The man shook his head and Lance pressed the gun against his knee. He put his finger on the trigger and was about to shoot when the man started to blab.

“All right, all right,” he said. “I’ll talk.”

“Who sent you?”

“A Russian.”

“What’s his name?”

“I don’t know his name.”

“How does he contact you?”

“Someone calls my phone. I don’t know who they are. I tried tracing the call and couldn’t do it. They give me a target, some details, and I make a hit. That’s it. After the job is done, I get the number of an offshore account. My pay is already in the account.”

“You’ve never met anyone? Never spoken face to face with anyone?”

“No.”

“Someone got you started.”

“That was years ago.”

“Who?”

“A woman.”

“A Russian woman?”

“Yes.”

“You gotta watch out for those,” Lance said.

“Yeah.”

“Describe her.”

“I don’t know. I don’t remember her.”

Lance pressed the gun against the man’s inner thigh, dangerously close to his balls.

“All right. All right,” the man said.

“Who was she?”

“She was attractive. Very attractive.”

“What else?”

“She came up to me in a bar. Dressed like a hooker. Got me to go to a hotel room with her.”

“Poor you.”

“It wasn’t like that. She played me."

“What happened?”

“She said they had shit on me.”

“What shit?”

“I was a cop back then. They knew some shit I was mixed up in.”

“What was it?”

The guy looked around.

“Eyes on me,” Lance said. “What was it?”

“Drug dealer shit. I was on the take. They knew more about it than I did.”

“So they had dirt on you?”

“Yeah. Dirt. They told me I’d go to jail if I didn’t do what they wanted.”

“So you agreed to kill for them?”

“I never agreed to anything. They started out giving me small jobs. But over the years they got bigger.”

Lance shook his head. “Tell me how a man goes from being a dirty cop to an assassin for the Russians.”

“It’s easier than you’d think.”

“All right,” Lance said. “So they told you to kill me?”

“Yes. I got a call.”

“When?”

“A few hours ago.”

“What did they say?”

“They said you were CIA. That you were trained. Dangerous. Probably armed.”

“And you came anyway?”

“I brought that other guy.”

“What else did they tell you about me?”

“I don’t know.”

“Think.”

“They said you were right handed.”

“What else?”

“Nothing else.”

“You want me to kill you now?” Lance said.

“What? No.”

“Make it easier for you. I thought you were a goner anyway.”

“I don’t know what I am.”

Lance shook his head. “What’s this country coming to?”

The man didn’t know. Lance looked at him. He was about Lance’s age. Similar height and weight. Similar features.

“This woman who recruited you,” he said.