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Josef was nervous. Mister Nicklaus was angry. There were few things that frightened Josef, but when Mister Nicklaus was angry, there was something about his eyes that triggered fear. The eyes glittered, black orbs that drew you in to a dark, cold place. When Nicklaus was angry he smelled, a faint unpleasant odor of decay. It was even more unsettling than his eyes.
Sometimes Josef thought about disappearing, going back to the simple crimes of his youth, but he knew it was too late for that. Nicklaus would find him wherever he went. No one ever left Mister Nicklaus' employ. Not alive, anyway.
Nicklaus' voice was quiet. His eyes watched Josef as if he were an interesting specimen to pin onto a board.
"Why is the woman still alive, Josef?"
In spite of himself, Josef trembled.
"I don't know how she got out of there, sir. She was bound hand and foot. The whole place was on fire when I left. She should be dead."
"But she isn't. And now I have to do something about her. Her, and the rest of her group. You should have killed her."
Josef knew better than to point out that Mister Nicklaus had told him to hurry and to let the fire take care of her.
"Yes, sir."
"I am tired of having to think about this Project group. I want you to put together a team. You will attack them where they work. Kill them. There is a computer in the basement. I want you to destroy it."
Josef let himself relax a little. This was the kind of mission he understood. It reminded him of the good days in Bosnia.
"I will need information about the building and its defenses."
"All that will be provided. Put together whatever you need. Do it quickly."
"Yes, Mister Nicklaus."
Nicklaus turned the full power of his eyes onto Josef.
"Don't fail me this time."
The sense of relief Josef had begun to feel disappeared.