#SampleSunday The directions were simple: Kill the Governor #AODTour



Assassination of a Dignitary by Carolyn Arnold
Excerpt of Chapter 1

“Why her?”  Behler was the first female to serve as Governor in the state of Michigan.
Christian laughed.  He lifted the glass to his lips but lowered his arm again.  He rested it on the sofa arm.  “You know we don’t answer those questions.  Yet she must know where her death is coming from.  And, to the media it must appear as an assassination.”
“So you want it to take place from a distance, or close range?”  I asked for clarity.  His words seemed to contradict each other, know where her death is coming from, yet it must appear as an assassination.
“A statement must be made.”
“In-her-face-personal then?  And you want the last words she hears to be—”
“From Pietro Russo.”
“From Pietro Russo?”  The woman must have wronged the man on a personal level.  For all of my past close range kills, they would know where their fate came from, but the Don was never explicitly named.  My thoughts were on my wife and the kids.  I couldn’t risk their lives being caught up in this vortex.  My wife, my parents, no one knew about my past.  While I preferred it stay buried there, it might not be an option.
“So what will it be? One hundred thou richer or—” Christian stopped talking as he exchanged his drink for a nearby family portrait.  “You have a nice family.”
“Don’t even think of hurting them.”  My jaw tightened, the familiar adrenaline rush surged through my blood stream.
“It’s not a threat, Hunter.”  His calm voice conflicted with his words.  “If you don’t do this, it will be more than that.”  Christian rose to his feet.  “You have until tomorrow morning, nine a.m., to decide.  After that, I can’t answer for what happens.”
“You son of a bitch!”  I rose to my feet and came at him fast. 
Christian turned.  The barrel of a .38 was pointed at my abdomen.  “Don’t think I won’t kill you just because you’re a friend.  I can get new friends.”
I wanted to tell him to find a new one for this mission, but with the wildfire in the man’s eyes I needed to back down from the confrontation.  I put my hands up in surrender and slowly took a step back.
“Smart, Hunter.  It would be a shame to lose you.  I want her dead within the week.”
“The week?”  Just when I didn’t think my heart could pump faster, or the adrenaline provide more of a high, it exceeded on both counts.  I glanced at the clock.  Brenda and the kids.  “If I do this—”
“You’re out for good.”
“I heard that fifteen years ago.”
Christian laughed and finally retracted his gun and placed it inside his jacket pocket.  “You have no reason to trust us.  Keep that in mind.”  He stopped at the door, his hand on the knob, and spoke facing it.  “The clock’s ticking Hunter.  Say hi to the family for me.”
With him gone, I felt violated.  He had been inside my house, my home that I shared with my family.  They could know nothing about this.  They would know nothing of it. 
The clock read four ten.  I had about seventeen hours to let Christian know what I decided, but did I really have an option?  It was either kill or be killed.  I knew too much now.  Christian had seen to that.  I scooped the wad of cash from the table and fanned it.  The smell of money lodged up my nose as nostalgia.  I tucked it into a pant pocket causing it to visibly bulge.
I poured myself a few shots of single malt and swigged it back in a couple mouthfuls.  As the alcohol started to work, my mind assessed the situation.  It recalled my past life in detail, the people, the blood, the locations, the intensity I would feel every time I took a life.  In a way, it was the type of rush I hadn’t experienced since.  I wouldn’t dare say I missed it, but as the vague recollections transformed to shape, I knew I was capable of doing it again.
The directions were simple:  kill the Governor.
But I wasn’t that man anymore, and this was different.  Governor Behler was my client.  I was her accountant.  We had grown close.  Brenda and I had even been to her house for dinner before. 

****
The official release date of Assassination of a Dignitary is March 14th to Amazon for Kindle and in April for print.  However, it’s here early!!  You can get your copy now.


OR, be sure to check out the full Assassination Blog Tour schedule here and enter for your chance to win!




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

When Family Doesn't Support Your Writing

A Big Decision...

A Promotional Tool that Makes Sense