HiT 149: Anna Brookes First Chapter (10 page)

“Actually Anna, I think it’s time you tell me something about yourself. I know virtually nothing about you except that you love your food, you’re incredibly beautiful and I can’t stop all my thoughts of you naked whether you’re close to me or not. So now I want to know about you. Have you got any siblings?”
That’s a relatively easy answer and I don’t even need to lie.

“I am an only child”. I’ll give him some information without him asking too much. “My father passed away 13 years ago and my mother died in the same accident”. Henry being dead was the truth but as far as Natalia was concerned I have no idea what happened to her. I lost track of her. Maybe after I’m done with this situation I might seek her out. I think she deserves a little retribution for her actions of leaving me on that bed 28 years ago, if the drugs haven’t already taken her life.

“That must have been difficult for you. Wait, how old were you when your parents passed away?” He doesn’t try to apologise for something that he had nothing to do with.

“15
”, my Professional name and the age my life turned on its head.

“Did an aunt or uncle step up and take you? Other than the whole mask thing you have going on you seem fairly well adjusted.”
Really?
If only he knew the truth.

“No I became a ward of the state.”
Well sort of a ward of the state. I went in to hard core training, I was always a natural at aiming and shooting but I went into training that led me to be the best assassin in the world.

“Wow, I have seen what the ward can do to kids. Especially older kids who don’t get fostered out. You seem so well adjusted. It’s not like you’re a crazy person or a serial killer with a hang up on your past. How did you work through it?”
Holy shit!
It takes all my strength not to spit out the salad in my mouth. He’s just pin pointed me in that sentence. This day is going from bad to worse. Façade in place.

“No I’m nothing like a serial killer”
I’m more precise and careful than that
.
Actually I’m an assassin Ben.
Nope I can’t exactly say that to him; I thoroughly believe he wouldn’t respond too well to that bombshell. “As far as being well adjusted, well
maybe
that’s the mask you think you see” I give him that little information not really telling him anything. “I do own a recruiting agency and I am very successful in it which gives me the time and option to do what I want. I’ve got awesome staff that work for me and I keep them happy and well paid which of course keeps them working hard.” This is all true. I’ve weaved a complicated and intricate web of lies, so from the outside I look like an ordinary 28 year old woman. Of course the agency does more than just hire out temps and staff to organisations around the world; it also serves the purpose of being a front for me. I can be doing what I love to do, whilst looking good on paper for anyone who may stumble across me or even do any back ground checks.

The lunch then goes on to become dinner. Ben cooks an amazing pot roast for us. He tells me all sorts of things about himself including how much he loves to cook. Good thing really because my skills in the kitchen are fairly minimal. I do chuckle to myself though, because I am really good with a knife. Not as good as I am with my Glocks but still, I can handle myself with a knife. I’m sure I don’t need to tell Ben that. The conversation is fairly light between us and I give him limited information on me. But every time I try to take the conversation back to his work he always deflects it. Is Ben hiding something? There’s that bank account I found earlier today that keeps playing in my head. $4 million is a lot of money to have sitting there untouched....

Chapter 13

I left Ben’s home at 9.45pm. On my drive home I tried to plan for my encounter with Ethan the next day. Even though it was fairly late, St Cloud still had cars whizzing around the streets. Some were from out of state and some weren’t. Nothing out of the ordinary, cars, pickups, milk trucks, trucks and motor bikes. I got to the cabin and checked out the surveillance before I headed into the shower. Everything seemed to be in place and untouched. No unwelcome visitors have tried to penetrate my security.

After I had a shower I got myself ready to sit in front of the laptop to try to do some recon work on St Cloud PD Executive Assistant Chief of Police, Ethan Martelli. I started by pulling up his Personal File from the police department. Wow! His file was very...... colourful! He had a lot of disciplinary issues and had actually been suspended 3 times in his short career. Ethan Martelli was only 29 years old and had been in the Police Department for 9 years. What caught my eye on all his notes were 2 things, first Ethan Martelli had an anger issue and second no disciplinary action had ever stuck. The three times he had been suspended they had magically gone away after a few short days and he had returned to duty on full pay. Matter of fact, he had skipped every second ranking as well. He had numerous complaints against him from the general public about his anger issues and at one stage he had been recommended for anger management. But nothing had ever eventuated with this. The next thing I went into and hacked was Ethan Martelli’s bank records. A very complex man appeared in front on my computer screen. Ethan Martelli had 4 main accounts. Each account had over $200,000 in it. Each account had the exact same deposit from the police department. And each account had no withdrawals. Now that is what I found particularly strange. 4 deposits on the same day, for the same amount all originating from Ethan Martelli’s employer and absolutely no withdrawals. Not 1, not for gas, bread, milk, utilities. Nothing, nada, zilch. I think I’ll be calling my ‘agent’ and getting him to find some information on Ethan Martelli. He must have something to hide, because I can’t seem to find anything else on him. I go to bed positively knowing that Ethan Martelli is hiding something big from St Cloud, and possibly from the world. I don’t assume anything or even take anything for granted because I know that’s a dangerous way of thinking.

In the morning I wake up and get my day underway by calling Ethan Martelli. He answers the phone on the second ring.

“Anna. It’s nice that you decided to call”. I haven’t even said my name yet. He doesn’t have my number but after yesterday’s conversation he knows that I will call him, we don’t dance around each other with our obvious cautious side.

“Of course Ethan. We do have a date for today. How does lunch sound?”

“Lunch sounds perfect, how about I come and pick you up around 11.30?” He’s fishing to know where I am staying.
I am not telling you fucker
.

“I’ll just meet you Ethan. The world is a dangerous place I’m sure being a respectable police officer you must agree with me. So how about I meet you over at Mammas at midday?” It’s not really an option to pick me up. He must be looking for me if he is desperate enough to ask to pick me up.

“Fine,” it’s more of a grumble then an affirmation. And with that he has disconnected the call.

It appears Ethan Martelli has not been able to find what he is looking for with me. Today’s lunch will be interesting.

At 11.30am I set off towards Mammas and get to the same spot that Ethan had pulled me over yesterday when I see the familiar red and blue lights behind me. They aren’t flashing but they are following me. Ethan must have been waiting for me knowing this is where I’ll pass. Next time I’ll be taking a different route, I need to throw him off my trail. I watch in my rear-view mirror as he follows me close enough to let me know he is there. The streets are busy going into St Cloud.

I pull up outside Mammas and Ethan pulls up behind me.

“Gee Ethan, anyone would think you’re following me around,” I add with a little giggle but I certainly know that is exactly what he was doing.

“Not at all Anna, it’s all pure coincidence”, he raises one eye brow at me with a snide smile on his lips. Oh yeah, its game on now.

We step inside Mammas and are seated fairly quickly by my old friend Plastic Tammy. Plastic Tammy looks at me and her eyes become huge and round through shock, she then looks over at Ethan and her tart of a smile appears.

“Hi there Ethan, long time no see. Hello there Mam. I’ll leave the menus and be back in a few minutes to collect your order”. She quickly lays the menus down and I see her sneak a look at Ethan and a slight flush is present in her cheeks. Ethan totally ignores her.

“So you and Plastic Tammy were once a couple??” I ask waiting to read his reaction.

He snaps his head up and looks at me. “No. Never.” Lie lie lie.

I’m reading his body language and can see he is nervous. His eyes dart to the right as he says that. “Sorry Ethan, I just thought the way you were looking at each other that you had a thing. Not that it’s any of my business of course.”

He again looks at me but his eyes falter and give him away as he quickly looks over my right shoulder, “No nothing like that. I knew her from school”
Lie lie lie AGAIN.
I know it’s a lie because Ethan only moved here when he was 19. And there’s no way he was still in school at the age of 19. And she certainly didn’t look like she went on to college.

“So Ethan tell me why you’re insisting on this lovely meal today”. I don’t beat around the bush but I certainly am keeping it light. Façade on, recon work begins.

“Well Anna. I quite like the name Anna,” he says as he puts emphasis on the ‘n’ of my name. “So tell me what sort of work you do,” he goes on but Plastic Tammy interrupts us. She has a knack of doing that. Her eyes are huge and all sweet for Ethan.

“So are you ready to order?” She smiles at Ethan and her face hardens when she looks at me. I’m sure she’s scared of me and that’s fine because I really don’t want to put her in her place again today. I don’t want Ethan to see that part of me.

“I’ll have lasagne and a coke,” Ethan says whilst he closes his menu and hands it back to Plastic Tammy.

Lasagne, my mind goes back to the day before and to Ben. And to his kitchen. And to his island bench. And what happened on his island bench.

“And for you Mam?” Plastic Tammy says snapping me out of my little hot memory.

“I’ll have a BLT and a bottle of sparkling water not opened please”, I say. Plastic Tammy leaves us to get our order ready.

Ethan’s head looks at me in lightning speed. “Why not opened?”

“I’ve watched enough CSI to know never to accept an open drink from anyone Ethan. You yourself would know that”. I cover my tracks very quickly and my excuse is plausible.

“So you were just about to tell me what you do,” Ethan says but when he does he shifts in his seat and quickly glances over to his left looking outside for something.

My senses are heightened and I realise that Ethan is not here on his own. I know that someone is outside being invisible but watching us, more likely watching me. At that moment I get a text on my phone. I look at it and see there has been a security breach on my car. My car is parked right outside and I can’t hear the alarm but that doesn’t mean that someone hasn’t tried something. I stop the urge to look because this will alert Ethan that I know he has organised for something to happen to either me or my car that will either hurt me or track me. I don’t think it’s a bomb, I think it’s a tracking device,
for now
.

I launch into the story about me having my own recruitment company. The public story that Ethan has probably found but I’m positive he’s searching for more information or waiting for me to slip up.

By the time we finish our meal, Ethan really doesn’t know any more about me than what he did before our lunch ‘meeting’. I, however, know that he desperately wants to find me. Ethan picks up the bill and I graciously thank him. This is now a game of cat and mouse. He thinks he’s the cat just about to pounce on the mouse but of course I know better.

When we get in our respective cars to leave, Ethan doesn’t follow me, he U-turns and goes in the opposite direction which confirms to me he has fitted my car with a tracking device.
Time to do a spot of shopping at a very busy mall.

I drive straight to Minneapolis and into a multi-story car park. I had no intentions on stopping here today, but now my plans are changed because I need to find the device hidden on my BMW. I’m sandwiched between 2 low sitting cars and quickly get to work. I find the device with no fuss and laugh at how stupid these people must think I am. I put the device on one of the cars next me. It buys me a few days before Ethan becomes aware of the fact that the GPS has been relocated. So that gives me only a few days to find what I need about Ethan. I’ll be calling ‘Agent’ when I get back to my cabin and having him research for information on Ethan.

I’m back at my cabin and do a quick parameter and security check. It all looks fine, no one has attempted to breach it. I pick my phone up and dial the number.

“15” His greetings are always so cheerful.
Not.

“Information required. Current employer. And Ethan Martelli. EAC St Cloud PD. Eta?” We speak clearly and with precision.

“ETA 36 hours”. I end the call and know to call him back in 36 hours to find out what I need.

36 hours is a long time. But it should be enough for Ethan Martelli to find that I have removed and rehoused the tracker from my car and to find all the relevant information on who has hired me and what role Ethan Martelli plays.

I hear a text message come through on my burner phone.

It’s from Ben –
hope to see you soon
.

It brings a small smile to my face.
As luck has it, I’m available tonight. Dinner?
I reply.

I’m making chicken parmigiana. There’s a piece that will be waiting for you.-B

Sounds good. I’ll bring the wine. -A

Not necessary, just bring yourself.-B

I’ll be there by 6pm –A

Can’t wait –B

How do you reply to a man that can’t wait to see you but who you are contracted to kill? You don’t.