The Pro - a work in progress

Chapter One (Or Prolog)
If you’ve got ethical issues, I can understand that, and it’s okay. For me, I’ve known so many people who really should be taken out that I have no qualms about being the exit strategy for so few. Twenty-five percent of the population, useless, leaches, nonproductive, maggots, drags on the society, I’d guess that’s about right from my experience. So, if someone wants to reward me, handsomely, for removing a small fraction of this detritus I don’t have a problem, in fact it just tickles me pink. Funny thinking about someone like me as pink, I laughed out loud when I thought about that phrase.
So, that’s what I am, a garbage collector, I remove garbage from the streets, and bad genes from the gene pool. Should be an honorable profession, if you measure honor by the contribution to the society, however, the uninformed among us, the late adapters, the religious zealots have people like me classified as criminals; what a laugh that is. The 25% applies to them too, in my opinion. Still, I have to be a little more careful than seems reasonable, and I can be very, very careful indeed. You may be wondering how I work, even if you haven’t resolved the issue about what it is that I do. Let me tell you about my latest opus – only mystery writers and journalists call them “hits,” just like no real musician would call a guitar an ax! This may help you understand a little about what professionalism means when applied to an arcane craft.
The rain was gentle and fairly steady. Wind was blowing enough to make a lot of noise in the forest without bringing down the old growth limbs. In late August, this was a rare day; the kind you only get when a hurricane is a few hundred miles away and moving up the coast. The gusts were infrequent and only strong enough to whip the younger branches around and snap the rain off the leaves. A few squirrels were busy now, but soon they would slip into their nests and quietly rest and wait out the rain. At this time of the year they were fat, sleek, and well stocked, ready for the cold that would settle into the valleys in a few short weeks. I could hear the ones who were early in getting out of the rain rustling in their warm dry dens and envied them their comfort. They were chattering, anxious to get back at their work, collecting and storing nuts for the oncoming winter. The forest floor was littered with the shells of nuts and seeds that had been discarded by squirrels, and I heard the loud noises the few that had not gone inside yet made as they moved through the canopy, leaping from one tree to another before they gave in to the rain and ducked into their nests.
The rain and wind deadened any sounds that I made wading through the underbrush. I didn’t need to be quiet and careful as I usually would have been, since the wet leaves were silent when they were pushed aside. Even snapped twigs didn’t stand out in the strong breeze and swaying branches. The bugs near me were raucous; cicadas, mosquitoes, moths and a vast array of unidentifiable sounds. This late in the season it must have been like a singles bar at 1:45. The rain and mist reduced the visibility to a few hundred feet and it seemed like I was in a large reception room with a glorious ceiling and soft deep carpet. There is something about the fragrance of wet, fresh leaves and evergreen boughs that are oozing sap that makes you feel wondrously alive. Lungs clear of the city sludge and the balsam heightens awareness in a most pleasant way. It had been a long time since I had immersed myself in this environment, and I missed it. This one time wouldn’t be enough and I knew that I would soon return to the forest and not for work the next time.
A droplet slid off my hat and ran down my neck and upper back; it was cold and brought my focus back to the present. The typographic map I had memorized was clear in my mind and I could easily recognize each landmark as I quickly moved along the route I had selected. It was a little over two miles and at the pace I set for myself, that meant a half an hour give or take a couple of minutes. The mist thickened as sunset approached - exactly as I had planned. I slowed as the target came into view and I knew I looked exactly like one of the wet, black tree trunks that were randomly spread throughout the forest.
The large house was carefully lit on the inside and strategically illuminated externally. The lights had come on early this evening, earlier than on my trial run earlier in the week. The overcast and intensifying rain had deepened the dark and brought on an early sunset. This wasn’t a problem for me; I was far enough away that the floodlights didn’t reach the spot I had chosen. I could see the lights in the kitchen and my target was bright and clear. He was a dedicated gourmet chef and loved the time he devoted to preparation of the ingredients for his dinner. He was a wonderful host, but he even took the time to prepare a personalized meal when he was at home alone; as he was this evening. I watched him shop at a specialty market earlier in the day and could identify the dish he was preparing. I liked getting this close to a mark, it was necessary to tie up all of the edges and ensure the event was perfectly timed and as many as possible of the unknowns were identified and accounted for.
The lamb had been cubed, rubbed with garlic and parsley and was braising in an expensive pan. He used a light coating of third press olive oil. It adds more flavor than the virgin or extra virgin that is so popular with naive cooks. The swirling steam rising from the pan was wonderful to watch and it added a slight gauzelike effect to his face. He was in his early sixties, tanned, carefully groomed, respected and successful, and he had about 200 seconds of life remaining. I had no idea what he had done to place him in some-ones 25%; that wasn’t my concern.
I find the touch and feel of a high quality object gives me immense pleasure. It doesn’t take a complex thing, I can experience real joy in a well made wrench, or fountain pen, or another simple tool, and especially a car, but a rifle with a smooth bolt action, an artistically carved and checkered dense wood stock, velvety blued metal and a carefully selected and sighted glass is exquisite just by itself, and when it has a purpose, it becomes one of the true art forms of the modern world. Bringing the weapon up to my shoulder, was a smooth and simple movement, all of the muscles in my arms worked together and performed a well rehearsed action. The sight immediately flared with the scene in the kitchen, and the few droplets of rain and mist on the lens did not interfere with my view. I aimed very slightly to the right to counter any distortion from the window that the bullet would penetrate and prepared myself mentally for a second shot. The muscle memory of ejecting one empty cartridge and sliding a new round into the chamber was finely tuned after years of practice, and I closed my eyes and let the muscles go through the maneuver again. I breathed in, slowly exhaled and eased the trigger back. I didn’t know when the weapon fired - except for the flash and a deadened report. I saw the figure jerk backward and slump to the floor. There was no need for the second round and I picked up the steaming brass from the forest floor and slipped it into my pocket. The acrid smell of gunpowder and the stinging of the hot metal in my hand gave me a sensation of success, completion, a job well done, and a slight smile of confidence eased onto my lips. The sound of the insects died immediately with the sound of the rifle, then, soon, so as not to miss a moment of this vital mating game came back louder than before. I turned and left the area at an angle from my entry route.
The notice from the newspaper would be posted on a highly secure one time use web site together with banking instructions. I have found that payment is not a problem in my line of work. The debtor knows what might await a slow payer. One guy thought he could avoid paying me because who could I go to for help. His motivation turned out to be the sound of a high speed bullet less than an inch from his right ear. It is a very convincing sound.
Chapter Two
There are a lot of ways to be successful at what I do, and it’s not as if we have an association or anything of the sort. So, the ones who last are careful, have access to a wide variety of different techniques, have a good education in chemistry and physics, and can’t stand publicity. We don’t drink or use drugs, we maintain a high degree of physical fitness, and work totally alone and are completely self sufficient. Doesn’t sound like the characters you have heard about? That’s probably why you have heard about them! The mob enforcer from New Jersey who liked to use close in and strong arm techniques; I read about him. Completely different line of work. Although our family life was similar I suppose.
It’s an import/export business (heavy on the export if you get my meaning) that provides the cover I need and has the added advantage of easy access to a wide variety of somewhat exotic supplies. Lots of travel, extensive communication systems, numerous banking arrangements. And a great story for my lovely wife and two kids. It is as easy for me to separate my work and home life as it is for a surgeon or a lawyer, let alone the many military activities that would terrify a family if they found out. But that’s all you will hear about my private life.
Isn’t it amazing how many people get caught trying to get someone to “do in” their spouse? I’ve watched some of the trials on TV, continuing education credits I suppose, and they ask some yokel in a bar to help them out! The yokel owes the local cops for letting him off on a small narcotics charge, and he sees this as a way to pay back his debt. There is a wired, videotaped meeting in a pickup truck in a parking lot and, as soon as the deal is struck the cops pull the person out of the truck pin him (or more often her) to the ground and start reading Miranda rights. They play it in court and the sleazy defense attorney is left with nothing more than a police brutality defense.
That’s not what I do. My fee, around 250000, plus expenses keeps me out of the bar room crowd, and gives me a very interesting clientele. My guess is that most of my clients are in big companies, governments, or wealthy families. But I don’t know – don’t care. The gourmet in the woods story is unusual for the way I work – I just liked the ambiance. Oh there are some like that; wanna send a message? Message sent! But much more usual is the case where a problem is made to disappear. It could be a competitor, an unworthy suitor, a thief of company secrets, or a double agent where you really don’t want a messy public trial. There are a lot of other reasons, less noble reasons, retribution, vindictiveness, revenge – doesn’t matter to me. I am the courage and skill that my clients lack. Just like you would hire any set of skills that you don’t possessor that would take too long to acquire. The courage is a different thing; I guess you can buy a one-time use dose of courage by hiring me.
No, it’s the “accidents” where I make my living. Whenever you read a headline in a newspaper that begins “Freak accident . . . .” think about me. Modern life brings us within a few inches or at most a few feet of “lethal forces” hundreds of time every day. Keeping us safe from those “lethal forces,” is a respected occupation – loosely called safety engineering, or product safety. I attend some of their conventions to get ideas about circumventing their safe guards. It helps. The cars we drive, the electronics we use, the medications we take, even our conventional appliances all have a host of hazards sitting comfortably in side their protective covers and warning labels. All opportunities for me to exploit!
Patterns and habits’ - everybody has them. They help us get through our complicated lives – but they also open up opportunities for someone like me. Let me watch how you live, what you do, and how you approach your life, and I’ll spot a dozen things that you do that leave you vulnerable to tinkering. I think of myself as a tinkerer, tinkering with the stuff of everyday life.
Chapter Three
So, you read the story about my trek through the forest. Payment was quick, I knew it would be, and the newspaper article had exactly the desired effect – fear! Oh well, someone has to do it. My wife read the article in the newspaper and said she thought it was a terrible thing. I agreed, a terrible thing.
The same day as the newspaper article I received an email with a job offer. This was the opposite of the forest job; total anonymity – The person would simply perish (great word that - perish. So free of emotions, I like that.) I was given the name, and address, that’s all I need, I don’t like a lot of detail and description. They usually get it wrong, and they have no idea what I want to know – and I trust myself, and only myself.
I knew the name, everyone did. I assumed it was for the money, old family money, the best kind. But I really didn’t care. I did my background work from my office and had a pretty good feeling for what I would do, but it was very preliminary – a working hypothesis. The lady was in her early sixties – why couldn’t they just wait? – not my issue, not my problem. Prominent and a socialite. Health seemed to be excellent. Maybe that’s why they didn’t want to wait.
Like a lot of women from her class she had a history that was mixed: some really good works, and a rumor of giving financial support to some pretty shady causes. Just rumors, but they came up several times – enough justification for me, as if I needed it. She was active and involved in a lot of charitable functions; always in the society pages, and really attractive. A small side note was that she seemed to be involved in the occult. Séances, channeling, spooky things like that. My thought was that involvement of that sort might hold some promise to help me do my job. You know, late night, dark, groups of strange people. Practically gave me a heart attack just thinking about it!
Business trip, Import problem with a distributor, should be back in a week. And off to Boston and the start of a great trip. Checked into a hotel, 5 stars, it’s deductible, not too far from where she lived. And I began my surveillance. Watching, driving around – I had three rental cars which is a little cumbersome and difficult to justify, but helps in keeping from being noticed. Lovely old home, with a house full of servants. Wonderful grounds with trees and shrubbery, flower beds and fountains. An easy house to sneak up on and not be seen. I’ll see if I need that or not. Right now I think I can pull it off without having to get inside.
There is a very active Parapsychology Society in Boston. Still a lot of hangovers from the 1930s when it was really big, and a lot of money to support it. I stopped in and signed the guest register, fake name of course, and told them I was a member of the Houston chapter. I was only slightly disguised, enough to keep from being remembered, but not enough to feel uncomfortable or awkward. Glasses and a mustache is usually enough, maybe a little skin darkening. Nothing like colored contact lenses. I could be remembered as anything from 5’6” to 6’2” just by the way I stood and held myself. Easy to be accepted there, after all, they will believe anything!
I wanted access to their extensive library, told the lady at the front that I was doing some research – not a lie, but not the kind of research she assumed! So, I spent about three hours going through their books and files. I was surprised at how much information they had about their members. Minutes of meetings, donations, special events, personal interests, personal details, photos and videos - more than I dreamed would be available.
I was able to develop an accurate picture of Ms “Classy,” and she was going to be an interesting target. Easy in some ways, she was out in public a lot, but difficult since she was quite well protected in and around her home by serious security systems. One weakness was all I needed and I was pretty sure I had found it. She seemed to be here, at the Parapsychology Society, almost once a week, and seemed to follow a similar pattern every time she was here.
I love patterns, habits, routines. People fall into them and don’t even realize it. That’s why good security firms get their clients to vary their routine as the first step in increasing their safety. Think about the many terrorist attacks and hijackings that have used the routine of an executive or prominent politician to get at them. Then, you study the pattern and look for vulnerabilities, places or times when they are naked; outside the cover that protects them most of the time.
She didn’t use a driver; a chauffeur. She seemed to really enjoy driving herself and the freedom that gave her. It was a mistake, a mistake that would cost her. If I wasn’t inured to emotions I might have grown to like her. Attractive, well groomed, bright, except where it came to mediums, ghosts and such, and energetic! Seemed to draw people to her and maintain strong friendships and long term relationships. And she had a lot of money that she felt good about spending.
Back at my hotel I continued my research. Her late husband was easy to find. You Tube speeches to staff, shareholders, associations and even appearance before congress. Even a company web site; she was still on the board. I put together a wonderful video to play to her using a small projector. I had him saying anything I wanted her to hear. “ Dearest, “ a little hard to find in the material I had, but I blurred the sound – he is speaking from the grave and added a little static, some spooky organ music – I’m kidding! “ It’s wonderful here, please don’t wait, join me tonight, open the window, see me out in the yard, dear? just lean forward . . .” I played it several times and thought it was great. In the right mood, with a little brandy, I was pretty sure it would have worked! Paranormal message from the dead. I really liked the idea, but it had too many potential flaws and I didn’t want her to be alerted to the threat I posed to her, I really wasn’t certain she was in a hurry to join him!. (Keep that in mind for another time!)
So, I decided on something that would take advantage of her weaknesses; lapses in her attention, and something that had a very low probability of failure.
Getting into someone’s car is easy. You may have heard the warnings about guys that wait in rest areas on the highway; wait for someone to get out of their car and go to the restroom, and use an electronic device to capture the door unlock code from the remote. Then they open the door and take out anything of value. They might have spoiled it for us professionals, but how many people pay attention to warnings from the Internet? She parked in a parking garage that was attached to the Parasychology Society in a special reserved spot. But her spot was too near the door, and the light was too good there. I put some stuff on the floor and a couple of highway cones in front of her space, and figured she would pick a spot on the second floor, in a dark area – and I put out some of the lights to make sure.
I knew she would be there; James Van Praagh was the speaker/ leader of the séance! How could she miss him? She drove into the garage, hesitated at her usual spot, and then went up to the second floor to park. There was a stair entry near the area I had darkened. She was a little late so I figured there was not much chance that she would mention the closed parking spot to the receptionist. Besides, I could easily put it off for a few days if I needed to.
I figured I had at least an hour and a half to do my work. I gave her five minutes in case she had to come back for something she had forgotten, but she didn’t return. Getting into the car was easy, and I was well prepared. Think about this you are driving around with 20 gallons of gasoline – that’s the equivalent of a 500 pound bomb! It’s energy dense, gasoline. Then you have a pump that pressurizes the highly flammable liquid before it can be injected into the cylinders. And very conveniently, you have a very hot item, the catalytic converter, it has to be hot to work! Hot item, high pressure gas, why do you think you see so many cars stopped along the road on fire!
Of course the engineers spend a lot of time and energy keeping the two things – the gas and the hot converter from coming together – however, it is easy for a knowledgeable person to subvert the safeguards and bring the two together, and not leave any traces of the manipulation. Got it “fixed”, fast and easy – thanks to practice on a similar car I had rented. However, the cars you see on fire beside the road have the drivers standing outside – that wouldn’t work for me. I had to get the car burning and keep her inside, no, it’s not a pretty sight, but there is a special beauty to the concept don’t you think?
How to keep her in the car? Simple! Ever had a seat belt that didn’t work? Here’s how I did it. I took a two phase epoxy cement. It had a liquid element and an element that was like clay - mix them together and you have a quick and very strong bond. A couple of drops in the buckle element, and a little of the clay in the end that is inserted. They mix a little –not the full mix that is necessary for the full strength, but I tested it and in ten minutes it set up strong enough. In fact it took a couple of hours to get the seat belt unlocked!
That was it, a fiercely burning fire, and a lady who couldn’t get her seat belt unlocked and would probably panic. Simple, easy and quick. Good thing I can separate my feelings from my job.
Chapter Four
The payment was delayed a little for the Ms Classy work, I suppose they had to wait for the will to go through probate. I was beginning to think I might have to send a message, a very special message, and then the payment arrived.
A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to use a rather ingenious plan I had developed. You have heard about the dangers of drug interactions, right? One prescription from the dermatologist, another from the cardiologist. A druggist who isn’t paying attention or a computer program that isn’t up to date, and “boom,” well not really boom, but the patient drops dead. Happens all the time, and there are a number of protocols to keep this from happening.
So for my work, it was a matter of defeating the safety checks, and the mix-up would probably be chalked up to an unavoidable error, and not investigated too thoroughly; no need to make waves. Of course, you had to have the right target, one who takes pills! But who doesn’t, now? and the life style pills are always on the top of the most prescribed list. Anti depressants, pain killers, cholesterol lowering drugs, and blood pressure lowering drugs. Three of these are easy targets, the antipsychotics can easily lead to abuse and to loss of consciousness a bit of a problem when operating heavy equipment – like a car! Blood pressure can be too low, like zero! And pain killers can kill. There is even a TV commercial about a guy who is riding a motorcycle and has had two medications prescribed that can have a fatal interaction, like the motorcycle is a safe way to get from place to place. I love to study the really crazy things that Americans, and other moderns believe, like airplanes vs cars – but don’t get me started., I use these stupid ideas often.
The person really doesn’t matter, at least to me, I could give you a newspaper reference, but I won’t. Any way, he was a man who took prescription medications, several. How did I find out? First of all I saw him wearing a medic-alert bracelet! Clear giveaway. No, I didn’t walk up to him shake hands and ask him what he was allergic to. Although sometimes it is just that easy. In this case I had to get access to his medical record. Now, medical records are pretty secure, but they are online and that opens up some interesting opportunities. Hell, I had blood work reports on line by the time I got home from the lab last week. But secure enough, really is mostly secure enough to satisfy the anxiety of the patients. I’m not going to go into the science here. But if you want to know more read the book The Art of Intrusion: The Real Stories Behind the Exploits of Hackers, Intruders & Deceivers (Paperback)
by Kevin D. Mitnick, and that’s the old stuff. Getting a medical record number and a password is childs-play. Drugs stores and doctors offices are primed to expect people to be honest and truthful and in some degree of pain or anguish, and they are caring people. Believe me, I’ll take a challenge like that any day, “I’m her brother, and you can call me back at this number to verify, no please verify who I am. She really needs this right now.” Ever watch a Percocet drug abuser work the system? It’s a joy to behold. Or, I’m from the drug store and I need to verify this prescription. He is standing at the counter right now.” Office staff, “Is it-----? No, how about ____? No? Must be _____?” Yeah that’s it, thanks, I appreciate it, He was starting to get hostile, Suzy, I owe you one.”
Back to my story. As I said, my Import/Export business gives me access to a lot of drugs that are not available in this country, and in dosage levels that are amazingly high – you know, cut the pill into quarters to save money, that sort of thing. So I have a large supply of really interesting pills in my safe, really interesting stuff – you would be surprised!
So, access to the medical record was simple, and I quickly went to my drug interaction manual. Sure, it’s supposed to prevent drug interactions, but – ever heard of reverse engineering?
Okay, but now how do you get the person to inject this lethal mix. You could break into their home, I’ve done that. It is a simple answer to the problem, but if you have a tight time line, and a specific date you are working with – remember your employer needs an iron clad alibi, you may need a more specific and direct method of getting the work done.
Of course it all depends on the habits, again the habits, of my consumer – consumer of my product. I’ve found that Starbucks provides a wonderful opportunity for the delivery. Think about it; they take orders, get your name, write it on the cup, and leave it on the counter to be picked up. Further, the taste of coffee, especially when you add milk or soya or caramel, or god knows what, will mask the bitter taste of most medications, and the heat of the coffee ensures that it will dissolve quickly and mix the unintended ingredients!
My guy was an addict, and he went to three different Starbucks at three different times during the day, every day! I decided mid-afternoon was the best time, he ordered a grande, whatever that is, and added a lot of stuff to it, sort of an afternoon energy boost/desert, and he almost chugged it. I couldn’t see how he was able to drink it so hot, but he did.
Perfect set up. I was there ahead of him, and had my coffee at a table. I saw him order and take his seat and open his laptop. As soon as the Barrista sat the cup on the bar, I was there, adding cream to my partially finished coffee – I hate Starbucks tastes burnt to me, so it was quite a sacrifice for me – but a job is a job I slipped the pill into his cup, and picked it up – looking to see if it had my name on it, and sat it down again. He was at my elbow and immediately took the big cup back to the table he had set up his laptop on.
Another good thing about Starbucks is that you can be totally anonymous! Sit there in front of an open laptop and nobody even sees you, you are a nonevent, a non person how good can it getI I stayed long enough to finish my coffee, choking it down, terrible tasting stuff – next time I’ll order tea,, to ensure that he was attacking the coffee in his usual manner, and left. The drug interaction information indicated that the person simply fell into a deep sleep, and then never woke up. The great thing about this scenario was that he would not be discovered at his desk for several hours and taken to the hospital. He would simply be seen as napping, until it was too late.
The coffee I had in the hotel café the next morning as I read the newspaper account was much better that the Starbucks. They were going to do an autopsy, because of his age and the somewhat unusual circumstances, but the toxicology reports take over a month and it would find an elevated level of a prescription he was already taking! There was no indication of malfeasance, misadventure, or mistake listed in the news report.
Home again, home again, kids birthday party this afternoon, and a dance recital this evening. Parenting is a full time job isn’t it?
Chapter Five
One of the things I had considered on the last job I told yu about was to get the information I needed by asking to see his smart phone. People are so happy to show off their new electronics that they forget that they have a lot of very personal information right there. I took my health record number off my cell phone right after that job, you can’t be too careful with some of the kooks that are out there.
This morning there was a report of a fire started by a faulty heater, did you read it? Did you think about me? Was it in a wealthy neighborhood? No, then I didn’t do it. I do have a gas and electric company uniform that I sometimes use to check on reports of leaks in gas lines. That always works, who isn’t worried about gas fires and explosions. I even do some part time work for the gas company as a subcontractor to keep up the image and knowledge base. This is a serious profession you know, but I wouldn’t ever do a gas job here - out of town sure.


Earlier nests, dens, edges, light, medialerts, envelopes, laptop batteries that overheat, skype camera, druggist, online medical records, drug interactions, computer programs, control of cars breaking systems etc..