“Gravedigger”—DaveMatthews
A few months later….
Wiping the excess ink and blood from my work, I checked every bit with a practiced but critical eye. Then I set my equipment to the side. “What do you think?”
“Looks perfect,” Venom said with a soft smile as he watched me finish cleaning the newest piece of his sleeve and cover it. It was his daughter’s name and birth date written on the belly of a striking viper.
“You know the drill,” I told him as he slipped his arms in his flannel and buttoned it.
“So how are things going with Jasmine?” he asked. Despite his nonchalant tone, his eyes studied me like a hawk.
Unable to hold back, I grinned. “Really good.”
“Mmm,” he said, then shrugged his cut over the shirt. “Madame Laveaux will be here tomorrow. She said something about you needing an answer for her by the time she got here. Does that make sense to you?”
My good mood plummeted.
I’d been procrastinating discussing the “treatment” with Jasmine. She’d asked me repeatedly if I was going to tell her what it was. Each time I put her off.
It would seem I’d run out of time.
“Yeah,” I muttered before peeling off the black nitrile gloves and pitching them across the room into the trash. Not that I should be surprised. Voodoo’s grandmother had called me several times to ask me what Jasmine had said. We both knew she was aware I hadn’t given Jasmine the details yet, though I knew she was getting impatient.
“Thanks for taking that last-minute job in Texas with Voodoo for his brother-in-law’s buddy,” he said.
I shrugged. Though the things we’d stumbled upon with that job left me unsettled, I decided to keep my mouth shut for the moment. “No problem.”
“You still gonna be able to do that job tonight?” he asked me.
“Yeah, I got it.” Me, Voodoo, Raptor, and Angel were the best snipers in the chapter. That’s why when we took on a job that required an anonymous assassination in a public place, it cycled through the four of us. This one was mine.
“You have all the details down?” he asked me.
I tapped my temple. “Yep. 2215 on the dot. The Station on Main Street, Kansas City.”
Satisfied, he gave me a nod and walked toward the door. He knew better than to shake my hand when I wasn’t wearing gloves, and I appreciated that.
“See you when you get back. We have church scheduled to discuss the shit that we found during the job for Dmitry,” Venom said. I nodded and he left. Dmitry was Kira’s brother. He’d called us in to help out with a situation one of his hockey buddies had gotten into.
A glance at the clock told me I had time to grab my shit, then swing by to check on Jasmine at her apartment before I had to hit the road.
I made quick work of cleaning up my station and said my goodbyes before I left the shop. Then I climbed on my bike, drove to the clubhouse, and went into the basement through the concealed door in the bar.
Knowing what I was taking with me, I went right for my new favorite. We had acquired several Remington Defense CSRs. The best of both worlds, it was a concealable sniper rifle that broke down into sections no longer than sixteen inches. It could be assembled in less than sixty seconds and broken down quicker. It was perfect for carrying in a saddlebag.
Methodically, I grabbed everything else I needed, shoved it in the small assault pack, and locked everything up again. Taking the stairs two at a time, I rushed out.
“Be back tonight,” I called out to Raptor and Phoenix as they played a game of pool. Then I pulled out my phone and called Ghost.
“You about ready?” I asked him.
“Yeah,” he said, sounding like he was running.
“Are you at the gym or fucking?” I asked without shame.
“You really wanna know?”
“Nope. ’Cause that’s my answer.”