"What's taking you so long? Isn't she in range yet?" Ava asked urgently with a mask over her nose as she scanned their surroundings. "Someone could come here at any moment–"
She was at the topmost floor of a building still in construction, together with a few of her teammates who she had come here with for one purpose.
Assassination of Benson Alrosa's only daughter!
It was a mission given to them by a 'client' that they had to accomplish as soon as possible before they were caught.
A few locks of light blonde hair framed Ava's face as her blue eyes anxiously looked out of the open wall.
She chewed on her bottom lip. She didn't even want to be here in the first place, now things were starting to get more complicated than they were supposed to be!
The man she had spoken to was with one knee to the hard ground, with a rifle that was supported by a block of concrete in his hands.
"I'm trying my best!." The man, who was called Walter, shot back. He also wore a mask over his nose and his grey eyes looked through the rifle's eyepiece. "Don't you know how difficult it is to aim at a moving target?"
"Everyone here knows that, Walter." A female voice suddenly sounded from behind both of them. "You're just bad at everything."
Ava sharply turned her head backwards, her eyes practically sparkling. "Kiera, you're back!" She exclaimed. "Were there any problems?"
She couldn't help but be relieved in her heart. Now that Kiera was here, they would be done with this in no time since she would take over the brunt of the work.
Kiera, who was also masked, shook her head, her short hair waving slightly. "None that I could find. Everything is moving smoothly so far…" Her dark eyes moved towards Walter. "The only thing left is the target."
"I'm. trying. my. best." Walter repeated through clenched teeth.
"Your best isn't going to cut it." Kiera interrupted. "We have to get her before she disappears from sight. You always insist on doing the jobs you're bad at... let me just do it."
Walter looked up at her doubtfully. "But you've never even used a rifle before!"
Kiera folded her arms. "But I know how to use a gun."
"They're not the same!"
"They look the same to me."
Ava could only look back and forth as they argued. She didn't dare say anything, or else they might just make her take over the task.
She had enough of taking this kind of missions already and sometimes she just wanted to run away from them...
"Oh, for f*ck sake, let's stop this stupid argument!" Kiera said in an irritated tone. "Walter, give Ava the gun instead."
Ava flinched at the sudden suggestion. "What...?"
Walter looked up in shock. "Isn't she even worse than me?! Why would you suggest her?"
Kiera shot Ava a fleeting glance. "She'll be fine. At least she can aim."
Cold sweat ran down Ava's back. What exactly was Kiera trying to accomplish by having her do the actual dirty work?!
Walter was right! She was a lot worse than him when it came to things like this!
Her throat felt dry. "Kiera..."
"Hah." Walter scoffed and roughly shoved the gun at Ava before walking away. "Let's see how you do, huh?"
"Hey!" Ava winced as she got hold of it and shot a glare at Walter. "You don't have to be so rude…"
She took a look at the gun and sighed silently, resigning herself.
Looked like she had to do the dirty work again today too... her dreams were going to be worse tonight...
She gingerly took Walter's place and aimed at the target who was at a far distance, over 500 meters away from them. Although the party their target was currently attending was a masquerade event, they were able to tell her apart by her dress and hair.
Her name was Evie Alrosa, the daughter of Benson Alrosa, a popular CEO in Veritas city and for some reason, someone wanted her dead.
"How is it?" Kiera asked after a while.
Ava took a deep, shaky breath. "She's moving and talking with a bunch of people but... I'm following her just fine."
Kiera grunted. "You think you'll be able to get a headshot?"
Ava glimpsed at Kiera from the corner of her eye. She had a lot she wanted to ask her, but she had a feeling Kiera would just dodge the questions.
So Ava smiled nervously instead. "No way... This thing is harder than it looks." She winced. "And heavier too."
Kiera sighed and her eyes moved pointedly to where Walter was standing with his arms crossed. "At least you can aim." She said, making him scoff again.
Ava could only let slip a slight tight lipped smile. Using the eyepiece of the rifle, her aim followed Evie, thier target, as she stopped briefly to greet someone.
'She's pretty… even through the mask…' Ava thought , as her hand hovered shakily over the trigger. 'It's a shame…'
Just as she was about to gather resolve, a fancy race car drove into the venue at full speed, making people jump out of the way and taking everyone's attention.
Evie moved.
Ava froze. "Who is that?"
"What's wrong?" Kiera asked urgently.
Ava glanced at her, the shaking of her fingers lessening a little. "A super fancy car just showed up and it messed up my targeting..."
Kiera placed a hand on her chest and laughed in relief. "If that's what happened, then Evie won't be leaving anytime soon… still, we need to hurry up."
"Right..." Ava answered as she swallowed the urge to groan. She couldn't refuse Kiera outright... Walter was within earshot.
She watched as the owner of the car made his way out. At the sight of him, she paused.
"Who…" She whispered. "Who is that?"
Kiera looked confused. "Who is who?"
"The man who just stepped out from the car." Ava added.
Kiera's lips twitched. "I can't see him, Cookie." She shook her head. "But if you describe him, I might be able to tell."
Ava nodded. "He's really tall and a bit pale, he's got really dark hair… his eyes are… Well, I can't tell their color from this far away..."
"Very dark hair… pale… there was no information about him being here…" Kyla mused. "Did he come out of a Mclaren?"
Ava furrowed her eyebrows. "Mc... what? What's that?"
Kiera rolled her eyes. "It's a really fancy race car– ah, nevermind. That must be Eitan Berger then."
Ava watched him in a daze. "Berger? I think I've heard that name before…"
Just then, a walkie talkie hanging on Kyla's waist crackled to life.
"Kiera, tell Walter to shoot now!" They could immediately tell it was their leader's voice and he sounded urgent. "Berger isn't here alone!"
"Vince? What…" Kiera looked lost for a few seconds before she asked, "What's the situation?"
"It's like Berger somehow got wind of the assassination plan and brought the police force here." Vince explained. "His entrance is a distraction, the rest are on lookout!"
Kiera was shocked. "But how did he…?"
"F*ck! I don't know either!" Vince yelled. "Now tell Walter to pull the trigger!"
Kiera's eyes move towards Ava. "You heard him!"
Ava flinched, not even having the time to nod, she clumsily locked onto her target, her trembling index finger hovering over the trigger once again when she noticed some men in uniform heading towards them from the lense.
"I think… I think the police already know exactly where we are." Ava voiced shakily, her heart beating wildly in her chest.
Kiera's brows furrowed and she clenched her fist. "It doesn't matter, shoot!"
Ava's palms had already started to grow cold and sweat. 'I–I can't... I don't want to!'
"What…" She said in a voice that was barely audible. "If… if I shoot now, she wouldn't–"
"Tsk!" Kiera clicked her tongue in irritation. "Just shoot the damn girl or we're all going to jail!" She screeched, sharply reaching for the rifle in Ava's hands and forcefully pulling the trigger.
Bang!