His weapon of choice for this particularly difficult assignment is a tiny flying robot camouflaged to look like a bee.  It delivers a sting containing a derivative of the most powerful poison on earth--the batracotoxin from a small yellow frog found only in Central America.

Death will not be quick.  First blood vessels in the lungs will begin to burst making it difficult to breathe.  Then the heart will start to die, inflicting agonizing pain.  Finally the rupture of blood vessels in the brain will cause irreversible paralysis.

Malari loves his work.

The small man’

Tiny crystals tumbled out of the glass vial crashing silently into their reflections on the small mirror.  Aided by lights from the nightclub shining through the windows of his new BMW, Todd expertly chopped them into a soft pile of white powder.  Drawing the edge of the razor along the pile he spread it into a thick white line like a snow bank on the side of a miniature road.  With an economy of motion he further reduced that to four thin lines.

Todd vacuumed a line into each nostril through a rolled up fifty dollar bill before handing the improvised straw and mirror to the woman sitting in the passenger seat.  As she inhale

It was three o’clock in the morning.  Todd slid out of bed, pulled on a hotel robe, and walked to the phone in the living room.  He called for a cab then walked back to the bed.  Sheri was sprawled across the other side and he had to reach across the bed to shake her.

“Babe.  Wake up.  Wake up.”

“Huh? Whatsa matter? What is it?” Sheri partly sat up rubbing her eyes.

“Time to go, babe,” Todd replied trying to keep the impatience out of his voice.  “Come on.

Laurie turned in her sleep rolling onto the book she’d been reading the night before, which woke her.  She pulled the book out from under her and looked at the clock.  Five fifty-five.  Time to get up and get ready for the gym.  Glancing at the other side of the bed, Laurie sighed and wondered where Todd was.  She turned off the alarm set to go off at six, rolled out of bed, pulled on her robe, and headed for the kitchen.

Todd was sound asleep on the living room couch and Laurie knelt down beside him and stroked his hair, relieved that he was home.  Todd’s