Disclaimer: I don't own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.
They had come to a decision.
It was a grave decision.
Junior sure as hell wouldn't like it.
There was no way they could tell him.
But what other options did they have?
They discussed the issue back and forth, a whole evening went into this, along with several glasses of high quality Bourbon. And while they talked they always had one eye on the surveillance devices, of course. Just in case the assassin would strike again.
She was constantly interfering in their plan to do away with Brax quietly and unobtrusively. They both knew sooner or later, given her apparent competence most likely sooner, she'd manage to sneak past them and get the job done.
Playing defense was so much more complicated than the offensive approach. Instead of being able to concentrate on one path to the intended victim, one had to consider all sorts of possible scenarios.
Seriously, how the hell did Junior do that? Without going crazy?
Junior… crazy… Yeah, well, granted…
Judging by everything they knew about the female assassin's approach to the killing of Brax so far, she'd raise everyone's attention in the criminal world from here to Greenland with whatever method she'd be successful with in the end.
They just couldn't have that.
So she had to die.
Yes, there was also the option of trying to figure out who had hired her, flushing that person out and thus ending her assignment. Once the client was neutralized and thus unable to pay no contract killer worth his or her salt continued carrying out the job. They were not in it for the thrill of the kill. They were in the business for the money and when the money didn't come…
But this approach was complicated. Brax had tons of enemies, any one of them could have hired her. Them digging around could also alert Brax. He had a very effective system of snitches that would surely inform him if somebody started asking questions. And at least Joubert's face was well-known enough to result in some very highly raised eyebrows.
In addition to that this whole issue was time sensitive, the longer they waited, the lower were their chances to pull this off in the desired way.
They needed to get rid of Brax.
Now.
So the assassin had to go.
Of course that was easier said than done. If she hadn't been so elusive she surely wouldn't have managed to cause them so much trouble. But everyone makes mistakes and good bait catches fine fish.
Staging a trip of Brax to a mansion for sale at the outskirts of the city had been complicated. It involved getting an exact copy of one of his precious classic cars and pretending that he was getting into said car… right in front of Brax' headquarter. If one of his bodyguards or Brax himself had noticed… They had to manipulate the video surveillance system AND create a distraction for the guards.
Heavens. If they had done all that for a client, he would have received a hefty bill in the end. All those expenses… not to mention the hours that went into planning and preparing… Ah, well, Ilsa Pucci was paying at least part of the costs… Guerrero had arranged something. They were pretty sure, though, he hadn't given her any details regarding the payments.
And anyway, Ash was worth it.
The assassin fell for the trick. The mansion had a garage attached directly to the house. They instructed the thugs they had hired to act as Brax and his chauffeur to drive the car into the garage. With the door closing behind the vehicle she could only assume her target would walk from the garage into the house.
So she followed suit.
Can you say "mousetrap"?
At Baptiste's signal the two thugs quickly hurried out of the garage again. The second Joubert saw them race down the driveway he activated the automatic lockdown system the mansion's state of the art alert system provided. They had spent several hours pimping it up a little more and now it, once activated, automatically sealed all windows and doors and lowered the metal shutters that were meant to protect the building at night. The doors were made of steel, only plated with wood to make them look as if they were made of dark oak. The windows were made of bulletproof glass.
It was really a gift from heaven that the deceased owner of the mansion had been so paranoid. And that he had died of a stroke only a few weeks ago. His heirs were not interested in living in such a grand house. They preferred a loft in one of the gentrified areas of the city. So much cooler and way better for throwing impromptu parties. They had put it on the market almost right away, even before the burial.
Really a good thing – now Joubert and Baptiste could use his house to carry out their plan.
Once the assassin realized she was trapped she did the most reasonable thing.
She hid.
"How long do you think you'll be able to keep this up?", Joubert called loudly, knowing that in the empty house his voice would carry far upstairs. They were standing right in the middle of the mansion, in the great hall, meant for large dinner parties and other functions. They had lost her trace here.
Baptiste, meanwhile, had his back and kept his eyes on the empty rooms surrounding them. Chances were she'd pop out of a corner somewhere and try to take one of them hostage, in order to pressurize the other one into opening the door and letting her out.
Predictably, she didn't reply.
Minutes passed by.
The silence of the house became louder than any gunshot could have ever been.
Where the hell…? With most of the furniture missing there weren't many places she could conceal herself. So where was she?
"The only way out of here is through us. You can't hide forever." Just like Joubert, Baptiste was highly alert.
"I'll promise we'll make it short and painless… if you come out now", Joubert continued.
A threat Junior surely would have disapproved of.
Suddenly it dawned on Baptiste. Of course! There WAS one way out. A flaw in the house's security system they had both overlooked… a rather common flaw… she couldn't know it was built into this house's security system, too, but hoping that it was there was her only chance. Signaling to the Old Man what he had discovered they both stepped towards the big fireplace that dominated the hall.
Just like Santa, only the other way around, she was most likely trying to climb out of the house, hoping that nobody had secured the chimney with a grid.
There… thin, barely visible soot was coming down, covering their hands in black dust as they held their hands underneath the flue.
The Old Man locked eyes with Baptiste.
Baptiste nodded.
Together they fired into the chimney.
A muffled cry, a loud rumbling and scratching sound… she was barely alive anymore when her body hit the ground of the fireplace.
They could have shot her again, made it final. But her wounds were deadly anyway. Baptiste kneeled down and pulled her into his arms. Joubert crouched down by her side. They'd permanently dispose of her body, completely destroy it... no need to worry about leaving traces on her.
"If you think you saved Brax, you're wrong", she whispered. "I had a backup plan. The wheels are already set in motion."
Her whole body jerked in a violent, painful upwards arc. A second later she was dead.