vision, another snake struck. This pain was worse, like a hornet’s sting.
The question of how two rattlesnakes came to be inside his office was far from his mind. Knowing he had no choice, Lawrence stepped sideways and gripped his desk. Agony struck again, this time in his hand. There was a snake on his desk?
Nausea swelled in his stomach. Cold sweat drenched his body. He reached for the phone and watched in a blur of pain as it moved farther away from him. He stumbled forward, reaching for the cellphone that somehow continued to be out of his reach. How was that possible?
His mind was a mass of confusion as fear and panic took control. He reached for the phone again, and that’s when he heard something else. Soft, masculine laughter filled the room.
“What…who…”
“Sorry, Medford. Not going to happen.”
Lawrence tried to swing around to see who had spoken behind him. His legs refused to obey him, and he teetered forward. Catching himself on the edge of the desk, he stood there, hoping to catch his breath. He was hallucinating. Maybe he was dreaming. Maybe… Agony speared through his left leg. He glanced down to see that a snake had struck again. This was no nightmare!
Grabbing a paperweight, he dropped it onto the snake and missed. It did nothing other than slither off. As he staggered, his only thought was to get help. He needed his phone. Where had it—
“Looking for this?”
Lawrence jerked around. It hadn’t been his imagination. Someone was here. Holding his phone out to him. His vision wavering, he reached for it and then swallowed a gasp when the hand jerked away.
“Please…I need to call someone.”
“Yeah, I know. You’re not a bad guy, Medford. In fact, I really like your films. Classy but understated. Unfortunately, you pissed somebody off. Sorry about that.”
“Please…I need help.”
“Oh, you’ll get help, but it’ll come much too late for you.”
Nausea swelled, twisting and knotting. The rapid thundering of his heart roared through his head. He couldn’t think…couldn’t think… His mouth opened but no sound emerged. His legs collapsed, and he fell forward, landing face first on the hardwood floor. He shifted his head slightly and looked up to see a vaguely familiar face.
“The venom is taking over now. You’ll be dead soon.”
Lawrence lay on the floor, his mind dulled with pain. His breathing labored, his heart raced faster and faster toward a dark finish line. A line he hadn’t planned on crossing for several more decades.
Who hated him so much to kill him? He thought about what could have been…what could never be.
Studying Lawrence Medford as he took his last breaths was a unique experience. In his line of work, one needed to absorb the experience to learn the various facets. Who knew when he might need to recall the incident to enhance a scene?
Besides, if he’d learned anything in his career, it was that the job, no matter how distasteful, had to be finished. Using his phone, he clicked a couple of photos. Proof of death was also an important part of his itinerary.
The reason behind Medford’s killing was of no real importance to him. He had a job to do, and as usual he took great pride in his work. Knowing why his client wanted to off the wealthy and famous man mattered nothing to him. It was a job that paid him quite a bit of money. That was his only motivation.
With meticulous care, he gathered his weapons into a box. Nasty creatures, but quite effective. He would leave only the largest snake. To the authorities, it would appear that Medford had died from multiple bites from that one snake. They would never know the man had been attacked by a half dozen of the vipers.
He looked around once more to ensure he’d left no indication that he had been there. Satisfied with what he saw and with his night’s work, he let himself out the way he’d come in, through the back door.
Scaling the brick wall in the backyard, he hopped down and jogged the quarter mile to where he’d left his car. Only slightly winded, he dropped into the driver’s seat, pressed the engine button, and shifted into gear. Five miles down the road, he made the call.
“It’s done.”
“He’s dead?”
“Should be within the next ten minutes. He’ll be long dead before anyone finds him.”
“Excellent. The other half of your payment is on its way.”
“Good.”
“Stay close. It’s possible I’ll have another job for you soon.”
“Sounds good.”
He ended the call