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Somebody who called himself Roman answered. ''I saw the notice in the morning paper. You do good work." |
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Jerry had never met Roman. In fact, he was certain Romanif that was his real namenever met any of the people he brokered. His function was to match operatives with clients. For that, Roman got twenty percent of Jerry's take. It kept everything smooth and anonymous. Jerry had no idea why he was paid so much to kill Dr. Stefan Karsky. He asked no questions and they told no lies. Important was the fact that they paid well: $30,000 net was the most Jerry had ever been offered for a clip. It was a stipend up there with what wiseguys pulled for big political jobs. And the transactions were conducted anonymously. The money, minus Roman's fee, was automatically wired to an account in the Bank of Bahamas for which only Jerry knew the withdrawal-access code. |
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Jerry jotted down the next assignment Roman recited. Only bare details were ever given. Again, this was to look like an accident. Jerry reminded Roman that such assignments had to be custom-tailored to each circumstance. You just couldn't push somebody off a building and walk away. You had to study the person's habits, look for the proper moment, plan ahead. It called for special stagecraft. He asked for a fifteen percent increase. Roman was silent for a moment, then grunted his concession. Next time Jerry would ask for twenty. |
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Several questions were in Jerry's mind, but asking was not politic. Roman told him all he needed to know for the job. But maybe he'd do a little probing on his own when he got there. It couldn't hurt, and it might even be useful. It was clear that these weren't revenge hits. The level was too high, which meant that what he was hired to kill was not people but information they carriedthe kind that could be highly profitable in side-sales. And who would ever know with this kind of anonymity? To Roman, Jerry Mars was an eleven-digit number in Grand Bahama. |
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Jerry looked again at the next face in the photo. Beyond the name, the only identification that Roman yielded was another aging BiOmega scientist. The address: Sandwich, Massachusetts. Cape Cod. |
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Good. Least they have lobsters with claws. |
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