The dark was as still as lake waters on a moon night. The air was not chill but one could tell that any time it would change, judging by the smell of it. Dog howls could be heard from afar.

"You got a light?" Shem decided to break the silence.

"Already?" I asked him as I put my hand into my inner jacket pocket and found the lighter. I handed him the lighter and continued looking through the night vision scope on my rifle.

We were on a deadly mission, as some would argue but it was no more different from what we'd faced before. We had made a name to ourselves by doing mercenary jobs. Our assignments were simple and clear, 'to eliminate the target' irregardless of who they were.

Tonight our target was a highly ranked government official, the Finance Minister, Prof. Martin Brian. It was not our business to know his sins because what mattered to us was the paycheck. The man had already being involved in several fraud and corruption cases including money laundering and smuggling but we suspected he had more evils to his name than the public was already aware. To acquire a target on your back you had to be crazy evil. This meant that you had done some unspeakable things which would have made Satan himself shiver.

"The dog is in the kennel," I signaled Shem to look through his binoculars. We had been waiting for The Finance Minister to arrive at his matrimonial home and six hours later he'd shown up as we'd expected. Although we were positioned five hundred metres from his house, our tech allowed us to survey his house and compound alike without any difficulty. We had counted more than fifteen armed homeguards. Only the president had this type of security and this meant only one thing, the prof was a key player in the crime industry in the country or maybe he was a powerful member of the so-secretive deep state which was rumoured to have been controlling the political affairs of the country. This although did not discourage us from undertaking our mission.

I watched the man alight from his vehicle and head to his house, his personal bodyguard(who I decided to nickname Goliath because of his bulk body structure) following him closely. Goliath turned and surveyed the area as they entered the house. We decided to let them settle first and strike before the man went to sleep then hit the road. This would reduce the chances of us blowing our cover which would compromise the mission.

We had our own code by which we operated and it had kept us alive for as long as we could remember. I operated as a sniper and Shem dealt with the comms but in extreme situations we would use alternative methods. We were highly trained in all martial arts and gun handling methods which made us ruthless and fearless. Any target who came into close combat with us would highly regret the encounter as they would suffer unimaginable pain before meeting their maker. This is what made us the best in The Company. We had a clean record which meant a higher payment and our services guaranteed that.

"The dog is in slumberland," Shem said as he passed me the joint he had been smoking. I received it with a smile and pulled one big puff, filled my lungs with the hemp smoke then blew it out through my nose. It helped me relax.

"It's time," I said as I adjusted my scope into a more finer magnification. I could see Goliath resting on the leaving room couch smoking a cigarette. The Minister was however, in his room drinking what seemed to be milk, it did not matter though. He was going to kick the bucket in a few. I corked the rifle and felt the bullet fall into the chamber as the springs pulled the hammer back waiting for the trigger to be pulled.

Then something unexpected happened.