Hitman vs Hitman - L.A. Witt Page 0,6
think they’re going to let you upstairs dressed like that, to mingle with the beautiful people? Not a chance.”
“They will if they don’t want to put up with rats running through the dining room,” Torralba said.
“Right, because a stampede of shrieking oligarchs is going to be so much easier to manage.” Why, why did their client have to request that the death look natural? A shot to the head across a crowded ballroom would be so much easier to manage than a quiet poisoning.
And why had someone hired both of them?
And why were they so insistent that the kill had to take place tonight, on the least-accessible night in this stupid fuck’s calendar for the entire month? Any other location would have been better—his office, his private jet, his Lamborghini. Oh, the fantastic things August could have done with access to that gorgeous Lamborghini. So many ways to kill a reckless idiot with a car like that, and while Baldwin had a head for math and was a downright miraculous coder, he drove with all the enthusiasm and care of a five-year old riding a sugar rush.
“That’s my problem, not yours,” Torralba said, breaking in on August’s musings. “All you need to worry about is how to get out of here. I’m doing this job. It’s not like you need the money.” There was a hint of disdain in his voice. Spoiled little rich boy, playing at being a killer. Go back to your mansion. Go back to your mommy. Torralba didn’t have to say it, but August heard it all the same. He’d heard it plenty.
Warm, comforting fury settled over him like a blanket. His aching feet clenched in his slick black shoes. “You’re right, I don’t need the money. I want it, though. And even if I didn’t, I’ve signed a contract. I’m not going to get downgraded on Rate Your Hit for reneging on a deal.” That was one of the fastest ways to tank your rating, assuming you didn’t just turn up in a ditch somewhere, and August was already on thin ice with the site owner thanks to killing his last client after he found out the guy wanted him to kidnap his target’s fiancée and their infant child as part of the deal, with a bonus offered for “finalizing everything” after the target was killed. No way in hell.
“Who gives a shit about that?” Torralba said, but his right hand clenched just a little bit.
“You do,” August replied. “Because you’ve got the highest rating on the site from active members and you want to keep it that way, since that leads to better jobs. Because you’ve personally threatened the owner at least once, which I know for a fact, so don’t try to deny it. Because if you get downgraded, you’ll get passed by Victor, and nobody wants that.”
They both grimaced, a brief moment of solidarity. Torralba was a jerk, but absolutely nobody on the site liked Victor. The fucker had a personal catchphrase: to the Victor go the spoils, and he liked to haul it out whenever he stole a contract out from under someone. What a dick.
“Look, how about we just go our separate ways this time around?” August offered, very graciously, he thought. “You try to off Baldwin with, I don’t know, a pack of rabid rats or something, and I’ll do my thing, and we’ll see who gets him first. Sound fair?” As soon as the catering staff showed up, August would sneak up to the kitchen and either steal a spare uniform, or knock someone out and borrow one for a while. He’d be able to blend in with the kitchen staff, which would be outsized for a party as big as this one was supposed to be, and plan his angle of attack from there.
A natural death…he could still try for poison, if he got his hands on a champagne tray. But if the tainted glass was taken by the wrong person…hmmm. This was going to be tricky.
Not as tricky as keeping Torralba from finishing off Baldwin first, but August would swim under that bridge when he got to it. He held out his hand and smiled as charmingly as he knew how. “Deal?”
Torralba looked like he’d rather spit in August’s hand than shake it. But there was an element of the old-fashioned to him, and after a moment he took it and shook once, roughly, before using it to pull August in close. “Stay out of my