Assassin by D.A.Sanford - HTML preview

A wedding and a theft

After all that we have gone through, it gave us great satisfaction and pride to be able to reunite the two lovers even if it was at the door to the final life. We have now made the two offices ours and we are in the process of setting down the newer rules for both roles.

The thing that amazed both of us is that the woman had no assistants. No one but her ran the whole two skills worldwide. The first thing we are doing is evaluating and interviewing regional managers. They will be authorized to make some of the lesser assignment decisions.

Those managers will be required to submit reports every day. They can hire clerks to help with the paperwork. That way we do not become the world’s dumping ground. The top assignments will remain with us.

Oh and by the way, we managed to make the arrangements for our wedding. With a good size front yard and an even bigger back yard. We set up both. The front yard is for that actual wedding and the back yard will be the reception.

Our neighbors insisted that they were going to bring and set up the food beforehand. That way they could attend the ceremony. The cake was to be delivered at a time that would have everyone seated and almost finished with the meal.

As they came, they dropped off their wedding gifts on a table in the back just behind the main table.

I had Rod as my best man and his wife was Susan’s maid of honor. The ceremony started and boy my jaw dropped and I forgot my name when I saw my bride come down the aisle. She had asked the old man, whose house we fixed, to walk her down the aisle and give her away as her father.

You could tell that he knew that was a special honor and he showed it. You also could see that in his wife’s eyes. She had been asked to sit up front as her mother. Susan never mentioned the status of her parents and in our business, I will not ask.

The wedding ceremony was good, all the women were in the natural tears state. We came down the aisle joined as a married couple and the old couple joined the reception line in front of the house. It was in a position as to let the people just make their way to the back yard.

It only took the first few and there was screaming coming from there and a man comes out and tells us that all the wedding gifts have been stolen. That ended the line and we went to the back to see.

There was an almost empty table. Only the last of the presents were where they dropped. A few men had dashed after the retreating figure but the waiting van sped away almost before the figure got in.

Now our wedding was announced in the media but we never put our profession or office. That position is only known to the people of the two skills. The thief only knew that there was a wedding of two people who were well off. We were known for our compassion in helping people to regain their footing.

They now had our full attention and our resources. The guard arrived, got all the information and then I invited them to sit with us for the meal. They wanted to get right on the case but I took their leader aside. After a few words with him. They joined all of us and ate a really good meal.

The cake came right on time. Then the best man stood for his speech. Instead of bringing up the obvious, I had asked him to give the speech and toast he had prepared. All my neighbors know of my public profession. Rod is the only one that knows of my other one.

What they do not know is the fact the Susan and I can communicate with our people mentally and all the information is now out there worldwide. Our people are on the case as we speak. It will be only a matter of time until the thieves realize just what they did not realize is their worst day.

The call said that I had the monitors in my basement. I told them to discretely go in and review the recordings.

Rod finished his speech then I took the floor.

I look at Susan and raise my glass to her. “You have made me the happiest person in this world unlike the sorry ass that did not realize just who we are. Let’s not let them ruin this day. You know our profession. I do not think they will be even able to open the gifts.”

The leader of the guard comes up to me and tells me what I already know. All the people here could guess but I told them anyways.

“I need to inform you that once processed, Susan and I invite you all back for the present opening. That will be next Saturday. They just need the time to log the gifts into evidence. I have been told that they already have been captured and all the gifts have been recovered.”

Now the crowd erupts into cheers and applause, so I yell “Let’s have cake.”

Susan and I cut the cake. It tasted great. It was the same baker that made the announcement cake. The women of the bakery just told me to go. They would make sure that it was the best. It was.

The guests finished the reception line as they left. It was a good day, all in all, for us.

We had the guard stay behind. I thanked each guard and told them that the guild will now take care of the matter. We made sure that a special note was put is each of their records. A point of honor for each.

In our full garb, we both went to where they were being held. In the adjudicators guild cells. We walk in and they are brought before us. It is Susan that first speaks to the assembled. They know of our status but those two do not.

“We, being personally involved, will not be the ones to hear this case. Guild master you will preside over this case. Your decision will be final. We will just testify as to what we saw and nothing else. You have our surveillance recordings as evidence.”

We go over to the two stately chairs that are in each of the halls in each guild that are meant for us and no one sits in them but us. We see the looks on the thieves faces as we sit in those chairs. Their guild has the same for their world’s leader.

The female now starts to yell that she Is innocent in this. She was forced to steal those gifts. She is weeping and pointing to her accomplice.

I feel something. An old memory. I get up and have her stand before me. “You are that young girl at the academy on opening day that picked the lock. You dropped out because you did not want to go the way they wanted you to. Too bad.”

I go and sit down. Now she is trying to figure out a line and starts to try to play on my sympathy but the guild master has her gagged.

“That gag will be taken off if we need you to answer something. Until then, be quiet. You did not know who you were robbing. It was their wedding. What was supposed to be their happiest day but you two messed it up.”

I have to say something to the body. “They did not realize just who we are but I feel that the temptation still would have been too great.” I stand before them but look at the woman.

“What you did not know is that we told everyone of our neighbors that they were to donate the money that they were going to spent to a charity of their choice. Then wrap their note in as lavish a gift wrapped box as they wanted and put a proportionate stone weight in it. All you stole was elaborately wrapped boxes with a note in each. Was it worth it dropping out?”

I sit back down and even though this was a solemn proceeding, you could hear the assembled laughing.

The guild master now stands before the two. “You are both guilty. Our research found that both of you are guilty of more of these types of crimes. You are prime suspects in a few murders. You are to be turned over to our sister guild. Since you both will not leave their custody, I will let you know something that is hidden from the public. Adjudicators have a second guild. We are all assassins as our private skill. We sometimes need to take care of matters ourselves rather than in public. These two that you robbed are the world’s grand guild masters of both the Adjudicators and the Assassins guilds. You stole from the assassins. Now that we have found you guilty, we turn you over to our sister guild.”

Now four figures appear. They bow to the two of us and just that quick six disappear.

We send a message worldwide thanking all of them for their help in the matter. Now Susan tells our guild master. “You are to make this record and make copies to be sent to the other world’s heads of the guilds. On each package it needs to be written that this is under our orders. The letter inside, besides the transcripts is to say that they need to be aware that we will be watching.”

They all stand and bow as we leave.

During the week, all of the world’s heads meet individually in our office. The first was the thieves guild. That one couldn’t apologize enough. He is told that he would not have known about those two but instructions need to be flowed down to their members that they will meet with the same judgement if they cross our assassin’s guilds territory.

“Simply put, your people need to get their heads out of their ass or they are going to get fucked up.” I dismiss that one.

You see these two guilds are actually one which makes them the most powerful. We don’t need to throw our weight around but when we do others listen.

Those two are now remembered forever but not in the way they wanted.

As we opened those gifts at a barbeque we held the next week, there were many more letters that were opened in private. All those were from guilds around the world. It is told that charities around the world had a tremendous surge of donations. We had additional thousands of thank you notes to write. We personally signed each and every one.

Susan wants to go solo for one quest.

We are both in the office. I am deliberately trying to find a way, sorry my dear wife, to foist off the ceremony of electing a new Assassins Guild Master. They are all sneaky and find ways of messing up the prerequisites.

I start to open my mouth and she casually, without looking up from the file she is reading, “I’m sorry but you will have to go alone to that ceremony. This case is one that I would like to go solo on it. It’s a stalker rapist. He does not discriminate. Rapes from children to old women and all in-between.”

Then she vanishes leaving me to just sputter. She beat me to it. That job could be handled by the assassins guild. Shit. They are all confined to the guild hall until they elect a new guild master.

“She knew it!”

Susan actually went to the warehouse and was analyzing the data. Softly she says “Sorry my dear but I never could stand those meetings. Most of the men are fools in those elections.”

She is looking at a map that has the location of all the rapes. There is a pattern. They are in various locations but they are almost a circle with a slight shift. “What part am I missing?” she asks herself.

Back to the reports. Rereading them for about the fifth time. She is frustrated and drops the reports down on the map. They are in a skewed pile as they hit the map. She looks and has to sit.

There is only the top of most showing. There in the left top corner on more than a few of them is something that is always over looked. Simply the date of the report. Looking at them then looking at the location on the map. She sorts them in order and the pattern emerges.

Rape, skip next location, rape and skip from first to latest, the pattern emerges. She now knows the general location of the next and it should be sometime tomorrow night. She determines to scout out the next couple of days.

I hate this garb but it is the symbol of our rank. Susan and I are at the top. Damn assassins are excellent in the field but mostly clowns in meetings. This is electing their guild master. There needs to be a better way but all guild masters are elected by the guild. If they act up, I may just change that.

First things first. The opening ceremony. I’m stuck until I swear in the new one. I read the previous election. There are one hundred members. Each were given a red ball and a white ball. The white is for and the red is against. Those are the ones in the ballot box. The other non-vote ball is to be dropped in the discard box. That election had seventy six non-voted balls in the discard box and one hundred twenty voted balls.

Despite the obvious the count was spilt fifty fifty. This time I will watch each as they vote.

Now the part I dread, the call to order It is utter chaos when I am announced by the retiring Guild master. They do start to come to order but still are chatting with each other.

Already I have had enough. They did stop when I bellowed “Shut the fuck up and stand or I will remove your skills and assign you to the sewer plants.” I’m pissed already because over half are adjudicators as their public face. In their court and guild, they would not tolerate their behavior.

This does not bode well.

In that general area, Susan is dressed in casual clothes. Dressed up, she really is drop dead gorgeous but in casual clothes and trying to blend in, she still is drop dead gorgeous.

Walking in the type of parks the rapist is known for, she sees that there is a lot of areas that are capable of being dragged off to. Susan makes a mental note that there needs to be more lights in the parks and a general clearing of brush away from the pathways.

She is sorry for the young lovers but for the safety of others this has to be done.

Susan visits the few remaining parks and based on the area descriptions in the reports, she has narrowed down the locations down to three spots. She does make it a point to sit on some benches and observe for lone men just looking at the edge of the brush.

There are some old men that are walking but she does note that one is taking pictures. Most of the time of plants, ducks, people walking but she also notices that he is taking pictures of the woods in the areas she has picked out.

He is walking one way so she decides to jog in the opposite direction. There were a few other locations in that park that were prime. She wanted to get a look at his face.

She is coming up to where he should be but she does not see him. Then she hears a muffled scream coming from the brush.

I go over the reason for the election. “The guild master has been in charge for quite a few years and would like to retire. We now must choose a new leader for this guild. With tradition, I will start with the asking of the most senior member and if that one does not want the position, I will continue down the seniority list until I find one that will take the position. Once we have a candidate, we then will have the vote. This time, I will be sitting in the booth and hand each the balls. The it must be a simple majority to win.”

Calling the people, I go through a few people until I find one that is willing to serve. I know that this is `not going to go as smooth as it appears.

I sit behind the table. I have one hundred white balls and one hundred red ones. I have put one of each in small envelopes. As the first one comes in, I require that one to roll up their sleeves and then I give that one a single envelope.

“You are to show me the two balls in your hands then cup your hands together, look into those cupped hands and put your vote in your left hand and your discard in your right. Put your left fist over the hole on the ballot box and cast your vote. With the right fist drop the discard ball into the hole. I will be listening for a single noise in each.”

It is a long process reciting that one hundred times but it is done. I bring out both boxes. I have two counters. First the weight. Each box is placed on a scale that can tell the weight of the balls minus the weight of the box.

Each box had exactly one hundred balls. So far so good. I do find that it was the only thing good.

Hearing the muffled scream, Susan charges into the brush. There on the ground is that man holding down a girl that is barely into her teens. This enrages her and just that quick, she has knocked him off the girl and subdues the rapist. She knocked his ass out.

The girl is just shaken. Susan called a guard and has him escort the girl home and explain what she went through. She was not violated but she should get some consoling to help her cope. Tell the parents that an adjudicator was the one to catch the rapist in time.

Susan told the guard that she would take possession of the now hog tied rapist. She had a smile that made the guard shiver and just said yes mam. She knew exactly what she was going to do.

“Come on people! This is the third ballot with the split is exactly fifty fifty. Now I know that you are doing this on purpose. I now claim the right, as your grand master to cast my vote.”

I break the tradition and just made up a new rule. “I now cast my vote for the new guild master. They are shocked. I do believe that they planned to have a few more ballots at my expense.

I do need to show them who’s in charge. I announce a new higher standard of reporting. “As of this moment, each assignment must be reported, in writing, to the new guild master for evaluation. Each report will be given a score and that score will determine your ranking. Low score, low jobs, low pay. This will go on until you can show that you take these proceeding seriously.”

They now know that they pushed my button a little too hard. They all are shocked but the portion that are adjudicators know that I will be talking to them individually about decorum.

I have had it. Two days wasted for their pleasure. The other guilds in our control are going to get the same edict. I’m tired and I miss Susan.

The Adventurers guild is the guild that is handling, barely, the army’s deactivated Amazon regiments. Those women are worse than the men when they are drinking. Many a man walks into their group looking for a tall conquest, that does get a portion of that wish but finds out that he was the conquest.

That one would never be the same afterwards. Most are not even qualified to catch butterflies. The guild built them their own guild hall. I say here and not, stupid is stupid. There are still men who do not believe the tales.

Some of them do have true love. Those men will court one of the Amazons with true feelings. The Amazons can sense that in the man. There have been marriages and children.

Susan goes into their hall and drops her package on the floor. Still tied but most of his clothes for some reason are just gone. She approaches the group that now have hungry eyes at her package,

That was until she spoke.

“I’m sure you ladies have heard of a serial rapist that has been indiscriminately attacking women both young and old. I am an adjudicator. I just need to say that there is no one higher in rank then my husband and I. This is the rapist. I caught him trying to rape a girl that is only thirteen. I got there in time to prevent it.”

I could see them change from drooling to anger so I put it to them in a way that changed the anger to sadistic smiles.

“Ladies, may I introduce you to your new guild mascot, your new pet, your new toy if you get what I am implying. It seems that he does like rough sex. He is yours to tame. Like a wild horse that has been just caught, he will need to be broken in. I do ask that he not be broken. I want his to just be tamed and know that this is his forever home and that he needs to please his riders. Do you think you ladies are up to the challenge?”

She knows they are. You can see it in his eyes. He knows he will be tamed but he will be constantly ridden hard. I left them with the location of where they could get a certain drug that has a stiffening effect on him.

Feeling satisfied she just vanishes but the Amazons never noticed. They had taming to do.

We are both back in our home on our street. I tell her about the antics of the guild. How I now have imposed new tasks on them. “I am so tired. I feel that I have been ridden hard and put away wet.”

She has that smile on her face as she leads me to our bedroom. Why does it feel like I am being led like a horse?