Disclaimer: I do not own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.
"It's impossible", Joubert said, but he was already intrigued. The boy's eyes were gleaming with excitement and that meant he had an idea.
Guerrero cringed inwardly – Oh no, not another crazy ass plan from you, dude.
"You can tell the client we take the job", the boy insisted. "Just leave it to me." He beamed at Joubert who had a hard time stifling a smile at the kid's enthusiasm and anticipation.
"Okay. I give you a shot. But know that: It's my reputation that's on the line here. You fail, you'll regret it."
The boy was so raring to get started, he was practically bouncing on his seat.
Joubert sent him out of the room with a wave of his hand.
"You keep him company, Guerrero", he addressed his long-term employee. "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
"Stupid is not the problem. Insane is", Guerrero replied.
… … …
"I swear dude, if we end up dangling from the flagpole of a twelve-storey building again, I'll kill you. And you know me – I'm not talking quick and painless here."
"No jumping off skyscraper ledges this time, I promise."
Guerrero sighed. In the year that the kid was working for Joubert now he had pulled off way too crazy shit to regard this as a reassuring statement.
"So, this is the plan…" The boy rolled out a layout of Boston Civic Center and started explaining.
When he was done, Guerrero just stared at the kid in silence for what he knew must seem like an eternity to him. It was fun, watching him grow more fidgety by the second till he couldn't bear it any longer. He put on one of these lopsided, seemingly shy smiles that worked so well on the chicks and uttered timidly: "What do you think?"
"Dude…" Guerrero needn't say more. The appreciative nod that accompanied his reply was enough to make the boy's day.
… … …
The air in the congress hall was exceptionally dry, but nobody paid much attention to it. There had been problems with the air conditioning on and off for the past two weeks – too warm, too cold, too humid. Now it was too dry, so what? Nothing to be concerned about; not when there were far more important challenges to face, for example ensuring the safety of ecological activist Edmond Lawson. He was on the death list of enough people to justify heavily armed extra security detail, frisking of all visitors and detection dogs.
Besides that, too dry air only becomes a problem when you have to talk a lot. Since this was supposed to be a press conference with Mr. Lawson informing the journalists about new studies regarding the health risks of certain chemical additives in clothes, nobody would have to talk a lot except him.
Which was exactly the point.
When Lawson started coughing from his throat drying up, a blonde man in a suit handed Lawson's daughter a glass of water. "Looks like your daddy could use something to drink", he told her. Happy to be able to help her dada, the little girl went on the stage and brought him the water, scooting past all bodyguards. The journalists, of course, loved it: What a truly beautiful father-child moment, so touching. Pretty much every photographer in the room captured it.
What they also captured, setting in only a couple of minutes later, were the death throes of Edmond Lawson. He was DOA when he got to the hospital. The ensuing autopsy established a heart attack as cause of death.
One of the great advantages of succinylcholine is that it is not normally tested for in toxicology screens. Another is that it is highly soluble in water.
… … …
"That, boy, was truly beautiful." Joubert poured all of them a generous amount of fifteen year old Single Malt Whisky. "The client is very pleased. No headlines, no suspicions, no investigation. Very well done."
"We should finally get you a name, dude", Guerrero said and took a swig.
"Yes, we should", Joubert agreed, looking very thoughtfully at the young man whose eyes shone with pride although he was trying to hide it.
To be honest, Joubert himself felt proud – not of himself, as he realized with astonishment, but of that kid that had come to his doorstep like a stray dog a year ago. A strange sensation, to be proud of another person.
It didn't dawn on Joubert yet that this was how a father felt.
A/N: As always, a big thank you to my anonymous reviewers!