pick up his jacket and slipped it on. “Take that tape to the police, Rachel. There is enough information on there to convict Stone of attempted murder or at the very least intent.” He had to get out now. If he didn’t, he would end up doing something really stupid like begging her to love him.

He was almost to the door when she called out to him. He stopped and slowly turned to face her. She was standing, looking lost and vulnerable. Every male instinct within him screamed for him to protect her, to take her and Abigail far away from here where no one could ever harm them again. Least of all, Martin Stone.

“Did Abigail and I ever mean anything to you?” She wasn’t sure what possessed her to call out to him, to stop him from leaving. She had no idea what she was going to say until she’d said it. Oh God, what was she doing? There could never be anything between them now, why start something that would just cause more pain?

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed on her as he moved back across the room towards her. Her eyes widened in fear as the realization occurred to her that he might have changed his mind about not killing her after all. She gasped when he wrapped his fingers around her upper arms, bent his head and captured her lips with his. It was a kiss of desperation, of longing and of things that could never be. It was a cruel joke that life played on both of them as they clung to each other one last time. Gabriel tore his mouth away from hers and buried his face in her hair, crushing her against him.

“Dio, li ama, Rachel! Siete l’aria che stressa respiro.” His arms tightened around her. “Siete tutto a me!” He released her as he stepped back. She wished she had understood what he had said, but somehow she knew that Gabriel had just revealed his heart to her.

Without another word, he turned and left. Rachel curled up on the couch and cried until she finally fell into a restless sleep just before dawn.

                                                                    ~*~*~*~*~

When Rachel woke up the next morning, her first thought was maybe last night had been nothing but a bad dream. But when she stood up to go check on Abigail, an audiocassette tape fell from her lap and landed on the floor at her feet. Her hand flew to her mouth as she choked back a sob. It had been real. Gabriel had been there last night. They had made love. And then he had tried to kill her. When it had become apparent he couldn’t go through with it, he had revealed to her everything about how Martin had hired him and he’d given her the audiocassette as proof.

Bending down, she scooped up the cassette and walked over on shaky legs to the stereo. Turning it on and adjusting the volume low enough so that it wouldn’t wake up Abigail, she slipped the cassette into the stereo and pressed play. At first she heard nothing, then the sound of clothes rustling came loud and clear over the speakers. Gabriel’s associate must have had the recorder in his jacket pocket, she thought as she continued to listen. She heard a man’s voice softly announcing the date and that he was meeting with Martin Stone. Just at the mention of Martin’s name made her knees wobble weakly. Then-

“Martin Stone?” came the voice that had just mentioned the date only moments before.

“Yes.”

Rachel gasped. She’d know his voice anywhere. Even with only hearing that one word, she knew without a doubt that it was Martin.

“Please have a seat.” There was a pause as she assumed Martin sat down. “What can I do for you, Mr. Stone?”

“I want to hire the Hawk.”

“For?”

“To kill my wife.”

Rachel sank to the floor to her knees, her legs unable to hold her up any longer. Martin’s voice had been so cold, devoid of all emotion.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stone, but the Hawk does not take hits on women. He’s very adamant about that.”

“I’ll make it worth his while.”

“It doesn’t matter, he-”

“I’ll pay him his usual fee, plus another $5.5 million when the job is done.”

There was a long silence.

Finally, “Must be some bitch you’re married too, Mr. Stone, to fork out that kind of money. Why not just divorce her?”

“Not an option. I have worked too hard for everything I have to split it down the middle with her and I’ll be damned if I’m going to get stuck with alimony and child support payments for the rest of my fucking life.”

“You have a kid?” The man’s voice sounded surprised. “What’s going to happen to the kid?”

“I don’t give a fuck.”

“You are one cold bastard.” Another pause, then, “All right, Mr. Stone. I will talk to the Hawk, but I’m warning you now, he doesn’t do women.

“Fine.”

“I’ll be in touch.” A long pause, then, “End of meeting.”

Rachel felt as if she couldn’t breathe. She had barely found the strength to stand when it began again. Oh God, there’s more?

Again the man announced the date and that he was meeting with Martin Stone.

“Mr. Stone.” A pause, then. “You brought everything I asked for?”

“Yes.”

“The money?”

“Yes, $50,000, up front. The rest will be wired to any account he specifies upon completion.”

“The information on your wife?”

“Here. How long will this take?”

“In a hurry?”

“I just want it done.”

“The Hawk will take her out when he’s ready, Mr. Stone. It will be quick and painless, but it will be done on his timetable, not yours. As I’ve told you before, he doesn’t take hits on women, but he’s making this one exception. It will be done his way or not at all.”

“Whatever, as long as it’s done.”

“I’ll be in touch when the job has been completed.” Another long pause, then, “Meeting completed.”

First thing Rachel did was run to the bathroom, where she promptly threw up. As she passed the bedroom, she recalled instantly all that happened last night, both good and bad. And now all she had to show for it all were some roses, a tape cassette and a now useless pillow. Rachel placed it solemnly in the garbage, recalling the conflict she had seen in Gabriel’s eyes last night. She also cleaned up the loose feathers before Abigail could wake up and ask any questions.

After confronting the tape and the pillow, on shaky legs, she took a shower and tried to wash away the nightmares… the real ones and the dreamed ones. By the time she was dressed, Abigail was awake and after fixing her breakfast, she sat down and made out a “to do” list. She had a lot of errands to run today to prepare for her next step.

First, she made three phone calls. One to her mother in South Carolina.

“Mom?”

“Rachel dear, how nice to hear from you!” Her mother’s soft southern accent flittered through the phone line.

“Mom, this isn’t a social call. I’ve got a problem and I need your help.”

“Well of course, dear. Whatever I can do.”

“I’m divorcing Martin and it might get ugly, so I need for you to come get Abigail so she can stay with you a while.”

“Oh Rachel, I’m so sorry. I’ll be on the next available flight out. I’ll call back with the flight information once I have it.” Rachel could have hugged her mother for not asking the questions she knew that she was dying to ask.

“Thanks, Mom. Call me on the cell phone, I’ll be running errands most of the day.”

“All right, dear. I’ll call back soon.”

Rachel hung up the phone and placed her next call.

“Hello?”

“Nancy, can you watch Abbey and take her to school when you take Cindy?”

“Sure, Rae. Are you all right? You sound upset.”

“I’m leaving Martin, but I can’t explain right now. I’ll drop off Abby in half an hour.”

“Oh Rae, I’m sorry to hear that. Okay, I’ll be here and you can leave Abby with me for as long as need be.”

“Thanks, Nance, I appreciate it, but my mom is flying out this afternoon to take her back home with her. This could get ugly and I don’t want Abigail anywhere near it.”

“I certainly understand. Okay, well, I’ll keep her today for as long as you need.”

“Great. I’ll probably come get her after picking my mom up at the airport. I’ll let you know the time when I find out when her plane arrives.”

“No problem. Talk to you soon.”

“Thanks, Nance. Bye.”

Her third phone call was to the airlines. She made reservations for a round trip flight to Atlanta for the next morning to return that same afternoon. After getting Abigail dressed and her school stuff together, they climbed into the car and drove over to Nancy’s house.

After dropping her off, Rachel pulled out her “to do” list and began systematically taking care of each item. She should have put “eat lunch” on the list because by the time she remembered to do so, it was well after 3:00 p.m. However, she did accomplish a lot.

She’d been to the bank where she’d opened two accounts, a personal account and a money market account in Abigail’s name with herself and her mother’s name placed on the signature card. She then transferred money from the joint account into the personal account and the money market account. She wanted to make certain that once she notified Martin of the divorce that he didn’t try to freeze their joint account on her and also, she wanted to be prepared in case something happened to her, then Abigail would be taken care of. She also rented a safety deposit box.

Next, she stopped off at the store and picked up some blank audiocassettes and drove home. Using the dual tape deck on the stereo, she made four copies of the tape Gabriel had given her. Unable to bear hearing it again, she merely turned the volume down and began packing Abigail’s clothes for her trip to South Carolina. Her mother called at one point with her incoming flight information and the departing flight information for the next morning. Conveniently, it worked. Their flights would leave within an hour of each other, with her mother and Abigail’s flight leaving first.

Also conveniently, her mother’s flight arrived at 4:10 p.m. that afternoon. With only a carry-on bag, Rachel picked up her mom and went straight to the bank, where she placed one of the audiocassettes in the safety deposit box she’d rented earlier and her mother was able to sign the signature card for the money market account.

That done, they headed over to Nancy’s to pick up Abigail, who was excited to see her grandmother.

“Thanks, Nance, I appreciate you watching her today.” The two friends hugged.

“Not a problem, but I do expect to hear from you.” She paused for a second, then asked with a mischievous grin, “This wouldn’t happen to be about that tall, dark and handsome hunk from the park yesterday, would it?”

Rachel smiled sadly. Thinking of Gabriel hurt more than she would have liked. “He’s part of it, but not for the reason you think.” She took a deep breath. “I just can’t talk about it right now, Nancy, but I promise I’ll explain everything soon.”

On the way home, Rachel remembered to call the principal, Mr. Chaney, for Abigail’s school. She explained to him her situation and that Abigail would be going to live with her mother for a while. He said he understood and wished her the best of luck.

The rest of the evening was spent finishing the packing for Abigail and relaxing. Rachel’s mother gave her worried looks, but respected her silence. She knew her daughter well. She would talk when she was ready. After Abigail had gone to bed, Rachel gave her mother a sealed envelope.

“If anything happens to me, I want you to take this to the police.” Louise Gray gave her daughter a shocked look. An elegant looking woman in her mid-60’s, she had silver hair and sharp hazel eyes.

“Rachel, has Martin threatened you?”

“Nothing more than usual, Mother. Don’t be concerned, it’s only a precaution. Just promise me that you will take that to the police if something happens to me and do not say a word to anyone that you have it, especially Martin!”

“Alright, dear. If you’re sure.”

Later that night as Rachel laid in bed alone, her thoughts turned to Gabriel. She rolled over on her side and reached her hand towards the pillow next to her. The pillow where his head had been just the night before. The pillow that was now gone… just like Gabriel.

Her heart constricted as tears filled her eyes. She’d been too busy today to think of the hurt, but now that all was quiet and she was alone with her thoughts, the pain washed over her, stealing her breath away.

Oh Gabriel! Why? She knew that nothing could ever happen between them. She could never be with a man who killed for a living. But he said he was quitting, her heart told her. What does that matter? Her brain argued back. He’s killed for money. He has blood on his hands that cannot be washed away just because your heart wants to overlook it. Remember, you have Abigail to consider. Think of her and her safety!

Rachel couldn’t understand why she felt as though her heart were breaking in mourning for something she had never really had.

                                          ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

                                                         The Hitman - Chapter 6