You are walking downtown when you realize you are being followed.
“And then I was like, ‘look, you can’t talk to me like that’,” Dorie snickered. “Don’t you know who I’m dating?” She rolled her eyes at her companion.
Bruno resisted the urge to roll his own eyes – dating – is that what the kids were calling sexual relations nowadays? He couldn’t keep up with the trends nowadays, he didn’t care to try. He continued his easy pace alongside the petite raven-haired beauty. He discretely scanned the streets and alleys for potential threats and absently padded the gun at his waist.
Dorie snapped her fingers and assumed a hoity-toity attitude. “I’ll just ask Simpson to fire her ass, that will show that bitch right up.” Dorie looked up at her bodyguard, her green eyes flashing with temper. “Do you think Simpson would fire her if I asked him?”
“I’m sure I wouldn’t know, Miss,” Bruno responded.
“I get so tired of people thinking they’re better than me,” she whined. “I’m just as smart as them. So I didn’t go to college, who needs an expensive piece of paper anyway ….. Ooooh, look at this gorgeous swimsuit!” Dorie practically pressed her nose up against the glass in her excitement.
Bruno sighed and stopped alongside her. “We really need to get going, Miss,” he said.
Dorie ignored him and continued drooling over the suit. “I would totally rock that suit,” she mumbled. “I bet Simpson would buy that for me if I asked him oh so sweetly,” she elbowed Bruno in the stomach and batted her lashes at him.
“Uh huh,” he responded and gently took her elbow again to redirect her back to the sidewalk.
They walked on in silence for a few moments before Dorie began to speak again.
Bruno released a long-suffering sigh.
“Do you think Simpson would ever leave his wife for me?”
He looked down at the 5’3 woman beside him. She looked up at him with hope in her large eyes.
“I couldn’t say, Miss,” Bruno flatly stated.
“I think I could love him,” she continued. “I mean, he’s rather fat and of course, old,” she wrinkled her nose in distaste, “but we have fun together, I guess.” She practically ran to keep up with Bruno’s long strides.
“Oh my God!” She suddenly stopped and Bruno hesitated. “Look at that GORGEOUS necklace! Oh, that does it, I MUST have it.” She whipped out her cell phone, hit 2 on her keypad and waited for Simpson to answer. “That would look so awesome with my emerald dress,” she tapped her foot impatiently. “Damn it, he’s not answering.” She slipped her phone back into her purse and pressed her finger to the glass once more. “And those earrings … I think I might die.” She continued to gaze lovingly at the jewelry.
Bruno lifted a brow.
“I’m tempted to go in there and ask them to just bill him,” she mumbled. “I’m sure he …” she suddenly stopped.
Her silence prompted Bruno to look down at the top of her head.
“Bruno,” she whispered. Her eyes were glued to the glass but they weren’t focused on the jewelry. “I’m pretty sure we’re being followed.”
Bruno’s large body tensed and he straightened to his full 6’3 height. “Who?”
Dorie casually pointed at the glass. “Look at the reflection. See that mangy man across the street? The one with the black beanie and torn jeans? I saw him earlier, too. He just stands there and stares at us.”
Bruno snapped to attention and cupped her elbow in his big hand.
“No more window shopping, let’s go.” He practically dragged her down the street and toward their car at the end of the block. His eyes constantly volleyed up and down the street.
The man was no where to be seen.
They crossed the street.
“You know, I thought Simpson giving me a body guard was stupid at first,” Dorie said, her voice small and tight. “But I’m really glad you’re here, Bruno.”
They stepped back onto the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street and entered an alley.
“Where are we going?”
“It’s a shortcut.”
Dorie picked up her steps. “Okay, I’m done. This is not fun anymore.” She squealed and stopped abruptly when the man who had been following them stepped out of a doorway.
“‘ello gorgeous,” the man murmured. “What a pity you must die.”
Dorie gasped when she caught sight of the blade in the man’s hands. She whipped her head around to see where Bruno had gone and opened her mouth to scream, but the man snuck up behind her, grabbed her head with one hand and sliced her throat with the other. In one swift, and clean, move, he killed her.
He carefully dragged her body into the shadows and gently laid her down.
“Well, that was easier than I thought,” he grunted. “What a pity to kill such a pretty young thing.” He wiped the knife on his jeans and stuck it in his waistband. “All right, my job is done, I want my payment,” he said and stuck out his hand. He sniffed nervously and rapidly blinked the water from his bloodshot eyes.
Bruno stepped into view. His face was granite hard and he looked at the man in disgust. “What a waste of humanity,” he mumbled thoughtfully.
“Whatever. Give me my stash or I’ll slash your throat, too.”
Bruno lifted one eyebrow, one corner of his mouth curved up as if to form a smile but it quickly disappeared. “You want your reward, eh?”
“Quit stalling, mother fucker, pay up.” The man shifted the knife in his hand and pointed it Bruno.
Bruno sighed, shrugged, and put reached around to his back pocket. He stepped toward the man.
“Everyone is in such a hurry nowadays,” he towered over the man, who seemed to shrink before his eyes. Bruno stepped into the man’s personal space.
“Consider this payment in full,” he said quietly. He grabbed the arm that held the knife and squeezed until the man yowled in pain and dropped the knife. Bruno forced the man to his knees. He jerked on the man’s arm to straighten it out and savagely stabbed him in the vein with the syringe. He pressed the plunger and injected the drug.
The man cried out in surprise but then licked his lips in anticipation.
“Enjoy the ride,” Bruno snarled. “It’ll be your last.”
The man stumbled as Bruno let him go and fell next to the girl. He tried to sit up but fell back as the powerful drug began to take effect. He laid his head back and sighed, a stupid grin curving his lips.
Bruno reached down and took Dorie’s purse. He then stepped over the dead bodies and left the dark alleyway. He dug his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number.
“It’s done.”
Write From Karen 