How to Escape an Assassin

"Is this it? It's stunning! Tonight's gonna be epic, Milan!" Mirabai giggled as we pulled into the brick driveway of our beach house rental.

It was a Mediterranean style oceanfront with low-pitch terra cotta roofing, cream stucco finishing and large glass windows. Every square inch of the front yard was covered in tropical foliage. Mirabai skipped giddily up the vibrant flagstone walkway, her yellow polka dot dress swaying majestically in the wind, the bright sunshine highlighting her luminous espresso skin. She turned to beam at me with her jolly, wide-mouthed smile as I dragged my feet behind her.

"When you arrive, you can find the front door key in the mailbox. The passcode to open the mailbox is 91360," I read aloud from the property listing's arrival instructions on my phone.

There was a small electronic mailbox beside the stronghold-style front door. Mirabai keyed in the passcode and retrieved the keys to open the door.

We entered the beach house and took in our surroundings. Mirabai innocently surveilled our surroundings simply to admire the aesthetic qualities. I, however, was inspecting the house's layout in consideration of my plan with Eoin and Zuleika tonight.

The large symmetrical living room had a sloping ceiling, large arched windows, and beige and walnut colored sofas and chairs that faced a built-in fire pit. There were two entrances to the living room: an east-facing hall and a south-facing hall. The south hall led to the front door, kitchen and dining room. The east hall led to an indoor sunroom and a staircase to the second floor.

I walked through the living room to the east hall, intent on checking the second floor's layout.

"Hold on, girlie!" Mirabai stopped me with a laugh. "I know you're excited, but let's get the bags from the car first!"

"Oh, right."

"You're so tense, Milan. You'll definitely need to have a few drinks to loosen up."

I sighed, shaking my head.

We made a few trips to the car to get the bags that held our clothes, party games, and snacks. Although we would only be staying for one night, I packed enough clothes to last me for a week. I had a bad habit of over-packing.

"Okay babe, let's turn up the music!" Mirabai connected her phone to the speaker and started her playlist.

"I'm going to take a look upstairs," I told Mirabai casually before jogging up to the second floor. The arched ceilings with exposed beams sat high above the spacious hallways and bedrooms. I checked the linen closet and the attic hatch to find an ideal hiding space for Eoin and Zuleika. My search was interrupted by the sound of soft knocking on the master bedroom window.

I walked over and opened the window to see no one there. I peeked my head out and looked around for a few seconds, then three masked figures dressed in black came into view holding a ladder. It was Eoin and Zuleika, and apparently they brought another Linx member with them.

They climbed the ladder into the bedroom. I ran over to the door and locked it to make sure Mirabai didn't accidentally walk in on our meeting.

"Hey," Eoin greeted. "You've met Zuleika already, and this is our friend Scotty. Scotty, meet Milan. She's cooperating with us to complete this job today."

"Hi everyone. Nice to meet you Scotty," I greeted. It was going to be difficult for me to tell them apart, because they had similar builds and statures.

"Your friend is downstairs?" Eoin asked.

"Yeah, she is. She doesn't know about any of this," I explained.

"Good. Here's the plan," Eoin said. "Our team is going to need to scope out the place first and install some hidden mics and cameras. Give us 6 minutes, no more. Maybe you can take your friend in the backyard while we do that. How long until the assassins get here?"