Stay On Target – Installment 2

Stay On Target

By

D.M. KURTZ

Installment 2: Satiate The Need

Despite more research time than was typically allotted for a name on his list, Tenebra could find no logical reason for Emma Swanson to cross his path. Much to his own chagrin, he struggled to suppress the urge to question his orders for the first time, and that irritated him even more than the idea of ending the woman’s life. He wasn’t trained to question; he had conditioned himself to obey without question. It was that concerted will that had earned him the job in the first place, and he was not so naive as to think that he had much hope for a life outside of the tight parameters set forth by his handler. One did not go so far, with as many targets eliminated as he without becoming a security risk should he abandon even a single contract.

So why? That simple query burned inside his mind like a fire on the verge of raging out of control. Why her? Why must her family suffer the loss of both mother and unborn child? The signs had been clearly evident with all the others: drug dealer responsible for billions of imported weapons, a terrorist about to unleash a chemical attack on US soil, the serial rapist that had plagued a South Carolina college campus… Though that last one he had handled personally, without the typical instructions.

He grunted and practically slammed the screen shut on his MacBook. With one hand, he rubbed his forehead before he sighed and rose from his perch at the desk near the neatly pressed bed to his left. With a quiet frown, he gazed out of the window to the city lights below.

Shatter the glass, drop to the balcony, fall ten feet to the pavement, tuck and roll…

Calculating his pre-planned escape route should anything go awry was a sort of mental exercise he’d learned to utilize over the years. Not only did it serve to keep his senses sharp, it also helped to calm his mind whenever anything stressful threatened to break his carefully cultivated, stoic bravado. The fact that such a method was even necessary was unnerving, but he forced back the primitive irritation.

Focus, he told himself. Deep breath in… slowly exhale.

It didn’t matter. The glimmer of doubt was still there, nudging at the locked door somewhere between his subconscious and conscious thought. With a guarded sort of resignation, he gave in to the realization that to complete his assignment he would first need to trace the hesitation to its source. Perhaps some clarification would loosen the clawed grip that threatened to expose his emotions and undo all the tenuous effort he’d put into eliminating such weakness.

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