The young woman in the black thong bikini did not know that she was under close observation, that as she walked across the deck to the chaise lounge her beautiful face was centered in the crosshairs of a powerful telescopic sight. She set down a white canvas bag and released the clasp that held the shiny black cups of her bikini top. Her firm breasts sprang free, and then she slipped the flossy thong over her hips. The young woman showed no embarrassment at her nudity, and her body was so extraordinary that her lack of modesty was perfectly understandable.
She drizzled lotion over her arms and legs, and when she finished with them her slippery hands glided over her sculpted abdomen. She took her time oiling her breasts, her fingers circling the pale nipples over and over and over. She set the bottle down, spread her long legs, and lazily played with herself, running her fingers in and out of the soft folds of her clean-shaven pussy. When she had enough she put on sunglasses and lay back, totally at peace, ready to enjoy another morning of sun worship.
The hit man patiently moved the crosshairs over her glistening body, from her eyes to her lips, then down to her nipples, and then slowly, slowly, he adjusted his aim until the rifle was centered on her crotch. The hit man wore a small headset, and he pressed the speed dial key on the stolen cell phone he wore on his hip. Five seconds later a nervous voice spoke in his ear. "Yes?"
"She's outside," the hit man murmured. "Do I proceed?"
"Wait...wait." The crosshairs refocused on the target's forehead as the man on the other line struggled with his decision. "Are you sure you won't miss?"
"I won't miss."
"She won't suffer?"
"Not unless you want her to."
There was a long pause. "I...I can't decide." And then the man on the other line screamed so violently the hit man flinched a quarter-inch. "Why can't I do this!" He started crying. "Back off, just...back off. I need to think about this."
"This is the third time," the hit man said. "That's an additional five thousand you'll owe me. And you said that she visits her masseuse on Thursdays. I won't get another chance until Friday. That's another five thousand."
"I don't care about the fucking money," the man said, music to the hit man's ears. "Back off, we'll talk tomorrow."
The hit man ended the call. He did not immediately retreat from his hiding place. The woman might sense movement on the hill that loomed over her palatial estate, six acres of exquisitely manicured grounds that included a ten-thousand square-foot house, an eight-car garage, two tennis courts, and the pool where she spent much of her time.
For the last two days the hit man watched the young woman work on her suntan and waited for the order to kill her with a rifle bullet through the head. The first day the target wore a bright yellow bikini, the second day she wore a neon green suit, and both days she stripped nude before she tanned.
She was one of the most beautiful women the hit man had ever seen. Her hair was golden blonde, parted in the middle, and she wore it long and razor-straight, her silky tresses reaching the cleft of her buttocks. Her breasts were deliciously full and ripe, her legs and arms firm and well-muscled. Through his scope the hit man admired the delicate bones of her face, bones that would shatter and splinter when the copper-jacketed bullet smashed into it, if her husband found his courage and gave him the order to eliminate her.
The hit man mentally reviewed the brief dossier his client gave about the target. Her name was Jenna, she was 25 years old, and when she met her wealthy husband five years earlier she was selling speedboats at a trade show. Jenna was the bathing beauty lounging on the deck of a sleek, sexy boat that cost half a million dollars. "I went up to her and asked her if she came with the boat, that old line," his client told him when they met for the first time, the two of them tucked away in a booth of a noisy restaurant. "I told her I was serious, if she'd join me for the maiden voyage I'd buy it right then." His client made a noise that passed for a laugh.
"That's a nice story," the hit man said patiently.
"We got married six months later. Probably she was fucking other guys already, but I don't know for sure. What I do know is that she's been fucking around while I'm away on business, and..."
The hit man held up a hand. "I don't care why you want to kill her. Maybe she's cheating on you, maybe she's not. Makes no difference to me. If you pay my fee, I'll do the job."
The client nodded. "Of course, of course, I just wanted you to know that I'm not doing this for no reason."
"Reason has nothing to do with it. If you want her dead, I'll kill her."
The client swallowed. "How much?"
"Two-hundred and fifty-thousand dollars. Half up front, half on completion."
"Deal," the client said, so quickly that the hit man wished he'd doubled the price. "How will you do it?"
The hit man mused a bit. "I understand you've had trouble with your business partners in the former Soviet Union."
The client turned white. "Where did you hear that?"
The hit man shrugged. "I move in certain circles, I hear things. Is it true?"
"Well, nothing serious, but..."
"But you haven't been back to Kazakhstan in eight months, and you won't be going back until the police arrest a certain Mafioso who put a bounty on you."
The client swallowed. "Yes."
"That makes it simple. I'll shoot her with a sniper rifle, make it look like a contract hit. All you need to do is convince the cops that the contract was put out by Mr. Ismailov, not yourself."
The client winced at the sound of that man's name. "I think that'll work. But the house is guarded by a sophisticated security system. If anyone triggers the alarm armed guards from the security service come running. They can be there in less than ten minutes."
"There are no guards on the grounds?"