Chapter 1
March 13, 2009.
Rome, Italy
21:19
47 watched as Lorenzo Moro stepped up to the podium. He wore a black suit with a snow white shirt and green bowtie (no doubt a lucky charm of some kind). 47 noticed an expensive pair of shiny black leather shoes that seemed custom-made on his feet and an even shinier golden Rolex on his wrist – both of which were beyond the salary of someone in his profession. As the crowd, all dressed in black tuxedos and colorful dresses, applauded, 47's eyes rose towards the ceiling and the heavy, shiny chandelier that hung right above the desk and then towards the chain that kept it suspended. Nobody could see him on the walkway; everyone's eyes were targeted at Moro and even if they saw him, he was just a janitor. It hadn't been hard to steal a uniform from the locker room. Listening to Moro's frantic and passionate oration, 47 checked the magazine of his Silverballer. Fully loaded, plus the one in the barrel. Keeping the gun out of sight, he carefully screwed on the silencer. He took aim just over the railing. Being fluent in Italian, 47 could tell Moro's speech was coming to an end. When the applause filled the room, 47 squeezed the trigger. The next second, the applauds were silenced by the roar of the chandelier crashing down on the podium – right on top of Senator Moro. While the crowd seemed to gradually realize what had just happened, 47 tucked away his gun, picked up the lone shell casing and quickly walked away. As some of the guests started screaming and calling for ambulances at the sight of Moro's mangled body underneath the spaghetti of blood and bent, twisted and crushed metal, he slipped out of the room. In the kitchen, the cooks and other staff members were murmuring, wondering what had just happened. They didn't even seem to notice 47. In the parking lot outside, 47 snuck into his rental car and quietly drove away into the night as a drizzle came down on the windshield. Another job done.
March 14, 2009
Rome, Italy
21:02
"Italians were shocked last evening at the announcement of the tragic death of Senator Lorenzo Moro of the Italian Parliament," the voice of BBC World News said in the background of a clip package of some of Moro's public appearances. He wasn't particularly well-known outside of Italy, but because of the freakish nature of his demise, international press had taken a huge interest in the story. It would probably die out within a few days.
"The Senator had been a member of the Italian parliament since 1994 and enjoyed fairly consistent approval ratings in spite of being accused of bribery in two separate investigations; one in 1996 and one in 2002. Though he was cleared of all charges both times, the controversies had a definite effect on his political advancements. After years of campaigning to improve his public image, Moro was often named by journalists as one of the favorite candidates for the position of prime minister of Italy. He died just after delivering a speech at a professional correspondents' dinner in Rome last night when a chandelier fell from the ceiling and landed on top of the Senator. Italian authorities stated during a press conference this morning that his death was almost certainly an accident and thus they will not carry out a criminal investigation."
47 smiled satisfied and took a sip of his scotch. Even if they investigated and the bullet was recovered, they still wouldn't have anything on him. He'd have a few more days in Italy before it was time to go back to the states. Massive storms had grounded most flights out of the country and showed no sign of stopping. Outside, the rain was still pouring. Didn't bother 47 much; even if it had been sunny all day long, Rome would have been wasted on him. Travelling wasn't much fun if you had to lay low all the time. His suite was probably the biggest tourist attraction he would see during his stay there. On a desk across the room, his laptop came alive with a bleeping signal; the Agency was calling.
"Excellent work, 47," a familiar English voice said. "Our source in the Polizia di Stato confirms that the crime scene is clean."
The voice was Diana, his handler from the Agency.
"The shot hit the light fixture and severed the chain perfectly. We sent in a cleanup crew just in case, but they couldn't find the slug anywhere."
"I appreciate that."
"We also took care of the security guard."
47's heart skipped a beat.
"What security guard," he asked suspiciously.
"The one whose uniform you took? They found him dead in a closet near the reception."
47 said nothing.
"47, are you saying that wasn't you?"
"I tried to make Moro look like an accident. Killing someone and taking their clothes to do so would defeat the purpose. I took a janitor's overall from a locker, nobody even saw me."
On the other end of the line, Diana sighed.
"That is…problematic."
"Is your source reliable?"
"Perfectly. The good news is that the guard was a moonlighting police officer. We can arrange for the police to angle the investigation away from the Senator."
"Could there have been another assassin?"
"Senator Moro had many enemies, so I guess it's not impossible."
"I suppose that helps," 47 remarked.
"In any case, we have some jobs that could use your attention. How soon can you be back in the States?"
"On TV they said the storm will keep up for days. No flights are going in or out from within ten miles from here."
"Would you be open for some more work while you're in Italy?"
47 looked out the window, on which drops of rain were impacting and running down the glass.
"What else have I got to do with my time?"
"I'll get back to you if anything opens up."
Diana logged off. The conversation left 47 with an unpleasant feeling in his gut. There had been occasions when even he had left evidence behind, but another assassin? Still, it wasn't entirely improbable; a lot of people wanted Moro dead because of his businesses on the side, any of them could have sent a killer of their own to eliminate him. The wise thing for that person to do would be to use a public appearance of the target as a window of opportunity. 47 spent the rest of the evening imagining what the assassin's plan had been and for what purpose he had needed the uniform. Maybe he was planning to shoot the Senator during the speech and slip away in the resulting panic. Or maybe he was going to lure Moro away somewhere more private and kill him there after the speech. Before going to bed, 47 made a long, hard extra check on the protection on his suite's door and windows.
March 16, 2009
Rome, Italy
13:18
Life in hiding days after a hit did not suit 47 well. Touristing was not his game even if the weather was perfect, so Rome didn't have much to offer him. He had spent the past day and a half wondering about the other assassin and going through the night of the gala minute by minute to figure out if he could have been exposed. He had dealt with the risk of other assassins before when the Franchise was still in business, but he usually had some idea if another killer were present. Some might call it intuition; he just called it experience. After what felt like days of being locked up in the hotel, except for a visit to a nearby art gallery, Diana's call was welcome.
"We got another job today," she said. "You're in perfect position to handle it."
"It's local, then?"
"Indeed. You'll receive twice your usual fee."
"How come?"
"The target is not easily accessible and there are some other specifics for how you should handle the case."
47 was reluctantly intrigued. He wasn't usually the kind who took jobs for the challenge (years of training and conditioning had seen to that), but this one was tempting.
"I'll take it," he said.
"Splendid. The information should appear on your screen."
A file appeared on 47's laptop, complete with photos and other information.
"The target," Diana said, "is Sabrina Giuttari."
47 looked at the profile photo. Giuttari looked surprisingly young for being in her 50s apart from the slight gray streaks in the otherwise dark brown hair near her temples.
"She is the CEO of a computer company based in Italy. She will be hosting a conference with several of her overseas managers on Friday."
"Four days from now," 47 remarked.
"Yes, I know it's short notice, but with the intel we have on the location, it should be straightforward enough. The conference will be held on the top floor of the company's main office in downtown Rome. Most of the building has high security, but the upper floors are much less guarded. The reception and elevators have cameras, so you'll have to enter another way."
"The only other way is from above. Are you suggesting you airdrop me onto the building?"
"Of course not, that would be far too conspicuous. The building has service stairs you can enter from the back. No cameras. They should take you close to the top floor."
"Sounds simple enough."
"However, the client has some specifics for the kill."
"Anything serious?"
"They want you to use a weapon from the building that can be connected to Giuttari and they need you to bring that weapon with you afterwards with her blood on it."
47 hesitated for a second. He knew better than to ask questions about the client, but became suspicious.
"That's fine," he said anyway.
"Excellent, 47. We'll send an operative to a location of your choice to pick up the weapon when you're done. Good luck with your assignment."
Diana logged off.
47 continued reading the file. Giuttari was apparently something of a legend in the Italian world of commerce. One of the youngest people on record to graduate with a master's degree from the University of Bologna, she inherited her father's company, which then was less than half its present size, after he died in a suspicious car accident and eventually changed the company's focus from general electronics to computer hardware. Her mother had died of a cancer when she was a teenager. She was known to be ruthless in business and had brought down several other corporations through fusions and takeovers. The company, currently named GiuTech, had suffered some minor controversies over the years. One was in 2003 when a newspaper in Milan ran a story accusing the company of insider trading. The journalist who wrote the piece disappeared less than a week later and his source, a member of the board of directors, was found dead in his house two days after that. His death was attributed to natural causes. Another was in 2007 when one of the company's own branch managers fell from a rooftop and rumors circulated that Giuttari had tried to bribe the police into ruling the death a suicide prematurely. While nothing was proven, Giuttari was scheduled to be audited a month later, but the Agenzia delle Entrate (author's note: the Italian Revenue Service) reversed its decision a week before the scheduled date.
