Baby, You Are the Weapon I Choose

“I’m not into her,” I groaned, having already said this about 50 times. But was that good enough for Kevin? Of course not. When was anything I said or did ever good enough for him?

“You definitely looked smitten,” Kevin insisted as he drove a little faster. It was only my brothers and me in the car. My parents had left early to go to some scheduling meeting.

“Dude, don’t say smitten,” Nick said, smirking. “You sound gay.”

I laughed as Kevin glared at him in the rearview mirror. But he otherwise ignored him. “I’m telling you Joseph. You’re treading dangerous waters here.”

“Wow that sounded homo too,” Nick smirked.

Kevin glared at him again. I laughed. “Kevin come on. I get what a job means. It means she’s going to die, which means I wouldn’t be stupid enough to fall for her.” Though she was definitely interesting, I didn’t add. “I was just flirting. You know, messing around, having a little fun. Flirting with someone doesn’t automatically mean you like them. God, what are you, 10?”

Kevin grimaced at me from the corner of his eyes. “I’m just warning you. Be careful.”

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks, but I’m pretty sure I can take care of myself.”

Kevin drove in silence the rest of the way. I practically bolted when he pulled into the driveway, dashing for the house. I was on my way to my room, itching for my iPod. I needed to go for a run or something, to clear my head. I needed to be alone. “Boys, kitchen please,” I heard my dad’s voice ring from the intercom. It was a good thing we were raking in so much with the band thing, because our house was definitely too high-tech to live on a Pasteur’s salary. I smiled slightly, remembering my dad’s profession. He was a Pasteur, and his sons were hired killers. Ironic, no?

I sighed, and slowly made my way down. He was sitting at the table, papers in front of him. My mom was at the stove already making dinner. It was only 4 o’clock. I sighed. Early dinner meant someone had a job tonight. It was the only way to uphold the eat together rule. “Yeah dad,” I said, stopping by the table.

He put his finger up to pause me, not looking up from the papers. “Sit. Wait till your brothers get here.”

“What’s going on,” Nick asked as he and Kevin walked in, taking seats around the table as well.

My dad finally looked up. “We have a problem.”

“What’s wrong,” Kevin asked.

“Your mom and I went to see Tom today during your interview,” he explained, sighing, and rubbing his eyes.

“Is it another job,” I asked.

My dad nodded slowly. “But that’s not all.”

“What is it then,” Nick asked.

My mom came over, and stood behind my dad. “The assignment that he had given us before, Tom is pushing it up. And the guy – he’s been in hiding for the last 5 years.”

“Do we know where he is now though,” I asked.

“Obviously not Mcgenius,” Kevin rolled his eyes.

“Ho, good one smart one,” I glared at him.

“Boys, not now,” my dad cut in pointedly. We both looked at him, surprised. This must be big. “No we don’t know where he is. But he must be eliminated, and soon.”

“So how do we find him,” Kevin asked at the same time Nick asked, “Why’s it so urgent?”

My dad stared at Nick. “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “Tom wants him dead, so we kill him.” He turned to Kevin. “Luckily, we know a way to find him, though it’ll be difficult.”

“How,” I asked.

My dad smiled slightly. “We know where his daughter is.”

I looked at Kevin. His daughter? Was this what Kevin was talking about? The next job? “Who is it?”

“Told you,” Kevin smirked at him.

“What,” my dad asked.

“Joe was flirting with her today,” Kevin smirked.

My dad turned his head quickly towards me. “You met Christine?”

I shrugged, hating Kevin right now. “She’s Ellen’s assistant.”

“And they’re supposed to get coffee,” Kevin smirked.

“Shut the hell up,” I glared at him.

“No, no this is perfect,” my dad said. “Joseph, you can get close to her. Get her to trust you. And have her lead you to her father. His daughter is bound to know where he is.”

So lay the bait and have her lead me to where I could kill her father? That was a great plan… not. “No,” I said. “There has to be something else we can do. I mean, that’s bad, even for us. Having some girl basically be the reason her father died? That’s wrong.”

"There isn't," he said.

“I’ll do it,” Kevin interjected, obviously mad that I had gotten the big job.

“No, you have other jobs,” my dad said. “Like the one tonight.” He looked at my mom. She nodded and went to go finish dinner. “Joseph, I know that it’s not morally efficient. But we have no other choice. Tom was very – persuasive. We have to kill this man, and soon.”

“Persuasive,” I asked. “What did he do? Hold a gun to mom’s head?”

My dad looked at my mom, and sighed, looking back at us. “Yes.”

My mouth dropped. I had been kidding. I sighed, looking at my mom. Nothing was worth losing her, not my morals, not my soul. Besides, I was going to hell anyway. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Wonderful,” he smiled as my mom brought over plates for dinner. “Now let’s eat so Kevin can go.”

We ate in silence. I was trying to figure out how to do this. How was I going to get her to trust me so much that she’d lead me to her father?