This is a sneak peek from my novel, The Highest Hell, released on June 11, 2024!
“The files I sent you are high priority. The clients don’t care how you get it done, as long as it’s done in a timely manner. That conversation isn’t necessary, though,” the greasy-haired, middle-aged Italian man instructed as his belly thoroughly covered his belt and shook with every word, creating waves whose ripples resembled the view of the Sicilian coast from the little town where his mother was born.
“Naw, Rich. I got you.” Louis Broward nodded as he leaned back in his brown leather office chair while conducting a video meeting with his boss on his MacBook. “I’ve had a chance to glance over all the files. There shouldn’t be an issue at all. I’ll update everything in the system for you as I go.”
Louis had been working for the country’s top underground company of assassins, The Nation, for over two years. He was a member of The Elite, a group of the most exclusive, top-priced, high-quality assassins within the company that included highly trained assassins who specialized in multiple defensive tactics, weaponry of all sorts, and several martial art forms. With Rich working as his immediate supervisor and instructor, Louis successfully completed over a hundred assignments in the previous year and boasted a one hundred percent success rate.
Louis was introduced to the company by Orlando Cochran and Antonio Payne, two of his closest friends and former members of The Elite. Not long after, he suffered the devastating loss of his best friend, Terrance Morris and his girlfriend, Ebonii Faulkner, at the hands of the company in a brazen attempt to prevent Antonio from retiring from his life of murderous deeds. Within a few months, he also endured the death of another friend, Tamerika King, who was brutally beaten by her then-current boyfriend and later succumbed to the injuries she sustained from the assault while also losing her unborn child.
An only child, Louis was raised without his father who was killed during Operation Desert Storm, and he grew up clinging to his mother until breast cancer’s lethal carriage swooped down to take her as well. Louis’ entire life was filled with the pains of loss and grief, and for the past two years, he spent every waking hour focusing on taking the same precious things stolen from him throughout his life from other people. Hired mostly by high-powered attorneys, law enforcement, and prosecutors throughout the country, those employed by The Nation were deliverers of retribution, specializing in the repayment of pain. Louis learned to summon the ghosts of his deepest sorrows and most gaping wounds of agony to lend their hands in the distribution of justice to those who ran from her scales and her staff.
“I appreciate it. Man, I’ll tell you, Louis. It was a whole lot of work and a huge pain in the ass to get all those old files entered when the company decided to go digital, but I must say, it’s made things incomparably easier in the long run.” Rich removed his glasses and leaned back in his own chair.
“It’s definitely made it safer, if anything. There’s no more carrying around, keeping up with, and destroying files when we’re done,” Louis agreed.
“There’s also less foot traffic in and out the office. I can’t begin to explain how dangerous having hitmen coming and going from such a large office building truly was. This new method keeps y’all as unseen and as anonymous as possible, which is such a relief,” Rich confessed.
“I would think it also means fewer pop-up visits, broken doors, and shattered windows,” Louis remarked with a smirk and raised brow.
“For the record, I believe Orlando and Antonio were the only agents in the history of the company to pull a stunt like that and get away with it, and honestly, they only got away with their shenanigans because two-thirds of the company were afraid of them,” Rich attempted to clarify.
“Mehhh.” Louis shrugged. “That, and they killed half the best agents in the company,” he mumbled and overly enthusiastically added, “But hey! Go off or whatever!”
“I mean, honestly, yes, you’re right,” Rich admitted, “but of course, the company doesn’t want people to know that. Other agents could get the wrong impression and think if they throw a big enough hissy fit they’ll get their way, which is simply not the case. I assure you if any other agent stormed into any office, not just Bill’s, defaced company property, disobeyed direct orders, and kidnapped a higher ranking official, believe me, they’d no longer be with us, and that includes both this company and this side of Heaven.”
“Oh, I’m quite sure,” Louis agreed while running his hand down his face with a nod and a heavy sigh.
“This is in addition to the fact I know they must’ve killed poor Bill.”
“Come on, Rich. It’s been two years since all that shit went down, man. We can’t keep having the same conversation. You keep trying, and I keep telling you there’s no information to get out of me. I don’t know if those niggas killed Bill or not. All I know is there’s a-whole-nother motherfucker in his office now, and that nigga plays by the rules. That’s all I need to know.”
“He’s Italian,” Rich stated.
“What the fuck does that have to do with anything?” Louis frowned.
“You called him a… well, you know, but he’s Italian.”
“‘Nigga’ doesn’t just apply to Black folks, Rich. It’s universal. He’s a cool-ass motherfucker. He’s my nigga,” Louis explained with a smirk at Rich’s pained winces he gave every time he used the slang racial slur.
“Yes, yes, be that as it may, Bill was highly valuable to the company, and he has failed to make an appearance since his abduction two years ago, so I believe it’s pretty safe to say Orlando and Antonio liquidated that company asset.”
“It’s also safe to say I want no parts of this conversation, and yet, here we are.” Louis shrugged dramatically.
“Really, Louis? Really?” Rich huffed in exasperation. “Just drop the files back off when you’re done.”
“Negative, Rich. I’ll update them in the system, though, being there’s no paper file to drop off.”
“You know what I meant, smart ass! Just get it done, Louis. Would ya?”
“I always do, Rich,” Louis assured him with an obviously fake smile.
“Oh, cut it out. You love it. You know you do, and you’ve gotten terribly good at it, too. Your creativity in concocting unusual and peculiar ways to remove all signs of life from any living being is impressive, and your particular proclivity for it has actually become the talk of the company. Oh, yes, yes.” Rich nodded in response to the surprised expression on Louis’ face. “They’ve sensationalized it quite a bit, but the facts still remain. You’re quite the celebrity within the company. Of course, you must’ve known this by now. I’m sure there’s been no shortage of sexually starved femme fatales prowling around in hunt of an even more sensational experience with the Hellhound.” Rich winked at Louis knowingly and chuckled.
“Nah, man. I don’t fool with these corporate hoes. That’s all they are: workplace whores. I don’t have time for ‘em. They do half the work and still think they’re just as good as you, and they act like they’re better than you, too. They treat you like they’re doing you a favor. I don’t want no bitch who thinks she’s giving me pity pussy. I don’t need a hoe’s pity or her pussy.”
“What are you doing for ass, or are you out here going through a drought?”
“Some of my most creative jobs were conjured up during droughts, Rich.” Louis snickered. “But seriously, I catch an occasional one-night stand, hit it and quit it. You know? I just need to get my rocks off. That’s all. I ain’t searching for love out here.”
“Love is a dangerous drug in our line of work. Girlfriends and wives are nothing but liabilities and added worries. That’s why I understood when Antonio decided to leave. I didn’t like it, but I understood it. My suggestion to you is to keep it moving. Fuck buddies are convenient and much safer, but feelings are bound to get involved eventually, and that’s not what you need. If you’re not going to spend the rest of your life with them, don’t spend too much time with them at all. It’s like making a pet out of a pig you plan to slaughter.”
“Nah, Rich,” Louis denied with a sigh and an insistent shake of his head. “My heart’s been broken one too many times. I stick ‘em and kick ‘em these days. I ain’t got time for love. Fuck love. I’m too busy getting this money and dragging these muhfuckas back to where they came from by their ankles.”
“That’s my guy! That’s why I gave you your name.”
“I seriously do be on some drag me to hell type shit.” Louis chuckled while dropping and shaking his head at the thought of his own antics. “Hellhound was a perfect fit.”
“I must agree with you. You’re definitely living up to your name. I’ve never seen death delivered so viciously. It’s quite entertaining.”
“Y’all can’t be having as much fun watching it as I’ve been having while doing it.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’re absolutely right. If I didn’t have these gray hairs and bad back, I’d consider jumping back out into the water with you occasionally.”
“What do the gray hairs have to do with anything? There’s a whole ocean for you to jump into with us if you really wanted to.” Louis frowned at his boss, skeptical of his excuse.
“These grays are each an individual reminder of all the work I’ve put in over the years. A reminder I’ve already handled my fair share of Satan’s scrolls.”
“That may be true, but don’t let a few stray grays stop you from getting in on the action if you’re ever serious about getting your feet wet again.”
“No, no, Louis. I’ll leave all the fun stuff to you. My remaining days are to be spent confined to this desk and the left side of the bed while my wife sleeps peacefully and believes I’ve been counting beans and keeping books all day.” He chuckled at the mere inaccuracy of the lie he had been feeding her for years.
“Your wife thinks you’re an accountant?” Louis inferred. “What accountant gets paid seven figures a year?”
“She believes it because of the way my money is set up. I’ve got an account my checks from the company deposit into. I have scheduled transfers every two weeks from that account to my joint account with her which she believes to be my paychecks. When the first account accumulates over a certain amount, the bank automatically transfers half the balance to one of my five offshore accounts. Each account has a secondary name on it, so when I die, she and each of my kids will inherit their own account. Everybody will be taken care of,” he explained.
“I thought you and your wife only had two kids.”
“We only have two children. I have a total of four. Two boys and two girls. A son and a daughter who were products of my indiscretions. The wife doesn’t know anything about the other two, but believe me, I’ve been fully active in all my kids’ lives, and none of their mothers want for anything. I pay the cost to be the boss,” Rich bragged.
“And yet, you’re preaching to me about liabilities,” Louis huffed. “You’re out here with a girlfriend, a baby momma, and a wife on the side and telling me not to fall in love.”
“Love? I don’t love these hoes.” Rich chortled with a fake southern vernacular. “I love my seeds, but these hoes ain’t loyal. All them bitches can suck my—"
“Okay! Okay! That’s enough, Rich. I think that’s it for this call today, don’t you think?”
“Hey, man! I’m just stating big facts. You know? Spitting truth, putting that energy out into the universe.”
“Okay, well I’m about to come through this screen and put my foot out into your black hole. I’ve got work to do, so let me hop on these files. I’ll submit the tickets shortly. Invoices coming soon, Rich. Bye.” Louis rushed Rich off their call and abruptly disconnected.
“If he keeps playing with me, I’mma drag his ass to hell too,” Louis mumbled while closing his MacBook and shaking his head. “Niggas, mane. Niggas.”
He stood and stretched while glancing around his home office. The book of James Baldwin’s later novels he was reading while awaiting Rich’s call rested on his desk bookmarked half-way through “If Beale Street Could Talk.” Heaving a heavy sigh, he resolved to grab dinner before diving face-first into the full plate of assignments Rich gave him from locations scattered across the country.