Disclaimer: I do not own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.

Another conversation with Joubert. Another order to find out what the stray was up to.

This was getting old. Fast.

Guerrero decided to take the direct approach this time and simply ask him instead of engaging in a full blown surveillance campaign again.

"Joubert hands you a piece-of-cake job on a silver platter and you claim to be busy?"

The stray shrugged his shoulders. At least he had stopped trying to smile his way out in his presence.

"This isn't still about that corrupt cop's case, is it?"

Of course it was. He didn't even want to meet his eyes. "It's still a loose end. I now know what the metal things are, but who plants them? And why? Call it a gut feeling, but this seems important to me."

"Dude, I've seen you jump out of airplanes on a gut feeling."

The boy was still staring at the ground, but the way he squared his shoulders indicated that he was not going to back down. "You take the job and let me mind my own business", he mumbled.

Wow, that was a lot more antagonistic than most people dared to be with Guerrero.

He decided to let it slide. A lucrative, fuss-free job was waiting and if the stray didn't want it, he would be the next in the food chain to get it, so who was he to complain? Of course it was an interesting question who planted the devices, but it was definitely not time-sensitive. The boy needed to set his priorities straight. Economic thinking - it wasn't that difficult.

… … …

The house had zero security measures. Getting in was ridiculously easy. Silent as a mouse Guerrero sneaked along the corridor that led to the master bedroom, gun at the ready, silencer screwed on.

He managed to make it disappear right in time to prevent the target's little daughter from seeing it.

Kids. Why did they always have to wander around at night?

"Who are you?", she demanded to know, clutching her teddy bear.

"The watchman", Guerrero replied, making sure his face remained hidden in the dark. "Speak quietly or you'll wake up your parents."

"We don't have a watchman", the girl said.

"Your daddy hired me to keep you safe. He didn't want to worry you, so he didn't tell you."

She looked unconvinced.

"Now go back to bed and I won't tell on you."

"Tell on me?" Now she looked uneasy.

"You're not supposed to be wandering around the house at night, are you? Your dad will be angry if he finds out. But if you hurry back to bed right now I'll do you a favor and keep it a secret from him, okay?"

The girl slowly nodded. Her daddy could get very angry indeed. A couple of weeks ago he had locked away Mr. Gruffypaw for a whole night. That had been so unfair! How had she been supposed to know that goldfish don't like jello? Holding the teddy bear pressed tight to her chest, she padded back to bed.

Determined not to waste any more time, Guerrero proceeded to the master bedroom. The target and his wife were both sound asleep. He took him out with a single shot so silent, his wife kept on snoring, totally unaware that she had just become a single parent and widow.

… … …

When Guerrero came home, he found about a dozen messages from Joubert on his answering machine.

Guess-who hadn't shown up for a scheduled meeting and wasn't returning his calls.

Jeez, was the stray getting on his nerves.