The Hitman and His Consort

XXIV - Aftermath

First Person P.O.V: VALENTIN HACKSAW

I didn’t think we’ll go through another mission again. I felt like it was my birthday, the one I missed was replaced by a newer one that came with incentives.

The fall of an unethical and evil institution wasn’t on my bucket list, but I'd be glad to do that. It sounded like something I’d like to do in the future anyway, and it’s not like I’m reserving extreme actions for the future. On the contrary, if I ever chose to be a ‘freelancer’ having ‘brought a high-class institution to its ruins’ at 24 years of age sounds good on a resume as particular as mine.

I drove Inka to the spot she parked the van on, which happened to be the library where Arthur parks her motorcycle, again she doesn’t seem to feel sorry for troubling the librarian if that’s the only thing that elder woman is, if not I wouldn’t be surprised, she looks like a ‘bird with the same feathers’ as ours.

I drove back alone since she drove the van back and we even switched out the cars to hide the van in the clinic’s garage, so Rodrigo had to park his car outside. Inka then camped in that garage and we left her to her devices. She looked like a full-fledged nerd as she worked with her face inches from the screen.

Back in the clinic itself was Madeline, Arthur, and Rodrigo reading up from the folders, and Denis who was distributing lunch packs, owning up to the role. He did tell me to distribute the drinks separately. He even brought it to Inka in the garage himself. He tends to be persistent when a woman checks out at least three things on his checklist.

I recall those being five things, ‘Older’, ‘Smart’, ‘Affectionate’, ‘Beautiful’, and ‘willful’. He used to recite that with intense aggression whenever a ‘romantic venture’ of his failed.

Usually over wine and terrible deep-fried fast food.

I gave everyone their drinks and sat on the couch next to Art. We’ve completely remodeled the clinic as a hide-out.

Madeline had a thumb pressed on his chin as he viewed the files and looked over to the others, “This is some f****d up things,” he said as he threw the folder on the desk that they moved for their convenience, Rodrigo even pulled out his reading glasses, smoking as he read with a frown.

“You can say that again, but it’s more than just missing body parts and failed experiment, there… searches,” Rodrigo agreed, also giving his two cents as he flipped to the next page, I also took a folder from the pile and flicked to a random page and it was profile.

A profile of a general that went missing, but it was overwritten with ‘deceased’ and it seems he’s a major sponsor of this oddly brutal experiment, a pioneer in better terms but I doubt he deserves a better term for what he’s supporting, the number of harrowing images in this folder alone is quite concerning and there are seven other more folders in this pile.

“Does anyone have any idea what the actual project is about?” I asked,

Arthur sighed dragging her hands across her face, “I still don’t understand, I know that place is f****d up but this is straight out… diabolical,” she said cursing under her breath as he took a sip of the drink, it’s probably soda. Rodrigo was quite intent on reading the contents of his folder, and he’s probably the only one who can get close to understanding what all of these meant.

I flipped through mins and saw a receipt of his donated money and what’s it used for; it was pretty tame it’s boring numbers and scientific terminologies that I honestly couldn’t be more bothered to understand. Perhaps this August woman is the only way we’ll be able to decipher all of this biological nonsense.

A few more flicks and words like ‘Out-reach’ and ‘transported specimens’ followed by more science jargon filled the page, including infographics like tables and figures swirling around, something out of a textbook but less comprehensible. This was an old file since it was dated twenty-plus years,

25 years ago.

Minutes later Denis and Inka emerged from the garage, she was holding papers and Denis was following behind like her shadow, carrying a few pieces of paper himself, “Guys, I found something good,” she announced as she moved the folders aside and set down the pictures and papers she and Denis brought.

First, she showed us a staff photograph that made them look like they were taking a class photo, “Luckily, the Mariella Labs admins are pretentious *ssholes so they do things like this once in a while, they held like a charity event for cleaning the forest or something and took this,” she began, and I got the gist of what she’s trying to point out,

‘They dispose of their victim’s body in the forest and to avoid slip-ups like someone bumping into the corpse they do periodic cleanings in the forest to make sure nothing could be traced back to them, at the same time it would make them look good’ I nodded at the thought, I’d hate to admit it but that’s clever,

“This is the most recent picture we can choose the staff from here and after digging around I found the people, we could use for each of our disguises, I looked around their profiles so we just need to confirm it,” Inka added with the explanation.

‘…there’s nothing about hiding bodies in the forest?’

“That’s great! That means we just need to kidnap them and confirm those data and we’re walking back in that place,” Madeline cheered, leaning back on his seat as he gobbled down his food, a spitting image of his sister who’s currently doing the same as she listened intently to Inka, sauces of the pasta she ate stuck on the corners of her lips and her cheeks swelling up with the huge forkful she just inhaled.

‘Is that an appetite of someone remotely bothered by those pictures? Look at her cheeks, uncanny from a murderous squirrel,’

“E-Ehem! Is the leader of the assault team listening?” Inka asked loudly after clearing her throat, causing everyone’s eyes to turn to me.

I frowned, “me?”

“Who else?” Madeline affirmed, not hiding the attitude,

“Then no,” I replied, I wasn’t listening I forgot that I need to do it, it sucks when you’re not used to being a team player, it’s not my fault my work is flawless when I’m alone that I never thought of gathering a crowd around me.

“Right… Listen, Valentin, you’re our biggest muscle in this mission so naturally, a lot falls on your shoulders,” Inka scolded, I just nodded and leaned closer to appear like I’m going to listen now and that I’m taking this seriously,

‘Why’d she have to say my name like that, it’s ugly as hell, I’d forgive my biological parents for abandoning me but not for this name,’

She started speaking again, “So as I was saying, we‘ll go with Madeline’s suggestion we can plan the course of attack now because the kidnapping part is easy enough, again even with this line of work there are better ways to word things out,” she began,

Madeline frowned and gestured to me with his thumb, “Hey! This guy’s also saying the same thing, why am I the only one being nagged at,” he pointed out,

“Valya’s a special case ‘cuz he won’t give a f*ck even if it’s the president who condemns him,” Denis answered,

“He screws around with people who threaten his life, nobody’s words are going to impact him,” Arthur added,

“I get paid to fool around and act like my treatment plan is actually going to work,” Rodrigo followed, it sounded foul coming,

“And with those reasons, you’re the only one I can scold about this, suck it up buttercup you put me in a sleeper hold earlier and I’m still pissed so don’t test me,” Inka finished the relay which effectively silence Madeline.

I hope he doesn’t see me as competition about anything, otherwise, he’ll be both weak and depressed after being repeatedly bested.

‘Ah, right… mom told me my ego is going to put me in a terrible spot so I should just shut my mouth about those things,’

“Now then, let’s assume that the identities are assumed, the plan is we spread out, I still have the blueprint around the place which we got last time, I also looked around and it seems Michael died, probably murder,” She announced,

Rodrigo threw a frown my way, and I shook my head, muttering a quick ‘Wasn’t me’ so he’d stop thinking every death he hears would be by me, it’s not like he’ll know every death I’ve caused. The group let a solemn minute pass and Arthur seemed to be whispering ‘r.i.p’ under her breath.

“With that, we make sure to understand what their roles are, not only do we have to split up but we also need to finish their actual tasks that they do throughout the day or at least attempt to do them so nothing goes wrong in the duration of the extraction,” Inka followed,

Madeline and I nodded, I’m pretty sure it would only be the three of us since Arthur is staying behind, Inka should give Arthur something hard to do so she won’t think of something nonsensical like feeling she’s abandoned the rest of us inside and not being guilty that she’ll eventually follow us inside and that might even cause us more problems since I doubt she’ll be effective within those premises.

She’s scared. She wouldn't perform as well as she does.

“Who’s in charge of the actual extraction?” I asked, and Madeline turned to Inka who only stared at Madeline, that staring contest lasted for a minute until Madeline looked down,

“It’s better if it’s Inka,” he announced, it was a pleasant surprise I didn’t take him as someone who’s able to think in a rational sense, he didn’t strike me as a thinker since he’s been doing s**t he’s been here and, I’m not certain if I meant this as an insult but, he’s also a relative of Arthur.

“Okay, I’ll be the one getting sole contact with August throughout, but how are we getting her out? I don’t think stuffing her under a cart like Madeline would work,” Inka asked and Rodrigo, running his thump his lips, hummed as he leaned closer to inspect the blueprints.

“Yeah that’s not going to work especially now that they’re going to be more vigilant, I think the most flawless way to bring August out of that place is for her to do the same thing Arthur did, like what you three would do,” He suggested,

…The genius of this man is wasted in his personal endeavors, I did think about how we’d get August out but the mock plan I have in my head is not as swift as Rodrigo’s, is that how my train of thought's going to be if I cared more about the safety than the actual accomplishment?

Inka, on the other hand, frowned at this idea, “What you mean? Like also assume another identity of the staff?” she asked, and I nodded, getting the flow of Rodrigo’s thought process and it’s easy enough to fill in the missing parts once I thought of the whole execution,

“Yeah, so instead of three, we’ll take four staff personnel, and while we enter as the three we also need to prepare for the fourth, we’ll get rid of the fourth inside the facility when it’s time for August to switch with their place,” I explained and eyes I felt Madeline breathe deeply as he smiled,

“That’s a good start but the only time Gus is allowed outside her room is when she tends to me or when she goes to the toilet and they’ve most likely put a guard on her now that this happened,” he added in like a game presenting new and more difficult puzzles every time we pass another level.

“I was thinking… one should be the guard on August, let’s change targets and have Inka take the role of the guards that guard August, they’re going to change between shifts, right?” Arthur suggested, thus pushing us another step further.

‘Look at her go,’

I thought as I ate my own lunch pack. All this thinking got me hungry.

They exchanged glances with small smiles and went with that I suppose, “I’ll look through their stuff again if I could find the guards in charge of that, I’ll get something, so with that what roles will Valya and Maddie play?” Inka asked, looking at us respectively,

“I’ll take out the fourth target,” Madeline said and Inka nodded before they looked at me,

“…I’ll mess with the other staff, what else should I do?” I asked, not quite sure what role I’ll play in this actually, if anything I would like to do something that would leave a mark but this part of the mission doesn’t seem to be anything that needed my full participation, I guess I can just hold off any possible or potential interferences.

Inka blinked at me once, then twice before sighing, “Valya you’re the team leader your role is to survey around the place and tell us if there’s anything unusual, our actions would rely on you, I told this first thing,” she listed with an annoyed expression,

“Oh…when I wasn’t listening,” I cleared up, and she groaned. Denis approached me to hit the back of my head in Inka’s stead because he’s apparently so starstruck by her now. I swatted Denis’ hand and nodded to Inka, “okay I got it, so what’s next?” I assured,

Inka looked at the files and information just sprawled out on the desk, “then I guess I’ll try to find our fourth person and the guard that I’ll mimic, you guys could find these guys,” she replied she picked up two incomplete profiles of the staffs we’ll be mimicking.

“Try to ask them important things,” she noted before she left for the garage again,

Rodrigo pulled out a cigarette and sighed with a smile as he shook his head, “I guess I can write this down as you putting in drastic effort and going against your morals to help a person in need?” he said with a chuckle as he looked at me,

“Let’s not lie to ourselves, doc,” I replied, making him hum as he exhaled a cloud of smoke,

I stood up and read the profile on my hand and fished out the car keys with the other. I suppose I’m doing fieldwork in this, but I seem to find just a normal staff so I need to wait for him until he gets home at least, I don’t want to pull him out of work in broad daylight that’ll only increase suspicion.

“Wait for me,” Madeline grunted as he stood up and chased after me, the profile of his target on his hand, so I frowned at him,

“…You’re coming with me?" I asked.

“Are you saying we should do this separately and decrease efficiency?” He asked back,

“Yes,” I answered, he’s just asking for the obvious at this point and I doubt working with him would increase efficiency, actually I doubt working with him do anything. To be honest, I still have trouble believing he’s in any state to be using his body for anything, I bet he’ll vomit what he ate earlier.

“Just take him with you, better to be together than find each other later, you’re a grown man don’t be childish Valya,” Denis said, crossing his arms at me, why does he always have something to say something to put odds against me? I know I do the same to him, but if this is his payback for me mocking him earlier for not getting to ride with Inka, then this is just petty.

I sighed and nodded for him to follow along, “fine, who’re we going for first?” I asked, and he raised a brow,

“Dude our targets work together, we’ll get them at the same time, get your head in the game,” Madeline argued as he went for the door,

“Wait! Stop right there!” Arthur yelled before running to the garage, a moment of silence passed as we waited for her to come back and when she did, she was holding white facemasks, sunglasses, a fedora, a ball cap, and thick-framed glasses that she threw at us, “Put this on at least, come on guys, be more discreet,” she said before sitting back down,

I put on the fedora only because it looks ugly but fits my attire; it was Madeline who picked the ball cap along with thick-framed glasses and the facemasks are for both of us. I tried to slick my hair back under the hat so it won’t press against my forehead and be disgusting. Madeline wore his pieces and we’re off for real this time.

With me driving, we tried to gain closer proximity to the Mariella labs even while staying in the car, but not too close after seeing the place crawling with the authorities. The gates that we broke the last night were also getting their new replacements, and the staff was all around the place. There are also private investigators around, otherwise who would those men in black and white suits would be?

For people who claim to be private, they have this stupid dress code that simply tells the public ‘Hey, I’m a private investigator,’ which is quite counterproductive if you think about it.

“This is going to be messy, they’re all over the place, do you think we could find our guys at this state?” Madeline asked as he squinted over his shades as we watched the people clad in light blue overalls. I’m familiar with the staff uniform since that’s what Arthur wore when she rescued Madeline.

I checked the glove compartment in case there was something in there other than Denis’ little hygiene kit, but all there are small binoculars.

“That could come in handy, give it here,” Madeline said as he watched me pull it out of the compartment, took off his shades, and started ogling about on the staff that comes out and in that we can see from our spot, but I doubt we’ll be favored by the heavens that he’ll—

“I found your guy, seems like he’s busy today, he looks tired,” Madeline announced, not peeling the binoculars from his face and he leaned a little closer,

“Are you serious?” I asked, trying to see if he was telling the truth, but of course, it’s near impossible to see from this distance,

“Yeah, man, I know how to look for a face, you should start learning things like those, it helps out a lot,” he said, still having his eyes glued to the scene.

“Good advice, made it sound and look like you’re 30 already,” I said, with the intention of pissing him off,

“Hey! I still have three years until I’m 30, you’re an *sshole,” he retorted,

“How many years are you apart from Art?” I asked, now curious since he’s already 27, three years older than me I wondered if Arthur’s older than me too because she better start acting like it if she was.

“Don’t f*****g blatantly snoop around my sister, man that’s creepy as hell, she’s 22 but that’s how far I’ll be answering about Art,” he snapped and I huffed.

‘So she’s two years younger than me… still doesn’t warrant that behavior, she should take precautions more, the next time she acts like a toddler, I’m wrapping a bib around her neck,’

“And... There, I found my guy, they’re both identified,” he announced.

‘I could not f*cking believe this,’

“I guess our best play is to wait for them after work? I know I’m rash but I’m not getting close there. I might risk Gus if I make things worse,’ he said, putting the binoculars aside but keeping his eyes on the scene before sighing and turning to me.

He clicked his tongue, “you know I’ve been meaning to ask this since earlier—it’s just bothering me, but… is there really nothing going between you and Art?” he asked, crossing his arms.

It’s obvious so I don’t even have to acknowledge it but it’s becoming painstakingly vexing, but Madeline is a very talkative man and I just sighed as I pinched the bridge of my nose.

‘This is going to be a long night,’