X Ray --

"Proof of death? What do you want?" I asked. It was a question that the other mechanics in the room would have asked too.

"A mangled body part showing me you tortured him and he has to be dead. I'll have it DNA tested too. So, don't you bring me anything phony or I will get one of the other mechanics in the room to send me your head on a platter, see!"

The Don was pretty clear on this one. Generally, I snuff them out from a distance. Normal vengeance stuff is carried out by his crew of thugs. They will shoot their victim up in a restaurant or other public place. In this case, the dude went into witness protection. He wanted to send a clear message to those who might snitch in the future.

And, there was a competition for this one too. The price for getting this snitch was five million dollars. The highest ever paid by a Don. But, this was special. Three of his four kids had been given life sentences. And the fourth was a monk living in France. So, he had lost his family. He had vengeance on the brain. He didn't care that there twenty of the best hearing his contract. He was furious.
I don't think I could torture someone for five million myself. I like to take them out swiftly with as little pain as possible. It's bad enough they have to die. I like to think I am doing them a favor. The other guys like to toy with them first.

Ray Smith will have to suffer. He has to know as he is dying that he would never have a life to live. He has to beg to die. Don't get me wrong, As much as I hated this assignment, I wasn't going to tattle on this meeting. The Don had hired each one of us to do jobs for him in the past. If we turned states evidence, he would too. There was no way in hell this contract would ever see the light of day outside the confines of the room we were in. Ray wouldn't know his fate was sealed by any leaks that there was a contract out on him. Nor that he was going to be tortured as he died too.

I returned to my home in the mountains to relax. Hell, I wasn't a tracker. Johnny the snake was a tracker. I didn't have his connections. But, then again, Ray's handlers would know that someone was coming for Ray even if they heard nothing. They wouldn't use the normal system even if it was secure to make sure of that.

Sitting on my back porch watching the sunset, I thought back to the one time I had met Ray. I was called in last year for cleaning up a mess made by Max. Ray picked me up for the two hour drive to the Don's home in the Poconos. Like most jobs, we could talk about anything but 'the business.' 'Yeah,' I thought back to that drive asking myself, 'what did we talk about?'

"How old are ya kid? You don't look like you are out of diapers yet."

"Boss' youngest got me in. Enough said."

"Gotcha. So, you are ..."

"Nineteen."

"Earning money to graduate college, eh?"

"Something like that. Let's just say Max made me an offer I wish I could have refused." Max was the Don's youngest boy and nineteen too. Getting Ray into the business should have been my first clue that Max wasn't the Don's smartest kid. Ray didn't like the business. It was obvious he would turn snitch.

"So, what do you do for fun?"

"I like to read."

"What?"

"Harlequin novels."

"Never heard of him. Is Harlequin a good writer?"

Ray looked at me for a moment and then shook his head.

"I just took a trip to the Bahamas. Have you been on any good trips lately?"

"Trinidad."

"Beautiful island."

"Yes. I've heard that."

"What did you think of it?"

He chuckled. "Small place. It's heaven to me."

"Yeah. There are bigger islands. But some are nicer than others."

It was silence the rest of the way. I could tell Ray wasn't keen on me. Of course, he probably knew or suspected that I eliminated people for his boss. I just sat back and enjoyed the scenic drive after leaving the eighty.

I watched the sun dip below the mountain behind my home. I love North Carolina. Then it hit me. Mountain? Trinidad? Small place? He's heard that? I know where he is!

Grabbing some cash in my cash reserve, I went down to my garage. I changed the plates on old Ford truck. I didn't want to take a flight where my name would appear. I grabbed a set of unused identities. I pulled out a brand new laptop and used a vpn to quickly research the trip. It would take two and half days to travel to Trinidad. I researched hotels and places to go along the way. After checking my email, I went to bed. There was an email saying that Max had been killed in prison while banging some low life in the behind. The Don was double angry the sender said. That meant the price had been doubled for Ray. Finding and killing Ray would result in ten million. That would make any mechanic more than hungry.

When light broke in the morning, I opened the garage doors and swept my cars for possible GPS trackers. It was no surprise to find all of them had them. In fact, each of them had three on them. They were commercial trackers. Not government. Some of my mechanic friends were tracking me now. They wanted that ten million. I opened my Lexus, put it in neutral, and pushed it into an area in my yard where I could hide it behind bushes. I then took the three off the old Ford truck and left them on the front seat.

Heading down the hill in the old Ford truck, I stopped at an overworked repair place and put the trackers on an old Ford truck that looked like mine. I then drove back home and picked up the three Lexus trackers. Finally, I high tailed to a Love's gas station on the Interstate. It was around eight in the morning. Patiently, I approached several vehicles after they gassed up and put a tracker on each. Two went east and one went west.

I knew that would confuse the three who had me on their scopes. I headed to Sevierville and dumped the Ford just in case. After covering my tracks in the town, I bought a Civic with cash and continued heading west on I-40. I stopped and stayed the night in Del City, OK. Met a really nice cowgirl in a bar by the name of Barbara Lee. We chatted over a couple of brews. She is a truck driver who told me off a nice back route to Trinidad. She even talked about Trinidad's claim to fame. The next day, outside of Oklahoma City, I picked up Hwy 270. Went up through Liberal, KS, avoiding tornadoes and was thankful I didn't have a dog named Toto. Took Hwy 160 west to Trinidad, Colorado.

During those two plus days, I replayed my conversation with Ray over and over again. The town was known for transgender surgeries according to Barbara Lee. If Ray was getting one, then I had better be on the lookout for a woman too. I pondered if I was strong enough to torture Ray. So, why was I making this journey? I had no clue. This kind of assignment wasn’t the kind I liked.

The drive into Trinidad was dull. Lots of flat land and prairie. Coming into Trinidad, I noticed a small river next to me. I headed for the interstate and found a cheap hotel. Sitting in my room, I got to thinking. I didn't have to find her. I needed to find her keepers. If she is here at all. I had found one of my potential victims before. They were being guarded by the Feds. I told the boss unless he upped the fee, no can do. He didn't. He figured that person was going to rat on his boss which would more than settle the score. But, it taught me how to look for them.

I began my drive around town looking for clean American cars with brand new tires, no stickers in the windows. no bumper stickers, and no logos or license plate holders with auto dealership names. That last one is key. I concentrated on the areas near the local college figuring they needed a place where a young man or woman would look inconspicuous. Sure enough, after three and a half hours, I spotted a set of cars out in front of this single story home. I parked around the corner and headed to a nearby park that was in between the house and my car. I pulled out a set a binoculars and watched the home. From my angle, I could see a young woman being walked to a car by a plain clothes woman. I quickly went to my car.

After I jumped into my car, I waited. A moment later, I saw them drive by me. I headed off following them. It didn't take long for them to stop. It was a doctor's office. The two women went into a gynecologists office. I googled it and found the doctor had a national reputation for gender reassignment surgery.

I had time to think. If I killed Ray, it would be my last job ever. I didn’t want to kill him. Maybe I should warn him at least. I would have to go into hiding if I did. I pulled up a video showing what Ray's SRS surgery was going to entail. Then it hit me.

"Proof of death." I said out loud. This could be a win win. For the next hour, my mind went over the details. I saw them exit and head out. I didn't need to follow them. Instead, I wrote down on a piece of paper the details and confirmed them. Satisfied, I headed back to my hotel. Along the way, I saw their car at a hole in the wall diner. I pulled over to consider if I should take the chance.

I pulled into the restaurant's parking lot. I could see in to the luncheonette through a clear glass door. The two women were sitting in a booth with the officer looking to the front door. I took off my jacket. I made sure that I had no weapons on me. I looked clean.

Coming into the door, the agent took little notice of me. A sign said 'Please Seat Yourself.' All the better for what I had in mind next. I looked around as I walked forward pretending to find a place to sit. And then I stopped shy of their booth and looked at the agent. "May I talk with you ladies please? I have a feeling that it will benefit both of us and insure Ray's safety for the rest of her life.

Startled, the agent made a move to her gun and exclaimed, "Make a move and I will drop you where you stand."

"Of course, I am not armed. And, if I could find you so easily, who is to say someone else won't. And if I intended to harm Ray, I wouldn't have announced my presence. So, I suggest strongly you listen to what I have to say first."

A woman's head poked out and looked up at me to see who was talking. "Oh no! It's you!" She started to cry and her face was filled with fear.

"Please Ray," I said softly. "I am not here to hurt you. Actually, I have a plan to save you." Looking back to the agent, I said, "May I sit down please? Trust me, I have a plan to save your charge. But we need to talk about it."

"Okay, but if you try anything."

"I know, dead on the spot. No worries. I am taking a huge gamble talking to you anyway. There are those who if they saw me talking to you would kill me on the spot too." I sat down next to a very nervous woman who was scared.

"I assume the lovely lady to my left is about to get gender reassignment surgery."

"Yes." she croaked. The agent just nodded.

"Good. I am taking a huge chance here because it is a win win. In my line of work, there comes a point where you have to retire and go hide too. Although I am in my thirties, my time is very nearly here."

"So, what is your plan?"

"You give me the remnants of her penis, and testicles if she still has them, and I send it off to the Don as proof of death and that I tortured Ray before he died. I get the ten million and give half to her. You set up a corpse to be burned beyond recognition that I will claim is Ray. She gets her change, money to live off of, and no one knows she is a alive. They will stop looking for her. And I get a retirement fund."

The agent wasn't buying it yet. "What is in it for the government?" she asked.

"You track where the funds come from giving you access to the Don's secret accounts which means you can seize all of his assets using RICO. Plus, you get me as informant when you are stumped. I know about twenty mechanics. And, for arranging this, you get a promotion. Like I said, a win win. Well, one loser and his cohorts."

She smiled broadly. "I will have to talk to my bosses. But, I think this will work. Just one thing, how did you know she was here?"

"A comment she made about Trinidad. I don't think she told anyone else. I think I got it out of her by accident. I don't even want to know her new name or identity. All I need to show the Don is that Ray is dead. And, when she gets her surgery, he will be technically."

"But, it will make you a target, won't it?"

"Sure. I will get surgery too and change my face. I speak three languages. I can go almost anywhere and have a good life. However, I will go knowing that I have no more axes to grind or swing for that matter."

I leaned back, "And, if they get me, I will have earned it. Poor Ray here was forced into it." She nodded in agreement. The agent thought carefully about what I was proposing.

"There is one other thing. You have nothing to hold me here longer than seventy-two hours. Once I am out of here, then her sex change is known. If you accept my offer, she is safe. So, what is it, yes or no?"

She went to the end of the lunch room and made a call. I moved around to her side of the booth and faced Ray.

She asked, "Why save me?"

"Because, my job has been to dispose of bad people. I never felt a pang of conscious about it either. They knew what they were doing and its inherent danger. But, they want you to be tortured before they kill you. You aren't a bad person. You are a young kid just starting out life. So, I consider the ten million payment for his raising bad children. By the way, you heard Max is dead?"

"Yes. He got me in the business because he thought I was gay and he liked to do me in the ass. I didn't like it. I was exploring my sexuality and he took advantage of me. I think he got what he deserved."

"Sure did."

"What are you going to do for the rest of your life?"

"Settle down and get married. Have a family. Stay out trouble."

"Any regrets?"

"No. Not a single person ever suffered at my hand. I always made it painless and look like natural causes."

The agent came back. "It is approved."

I got out of the booth. "I am staying at the Cuthburn Motel in room sixteen. Bring me proof of death when you can. And I will give you the bank account number they are sending the fee. Then, you can take half and give it to her. And I will be on my way to a life a ease leaving you a forwarding address."

As I turned to leave, I said, "Enjoy your lunch ladies. And Ray, I wish you a happy life. You were right. You shouldn't have been given this offer in the first place."

Two days later, I had my proof of death in a frozen container and a ride to Texas with the agents. I looked over a corpse that had been donated to science that was buring in a back alley in a little town called Trinidad. The proof of death was sent in a frozen container. A sketch as a person of interest was released by the local police looked a little like me but not.

The Don was pleased with my services and sent me ten million. Apparently, he was looking for a heart, but seeing the remains of a penis that had been gutted made him very happy. The Feds transferred half of the fee to Ray. And, the rest, I was allowed to transfer into an account for myself.

The Feds waited a few months before dropping the hammer on the Don. I gave them a file on all the mechanics. They let a few go so it would protect my identity.

I now live in Columbia. I have a wife and kids. My oldest is named Ray.

I sometimes think about the Ray I left in Trinidad. I got a postcard the other day from the Bahamas.

All it said was, "We had a lovely wedding. Great place to honeymoon. My spouse thanks you for saving me. So do I. Thank you so much for the suggestion. Love R."

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