The Hit

Grand Central Publishing

Feeling energized by the death that was about to happen, Doug Jacobs adjustedhis headset and brightened his computer screen. The picture was now crystalclear, almost as if he were there.

But he thanked God he wasn't.

There was thousands of miles away, but one couldn't tell that by lookingat the screen. They couldn't pay him enough to be there. Besides, manypeople were far better suited for that job. He would be communicating shortlywith one of them.

Jacobs briefly glanced around the four walls and the one window of his office inthe sunny Washington, D.C., neighborhood. It was an ordinary-looking low-risebrick building set in a mixed-use neighborhood that also contained historicalhomes in various states of either decay or restoration. But some parts ofJacobs's building were not ordinary at all. These elements included a heavy-gaugesteel gate out front with a high fence around the perimeter of theproperty. Armed sentries patrolled the interior halls and surveillance camerasmonitored the exterior. But there was nothing on the outside to clue anyone into what was happening on the inside.

And a lot was happening on the inside.

Jacobs picked up his mug of fresh coffee, into which he had just poured threesugar packets. Watching the screen required intense concentration. Sugar andcaffeine helped him do that. It would match the emotional buzz he would have injust a few minutes.

He spoke into the headset. "Alpha One, confirm location," he said crisply. Itoccurred to him that he sounded like an air traffic controller trying to keepthe skies safe.

Well, in a way that's exactly what I am. Only our goal is death on everytrip.

The response was nearly immediate. "Alpha One location seven hundred meters westof target. Sixth floor of the apartment building's east face, fourth window overfrom the left. You should just be able to make out the end of my rifle muzzle ona zoom-in."

Jacobs leaned forward and moved his mouse, zooming in on the real-time satellitefeed from this distant city that was home to many enemies of the United States.Hovering over the edge of the windowsill, he saw just the tip of a longsuppressor can screwed onto a rifle's muzzle. The rifle was a customized pieceof weaponry that could kill at long distances—well, so long as a skilledhand and eye were operating it.

And right now that was the case.

"Roger that, Alpha One. Cocked and locked?"

"Affirmative. All factors dialed in on scope. Crosshairs on terminal spot. Tunedfrequency-shifting suppressor. Setting sun behind me and in their faces. Nooptics reflect. Good to go."

"Copy that, Alpha One."

Jacobs checked his watch. "Local time there seventeen hundred?"

"On the dot. Intel update?"

Jacobs brought this information up on a subscreen. "All on schedule. Target willbe arriving in five minutes. He'll exit the limo on the curbside. He's scheduledto take a minute of questions on the curb and then it's a ten-second walk intothe building."

"Ten-second walk into the building confirmed?"

"Confirmed," said Jacobs. "But the minute of interview may go longer. You playit as it goes."

"Copy that."

Jacobs refocused on the screen for a few minutes until he saw it. "Okay,motorcade is approaching."

"I see it. I've got my sight line on the straight and narrow. No obstructions."

"The crowd?"

"I've been watching the patterns of the people for the last hour. Security hasroped them off. They've outlined the path he'll take for me, like a lightedrunway."

"Right. I can see that now."

Jacobs loved being ringside for these things, without actually being in thedanger zone. He was compensated more generously than the person on the other endof the line. At a certain level this made no sense at all.

The shooter's ass was out there, and if the shot wasn't successful or the exitcues made swiftly, the gunner was dead. Back here, there would be noacknowledgment of affiliation, only a blanket denial. The shooter had nodocuments, no creds, no ID that would prove otherwise. The shooter would be leftto hang. And in the country where this particular hit was taking place, hangingwould be the shooter's fate. Or perhaps beheading.

All the while, Jacobs sat here safe and drew bigger money.

But he thought, Lots of folks can shoot straight and get away. I'm the onedoing the geopolitical wrangling on these suckers. It's all in the prep. And I'mworth every dollar.

Jacobs again spoke into his headset. "Approach is right on target. Limo is aboutto stop."

"Copy that."

"Give me a sixty-second buffer before you're about to fire. We'll go silent."

"Roger that."

Jacobs tightened the grip on his mouse, as though it were a trigger. Duringdrone attacks he had actually clicked his mouse and watched a target disappearin a flame ball. The computer hardware manufacturer had probably neverenvisioned its devices being used for that.

His breathing accelerated even as he knew the shooter's respiration was headingthe other way, achieving cold zero, which was what one needed to make a long-range shot like this. There was no margin of error at all. The shot had to hitand kill the target. It was that simple.

The limo stopped. The security team opened the door. Bulky, sweaty men with gunsand earwigs looked everywhere for danger. They were pretty good. But pretty gooddid not cut it when you were up against outstanding.

And every asset Jacobs sent out was outstanding.

The man stepped onto the sidewalk and squinted against the sun's dying glare. Hewas a megalomaniac named Ferat Ahmadi who desired to lead a troubled, violentnation down an even darker road. That could not be allowed to happen.

Thus it was time to nip this little problem in the bud. There were others in hiscountry ready to take over. They were less evil than he was, and capable ofbeing manipulated by more civilized nations. In today's overly complex world,where allies and foes seemed to change on a weekly basis, that was as good as itgot.

But that was not Jacobs's concern. He was here simply to execute an assignment,with emphasis on the "execute" part.

Then over his headset came two words: "Sixty seconds."

"Copy that, Alpha One," said Jacobs. He didn't say anything as stupid as "goodluck." Luck had nothing to do with it.

He engaged a countdown clock on his computer screen.

He eyed the target and then the clock.

Jacobs watched Ahmadi talk to the reporters. He took a sip of coffee, set itdown, and continued to watch as Ahmadi finished with his prearranged questions.The man took a step away from the reporters. The security team held them back.

The chosen path was revealed. For the photo op it would present, Ahmadi wasgoing to walk it alone. It was designed to show his leadership and his courage.

It was also a security breach that looked trivial at ground level. But with atrained sniper at an elevated position it was like a fifty-yard gash in the sideof a ship with a billion-candlepower beacon lighting it.

Twenty seconds became ten.

Jacobs started counting the last moments in his head, his eyes glued to thescreen.

Dead man arriving, he thought.

Almost there. Mission nearly complete, and then it was on to the next target.

That is, after a steak dinner and a favorite cocktail and trumpeting this latestvictory to his coworkers.

Three seconds became one.

Jacobs saw nothing except the screen. He was totally focused, as though he weregoing to deliver the kill shot himself.

The window shattered.

The round entered Jacobs's back after slicing through his ergonomic chair. Itcleared his body and thundered out of his chest. It ended up cracking thecomputer screen as Ferat Ahmadi walked into the building unharmed.

Doug Jacobs, on the other hand, slumped to the floor.

No steak dinner. No favorite cocktail. No bragging rights ever again.

Dead man arrived.

He jogged along the park trail with a backpack over his shoulders. It was nearlyseven at night. The air was crisp and the sun was almost down. The taxis werehonking. The pedestrians were marching home from a long day's work.

Horse-drawn carriages were lined up across from the Ritz-Carlton. Irishmen inshabby top hats were awaiting their next fares as the light grew fainter. Theirhorses pawed the pavement and their big heads dipped into feed buckets.

It was midtown Manhattan in all its glory, the contemporary and the pastmingling like coy strangers at a party.

Will Robie looked neither right nor left. He had been to New York many times. Hehad been to Central Park many times.

He was not here as a tourist.

He never went anywhere as a tourist.

The hoodie was drawn up and tied tight in front so his face was not visible.Central Park had lots of surveillance cameras. He didn't want to end up on anyof them.

The bridge was up ahead. He reached it, stopped, and jogged in place, coolingdown.

The door was built into the rock. It was locked.

He had a pick gun and then the door was no longer locked.

He slipped inside and secured the door behind him. This was a combinationstorage and electrical power room used by city workers who kept Central Parkclean and lighted. They had gone home for the day and would not be back untileight the next morning.

That would be more than enough time to do what needed doing.

Robie slipped off the knapsack and opened it. Inside were all the things herequired to do his work.

Robie had recently turned forty. He was about six-one, a buck eighty, with farmore muscle than fat. It was wiry muscle. Big muscles were of no helpwhatsoever. They only slowed him down when speed was almost as essential asaccuracy.

There were a number of pieces of equipment in the knapsack. Over the course oftwo minutes he turned three of those pieces into one with a highly specializedpurpose.

A sniper rifle.

The fourth piece of equipment was just as valuable to him.

His scope.

He attached it to the Picatinny rail riding on the top of his rifle.

He went through every detail of the plan in his head twenty times, both the shothe had to make and his safe exit that would hopefully follow. He had alreadymemorized everything, but he wanted to arrive at the point where he no longerhad to think, just act. That would save precious seconds.

This all took about ninety minutes.

Then he ate dinner. A bottle of G2 and a protein bar.

This was Will Robie's version of a Friday night date with himself.

He lay down on the cement floor of the storage room, folded his knapsack underhis head, and went to sleep.

In ten hours and eleven minutes it would be time to go to work.

While other people his age were either going home to spouses and kids or goingout with coworkers or maybe on a date, Robie was sitting alone in a glorifiedcloset in Central Park waiting for someone to appear so Robie could kill him.

He could dwell on the current state of his life and arrive at nothingsatisfactory in the way of an answer, or he could simply ignore it. He chose toignore it. But perhaps not as easily as he once had.

Still, he had no trouble falling asleep.

And he would have no trouble waking up.

And he did, nine hours later.

It was morning. Barely past six a.m.

Now came the next important step. Robie's sight line. In fact, it was the mostcritical of all.

Inside the storage room, he was staring at a blank stone wall with wide mortarseams. But if one looked more closely, there were two holes in the seams, whichhad been placed at precise locations to allow one to see outside. However, theholes had been filled back in with a pliable material tinted to look likemortar. This had all been done a week ago by a team posing as a repair crew inthe park.

Robie used a pincers to grip one end of the substance and pull it out. He didthis one more time and the two holes were now revealed.

Robie slid his rifle muzzle through the lower hole, stopping it before itreached the end of the hole. This configuration would severely restrict hisangle of aim, but he could do nothing about that. It was what it was. He neveroperated in perfect conditions.

His scope lined up precisely with the top hole, its leading edge resting firmlyon the mortar seam. Now he could see what he was shooting at.

Robie sighted through it, dialing in all factors both environmental andotherwise that would affect his task.

His suppressor jacket was customized to fit the muzzle and the ordnance he waschambering. The jacket would reduce the muzzle blast and sonic signature, and itwould physically reflect back toward the gun's stock to minimize thesuppressor's length.

He checked his watch. Ten minutes to go.

He put in his earwig and clipped the power pack to his belt. His comm set wasnow up and running.

He sighted through the scope again. His crosshairs were suspended over oneparticular spot in the park.

Because he couldn't move his rifle barrel, Robie would have a millisecond'sglimpse of his target and then his finger would pull the trigger.

If he was late by a millisecond, the target would survive.

If he was early by a millisecond, the target would survive.

Robie took this margin of error in stride. He had had easier assignments, to besure. And also tougher ones.

He took a breath, and relaxed his muscles. Normally he would have someone actingas a long-distance spotter. However, Robie's recent experiences with partners inthe field had been disastrous, and he had demanded to go solo on this one. Ifthe target didn't show, or changed course, Robie would get a stand-down signalover his comm pack.

He looked around the small space. It would be his home for a few minutes moreand then he would never see it again. Or if he screwed up, this might be thelast place he ever saw.

He checked his watch again. Two minutes to go. He didn't return to his riflejust yet. Taking up his weapon too early could make his muscles rigid and hisreflexes too brittle, when flexibility and fluidity were needed.

At forty-five seconds to target, he knelt and pressed his eye to the scope andhis finger to the trigger guard. His earwig had remained silent. That meant histarget was on the way. The mission was a go.

He wouldn't look at his watch again. His internal clock was now as accurate asany Swiss timepiece. He focused on his optics.

Scopes were great, but they were also finicky. A target could be lost in aheartbeat and precious seconds could pass before it was reacquired, whichguaranteed failure. He had his own way of dealing with that possibility. Atthirty seconds to target he started exhaling longer breaths, walking hisrespiration and heart rate down notch by notch, breath by elongated breath. Coldzero was what he was looking for, that sweet spot for trigger pulls that almostalways ensured the kill would happen. No finger tremble, no jerk of the hand, nowavering of the eye.

Robie couldn't hear his target. He couldn't yet see him.

But in ten seconds he would both hear and see him.

And then he would have a bare moment to acquire the target and fire.

The last second popped up on his internal counter.

His finger dropped to the trigger.

In Will Robie's world once that happened there was no going back.

The man jogging along did not worry about his security. He paid others to worryfor him. Perhaps a wiser man would have realized that no one valued a specificlife more than its owner. But he was not the wisest of men. He was a man who hadrun afoul of powerful political enemies, and the price for that was just aboutto come due.

He jogged along, his lean frame moving up and down with each thrust of hip andleg. Around him were four men, two slightly in front and two slightly behindhim. They were fit and active, and all four had to slow down their normal pace abit to match his.

The five men were of similar height and build and wearing matching black runningsuits. This was by design because it resulted in five potential targets insteadof one. Arms and legs swinging in unison, feet pounding the trail, heads andtorsos moving at steady but still slightly different angles. It all added up toa nightmare for someone looking to take a long-distance shot.

In addition, the man in the center of the group wore lightweight body armor thatwould stop most rifle rounds. Only a head shot would be guaranteed lethal, and ahead shot here over any distance beyond the unaided eye was problematic. Therewere too many physical obstacles. And they had spies in the park; anyone lookingsuspicious or carrying anything that might be out of the ordinary would betagged and sat on until the man had passed. There had been two of those so farand no more.