Bingo
Val walked into the lodge and spied the fallen form of her—now former—associate, Billy Cade. She strode over and knelt down beside his body. Valentine removed the wide brimmed hat from over his face. She did not even flinch upon seeing his lifeless blue eyes staring into oblivion. Val surveyed the corpse from top to bottom. The nose bridge had been shattered, and several blue/black bruises had formed on the fallen warrior's face. She placed her hand on the chest and felt a warm gooey mass. Val unbuttoned the shirt and stared at the gaping chest wound.
"Holy shit. She really worked you over, huh Billy?" Val said facetiously, as she studied the bloody gunshot wound. Within seconds—due to her training—Val knew every single injury that the cowboy had sustained from his fatal altercation, What a waste. You were a hot boy, Billy Cade. Too bad you're dead. You missed out on the fuck of a lifetime with me.
A naughty smile alighted upon Valentine's full red lips...
"That him?" The booming baritone voice almost startled her. Val turned her head and saw the cleaner standing behind her, both of her recent victims slung over his massive shoulders, "Yep, in the flesh, what's left of it." She mused. Valentine stood up and pulled out another wad of bubble gum. She tossed it in her mouth and chewed voraciously.
"Look, I'm gonna go upstairs and secure the place. Make sure Billy didn't leave behind anymore bodies..."
"Affirmative." said the cleaner.
Valentine blew a bubble and popped it simultaneously.
"Affirmative? Who are you, Arnold Schwarzenegro from the Terminator?" Said Val. She removed the gun from its holster and adjusted her two way headset.
The cleaner's face remained expressionless, "You'll need to collect the surveillance tapes as well. There is an intricate set of video cameras all over this motel. Take them all down and loop them. Drake doesn't want anyone to know anything happened here."
Val rolled her eyes, "Yeah, like that's gonna work. A bunch of people just mysteriously vanish, never to be heard from again."
The cleaner—for the first time—cracked a smile, "It's easier than you think. People go missing everyday." He said.
Val popped her gum and looked at her watch, "How long we got?" she asked.
"Two hours and fifty minutes. That is how long it will take me to do a thorough clean up." he said.
"Cool, I'm gonna get started then. If anyone shows up do them too. We can't take any chances. If anyone finds out about my after school job then I'll never get into Stanford." said Val.
The cleaner nodded his head. Val turned around and hurried up the stairwell.
Valentine scoured The Lonestar Lodge from top to bottom. She was as meticulous about her work as she was about putting together her outfits. It didn't take long for her to find the bodies of several hapless tourists.
"Cade, you messy fuck." She mumbled, as she came across three slain corpses. All of their throats were slashed. The inhabitants of the lodge had all been killed per request; however, the job had been done in a completely incompetent fashion. "You got a lot more work to do, my friend." Val said into her headset. I really hate doing this clean up shit.
Valentine went door to door and removed every surveillance camera video tape. The cleaner had already looped together a copy of each tape, via a prerecorded master tape of the lodge. All Val had to do was replace each authentic tape with a replica and play them after she had left the scene. It had been done a million times before, and the police would not be any the wiser.
Valentine headed back down stairs after the video camera work had been done. The cleaner had retrieved all the slain corpses-twelve in all-and placed them in the center of the lobby floor.
Val took the liberty of putting together the portable video player, and hooking it up to the large television screen. She popped in a tape of the downstairs tier and rewound it.
Suddenly, the image of a very large portly man appeared onscreen, ambling down the stairs. "Sloppy fat fuck." Val grumbled, as she blew another bubble. The man was Tex, A longtime associate of, a now defunct, assasination group that Val did not care to learn about.
The time on the tape read 8:00 a.m. "Crap...Crap...Bullshit...Crap..." Val sighed, as she scrolled through the man cleaning up and lazing around. Several hotel guests went in and out the doors within the next few hours of surveillance, but still nothing out of the ordinary, until...
"Bingo..." She smiled, as she watched the tall, dark, and handsome cowboy walk into the lodge. Val made herself comfortable, Indian style, next to the cleaner, who was studying the video footage quite intensely. Cade and the Lonestar lodge attendant, Tex, exchanged pleasantries before the handsome murderer slashed the fat man's throat with a straight razor. Death by razor was Billy Cade's calling card. Before the gargantuan body hit the ground Cade snatched him up and stuffed him beneath the bar like a wad of garbage. He then proceeded upstairs...
Val fast forwarded the tape. The rest of the grizzly slaughter would be revealed on the tier two recordings.Val sped through the rest of the footage, until...
"Wait!" said The Cleaner, as he saw Cade open the door for a beautiful young black woman, "I think that's her." He said, his voice never detering from monotone level.
Val placed the remote control beside her on the floor. She looked up at the cleaner—who had actually taken off his sunglasses—staring intently at the screen, a faint smile touching the corners of his lips.
"Do you like what you see?" Val asked, slightly annoyed.
The cleaner did not reply, but the bulge in his pants spoke volumes.
She hated when men ogled other women with her around. That was enough to make Val want to kill the woman on general principle.
"She is not that cute." Said Val.
"Yes she is." The Cleaner smirked.
The young woman was dressed in form fitting black leather jeans, a matching leather vest, and a long sleeved, red, turtleneck shirt. When she turned around Val got a good look at her face. She was gorgeous. She looked like a cross between a young Vanessa Williams and Vivica A. Fox. Fucking whore. I'll bet she's wearing contact lenses. Val chewed her bubble gum even more intensely, just to keep from grinding her teeth.
Val and the cleaner watched, and listened, to the exchange between Cade and the young woman. Suddenly, the audio blurted out a loud gunshot. That is when the fight broke out. Val stayed riveted to the screen. The battle lasted several minutes, before the woman bested her opponent. Val was amazed by the young woman's speed and skill. She assaulted Billy Cade, one of the best assassins in the business, with the precision of a machine. However, Val did not let on that she had been impressed.
"She has some skills." The cleaner said nonchalantly.
Val rolled her eyes...
"Put in the other tape. I need to know what car she's driving. All of this happened an hour and a half ago. Chances are she hasn't ditched her vehicle yet." The cleaner turned off the video and popped in the other tape. It showed the same woman, moments earlier, getting out of a red Honda Civic.
"Do you think she still went to San Diego?"
"I doubt it. I don't think she is that stupid. She probably stayed on the same trail that Snitch gave us." Valentine stood up from her position, "Okay, I'm going to go change and freshen up. Is the acid bath ready?" she asked.
"Affirmative."
"Good, the sooner we wipe this place down the better..."
Val decided to bring along her brand new, hot pink, Adiddas sweat suit. The sweat suit was a form fitting one piece with black stripes down the sides. Val compared it to Bruce Lee's outfit in "Game Of Death." She stayed inside the bathroom for a full half hour doing her hair. Val styled her flowing red mane into beautiful curly tendrils that fell to her waist. She applied her candy apple red lipstick and did her eye makeup. After she was done Val looked herself over in the mirror and smiled, If I were a guy I would definitely wanna fuck me.
She checked her watch again. They had exactly 50 minutes to get everything done. Valentine left the bathroom and hurried downstairs, to the poolside out back.
The moment Val stepped outside she could smell the acrid fumes of burning human flesh. The cleaner had already begun the acid bath.
"Hey, I told you to wait until I got back!" Valentine was furious. She had wanted to watch.
"You were taking too long. We're on a schedule. Besides, I'm not finished yet." He said, as he poured a large bottle of fluid into the pool.
Valentine walked towards the poolside and stood next to the cleaner.
All twelve of the bodies, including Cade's, had been completely stripped and thrown into the water. The pool was now boiling as the cleaner doused it with several gallons of clear liquid, acid. The more he poured into it the more it began to sizzle. The sizzle transformed into a full on raging cauldron. The flesh from the dead bodies began to melt away. The acid ate through them like rabid barracuda. First the epidermis melted away and then the muscle tissue evaporated. Now, all that was left were the skeletal remains, and they too were soon devoured. The pool now looked like a sea of blood. The acid still boiled. The blood began to fade as well. Finally, there was nothing and the cauldron began to simmer down.
"How much time?" The cleaner said, as he poured more acid into the water.
"Thirty minutes." Val replied absently. She was amazed by the thoroughness of the cleanup, "Dude, that was fucking awesome. I mean it is like they totally never existed, y'know?"
"Alright, you get going. I've already radioed for transportation. I'm going to wipe the place down and tidy up a bit."
"Alright, I'm out. Catch you later..." With that Val went to her car.
Val popped the trunk of car and opened up the briefcase once again. She took out the broken pieces of the assault rifle and put them together like a jigsaw puzzle. Val removed the scope from the hidden compartment within the briefcase and attached it to the top of the gun. She held up the rifle and made sure the sight worked properly. It did. Val put it back inside the trunk and shut the briefcase.
She slammed the trunk door shut and opened up the backseat of her car. There, hidden beneath the plush interior, were two, very large, three pronged, sais, Valentine's weapon of choice. If push came to shove Val had no problem with engaging an opponent in a physical altercation. However, her boss wanted this one tidy. So she would only use physical force if it was a must. Mongoose, you had better pray that my bullets hit you first, bitch. Val flipped the sais around for practice. Her movements were inhumanely quick. She twirled the sais faster than a humming bird could beat its wings. Valentine had studied the sais for years, and her skill with them was unparrallel.
She put the weapons back into her car and climbed into the driver's seat. She buckled her seat belt and quickly burned out of the driveway.
Val had been on the road for over an hour before she found her target. It almost seemed too good to be true, but she had found her. On the highway stood a busy gas station where tourists and truckers stopped to refuel their cars. "Bingo..." Valentine whispered, as she spied the red Honda Civic pulling up to one of the pumps. The door opened and the woman-Mongoose-got out of the car.
Valentine weighed her options. The gas station was in a wide open, desolate, location. However, the gasoline station was full of hustle and bustle. There was no way she would have been able to pull off a job without someone seeing her. Val decided to follow her instincts and wait.
After several minutes the red Honda Civic pulled out of the gas station and hit the open road once again. Val cranked up her engine and trailed the red automobile.
"Get ready Mongoose, because the wildcat is about to pounce..."
Val whispered.
To Be Continued
(Note: This will be the last entry for Valentine. The next scene with her will be told solely from Nikki's point of view.)
Thank you everyone for your reviews. I cannot tell you enough how much I appreciate them. Sorry it took me so long to get chapter eleven up, but alas, here it is.
In response to some questions.
Ciberloco: Thanks for your review. Anyway, I have decided to not have Beatrix until the end of the story, for the climatic battle. Why? Because, I feel, that we have learned everything that we needed to know about Black Mamba in KILL BILL. This is Nikki's story, and I want the reader to get to know all of these characters instead of revisiting all the old characters. However, an old Character might make a cameo in this story. You never know...