The Job

The Stranger

Karim Robinson stirred a bowl of crab soup, occasionally taking a sip from it with a stainless silver spoon. He watched the soup turn, clockwise then anti-clockwise, following his spoon obediently. He always looked forward to eating here.

The chatter belonging to north of two hundred guests in the ballroom blended into blissful background noise, and Robinson breathed in deeply as he concentrated on his starter. Then he heard a crackling in his left ear.

“Rob-” a voice said, interrupted by static. “Robins- Karim Ro-” the static scrambled the voice. He tapped his earpiece twice, and the voice became clear.

“Karim, are you there?” Tamara Stone asked in a hurried whisper.

“Yeah, I’m eating,” he replied quietly.

“Have you got eyes on Larsson yet?”

“He’s on the fifth table from the south exit, on the left. Dark grey suit, peach tie. And the little moustache that might suggest a background in eighties por-”

“Got him.” She paused for a moment, before asking; “How’s your soup?”

“Great, I’m taking a container back with me.”

“You have a container?”

“It’s in your bag, if you could fill it up that would be lovely.”

“Right, well, Domino has my bag so-”

Karim shook his head, slightly dispirited. “Figures. What’s she eating, then?”

“I dunno, I think it’s- yeah, it’s salad.”

He scowled, and turned the earpiece off, before taking another sip of the crab soup that he’d apparently only be having once tonight.

…

Stone tapped her ear, but heard nothing more from Robinson. She shook her head, and spoke again; “D’you hear that, Cal?”

“Yep, pornstache, got him,” he said, a small smile hidden in his voice.

Stone sighed wearily. “His name is Larsson. Can you please just try to be professional tonight? It’s my first assignment as captain so if you misbehave I’ll-”

“Yeah, okay, Larsson. Peach tie, I can see him.”

“Good, now get close enough to tag him, and keep eyes on him until he leaves.”

“Right. Karim, are you still here?”

There was a faint burst of static, followed by; “Yep.”

“Have you tried the breadsticks?”

“Yeah, they’re dry as- Jesus Christ, look,” Karim whispered suddenly.

“That’s an odd comparison,” Cal muttered.

 Tamara got up from her table and turned quickly, looking for whatever Karim had just seen. Amongst the numerous diners and waiters, she scanned faces and bodies for anything out of place. “What?” she said quietly. “What is it?”

“Look who just walked in,” Karim said lowly.

She looked to the main set of doors. There were three men and two women, all well dressed and smiling, holding wine glasses and chatting idly. Near them were two waiters, wheeling a cart draped in white cloth towards the kitchen. Other than that, Tamara was still in the dark.

“I don’t see anyone.”

“Look, he’s moving quickly. Shit, he’s walking towards Larsson.”

Her eyes found the person rapidly striding towards the door at the back of the hall. In the few seconds she had spent with her eyes lingering at the door, she had completely missed him, but he was now only meters from the person she was here to capture. Then she caught site of the stranger’s face.

…

Domino stayed silent, her face mostly hidden behind a book, but her eyes firmly locked on the man walking towards Larsson. Her earpiece was turned down low, covered by dark curly hair that hung in a fringe to her eyebrows. Tamara’s voice told her she was nearest to him, and that she should get ready to intervene should anything happen.

She put the book down slowly, covering the small salad on her plate. The man had slowed down, and was now walking directly behind him. He came to a stop at the next table on, and after running his eyes over Larsson, he sat at an empty place and spoke to himself.

“He’s on an earpiece, can you get in on it?” Domino said quietly, watching the man carefully.

There was a short silence. Then Cal said; “It’s encrypted.”

“Is ours?” Karim asked.

There was a longer silence.

“Cal you encrypted our line, didn’t you?” Tamara said urgently. “It was literally the only thing you had to do for hours.”

“Shit, switch off,” was Cal’s short reply.

Domino took her earpiece out and dropped it in a glass of water. She pretended to take a sip, stood up and emptied the glass in a rubbish bin, before taking her seat again. Without the voices in her ear, she would have to improvise.

…

Karim finished his soup, and eyed the empty bowl wistfully. A man in a dark suit walked nonchalantly behind him, and as he passed, the man opened his palm. In it was an earpiece. Karim shook his hand, placing his own earpiece in with the man’s, who continued walked without a word.

Karim stood up, and searched the room for Tamara. He found her table, and waited for her to make eye contact. When she did, he motioned towards the front entrance. She got up, and they worked between the tables towards the doors.

“Okay, don’t panic,” he said instantly.

“What the fuck is going on?” she demanded, her eyes flashing dangerously.

“I don’t know, it’s your assignment Tamara, did you read the file properly?”

“Yeah, there wasn’t any mention of him,” she said, reaching into her bag. “Look, I’ve got it here.”

Tamara handed the file to Karim, who opened and scanned it quickly.

“‘Jak Larsson is a freelancer, but he is currently working as an operative for a Scandinavian espionage team. He is also a dangerous assassin, and intelligence obtained by our specialists indicate that he is preparing to go on the offensive. Your objective is to tag Larsson, trail him to his rendezvous point and neutralize him. If possible, also neutralize his confidant.’ So this bloke is-”

“Definitely not his confidant.”

“Larsson’s a freelance assassin, he could be working with anyone,” Karim reasoned. “Including this person- what’s his name, Gateaux?”

Tamara stared at him.

“Girgis, Girgis Azoulay,” she paused. “Gateaux’s on the menu?”

Karim frowned, then grimaced.

“No, fruit salad.”

“Shame. I’ll go find Cal, you keep eyes on Domino and Girgis,” she instructed.

Karim nodded, and weaved his way back to his table. The empty bowl of soup had been replaced by a steak. He smiled and picked up a knife and fork, keeping his eyes trained firmly on Larsson and the next course.

…

Cal discarded the earpieces, and walked to the bar on the side of the hall. From here, he could see Larsson, Karim and Domino from ten meters away. He ordered a piña colada, but quickly changed to a glass of water as he saw Tamara approach.

“What’s going on?” he asked, noting the intensity of Tamara’s expression. “Is that Girgis who just came in?”

She nodded, and requested a double whiskey from the barman. Cal stared for a second, then asked for his piña colada.

“He doesn’t seem to be doing anything, so for now we proceed as planned,” she said, before taking a large gulp of the amber liquid.

The barman handed him a tall glass, and he took a sip through the straw. He looked at the straw for a second, before shaking his head and taking it out. Tamara took another gulp, sending the whiskey down with ease, and Cal, trying to do the same, gave his shirt half a mouthful of rum and fruit juice.

Tamara glared at him.

“Don’t you have any more ear pieces?”

“Yeah, in the van,” he replied, dabbing at the stain with a napkin. “I’ll get them now, but it’ll take a few minutes to encrypt them.”

“Good. Clean that up while you’re there,” she said, looking disdainfully at him.

Cal set his drink down and left the hall. Searching the car park for the van, he pulled the keys out of his pocket and jogged to the white vehicle he had parked, thankfully, only a few feet away.

…

Domino kept her eyes on Larsson from behind her book, observing silently. Every so often, her eyes would flicker to Girgis, who would sit at his table, either talking into his earpiece or scanning the crowd of tables.

A few feet away, Karim watched Girgis with more attention. He had no way of discreetly contacting anyone, and as such, was feeling precarious. His priority, and he was sure Tamara would agree, was their own safety, and he would not compromise that for anything.

Girgis said something into the earpiece, then he frowned to himself, and his eyes found Karim’s.

Then they found Domino’s.

He got up, and reached into his jacket.

…

Cal dug through a box of technical equipment in the back of the white van until he found four replacement earpieces. They were in less than perfect condition, but they worked. He plugged each of them into a small black hub, and connected it to a laptop. He clicked the mouse pad a few times, and waited.

As the loading bar on the screen slowly filled, he reached over to the front seat and grabbed a spare shirt. He kept an eye on the monitor as he unbuttoned his shirt, tossed it on the floor and put on the spare. The loading bar was at ten percent.

As he did the last button, he felt his phone buzz. He took it out, and checked the message. It was from Tamara, and it read: “Come back quick”. He frowned, and looked at the screen. The bar was at twenty percent.

He deliberated; their phones weren’t encrypted, which meant it was desperate. The earpieces would take at least five minutes. He stood still for a few moments, then opened the back doors of the van.

…

Karim got out of his chair and walked quickly towards Girgis, whose hand was pulling a small gun out of his pocket. He made up the ground and was able to obstruct Girgis from Larsson’s view, should he turn around. Karim leaned in close to Girgis, and spoke quietly.

“Put it away, let’s talk outside.”

Girgis eyed him suspiciously for a moment, but slid the gun back into his jacket. Karim nodded towards the back doors, and waited for Girgis to lead the way. They walked slowly towards the exit, and Karim directed him to the car park.

“What are you doing here?” he asked Girgis.

Girgis looked around and spotted a white van. He smiled slightly as he saw Cal standing outside it, reading something from his phone before going back into the vehicle.

“Why don’t you take a guess, my friend?” Girgis replied, taking a few steps away from the car park, still watching the white van.

Karim followed his eyes, and looked at the van, before looking back to Girgis, who had now taken several steps back from the area. He paused for a moment, then ran towards the van, screaming.

…

Larsson stood up from his chair, brushed a few crumbs off his suit and smiled at his dinner guests.

“I’ll join you soon, I have something to take care of just now.”

Domino looked at Tamara, who nodded, and waited for Larsson to take a few steps towards the front doors before getting to her feet. She followed him silently, before checking again on Tamara’s position. She had covered the back exit; Larsson was all hers.

He got to the doors, thanked a doorman, and went outside, and Domino, as she reached the doors, pretended to tie a shoelace as she watched Larsson take a general direction into the opening beyond the building. Then, from the other side of the building, muffled but still deafening, she heard an explosion.

…

Karim froze, deafened. He lost his balance, and stared, blearily and unfocused, at the ball of flames engulfing the van.

The van with Cal inside.

As the reality reverbed in his head, he shook his head, and remembered Tamara and Domino, who were both in the hall. Were they okay?

Girgis. Karim looked around, but he had disappeared.

Larsson. Did he know about this?

Cal. He was dead.

The thought echoed chillingly, and Karim stuttered, eyes peeling in the brightness of the blazing vehicle.

…

Larsson heard the explosion, and looked back at the hall. He considered investigating, but his confidant would be waiting for him.

He took a breath, and a moment to decide, then, as curiosity got the better of him, he walked back into the hall.

Everyone had gathered at the back doors, to see the source of the explosion. He walked towards them, waiting to see what would emerge.

…

As soon as Domino heard the blast, she had ditched Larsson and ran towards the back doors, and as she pushed through the gathering crowd she found Tamara. They looked at each other, and ran towards the car park.

 The first thing they saw was the blaze surrounding their van. In front of it was Karim, standing glued to the ground.

They ran to him, and as Tamara noticed Cal’s absence, she said, barely audibly; “No.”

Domino looked at the van, then at Karim. Then her eyes, sharper than Karim’s and Tamara’s, found a shadow stalking in the distance. She ran after it.

Any words Karim may have had were caught in his throat, unable to escape. Tamara looked at him, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

…

Domino, stealthy as she was, soon caught up to Girgis, sneaking behind him as he paced quickly down the street. His footsteps were loud, and masked her silent treading.

Then, in a poor lack of judgement, she stepped on a manhole lid.

It made a faint clank, and not wanting to risk anything, she turned to hide in an alleyway. Girgis’ footsteps stopped. Then they started again, becoming louder, closer.

As he turned the corner, Domino hooked her right arm around his neck, and his left on the back of his head.

She twisted in one jerking motion, and the crack echoed down the empty alley.

…

Karim looked back towards the hall, his thoughts becoming slightly clearer.

He saw Larsson. He looked back at Tamara, and they both ran towards him. As Larsson took notice of them, he turned sharply and ran through the hall.

They followed him, and they were faster. As they reached him, he stopped running, and turned to face them.

“I don’t know. I promise, I don’t know,” he pleaded, and as Karim looked at Tamara hopelessly, he seized his chance to run again. He would be going far away, and they had no means of transport. They turned and walked back to the car park.