Diary of a Hitwoman (Part 8)

Any resemblence betweem the pictures and the descriptions within the story are purely coincidental!

PART 10 - REVELATIONS

The bullet struck exactly where the figure intended it to hit. Feathers flew up from the pillow millimetres from the heads of Bernice and Michael. Both were jolted from their slumbers by the array of feathers punched out by the impacting bullet. Michael didn’t understand what was happening but Bernice was more composed under fire. It was the silencer on the end of the gun she noticed first and then the statuesque legs of the weapons owner. Long, shapely legs perfectly filling the black catsuit the figure was wearing.

‘Hello Mirelle’ she said.

‘Don’t move Bernice or I’ll kill you here and now’

Michael was just coming out of his shock. ‘What the hell is happening’.

‘Keep your boyfriend quiet or he’s dead too’ Mirelle hissed.

Bernice soothed her lover who was not reacting at all well to the situation. She looked up at the tall lithe figure standing over them. ‘Where’s Madelaine?’ asked Bernice.

‘She’s downstairs taking care of the man at the front desk. He was kind enough to give us the keys to this place’.

At that moment there were two quiet thuds and the sound of a body falling to the floor.

‘Mirelle is a French name isn’t it?’ said Bernice. ‘My last job was in France’.

‘Very good’ said Mirelle. ‘When did you work it out?’.

‘It came to me in a dream. I suppose this job is personal for you’.

At that moment another figure entered the room and switched on the light. Tall and imposing and improbably dressed in a high fashion evening gown, Madelaine’s long hair was scooped into an intricate and glamourous style. She wore long evening gloves and carried a stylish purse in her left hand. Madelaine’s final touch to her already exquisite looks was the small but deadly looking pistol held in her right hand.

‘You certainly dressed up for the part’ Bernice said.

‘Men are so less suspicious when you dress like this. Mirelle and I reckon this is what you must have done when you did the job in Paris. Three men in one hit, very good Bernice.’ Madelaine replied.

‘I see your bout of ‘flu was about as serious as your bout of drinking when you tried to kill me the other night’ Bernice observed caustically.

‘I’m sorry Bernice. This really is Mirelle’s job. I’m just helping her along. Believe me I am really sorry about all this’.

At this point Michael was recovering from the initial shock of having his room invaded by two gun wielding women. ‘What the hell is going on Bernice? Do you know these people?’.

Mirelle stepped a pace forward and lowered her gun to her side. Madelaine immediately raised hers her aim as unswerving as Micelle’s had been. ‘Let me tell you what your girlfriend does. She kills people. That’s right isn’t it Bernice?’. Bernice said nothing. ‘What she doesn’t understand and what I found out last month is that these people have families. These people have friends and loved ones. Tonight she is going to learn what its like to lose someone you love’.

‘So what was Albert Delon to you, Mirelle? Your brother?’ said Bernice.

‘Albert Delon was my lover.’

In a fraction of a second Mirelle had raised her gun and with no hint that she had even been aiming fired two bullets directly into Michael’s heart. Mirelle stepped back her gun now aimed directly at Bernice.

‘How does it feel Bernice?’.

Bernice was stunned. Suddenly she couldn’t control herself and for the first time in years she felt like crying but wouldn't give Mirelle the satisfaction. The tears welled in her eyes and she choked back the sobs waiting to burst from her mouth. At this point something unexpected happened. Madelaine lowered her gun, walked over to the bed and sat on the edge of it She put her arm around Bernice’s shoulder and looked at Mirelle. ‘I think we’ve done enough. There is no need to kill her. You could say her boyfriend was the killer and that you’ve fulfilled your contract. I know what Albert meant to you but she’s going to suffer a whole lot more if you allow her to live’.

Bernice began to recover her composure and started to think about her own survival. She looked at Madelaine and was surprised o see the gun was not in her hands. She had placed the gun in close to her on the bed and it lay there like a sweet in a sweetshop waiting to be grabbed. Bernice weighed up her chances and they were not good. It was obvious that these girls were professionals and even if she could get the gun from Madelaine she was damned sure Mirelle would put a bullet into her before she had the chance to use it.

‘Out of the way Maddie, I am going to kill her’ Mirelle said simply

Madelaine looked at Bernice and moved away suddenly. ‘I’m sorry Bernice I did my best’. Bernice looked for the gun but that was firmly in Madelaines’s grip again. Madelaine transferred the gun into the purse she was carrying and said to Mirelle ‘You’re on your own with her. I am not going to help you’.

Mirelle grimaced for a fraction of a second then the determination returned. She stood legs akimbo sighting perfectly down the barrel of her gun. ‘Say goodbye Bernice’. Bernice closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. The thud of two shots filled the air.

Bernice opened her eyes. It took a moment before she realised what had happened. Mirelle was face down on the carpet the blood almost invisible on her black catsuit. A few feet behind her framed in the doorway stood Estelle also dressed all in black. She stepped over the prostrate body, aimed downwards and fired a final shot into the already motionless body. She turned and pointed her weapon at Madelaine ‘If I were you I would leave while you have the chance’. Madelaine looked confused but had the sense to realise her life was being spared and ran from the room.

‘Go home Bernice, I’ll call Gisela and we’ll deal with the mess here. No questions. Go now’.

PART 11 -LAST ACTS

FRIDAY 0930 - The following morning

When and how Bernice got back to her hotel room was a mystery to her, last night seemed just like a dream or was that a nightmare. There was no way she could sleep and it came as a welcome relief when the phone rang.

‘Bernice?’ the voice said.

‘Don’t give me that. I want to see you and I want to see you now’.

‘Bernice, listen Bernice, listen very carefully, that is why I am phoning. As you know I run my own business. I’ll meet you at my offices at 12:30. Here is the address'.

Bernice had already decided what she would do if Bernard contacted her. She checked the ammunition for the gun which she intended taking with her and ,uncharacteristically, without any thought of her rather dishelleved appearance (a result of the events of the preceeding night) exited from the room.

10:30 - The same day

Bernice stood outside the building at the address Bernard had given her earlier.. Bernice had been doing a bit of thinking and had it all worked out. There was only one way Mirelle could have known who killed her lover and that way was Bernard. That was why she had arrived a couple of hours before the agreed time. Bernard was going to get more than a surprise and it wouldn’t be a pleasant one.

So this is Bernard does all his business from she thought as she emerged from the elevator. A rented office in a modern tower block, must be doing well for himself. She saw the sign on the door and didn’t knock. He was sat in a large chair in a spacious office and Estelle was seated beside him. The gun was in her hand before she had even entered the room. She fired once aiming with unerring accuracy into his left leg. A look of pain and surprise crossed his face but despite this he remained seated in the big executive chair.

‘You have 5 seconds to tell me exactly what is going on?’ demanded Bernice.

Estelle and Bernard looked at each other as if trying to agree a strategy. The five seconds passed and Bernice took aim and fired again. This time the shot slammed into his shoulder and the impact swung him round in the chair and onto the floor. Bernard face creased into a grimace with the pain. Bernice moved fully into the room and closer to Bernard.

‘This is your last chance Bernard. Tell me what is going on’. She stood over him and aimed directly at Bernards head.

‘You’re making a mistake Bernice’ said Estelle.

‘She is right. You are making a mistake Bernice’ said a voice behind her.

She hadn’t even sensed the other person in the room and she certainly didn’t hear them approaching. Something hard and metallic was jabbed into her back.

‘You will drop your gun now. I mean it Bernice. I have killed more people than you’d want to know about and one more won’t make any difference.

Bernice could sense that this was true. Out of all the killers she had encountered recently there was something in the manner which convinced her this one was the most experienced and the most deadly. Bernice immediately dropped her automatic to the floor.

Bernard looked up at Bernice, his pain gradually subsiding but his hands still pressed onto the wounds in this arm and leg .‘I tried to warn you on the phone Bernice. Today is a Friday, I would never have used your real name on a Friday. Don’t you remember, the day of the week corresponds to the initial letter in the names we call each other. You should pay more attention to what I say’.

The figure behind her prodded her savagely in the back with the gun. Bernice winced with pain but remained standing.

The voice behind her spoke again. ‘This, how shall we put it, incident between you and Mirelle has cost me one of my best operatives and caused me no amount of inconvenience. Estelle has got better and more lucrative jobs to do than look after you. In addition you have become sloppy and unreliable. How could you leave yourself so vulnerable last night? My god, you didn’t even have a gun when she found you in bed’.

‘I was...’ started Mirelle. The sentence was never completed as another sharp blow in her kidney region left her struggling for breath. A further blow to her neck left her on her knees on the floor and the gun followed her every movement never wavering for a moment.

‘You have one chance of leaving this room alive. You will concentrate on what you have been trained to do. You will learn that this job is a 24 hour a day profession, not something you can forget about when you are with friends... or lovers. Do I make myself understood?’

‘Yes’.

‘Good. Your next assignment is next week and it is a two person job. Despite any misgivings you might have you will do it with Madelaine. Is that understood?’

‘Yes’.

‘Then I have explained myself. If you are ever so sloppy again I will kill you myself. I’m leaving now. Estelle can answer any questions. Remember what I’ve told you. You don’t normally get second chances in this business’.

And with that the elegant lady known to everybody as ‘Auntie’ Jane placed the gun in her purse and left the room.

Bernice looked up at Estelle. ‘She’s the boss?’ she said incredulously.

‘My God you really are naive’ responded Estelle. ‘How do you think an agency with only 8 models survives? You think its a coincidence that you, myself, Gisela, Mirelle and Madelaine are all hit women? We are all in the same job. Some of us have been doing this for years and others like you are just starting out As Aunite Jane said ‘you’ve got a lot to learn’, Bernice.

‘So Bernard didn’t betray me?’.

‘Mirelle was a true professional. She could tell it was somebody from the agency once she had heard the details of the hit. All she needed to do was find out which one of us was in Paris at the time and plan her revenge accordingly.

‘And Amanda?’.

Bernard spoke. ‘She deals with the legitimate side of the business. She doesn’t have anything to do with this’.

‘And Uncle Steven?’.

‘Who?’.

‘Nothing, just my imagination working overtime again. I suppose I should make my peace with Madelaine if I am working with her next week’.

‘I think perhaps you should, Bernice’ said Estelle. 'Gisela and myself will join you later'.