Page 4 of Run, Little Rabbit

I laugh. “There’s nothing you could give me that I could possibly want. Killing you is all the payment I need.”

“I can pay you.”

Ah, the pleas of the desperate. What sweet sounds they mutter.

“Don’t need money, Bennie.” I pat his cheek. “Can’t buy your way out of this one.”

I like seeing them flounder and beg as the inevitable moment falls upon them. It brings such a rush, that feeling of power. Knowing that their last breath will belong to me.

“I can give you anything… tell you anything about anyone…”

I zone out while he spews out a tirade of shit that I have no intention of taking him up on. I give him thirty seconds, but then I’m bored.

I slam my fist into his hyoid, delighting in the dull crack that follows. He gasps and splutters, clutching at his throat. In quick succession, I thrust my knife between his ribs on both sides of his chest, puncturing his lungs.

It’s a painful way to go, but nothing less than the monster deserves.

I step back, keeping away from the blood. I’m not afraid of it. Quite the opposite, in fact. I know if it touches my skin, I’ll want to fuckingbathein it. Just watching it as it seeps into the carpet beneath him has my entire body humming. Electricity fires through my synapses and tingles in my core. It’s not a normal reaction. I know this. But I can’t stop the sheer delight that erupts in my veins as I see that dark red substance drip onto the floor.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

I squat to watch Bennie. He’s given up now. Realisation and defeat sink into his bones. His breaths are fast and shallow.

His beady little eyes start to glaze over, and I scoot forward, ready to claim that last breath. It’s mine. I fuckingown it.

“You’re nearly there, Bennie,” I say as I watch him struggle. “Only another minute at most.”

He tries to say something, but it comes out as a wet, bloody gargle.

Bubbles form in the blood by his mouth as he tries to catch a breath, and I resist the urge to swipe my finger through them.

Another few seconds pass, and Bennie’s last breath passes his lips. It’s a euphoric moment, and I take that breath deep intomy lungs like an addict. It’s my drug of choice, the poison in my veins.

And Ilivefor it.

That final moment. That last breath. That moment when life vacates a soul.

It sets my body onfire.

My skin tingles, and I fuckingbaskin it.

“Bye, Bennie. Been nice knowing you.” I give his cheek a careless pat and then leave my calling card pinned to his jacket. A number ‘6’ made up of bullet holes and flowers. I like the name. The papers christened me with it, and I kind of ran with it. I take a pen off the desk and add a time stamp of—I check my watch—3:42. That’s how long Bennie took to die.

Then I dip my finger into his blood and write the word ‘RAT’ across his forehead.

I wipe my finger on the guy’s jacket and feel his phone in an inside pocket. Ooh, that could be handy. I reach in and grab it, and ah, shit. Passcode protected. No thumbprint or face recognition, but I slide it into my little handbag to deal with later. Knowing Bennie, it’ll probably have some high-level security encoding on it, but I bet Veon can get around it. Or if he can’t, I know someone who definitely could.

I take a last look at my handiwork, and I really hope one of the Volkov boys finds him. Man, I wish I could watch the discovery, to see their faces as they realise their man on the inside is dead, but alas, if I want to keep my identity a secret, I need to stay undiscovered.

Then I leave the room, my head held high and a tune whistling between my lips.

Chapter Two

Echo