Her Deal with the Devil

Chapter 2: And who pray tell, are you?

Unknown

    How could this be? How could Iris be back here? She shouldn’t be here. It’s not safe. She must leave. How can I make her leave?

                                                                                    ***

Iris 

    45 minutes later, I was in the town of Carrefour. It used to be a bustling port city, but as people pushed west and the nation expanded, times changed. It now had a population of about 3,000. All the stores were locally owned, and almost everyone knew each other. What a wonderful opportunity to rehash my life and all the regrets I have. I need to stop being so cynical. Maybe next year.

    I pulled up in front of the only real estate company in town, Elliot Realty. The Elliots had been in this town almost since its inception, and they never let you forget it. The company was started way back in the 1900s, with ancestor Elliot who, already having money, decided he needed more. He bought up most of the town through different deals--some legal, some not so much. As it passed down through the ages, this company has had its hand in not only showing and selling houses but building them too. As well as different commercial buildings around town. These were the exact people I needed to see. If they couldn’t sell my house, they had enough money to buy it and bulldoze it for all I care. 

    Pulling open the door, I looked around. Hmm, for all the money they have this office is a little....rinky-dink. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I walked over to the receptionist. Typing on her computer she not once looked up to meet my eyes. I cleared my throat softly. With a heavy sigh, she looked up, with the most disinterested face I have ever seen in my life.

    “Yes?”

    I arched a brow. “Yes?” I repeated.

    The lady rolled her eyes. 

    “Yes. How may I help you...” she looked me over, “ma’am?”

    Biting my tongue, reminding myself why I can’t lose it, I paste a fake grin on my face.

    “Yes. I need to put my house up for sale.”

    Another heavy sigh later, a form slid across the desk. 

    “Fill out this form and leave your contact info. We will call you as soon as possible.”

    I picked up the paper and asked, “Would I be able to speak with--”

   “Ma’am I have already mentioned we will call you as soon as possible. You can’t talk with any--”

   “Heifa interrupt me again!”

    The lady’s eyes went wide as saucers. 

    “Now I was trying my best but there is no rhyme or reason for being rude. I can see that Elliot quality has gone down, in employees to say the least.” 

    As I was getting ready to throw the paperback in her face a tall, attractive blond hair blue-eyed distraction walked from the back.

    “Ella! What have we told you about your interpersonal skills! Now I know ya mama asked us to give you this job as a favor, what with you dropping out of school and needing to pull your weight and all, but I won’t tolerate this no further!”

    Ella, looking appropriately ashamed, mumbled an apology and got back to work. The gentleman extended his hand, smiling brightly.

    “My apologies, Miss...?”

    “Hamilton,” I replied, smiling back.

    Still holding my hand, he looked deep in thought. 

    “Oh! You must be Marian’s granddaughter! She mentioned you, once or twice.”

    Noticing that he had begun stroking the back of my hand with his thumb, I gently pulled away.

    “Oh? She has? Why would she have felt the need to do that? And who, pray tell, are you?”

    The gentleman looked at his now empty hand sadly but quickly recovered, giving me his best smile.

    “Jason. Jason Elliot. And you know, I would be happy to discuss your grandmother, and whatever brought you in here, over dinner tonight, if you were free?”

    I smiled, thanking my lucky stars. If I could get on Jason’s good side, he might not charge me much to sell my house. Or he might pay me more if he buys it.

    “Sounds like a plan. Now, I don’t have any formal clothes, so let’s pick somewhere casual ok?”

    Jason laughed, a deep pleasant sound, that came from his chest.

    “Whatever you like Ms. Hamilton. There’s a burger joint over on Arch street. I can pick you up at 6:30?”

    I thought about it. “How about I meet you there at 7? I’m a 45 min drive in the opposite direction and my place isn’t fit for company just yet. Moving in and all.” I smile sweetly.

    Jason gives me a look I can’t quite interpret and then smiles.

    “Sounds good pretty lady. See you at 7.”

    I nod and head back out the door. It wasn’t exactly the progress I was hoping for, but hopefully, outside of work, he would be more open to working out a deal. A girl could hope. I got back in Fiona and headed off to finish my errands. First I swung by the burger joint, just to familiarize myself. What can I say? Old habits die hard. And while Mr. Elliot is attractive, those crystal blue eyes are not going to get me caught up. After that, I headed to the grocery store, intent on finding a pleasant wine to celebrate in the tub with after closing this deal.

                                                                                ***

Daniel

    I sighed, pulling my hair away from my face and into a low bun. I looked at the map in front of me again. I had been having no luck finding her. She left 7 months ago, without a trace. To be honest, I didn’t think she was clever enough to cover her tracks that well. Not from me at least. Then again, she was one smart cookie. That was one of the things that attracted me to Iris in the first place. Her brains. She could cut you deep with just her words. And don’t even get me started on that body. I smiled as I thought about all the fun activities we used to get into together.

    As I pulled the gasoline from the trunk and began to douse it on the car, I thought of all the places she could be hiding. She had no friends. She mostly kept to herself. She told me her father left when she was about 6, and that her mother killed herself not too long after. Her grandmother, Marian, raised her. According to Iris, she was a mean old snake. Iris was more than happy to break ties with the old bag once she moved out this way, vowing to never be associated with the woman in any way. If it wasn’t for the violent and reactive reaction she had whenever she was inadvertently brought up, I would think she went there. What was the name of that place again? My thoughts were rudely interrupted by the muffled screaming coming from the driver’s seat. Stalking to the front of the car, I yanked open the driver’s side door and glared.

    “Do you mind?! I am trying to figure some s**t out.” 

    The man stared back at me terrified, the duct tape on his mouth preventing him from giving what I am assuming would be a heartfelt apology. I ripped the duct tape from his face, appreciating the whimper it drew from him.

    He looked up at me, eyes filled with animosity. “Do you know who I am? I am Ian Petrovich! If you let me go now I might be able to convince my head of security to--”

    “Oh, you mean the dead guy in your trunk? Yeah, he gave me a little grief, but now that I realigned his neck and spinal cord, he’s as happy as a lark. Or is that phrase, ‘dead as a doornail’? Either way, he’s no longer an issue. That reminds me!”

    I opened the trunk of the car and quickly dragged the guy's body from the trunk to the passenger side door. Laying him down so that I could open the door, I positioned him securely with his seatbelt. Looking at Ian I smiled,

    "Safety first," I said, winking.

    Realizing he was on his own, Mr. Petrovich suddenly changed his tune.

    “Please. I can pay. Whatever they’re paying you, I can double it! Just let me go and we can work this out! You don’t have to do this man!”

    I laughed.

    “Listen. Ian was it? If you had the money to pay double what they’re paying me, you wouldn’t be taped to a steering wheel covered in gasoline now would you?”

     Ian started crying, snot and tears streaming down his face. He had turned a very splotchy red and looked to be on the verge of having a panic attack. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost. Anyone that goes to the mob for a loan must know that their life is no longer their own. If he had just paid his monthly dues, with a noticeable interest hike,  like he was supposed to, he wouldn’t be in this mess. And he wouldn’t be talking to me. But I don’t mind. I actually enjoy the company. You know what they say: if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. And I definitely loved what I did. Maybe too much. After emptying all of the gas everywhere, including on the poor sap, I went back to my car and grabbed a bottle of Spirytus. I came back to the car, whistling as I went. I took a swig, then coughed as the alcohol burned its way down to my stomach.

    “Man. I heard this stuff was strong! Whaddya say, buddy? One last drink before you hit the road?”

    He looked at me, tears in his eyes, and nodded.

    “I might as well huh? Since I’m dying and all...”

    “Aye! That’s the spirit!”

    I took the bottle, held it to his lips, and raised it so that he had to chug it or choke on it. He got about 4 good gulps in before he started spluttering. After he finished, I took the rest and poured it all over his body, and anywhere in the front seat, I could reach without getting too close to his mouth. People are dangerous when they’re desperate. When I finished, I started chuckling to myself.

    “You know,” I said. “I’ve always loved the movie Death Becomes Her. I never thought I would get the chance to act out my favorite scene.”

    Smacking the dummy on the cheek, I put the car in neutral and shut the door. I walked to the back of his car and gave it a huge shove, sending it careening off the cliff.  Just as I took my hand off the back of the car and turned away, my phone rang. 

    “Hamilton,” I answered, just as a deafening explosion erupted behind me.

    “I guess there was no reason to call. I can hear the answer in the background.”

    I chuckled into the phone. I knew exactly what he wanted to know. 'Will anyone else take our organization for a bunch of cowards?' The raging inferno behind me gave a resounding ‘no’.

    “You know I always get the job done.”

    "Oh yeah? How did you do this one? I specifically remember telling you boss wanted it to look like an accident.” The disapproval coming from the other end of the line was thick.

“Oh, ye of little faith. After strapping our ex-client and his security to the steering wheel and passenger seat of his car, respectively, I made sure the brake line was cut and shoved them over. After giving him a bath and some refreshing beverage.”

    I laughed at my own private joke as the voice chuckled along.

    “You always did like that movie.”

    “Yeah, I must have made Iris watch that movie a million times, ha.”

    There was a soft sigh on the other end.

    “Speaking of Iris... have you had any luck locating her?”

    Pausing in my light clean up duties, I stared at the phone as if it had grown legs. 

    “Where the f**k did that come from?”

    “You were literally telling me a story about her, Daniel.”

    “No Alexi. You know what I mean.”

    “The boss is making inquiries. He wants to know why it’s taking his best hitman so long to kill a target. Especially one that poses such a threat to his organization.”

    Suppressing the urge to throw the phone off the cliff too, I could feel my anger rising. 

    “Listen Alexi. I told you I would find her and I will. It’s taking a little longer than usual, but I always finish. Now stop bringing up old s**t. Not to mention, she is my wife you know.”

    “Ex-wife. Let’s not forget, the only reason she is on the run is because she brought the divorce papers to you while you were on a job.”

    “Do you have an actual point as to why you are calling? Or are you just trying to make me feel bad?”

    “Like I said, Daniel, I am calling to tell you that the boss is getting to the end of his rope with patience. He’s worried that Iris could blow our whole operation. At the very least, she could get you put behind bars. And even though I know you won’t talk, the boss isn’t quite as trusting. And for an Ex-Yakuza/ Jailed Russian mob hitman, it won’t be pretty.”

    I inhaled deeply and let it out in a huff. He was right. And this was dangerous. “I know Alexi. And I am trying to get it under control. Somehow she disappeared. She never told me much about her past, she always said that she wanted to forget all about it so we never talked about it. Hell, we were only together a year and a half. And the majority of that time was not spent talking.” 

    “Well Daniel, you need to figure it out. And fast.”

    Alexi hung up, and I was left angry, the buzz I had earlier crashing down in flames, much like Mr. Petrovich had. Heh heh. Before getting back in my car, I made sure that there was no wayward piece of evidence that could pin me to the scene. I had already brought the car out here earlier and swerved it enough to make tracks, so it was clear the vehicle lost control. The duct tape would burn up in the fire so that was a non-issue. And the boys on the mob’s payroll would make sure it got labeled as a drunk driving accident. Man, it’s good to be bad.