It goes like this:
Fifteen layers between him and the client. His people mostly, from the front that gets the order to the hacker who checks it out. Not everyone who wants to hire a hitman should be to find him. That's why there's redundancy upon redundancy--for every hacker, there's another who double and triple-checks. After all, he's not going to risk his life, his freedom, on the word of some nobody with a computer, a nobody he's never met.
The order comes through the system--or systems if he wants to be more accurate--and if all the information matches, he considers the job. The timetable is necessarily flexible: anyone who wants a quickie goes somewhere else. Quickies get a man in trouble. Check the evening news. Any time a pro gets caught, it's someone who specializes in quickies. Sure, they get top dollar, but they also take maximum risk.
He tries to eliminate risk. He's Aries with Virgo Rising, Moon in Libra. Born for his job, at least according to his chart. Perceived as detail-oriented, almost fussy, a pain-staking perfectionist, he is at heart a warrior, brave, impetuous and independent. His true self, his emotional self, is a judge, coldly calculating, always striving for balance.
He has a superstitious side as well, and isn't sure where it comes from. In the past, he tried to bury it, but he finally gave in ten years ago and his business improved.
That was when he discovered Glenna. She had a New Age bookstore in Sedona, Arizona, and an uncanny knack of seeing his future. The first time he entered her store, intrigued by a book in the window, she'd said from her table in the back, "Should I be afraid for myself, old friend?"
The question had both startled and intrigued him, and when he answered no, she smiled and said, "My chart was uncertain. It told me that today would introduce me to Death."
He hadn't heard of a chart, knew nothing about astrology except for the goofy write-ups in the newspapers, write-ups which never seemed to be about him. But she had encouraged him to have his chart done and after careful consideration, he'd given her his birthdate, time, and location. She promised to have a reading for him in three days.
It was that reading which changed his life, and added one more layer between him and a job.
Now he compares his client's chart, the chart of his intended victim, and his own chart, searching for the optimum day, the appropriate venue, and of course, any hint of failure. If he's not compatible with a client, he passes the work to someone else. If his read of the victim's chart makes the victim seem personally powerful, dominant over him, or just plain lucky, he passes on that job as well.
He has learned, through trial and error, that he is not right for every job, nor is every job right for him. His perfectionism serves him well, and protects him from his impetuous nature.
He has achieved balance which, for him, makes everything right with the world.
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