Over twenty days ago, Hunter had been contracted by the female assassin Perkins.
He had accompanied her to Arizona, to a desert town near the US-Mexico border, to ambush an arms dealer who was being escorted by an elite US Department of Defense squad.
Caught up in the thrill of the kill, Hunter had used a sniper rifle to shoot the pilot of the DoD extraction helicopter, causing it to crash in a fiery explosion.
The incident caused a massive uproar. The military and federal agencies swarmed the area, forcing Hunter and Perkins to flee across the border into Mexico and lay low.
Eventually, Perkins returned to the US.
Hunter, however, had to be much more cautious. He was the one who pulled the trigger on the American military pilot. The heat on his trail was intense.
But the Continental Hotel truly had eyes and hands everywhere.
Shortly after Hunter and Perkins crossed into Mexico, Cole, the proxy concierge of the Los Angeles Continental, contacted Hunter directly.
Cole asked Hunter for confirmation: had he actually shot down the military helicopter?
When Hunter gave a definitive "yes," Cole assured him the Hotel would "smooth things over" and make the federal investigation disappear.
However, such high-level interference didn't come cheap.
Hunter had to pay a heavy price. He could either pay in Continental gold coins—Cole estimated the cost at no less than twenty coins—or he could complete a high-tier assassination contract for the Hotel, completely free of charge.
At the time, Hunter had only been affiliated with the Continental for a little over a month. While he had completed a few jobs, he hadn't amassed anywhere near twenty gold coins.
So, while Cole presented it as a choice, Hunter really only had one option.
Fortunately, the transmigrated Hunter wasn't exactly burdened by a strict moral compass. He didn't mind killing a few more targets to clear his tab with the High Table. It just meant he wouldn't get paid for this specific hit.
Hunter had accepted the terms without complaint.
The Continental worked fast.
While Sam was eating her meal in the bedroom, Hunter pulled out his secure Continental-issued laptop, plugged it in, and booted it up.
Within moments, the encrypted dossier for his target appeared on the screen.
Hunter skimmed the information rapidly, his eyes taking in ten lines at a time. After committing the details to memory, he closed the laptop and began to formulate a plan.
It was quite a coincidence.
The target the Continental had assigned him was currently living in seclusion right here on Paradise Island.
The man's name was Max.
He was a legendary master thief who had operated across Europe and the US for over a decade. He had successfully stolen priceless artifacts, diamonds, and art from the homes of the world's most elite billionaires and socialites.
In terms of reputation within the criminal underworld, Max was considered even more skilled than Charlie Croker (the protagonist of The Italian Job).
According to the dossier, about a year ago, Max had successfully stolen a legendary artifact right out from under the heavy protection of the FBI.
Following that ultimate heist, he had retired. He traveled to the Bahamas, bought a luxury property on Paradise Island, and had been living a quiet, secluded life ever since.
But over his decade-long career, Max had made a lot of very powerful, very angry enemies.
The billionaires whose priceless jewels and antiques he had stolen hadn't forgiven him just because he announced his retirement.
Through relentless, heavily funded investigations, some of these angry elites had finally tracked Max down.
While they lacked hard evidence to legally prove he was the phantom thief, the billionaires didn't care about the law. They pooled their money and contacted the High Table.
They issued a massive bounty to the Continental, requesting an assassin to eliminate the man they suspected of stealing their treasures.
The Continental's own intelligence network had subsequently confirmed it: the man living quietly on Paradise Island was indeed the infamous international thief, Max.
Hunter processed the information, a sense of awe creeping in.
"I underestimated the Continental's reach," he thought.
"To suppress the investigation of a downed US military helicopter just like that... and to have an intelligence network deep enough to locate a retired master thief hiding in the Bahamas."
The realization made Hunter warier of the High Table and the Continental.
In his past life, he had watched the John Wick movies and knew the organization was powerful. But seeing it on screen was one thing; experiencing its terrifying, invisible influence in reality was another.
The dossier provided by the Hotel was meticulous. It included high-resolution photos of Max and his exact address on Paradise Island.
What amused Hunter was the target's face.
The international thief "Max" looked exactly like the actor Pierce Brosnan (who played James Bond alongside Hunter's favorite action star, Michelle Yeoh, in Tomorrow Never Dies).
Hunter figured this meant the target was likely a character from another heist movie he hadn't seen or couldn't quite remember the plot of. (Note: This refers to the movie 'After the Sunset', starring Pierce Brosnan as a retired master thief named Max living in the Bahamas).
Not that it mattered.
He had already killed the protagonist of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Adding a retired master thief to his body count was just another day at the office.
With the plan forming in his head, Hunter returned to the bedroom.
Sam was clearly ravenous. The tray he had brought her was already empty.
Taking advantage of his brief absence, the sexy girl had slipped into the en-suite bathroom to shower.
Listening to the sound of running water, Hunter resisted the urge to go in and join her.
He knew he had pushed her to her physical limits last night. He understood that too much pressure right now could cause her to pull away emotionally. He wouldn't touch her again until evening. Let her rest.
Instead, Hunter walked out onto the balcony and dialed the number Amanda had given him.
He figured he owed his temporary "partner" a friendly warning.
The phone rang for a long time before someone finally picked up.
Amanda's panicked, breathless voice immediately hissed through the speaker.
"Are you insane?! I asked you to cause some trouble for Bryce, maybe rough him up! I didn't tell you to have him killed!"
Yes. Bryce, Jared's "lawyer" friend, was dead. Hunter had eliminated him earlier that morning.
Clearly, Amanda and Jared had just discovered the body.
Knowing that Amanda's mind-control conditioning from the [Reproduction] skill would prevent her from directly exposing him, Hunter still wasn't going to leave any verbal evidence tying him to the murder.
"I didn't kill him," Hunter lied smoothly, his tone utterly calm.
"Jared has a rival here. A local salvage boss named Bates. Bates has his eyes on Jared."
"You need to be careful. Bates has dozens of armed men working for him."
He paused, adding a final piece of advice. "Don't be greedy, Amanda. Take the hundred grand I gave you and get on a plane. Today."
Having delivered his warning, Hunter hung up.
As for what Amanda chose to do next, that was her problem.
He was going to wipe out Bates and his crew before leaving the Bahamas anyway. He just hoped Amanda didn't get herself caught in the crossfire before then.
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