Tonight was a very simple contract. Shoot to kill. In fact, had it not been for the oddity of the other night, Kirill would have been alone. The alley’s rank smell made Kirill wrinkle his nose. Not that the scent of an alleyway deep in the city was ever pleasing, but there was something festering in this one. Kirill caught up to Jacob and gave him a nudge. “Smells like death,” Jacob murmured in Russian. Kirill broke protocol and pulled out a tiny flashlight. He clicked it on and swung the narrow beam back and forth across the far corner of the alley where two buildings butted up against each other. “There.” Jacob pointed to a stack of pallets that appeared to have been knocked over. They approached cautiously. Kirill kept the light low, searching for signs that something had been disturbed. Finally, they both spotted the oddity at the same moment. Squatting on his haunches, Kirill picked up a stray scrap of wood and poked at what appeared to be a human arm.
