Two down

Mason's phone was next to his head on the bed when a soft vibration woke him up, and he reached out to answer it. The voice on the other end was loud and rushed, and he knew they were desperate. He counted on it. The more desperate someone is, the more they are willing to pay.

It took some time for Mason to recognise the voice as he sat up, trying to make sense of all the blabber. And before he said a word, he received an encrypted email with information about the targets.

It seemed the man remembered how Mason worked. “All good?" asked Duke in a rushed anger. "I'm sending the money like before."

"Wait."

A sigh followed Mason's voice, and it made Duke stop talking and listen to him. Even if Mason couldn't see him, he still felt the energy coiling around the man as he waited for an explanation.

The silence extended as Mason continued to read through the information he received, showing no intent to hurry. The man grumbled and swore, but didn't rush Mason, which showed how needy he was to have Mason on the job. After another moment in silence, Mason finally spoke, rendering Duke's full attention. "I'll send you the new details for the transfer."

Besides clicking his tongue, Duke didn't reply, but the second he received the email, he began yelling. "Are you freaking kidding me? What is it with the price?" Mason's lips pulled up slightly, and he stood from his bed, opening his closet full of dark coloured clothes, and leaving his phone on speaker. "This is a stupidly high price for such a small thing."

Even though his face was blank and he didn't respond to the insults Duke kept spewing, Mason shook his head. He wasn't exactly proud of the work he did, and he didn't judge other people's way of life, but that didn't mean he agreed with them. Even less for the dumb and rich people who ordered a hit on someone for petty reasons in the middle of the night just because they could.

"You are making a request in the middle of the night to be completed, in your own words, freaking yesterday. There is an added price for urgency," Mason explained calmly. "Besides, there are two targets."

Mason didn't need all the money he was requesting, but in his own way, he wanted them to pay for thinking so lowly of a person's life, and if the only thing that made them tick and think about the consequence of their actions was either money or information, he was going to get the most he could each time.

"This is a rip-off. Who in their right mind would hire you for this amount? There are plenty of people ready to do this for a better price."

It took a lot of effort for Mason not to sigh out loud, but he did roll his eyes before he replied. "Of course, look for someone else if you want, but make sure they clean up properly, after all, one mistake, and it will lead to an investigation." They both knew why Duke called him first, and after a brief pause, Mason continued. "You are slurring your words, so I'm sure you have been drinking, and since it is a couple, I will bet you argued or even fought with the targets in a public place where there will undoubtedly be surveillance."

The pause this time was longer, and Duke barely dared to breathe. "We both know how it would look if the couple you were arguing with ended up dead on the same night." Mason also knew that Duke didn't have enough good connections to stop an investigation if it came to that.

Silence filled the line again, and while Mason waited for the confirmation, he checked a few details about the hotel the couple reportedly went to spend the night, and he hacked into their system.

"If you screw up, you are dead. I'll kill you myself, you hear?" A second later, Mason saw the notification on his phone with the money received.

"Always here to clean your mess for the right price," he said with a smile on his lips. After the line disconnected, he stretched his back and walked out of his apartment, "Like taking candy from a child."

The autumn nights were getting chilly, and if Mason wasn't going to work out, he might have been underdressed, but as it was, he had just enough. Skipping past security and hotel staff was easy enough with his skills and access to the hotel's security system, and in no time at all, he was in front of the room.

Snoring filled the room once he entered it. On the bed slept a middle-aged man, Colby, the one whom Duke actually wanted dead for the information he disclosed to him while trying to partner with him. For the little information Mason had read on him, he was a depraved person whom most people would benefit from his death.

Sarah's identity was still a mystery since he didn't have much time to investigate, and by Duke's standards, she was a nobody. She was just collateral damage in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I can't do this anymore. I'm so tired–" Her soft voice slipped through the window, but she mostly nodded and cleaned the tears on her face.

It would have been easier if both were asleep since he could drug both in their sleep and get on with it. As it was, he sprayed the man with the sleeping gas and waited for her to finish the call. Judging by her underfed muscles and slack posture, she would be easy to subdue.

When she walked back inside, Mason grabbed her from behind, his hand on her mouth, and she tried to fight back until she saw the knife he held near her neck. It was as if an enormous weight lifted from her shoulders, and she exhaled shakily.

"Why are you here?" he asked her, curious about her reaction. Most people would fight a tad longer before giving up like this. It wasn't a good idea to know more about targets than the required, but for his peace of mind, he needed something that made him feel better for taking the person's life. The hypocrisy wasn't lost on him.

"The other option was worse than this." Her voice trembled.

"Anyone you want to say goodbye to?" He asked after a moment. Tears pooled in her eyes as she shook her head.

Mason released her and backed away. He knew she wouldn't try to escape. She sat on the bed and gladly inhaled the drug Mason spray in front of her. Seconds later, her body went limp as she dove into a deep sleep.

The sun was rising in the distance by the time Mason got back home, tired of carrying bodies all over the place and cleaning after them.