But this woman?
She’s done everything right. She left the criminally asshole fiancé. She changed her name. She built something honest in a city that chews up decency and spits it back out, broken.
And yet, someone wants her dead.
I rub my hands over my face.
I don’t feel guilt—never have. My ethical flexibility is what the military liked about me. Guilt isn’t going to be a problemafterI finish this job. I know that.
The problem I’m having is current,beforeI do the job.
I’m feeling something I never felt before:doubt. And doubt leads to hesitation. Hesitation leads to death.
My phone buzzes.
Logan:Your mystery nun’s got a record of turning down money. Donors with shady backgrounds try to throw cash at the shelter but she sends it back. Even told a city councilman’s aide to go to hell when he suggested she “look the other way”.
Logan:You gonna tell me what this is about? Or should I just start drafting your confession now?
I don’t reply.
Instead, I open a secure line and make a call I shouldn’t make. I never call. My contact knows that, so if I’m calling, something is off.
One ring. Two. A voice answers.
“Is the contract still active?” I ask.
“Yes,” the voice replies.
Long pause.
“Is there a problem?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
Click.
I hang up.
Thereisa problem.
I don’t want to kill Calista Ferraro. She seems like the kind of light that should be allowed to shine.
Fuck me! I’m getting soppy.
This isn’t like me.
But I know it’s far worse than my departure from standard operating procedure. I don’t think I’ll be able to pull the trigger, so to speak, when the time comes with Calista Ferraro.
If I could feel fear, I’d be shit scared.
5
THE REJECTED FIANCÉ
CALISTA
