Raymond Benson - 2012 - Hitman: Damnation Read Online Free PDF Page B

it, make contact with Diana, and then the two
would join forces against the Agency. Travis didn’t put it past Diana to turn
the ICA’s most valuable asset.
                 Travis
picked up Agent 47’s dossier and scanned it again. He knew everything about the
assassin, but the manager had never met him. The hitman’s exploits were legendary, though. Travis looked forward to the day when he could
shake 47’s hand and welcome him back to the team. If they
could find him. If he would come willingly.
                 An interesting case, Agent 47. The world’s greatest assassin
was “created” in a Romanian mental asylum as a clone from the DNA of Dr. Otto
Ort-Meyer and four other men. Born on September 5, 1964, Agent 47 was tagged
with the identity 640509-040147 by a tattoo on the back of his neck and raised
with other “Series IV” clones by the asylum’s staff. Along with the other
clones, 47 was trained from youth to kill efficiently.
Instructed in the use of firearms, military hardware, and more-classic tools of
assassination, the clone could wield virtually any weapon with ease.
                 After
thirty years of relentless training, 47 allegedly killed a security guard and
escaped from the asylum grounds. Some said that he didn’t escape but rather
perhaps was allowed to leave, unleashing the world’s greatest assassin.
                 The
rest, as they say, was history. At least the parts that were
known.
                 As
far as the hitman’s personality went, there wasn’t
much documented. Agent 47 had expensive tastes in clothing, food, and drink,
but otherwise he had little interest in material possessions. He took great
pride in his personal arsenal: a briefcase containing two customized AMT Hardballers . The assassin said very little, but when he
did, he usually spoke in a blunt, informal, and emotionless manner. He wasn’t
known to have an interest in sex. And while Agent 47 was extremely reliable and
a perfectionist in what he did for a living, the man trusted no one. Except, possibly, Diana Burnwood .
                 Travis
wondered if that conviction was still strong, given what had happened to 47 in
the Himalayas.
                 Spotted
in Jamaica, was he? Maybe it was true. Did Agent 47 know where Diana was
hiding? Had they been in touch? After all, the hitman and his handler had a unique and special relationship. If anyone could get
close—personally—to Agent 47, it was Diana.
                 But
the woman hadn’t been seen or heard from for a year. Neither
had Agent 47, for that matter. He had gone off the grid after their last
assignment together. At first the Agency thought the assassin was dead, but 47
unwittingly left bread crumbs indicating he’d survived the disaster in Nepal.
The Agency spent months tracking him, but 47 was clever and elusive. He didn’t
want to be found.
                 Which was why Travis worried that the hitman and Diana were in cahoots. That could be a deadly combination—for him.
                 He
clenched his fists and banged them hard on the table. Jade had to be right
about the lead. If the Agency could get its hands on Agent 47 and recruit him
back into the organization, Travis had a chance to fulfill his ambition, finish
his pet project, and turn 47 against the one person in the world the assassin
trusted.
                 FOUR
                 Helen
McAdams shut down her computer and put away the news clippings in one of the
many folders marked “Media Publicity.” Her boss wanted everything that was written
about him documented and archived. Another assistant, George, duped television
appearances. Yet another one scoured the Internet and saved bloggers’ and
message-board comments—good or bad. Charlie Wilkins, leader of the Church of
Will, was a man who documented his life on a daily basis. In the future, he
liked to say, someone would