14
The next morning, we awoke tangled in blankets. I was lying on my stomach where I could feel Otto's head on the small of my back as he lied atop of me. I hummed gently.
"Somebody missed me." I replied softly and he laughed gently in response biting my back gently in response. But we could not remain like this all day, we had a job to do and we could not stay here much longer. The Commission expects results. We got out of bed and we all met down stairs. We ate and headed out, only this time, with Oscar finding some car keys, we took the old couple's car and took off to the city. Oscar and I sat in the back while Axel drove and Otto navigated with the map. I was in a black dress with a matching cloche hat. I was somewhat nervous, but I tucked it all away in hopes of just getting out of this era. The Boardwalk was busy and after driving around for a few minutes, we finally found this bar. It was huge almost like it was a club for well-known people. The three brothers looked at me and I could see the small traces of worry in all three of their eyes.
"Hey I got this." I replied and looked at each one before stepping out of the car and walking across the street toward the bar. I took even breaths as it grew closer to me a sign that said whites only made me stop and I swallowed some. Keep going. I finally entered and was met with the smell of cigarette smoke. I saw a large black stage and many tables and seats at the bottom of it. There were different doors around the place probably leading to the kitchen and secret places.
"Hey, girl!" someone shouted making me jump. Some large man in a white dress shirt and black pants with black suspenders approached me, eyes firmly planted on me. "Can't you read? Niggas ain't allowed in here!"
I immediately nodded looking down submissively.
"I'm sorry sir. I came looking for Mr. Pettigrew." I replied.
"Yeah and what do you want from him?" he asked. I looked up at him slowly preparing to speak.
"Who is, Roche!" someone yelled from the corner of the bar.
"A nigga girl, sir! I was just about to get rid of her." he said moving to grab me.
"Well hold on there Roche! Bring her back!" the voice commanded. The man known as Roche sighed and looked down at me motioning for me to follow so I did. I kept my head down not trying to cause any attention to myself. Finally, Roche stepped out of the way and I was met with the face of the man on the picture we were sent to kill. Thomas Pettigrew. He had a thick cigar between his lips and he leaned forward now looking me over slowly as he was counting some big bills.
"Well now, Roche where are your manners? What can I do for you Miss…" he trailed off.
"Anj- Ana sir." I replied. He looked impressed laughing some as he looked at Roche who stood behind his chair. He was obviously a body guard.
"Ana… don't think I've ever met a nigga named Ana before." he replied. I tried not to stiffen at the constant use of the racial slur but I swallowed it down. I smiled some and nodded.
"I'm happy to be your first… I moved here from New York and I heard you were looking for some help at a party you were having tonight. I was thinking… if you have the space, maybe you could use an extra server." I said lowly, my hands squeezing together. The man rolled his eyes over me definitely interested in what he saw.
"Well I don't know, our staff is already booked… tell me Ana you got family here in Atlantic City?" he asked. I shook my head.
"No sir. Staying with some people I met until I can find a job." I replied weakly. Gag me. I felt so pitiful having to look so innocent and needy. Thomas glanced at Roche before looking back at me and smiling.
"You got any experience serving?" he asked. I nodded.
"Yes sir. Served at some smaller clubs back in New York." I replied. He nodded slowly in thought.
"Step closer Ana." he said and I nodded taking a step closer to the table and Thomas twirled his fingers downward at me. "Give us a spin." I swallowed and slowly began to rotate my body slow enough so he could take in more of me. Once I was facing him again I saw he was scribbling something down on a sheet of paper and holding it out to me.
"Be at this address by five and Roche here will get you situated with the other staff." he replied. I took the note slowly and nodded at both of them.
"Thank you, Mr. Pettigrew." I replied faking excitement and I waved almost naively before turning and leaving the bar. Once I stepped back outside I looked around for the car only to see it pulling up in front of me. Once inside, I unfolded the paper to see the address on it. I was familiar with this street from seeing it on the map. It was legit, the Petersburg Hotel was the location. I looked up at Axel and nodded handing him the piece of paper. The boys looked it over before he began to drive down the road.
I did my part. Now I would sit back and let them do theirs. We returned to the house and I removed my dress and changed into a long black skirt and a green blouse tucked inside. I came down the hall to the spare room and noticed the boys were observing the clothes they had, all farm clothes. Axel just tilted his head at them. I shook my head crossing my arms.
"Won't get in with those outfits." I replied and the brothers looked at me before looking at each other. "I'm sure you were all given some cash to help blend in better. Time for you three to go shopping. They all sneered now as if what I said sounded so horrible. But they knew I was right. They stepped outside on the front porch and headed to the car. Axel paused beside me, his eyes already commanding me not to leave the house. I nodded.
"I won't leave." I replied, and he looked at me softly, his fingers gently moving toward mine to graze them before moving off to the truck, getting in, and driving away. I watched the truck disappear down the dirt road before closing the door behind me. Hopefully they didn't get into any trouble. To past the time myself, I decided to clean the house. Hell it was the least I could do for the couple. I made the beds, found white clothes to dust things down. I felt silly for not knowing if vacuums existed yet. But there was a broom and that helped. I swept from the front porch all the way to the back lost in my thoughts. Mostly it was about the Swedes, my agents… my lovers.
I was sure the Commission knew what we were doing, hell they saw everything, but then again don't train your Escorts to get good at sex if you don't want them to be active when given the chance. I heard the sound of an old car coming to the front. Well I was curious to see what outfits the Swedes had picked out for themselves. I put the broom in the kitchen and wiped my hands on a towel as I moved back into the living room. Before I could get halfway to the door it suddenly slams open as a foot recoils slowly to the ground. I jumped hard and screamed as a familiar man entered the house. It was that guy, that Roche guy from the bar. He entered with three men behind him. He looked down right evil.
"This isn't your house." he said lowly and my eyes widened as the three men came at me. I screamed and did my best to run, but it was futile. Arms wrap around my waist and I'm lifted off the ground kicking and screaming and thrashing about, knocking as much as I could over in the process.
"NO!" I yelled as I knocked over as much as I could. I even tried to slam the back of my head into the guy who had me. He dropped me and I fell to my knees trying to crawl, but a massive weight landed on me and dragged me back. I grabbed the doorway of the kitchen only to have one of the men approach and step directly on my hands. I cried out as I'm now taken from the house and pushed down off the porch. I landed on my sided and groaned as I slowly turned on my hands. A pair of black shiny shoes were before me and I gasped and looked up to see Thomas Pettigrew looking down at me with a cigar in his mouth.
"Well this is a shame. And here Ana I thought you'd lead me somewhere else that wasn't here… where are the cops that came by here yesterday?" he asked. I shook my head slowly.
"There was no one here when I came… it looked deserted I just needed a place to stay until after I found a job." I cried, and he leaned over in front of me now and I looked away now as his men circled me pulling out guns and I gasped and looked away. Thomas' hand grips my hair and I yell as he forces me to look at him acidly.
"So you just wandered in off the streets the same day my cops don't show up from collecting from here? Where are the Masons?" he asked. That must be the name of the couple who lived here. I just shook my head faking confusion.
"There was no one here when I came knocking." I cried out and he just stared at me firmly, his eyes were like that of a snake. Tears streamed down my face. "Please I just needed a place to stay." I stared at him with pleading eyes as he looked my face over slowly nodding.
"I believe you… Ana. So you're just needing somewhere to warm your hands from the cold." he said. I nodded swiftly and he nodded calmly.
"Well Ana, let me take care of you then. If what you say is true then I'll get you a job that will bring you nothing but money. But if you're lying… you'll swing from the highest tree I can find." he said almost lustfully. My lips quivered in fear as I nodded submissively. He smiled.
"Good girl." he said and stood up letting me go. "Bring her." Both my arms are grabbed and I'm forced on my feet and dragged to the car in the back. I looked around at the tree lines trying to see if somehow, someway the brothers were near. But nothing happened. No one came. I was forced into the back seat of the car, one man on either side of me. I was shaking as Roche moved to the front of the car and got in. I closed my eyes hoping Axel and the others were on their way back and could stop them before this car got too far, but it didn't happen. We were on the road driving back to the city.
Normal POV
The boys didn't waste any time shopping as their Escort said. To them it was just finding a disguise. They drove back to the North side and found the closest suit store, went inside and just looked around. The owner looked at them with mild worry. Three white men coming, eyes showing nothing but death in them, walking around his store.
"How can I help you gentlemen?" he asked professionally. The Swedes didn't answer of course as they looked around. Oscar walked around the man staring hard at him as he looked around. Otto found a suit that would work for him. It was a brown suit. Otto tilted his head reaching out to graze his fingertips across the gold buttons. Axel and Otto stood beside him. Oscar just stared at the suit while Axel gave a mild tilt of his head. It just needed to get them inside this party tonight. Axel turned and approached the owner of the store who was just standing there, but he tensed when Axel stopped in front of him.
"Three suits…" was his only reply. The owner was stunned at the accent. He didn't know where these men were from but he just nodded and removed his measuring tape.
"I'll just need to get your measurements and I'll get them for you." he said.
Within thirty awkward minutes, the brothers were leaving the store with their suits in hand. They threw them in the trunk not needing them until tonight and got back in their truck and headed back to the farm. Axel leaned casually back in his seat for once just enjoying the ride while glancing over at his brothers. Otto was staring out the window, with his arm leisurely hanging out the window while Oscar just sat in the middle looking out into the distance of the road. They were all in a state of content. No one would verbally admit it, but they were finding themselves a bit happier now that their Escort was no longer physically helping, so she wouldn't be in danger. They'd be able to kill their target, go home and relax until the next assignment.
As their truck drove down the dirt road pulling in the house, they noticed the door was missing from the house. All three leaned in and frowned before getting out and moving to the back of the truck and pulling out their guns and loading them immediately. Something was obviously horribly wrong and they planned to shoot anything and anyone that wasn't their Escort.
They moved inside quietly, guns pointing up and around before seeing the ruined living room. And there was no sign of Anja. The three stared at the place for a moment, Oscar moving to the of the house while Otto turned and headed out to the front porch to look around the house. Axel ran up the stairs quickly.
"Anastasia!" he called out through the hall, but got no answer. His jaw tightened at the silence and he looked through each and every room. No one was there. He moved down stairs meeting his brothers in the living room. They all looked at each other with questioning eyes. Anything? Nothing. They knew their Escort wouldn't disobey orders and from the look of the house, they knew she was taken. Axel reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his cellphone and activated the screen. His thumb touched the app, his face showing mild anxiety as he stared at the app responsible for showing a map of where an Escort was. It was created to work in every timeline they found themselves in. If he pushed the button and there was no blue dot, that meant the Escort wasn't alive and that made him not want to press it.
He was almost… afraid to push it. Otto and Oscar looked at him with stress in their eyes and finally Axel pressed it. A white screen popped up and a blue dot was beeping and now all three brothers gave a sigh of relief. Axel pressed the blue button and it beeped rapidly and a long list began to appear below the screen showing coordinates of where she was. Then the long list of coordinates shrank to a single line. The address was familiar and Axel looked down to his pocket and pulled out the note that Anja had gave him. His brothers looked at the note and then the phone. It matched. Thomas Pettigrew had her. That was all they needed to know. Slowly Axel crumbled the piece of paper in his hand and his face began to sink of all emotion and feeling as he looked at his brothers who were familiar with his face. He nodded slowly.
"Carnage." he said lowly. Oscar and Otto stared at their brother for a moment the emotions melting from their faces as well as Axel just turned and moved upstairs. His brothers followed after him, only anger fueling them. There was always a line they agreed never to cross when out on missions. They agreed that they wouldn't become complete monsters when killing. They would not kill those who did not need to be killed or that did not benefit their mission. But every agent had a breaking point and this was theirs. When one of them said Carnage, that was code for "massacre: no life mattered".
Some low life gangster had taken what was theirs and what was worse is he was known for whoring out the very characteristic that was attached to their escort and they would burn all of Atlantic City down if she was hurt. They'd be killing anyone and everyone they had to in order to get her back. They moved into the bedroom to see the large box was still sitting on the ground at the foot of the bed. So the people who took her didn't come up here. Good.
They moved over to the front and Otto just opened it and they stared at the automatic weapons with a sadistic smile before leaning down and grabbing a weapon that they felt would cause the most damage.