Even through the scratched tactical goggles, I could see the whites of his eyes. The man knew he was screwed. But what choice did I have? This was my job.
"Listen man, I'm just gonna need to see your ID or something. Anything," he said, voice cracking. "I can't just let you in—"
The silencer made a dull thud. Sounded like someone dropping a book on carpet. His body hit the floor a second later.
I stepped over him, punched in the code I'd memorized days ago, and entered the server room. My watch showed 2:17 AM. Three minutes to get the drive and get out.
Three weeks earlier, I was drinking instant coffee at my kitchen counter, scrolling through emails. The pay for this job was twice my normal rate. Client wanted someone erased from every database - government, private, everything. Not just killed - completely removed from existence.
My phone buzzed.
"Yeah?"
"Terrance. It's Nico." She never used pleasantries.
"What's up?"
"You in on this server job or not? I got three others ready if you're busy."
"Who's the target?"
"Does it matter? You getting ethical on me now?"
I snorted. "Just like to know who I'm pissing off."
She sent me the file ten minutes later. The target was some nobody accountant named Marcus Lerner who'd seen something he shouldn't have at Axiom Technologies. Typical corporate coverup. Not my problem.
The server room hummed with energy. Rows of blinking lights, the gentle whirr of cooling fans. I located the main terminal and plugged in my device. The screen flickered as I ran the program Nico had supplied.
A noise outside. Footsteps.
I drew my pistol again and waited. The footsteps passed. My device beeped - download complete. The program had found every digital record of Marcus Lerner and corrupted them beyond recovery. Tomorrow, he wouldn't exist according to any database.
That's when alarms started blaring.
"Shit."
I yanked the device free and headed for the emergency exit. Through the window, I could see security guards running toward the building. More than expected. Way more.
My earpiece crackled.
"Terrance?" It was Nico.
"Little busy."
"It's a setup. Get out now."
"No kidding. What happened?"
"They knew we were coming. Someone sold us out."
I burst through the exit door into the rear parking lot. A spotlight caught me. Two guards shouted. I fired twice - one dropped, the other ducked behind a car.
My motorcycle was parked behind the dumpster. I sprinted for it, zigzagging between cars.
"Nico, where's extraction?"
"There isn't one. You're on your own."
"What?"
"I'm compromised too. They're at my place. Gotta go dark."
The line went dead. Great.
I fired up the bike and peeled out of the lot just as three SUVs with tinted windows screeched in. Not regular security. These guys were pros.
Four days hiding in a motel outside Phoenix, and I was getting antsy. The news had nothing about a break-in at Axiom. That wasn't normal. There should've been something - police report, security breach notification, something.
I used a burner phone to check some forums where guys like me traded info. Nothing there either.
It was like the job never happened. Except for the dead guard. He was real enough.
Someone knocked on my door.
I grabbed my gun, approached from the side. "Who is it?"
"Housekeeping."
At 11:30 PM? Not likely.
I peered through the peephole. A woman in a maid's uniform stood there, head down.
"Come back tomorrow."
"Terrance," she said quietly. "It's me."
Nico. I unlocked the door, gun still ready.
She stepped inside quickly. Her face was bruised, lip split.
"Jesus, what happened to you?"
"Marcus Lerner happened," she said, sitting heavily on the bed. "He doesn't exist."
"Yeah, that was the job."
"No, I mean he never existed. The whole thing was bait."
I stared at her. "What?"
"We were hired to erase someone who was already an erasure specialist's work. The real target was us. Anyone who knew how to make people disappear from the system."
"Why?"
She pulled out her phone, showed me a news article. Government contract awarded to Axiom Technologies for a new identity management system. Full integration with federal databases.
"They're building a system to track everyone, everywhere. And they're eliminating anyone who knows how to beat it."
I sat down across from her. "So what now?"
Nico smiled, but there was nothing happy about it. "Now we do what we do best. We disappear. And then we make them disappear."
I nodded slowly. "How many of us are left?"
"Maybe a dozen. Blake was taken yesterday. Kwan the day before."
"And you think we can take on Axiom? They've got government backing."
"Got a better plan?"
I didn't. I checked my gun, started packing my few belongings.
"We'll need new identities," I said.
"Already working on it. But we have to move fast. They're getting better at finding us."
As if on cue, my burner phone buzzed. Text message from an unknown number: THEY'RE COMING. NOW.
Nico and I looked at each other. I moved to the window, carefully pushed the curtain aside.
Three black SUVs pulling into the motel parking lot.
"Back door," I said, grabbing my bag.
We had about thirty seconds before they reached my room. Thirty seconds to vanish and become someone else. Someone who never existed.
Just another day at the office.
Definitely not the most original of ideas, but, you know...
