“Good,” Mac agrees. “So, wait, you’re saying Felix was one of the names? That means he’s right. The General is after him.”
“Why would he want Felix dead?” Dimitri presses. “He is just a cleaner,da?”
Mac shakes his head. “Calling Felixjusta cleaner is like saying Michael Jordan wasjusta baller. Cleaning crime scenes pays well, but he’s got powerful connections, and he’s building an empire of his own. He’s got his own network of spies and informants, too. Maybe the General’s right to be threatened by Felix. Maybe heiscompetition.”
Dimitri inclines his head thoughtfully. “In my mind, this changes very little. The General wants Felix dead, and we want to kill him.”
Mac blows out a breath. “Look, I’m all for taking his ass down because fuck that guy. And I’m not saying we should work with him or trust anything he says, but hemighthave a point about the General. Not knowing who this guy is—if it even is a guy, or a woman, or agroup—or what he’s up to, or what part we’re all unknowingly playing in whatever game this is…”
“This never bothered you before,” Dimitri observes quietly.
“Yeah, well, not knowing doesn’t work for me anymore. That’s why I got out of the military, ya know?”
Dimitri shakes his head. “The General is anonymous for a reason. He does not want us to know who he is. A powerful man who can protect his identity is a terrible enemy to make.”
“Maybe if we’re careful—”
Dimitri cuts him off. “James, this path will only lead to having targets put onto our backs. You are… used to safety behind a long-range weapon. You had security in your position as a soldier. You could not ask questions of your superiors, perhaps, but the worst you had to fear was a dishonorable discharge.
“Being a hitman is a very different thing than being a soldier. We are the hand that holds the gun; the handler is the arm that points it. This is the only balance of power that can be allowed. I have watched many hitmen become targets themselves for asking questions.”
Big D has a point, and as a former-Bratva-enforcer-turned-career-assassin, he’s the most qualified of us to make it. Mac knows it, too. “I suppose a hitman who can’t be controlled is worse than a loose cannon.”
“Da. He is a loose cannon with perfect aim who usually knows how to disappear.”
Mac blows out another frustrated breath. His eyes cut to me, and I know he’s noticing how quiet I’ve been. “What’s your read on it, Wes?”
I rest my elbows on the arms of my office chair, steeple my fingers, and tap my pointers against my top lip. My eyes dart back and forth, not seeing—calculating. “You’ve both got reasonable points. But the lack of information about the General seems intentional, and that implies dangerous secrets—and if I’m participating in some kind of hostile takeover, I’d quite like to know.
“It’s just… I can’t find the General, Mac,” I say honestly, so close to the truth that it makes my pulse race. “I’ve tried. None of my usual methods work. I’ve tried accessing the code to the platform he uses to contact us, but it’s completely locked down. I traced the email, and it takes me through maze after maze with nothing but dead ends. Our payments are bitcoin, scrubbed abroad and redirected back to us in a way that’s totally untraceable”—as well as totally familiar—“so, whoever he is… he’s protected by his anonymity and he knows it.”
“See, but that just makes my point,” Mac jumps in. “What’s he hiding? What’s he hiding so well that not even Wes can find him?”
“I must admit, I’d quite like to know,” I agree.
“But how would we proceed if you are the best and even you cannot find him?”Dimitri asks.
We could do what I’ve been doing all along. Only this time, they can help. “We can focus on the targets. If we can figure out what all our targets have in common, we might be able to figure out the General’s motive and thus who he is.”
Dimitri grunts his agreement.
“You mean what they have in common other than the fact that they’re scumbags?” Mac points out with a half-smile.
“Yes, other than that. Obviously he’s not some sort of vigilante hero with deep pockets. His purpose is self-serving, or perhaps even personal. I think we ought to continue to take the hits, but do some digging of our own.”
“This is still risky,” Dimitri argues.
“But Wes is the best,” Mac jumps in, shooting me a grateful smile. “And he’s careful. He knows how to cover his tracks, right?”
“Kind of the job description,” I say, flashing Dimitri a rueful smile. “We still have laptops and tablets and cell phones from some of those dickheads. I can start going through our old files.”
“Very well, though I still think we should focus our efforts on finding Felix,” Dimitri grumbles.
“I’ll do both to the best of my ability, and proceed with the utmost caution,” I promise, holding up two fingers. “I’ve already got flags for Felix in all the usual places—there’s not much we can do about him until he pops up again. In the meantime, I’ll get stuck in with the old targets and see if we can’t uncover something about the General’s motives.”
“The real question is, what does he want with a shithole like Ulysses?” Mac says.
“Indeed. Follow the money. It’s always the money,” I remark distractedly as I pull my keyboard towards me. Once I crack open a new can of energy drink, Mac and Dimitri shuffle out of the room to let me do my thing.
