Chapter 1- Termination
The chill of the Februarymorning whipped through the blue hooded terry cloth bathrobe embroidered with two crimson-colored berries.The stitching was a subtle nod to her Technician handle of The Cranberry.The final training with Passion Fruit, the Accidents Specialists for the Fruits of the Great Lakes, came with three grueling assignments.All three replayed in Helen's mind like bad dreams she couldn’t seem to end by waking up to make them stop.
When the fax machine went off that afternoon, she believed herself ready to take on the work.However, once she read the missive, her heart sank.The mission was the termination of a man who worked security for a food manufacturer in Hillsdale, Illinois.The primary issue with the security guard was his lack of providing security.Instead, he took pride in allowing his pals to come at night and haul off loads of meat and other products and in one instance, an entire truck filled with orders to a large family focused membership club.Although it was simply a terminating offense, Helen didn't understand why such an act necessitated the loss of the man's life.Well, that was until she found out he was also allowing the competition to taint the food with harmful doses of chemicals which caused illnesses in much of the state of Illinois, and ultimately, the deaths of three children.
Passion Fruit simply cut his brake lines, knowing he took a steeply inclined road home each evening, and the night of the accident, there would be inclement weather.Daniel Hethmith’s life ended at 12:15 in the morning as his vehicle slammed into a light pole, crushing the front end of his vehicle along with Daniel's chest.His life-force ended on impact.Helen squinted as Passion Fruit snapped pictures and sent them to Azrael, and fifteen minutes later, the deadly duo stopped at an eatery for a chicken burger.
“You're not hungry?”she asked Helen.
“Naw, I'm okay.”Helen replied.In her soul, she didn’t think she would ever be okay after seeing the man in a such a state.Further, it bothered her a great deal to see Passion Fruit eating ground meat.She shook it off.This was the job.This was the work, and there was more to be done.
The following week, a new order arrived for a quick set up and take down of Willie “Bang Bang” Johnson, a lab tech for a big pharma company in North Chicago.Willie, who considered himself a ladies’ man, received the handle Bang Bang by going through the staff of ladies at the campus of the organization.Mr.Johnson, who was rumored for having a rather large instrument himself, used his skills to elicit information from the staff members, which he sold on the dark web.This included, but was not limited to, pharmaceutical formulas for well-known brands and products in development.Mr.Johnson and the CEO’s wife were caughtinflagranti delictoat a local hotel, discovered by the housekeeping staff, permanently bonded to each other, dying from exploding hearts.
“I'm in the mood for a bowl of chili,” Passion Fruit claimed, smiling as she snapped a photo of the bloody mess.
Helen found herself losing her cookies in the shrubbery of the hotel.Passion Fruit poured white powder on Helen’s mess, which contained massive quantities of DNA that Passion Fruit didn’t want traced back to the svelte lady, who by all records lived in Indiana.There should be no logical reason her lunch should be found in the bushes of a hotel where two dead bodies were located.
“Never eat before a job,” Passion Fruit warned.Helen nodded, moving on to what was on the agenda.She wasn’t ready for what came next, or so she thought.
However, in her final week with Passion Fruit, an accident that required careful planning took place.A car accident, unlike Daniel's, but Passion Fruit wanted Helen to show off her mathematical skills.It required the use of a chain saw to cut a tree.Helen was shown how to oil slick a road using high math calculations to compute the angle of drift in a four-door sedan traveling downhill at 60 miles per hour, coming into a curve.
“Okay,” Helen said, sitting down and sketching it out.Honestly, she didn't think it would work, especially based on her mathematical skills, but it did.
Helen poured the oil on the road just as she was instructed.She ran the line of cotton string soaked in potassium nitrate to the oil and hid in the woods.On cue, the black BMW came down the hill, doing about sixty miles per hour, which was entirely too fast considering the upcoming curve.Passion Fruit pushed the tree she had cut, making it fall into the road.The driver swerved, hitting the tree with the back end of her vehicle at the same time Helen ignited the string, making the oil catch fire.The car careened and swerved, and based on her calculations, entered the curve at seventy miles per hour, striking the guard rail and going over the edge.
The screams from Annie Proloux, the aerospace engineer who worked for a defense contractor in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, ceased at 2:15 a.m.Passion Fruit snapped photos of the burning vehicle and half of Annie's body hanging out the window.A shudder ran down Helen's back at the sight of the confirmation.
“She won't be selling any more secrets to China,” Passion Fruit said.
“Is that what the contract said?”Helen asked.
“No, she's been on Sour Grapes watch list for the last six months,” Passion Fruit said.“It was only a matter of time before the connections were made, and Sour Grapes began to forward info and trackers to the Powers that Be.Hey, how about some pancakes?”
Helen shook her head and said, “There is a dead woman at the bottom of the hill with half her torso hanging out of her car window, and you want pancakes?”
“I can't eat before a job; it makes me feel slumpy,” Passion Fruit said.“I have you with me, so I can't go into my normal watering hole and get me a hump for the night, so I need to eat.”
“Dear Jesus, be merciful with me,” Helen mumbled.
She remained quiet as they entered the diner and the order was placed for food.Passion Fruit slathered butter over the short stack, drowning the griddle cakes with entirely too much syrup and eating as if nothing had happened in the last forty-five minutes.Mid-way through shoveling pancakes in her face, she looked up.
“Your calculations were on point,” she congratulated Helen.“I'm done with you.In the morning, you can head home.”
“Okay,” Helen said.“Thanks.”
“No, thank you,” Passion Fruit replied.“It is never easy ending a life even if you know why you're doing it or what they have done to earn a visit from a Technician.The Seraphims have watched them, and on occasion, provided a warning.However, the target persists in doing wrong.Wrong can get you dead.It is not our place to pass judgement.We do the job on the paper, and we go home.Our feelings don't matter.When you allow your feelings to enter the chat, the conversation is over.Understand that before you head to Minnesota.”
“I understand,” Helen said mentally preparing to end a tenuous relationship with a co-worker she still was sure if she liked.Home.The thought of home kept her grounded.She was heading home to Mustang.
Three days later, she stood on the deck of the patio at her home in Plainsfield, Indiana, looking at the backyard.She thought of possibly having a small greenhouse of her own, to grow some of the plants she would need for local jobs.Helen also needed a workspace.There would be times when she needed to mix chemicals or prepare for a job, whatever the job may be, and she didn't see herself mixing toxins in the kitchen or even the guest bathroom.
The larger of the outbuildings, an old barn, was being transformed into her husband Mustang's woodworking shop.It had a garage door where he could pull in a truck to unload large amounts of wood.The space was far larger than the workshop at his former home in Oregon, and each time Helen left for training and returned, he'd done a bit more to his man space.
She had three more months to go in her training program, this time with Sour Grapes, who lived in the Twin Cities, or rather on the outskirts of St.Paul.By Helen’s estimations on timing, the training would be over in May, and she would be a full-fledged Technician, overseeing the state of Indiana.After staging accidents with Passion Fruit, Helen honestly felt she was ready for anything.Well, as soon as she could get the sound of Annie's screams to go away.
Deep in her own thoughts, she pulled herself into the present when she heard Mustang walk up.He didn't touch her but simply exhaled.He pointed to the smaller outbuilding.It had a lopsided covered parking space mottled with wood lattice for privacy.
“I'm thinking of closing in the parking cover and making that the garage for your Technician vehicle,” Mustang said.“This week, let's walk the space with a notebook, sketch out some ideas for your home office, and look at your requirements as well as weaponry.”
