Nine

Cristal sat in the public park enjoying her moment of solitude. It was a gorgeous day with an attractive, cloudless blue sky above the city of Boston. The green grass was blowing gently in the summer breeze on the beautiful strip of green that ran beside the Charles River Basin.

A gentle breeze blew through her hair as she sat on a park bench beneath a shade tree a slight distance from the other park-goers. She watched a dog running to catch a Frisbee from his owner, and then a ball. Kids were laughing and playing, and a few joggers were repeatedly circling the area, trying to keep themselves in shape. She looked up to observe squirrels chasing each other up and down the tree. The moment was picturesque.

She was alone and thinking. She’d received the murdergram the day before, and already she knew everything there was to know about her target, Chow Ling Tao—his family, his kids, his habits, his flaws, his likes, and his addiction. In a few hours, she would be on the red eye to JFK Airport. From there, she planned on meeting with her handler, someone who would provide her with the toys she needed to do her job.

She spent another hour lingering in the park, keeping to herself, wishing her life had turned out differently. But harboring regrets about her past would only stir up emotions that she couldn’t afford to have. Being nostalgic could not only affect her job; it could get her killed.

She stood up and walked away. The sun was gradually fading behind the horizon. The day at the park was soon about to become a memory. She needed to go home and finish packing.

...

She walked into her apartment and went straight for her desktop. She powered it on and sunk her bottom into the black task chair and focused on the screen. Microsoft Word came up. She was working on another book—a bonus edition. So far, three chapters revealed what went down at her grandmother’s place. The words poured out, the horror she felt, the betrayal, her anger and her survival. It was hard to write, but it gave her an escape.

She quickly wrote a chapter about Hugo, her fingertips rapidly drumming against the keyboard, bringing thought to life. She wished she could bring other things to life. The words came out of her like a torrent.

Two hours later, two more chapters had been completed. She felt proud. The words on the screen were so real to her, it made her suddenly get up and walk out onto her balcony for some fresh air.

...

The American Airlines flight’s wheels came screeching down on the tarmac at JFK Airport. The red-eye flight had just landed in the pre-dawn hour, and over a dozen passengers were ready to exit from the plane. The city was gradually coming alive. Terminal 8 wasn’t congested with departing and arriving passengers yet. It was still in slumber for the moment.

Cristal strode off the plane with her carry-on in hand, moving quickly toward the exit of the terminal. For her, the red-eye flight was the best: less people, less traffic, and she wasn’t aggravated by the late-night travel. She didn’t suffer from fatigue, but was cool and ready to handle her business.

She strutted through the terminal and outside, where cabs waited to pick up passengers. Cristal remained low key, looking casual and unassuming, wearing a pair of jeans, flats, a fedora hat, and huge shades. She hurried toward the nearest cab and jumped inside.

“Welcome to New York,” the Hispanic driver greeted, smiling and looking animated. “And where are we headed today?” He glanced at Cristal through his rearview mirror.

The fedora she wore was pulled low over her brow, and she looked like a shadow in the backseat. “Manhattan. Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue.”

“Manhattan it is,” he said.

What is he so happy about?

Traffic outside the arrival terminal was sparse. A little over two dozen passengers were on the curb with their luggage and waiting to head toward their destination in the city.

“First time in New York?” he asked.

“No,” she replied, being short with him.

She remained distant as the yellow cab navigated through the intricate roadways of the airport. JFK Airport was a labyrinth of overpasses and winding highways leading in and out of Queens. Cristal sat back into the backseat, staring aimlessly outside the window.

Cristal had never been too familiar with Queens. Brooklyn and Harlem were always the preferred places to be and hang out while she was growing up. She’d always thought that Queens was a corny borough, filled with houses and parks; it was the suburbs she could never relate to while growing up in and around the projects.

While on the northbound Van Wyck Expressway, her mind drifted toward Sharon. In Boston, before boarding her plane, she’d seen Sharon’s picture in The Boston Globe with the caption, “New York Cop Considered a Hero.”

Sharon a police officer. Who would have thought? They had been good friends growing up. Like hers, Sharon’s life had changed dramatically. Years ago, neither of them would have even thought about becoming a cop or a paid murderer. They once lived normal lives doing teenage things and having teenage problems. They were into the boys, especially the bad boys, and committing illegal acts to come up in their neighborhood.

Cristal didn’t have any beef with Sharon becoming a police officer. In fact, she was proud of her. With what she had been through, her friend deserved some happiness in her life. Sharon was the only one who’d made it out of the ghetto unharmed, despite witnessing her boyfriend’s murder. She and Tamar had taken away the best thing Sharon had in her life, Pike. They were obviously in love, but because of choices that were made, offing Pike was unavoidable.

The cab went through the Midtown Tunnel and emerged into midtown Manhattan. The early hour made the traffic tolerable. The cab continued to head west, toward the Waldorf Astoria.

When the cab pulled up to the luxury hotel on Park Avenue, Cristal already had his fare in hand. She passed him a hundred-dollar bill and said, “Keep the change.”

“Wow! Thank you, miss,” he said joyously.

She couldn’t help but smile for a fleeting second as she removed herself from the cab and walked toward the hotel. At six a.m., the Waldorf wasn’t yet completely alive with activity. She sauntered into the grand lobby with the giant crystal chandelier and marble flooring amid the architectural grandeur and sophisticated style.

She went to the front desk to check in. She looked like a tourist in the city for personal reasons, but it was business. Her target was staying there so she wanted to be close. Lincoln Center wasn’t far from the hotel.

She walked into her hotel room, which featured an oversized marble bathroom, and gazed out the window from the tenth floor. It felt good to be back in the city again. She had missed it.

Now that Cristal was there, it was time to put her skills to use. Taking someone’s life for profit had become the norm for her a long time ago. She never lost any sleep over the people she had killed through the years. It had her thinking, Why was I born to do this?

...

Being back in New York for the moment and having some time to spare, Cristal took some free time for herself. She took a taxicab to a place to the last place she expected to be. She had no idea why she’d come, but she was there, standing in front of Pike’s grave. He was her first kill outside of the Farm. He was her friend, but yet, for advancement in their coldblooded careers, she and Tamar had taken him out like he was a bug on the concrete. She stared at his headstone and remembered the good times they had together as friends. At one point, Cristal liked him and wanted to fuck him, but Sharon beat her to the punch. She had been happy for her friend.

So much had changed since that summer. But now wasn’t a time to reflect on the past. The past was dead to her, and all of her friends, Mona and Lisa, were dead too. Sharon was living a new life, and Tamar, though she was still alive, the bitch was dead to her. Cristal wanted that meaning to become literal.

She crouched lower to Pike’s grave and exhaled. The summer sun was bearing down on her, and the environment was tranquil. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “It was a job, and you truly didn’t deserve this.” Thinking back was painful, so she tried not to do it. She didn’t shed any tears. Her well had dried a long time ago. Each passing day seemed like it was harder than the next, but she carried on.

Cristal rose to her feet and turned, making her exit from the cemetery. She climbed back into the idling cab waiting for her outside the gates of the cemetery. She sat back and told the driver, “Take me back to the city.”

He nodded, put the cab into drive, and drove off slowly.

While riding in the backseat, she closed her eyes and drifted off to a place before the turbulence and the bloodshed. She popped a few pills into her mouth without any chaser. With her eyes closed, the window down, and the cool breeze blowing against her, she tried to cure her issues. The medication was a temporary relief.

The stress of another contract to fulfill wasn’t much of a burden; the more bodies, the easier the killing became. It only took patience and cunning movements to become a devious contract killer. She couldn’t afford to make any mistakes, so every movement she made was well planned. A Chinese diplomat would be one of her most difficult assignments. Chow Ling Tao was a popular and wealthy man with a lot of enemies. He walked around with security, with all of his movements recorded and watched. It was going to take someone with balls, great tactical skills, wits, and patience to take him out. Cristal was all of the above.

She was in the man’s head, already knowing his routine and his schedule. She had hacked into his computer, observed him and his security detail from afar, and studied his favorite places to eat while visiting the city. Now, all that was left was when and where to strike with the least risk.

She had assessed different locations, from the Waldorf to Lincoln Center, and tried to determine which site in Manhattan would be most conducive to a long-range assassination.

Earlier, she had gone to see her handler—Mr. Zero was what they called him—at an undisclosed location in New Jersey. The handler worked various locations throughout the nation. He was something like a moving parts store, except that he moved deadly weapons, from handguns and grenades to long-range sniper rifles and bombs.

Mr. Zero pulled up in his black old-school Lincoln Continental and stepped out, pulling on a cigarette and looking harder than any man Cristal had ever known. He was an older Italian man who moved with confidence. His face was blunt, with harsh features, like he’d been chipped from rock and all the rough edges left untouched. The lines in his pale face looked like wrinkled paper, and his eyes were colder than the Arctic and exhibited a man who been there and done that—a retired stone-cold killer. He was of average height, stocky, and dressed in nondescript dark pants and a dark jacket, the gray in his cropped hair a testament to his age.

With his keys in his hand, he opened the trunk to reveal the goodies he had for Cristal. The trunk of the Continental was filled with guns, guns, and more guns. While standing by the trunk, smoking his cigarette, Mr. Zero eyed Cristal from head to toe and said, “Take your time, and let the weapon pick you.”

Cristal nodded.

She opted to go with a Blaser R93 LRS2 sniper rifle. It had to be assembled, but that wasn’t a problem for Cristal. She removed it from his trunk and placed it into a briefcase.

Mr. Zero nodded. “Great choice.” He closed his trunk, walked toward the driver’s side, and climbed into his car.

The deed was done. No more words were exchanged between them.

Cristal walked the opposite way with the briefcase in hand. Now that she had the weapon, it was time to make headlines.

For the next two days, Cristal acted like she was a tourist and went sight-seeing to kill some time. She visited Times Square, walked through Central Park, went up to the top of the Empire State Building, and wined and dined herself in some lovely restaurants. It was her job to act unassuming, and she did a very good job at it. Regardless of the troubles and demons plaguing her mind, she pulled off being the perfect easygoing character. No one would’ve suspected she was in town for something sinister.