Page 94 of The Company

I feel like I’m coming in on the middle of a meeting, that’s how confusing this shit is. Did I miss a message somewhere? What the fuck was I supposed to do with Sasha? “We were just talking about it at the table, actually. So she’s close.”

“Good. Get that location tonight and I want her eliminated before dropoff.”

“Yes, sir,” I say automatically. “Drop off is still on schedule.”

“Don’t cut it too close, understand?” His dark eyes bore into me. “I have a deadline too.”

“Sir, I understand. We’ll be on our way tomorrow.”

“Excellent.” He smiles at me and I force one back. “I’ll see you soon. Please bring me good news.”

“Yes, sir,” I say, but he’s already turned his back, walking out the door.

I wait a few seconds, then follow and make my way to the bar. “Pack of Reds, please. And a lighter.” The bartender walks off and returns a few minutes later with my smokes. I am not a big smoker these days. In fact, I officially quit three years ago. But ever since Tony, I’ve been using them to think things through.

And right now, I need to do a hell of a lot of thinking to understand what just happened.

You know what happened, Tet says in my head. “Elimination order,” I whisper to myself. The bartender is only a few feet away and he catches my words, shoots me a terrified look, and quickly walks off.

There’s no smoking indoors in California, so the only thing on my mind right now is getting the fuck out of this place so I can get a nicotine fix. I slip my pack into my pocket and walk calmly back to our table.

Harper and Sasha are laughing about something. They clue me in and I laugh too, but I have no idea what was said. The Admiral’s words are echoing through my mind. I want her eliminated before dropoff.

The girls stand and I throw some cash down on the table for a tip. My meals here are complimentary, there is no check. But the girls won’t know that, so when Harper starts questioning me about what took so long, I tell her I paid already.

She buys it, laces her hand in mine, and she continues her conversation with Sasha as we start walking out. The windows are on the left and I look out over the valley, towards the looming mountains.

A feeling of doom washes over me. A leftover reaction to the Admiral’s order, maybe.

Or maybe it’s from the approaching darkness.

Because that sunset I wanted to see so badly is long gone.