One

Eerie silence…

Cassie shivered as she felt goosebumps on her arm. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, she thought.

She could just ignore him and his letter and race back to her quiet life in her hometown. She would have done that except she had spent a couple of dollars on getting a new wardrobe and the last two words on the letter stopped her.

BE FAITHFUL.

The silence intensified and Cassie felt her skin prickling with the odd sensation that she was being watched.

She turned around and yet there wasn't anyone within a single mile. It was just her in the quiet streets of Italy.

When was the action going to happen, she wondered as she glanced at her wristwatch.

It was a minute to midnight.

Just then the clock struck twelve and three SUVs drove in her direction. She stumbled out of her hiding place giggling and mumbling like a drunkard while three vehicles were coming towards her at top speed.

Her heart was racing as she pondered if this could be her last moment on earth. Just maybe the person in the letter had been wrong and the car wouldn't stop.

The thrill of this work is being in the real-life action, the words from the letter flashed back in her mind as the cars inched closer.

Just another inch and she would have been a dead person when the cars screeched to a halt right before her.

She took a deep breath and got herself ready for more action.

"Hey! Get out of the way!!" The driver stepped out. He was dressed in a black impeccable tuxedo with bulging muscles.

Cassie giggled. "There's plenty to go around."

"Are you drunk or something?" The guy yelled in her face.

"You're drunk!" She screamed, poking at his chest.

By now the other car doors began to open and slam with force.

"What's going on there?" Another of the drivers asked.

"It's this drunk crazy lady. She wouldn't move from the road," the first guy replied.

"You don't think it's a set-up?" The third driver asked.

The back door of the car in the middle opened and a different man stepped out. While the other drivers had been surprised, confused, or even worried this man was angry.

"Capo would not be happy with us!" He barked at them.

"But Lorez it's the girl…" the driver started but stopped immediately when a gun was pointed at him.

Cassie felt fear course through her veins but she was in too deep now to lose her acting skills or she would lose her head.

Slowly, she walked towards Lorez and placed a palm on his chest.

"You've got a beautiful plaything." She eyed the gun before reaching to touch it.

Lorez didn't move an inch. He just stood there eyeing her and wondering what she was up to.

"Let's play a game," she suggested before she felt the overwhelming sense that she was about to throw up.

Thankfully the drinks and pills were kicking in. She grabbed his suit and emptied the contents of her stomach on his chest.

Then she felt the world spinning. Maybe taking a drug to knock her out for a while wasn't such a good idea especially since this man might probably murder her but for once she felt no fear and she just got lost in the darkness.

***

Distorted voices.

Cassie blinked as she woke up. She wasn't assaulted with light and that was a relief but the massive headache she felt immediately made her groan.

The hangover was a bitch, she thought as she massaged her temple then tried to sit up. She realized she was in a cell, a dark smelly cell.

The voices that had woken her up became clearer now.

"She was standing in the middle of the road, we couldn't run her over," the voice she recognized as Lorez was saying.

"So?" This was an unfamiliar voice, it was cold and calculating.

"We don't kill civilians on the job, especially without your permission," Lorez replied.

"Adequate. Get rid of her."

Cassie's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. It was one thing expecting it and another thing hearing it.

She blinked and glanced at the retreating back of the man shrouded in darkness and she cried.

"Just a second, Sir!"

He didn't slow his pace.

"I have information for you and I'll work for you!" She blurted out.

He stopped and piercing dark orbs turned to stare at her.

"Yes?"

Her heart stopped beating immediately.