[kominbhai]

"Why did you shoot him?" asked Moses as he rushed to the scene.

"I had to. He had a gun. I warned him twice," Officer Scott replied.

Moses leaned over, examined the man's neck and remarked, "He's dead."

New York. April 20th. Thursday.
Chris glanced at his black digital watch. 1933 hrs. Time to get to business. He took a bottle of yellow medicine out from the dashboard of his car. Rubbing his chin with his left hand, he turned on the audio player.

"What's the habit you have always wished to get rid off?" Chris asked.

"I always forget to close my room," Mike joked.

Chris chuckled hearing the CD. He drove off to the hotel where his news channel’s anniversary celebration was being held. Through the speakers came Chris' recorded interview with the great Mike Murphy. It was some time ago...

Los Angeles. March 24th. Thursday. 0918 hrs.
"Mr.Murphy is very particular about being on time. And he would be pleased with you. You are 10 minutes early," Hans said.

"No one can miss the chance to interview the great Mike Murphy," Chris replied.

Hans smiled. That smile looked familiar. Chris thought.

"This way please." Chris followed Hans. Chris looked at his photographer Bryan for a moment. He was checking the lenses of his Nikon.

"Come on," Chris told Bryan.

"Yeah...I was just checking these."

"We don't want to miss this interview," Chris remarked.

"I do want to, but I don’t want to get fired."

Halfway through the interview, Mike insisted they stop and continue the rest the day after. "I love your articles. Your reporting is unique." Mike said.

"Thank you. And I have always been curious about your talk show. You have never predicted anything wrong. How is it possible?"

"I told you the interview is done for today, Chris. I would like you to have dinner with me tonight."

"I'd be honored, sir."

"I would like to talk to you in private. Off the record. So don’t bring Bryan along. Tell him to go down the beach and chase some skirts," Mike suggested.

"Will do, Mr. Murphy."

Mike lowered his voice and told Chris, "I know you have great aims in your life. Hans will have a seafood fiesta ready for you."

Steamed blue crab cakes with live mussels, mixed seafood grill and a fantastic whole cracked scampi with boiled scallops topped with Mediterranean olives and Brussel sprouts. Pouring some Veuve Clicquot into his crystal glass, Mike remarked, "I have something to tell you."

"Off the record, right?"

“Yes." Mike looked at his Man Friday Hans and said, "Off the record."

"Do you know that I used to be a novelist?"

Chris smiled."Yeah, you wrote a bestseller."

"Yeah. It brought me fame and money. That was seven years ago. But after that I wrote a couple of craps that were rejected by the public. Even Hans couldn't digest it."

"I know about that, Mike," Chris replied.

"It's all about the money. Whether it is novel writing or telling some crap 'prophecies'. It's all about the money."

Chris was silent for quite a while. "I'm sorry. I don't understand."

Chewing the Scampi leg, Mike said, "I thought you were smart."

Chris remained silent.

"Cuban friends in Cuba made the civil war in Cuba possible. Some terrorist friends around the world made things like that bomb blast in Morocco and things like that possible," Mike said drinking from his glass. "I need another bottle of Veuve Clicquot," He told Hans.

"Why are you telling me this?" Chris asked.

"We'll talk about that later. Now, I didn't disclose details about the other three predictions I made. Hans assassinated all of them. He's a good one." Mike paused, "Hitman, you know. But he is not bald."

Mike stared at Chris in his eyes. He sat motionless.

"Don't kill me," Chris said. His voice trembled. He feared the worst.

"I could have killed you if I wanted without telling you all this. I'm no sadist, I'm just a businessman. And I'm in no mood to confess to some kid journalist who makes a living out of interviewing people from the tinsel town"

"What do you want?" Chris asked. His voice trembled again.

"Have some courage, boy," Hans said. His gun, a desert eagle was tucked behind his blue jeans.

"I get ten million for my talk show containing details of my 'prophecies'. Media people are always in a frenzy for exciting pieces of news. My next prophecy is that a leading news company CEO will commit suicide. I will give you one million for the job."

"Please make it clear, Mr. Murphy." Chris said.

"You should just assist us in killing your boss Ms. Bonnie. She is a pain on all your employees. You should be happy to get rid of her."

Chris looked at Hans. "I can’t do that."

"Please Chris. Make some money." Mike said.

"I'm sorry, Mike. I can’t go about killing people..." He paused, "...like you."

"But Hans can," Mike said. Hans smiled at Chris. The familiar wicked smile.

"I always can. I didn't even mind cleaning up the Mayor’s whole family to create the tragic car accident in New York that lingered on all paper headlines last month. Not even his three year old daughter."

"Then why don't Hans do it himself?"

"The risks are too high for an outsider to get too close to Ms. Bonnie. That's why," Hans snapped.

"It is a safe, full proof plan, Chris. Is two million a deal?" Mike asked drinking from his glass.

Chris remained silent for awhile. "When will I get the money?" He asked.

Mike smiled. "Now we are talking business."

After Chris left, Mike told Hans, "Brief that kid with the plan." He lowered his voice and said. "And kill him after the work is done."

Hans smiled.

"Let his car suddenly explode when he opens the door. Presence of gasoline containers in his car. Let him smoke cigarettes to his illegal death." Mike suggested.


23 days to executing the plan
Hans met Chris the following Tuesday to brief him on the plan. Gregory's Outlet was not the quietest place in town. But Hans chose it to detail the plan to Chris.

"Crowded places are the most secretive," Hans revealed.

"I'll have a medium rare steak with no butter and less seasoning," Chris told the waiter.

"I'll just have a plain coffee. 3 sugar. 2 milk."

Hans grinned. "Mike told you the bill is on me."

"What is the plan?"

"Ms. Bonnie suffers from severe cough, eh?"

"Yes. But she is taking some medication for that," Chris replied.

Taking a bottle of yellow medicine out from his coat pocket, Hans said, "The medicine which she drinks to reduce her disease."
"I don't see how it helps us in our plan."

"This medicine forms a potentially lethal combination when mixed with alcohol. She accidentally mixes the medicine in her drink during the 29th anniversary of your news channel XTV-24 to be held three weeks after."

Hans remained silent when the waiter brought in the ordered items.

"Enjoy your meal, Chris."

"Waiter! I need more sugar!"


Present Day
Chris headed to the hotel where the function was being held. Ms. Bonnie saw Chris and came near him. "How are you enjoying the third decade of this news channel, Chris?"

"Well, I'm having a terrible time. The place is crazy."

"You're giving us a terrible time, too."

The CEO was holding her glass of rum. She kept it on the glass table. "I can't agree on your current salary, Chris. We need to talk about that."

"There are a lot of news shows who would want me on their channel for double this salary."

He had no problem in pouring the yellow medicine to Ms. Bonnie's drink.

"Well you should have some respect for the channel that made you this famous."

Chris smiled. "It is not about the channel. It's about my gift. I was bred to be famous," He said.

Bonnie drank from her glass. Chris watched the liquid transcend through her throat to down below.

"I'll just make a round in this place," Chris said, putting his hands in his coat.

"We need to talk, Chris."

A few minutes later, Bonnie fainted. Seeing the commotion, Chris walked near. She was dead. He walked out of the building into his car. He unlocked the car and opened the door.

* * * * *

"The latest prediction by famous prophet Chris Holden has again come true. Chris had predicted the death of a famous media head and astonishingly, the person who met with the death was Chris's own boss Ms. Bonnie. Doctors have confirmed that her death was an accident. She seems to have accidentally mixed her medicine with her drink and consuming the lethal mix caused her death. The media world is shocked by the famous woman leader's death. There…"

Chris switched off the television and smiled.


55 weeks ago
LA March 28th, Tuesday, Gregory's Outlet

"What is the plan?"

"This medicine forms a potentially lethal combination when mixed with alcohol. She accidentally mixes the medicine in her drink during the 29th anniversary of your news channel XTV-24 to be held the week after."

Hans remained silent when the waiter brought in the ordered items.

"Enjoy your meal, Chris."

"Waiter! I need more sugar!"

Hans winked at Chris and smiled.

That smile looked familiar. It reminded him of his photographer Bryan.

"This is your gun. Desert Eagle, the same one as Hans'. Make sure you kill him."

"Don’t worry, Chris," said the fake beard and wig sporting Bryan who looked much similar to Hans, especially when he smiled.

"Keep smiling, Bryan."

"I look pretty good in this grey shirt and black jeans."

Hans was in the veranda of the hotel room. Mike was in the living room. Bryan got in the elevator and loaded his weapon. Officer Scott saw 'Hans' and spotted the gun through the security camera in the elevator.

"We have a situation here, Moses! Call 911!"

Room 234. Mike heard the room being opened. Bryan took out the gun and fired. He fired 2 shots. One hit Mike's left ear and the other his left neck. He was killed instantly. Bryan dropped his gun in the living room and swiped the card to room 236, directly opposite to room 234 and entered in.

Hans came in hearing the gunshot. He found that Mike was dead. He took out his gun and got out of the room into the hallway of the hotel.

"Drop your gun now!" Officer Scott shouted.

"Someone killed Mike Murphy and I'm going to find him."

"Drop the weapon now!" Scott shouted again.

Scott shot Hans in his head. He fell down dead.

"Why did you shoot him?" asked Moses as he rushed to the scene.

"I had to. He had a gun. I warned him twice," Scott replied.

Moses leaned over, examined the man's neck and remarked, "He's dead."

Hans lay dead in his black jeans and grey shirt.

* * * * *

Bryan poured Veuve Clicquot into his glass and gave his toast.

"Cheers to Mike Murphy for giving us a great idea for making easy money."

Chris switched off the television and smiled. "Cheers to Hans for hatching up a plan to kill a famous media head. It did work for the 30th XTV-24 anniversary, although not for its 29th."

"Do you know that I used to be a novelist?"

Chris smiled."Yeah, you wrote a bestseller."

"Yeah. It brought me fame and money. That was seven years ago. But after that I wrote a couple of craps that were rejected by the public. Even Hans couldn't digest it."

"I know about that, Mike," Chris replied.

"It's all about the money. Whether it is novel writing or telling some crap 'prophecies'. It's all about the money."

Chris was silent for a while.

"I'm sorry. I don't understand."

Chewing the Scampi leg, Mike said, "I thought you were smart."

* * * * *

the end

* * * * *

"Chris, who is this Joe Davis award winner who will die in an accident this week as per your new prediction?" Bryan asked.

"Where are you now?" Chris asked, after being silent for a while.

"I'm driving home."

"I thought this call would be from Tom," Chris remarked.

"Tom?"

"Yes, my truck driver friend."

Bryan remained silent for a while. "What are you planning, Chris?"

Breaking the silence, Chris said, "Unofficial reports confirm that this years Joe Davis award for photography is for you."

"Why are you doing this?" Bryan asked. His voice trembled with fear.

Chris heard a huge crashing sound. He disconnected his phone.

"It's all for the money, Bryan," he said.

Tom got out of the truck and saw that Bryan's car was fully wrecked. Bryan was dead. He was about to call Chris when he saw a police car come towards the accident scene. It came close to Tom. The officer lowered his window and asked, "What the hell happened here? Come closer, Mister."

As Tom came closer, he was shot in his right forehead.

"Chris, this is Scott. Tom committed suicide due to frustration after the accident."

Chris smiled.

* * * * *

"Why did you shoot him?" asked Moses as he rushed to the scene.

"I had to. He had a gun. I warned him twice," Scott replied.

Moses leaned over, examined the man's neck and remarked, "He's dead."

"Call the ambulance, Moses."

Scott replaced the Desert Eagle used to kill Mike with Mike's original gun as Moses was making the call. "Take the surrounding room occupants to the hotel lobby, we need to question them," Scott told Moses.

Bryan was taken out of room 236. He was wearing a suit. Scott entered the room and flushed away the pile of burnt cloth.

[Thalenchar]

Great story, I love the fragmentation you use. Very interesting to follow who does what and who is playing who. I must admit at times I thought it was a bit hard to follow though. Especially the part where you say it's 55 weeks earlier. Is that really supposed to happen over a year before? Doesn't look like it, reading what happens. It kinda threw me off.
And maybe you could do with a little more explaining in certain spots. Who is Mike exactly? Why does Bryan have to die? How / why do Chris and Bryan decide to kill Mike and Hans, and where does Scott come in? I like the double-crossing, but sometimes the reason why isn't clear enough to me.

I liked the story alot though

[Randomgold]

This is the kind of story that's just begging to be made into a movie script. With everything that's going on in this story, I wouldn't be surprised if I saw this story in the credits of a murder movie a few years down the road. That being said, I did enjoy it very much, but you do need a few clarification's about the characters and their relationships with each other, particularly those that appear regularly in the story. I do like the backwards storytelling you used in the beginning, but I feel that with the feel of your story, you should limit it to the flashbacks, and the very beginning, as you'll be covering everything else that you show in the beginning later on. Keep working on it, and it'll be great.

[kominbhai]

Thanks for the thoughtful comments.

A lot of readers would probably feel cheated by the hidden facts in the narration that is revealed only towards the end. In fact, this is more of a visceral thriller than intellectual. I would try to improvise on that aspect in my next story (hopefully).
About the underdeveloped characters, I thought the characters and the relationships between them were developed as far as the story demanded. Yeah, I could have given some more detail but then it would have been a longer story.