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He gives me a confused look. "Won't that attract attention?"
"You really should have at least talked to Marco before you agreed to take this assignment. What do you think it is I do here, exactly?"
He shrugs his shoulders.
"I dunno, clean up?"
I take a moment to square my shoulders in front of him.
"And how well do you think I'll be able to clean up if I can't see anything?"
I can tell Tony isn't one of the smartest soldiers in our ranks.
"I dunno. I guess I figured you brought a flashlight or something."
I sigh and put my hands on his shoulders. He flinches.
"No, Tony. I don't just use a flashlight. Tell them to flip the power back on. The
last thing we need is utility workers coming out to the scene."
Tony nods and doesn't argue this time.
The hallway we are in is clearly a back passage behind the sanctuary. The church is old, and the stone floors combined with the worn wood feel cold and empty.
It feels like churches always feel to me. People always claim they can feel God's presence in places like this. All I ever feel is a profound sense of loneliness.
I run my fingers against the yellow Sony Walkman that is clipped into my belt. I never clean a scene without it.
"Alright," I say, turning to Tony. "Since you clearly haven't talked to Marco about what it is you're supposed to be doing here, I'll give you a little instruction. Wait here and watch the door. No one goes in or out. Understood?"
"Yes, boss," he says.
"Oh," I say just before I'm about to enter the sanctuary. "And unless it's an absolute emergency, don't disturb me while I'm working."
I don't wait for his reply. I'm itching to get started.
I never let anyone give me the details of a scene before I'm there to clean it up. It ruffled some feathers at the beginning of my cleaning career. People were worried about the risk. What if I left a body somewhere by accident or some shit like that?
What they didn't understand is that just by looking at the aftermath, the crime itself becomes clear to me. I can see how it all played out just from looking at where the bullets and bodies fell.
I fit my headphones into my ears, press the "Play" button on my Walkman, and push open the door to the sanctuary.
"Tainted Love" by Soft Cell fills my ears, and it is as if I am watching a movie of the crime play out the moment I take in the scene.
Our guy entered from the door I just went through, which meant the handle and likely the frame need cleaning. Starting from the back of the sanctuary, he walked up the center row of the pews. If he were smart, he wouldn't have touched the pews, which means I need to clean the tops of the pews.
"...Sometimes I feel I've got to run away..."
Just before he got to the first row, he stopped. The target entered the sanctuary from the confessional that was off to the right. Upon seeing the target, he knelt down in the first pew, as if he were praying.
And that's when the job got sloppy.
Instead of moving to the confessional like he was supposed to do, he tried to shoot the target from a kneeling position in the first pew.
Of course his first shot missed, along with the second and third, meaning there are stray casings and bullets that need to be located.
The target engaged him too, shooting into the pews twice. Two more casings. Two more bullet holes.
