"Retirement"
By Ron Stultz
08-15-2005
Chapter 1
Snyder quickly drops the binoculars slung around his neck and homes the butt of the rife deeply into his shoulder. It takes only a second or two for him to find the target in his scope’s crosshairs and then with one deep breathe in and slowly released, he squeezes the trigger and watches the bullet hit the head of the target nearly 1000 yards away. Before the group around the target even hears the blast of his rife, Snyder is up, abandoning his rife and working his way back his planned escape route. “This was an easy one”, he thinks to himself, taking his first drink of water in over 8 hours.
Chapter 2
Snyder stares out the airplane window and thinks of home, his wife and now his young daughter. It is time. He knows it is time. Time to retire. He is good at what he does. Has always been good at it and probably could be good at it a while longer but he is tired of the lies to his wife about the out of town trips and he wants and needs to be home for his wife and daughter. And, deep inside him, he can feel something he cannot look at but knows it is there. “29 targets, 29 retirements”, he says to himself. “Yes, time to retire but what will I do then?” he wonders. “Well, I will find something and with my retirement money, we ought to be ok.”
An airline hostess stops by to see if he needs anything but he waves her off and takes the iPod out of his bag, erases the mission tracks and selects an album and begins listening. Laying against the airplane window, he closes his eyes and almost immediately falls and sleeps like a baby.
Chapter 3
On Monday, Snyder goes the what he calls the office, sits down and quickly drafts his retirement notice, signs it and marches it straight over to his boss’s office.
“Well”, says Lankton. “Not a complete surprise but I have to tell you, I can’t let you go immediately. There has been a problem and although we have recruited a new kid and he is good, he is not ready yet.” Snyder rubs his face. This is not what he had expected.
“Tell you what, you help teach the new kid some tricks and maybe in 30 days we can talk retirement. Hate to be a hard ass about it but you know I have to sign the papers letting you out and so I am afraid we are going to have to insist. Sorry. Now see Steward about hooking up with the he kid, name is Taylor, I think.” And with that Lankton turns his chair around so his back is towards Snyder, making it clear there is nothing more to discuss about the matter. Snyder lines up the crosshairs on the back of Lankton’s head like he has done so many times before turns around and leaves.
Chapter 4
“Ok, you can go with the stock on whatever they give you but I suggest you shave down the grip until it feels like you are holding your dick. Now wrap your hand around the grip on your practice rife and tell me if it feels right”, Snyder says to Taylor. Taylor, mid 20’s, tall, clean cut, but with a very nasty scar along one side of his face and a large tattoo on the inside of his right arm, picks up the rife in front of him and moves it into firing position, griping the stock with his right hand. “No, it is way to fat around the grip.” “Well, then start taking some wood off that sucker and I will be back”, Snyder says, knowing all along the stock was all wrong for the kid or anyone serious about shooting or at least wanting to hit the target. “Shaving down the grip”, Snyder thinks. Another one of the tricks his father taught him long ago along with a lot of other hunting techniques Snyder incorporated into his work. Snyder beings to wonders again about what his father would think of what he does with what his father taught him but he quick shuts down that thought stream and switches his mind back to Taylor.
Chapter 5
Taylor, asleep now for hours, is awakened by the ringing of his phone but he does not pick up the receiver until he hears Snyder’s voice on the answering machine. “I am here”, he says, looking at the clock by his bed and wondering what Snyder could want at 4 in the morning. “Get your stuff. We have a little field work to do today”, Snyder says, “I will pick you up at your place and will call when I am outside. Ready in 30 minutes?” “Sure”, says Taylor and with that, he hears the line go dead and he gets up and starts some coffee. 4am. What has the old man got up his sleeve this time?
When Taylor gets into Snyder’s car, Snyder does not say hello but hands Taylor a blindfold and tells him to put it on. “You have to be kidding”, Taylor says, looking straight at Snyder but does not receive a response. So on goes the blindfold. “Has to be tight in the back”, Snyder says, his hands working the knot in the back.
With the blindfold on, Snyder starts the car and proceeds out to woods he has used plenty of times for his own practices. It takes about an hour to get there and the whole time, neither man speaks. Finally, Snyder pulls off the main highway and onto a dirt road and then he is out, unlocking a chain across an access road and he pulls the car as far up the road as he can.
“Ok”, he says to Taylor. “We are here. I will be guiding you for a while and then I will have you take off your blindfold”. Taylor says nothing amused with the whole thing.
Chapter 6
Snyder leads Taylor around and around, walking for over an hour when in fact, they are only several hundred yards from the car. Finally, Snyder say, “We are here. Take off the blindfold”. Taylor, grumpy from being lead around blind, quickly takes off the blindfold and finds himself in a dense woods, up on a ridge looking down on a small town to the East. “Ok, your target today is whoever I say it is coming out of the drugstore down there. Can you find the drugstore from here?” Snyder says sitting down on a fallen tree log.
Taylor takes out his binoculars and looks down on the town, which must be a good 700, or 800 yards from their position. “Yes, I have it”, he says turning to Taylor. “Now what?” Snyder takes out a piece of beef jerky from a pouch in his pocket and offers Taylor a piece. “Ok, show me where you would set up to make a shot from here.”
Taylor looks around and sees a hefty size tree nearby, which has a tremendous root system sticking out of the ground. “Ok, over there. That tree with all the roots. I could get in behind it and the roots would make a great rest for the rife.” Snyder looks at where Taylor is pointing. “You sure?” “Any place better for concealment?”
Taylor is getting frustrated. He knows how to do his job. What is up with this old man?
“No, the root tree will be just fine”, Taylor says with an air of arrogance.
Snyder moves on the log he is sitting on and steps to one side of it and then kneels down and sweeping aside some leaves, crawls into a swallow hollow place in behind the log and then proceeds to cover himself up with leaves. When he is done, he pokes his hand out from under the log in the direction of the town and in a low voice, says, “I would vote for here, myself. Someone would have to actually step on you to ever find you and even if they stepped on you, they probably would not recognize what they were stepping on. Almost bought the farm as a kid using a log like this. Was deep underneath calling turkeys and some damn fool hunter who liked to shoot before he could see the game, blasted his shotgun right into the log above me. Luck for me, only one pellet got me but I could have killed that son of a bitch firing away like that. Anyway, good for turkeys, good for people: neither can see you and that is good.”
Taylor knows Snyder is right having overlooked the fallen tree to start with as Snyder was sitting on it, the crafty old bastard, but does not say a word.
Snyder crawls out from underneath the log and again sits back down on top the log. “Ok”, he says, chewing on another piece of beef jerky, “Which way is your way out of here?”
Taylor is ready for this one. “Right back that way”, he says pointing exactly in the direction of the car. “And how far?” Snyder asks. “Couple of hundred yards at the most”, Taylor says with a sly grin. “Show me”, Taylor says with his own sly grin.
Chapter 7
“You wanted to see me?” Snyder says to Lankton, hoping Lankton is ready to sign his papers. “Yes, well, understand the kid, Taylor, is coming along nicely”, Lankton says leaning back in his chair, hands clasp behind his head. “And who says that?”, Snyder replies, “The kid?" “Well, of course he has said he is ready but others too. What do you think?” “He is good but he is not ready yet. Why? Why ask me now?” Lankton leans forward out of his chair, which is always a bad sign. “Something has come up and has to be taken care of right away. I don’t think the kid is ready either and so, you have to go. Know you want to retire and all but can’t be helped. One last out of town. Just one more and you can do this easy enough. Out of town maybe a week at the most. All set up. You leave tomorrow night. Details with secretary as usual. And oh, I would have liked to send the kid with you but he had to leave suddenly this morning. Something about his mother being sick. Gone a week, I think he said. Can’t be helped.” And with that Lankton leans back in his chair and starts shuffling papers on his desk.
“Shit”, was all Snyder could think. “Shit, shit, shit. Wonder if it is always going to be one more thing, like the kid and now this?” But he knows it is no use arguing with Lankton and he turns around and heads out to Lankton’s secretary who hands him the iPod and target images.
Chapter 8
“Yeah, easy, right! Damn Lankton!”, Snyder thinks sitting at 30,000 feet screaming along with another 8 hours ahead of him.
He takes 3 more antacids from his coat pocket and pops them into his mouth and begins to chew. Stomach is all in an uproar and seems like no matter how many antacids he chews, it just will not calm down. Never had any problems before but this past year, seems like just before every trip, damn stomach wants to give him fits. Has thought about seeing a doctor and maybe he will when he gets back but in the mean time, he just wants off this airplane and to lay down for a while.
He reaches under his seat and pulls up a small briefcase and reaches in for the iPod which has all the information on it about the target. He has listened to it all before but he knows he needs to do it again and again until he knows everything by heart. “Last mission and no time to screw up”, Snyder thinks as he reaches for more antacids.
“Easy one.”, he keeps hearing Lankton say over and over in his head as he reviews the information. “Nothing easy about this one and all in a week! What was Lankton thinking or rather not thinking. Going to take several days just to scout out a firing position and then the target might not show for days and days.”
He finishes reviewing the iPod material and puts it away just as food begins to be served in the airplane cabin, but this time, unlike most flights, he actually asks for a meal and then proceeds to eat it slowly, hoping it will calm his stomach. It does and afterwards he falls asleep with his head against the window and dreams of his wife and daughter.
Chapter 9
It is a little after midnight when Snyder arrives at the closest city to his target and makes his way through customs and out to the waiting car. Always a car is waiting for him and always, a rife to his specification, fully sighted in, at his hotel room.
The hotel is new or nearly new and has a large courtyard and swimming pool and lots of guests out dancing around and in the water, even at this late hour. Snyder has no interest and heads straight for his room and the bed.
Wishing he could call home to say he made it ok, he cannot risk it and instead he says a prayer that God will look over his family while he is gone and that he will be back with them soon.
The next morning, Synder is up early checking out the rife, which he found under the bed in a metal photographer’s case and then some light breakfast. Finally, ready for the day, he goes to the hotel desk and asks that his rental car be brought around for him. This time it is a Jeep but it varies on the mission and is always waiting for him at the hotel.
The target’s estate, house, is some 30 miles outside town and Snyder listens to the iPod directions on how to get there as he drives along.
Finally, he reaches the spot where he is told to park and begin on foot, so he gathers his pack and opens his compass and sets the course heading provided him.
It is tough going as the jungle here has never been cut or even thinned but he keeps more on less on course until he finally comes to about the right distance from the Jeep, some 3 miles. Using this binoculars and looking West, he finds the target’s house with no problem but is bothered by all the guards he sees on the gate leading to the house. Guards could mean jungle patrols and so he must be careful.
The distance to the house from where he is, is no more than 600 yards, a little close for his liking but after some additional scouting around for a better location to shoot from, he is back at the 600 yard spot. Going to have to be a quick escape or he just might get caught.
Now, his firing position? Looking around, he see a log down which could serve as an old turkey shoot location but when he begins to survey, leaves around it have been disturbed. Something or worse, someone, has been here, around this log. He quickly looks around as a wave of paranoia sweeps him like it has never done before. After a few minutes of looking and listening and not moving a muscle, he is sure he is alone and again resumes looking for a hiding place but nothing on the ground seems to want to work, so how about the trees? Looking upward, he finds a great old tree with low limbs which should let him climb up and down with ease and trying it, he finds it so.
Maybe 20 feet off the ground, on a large limb which allows him to lay down in the direction of the house, the raised elevation gives him an even better line of sight than on the ground shoot but also increases the down angle which he will have to compensate for when he fires.
With route in and shooting location defined, Snyder makes he way back to the car using a different route but it is still a hot and long trip and he is glad when he sees the jeep and that it is still parked where he left it. Now, back to the hotel and a shower.
Chapter 10
Snyder makes 3 more trips out near the target’s house to be sure of everything but gets spooked when on the second trip, heading out, 2 black limo’s pull up behind him racing towards the target’s gated estate. No way they could know about him, just coincidence but Synder does not like coincidence and with the disturbed leaves around that downed log and now this, he is getting a bad feeling all over. If it was some other mission, he would wait it out, make sure all was right, but he wants to get it over with and get home and retire.
According to the iPod, the target is supposed to be at his house on Thursday, tomorrow, and is set to leave for a meeting at around noon to 1 and thus should be out in the open for a shot. So, Synder checks the rife one more time, his backpack of essentials and takes some more antacids before bed. Got to get up early tomorrow and be on site well before 9am.
Chapter 11
At dawn, Snyder finds himself awake and he decides to get up and get on with it. Early to be leaving for the site and always the risk of being on site too long and getting caught or at least discovered but he just wants to get on with it.
The city is quiet, although it is waking up, as he drives out away from it into the country and his last mission. Riding along, his focus is on the shot he must make and he really is unaware of his driving or the country side he is driving through. He has made this trip several times now and does not need the iPod to guide him, but as he makes the first turn of several required to get to his shooting location, at a gas station on the right side, he catches the glimpse of a man standing beside a jeep like the one he has and the man appears to have a tattoo on the inside of his right arm. “What the shit?”, Snyder says out loud to himself. He thinks about turning around to check it out but thinks better of it. Just spooky shit, that is all but deep inside, his guts are telling him there has been too much spooky shit already about this mission. “Could that really have been Taylor? Why would he be here? The odds of there being another mission around here at the same time as his mission is slim to none. What the fuck?”, Synder thinks, continuing on down the road but glancing in the rear view mirror every second or two.
Finally, he comes to his parking place and slowly gets out and listens and looks around. Nothing seems wrong but he is really spooked now. The photographers case comes out of the Jeep and he assembles it quickly and slings his binoculars and backpack and heads into the jungle, hopefully, for one last time.
Just to be safe, Synder uses his compass to guide him still a different route to the killing spot and it seems to take longer than any other time he has been in the area but he is tired from being up early and better safe and sorrow.
Once at his tree, Snyder is quickly up it and stretched out on the one limb. 11am exactly.
Chapter 12
At 11:30, Snyder sees 2 black limo’s pull up to the estate’s guarded gate and stop. After a few moments of the drivers talking with the guards, the gates are opened and the cars move up around the circular driveway in front of the house and park right in front of the main double doors.
Snyder scans the area from the gate to the house and beyond but all looks normal, so checks his rife one more time and starts checking the movement of the bushes and trees near the house to get the direction and speed of the wind.
11:40 and the limo drivers are out of their cars smoking cigarettes and milling around. Snyder sees no guards with the cars, only drivers. In total, he counts 2 guards on the estate gate, 2 outside the house and 2 walking the grounds around the house but there could be more inside or behind the house. All seem to be carrying AK-47’s which are not a bad spray weapon but useless for long range shots.
As Snyder watches the house and estate through his binoculars, he can hear that the jungle around him as returned to normal after his entrance. Now there are birds moving in the trees and singing and calling and various small animals are moving around on the ground searching for food. Normal means that he is alone: no patrols and he feels some better but now and then, sweeps the area around him with his eyes and ears.
Noon. Snyder homes the rife into his shoulder and stares down the high power scope at the house door. If the iPod is right, then the target could come out the door any minute now and Snyder may not have much time for the shot before the target gets into one of the waiting cars. “Cars? Why 2 cars?” Snyder wonders. “Who else is in that house?”
Just then, the main doors of the house opens and out walks a woman, mid 30’s, strikingly beautiful, followed by a little girl all dressed for some occasion. The girl reminds Snyder of his own daughter as this girl looks to be about the same age and height, but who is she and the woman? According to the iPod, the target does not a family, married or otherwise.
The woman heads towards one of the 2 waiting limo’s and begins talking to the driver while the little girl hangs back at the open door of the house. Then, from the darkness of the house doors comes the target and Snyder focuses on his head and begins his firing sequence, when all sudden the target picks up the little girl and has her in his arms. There is still as shot to the target’s head but the girl. “Shit! Got to wait for a clean shot.”
Boom, an explosion comes from very near Snyder’s position and in shock he turns his eyes away from the house and tries to find the source of the explosion, but nothing. Then his eyes move back to the house and there he sees the target down on the porch of the house and the little girl also down, blood pouring out of both the target and the girl’s head.
“What the fuck is going on?” Better get out of here fast before all those guards decide to come after the shooter. Leaning up on the limb he is on and beginning to put his foot down on the limb just below him, he hears a thud on the ground somewhere below him and then a tremendous explosion almost knocks him out of the tree. Snyder goes back to laying flat on the large limb and quickly moving his eyes around. “Has not been time enough for any guards to make it up to this position and explosion did not sound like motor round.” And then he sees it. The fallen log, which he once thought would make a good firing position, is a smoldering hole in the ground. “Taylor! Has to be Taylor!”
Snyder hangs tough on the limb, quiet, listening and watching. He has maybe 5 more minutes before the estate guards will be all over his position and he is going to use every minute to see what, if anything else, develops and it does not take long. First it is the sound of a stick being broken by someone stepping on it and then the jungle quieting down as someone moves through it. Snyder slowly moves his rife around so that it is in the direction of the rife shot which retired the target and the little girl but he cannot see anything. He listens and listens and looks and scans for any type of movement at all. Any branch, leaf moving out of synchronization with all other bushes, trees and there, maybe no more than 30 yards from him, he sees some tall ferns move suddenly to one side. See or no see, Snyder draws aim and fires 3 shots off in rapid succession, one where the ferns moved and one to either side of it and then he waits. Time is running out on him as the guards have got to be on their way and these 3 most recent shots and the explosion before them have probably quickened their pace.
Nothing. Snyder sees no more movement from the area he shot into. Well, no proof of anything one way or another except that he did not get shot back at and so down the tree limbs he goes until he reaches the ground and then as quickly and quietly as he can, back the escape route farthest from the estate house and all those guards.
“What the shit just happened”, Snyder thinks as he looks at the compass, takes a sip of water, keeps his eyes moving, rife ready for a quick shot if required. “Damn will be glad to get out of there and on that plane. Who shot the target? Taylor? Why send 2 of us and what is that business of the log? Lankton signing my retirement papers here in the jungle?”
Chapter 12
Snyder knows there is not much chance his jeep has not been found by now but he still works his way through the thick jungle until he is within 100 yards of it and can see it with his binoculars. As he thought, 2 guards are there, guns at the ready, talking to someone on a radio. 2. He could retire 2 without much trouble but how many more are just down the road?
Just then, the 2 guards move slowly around the jeep and down the road towards the estate. Snyder follows them with his binoculars and there coming up the road are 2 more guards dragging Taylor by this tattooed arm.
“Shit! If Taylor isn’t dead, I am going to have to retire him. He does not know a lot but knows enough and can’t leave him here to talk about anything. Shit! That means 4 guards I have to retire and 3 maybe but 4! Going to be tough to get them all even from where I am.”
As Snyder watches, the guards dragging Taylor up the dirt road finally stop beside the jeep and one of the guards begins talking on his radio. Then, without any warning at all, the guard on the radio shoots Taylor in the head with his rife.
“Well, at least one problem is solved.” Snyder sighs and watches as the 4 guards roll Taylor’s body over into the drainage ditch beside the road, get into the jeep and head back in the direction of the estate.
Snyder sits for a long time watching and listening and eventually it gets dark and he makes his way out onto the road and moves slowly down towards the estate.
As he approaches the road leading to the estate, he cuts through the jungle to avoid the road junction and any possible guards and comes out of the jungle maybe a mile away from the estate gate and not too far from the service station he had seen Taylor and his jeep early that morning.
Once at the station, Snyder has no trouble finding Taylor’s jeep in behind the shack of a station and with some cuts with his knife and a good whack with the butt of his rife, he has the jeep started and on his way back to the city.
Chapter 13
Snyder has been in position for hours now just waiting for the bedroom light to come on.
Finally, he drops his binoculars that are slung around his neck and homes the butt of his rife into his shoulder and peers down the scope.
One final time, the crosshairs align and the breath goes in and then slowly out and the finger slowly squeezes the trigger.
Guess he will have to get someone else to sign his retirement papers now.