Killing Sarai (In the Company of Killers 1)

I take the photo from her hands.

“This hit was designated clean,” I begin. “But Arthur Hamburg is rarely alone on his estate. He throws elaborate parties three to four nights a week, only for the wealthiest of people and always by invitation only. The security at his estate is top notch. Hamburg hand-picked every one of them. They are not unskilled security guards hired off the cuff. It won’t be like it is in the movies where I get onto the property unseen and take out all of his men before they get a shot off. It doesn’t work that way in this case.”

Her face has grown weary and anxious over the course of the last few seconds.

“Then how do you get in?”

“We get in by invitation,” I say. “Hamburg has a weakness, like all men, and you and I are going to use it to our advantage.”

Now she looks a little nervous.

“What’s his weakness?”

“Sex, of course,” I say as if she should already know the answer. And I know she did.

She flinches a little underneath that soft skin.

“Is this going where I think it is?”

“Probably not,” I say, “but it will still be unpleasant.”

Sarai

My stomach ties up in a knot. Victor puts the photo of the old man away inside the envelope. And I can’t seem to get these disgusting images out of my head of him lying nak*d on top of me, the creases and folds of his obvious weight problem smothering me like way too much jelly on a PB&J. I shudder. Surely Victor wouldn’t expect me to sleep with this man even for the sake of a mission. I’m not a hooker in any form and I’ll be damned if I become one. Not even for this. I may have slept with Javier every night for years even though I didn’t want to, but that was different. That was my way of surviving. And Javier, dare I say it, was attractive despite his unforgivable faults.

That was definitely different…

I can’t look at Victor right now, not because I’m mad at him for this even though I feel like I should be, but because…goddamn, I’m still contemplating it. There has to be something more to it, something that separates what whores do from what he expects me to do.

He won’t let it go that far, I resolve to believe. Yes, that’s it. It has to be.

A bit of turbulence shakes the plane and pulls me out of my thoughts. I’m gripping the armrests when I turn to see Victor again.

“So then what’s the plan? It’s obvious you brought me along because being the girl I fit perfectly into it.”

He nods. “Yes, being a woman has its advantages in cases like these. Just remember the things I told you before: you’re submissive to me but sometimes your tongue gets you into trouble. You’re a wealthy, stuck up little bitch and more than anything, you fear nothing.”

I laugh derisively. “Well, according to you, I’ve got that fear thing down pat already.”

“Yes,” he says retaining his serious expression, “but you might feel differently once you’re there and the threat is all around you. You need to make certain that nothing will break you of the control you have over your fear. Hamburg will be turned off by you the moment he senses it. Fear to him is weakness and he likes strong, reckless young women. And even stronger men.”

I feel my face distort with disgust and mild shock, but I don’t ask about the obvious. I just try to let it all sink in, what exactly we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it. Because everything I theorized before has just been tossed out the window.

Victor did say that what I assumed would happen probably wasn’t right, but I’m only slightly relieved by the truth in that. And ‘slightly’ will continue to be the measure because he also said it would still be unpleasant.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

We arrive in Los Angeles just after six in the evening. We check into the most extravagant hotel the city has to offer and Victor is in character before we even make it up to our room on the top floor overlooking the cityscape. He demands, with his chin held high and his dominant demeanor that we get the best suite and will accept nothing less. And the front desk clerk, bewitched by his dark, flickering eyes, erases a reservation a guest had booked for tonight and gives Victor the keys to the suite. He is so good at pretending to be someone else that he almost tricks me into believing he’s a rich bastard who cares nothing for the people beneath him, who just so happens to be everyone. But he does it with so much grace and composure that his rich arrogant attitude doesn’t induce dislike for him, but instantly demands respect.

I’m seriously beginning to doubt my ability to act compared to his. I did it for nine years with Javier. My whole life was an act and I like to think I have enough experience, but Victor intimidates me.

I straighten my back and walk alongside him in my Valentino dress and flat sandals with my head held high. I am strong, powerful, rich, and I can’t be touched.

At least that’s what I hope I’m pulling off.

“It begins tonight,” Victor says setting his bags on the end of the bed and then he hangs a tall black garment bag with a zipper down the front on a hook on the wall. “If all goes as planned, it’ll end tomorrow night. You’ll need to wear make-up and pull up your hair. You have to look the part as well as play it. Oh, and put on the heels.” Flipping the latches on his gun case he retrieves one of his handguns and starts to attach a suppressor on the end of the barrel.

“What is the plan then?” I ask, ignoring my need to complain about the shoes he wants me to wear that I hope I can even walk in.

“Tonight we go to his restaurant,” he begins, still inspecting the gun. “Before we can get into the mansion, we’ll need an invitation and the restaurant is where we’ll get it. I’ll play my part and you play along as Izabel, not as Sarai. Remember that always when in public even when you think no one is watching.” He glances at me and goes back to inspecting the gun. “Hamburg is at this restaurant every Friday night like clockwork. But we’ll never see him. He hides out in a private room with two other men: his assistant and his restaurant manager. But Hamburg is always observant to what goes on in the restaurant. And he’s always assessing the guests. We may not see him, but it’s a certainty that he will see us.”

“Assessing them?”

Victor sets the gun on the bed and closes the case.

“Yes,” he says. “He’ll be looking for a couple. We need to make an impression.”

This is worrying me more by the second.

“Well, I’m sure there will be plenty of couples in a restaurant in L.A.” I meant for it to sound sarcastic, but he’s not fazed by it.

“Of course there will be,” he says. “But unlike everyone else in the restaurant, I know exactly what he’s looking for.”

He points to my bag. “Now get ready. We leave in half an hour.”

I pull out the make-up kit Ophelia included with all the clothing she gave me and take it into the bathroom. I’m kind of excited to wear it. I didn’t have such a luxury while with Javier except when he’d take me with him to the parties and such. And I always took my time putting it on because I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted to savor my only moment alone where I felt like an average teenage girl, standing in front of the mirror dolling myself up before another day at school. I always pretended that’s what I was getting ready for and I mastered making myself believe it. That was until Izel burst into the room uninvited and dragged me out by the arm because I was taking too long.

But this time, I don’t pretend I’m somewhere I’d rather be. I’m focused and determined and naturally nervous. I apply my makeup in record time and brush out my hair until it’s like cool, soft silk lying against my back and then spend more time than I want trying to pull it up. After struggling for fifteen minutes, I finally manage to make it look ‘rich bitch’ nice, pinned to the back of my head with pretty silver hair clamps.

Victor is dressed in his usual when I emerge from the bathroom, but somehow he manages to be even sexier. I quietly gape when I see him standing there in his Armani suit, polished black shoes and tall height. I glance down at my dress and even though it had to cost a few thousand dollars, I feel like I don’t compare standing next to him.

Maybe it’s the sandals, maybe once I put on the heels they’ll make me feel more like his equal.

“No confidence,” he says and I look up. “You reek of it right now. You need to reverse that before we step out of this room.” He walks up to me. He smells faintly of cologne and I inhale deeply of his scent. “You know you’re the most beautiful and most important girl in the room,” he says and for a moment I get lost in those words, not wanting to accept them as merely instruction. “You’re always in competition with other women, proving to everyone around you that you can never be matched and if one ever tries, you’ll snuff her out of the picture with the flick of your wrist. You don’t smile, you grin or smirk. You don’t say thank you, you assume you are being thanked for the opportunity to serve you. And you never raise your voice because you don’t have to in order to make your point. And remember that you always relent to me. No matter what.”

I stare blankly at him. “I’m a real piece of work,” I say. “I almost feel like punching myself.”

Victor grins and it sends a shiver up my back.

He holds up a finger. “One more thing,” he says and reaches into his duffle bag. He pulls out a tiny ivory jewelry box and hands it to me. I open the latch and look inside. There are several stunning rings fitted in between the velvet folds on one side, two necklaces, one gold, one silver, with jeweled pendants and matching bracelets and earrings.

“Where’d you get all this?”

He hides his gun away inside his shirt, breaking apart the first three buttons to reveal a black strap down one side of his chest that I can only assume is attached to a gun holster of sorts.

“You don’t want to know.”

I leave it at that and slip on four rings, two on each hand, and then a matching bracelet, necklace and earring set. Then I grab my little white hand purse and Victor hooks my arm within his just before we walk out the door.

L.A. is just like it is in the movies: a vast infrastructure booming with lights and tall buildings and expensive cars and white roads lined with palm trees and multi-million dollar houses. We ride in a black convertible Mercedes-Benz Roadster, though with the top in-tact, through the sprawling city. It was parked at the front of the hotel waiting for us when we came outside. I guess doing what he does has its perks. It’s not all about killing people for money, but having whatever he needs at his disposal that will ensure he can carry out every job he’s given.

We arrive at the restaurant in the wealthiest part of town, no doubt, well after dark. A valet opens my door for me. I start to smile and tell him thank you once I get out, but I catch myself quickly and swallow my error before anyone notices. Instead, I raise my chin and don’t even offer the guy a look in the eyes, much less a smile or a thank you.