"What's taking you so long? Isn't she in range already?" Alessia asked urgently with a black mask over her nose as she scanned their surroundings. "Someone could come here at any moment."
She was at the topmost floor of a building still in construction, together with a few of her teammates who she had come with for one purpose...
Assassination of Benson Alrosa's only daughter!
Why were they trying to assassinate her? For the money of course
It was a mission given to them by a 'client' that they had to accomplish tonight before they were caught.
A few strands of light blonde hair framed Alessia's face as her blue eyes anxiously looked out of the open wall.
She bit the inside of her bottom lip. She didn't even want to be here in the first place, now things were starting to get more complicated than they were supposed to be!
The man she had spoken to was with one knee to the hard ground, with a rifle that was supported by a block of concrete in his hands.
"I'm trying my best!" The man, who was named Walter, shot back. He also wore a mask over his nose and his grey eyes looked through the rifle's eyepiece. "Don't you know how difficult it is to aim at a moving target?"
"Everyone here knows that, Walter." A female voice suddenly sounded from behind both of them. "You're just bad at everything."
Alessia sharply turned her head backwards, her eyes practically sparkling. "Kiera, you're back!" She exclaimed. "Were there any problems?"
She couldn't help but feel relieved in her heart. Now that Kiera was here, they would be done with this in no time since she would take over the brunt of the work.
Kiera, who was also masked, shook her head, her short black hair waving slightly. "None that I could find. The coast is completely clear…" Her dark eyes moved towards Walter. "The only thing left is the target."
"I said I'm trying my best." Walter repeated through clenched teeth.
"Your best isn't going to cut it." Kiera spat. "We have to get her before she disappears from sight. You always insist on doing the jobs you're bad at... let me just do it."
Walter looked up at her doubtfully. "But you've never even used a rifle before!"
Kiera folded her arms. "But I know how to use a gun."
"They're not the same!"
"They look the same to me."
Alessia could only look back and forth as they argued. She didn't dare say anything, or else they might just make her take over the task.
Even though she had been in this line of work for years, she still found it difficult to kill innocent people. She had enough of taking this kind of requests and sometimes she just wanted to run away from them...
"Oh, for f*ck sake, let's stop this stupid argument!" Kiera said in an irritated tone and pointed at her. "Walter, give Alessia the gun instead."
Alessia stiffened at the sudden suggestion. "What...?"
Walter looked up in shock. "Isn't she even worse than me?! Why would you suggest her?"
Kiera shot Alessia a fleeting glance. "She'll be fine. At least she can aim."
Cold sweat ran down Alessia's back. What exactly was Kiera trying to accomplish by having her do the actual dirty work?!
Walter was right! She was a lot worse than him when it came to things like this!
Her throat felt dry. "Kiera..."
"Hah." Walter scoffed and roughly shoved the gun at Alessia before walking away. "Let's see how you do, huh?"
"Hey!" Alessia winced as she got hold of it and shot a glare at Walter. "You don't have to be so rude."
She took a look at the gun and sighed silently, resigning herself.
'Looks like I'll have to take alcohol again tonight...' She thought.
She reluctantly took Walter's place and aimed at the target who was at a far distance, over 500 meters away from them. Although the party their target was currently attending was a masquerade event, they were able to tell her apart by her dress and hair.
Her name was Evie Alrosa, the only daughter of Benson Alrosa, a popular CEO in Veritas city and for some reason, someone wanted her dead.
"How is it?" Kiera asked after a while.
Alessia took a deep, shaky breath. "She's moving and talking with a bunch of people but... I'm following her just fine."
Kiera grunted. "You think you will be able to get a headshot?"
Alessia glanced at Kiera from the corner of her eye. She had a lot she wanted to ask her, but she had a feeling Kiera would just dodge the questions.
So Alessia smiled wryly instead. "No way... This thing is harder than it looks." She winced. "And heavier too."
Kiera sighed and her eyes moved pointedly to where Walter was sulking with his arms crossed. "At least you can aim." She said, making him scoff again.
Alessia could only let slip a slight tight lipped smile. Using the eyepiece of the rifle, her aim followed Evie, thier target, as she stopped briefly to greet someone.
'She's pretty… even through the mask…' She thought, as her hand hovered shakily over the trigger. 'It's a shame…'
Just as she was about to gather resolve, a fancy race car drove into the venue at full speed, making people jump out of the way and taking everyone's attention.
Evie moved.
Alessia frowned, more out of surprise than relief. "Who is that?"
"What's wrong?" Kiera asked urgently.
Alessia glanced at her, the shaking of her fingers lessening a little. "A super fancy car just showed up and it messed up my targeting..."
Kiera placed a hand on her chest and sighed. "If that's what happened, then Evie won't be leaving anytime soon… still, we need to hurry."
"Right..." Alessia answered as she swallowed the urge to groan. She couldn't refuse Kiera outright... Walter was within earshot.
She watched as the owner of the car made his way out. At the sight of him, she paused.
"Who…" She whispered. "Who is that?"
Kiera looked confused. "Who is who?"
"The man who just stepped out from the car." Alessia added.
Kiera's lips twitched. "I can't see him, Lessie." She shook her head. "But if you describe him, I might be able to tell."
Alessia nodded. "He's really tall and a bit pale, he's got really dark hair… his eyes are… Well, I can't tell their color from this far away..."
"Very dark hair… pale… there was no information about him being here…" Kiera mused. "Did he come out of a Mclaren?"
Alessia furrowed her eyebrows. "Mc... what? What's that?"
Kiera rolled her eyes. "It's a really fancy race car– ah, nevermind. That must be Dervan Salviati then."
Alessia watched him in a daze. "Salviati? I think I've heard that name before…"
Just then, a walkie talkie hanging on Kiera's waist crackled to life.
"Kiera, tell Walter to shoot now!" They could immediately tell it was their leader's voice and he sounded urgent. "Salviati isn't here alone!"
"Vince? What…" Kiera looked lost for a few seconds before she asked, "What's the situation?"
"It's like Dervan somehow got wind of the assassination plan and brought the police force here." Vince explained. "His entrance is a distraction, the rest are on lookout!"
Kiera was shocked. "But how did he…?"
"F*ck! I don't know either!" Vince yelled. "Now tell Walter to pull the trigger!"
Kiera's eyes move towards Alessia. "You heard him!"
Alessia flinched, not even having the time to nod, she clumsily locked onto her target, her trembling index finger hovering over the trigger once again when she noticed some men in uniform heading towards them from the lense.
"I think… I think the police already know exactly where we are." Alessia said in a forcefully steady voice, her heart already beating wildly in her chest.
Kiera's brows furrowed and she clenched her fist. "It doesn't matter, shoot!"
Alessia's palms had already started to grow cold and sweat. 'Don't you think I would have done that already if I wanted to?!'
"What…" She said in a voice that was barely audible. "If… if I shoot now, she wouldn't–"
"Tsk!" Kiera clicked her tongue in irritation. "Just shoot the damn girl or we are all going to jail!" She screeched, sharply reaching for the rifle in Alessia's hands and forcefully pulling the trigger.
Bang!