Karl, who had paused in his violence for a moment, was taking in their exchange with a passing interest and a crooked smile. As Toni\'s livid eyes settled on him, he was struck by the memory of another female. One he had seen grow through the innocence of youth into an attractive young woman. One of the only women in his life he had ever fallen for, and the daughter of his employer\'s number one enemy. It had raised some interesting issues he\'d thought himself impervious to, but he had kept her a secret from the Polanskis all those years he had known her father. On what should have been the death of her father and brother, he had planned to return to her as a shoulder to cry on, and foster a relationship out of her grief. It would have been the only way he could have what he wanted without alerting either party to his real inentions. However, that particular plan had been scuppered by the man very much alive in front of him, Janet\'s brother, Nick Trestler. If he had taken Ryder\'s bullet, Janet would have been his.

Hard Russian features crinkled into a grimace at that thought, and seriousness took its usual place as he cocked the hammer on the gun.

“I wonder if he knows?” Karl muttered as he bent to aim, driven to bitterness at something he would never have chance to enjoy. He cast a glance askance at his employer ignoring the firey, barbed looks his female captive was giving , “that I\'d have screwed his sister once he was dead.\"

He tensed up for the shot as he turned back, his gaze following the grayed metal of the gun\'s line of sight.

In those scant couple of seconds before he had chance to pull the trigger, the figure in front of him shifted. He caught the blur of movement, a metallic glint in flesh arcing out from under what he had foolishly presumed to be an unconscious body. The word ‘bastard’ carried to his ears on the snarled breath of his intended mark, a second before the crack of the firing pin in the Sig 226. Karl couldn\'t take in the air fast enough to gasp as his skull imploded inwards, a gory path carved by the suck of energy the spinning 9mm gold-plated slug left.

Nick watched the Russian\'s stunned face fall backwards like a cardboard cut out just nudged over, the impact of his bullet the less than gentle push that sent him down. Half way through the fall, the man\'s control over his limbs slackened and he buckled into a corpse on the concrete, a bloody streak dribbling from the bone-splintered cavity just off the centre of his nose.

Ignoring the cry of his nerves as his body registered the damage done by the fallen mercenary\'s polished shoe tips, Nick swung his gun once more. Jay\'s vivid blue eyes, lost in the darkness of the shadows on his face came to rest on Nick\'s own. His body stayed mostly concealed behind Toni’s, one well honed arm round her waist, the other outstretched over her shoulder, propping up the gun he held.

Nick drew in a haggard breath, fighting back the screeching pain in his sides, and gingerly rolled onto his back, his right hand finally coming to steady his left on the weapon as he aimed between his legs at Jay\'s face. For just a moment, nothing but the giant waxy fronds of the nearby palm trees moved in the warm breeze. Even the din of the city seemed to simmer to nothing but a static buzz, as if the gravity of Karl Rollinger\'s sudden death had just sunk in and a newfound respect was due the younger Trestler lying bloodstained and grimacing on the ground.

The creased grin that formed on Jay’s face broke the reverie.

“Smooth, Trestler, very smooth. You’re the first to get Karl off balance. The only man to kill him. Congratulations.”

-----------------

I love this picture for two reasons, one, it\'s of my main protagonist Nick, finally exacting revenge on Karl, the man who betrayed his father\'s trust. And two, it was the first ever picture where I made use of the wonderful *jademacalla\'s stock pictures. Who\'d have thought so far down the line it would have led to what I consider a dear friendship and loads more awesome collaborations on both his projects and mine.

Pencil on regular paper. One note: the silencer was on the original stock picture, before I preferred being more accurate to the text, so strictly speaking it shouldn't be in the picture, but artistic license says it looks better than without.

Characters and Hit the Floor © to Sam Hogg
Please do not redistribute or repost without my written permission.