So I popped out of my body, easily overtook her, and re-incorporated down the road in her path, blocking her way.
She gunned the engine and accelerated.
Before the impact, I left my body behind and with another flex of my will, separated her soul from her body. But this time I tried to hold on to her astral self, to will her not to melt like Kevin had. It worked.
Her car, with it’s suddenly lifeless driver, spun off the road into a tree.
Joyce’s astral self looked at me and saw my own astral being. She screamed.
I waited. Eventually she stopped.
“Are you going to kill me?” she whispered.
“I think I already did, the question now is can I put you back the same way I put myself back? So here’s what we’re going to do. I am going to try to put you back. If I succeed you stay and answer my questions or I’m really going to get upset with you. You will not like that. Got it?”
She nodded, the professional killer now all meek, the fight gone from her.
So I tried it. I pushed her astral form like I had pushed my own, hoping I could re-create her body and put her in it as I’d done to myself several times.
It was surprisingly anticlimactic and easy. Joyce stood alive again, in her body, now again unable to see me until I too re-took corporeal form a moment later.
“Huh.” I said.
Joyce kept her gaze cast down, not meeting my eyes, and she awaited my next demand of her. “Wait here a moment.” I said, and I jogged over to the crashed car to verify that her body was no longer in it – and it wasn’t.
I returned to Joyce, the professional hitwoman, still contritely waiting.
“So, tell me what this is all about. Leave out no important details.” I ordered.
Joyce took a deep breath and, still not meeting my eyes, began.
“First you should know that in my business information is compartmentalized, in case people get compromised, like this. I only mention that so you might believe I am not holding out on you, that I am telling you everything I know.
“We got this contract only yesterday – ”
“What time?” I interrupted. “In Eastern Time?”
She calculated in her head, “Would have been a little after noon, EST.”
I found that significant. “Go on.” I told her.
She continued, “Me and my partner, Kevin – he’s dead now, isn’t he? – we were in L.A. when we got the call. The caller called himself “Archangel”, said there would be 100k in it for us to, well you know…”
“Kill me?” I offered. “Easier said then done.”
“Obviously,” she replied, devoid of snark, “We were given your name and location. As usual, half of the money was waiting for us in a bus locker in Boston, the other to be given upon completion. We figured that the simplest way would be to lure you to a house in the woods with a job offer, so we did. The rest you know.” She added in a low voice, “Will you be killing me?”
“First things first,” I replied, “what about this new target in Florida?”
“All I know about it is what Kev said. Maybe he took a note, I don’t know. The job must have come in while I was with you.”
“OK, next question, where’s the 50k?”
“In the trunk.” She gestured to the crashed car.
“So you are probably wondering what I’m going to do with you.” I teased, not feeling entirely charitable towards my would-be killer. She waited, eyes still downcast.
“I’ve decided to put you out of your misery quickly.” I said. She nodded, silent tears falling down her face.
“- by that I mean I’m telling you now I am not going to kill you, I am going to let you go.” She looked surprised, her eyes coming up to briefly meet mine and fall back down. “With conditions.” I emphasized.
Something like a glimmer of hope appeared in her expression, and she nodded quickly.
“One: you no longer kill or harm people. If we cross paths again and I have found out that you have hurt anyone not in self-defense, I will end you. Got it?” She nodded quickly again.
“Two: you report in as you would usually after a mission, and tell them everything that happened here. Make them, whoever it is, aware that killing me just makes me angry. Tell them to leave me the hell alone or face my wrath. Got it?” More nodding. “Then leave, you’re walking.” I pointed down the road. She looked at me briefly to make sure it was OK, then broke into a light run down the dirt road. I watched her depart for a few minutes, until she went out of sight.
So, I thought, someone decided they wanted me dead yesterday, right after I ran my experiment. Yet they didn’t know enough that sending assassins would be futile. How interesting.
I astralled back to the house and went through Kevin’s pockets, and as I expected, didn’t find much. No ID. An obvious burner phone that I couldn’t unlock. Car keys, which I pocketed. No note written to himself. Kev was a dead end. The grisly pun made me chuckle. I wondered if that was a bad sign.
Astralling to the car, I unlocked it and popped the trunk. A silver attache case was inside. It was not locked and it contained a lot of cash, quite possibly $50,000. As the intended target, I had no problem keeping it.
I gave the rest of the car a quick once over, but nothing else of significance was inside. I took the case, got in my car, and drove home. Thursday had been more exciting than I had expected.
On Friday I would find out that I wasn’t alone.