Wren
Ch. 31
Rich woke up the following morning feeling refreshed, and ready to execute his plan. He went downstairs and made himself breakfast, three eggs and a few sausages, and sat down to eat. Once he had finished, he got up, leaving his plate where it was, and walked to the door to find a note had been slipped under it. He picked it up and read it
Your next target is in the town square. Six feet, five inches, with long brown hair and a beard. Good luck getting it somewhere alone so you can kill it, let alone overpowering it once you do.
– Wren
Rich smiled, this played exactly into his plan. Wren wouldn’t even realize what he was doing until it was too late. He went back upstairs, got dressed for the occasion, and then headed out the door towards the town square. It was unseasonably warm that day, Rich was glad he didn’t wear a coat. He took his time getting to the square, taking in the sights of his home town, the town whose name Wren had taken, had disrespected. He tried not to dwell on that though. He did his best to enjoy just existing in his city; he needed to save his anger for later. He heard a clock tower ring somewhere else in the city, and counted the chimes. It was three in the afternoon. Rich had woken up later than he thought. He wasn’t worried, he still had time.
Not much later, he arrived in the town square. It was packed. Wren could be any of these people. Not that it matters, it’s probably better if they’re watching. He went from stall to stall, looking for the target. It was taking a while, it didn’t seem to be working any of the stalls, but there were plenty of pushy salespeople who were vying for Rich’s attention, and cash, anyway. After about an hour and a half of searching, Rich decided to give himself a short rest, he went and sat on the edge of the fountain in the middle of the town square. After a few minutes of contemplation, he looked up to see the target, sitting directly across from him, on a bench facing the fountain. Rich weighed his options for a few moments before deciding to go with the simplest one. He got up, walked over to the target, and said “Come with me if you want to live.”
“Who the fuck are you?”
“Do you want to live or not?”
“You have to give me more to work from than that.”
“Someone’s extorting me to kill you. I’d rather not, but they’re somewhere watching. If we can get out of here, we can keep you alive.”
“Do you have even the slightest bit of proof of this?”
“Well I could just do what they want and kill you, or you could come with me and probably live.”
“It seems I don’t have much choice in the matter. Where are you taking me?”
“Somewhere safer. I can’t say any more, the blackmailer may be listening.”
“Okay, let’s go.” The target got up and they headed off towards Rich’s intended destination.