A Particularly Odd Assignment

 

He sat down on the chesterfield. It was a real chesterfield, featuring aniline-dyed hand-tufted leather.
The man wearing the blue tinted glasses offered him first, a smoke, and second, a drink. The man seated on the chesterfield declined both offers graciously.

"There will be, of course, a very fair payment for your services." Blue tinted glasses spoke in a flat, low tone. "From what I understand, your usual payment is $200,000 US - I'll double that, plus a little extra for expenses. There is one small stipulation however."

Stretching his right arm along the back of the chesterfield, he looked up at the tall dark haired man and then at the clock that sat on the left side of the desk. It was 3:38 in the afternoon, and he had been in the company of blue tinted glasses since 10:30 this morning, when they had met for breakfast in the café near the bus station.

"Okay, It's been like, five hours already. The job is agreeable enough, the compensation even more so. Let's see this through - what's the stipulation?"

"It may seem a bit of a trifle to you Mr. Franklin, but it is a very important stipulation. This task I am hiring you for, it cannot be carried out until you receive word that I myself am dead."
 
Blaine Reed Franklin sat back a little deeper in the chesterfield and stared up at the man who was now staring back at him. What the hell could his death have to do with the job, and was he expecting to die anytime soon? $400,000 was a lot of money but how long did the man think it would  keep him in his employ?

"Mr. Franklin, the questions on your face are obvious and reasonable. I am due to be assassinated within the next two weeks - and my death is why I am hiring you. I cannot prevent my assassination, the professional contracted for the job is the best - present company excepted. And if he doesn't get the job done, then they'll just keep sending men until the job is done. That being the situation, I have decided I want my death avenged. That's all there is to it. Agreed?"

Blaine rehashed in his mind everything he had been told. He had no way of knowing if any of it was true. However, the tall man stood behind the desk with his right hand on a large briefcase that Blaine assumed contained approximately half a million dollars. Not a shabby payday.

"Agreed," Blaine replied, his tone as flat and emotionless as his new employer's.