Musings From A Demented Mind by Derek Ailes, James Coon Page B

was dead with a frightened look on his face.  Ira pulled himself out of the rubble and looked up.  He could see the sky above him through the gigantic hole in the ceiling.  The sky was a darkish green.
     
     

                            The Dogs
     
    My gun was ready and I slowly looked around the corner of the building toward the back door waiting for my prey.  A prey I’m getting paid to kill.  You see, I’m a hitman ─ somebody who gets paid thousands to kill people.  Nice business to get into if you have a knack for it. One thing, just don’t get caught doing it. 
    John Lumm, you’re going to wish you hadn’t double crossed your ex-business partner like you did, because, baby, your destiny is now in my hands.
    It’s a dog eat dog world and that is why I take these types of assignments.  I hate greedy souls who reap thousands of dollars at the expense of the misery of others.
    I tried other jobs, but just couldn’t find any enjoyment in them.  I don’t like other people ordering me around.  I just want to be by myself: working at my own pace and leisure. 
    I first tried being a salesman for a couple of months, but I felt like I was cheating people by selling them cheap products which they didn’t really need.  I then tried selling life insurance for almost six months.  I got into it with the district manager when the company wouldn’t pay the death claims.
    It was as a bartender in Las Vegas where I met Arthur Hamlin, a former hitman. I knew him for a year before he revealed what he used to do.  From then on, I was hooked because it gave me the sense of adventure I was looking for.
    “Why?” some people asked.  I don’t know. 
    Suddenly, I heard a click from the screen door.  I gripped the silencer tightly.  Slowly, the door opened and it was him.  The one and only double crosser himself.
    As I approached him, I said, “Mr. Lumm, I suggest in your next life you don’t cheat your partner.”
    “What!  No!”  he screamed.
    I fired my gun.  The bullet struck him in his heart.  I thought it was ironic since I didn’t know businessmen had hearts.  I whirled around, replaced the gun in my jacket, and darted straight toward my aero car when somebody ran out of the same house yelling, “Somebody stop him!  He killed my husband!”
    I ran faster.  Finally reaching the aero car, I jumped in and pressed my finger on the ignition pad.  Seconds later, the car lifted off the ground several feet and I gunned the bloody thing out of the area.
    “The dogs are going to get you for what you did back there,” a voice coming from the backseat said. 
    I looked in the rearview mirror and saw somebody in the backseat.
    “How in the hell did you get in here?”  I asked.
    “There isn’t an aero car I can’t break into.  Their security system can easily be hacked.”
    “Why are you in my car?”  I asked annoyed.
    “I’m tagging along for a ride.  Don’t try anything funny.  I have a gun pointed at your back,” he said, laughing.
    A few minutes later he climbed into the front seat while holding the gun toward me.  “My name’s Mike.  What is yours?”
    “My name is Jake.”
    “Interesting.  Mighty interesting.”  He stared at me for a few minutes and then asked, “You love killing people? It gives you a personal thrill?”
    “I only kill certain people.  People who love to see other lives in misery ─ like corporate people.  I get hired by people who want them removed.  If they have the money, I do the service.”
    For the next hour, I tried to think of some way to get rid of him.  I suddenly remembered him saying the dogs were going to get me.  I looked over at him and asked, “What did you mean about the dogs?”
    “My parents always told me when I did something bad the dogs would be coming for me.  If you commit the ultimate sin, they will appear.  I’ve always believed they made it up to keep me in line.”
    Out of the blue he said,