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End of the Line
I hold the long metal cylinder in my left hand, my right clenched around the grip of the pistol and twist the silencer into place. This is the vulnerable moment, when I have both hands occupied and the pistol cannot be fired. I should be focusing on what I'm doing but instead I'm looking out of the windows of the rental car making sure I'm not being watched.
With the pistol and silencer laced together I take the Tribune and fold it over the top. With a quick pat of my ankle I verify that my back-up is still tucked into the slender ankle holster and then pull the door release and step into the quiet parking lot. I won't be coming back to the rental and it should sit unnoticed until the company reports it overdue in a week. By then I'll be long gone.
I enter the bar and walk right up to her. She doesn't hear me approach and I sit on the barstool beside her. There is a sigh and her head tilts down to look into her half-empty glass.
"So this is how it ends?" she says, without looking away from the bartop.
I have the pistol pointed into her ribs, the barman is at the other end of the bar and nobody has looked at me twice yet. But somehow I can't quite bring myself to pull the trigger, she exudes a radiance I've never seen before.
"A lifetime of exile, comes to an end in a shitty dive in middle-America. The last daughter of a dynasty that lasted for a thousand years shot at a bar while she drinks cheap bourbon, by a..."
She pauses to give me the once over.
"...a ratty little man with crooked teeth and bad hair. Christ, my ancestors would have rolled over your kind in their carriages on the way to church and still had the priests kissing their asses. You look like you haven't even got the IQ required to comprehend what this is all about; why you were sent here to do this. You're probably some small-time crook who thinks he's hit the jackpot with this job. I'll bet you can't wait to spend the cash on cheap crack whores and junk. My contempt for you goes beyond loathing, you're like a subspecies of vermin I wouldn't take the time to..."
About this point I realise I have no problem pulling the trigger anymore.
May.12.2004