The Roster: Assassins For Hire

It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it!

(Deposit Photos Edited With Canva by Author)

‘Good job on your last assignment,’ I read the words on my screen. ‘Payment posted.’

I smiled at the payment that had been sent to my account.

‘How long until my next assignment?’ I asked.

‘Need to let things cool down; we will let you know.’

The screen went dark.

I sighed. I was never one to wait; I didn’t have the patience to wait.

I got undressed and jumped into the pool. I lived a secluded lifestyle; most of the people around here thought I was some businesswoman who flew around the world every week and only came home once in a while.

I wasn’t like some of the others on the Roster, which I knew was deep. I only went after the crooks, scammers, and the like; I didn’t take any targets like some.

I wanted to know if the life I ended was justified. Like my last one was a sexual predator, seeing the files on him made my blood boil. It was warranted to put my blade into him and see his eyes go dark.

No one ever visited me, so swimming in my pool in the nude was something I did often. I liked feeling the water surround me.

After the swim, I decided to go to town to pick up a few things since I was going to be put on the shelf for a while.

Many of the locals didn’t talk to me as I was never around to learn who was who and get to know everyone’s names.

I liked living in this small town in the mountains because everyone knew everyone. If a stranger in town asked about me, it would be easy to find out. Even the best of the best would have to find out where I lived or what I did.

I tried to keep a low profile.

“Janet,” Howard at the hardware store said as I put my things on the counter.

“Howard,” I smiled.

Howard was the only person who knew the truth. He figured it out after a few times of buying and ordering what I needed. He was an ex-CIA agent, but everyone thought he used to be a cop. I kept his secret; he kept mine.

“Got something new for you in the back,” Howard smiled.

He told one of his associates to watch the store as we walked to the back.

Howard and his son Jacob did most of my equipment, from guns, knives, and ammo to the small things like my lipstick spy cam.

“It’s a bow,” I said, staring at the compound bow.

“I told you she would think that,” Jacob smiled.

“Pick it up,” Howard said.

I picked it up and notched an arrow, and aimed down at the target at the end of the range they had made below the backroom.

‘The back,’ as they called their workshop, was an old cellar that used to sell moonshine and alcohol during the prohibition era. It was large, and I was sure that in its heyday, a lot of people used to come down here to drink and do other things.

Howard and Jacob had turned it around, and now it was where all my things, including vehicles, were kept.

“Wow,” I said as I pulled back on the arrow.

“Heads-up display,” Jacob smiled as I looked through the hologram viewer. Distance, wind, velocity, everything you will need to hit your target.”

“We also made a variety of arrows,” Howard smiled. “You’re going to be like one of those superheroes.”

“Hawkeye, dad, Hawkeye,” Jacob said as he handed me a quiver. “Put on the glove,” Jacob smiled.

I put it on, and I saw a readout. “Just scroll through the arrow you need,” Jacob instructed. “Tap it and voila,”

“Shit!” I said as the quiver reacted, and an arrow popped upward.

“It holds fifty,” Howard smiled.

“You two have out done yourself,” I smiled.

“Don’t tell them that,” Marge interrupted.

Marge, Howard’s wife, was a chemist, and she made all of my poisons and other needs.

“Your quick bandage saved my ass,” I smiled as she hugged her husband.

“Told you, and you thought because it was pink that it wouldn’t work,” Marge smiled.

“I won’t do it again,” I said as I packed everything.

“So, where are you off to this month?” Jacob asked. “I haven’t got a request for information yet.”

“Nothing so far, so lay low,” I ordered as I transferred their cut to their accounts.

“Wow, nice,” Howard said as he saw their nest egg grow.

“He was scum, and many people wanted him gone,” I smiled. “Good work all of you.”

“Thanks,” they grinned.

I took care of my people. They kept my identity a secret and kept me ahead of all the others on the Roster. I knew they wouldn’t give me away for anything, but I also told them if it came between me and their family, choose family. I was a big girl, and I chose this life.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An entire month went by without an assignment, and then, finally, one came up. I read the report and found he was an arms dealer. I sent the information to Jacob, and within a few weeks, he had a whole workout on the guy.

‘Himalayas huh,’ I thought, reading the report.

It was the only time his elite mercenaries didn’t surround the target.

‘This is a high-priority target,’ my Handler sent. ‘Many of the members of the Roster have been given this task. The first one to complete within the time given gets the payment.’

I hadn’t met any of the others in person, but I knew if they were as good as I, they knew his fortress in the Himalayan mountains was the best time to get him. All the other options were suicide.

“Snow,” Jacob shook his head as he looked at a video of the fortress.

“Yup,” I sighed.

I hated snow even when it blanketed these mountains.

“Have to take the snowmobile,” Howard said. “No way around it, those AA guns will tear a plane apart.”

“How about my invitation?” I asked.

“Fully secured,” Jacob smiled. “I got you in as a gun collector. How is your French?”

I stared at him.

“Good,” Jacob smiled. “You are going to need it.”

“I packed some more of those quick bandages as well as anti-frostbite, it’s a mix we used to use back in the wars with the KGB,” Marge said. “Soon as you feel it setting it stab this in the area and you have two hours of full use of that limb, after that,” she shrugged.

“Got it, good bye limb,” I nodded.

Howard was silent. “I will get him,” I said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

This Baron had been Howard’s Moby Dick. He had spent years trying to put this arms dealer away.

“Make it hurt,” Howard said.

“Will do my best,” I smiled.

~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~~

“At the drop off now,” Clyde said. “Can’t get you closer or they will pick us up on radar!”

“Good enough,” I said as my packages were dropped out of the back.

I parachuted down and set everything onto the snowmobile.

It was a thirty-minute trip.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~ ~

“Checking in,” I said as I was dressed elegantly to enter the fortress.

“Yes, Dawn Dushand,” the man said.

Lookouts with high-powered rifles were everywhere.

The place was filled with elegantly dressed people, drinking and dining. Any one of them could be a member of the Roster.

They searched me for weapons as well as my purse.

“You are free to enter,” the man smiled. “I have loaded a map of the Baron’s castle onto your phone. Entering any of the red areas is forbidden, and you will be killed without question if you do. Yellow areas are for guests with yellow tags, and anywhere green is open for all. You have a yellow tag.”

“Thank you,” I smiled.

I was alone. There was no way to reach the outside world, as there were signal blockers everywhere, as well as hackers on sight. If a single unauthorized signal went out, instant death would follow.

I looked around everywhere, and there were guards with guns. Better than his place in London, I thought as I kept my head on a swivel. That was my other option, but his estate in London had motion-detecting guns on the walls.

Humans make errors.

The Baron kept people waiting for a while before he made his appearance. When he did, mercenaries surrounded him, some of whom I had seen before.

He showcased some of the new tech he had “acquired,” and some of the other things he had were for yellow taggers only.

I followed behind others as we were led to the back.

“Shit,” I hid behind a wall.

I saw one of the Roster members. I knew the telltale sign of Red Robin, as he was called; he always wore a red robin pendant, a pin on the cuff of his sleeve.

He was supposedly the best on the Roster, a master at improvisation, techniques, and leadership.

“Angelique,” he smiled as he approached me. “Or Angel of Death?”

“Angelique is fine,” we whispered as the Baron went on about his famed weapon.

“Either way you can run on home now,” Robin said.

“He’s not dead yet,” I smiled as I raised my hand to bid.

“He will be, and I will be the one to do it,” Robin raised his hand.

“Over my dead body,” I said as I looked around. “Demonic, is here too,” I smiled as I motioned toward the idiot with all the tattoos.

“Yeah, the Baron’s men have already made him out,” Robin said as three men moved silently toward him.

“Tattoos’ dead giveaway,” I sighed.

“There is Herald,” Robin grinned at the blonde with the extravagant hair.

“My god might as well put a peacock on your head,” I smirked.

Baron’s men had caught onto her as well.

“Which leaves, Knight and Shade,” Robin looked around.

“Shade was taken earlier,” I said.

“Of course, a black man in the middle of all this white,” Robin laughed.

“Exactly,” I said as I made another offer.

“So, how long do you think we have?” Robin asked.

“Less than two minutes,” I answered.

I was sure Baron’s hackers had already spotted the two of us talking to each other and put two and two together.

“Exit plan?” Robin asked.

“Yup, you?” I asked.

“Always,” Robin smiled.

I turned the dial on my watch and waited for the men to come for me.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“The Roster,” Baron smiled as he approached all of us in the backroom of his castle.

None of us said anything.

“The world’s elite do-gooders, assassins for hire, killing all the bad,” Baron smiled. “Trying to be what, the Justice League? New age heroes?” He laughed as others laughed with them.

“Herald you are my favorite,” Baron looked at the tall blonde. “You used to be a body builder, right?”

She said nothing. “Once known as the strongest woman in the world,” he looked at his men. “She picked up one of her targets and snapped his back like a twig.”

“Will do the same to you given the chance,” Herald said in a thick Russian accent.

“Now, now,” Baron smiled.

“Demonic!” Baron raced to the tattooed freak.

Baron stopped himself from touching him. “Now, I know all about you,” he laughed. “No touching of the skin, not like one of my men,” he smiled as he turned around, and one of his men started foaming at the mouth. “Reptile collector gone assassin, poisoned your own body, deadly to the touch and immune to most of the world poisons.”

“Shade!” Baron laughed. “Oh, my dear boy!”

Shade was handcuffed and shackled.

“A living weapon,” Baron said. “Took four of my men out with your bare hands, proficient in all martial arts and bladed weapons, that is why I have most of my cameras on you, anything is a weapon in your hands.”

“Red Robin,” Baron laughed harder. “You are the dumbest of all,” he sighed. “Always wearing a red robin, charmer of women, and last I checked the least capable of all. What are you losing your touch?”

“Finally!” Baron knelt before me. “The Angel of Death herself!”

Baron clapped. “Everyone clap!” he ordered. “Out of all of the assassins gathered here, she is the most remarkable,” Baron clapped louder. “Housewife, baker of cookies for church and schools, gone full assassin after the mob accidentally killed your family.”

I stared at him. “I can fully respect that,” Baron smiled. “I can, and if you didn’t come after me, I would never have come after you,” he said, placing a hand on my knee. “What you have accomplished is a considerable feat.”

“I will put that on your tombstone,” I shrugged. “Just for the respect of it.”

“See, still a mother!” Baron laughed.

“Now,” Baron said as he stood up. “You are all wondering, there is someone missing,” he smiled. “Where the hell is Knight, the noble Englishmen?”

Baron coughed, and then he spoke in a British accent. “Well, I am here, my fellow Roster,” he laughed.

“Also,” a woman’s voice came over the intercom. “The handler,” she said.

I knew that voice was the person who gave out the assignments.

The others were as shocked as I was, but there was no time. We knew some of the other Roster members had been killed in action. Now we knew why.

Robin winked at Shade, and the wink went around the room.

“You know something,” Robin interrupted Baron’s plans. “You made a mistake putting us all in the same room,” Robin laughed.

“Why is that my dear boy?” Baron asked.

“Well, Angel’s timer, just went off,” Robin said. “Which emitted a pulse to Herald’s cuffs,” Robin laughed.

Herald broke her cuffs and lifted the guard near her. She threw him at Shade.

“Which will allow Shade to get free, like you said anything is a weapon in his hand,” Robin smiled. “Including the same shackles you put him in.”

“Oh,” Robin smiled as the guard that had fallen from Demonic’s poison started convulsing and releasing a green gas. “You Should have checked him for a poison that turns the very blood in his body into a gas.”

All the guards started coughing and falling. Shade broke Robin free. “As for me being the least of your worries,” Robin laughed. “You forget dear boy,” Robin mocked Knight’s accent. “I was the original Handler,” he punched him.

“Angel, get the Handler,” Robin ordered.

“Yes sir,” I said as Herald broke me free.

“Shade, we need a path out of here,” Robin said.

“On it,” Shade ran out of the room.

“Demonic, please take care of this trash!” Robin smiled.

Demonic walked toward Knight. “I always hated your name,” Demonic smiled as he kissed Knight on the lips.

Immediately, Knight started convulsing; a direct kiss from Demonic turned a person’s blood into powder slowly.

I ran through the halls. Alarms were blaring.

I had to take out a few guards, but I saw a tall woman running with guards to the exit.

“Signal is open,” Jacob came loud and clear.

“About time,” I said. “Where is she heading?”

“Top of the castle,” Jacob said. “Copter is waiting.”

“Good,” I ran up the stairs.

“Angel, ETA?” Robin asked.

“Less than a minute,” I answered.

“Exit in two,” Shade said.

“Top of castle, east side,” I said.

“Will be there,” Shade answered.

When I reached the top, I saw the copter. The Handler was inside the copter. “Do I have a go?”

“Yes, take that bitch out,” Robin said.

I went to the edge of the castle. “Right where Marge left it,” I smiled as I reached for my bow tucked away under some rocks.

“They should really check the help,” Jacob said.

“No one does background checks anymore,” I smiled.

I turned the dial to explosive. The arrow popped up.

I fired and watched it explode.

I ran for the east side and jumped off the side.

“Nicely done,” Robin smiled.

“I really hate your late plans,” I smirked.

“It gets the job done,” Robin smirked as our plane took off.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~

“The next time,” I said to Robin as we landed in the States. “I want the other team.”

“This had to be done this way,” Robin smiled. “The original Roster had to do it. We couldn’t risk anybody facing the Baron.”

“It’s just hard working with you,” I stared at my brother-in-law.

“I know,” Robin nodded.

He was the twin of my late husband.

“Good work though,” Robin said. “He would be proud you took over for him.”

“I hope so,” I smiled.

“So, what now?” Shade asked. “Who will be our handler?”

“Well at least the other members of the Roster are safe now that the leak was found,” Herald said.

“I always thought the Knight got the easy assignments, now I know why,” Demonic said.

“Whatever happens, no more secrets,” Robin said. “The original Angel always wanted us to be a team, so, I say we work together from now on?”

The others took a deep breath. “Okay,” we all said.

“I have an idea for who should be the handler,” I smiled.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Bangladesh, huh?” I asked as I looked at the new assignment.

“Yup,” Robin smiled.

“Howard says there is a hub there,” Shade shrugged. “The new Handler is the boss. At least he is better than the other one dealing with the higher-ups, whoever they are.”

“Wheels up in ten!” Jacob said over the comms.

“Let’s get to it,” Herald smiled.

We smiled as the plane started to take off with the new member named Teck, behind the controls.

“Good call, by the way,” I smiled at Robin.

“Which one?” Robin asked.

“Putting the team together, again,” I looked at all of us.

“He always wanted it like this,” Robin grinned.

“Roster is a go!” Jacob said.

“Nope!” I said.

“Fuck no!” Shade shook his head.

“What?” Jacob said over the intercom.

“This is not some Saturday morning cartoon!” Demonic shouted.

“I thought it would be good,” Jacob said.

“Stick to the information kid,” Robin smiled.

“Fine!” Jacob sighed.

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