Sleepless Days

There comes a time in every man's life when he stands at the brink of a precipice. I had reached that point. As I stood there in the driving rain, trying to decide whether to break her heart, which was best, or let her keep on believing that she was the one that I had been searching for. Not knowing what to do, my hand found its way into the pocket of my over coat. Instant relief and understanding flooded me. I know exactly what needs to be done. With my head down I started toward the squat brick motel that she was staying in, probably for the last time in my life.

When I got to the front desk, looking as dapper as a drowned rat from the rain, I asked for Korina, and got an immediate Yes Sir from the receptionist. She was in 207, before the receptionist could ask whether he should ring the room, I was already on my way up the stairs.

Here is where my memory of things begins to get a little sketchy. I remember kicking in the door, and finding her lying on the floor with blood everywhere. I remember bending over her and seeing the sanguineous splatter on her blouse, accompanied by a tiny hole, about the size of a dime. They killed her. Maybe because she knew too much about what was going on? Maybe because she didn't kill me? Maybe because she got a little too close to the target. Does it really matter now anyway? I turned to leave, and came face to face with the Don. His gun pointed directly at my face, and his finger already pulling the trigger. Six shots rang out, in quick succession, and I braced myself for the pain of being awarded the Purple Heart posthumously. Amazingly the Don dropped, dead at my feet, with six neat holes in his head. Turn around said a sweet, seductive voice behind me.

Goddamn, how many times is this woman going to die and be resurrected? Sure enough, there she stood my gun in her hands. I don't even remember her taking it away. She told me she was Avery's top woman. Apparently that title comes with the ability to play dead on command. A little fake blood and just the right amount of adrenaline rush will get anyone to believe anything, for a little while at least. Apparently she was undercover as well, posing as a KGB agent, to get to Brigham, but now both of our targets were eliminated, and we could get down to more pressing issues.

That was six years ago this January. Since then Korina, well Amy if you read her dossier, and I have been living as a married couple, undercover of course, but it comes with perks. One of these is the ability to have her right next to me while I sleep. It seems that Avery's Top Woman is a better shot than his Top Man

March 24, 2006