Meeting the board

In this story Casey Noose is twenty one month old. Casey was at her father's work place, because her mother got suddenly sick and couldn't take care of Casey. Mrs. Graziano was a member of the board of directors, who wanted to meet the person, who solved the fraud and burglary case bugging the company. They arrived unannounced and found not only Fin Noose in his office, but also his daughter. Mrs. Graziano is in her late thirties.

I missed my Mama and cried. Daddy was there, but I still wanted Mama. She didn’t come. It was a big disappointment. Daddy tried hard to calm me. I felt inconsolable. The strangers in the room didn’t make the situation easier for me. I don’t like people I’ve never seen in my whole life. Watching them interact with my Daddy, who explained things to them I didn’t understand, I liked an old lady and wanted to go to her.

Daddy and the lady understood, so I gave her a big smile as soon as I was in her arms. She was delighted. The woman reminded me of my Abuelita. She smelled even slightly like her, which reminded me that Grandma was coming to visit us for something called Christmas. Since I didn’t know when Christmas was I wanted to check and asked: “Abuelita?” The old lady frowned. “I am not your grandmother.” The woman said disgruntled. That was an odd answer to my question. “Mm, I don’t think Casey believes you’re her grandmother, Mrs. Graziano. She wants to know when her real one is coming.” My Daddy told Mrs. Graziano. To me he said: “You have to sleep two times and Granny is going to be with you.” I wondered if this included my naps or only the nights. It would have been nice, if it would be with the naps included. I doubted it, though. I was glad Mrs. Graziano wasn’t angry with me anymore and the focus changed to Daddy’s work and of course I was right that my Granny did arrive on the third day.

©2015

How it all began

This builds on to "Grey". Hope you like it. :)

Marion Sweeney Hall was on the way to Buenos Aires to fulfil a contract. He reminisized how it all began.

Grey, as Marion preferred to be called, was in a bind when he was in his early twenties. He liked his job well enough, but it wasn't too exciting. He loved his grandmother Clyde B. C. "Momma" Dahl and would do anything for her. She was sick and Grey didn't know how to pay the medical bills. Grey felt a bit guilty about what he was about to do. He knew his grandmother wouldn't approve it.

She had been raising him, keeping Grey on the straight and narrow, but she felt Grey was drawn to crime and wasn't wrong about it. He saw what some of his cousins could afford, dealing drugs, and thought about which career path he could take in the criminal world. Momma had other plans with him and arranged an apprenticeship as a pastry chef for Grey when he left high school. Unfortunately Grey was an average student and not sporty, so a scholarship was out of the question and financing college was impossible.

Grey was African American and small with very dark skin and dark brown eyes. He blended into crowds perfectly well and was totally inconspicuous.

When Momma was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer Grey gave up his day job. He believed he was cut out to be a contract killer. Grey knew how to handle a gun, because he had spent his summers with his grand uncle in rural South Carolina, who took him hunting and fishing. It taught him to be patient. Grey was also cunning and cold blooded. His heroes were Harry "Pittsburgh Phil" Strauss and Richard "The Iceman" Kuklinski. He had also heard about Joseph Buckland, but believed the guy was a myth. Joseph Buckland had never been caught and was one of the wealthiest hit men around. According to legend he lived in Phoenix like Grey.

Grey's first jobs came from his cousin's gang. He enjoyed the power he had over life and death. Grey wasn't a sadist, though, and tried to be as quick and painless as possible.

One day everything changed. Grey was approached by a woman. She wanted Senator Walter Baron Sabena from Wisconsin killed. The lady had been kidnapped when she was very young and held in a brothel, belonging to the senator. It had destroyed her life. Now she wanted her revenge. Grey hoped this case would be his breakthrough. Of course he had imagined it was a fairly easy job, but he was wrong and somebody else was also after Senator Sabena. Grey followed the competitor and ambushed him after knowing his routines. Grey used psychological and physical pressure to find out what the other one was up to. Fin Noose was a burglar and after some files. As a thank you for not shooting him, Fin gave Grey the senator's schedule. It made Grey's life much easier, but he also learned something. He needed a mentor, who showed him the tricks of the trade.
Grey was a bit sorry about how he had treated Fin and thought the burglar was honorable. Fin wasn't indebted and he still had helped him.
Grey tried to patch up the relationship and followed Fin to his home town Miami. At first Fin was unhappy to encounter Grey again, but was less frosty when he realized Grey's intention. It was the beginning of a great friendship and thanks to Fin's connection Grey was introduced to Joseph Buckland.

Joseph Buckland was about to send Grey away. When he heard who had recommended him, Joseph welcomed Grey with open arms. Joseph taught Grey for the next one and a half years, who turned out to be a rising star in his branch.

©2014