Chapter 06: No Time for Games

“Night, night, sweetheart,” the man growled. Alexa heard the slide lock into place behind her and counted down from three as she prepared to strike.

Just then, Kasper popped up from his cart and fired down at the gunman. The man jumped, aiming up towards the wild shooter and Alexa took the opportunity to attack. Tackling into the man, she knocked him back and away. He fell against the wall of the Thunder Coaster and she quickly scrambled for his gun, firing once into his head.

Racing back to the controls, Alexa flipped the switch on the ride and it grinded to a start, lowering Kasper to the ground. “Thank you,” she said, retrieving her weapon from him.

“Don’t mention it. Now perhaps we should…?”

“Right.” Tossing the man’s gun into the water, Alexa and Kasper rushed from the area, blending into the crowd of scared bystanders as they rushed passed the arriving officers before hoping into their car and driving back to their hotel.

“What the hell was that?” Kasper shouted as he paced the area in front of his bed. “How did those people find us?”

“Kas…” Alexa said, gaining his attention. She was standing in front of his computer, staring at a blinking green light. “Is your webcam supposed to be on?”

Instantly, he dove for his laptop to take a look. Sure enough, his web camera had been remotely powered up and appeared to be spying on them. Quickly, he rooted through his system, until he found what he was looking for. Someone had taken control of his computer through a remote administration tool.

After securing the network and his system, he rerouted the path through an open port on his target’s computer to track the source of the hack. “Kas?”

“Shh,” he cautioned Alexa as he continued working. It took less than five minutes for him to crack the authentication process and gain administrator privileges on the outside computer. Ripping out the mic jack, he turned to Alexa with a frown to confirm her suspicions. “It was WET.”

“So what does this mean? They know what we look like now?”

“Possibly, yeah, I mean it would explain how those men at the park knew their target.”

“FUCK! So…ok what do we do now? Do we…shit! Get your stuff.”

“What? Why?” he asked, watching Alexa frantically pack her belongings and shove them into a black duffel.

“If they were able to get into your system chances are they know where we are. We’re not safe in this hotel anymore. Get yourself, we gotta move.” Kasper hurried after her, snatching his items and throwing them in another bag and together they rushed out the door.

Just as Alexa expected, there were four men in the parking lot, scanning the area. “Careful,” she said when Kasper leaned over the banister to take a look. “Fire exit. Let’s move.”

“That’s going to set off an alarm,” he cautioned, watching her inch towards the door.

“Yes. And hopefully cause just enough of a distraction if we’re not the only ones running through the hallways.”

As she pushed open the door, a loud alarm erupted, causing other residents to step out into the hallway and see what was going on. Kasper yelled, “FIRE!” and watched as the chaos ensued. Dozens of people from the top floor ran from their rooms and out into the courtyard to try and escape.

Alexa turned towards him with a frown and he shrugged as he followed behind her towards the parking lot. “Keys.” Tossing them at her, Kasper hopped into the passenger seat and Alexa sped out of the lot and into the street. “We need a new place to hole up and definitely a new computer for you.” 

“I just, I can’t understand how they hacked my computer. I am always careful about that, A. It shouldn’t have happened,” he said, appearing genuinely upset over the breach.

“Well that’s the second time.”

“What?”

“This is the second time they’ve hacked you. You told me that was what brought you to St. Claire in the first place. Someone got through your firewalls.”

“Oh, right, yeah. I just meant, well I hadn’t ever confirmed it was WET but, this time I know without a doubt,” he sighed and stared out the window. “So now what do we do? If they know what we look like and are sending people after us.”

“We take the fight to them. There are five names remaining on our list. No more games. We end this shit once and for all.”

Alexa sat at the deli against a window, reading through the morning paper and occasionally peering out through the glass. The front page was consumed with the shootout that took place at the boardwalk. Three people dead, two innocent bystanders and one identified as a career criminal named Keith Raymond was found with a gunshot wound to the head.

Alexa read the details with extreme interest. There was no mention of witnesses or potential leads even with the dozens of people out that day with cell phones and video recorders. Her cell phone vibrated. She pushed a button and saw the text from Kasper: Incoming. Alexa smiled. 

By now WET was onto her and Kasper. After the third executive’s death closely preceded by their CEO, they had to know those incidents were not a coincidence. It concerned Alexa but, not too much. She was far too superior in her abilities to let them catch her. And after the close call at the boardwalk, her paranoia was in overdrive. They’d taken two weeks off to recover and hunted their target this time, watching him closely to ensure they didn’t fall prey to a trap or tail.

It always came down to routine. The same routine which caused the next name on her list to become vulnerable. Michael Landry’s weakness was his sweet tooth. Every day after work he would walk into this very deli and buy a chocolate scone to eat on his way home. His wife was a nagging woman and she watched every calorie the poor guy ate, so Landry would get in one last sugar fix before he went home to her scrutiny. Alexa checked the time on the clock above the door, then looked up in time to see Landry enter the store and move to the sales counter.

She waited patiently as the clerk picked up one of the two remaining scones with a pair of tongs and placed it in a bag. The same two scones which Alexa had ordered, then laced with a slow-working poison, then quickly returned for two double chocolate chip muffins instead. She’d laced the scones so quickly, so skillfully, that she’d never even left the counter. 

She needed the clerk to know they were untouched as she apologized for her mistake and assured they were still fresh for another customer. The clerk, in a hurry, placed the two scones back in the case. Now, Landry was scanning the room. He was trying to be discreet, but Alexa could sense the unease in his eyes. Landry couldn’t possibly recognize her. Alexa had completely changed her look, going for a short cut, blonde wig and gray eyes. And despite the possibility of the captured surveillance image, she had tested her look by walking into WET’s front door and past security. Risky but, she had to be sure.

Landry took the bag from the clerk and smiled. As he left the shop, he dipped his hand greedily into the bag and stuffed his mouth with the delicious toxin. Poison was an easy method but, it was effective and the target would suffer before death. The amount of ricin powder he’d already swallowed was lethal. 

The vomiting and diarrhea would begin within a couple of hours, then severe dehydration followed by low blood pressure. Unless he’d had every major organ transplanted within the next forty-eight hours he’d be dead. Alexa watched the man walk blissfully down the sidewalk towards home.

Crossing his name off her mental checklist, she finished her Chai and stood from the table, shaking her head as she headed to the counter to purchase the last poisoned scone. Human beings thrived on routine. It gave them comfort in its ritual. But in the hands of someone with Alexa’s experience, routine could be very lethal. 

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