• A kiss; light, fleeting, was laid on his cheek as he slept next to her.
    She moved slowly and carefully, watching him for any stirrings as she removed herself from the bed. Once she stood, she began to dress quietly in the dark, checking one last time to make sure she had all of her belongings. After a second’s pause, she pulled out her silenced 9mm pistol, and fired 3 shots into his body. She then took out a large canister of gas, spreading it all over the room, concentrating on the bed and carcass at the last. The cloth on a nearby table was used to open the door, and also used to pull the fire alarm at the end of the hall. People shouted in their sleep, quickly leaving their beds after hearing the loud screaming of the alarm, waking all but one in the building. She calmly walked back to the man’s room, sparking up a cheap plastic lighter, holding it in the doorway for a moment. She gazed at his dull eyes, speaking one phrase quietly.
    “Go in peace, friend.”
    She began to turn, tossing the lighter onto the bed whilst doing so, the entire room in flames within seconds. When the fire department arrived, breaking down doors to see if anyone was trapped, the only sign of her time there was an open window on the far end of the hall, facing an alleyway out back.

    ~~~

    Lieutenant Mathers was, for the first time in his career, at a loss. He could never predict, nor catch the hitman that had continuously been murdering around the city. The hits appeared to be random; no particular type of person was singled out, anyone from men to women between the ages of 17 and 36. Occupations of the victims were also in no pattern, there had been bartenders, lawyers, construction workers, nurses, and even one politician. He tossed the folder down on his desk, leaning back into his chair with a long sigh. The only calling card left behind was that the evidence and body was always burned, but no one else was harmed. The hitman always made sure that everyone else got away safely, but without himself being seen.
    Mathers also had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t even a man, but actually a woman. It was just a hunch, one that his coworkers snickered about behind his back, calling the hitman his ‘wishful soul mate’. He detested them for that, being warily reminded daily that even 3 years after his late wife’s death, he was still single. Rubbing his temples with his index fingers, he closed his eyes and sighed again. His thoughts were jumbled, unorganized, totally unlike himself. He made an attempt to sort them out, separating the facts out, trying to find some sort of link or clue he was missing about the case. After several moments of meditating, he felt the hair on his arms stand up from an eerie feeling of being watched. Instead of snapping his eyes open and looking around frantically, he casually leaned back a little more, stretching out, taking a quick survey of the room without opening his eyes completely. No one was there. He shook his head, chuckling to himself. Of course no one was there, it was 5 am on a Sunday, no one would be working like he was, let alone being awake. He dismissed the feeling, passing it off as a slight paranoia from working on this case too early in the morning.
    He pushed his chair back from the desk, standing up and stretching again, this time for real. Once he was satisfied and his muscles were not quite as stiff, he headed down the hall for a cup of coffee. He poured himself a cup, placing it in the microwave to heat up for a minute. Humming quietly to himself, he waited for it to finish, and once it had, he drank it quickly, and within a few moments, it was gone. He exhaled heavily, enjoying the bitter taste and feeling the caffeine take a hold of his system, waking him up much more. It was in that moment that he looked up and saw a woman sitting on the counter of the break room, and he knew immediately two things. First, she was irresistibly beautiful. Second, she was the hitman, and all hell was about to break loose.