Happy Hump Day, readers! I hope you're all having a great week.
Some of you will be pleased to know I started writing the full version of Sicario. The plan is to have it ready for release by the early part of 2016.
So as a teaser, I'm sharing chapter one from Sicario: Part One. Enjoy.
PART ONE
Lexan
He was
close by. I knew it. Sensed it deep in my tightening gut. The man I wanted. The
reason I’d broken my three-month long seclusion.
Stepping
off the helicraft, I stood on the skyscraper roof, gaze fixed on the bright
lights below. Once upon a time, I’d been a significant part of a vibrant city
life. Carefree, my only concern had been on fixing my boss’s problems. Now, I
was nothing more than a ghost, non-existent to many.
At forty
floors above street level I heard the honk of cars and the jumbled
conversations of people far below. A part of my enhanced abilities that still
functioned. It had come in handy when I’d run surveillance on potential
targets. Now it served as a reminder of a world carrying on without my input.
Not that
I’d ever been a fan of San Jose, the center of the New World. A city full of
pretentious people all vying to outdo each other with their unrefined ways. It
is said, ‘money can’t buy good taste,’ and the statement stood true for most of
its residents.
Still,
this was the one place where I could acquire what I needed. One thing stood
true about the city: anything could be bought, even if it wasn’t for sale.
At the
entrance, the retinal scanner beeped before the visible blue shimmer of the
protective force field dissipated. The doorman tipped his head in respect.
“Welcome Mr. Cesare. Weapons and electronics, please.”
Smile
curling my lips, I pulled out the Beretta from the shoulder strap under my
jacket and phone from my pocket, placing both on the counter. As much as I hardly
went anywhere without my weapon of choice, the rules of the auction house
stated ‘No weapons allowed’ as part of their terms and conditions. Moreover,
there were other ways of killing, not always as efficient but still effective.
He placed
both items in a metal case similar to one you would find in a bank vault and
locked it before handing me an electronic key card. Pocketing it, I descended
the stairs down to a short corridor.
Why walk in at street level when you can
descend from the heavens? the auction brochure had advertised. For an exclusive and discreet
auction house as Kazuyo's, the clients could afford to arrive and depart by
air.
In the
foyer of shiny dark surfaces and diffused lighting, an usher led me to my seat
in an enclosure similar to the VIP box in a theatre, a relic of the Old World
but with a one-way glass screen, designed to ensure that I could see the stage
and the merchandise being auctioned but no one outside the room could see me.
Like the doorman before him, this young man didn’t stare at my face, a sign of
the discretion required in this business.
Through
the glass, the raised platform stage stood lit with low lights. The rest of the
auction room lay in an almost eerie darkness. None of the other bidders were
visible, probably sitting behind screens too.
The usher
offered me refreshments as I relaxed into my seat. No alcohol, mind you. I
settled for the sparkling mountain spring water. Taking a sip of the refreshing
liquid, I reached for the tablet device on the table beside me and read the
message on the screen.
Welcome. Place your card on the screen to
begin.
Following
the instructions, soon I browsed the electronic brochure. Not a regular at
these events. In fact this was my first time. But I had something specific,
albeit unusual, in mind. It had taken me weeks to track this particular item,
and I had it on good authority that it would be on the blocks today.
I
scrolled through until the merchandise appeared on the screen. My breath caught
in my throat at the fierce beauty on display, a strange response for me. But
I’d been having odd impulses since the incident that resulted in my retirement.
The
lights on the stage pulsed as if in warning that the auctions were about to
begin. The background music faded out and silence reigned as the first item was
brought to the stage.
How many
potential rivals did I have bidding for this? I didn’t know, but I would
acquire it today even if it cost me my life… and it probably would.
***
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