Thief real name is Tiffany Whittaker. She called me in one of hot summer night four years ago. It means it was almost a year since I decided to become an assassin. She was my fourth client.
"Sss ... Scorr.. pion ??" she asked from across the line. Her voice was stammered, made me picked up my cellphone and changed it to not on speaker mode before put it on my ear.
"And you are, Miss ?" I asked and confirmed her at once.
A sound of snot being cleaned was heard. "I.." The sentence was halt by a few heavy exhales. "I am Tiffany Whittaker," she introduced herself with a lot more calm voice.
I tugged my cellphone in between my shoulder and ear while my fingers typed the name I just heard in an input box of a search engine website.
"You don't need to search me," she said with a scrannel voice. From her voice I could guess she was only a teen.
"What do you mean ?"
"You are looking for my information on internet, aren you ? You don't need to. I will send it to you by email."
"How .." She mentioned my email address as an answer of my unfinished question. I immediately realized she was not an ordinary girl.
"What can I do for you, Miss Whittaker ?" I asked her, changing my tone to be more careful. She sighed. "Are.. are you willing to.. murder people ?" she asked with a vivid doubt.
"I am. But you need to give me the target profile to be learnt first. Not everyone deserves to be target, Miss," I explained.
"Oh.. but you have to do it !" she said in panic. I smiled gently as if it could calm her.
"Just send me the profile"
"I did," she answered. I opened my inbox. There was a new email with an attachment. I opened it. It was Tiffany Whittaker's profile. From the picture she sent I was guessing she was only 16 at that time.
"I meant the target profile, Miss," I tried to tell her that she was sending the wrong profile.
"It is. I.. I mean.." Tiffany Whittaker didn't need to finish her sentence to make me understood.
"Miss, I don't accept suicide case," I firmly rejected her.
"Please.. you have to kill me," she broke down to cry.
"Forgive me, Miss. It is my code of ethics," I tried to explain to her.
"But you have to!! You have to!! I don't want to live anymore.. I don't want to..," her sob was getting louder.
"I'm sorry, Miss.."
"I'll pay you double! Triple !!" she pursued. Whittaker was a respected family in NY city. A hundred and fifty thousand dollars was nothing to them.
"I can't, Miss," I refused before ended up the call. Five minutes later my cellphone was ringing again.
"Two hundred thousand ! And all you need to do is creating me a scenario. I will do it by my self. I want my death to be looked like a homicide !" she said in fire.
"I can't, Miss," I still refused.
"Why can't you ?! You said you're a professional assassin. It is an easy order, isn't it ?! You just kept saying you can't. Are you playing a game on me ?!" she said in furious.
"Miss, like I told you, not everyone deserves to be killed. And you, unfortunately I said, don't deserve to die," I explained to her. Tiffany Whittaker was silent. I thought she was giving up, but..
"I will report you to the police," she threatened me. My eyebrows were frown though I grew a smile.
"What case would you report me into, Miss ? I did no crime you know," I defensed my self. Tiffany made a small laughter. A polite laughter that she might get used to do since she was a child.
"A crime I didn't know ? You think.. how could I got your number ?" she challenged me with a little harass.
"How ?" I asked. Tiffany made another laughter.
"From your last case. Do you remember Charles Hummington, one who told you to kill his competitor, Michael Siblings ?" Tiffany snuffled before continued, "He is my uncle. I found a memo that had a number and a date and time. I realized then It was the date and time of Siblings' death."
"And then ..?" I asked, my nerve cracked a bit to know my client's dumbness.
"Then I traced you. It's not difficult. I .. Ahh!!" Tiffany shouted in anger, "You want to steal time to investigate me!!" Smart girl. My hand just pushed Enter key to search about her. The result is unexpected. No Result.
"Nothing, right ?" she asked while laughed politely again. "I've blocked any information about me online."
"Then, the only way is to ask it directly to you," I said, hiding my admiration to this girl.
"Nothing more you need to know, except that I have had enough proof to make you go in jail. Of course, I won't exploit it if you help me," she was back to the main topic.
I stunned. This was new to me. To my previous clients all I needed to do was threatened to kill them if they said anything about me. But.. that was exactly what Tiffany wanted. Killed. The silence made her fidgety.
"You have to help me, Scott Bennet." Once again, I stunned. She knew my civil name !
"How did you know ?!" I asked with intimidated voice, ignoring the politeness I maintained before.
"Not only your name. I know you are now at room 321 of WA apartment, right ? I told you, I 'traced' you down," she answered, emphasized the word 'traced'. I was really upset. Knowing a runny nose little girl could find information about you was really made you insecure.
"Well... ?"
"You go ahead report me to the police, then Mrs. Joanne Hummington Whittaker and Katharine Whittaker will be drowned in their own blood," I told her coldly. Tiffany gasped.
"You wouldn't.."
"Dare ?" I snorted. "If you really have learnt about me, then I'm sure you know I am capable of doing it."
"You bastard !!" Tiffany slammed the phone until making a loud noise that hurt my ear.
-------
Two days later, Tiffany Whittaker called me back.
"You have to help me !" she shouted in rush.
"Miss.."
"Kill him !" she cut. Him, not me. "He.. He.. This time he went too far!" Tiffany's breath was short and full of emotion.
"Calm down, Miss. Who is he ?" I asked.
"Uncle Charlie !"
"Uncle Charlie ?? Charles Hummington ?" I asked her confirmation.
"He raped me!" And then she broke down in cry. "He raped me.. since I was fourteen. He slept on me.. over and over. Then.. I got pregnant. He.. forced .. to abortion. But it damaged ... my womb.. I .. I lost my womb," Tiffany's words was getting shorter and unclear.
"Then last night ..," Tiffany sobbed. "Last night.. I found out.. he.. he started to make a move.. to my sister... she's still twelve for Christ's sake!!" She cried painfully. I let her cried her heart out. Few minutes had passed only with Tiffany's sobs that was getting weaker and ended up by snot blowed and sighed. "Sorry," she said when she blowed her nose liquid again.
"Did your parents know ?" I asked her with sympathetic. From the profile that she sent, I was guessing she was just six teen.
"Yes," she answered shortly.
"Why didn't you report to the police ?" I asked. Tiffany laughed, a bit discordant because her nose was still blocked. "Why are you laughing ?"
"Nothing. It's just .. I couldn't believe that kind of suggestion came from a man like you," she answered with some laughter left. I smiled widely.
"Well.. at least I could make you laugh," I said lightly. Tiffany sighed then sucked her snot.
"You know.. my father is the successor of one of man who signed this country's declaration, while my mother is the third generation of B country queen. Mom and .. Uncle Charlie," she explained, couldn't hide the hatred when she said her uncle's name.
"That's why you couldn't report it ? Cause it will stain your family's reputation ? I asked to confirm my guess.
Tiffany sighed again before continued, "Next year my father will run for senate. So.."
"I understand," I cut her. If noticed by his opponent, this could be a weapon to put Tiffany's father down.
"It's not only that. My parent didn't believe I was being raped. Even after they found out about my abortion, the still thought Uncle Charle as an angel. They thought I was the one who made a move to him, who seduced him. I have never seduced people !!" She cried again.
"After having family meeting, Uncle Charlie was kicked from my house. Only being kicked!! While for me.. my dad hired a bodyguard to watch over me all day, even at school. I feel like a prisoner. That's not fair, right ?! I am the one who being raper, I lost my womb, yet I'm the one who being captivated !!" Tiffany inhaled deeply to calm herself.
"Two weeks ago.. I was attending teenage charity event. Uncle Charlie came to my house. There was only Nanny Emma and Kathy in the house. Nanny Emma found out Kathy was sitting on Uncle Charlie's lap and his hand was under her pajama. He threatened Nanny Emma, but eventually she told me all about it last night."
I was still in silence, waiting for Tiffany to continue her story, but she didn't say anything else. Silence accompanied us until once again Tiffany broke it. "So.. You want to help me, right ?"
"Only if you promise me to stay alive," I gave her a special T&C.