black and white eight-by-ten. Looks like an image taken via satellite. It’s a little grainy, but otherwise good quality. It shows two men standing side-by-side, seemingly deep in conversation, in a clearing surrounded by trees and undergrowth.
I look across at them and shrug. “Who are these guys?”
The man on the right leans forward. “The short one on the left is who we want you to kill. The one on the right is his head of security. You’ll probably need to go through him to get to your target.”
I look down at the picture again. The guy on the right is probably twice as tall and twice as wide as the guy on the left. And the difference is all muscle. It’s practically bursting through his shirt.
Great.
They both glance to the side and place a hand to their ear. I’m guessing they’re receiving a message over comms. A moment or two later, they stand and walk over to me. “On your feet,” says the first guy. “Turn around.”
I fold the picture up and stuff it inside my pocket before standing, which I do, not because they told me to, but because my options for rebellion are vastly limited when I’m on a plane, in the air. A stray bullet would kill us all, and I don’t know how many other men are on board. It’s not worth the risk.
“Arms to the side,” says the second guy.
I move them and feel a backpack slide over my shoulders. It’s bulky. Actually, it feels more like a…
I sigh.
Ah, shit.
It’s a parachute, isn’t it?
I sense this isn’t going to end well…
“Turn around,” says the first guy again.
I do, and one of them lets his gun hang loose on its strap as he reaches over and secures the backpack around my waist. He then moves over to the rear of the plane and grabs a lever on the side. He throws it down, and a mechanical whirring sounds out, loud enough to be heard over the roar of the engines. The floor of the tail lowers slowly to reveal a mostly clear sky rushing by outside. A scattering of light cloud surrounds us, but there’s still a good level of visibility. He holds on to a handle next to him, fighting against the pull of the wind.
I take a small step forward and peer over the edge.
Fuck me sideways! We must be twenty thousand feet up, easily!
I look over my shoulder at the guy still standing with me. “What the hell’s going on? If this is a contract, where’s my briefing? And my weapon?”
He smiles and shakes his head. Without warning, he grabs me with both hands and shoves me backward. I’m not prepared for it and lose my footing, stumbling down and…
Shit!
The plane rushes up, away from me. The cold wind bites at my face, forcing me to squint against the sheer speed of it.
Sonofa bitch !
??:??
I landed in a fucking tree! Seriously! Can you believe this shit?
Stop laughing—it’s not funny!
A wind picked up and blew me off course, and I came down over some forest. The parachute caught on the branches of a big-ass tree, so I’m now hanging maybe twenty feet above the ground, suspended by the straps. I have no weapons of any kind, no immediately obvious way down from here that won’t sting like a bitch, and all I have to go on is a picture of some guy and his beefed-up bodyguard who could literally be anywhere in the hundreds of miles of forest I’m dangling above…
I’m starting to think the lethal injection maybe wasn’t so bad after all…
Okay, let’s think about this for a—
Whoa!
One of the branches just snapped! I’ve dropped a couple of feet. Must have snagged on one lower down. Think I jolted my shoulder, too. I’m trying to rotate it as best I can, loosen it up, but it hurts like hell.
I close my eyes for a moment and take in a few deep breaths while trying to remain still. I don’t want to fall from this height. The risk of injury would be high, and when you’re in the middle of nowhere, the last thing you want is to have your movement impeded in any way.
I reopen them, breathing slowly. I’m calm. I’m a
I look across at them and shrug. “Who are these guys?”
The man on the right leans forward. “The short one on the left is who we want you to kill. The one on the right is his head of security. You’ll probably need to go through him to get to your target.”
I look down at the picture again. The guy on the right is probably twice as tall and twice as wide as the guy on the left. And the difference is all muscle. It’s practically bursting through his shirt.
Great.
They both glance to the side and place a hand to their ear. I’m guessing they’re receiving a message over comms. A moment or two later, they stand and walk over to me. “On your feet,” says the first guy. “Turn around.”
I fold the picture up and stuff it inside my pocket before standing, which I do, not because they told me to, but because my options for rebellion are vastly limited when I’m on a plane, in the air. A stray bullet would kill us all, and I don’t know how many other men are on board. It’s not worth the risk.
“Arms to the side,” says the second guy.
I move them and feel a backpack slide over my shoulders. It’s bulky. Actually, it feels more like a…
I sigh.
Ah, shit.
It’s a parachute, isn’t it?
I sense this isn’t going to end well…
“Turn around,” says the first guy again.
I do, and one of them lets his gun hang loose on its strap as he reaches over and secures the backpack around my waist. He then moves over to the rear of the plane and grabs a lever on the side. He throws it down, and a mechanical whirring sounds out, loud enough to be heard over the roar of the engines. The floor of the tail lowers slowly to reveal a mostly clear sky rushing by outside. A scattering of light cloud surrounds us, but there’s still a good level of visibility. He holds on to a handle next to him, fighting against the pull of the wind.
I take a small step forward and peer over the edge.
Fuck me sideways! We must be twenty thousand feet up, easily!
I look over my shoulder at the guy still standing with me. “What the hell’s going on? If this is a contract, where’s my briefing? And my weapon?”
He smiles and shakes his head. Without warning, he grabs me with both hands and shoves me backward. I’m not prepared for it and lose my footing, stumbling down and…
Shit!
The plane rushes up, away from me. The cold wind bites at my face, forcing me to squint against the sheer speed of it.
Sonofa bitch !
??:??
I landed in a fucking tree! Seriously! Can you believe this shit?
Stop laughing—it’s not funny!
A wind picked up and blew me off course, and I came down over some forest. The parachute caught on the branches of a big-ass tree, so I’m now hanging maybe twenty feet above the ground, suspended by the straps. I have no weapons of any kind, no immediately obvious way down from here that won’t sting like a bitch, and all I have to go on is a picture of some guy and his beefed-up bodyguard who could literally be anywhere in the hundreds of miles of forest I’m dangling above…
I’m starting to think the lethal injection maybe wasn’t so bad after all…
Okay, let’s think about this for a—
Whoa!
One of the branches just snapped! I’ve dropped a couple of feet. Must have snagged on one lower down. Think I jolted my shoulder, too. I’m trying to rotate it as best I can, loosen it up, but it hurts like hell.
I close my eyes for a moment and take in a few deep breaths while trying to remain still. I don’t want to fall from this height. The risk of injury would be high, and when you’re in the middle of nowhere, the last thing you want is to have your movement impeded in any way.
I reopen them, breathing slowly. I’m calm. I’m a
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