In a dark alley, in an unremarkable corner of town, a figure in black checks his watch. His name is Vinnie and he kills people for a living.

On the stroke of midnight he pulls out the cheap, disposable cell phone he bought earlier. A cash transaction, no way to trace who bought it. The black leather gloves he is wearing will prevent any fingerprints getting onto the phone, nor onto the silenced gun he is holding in his other hand.

He taps in a number and waits.

A gruff voice answers "Yes?". Vinnie murmurs a few words "I'm ready. Go or no go?"

The voice says "Go" and hangs up.

The figure in black drops the phone and crushes it under his heel. He gathers up all the pieces and scatters them widely across the trash in a nearby dumpster.

He looks around to make sure no-one is watching as he starts to walk quietly out of the alley and across the street towards the shabby apartment block opposite.

Vinnie has been watching the place since dawn. The solitary dude in the second floor apartment had occasionally passed by the window earlier but he hadn't been out all day. Around 11pm he had turned the lights off and closed the curtains. Vinnie hopes the target is a sound sleeper, it will be a lot less messy that way.