hit man

“Goddamn it, Melinda! Where is it!” I had turned the bedroom inside-out looking for the journal. It was a small little thing, only 80 pages thick. Only about twenty of which had been written on. But this journal meant the world to me, and she knew it. Everyone knew it. I kept the thing in my pocket at all times. I had some of the most important conversations and ideas written in that little book.
“Don’t ask me! Why would I touch your bloody book? I haven’t seen it since you took it out at dinner with my parents last week.” She was scouring the breakfast dishes in the kitchen, and I knew she wouldn’t have taken it. I swallowed thickly and continued turning over couch cushions and opening cupboards in my vain search.
“Can’t you just buy another?” she asked softly, turning off the stream of water. She dried her hands on her blouse and came to where I was standing, frustrated, in the center of our living room.
“I can’t buy another one, Mel. There are things written in those pages that can’t be duplicated. Fuck, I can’t even remember some of the stuff I’ve written in there. There could be some incriminating things. It’s not just that it’s missing, it’s that somewhere someone could have found it. You understand?”
She cast her eyes down. “Yeah, your friends in high places. I got it.”
I ignored her discomfort and asked the next question that crossed my troubled mind. “Can you file a police report for a book?”
“The Bible, maybe?” she offered with no judgment in her crystal eyes.
“Might as well be a bloody bible,” I muttered. I grabbed my coat from the hanger by the door. “I’m going down to the office. Can’t hurt to check it again. See you for supper.” I closed the door behind me, not bothering to lock it.
My search was no more fruitful at work. The desk drawers were nearly empty. I found an old photo of Melinda and myself, as well as some of the early letters she’d written me. I wondered briefly why these personal items were at work, rather than home in my nightstand or somewhere equally safe. I was searching the break room hungrily when I heard the door open and close.
“You looking for something?” His voice was unmistakable. He had an irritatingly big voice, with a big accent. It matched him perfectly.
“Yes, actually. I seem to have misplaced something very important.”
His pig eyes danced. “I hope it wasn’t that pretty little lady you’ve got wrapped around your finger. It’d be a shame to lose something that special.”
It would take an absolute moron to think someone would look for a girlfriend in a break room, and this only confirmed the fact that Anderson was just that. The moron had no common sense, and even less tact. He was easily the worst person to have in ones office life.
“No, I know exactly where Melinda is. I appreciate your concern,” I said tightly before reaching for the doorknob.
“Not so fast, partner. Maybe I can help you find what you’re after.” Again those piggy eyes shone, and I had a sinking feeling inside. Anderson wasn’t in the business of helping people unless he would be taken care of in return. Anderson was the last person in the world I’d take care of.
“I don’t need your help, thanks. I’m just going to check my office again before heading out.” I swung the door open, and swung it closed behind me, leaving Anderson standing on his own in the small break room. The glow of the vending machines lighting his pudgy face.
No sooner had I returned to my office when the phone on my desk began ringing. I pressed the speaker button. “Yes?”
“Camden,” began my boss. “Could I see you a minute in my office?”
“Be there in two,” I replied, clicking the phone off. I pulled open the top drawer once more. The journal still hadn’t appeared. “Damn it,” I muttered before straightening my tie and heading to the elevator that would take me up to meet with my boss.
I nodded at his secretary as I passed. Her eyes looked worried. My emotions matched her expression as I pushed through the door and saw Anderson sitting in front of my boss’ desk. He had his hands clasped tightly in his lap, and his eyes were dancing. He smiled tightly at me, and motioned to my boss, who was reclining behind the large ornate desk.
“You needed me?” I stated.
“Have a seat, Camden.” He waited for me to situate myself uncomfortably beside Anderson. I cleared my throat expectantly. He waited a little longer.
“Anderson here has brought something very crucial to my attention,” he began heavily. “It seems that someone in this office has been keeping some information from the rest of the company. Information that may be pivotal to the success or decline of this company as a whole. Concepts, if you will.”
My boss reached into the top drawer of his desk and produced my journal. The leather cover reflected the expensive light of his desk lamp. My stomach clenched and I felt the sense of self-satisfaction practically permeating from Anderson, to my left. “Yes sir,” I stated. “That journal belongs to me, and I’d like it back if it’s all the same to you.”
“Not so fast, Camden. I’ve read through this little book of yours. Very interesting stuff in here. You ever think of taking a career in writing?”
I shot him a tight smile. “I have a fine career in personal finance, thank you.”
“Have,” my boss whispered with something resembling amusement. He was amused at my present tense use of the word to define my job. The man who had ultimate say over whether that word became ‘had’. I felt like vomiting. “Yes, Camden, you have a very nice job. Good office. Good income, good woman. There is a lot of good in your life. Yet I read a lot of bad in this little book of yours.”
“Those are just thoughts, sir. Just things that cross my mind as I move through my life. None of them have any standing in my professional life.”
His eyebrows raised, caushing his broad forehead to crease. “No standing in your professional life? Well, forgive me for being so forward, but there are a few musings in here regarding your coworker, Mr. Anderson.” He gestured to the prick in the leather armchair beside me. “Things that I think require some consideration. Let me read one little passage to you, Camden.”
I watched his square fingers flip through the pages of my most private thoughts. The skin on my arms reacted, I felt like scratching someone. My boss found the page, and licked his lips before reading aloud the things I had written.
“’It never ceases to amaze me that Anderson goes home to bed a woman like Tatiana. How she can stomach the sight of him causes my mind to swirl. I have a fantasy, if you will, of taking out a hit on Anderson’s little dick head and welcoming Tatiana into my own harem of darling women. Talk about a savvy investment. I bet he has an insurance policy through the roof. I’m sure Tatiana would share.’ Very creative of you, Camden. This could be seen as a threat, you realize.” He placed the journal facedown on his desk and looked at me expectantly.
“Just musings, sir. Nothing that would come to fruition.” I coughed into my fist and felt my world beginning to crumble at the edges.
I watched my boss’ eyes slide between me and Anderson. After an excruciating minute or two, he steepled his fingers and nodded slowly. “Alright. I feel that after this little scare, Camden, it’s safe to say I won’t see or hear any more of this nonsense from you. I don’t want to see this journal or any more documented ‘musings’ in my office. We clear?”
“Crystal,” I responded soberly. “May I have the book back, please.”
My boss flicked it across the desk with one push of his index finger. “Get out of my office, boys.”
I pocketed the book and didn’t even offer Anderson a look before turning to the door and showing myself out. I nodded curtly at the secretary and found my way to the parking lot. As soon as I was seated behind the wheel of my Audi, I flicked open my cell phone and placed an urgent call.
“Vick,” I breathed. “Call off the hit on Anderson. Just shut it all down.”