I had been trained to be a ghost.

Somehow, that bastard forgot that.

After all the grueling training I was put through before I made it to the general's unit, what I'd experienced as the proverbial lone wolf, going out on my own with no one to rely on. I'd practically perfected it, which was why I was so good at what I did for him.

Admittedly, I had let my guard down around him, because I didn’t think I needed to keep it up. If it hadn't been for Elda warning me, I might have walked into a trap.

I didn’t go to the party, and I ignored Greco for a while after that. He didn’t have any way of contacting me, usually I established contact or told him how to get in touch with me when he needed to. It changed after every job, because I was a paranoid bastard like that, and I was suddenly so glad.

That wasn't to say that I went underground. Hiding wouldn't accomplish anything, not when it came to Greco and the General if they really were working together. Because if it was true, then my goal was a lot closer than I would have thought. Instead of running away, I was getting what I'd worked toward for the past five years handed to me on a platter.

There was no way to be sure, I couldn’t just go and ask Greco, or any of his men. So, I stayed back and kept an eye out.

In a way, having the General nearby was inconvenient, because he was screwing with my plans. I still had the locations of several of his family members, and with him here, if I took off and did something, I would lose out on him. More than anything, I wanted to take him out. I didn’t know if he personally killed my family, but he was my ultimate target.

I had to be patient, though. I didn’t know if Greco got suspicious after I didn’t show up or what, but he was quiet for a few days. I kept up as much surveillance as I could without tipping anyone off, which was easy since he lived on an island. All I had to do was bribe someone working at the dock to warn me in case he left at night and be there to keep a look out in the day up to early evening.

Almost exactly a week after the party, he finally left his mini fortress.

It was growing late, about time for the shift change at the offices on the dock. I was paying the guy I'd contacted for every night he had kept watch for me, and I was thinking I would have to again, when I noticed people rushing out onto the dock, then a car arrived. I watched from a distance away, waiting. When I was sure Greco was on land, and being led to the car—the only one present—I moved away. I'd borrowed a car from some guy for a lot more than the old heap of junk was worth. But it had what I wanted—the means to get me around—and that was all I cared about. I waited for the car to come out into the light evening traffic and followed at a discreet distance.

I knew the route he was taking and where it led. He'd sent me there plenty of times to meet the marks he wanted me to kill, people that thought they would be meeting him instead. It would have been better, though no safer if he'd thought to meet up somewhere more public. If he was meeting who I suspected he was, it was likely neither wanted to be associated with the other publicly.

I wasn’t sure, but I had a feeling he would be stopping at the exact same spot, or around there. I had to ditch the car at some point before I got caught, and go the rest of the way on foot. If I was wrong, I would lose Greco, and I'd have to find some other way to get to him at a different time. I didn’t relish the wait.

Luck seemed to be with me, though.

I managed to follow Greco and saw him talking to the General. Their cars were parked a bit of a distance from each other, and they were meeting in the middle. Neither had men with them, except their drivers.

At least I knew what Elda said was true. I'd kept in contact, and I at least knew where she was staying, though I didn’t let her know that.

But I pushed all thoughts of her out of my head, as I watched the man I'd been looking for, ever since I learned what he'd done to my family. A man that I had looked up to and followed into dangerous situations once upon a time.

He and Greco deserved each other, really.

I wasn’t close enough to hear what they were talking about, but I could have imagined it. The General would have only one reason to be hanging around a notorious mafia boss. I didn’t know how they met, nor did I particularly care, but seeing them there, talking casually, probably about my demise, made something in me snap.

I found an opportunity to kill the General and took it.

Initially, I wanted to do this with him right in front of me, so I'd know he knew who was doing him in in the end. I'd thought of it plenty of times, and it would give me the most satisfaction. I couldn’t just storm up to them, though, not and still do what I wanted to. No doubt their drivers were armed and knew how to handle guns. It wasn’t quite so dark that I'd get away with it.

The alternative was taking a distance shot, catching him by surprise. I'd take a kill shot because there was no way I would risk him living through it. It would be quick, he wouldn’t see it coming, and that thought wasn’t as satisfying as the first.

I decided I could live with the disappointment.

Just take the stupid shot already. He's so close…

I had my own cache of weapons that I never let onto the island. I'd amassed them once I was in the country, and I'd had to move around with them and hide them along with my meager belongings. I didn’t always rely on Greco to arm me with something I'd want or need, though I sometimes went to him for weapons and returned them afterward. In this distance, a simple handgun wouldn’t be as effective. The distance was too great, and though I was confident in my aim, if I missed, they'd be on their guard and I might miss my chance.

The standard issue sniper rifle hadn't exactly been mine, I couldn’t even say I purchased it legally or otherwise. But I got it from a man I killed back when I was still working freelance before I met with Greco and he and I came to an agreement. It would have been the best to use if I had some higher advantage, but I just knelt on the ground so I wouldn’t be so conspicuous, looking at them around a corner.

Putting it together, from where I had the pieces stored in a bag I'd had thrown over my shoulder, took me less than a minute, as quietly as I could. I held the sniper's butt up to my shoulder, looked out through the scope. Before I took the shot, I could feel a grin spread on my face.

I wondered, idly, if I could see the smile, whether I would recognize myself. I'd been after this so long, I had let it take over my life. The only thing I had outside of thinking of this man dead was the work I did for Greco, who also happened to be there. It had been my life for too long, but once I pulled the trigger, it would be over, and I would go back to drifting.

I can live with that, too.

I took aim, held my breath, and pulled the trigger.