In three words: Quiet. Solemn. Unforgettable.
You see I started with the Russo family of the Italian Mafia when I was twenty-one. It wasn’t like I set out wanting to be one of them or even belong on the fringes. There are so many young men who emulate and idolize the Mafia as if they think it’s glamorous as portrayed in the movies.
True life is quite different.
The Mafia only seeks its own interests and follows the lead of the Boss or Don. He’s the one with absolute power. He’s the one who ultimately decides your fate.
But this post isn’t about what it’s like to be a part of the Mafia, it’s about taking a life. I’ve killed more people in my lifetime than I would like to admit with another about to be added to the tally.
Typically the marks I took out were people I didn’t know personally or have any attachment to. Sometimes I came in to finish what Christian, the Don’s son, had started. Don’t think Christian isn’t a killer because he’s the most unpredictable person I’ve ever encountered. Christian’s specialty is torture.
When I’m sent to do a kill, I don’t ask any questions–I execute. There are times I’ve had to plan to make it look like a random act that resulted in their death, there are times I’ve sniped from a distance, but also times I’m sent in to do the job up close.
I’m versatile in that I have the ability to get close and shoot a person barrel-to-skin, or I can snipe them from up to six hundred yards away. This was another aspect that led Christian to adopt my last name as a nickname–Hunter. He said it was proof of my life calling.
Anyway, when I pull the gun and the bullet leaves the barrel, there is an exhilaration and rush that comes with it. When that round penetrates your target–a once living, breathing individual–there is a dark essence to the air that threatens to suffocate you. I prefer not to stick around once the job’s done. Not that it really matters. Everything from that moment is embedded in the psyche for life. I recall the faces, the names, the situation, the smells, everything, for each of my hits. I don’t think I’ll ever forget.
Yet I’ve never lost sleep over a kill, at least not until now. You see, I’ve changed my ways. I used to be single and carefree. Now, I’m a husband and father. Contrasting to a time when I had nothing to lose, now everything is at stake.
Maybe you’re wondering how I even let things get this far, how I became connected with the Mafia in the first place. Well, that’s another question all together, and I answered it in my interview on Katie Jennings’ blog here.
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The above-noted piece is fictional and was written for promotional purposes. Raymond Hunter is the main character in Assassination of a Dignitary coming March 14th to Amazon for Kindle, and in April for print. Be sure to check out the full Assassination Blog Tour schedule here and enter for your chance to win!
Here’s the overview:
Raymond Hunter’s dark past has returned and demands one final favor. Now fifteen years later, settled as an accountant and family man, he assumed life would be calm. He thought wrong. The Italian mafia wants him back.
The directions were simple: Kill Governor Behler and be out for good.
This is an odd request since the mafia typically respects dignitaries, however, in order to protect his family he has no choice but to accept the job.
He picks the date and location—Niagara Falls, New York—two hundred and forty miles away. But by the time he returns home, he finds out the assassination attempt failed, his family has been kidnapped, and he has twenty-four hours to set things right if he wants to see them again.
With time running out, Raymond discovers the real reason they wanted Behler dead and finds out he’s placed himself and his family right in the middle of a mafia power struggle. What he doesn’t realize is that law enforcement is also closing in.
CAROLYN ARNOLD is the author of the best-selling Madison Knight Series, and the Brandon Fisher FBI Series. You can find out more about Carolyn and her novels online in the following places:
