Assigned to You (Completed)

Chapter Seventeen: Evangeline

I was perched on a rooftop and waiting for Victor Saunders to exit the Empire State so that I could kill him. It’s been a while since my last kill and I have to admit, I’ve missed the thrill that it brought me. I could still remember Henry bringing me to watch him as he took the life of his target and it was such a clean kill. I remembered envying him and wanting to be better than him.

They weren’t normal thoughts for a fourteen-year-old girl.

The vibration inside my pocket irritated me. I should’ve left it in the hotel room I was staying at. I’ve already made up a pathetic excuse to Everett that I couldn’t be bothered because I was brainstorming what to write. He bought it. No matter how much I was falling for the guy, he could really be dense sometimes.

I fished out the phone in my pocket and checked who calling me. Nimri. “What?”

“I don’t think it’s good on your end to answer your boss with so much irritation in your voice,” Nimri said, his voice smug, “But is this a bad time?”

I refrained the urge to cuss at him. He’s been getting on my nerves lately and I’m not sure if I could handle any more of his annoyance. “What do you want, Nimri?”

“Just wanting to make sure that you’re in position.”

“I’m good at my job, Nimri. I’ve never failed the FBI.”

“Not yet,” Nimri said and I hated how smug he sounded like he was sure that I will fail this mission. Henry trained me better than most.

“Is that all this call is about? Because I have a job to do, Nimri.”

“Yes,” Nimri replied, “I just wanted to check in and make sure that you’re doing your job. Good luck on that, Sterell.”

I didn’t need luck. I had skills.

Often times, when I was perched on some rooftop and was waiting for a chance to shoot my target, I would end up waiting for a couple of hours and I knew that this was the case now. There was no way that Victor would just randomly go out when there was a party. The opportunity I have would be when he enters and exits and I’ve seen him enter earlier.

And I saw Everett too.

The sight of him made my heart melt. Seeing him made me miss him more and I’ve never felt the urge to be next to someone so bad. I missed having his arms wrapped around me and the random kisses he would shower me. I missed how he felt inside of me. It’s only been a day but I’ve missed him so bad that it hurts. Not hearing his voice made it even worse.

But killing his grandfather would change so much in our relationship.

“Evangeline.”

I almost had a heart attack when I heard the voice. I gasped and turned around. I knew that voice anywhere. Henry stood in the fog, hidden behind it. But I knew it was him. My thin, lean uncle looked nothing like anyone imagined a killing machine to be. But he had an air of mystery surrounding him that used to frighten me as a kid.

“Henry?” I whispered, standing up from my position and walking over to where he stood, “What are you doing here?”

Despite my age, he still towered over me. I looked up at him as he placed both of his hands on my shoulder. His eyebrows were furrowed and the seriousness in his eyes frightened me. I hated when he had that look on his face. I remembered the letters he sent me, the warnings about Nimri.

“Don’t kill him.”

The three words made me freeze. I’ve been perched on this rooftop for almost an hour. I’ve seen the Saunders go inside half an hour ago and know that I have a few more hours to kill until they make their exit and I get a clearer view of Victor. I honestly didn’t want to do it, knowing that this would break Everett, even if he had a strained relationship with his grandfather.

“What?” I whispered.

Henry closed his eyes, adjusting his coat as he pulled me into a crouch. He sat on the cold pavement. “There’s something not right with this mission, Evangeline. Nimri’s making you do dirty work.”

I stared at Henry in wonder. From the start, he never trusted Nimri when I was hired by the FBI. But he knew that I wouldn’t work for Nimri directly. I would meet up with the other heads when I was given an assignment and this was the first time that Nimri was truly involved in one. He always had been shady from the start and Henry had right to be cautious of him.

“What do you mean?”

“This mission. The brothel. I found out that it’s safely hidden and operated with so much caution from the beginning. There had been tips but no matter what the FBI had done, they couldn’t find it and shut it down,” Henry explained, his expression grim, “Victor isn’t the only one who runs it, as I’m sure you’ve figured out. His family founded it but it’s a network of influential people that are a part of the business too. When you’ve got a big fish, you don’t catch it that easy. You make sure that no one says a word about your business. If they do, they die and they know it.”

I thought about every information given to me by the FBI about the brothel. They’ve been investigating it for a while but didn’t have enough evidence. I thought about Victor. He didn’t seem like the type to let one informant loose. If that was the case then, the one who tipped the FBI was someone from his inner circle and that same person would want Victor dead too.

“How do you know that?” I asked, looking at my uncle.

Henry didn’t seem like he wanted to tell me the answer but he knew me well enough. He knew that even with his warning, I would do what I was told to do by Nimri, even if I didn’t like, if he didn’t give me all the information.

“From Claudio. Remember him?”

I remembered Claudio. He had been my uncle’s very first client and even when Henry became FBI’s hitman, he still did Claudio’s dirty work. In return for his loyalty, Claudio became his source of information because Henry didn’t trust the information his boss gave him. Despite the fact that he has retired, when Claudio would hit up Henry, he still delivered and killed the target. That was how deep his loyalty ran.

“I do,” I answered and I knew not to ask about how Claudio knew this. For all I know, he might even be a part of the brothel but that was an investigation for another time, “What am I supposed to do now?”

Henry exhaled loudly. “I would want you to exit but that’s not how I trained you. And you’re already in with this too deep. I guess it’s time you became a double agent.”

“Work for you?”

“Look, Lin, get all the information you can from Nimri and deliver them for me. I’ve talked to Justin about this and even he agrees that there’s something not right with this mission,” Henry began to explain and I noticed that his eyebrows furrowed and he pulled me into the place I’ve positioned myself earlier, “There’s someone here.”

My heart raced. Who was there? I’ve never encountered other assassins before but Henry had. He was always more observant than me. I looked at him in panic but he simply held a finger to his lips. I remained silent as Henry narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what the other person wanted and why he was perched on a rooftop too.

“He’s an assassin,” Henry murmured, “I don’t recognize him. I’m not sure who he’s here to kill.”

Henry and I remained silent and perched on the spot. A drop of water hit my face and I realized that it was suddenly raining, making it easier for people like us. The rain was our camouflage. My eyes flickered to the door and just like that, someone emerged.

Victor.

He was talking to someone on the phone and unconsciously, I felt my hands position the gun I was holding, clocking it in and pointing it directly to him. I wasn’t sure why I was doing what I was but this was a habit. Mission mode was turned on and this was what I was supposed to be doing hadn’t Henry come.

“Lin,” I heard my uncle’s urgent whisper, “Don’t.”

But my hand was on the trigger, like a hypnotized i***t.

Because below us, someone suddenly came out of the shadows, someone I recognized well enough. Curtis stood before his father, tapping him on the shoulder. He looked dashing in his suit, but I knew that he had nothing against Everett. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about but judging from their stance, they were arguing. And then Curtis held a gun against his father.

I almost screamed hadn’t Henry covered my mouth.

But nothing happened. Curtis merely stood with the gun pointed at his father and then slowly, his hand dropped. They simply stood there staring at each other until Curtis left, leaving Victor alone again. I watched as Victor continued to stare at the direction that Curtis went, shook his head and turned around, ready to enter.

Boom.

A gunshot.

Below us, it suddenly turned into a scene of the crime. Victor Saunders shot dead, the hole on his forehead the obvious mark of his death. His blood mixed with the rain, making the scene more terrible than it already was. My heart raced, the gun falling from my hands. Henry’s grip on me tightened.

“I didn’t shoot,” I whispered, my heart hammering. I wasn’t sure why I felt , “Henry, it wasn’t me.”

“I know,” Henry whispered through gritted teeth, “Leave, Lin.”

And just like that, I watched as my uncle suddenly tore into the night, leaving this rooftop and rushing. I wasn’t sure why he was running until it dawned on me that it might’ve been the other guy who shot Victor. I almost rushed to follow but I could hear sirens coming and an agonizing wail that pierced through the night.

I froze in my spot.

I wanted to rush to the edge of the rooftop and see what was happening but I couldn’t. I couldn’t risk the chance of someone seeing me so I fled. I’ve already mapped the exit that I had in mind and I rushed to leave the building that I had chosen. I could still here more sirens coming but I didn’t stop fleeing. I was innocent but I was still who I was.

I was a trained assassin assigned to kill Victor.

I might not have been the one who pulled the trigger but it didn’t change the fact that it was supposed to be me.

My lithe feet brought me back to the crappy motel room that I had decided to stay at. I was supposed to stay for one night but I wasn’t sure if that would be the case. I wasn’t sure if I would come to Florida and continue what Nimri wanted me to do, especially with the information that Henry had from Claudio.

I was a mess when I came back at the motel room and the best I could do was take a bath and lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. My phone wasn’t ringing nor was there a text. Everett was grieving and I wanted to be there beside him but I knew that I couldn’t. He thought I was in Florida and if I suddenly come waltzing in the hospital room or the place he stayed at, then it would be the end of this undercover mission.

Someone knocked on my door and I instantly got up, my body alert and ready. I grabbed the gun on my nightstand and cautiously moved to the door, opening it slowly. “It’s me, Lin.”

I opened it fully to reveal my uncle. He was drenched with sweat and his eyes were flashing angrily. I knew why. He didn’t catch the killer. He trudged inside the cramp motel I was staying in and pulled off his jacket, throwing it on my bed angrily.

“I almost had him,” Henry muttered, “But he’s quick and agile and I’m old.”

Had the situation been different, I would’ve laughed at what he said. I sat on the edge of the bed as Henry took a seat on the world’s most uncomfortable sofa. “What happened?”

“He was with someone. There was a van waiting for him in a corner and just as I was about to reach even just the edge of his shirt, they started shooting at me,” Henry explained, running a hand through his thinning dark hair, “I had to protect myself.”

I nodded in understanding. Our lives came first. “Henry, what else do you know about the Saunders?”

Henry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “According to Claudio, they have the brothel up in Nevada. It’s the only place in the states that’s legal. They have a number in UK because it’s not illegal there to have that business. In hindsight, they’re not doing anything wrong, Lin.”

“Then why is the FBI after them?”

“There were rumors that they were trafficking girls and that they had one operating in Florida but there was never any proof,” Henry began to explain, leaning against the couch, “That’s why I didn’t want you to kill Saunders. He’s not doing anything wrong. His father might’ve started this the wrong way though, it was believed that the brothel that his father had worked at first was in Florida.”

“But how did it move to Nevada?”

“Because they’re smart. I’m guessing that he knew the operations would shut down if the law found out about it so they opened it in Nevada because it’s legal in some counties there,” Henry explained, “But here’s what’s fishy, Lin, there are a few evidence that the rumors about them trafficking could be true. There aren’t any hard, concrete ones but there are girls who claim that they’ve ran away from the brothel because they were forced into prostitution.”

My stomach churned. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to stomach that information. I wonder if Everett knew about all this. He never told me that much information. Just little tidbits of information and how much he didn’t want to have any part of it. I feel like the fact that he told me he didn’t want to be a part of it was more important than any other information he could share with me. At least it wouldn’t mark him as my target.

“Then why do you think Nimri wanted Victor dead?” I asked, looking at my uncle for answers even when I was sure that he was just as clueless as me.

“I’m guessing someone from the inner circle wants him dead,” Henry said, his eyebrows furrowed, “Who was the one who pointed a gun at him earlier?”

My eyes shut close. I didn’t know much about Curtis other than that he was a pig when it came to dating women and that he was competitive with Everett. Other than that, I couldn’t imagine him plotting something against his father. I don’t even think that he would murder his own father just to get his hands on the business.

But if Victor was grooming Everett to be the heir of the business…

Oh no.

“I’m not sure,” I said slowly and looked at my uncle with so much seriousness in my eyes, “But if he’s working with Nimri to take down his own father, he might kill Everett next, Henry.”

“Why is that?”

“Because Victor wants Everett to run the business. He’s been grooming him to run it. That’s why I was assigned to him,” And then it hit me. My heart dropped at the realization, “Nimri told me once he had insider information. It could be Curtis. And I never knew how he has known that Everett would be trained to run the business.”

Henry nodded, his expression turning grimmer by the second. “Then you have to protect Everett at all costs, Evangeline. I’m sure he doesn’t know that you’re here, does he?”

I shook my head. “He thinks I’m in Florida working on a story. That’s what I told him so he wouldn’t call me while I stake out.”

“You have to figure out a way to explain to him that you’re here,” Henry said, his eyebrows furrowing, “You can’t let him out of your sight, Lin.”

“Do you think they would kill two victims at the same time?” I asked, knowing that it wasn’t something that the bad guys often do. I’ve walked in the shoes of bad guys when I’ve trained and I was thought to think like them, to think like my target.

Henry shook his head. “You know the answer to that. But to be safe, Lin, you have to keep an eye on him.”

I nodded, grimly. There was no way that I would let them put a hand on Everett and there was no way in hell that I would let them kill him. They had to go through my dead body first before that. But before I could even do that, I had to think of a way to remove myself from Nimri’s influence.

But I knew in my heart that even if I was working for him, and he would assign Everett for me to kill, I knew now what I was going to do.

I would shoot Nimri rather than kill Everett.

Because why would I kill someone I love for someone that I hated with every fiber of my being?

I might’ve thought that I could stomach killing Everett, that I would simply just kill myself too if that ever happened, but if this was the situation and if Everett and Victor were innocent, there’s no way I would go forth with this mission.

I’d rather kill Nimri.