Chapter Four

Steve had only been gone a few hours, but Jaime missed him already. She knew she'd miss him even more when she tried to go to sleep without him by her side. Taking pictures of herself as a corpse had been a most unpleasant experience, though, and she doubted she'd be sleeping much anyway.

She'd been instructed to go about her activities as she normally would. Ha - define 'normal' when you have to wear a bullet-proof vest, she thought to herself. Jaime hated those things! They were bulky, uncomfortable and made her feel very nervous, as though she were wearing an open invitation for someone to shoot her in the head, since that portion of her body remained unprotected. She figured she'd put it on sometime the following evening - that was probably still a little early, since Buffy had to ingratiate herself first and then somehow get Steve 'hired', but better safe than dead. Tomorrow night would be more than enough time...

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Bobby had gotten no answer when he'd tried to call his sister, but Caitlyn was just too tempting for him to pass up. Besides, if Susy really had sent her, Bobby didn't want to face his sister's wrath by sending her away. Less than an half an hour after she'd arrived at the compound, Buffy was inside the gate, having coffee in the guard shack while she waited for her moment.

The moment that came was much sooner than expected, and not the one they'd planned for, but she saw a chance and dove at it. Within the time it took for them each to finish a second cup of coffee, Bobby was firmly and inescapably wrapped around Caitlyn's little finger, ready to buck every bit of protocol and break all the rules as he offered to give her a guided tour of the compound.

"Ya know," Buffy ventured when they were nearly finished, "Susy said y'all were into researchin' medical-type stuff, but I didn't see anybody reading or looking up anythin'..."

"Well, maybe they're taking a break," Bobby hedged.

"My friend's brother - he makes his money shootin' people who don't belong on the planet - he said I should watch myself if I was comin' here, that y'all were into some mighty rough dealin's. You seem ok to me, though." Buffy could literally see the light going on in Bobby's head, but he wasn't quite hooked yet, and said nothing.

Buffy snaked an arm around his waist, and then her other arm, as well, looking right into his eyes. "Don't seem the least bit dangerous to me."

"That a fact?" Bobby smiled back at her and leaned in for a quick kiss.

For Jaime and Steve, she reminded herself, choking down her revulsion and kissing him back, but he goes no further!

"So how could a pretty li'l thing like you know anybody connected to a hit man?" Bobby inquired.

"Oh - Cliffie's not a hit man. He only kills people who really deserve it. Sure makes bunches of money doin' it, though..."

So it happened that, before midnight on her first day as an operative, Buffy had accomplished her goal, and 'Cliff' came into possession of a contract to kill Steve Austin and his wife.

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New Destiny had stipulated that they expected immediate results, and had dropped 'Cliff' off outside of his own house before the sun came up the next morning. Steve wasn't surprised when they'd insisted on sending one of their own to accompany him. Together, the two men waited, hidden in the trees that lined the front driveway.

"My understanding is that these two are sort of joined at the hip," his new shadow told him. "Hopefully, they'll come out of the house together. That way, you can just open fire and be done with it. But if you can only get one for now, that's ok, too. Well get the other one at the hospital. Or the funeral."

Steve knew that Jaime would be out to get the newspaper within the next hour. Everything was ready. He wished he could whisper a warning, but with her vest, he knew she'd be ok. When Jaime stepped onto the porch, he raised the rifle to his shoulder, aimed extremely carefully at her mid-section and took his shot. Jaime had turned at the very last second, and her side was to Steve. She faked shock and horror very appropriately as she sank slowly to the ground. Damn, that fake blood looks awfully real, Steve thought to himself as he turned to hightail it out of there. He was alarmed to see the New Destiny crony heading toward Jaime, instead.

"We gotta get out of here," Steve urged. "Her husband's probably already called the cops."

"Yeah, I know; just wanna make sure she's dead." The man knelt down, checked Jaime for a pulse and then joined Steve on a fast sprint back to the car. Steve looked at him questioningly, and the man nodded in confirmation. "Dead as a doornail in the arctic winter."

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