Journal of a Contract Killer

JOURNAL OF A CONTRACT KILLER

Mi chiamo Stephanie Komack ho ventotto anni,

E sono una ragazza madre, uccido per professione.

My name is Stephanie Komack.

I'm 28 and a single mother and I kill people for money.

I'd killed fourteen people by the time I was nineteen

and another ten by twenty-one

mostly low-lives.

I was obviously good at it because they kept asking me back.

Remember in bed by eight - promise?

Promise.

Call if you need anything

Iove you

Love you too mum.

Whisky and coke

Are those for table two

Yes

I'll be back in a moment...

Okay.

Matt, two reds and a white

Hello Claudia...

or is it Stephanie now?

I think you've got the wrong person.

I'm disappointed, you know,

I expected to find you 'queen of the hill' by now,

not slumming it in a shit-hole like this.

Well It's a living.

It's been seven years, don't you want to know how I've been keeping?

Obviously not but then I suppose you never expected to see me here! Umh!

Its a shame that I have to leave so soon

but I have some business to attend,...

Here's my number Chiamami.

You were the best...

now you smell of the kitchen!

Who was that?

Just some arsehole trying it on.

Zoe... Yeah I want you to turn-off the computer and go to bed...

yes I want you to do it now...

oh and don't answer the door... no, no, nothing's wrong I promise...

Yeah just do as I say...

Yeah I'll be back at home in a bit...ok? Alright.

I went to ltaly because Carlo,

who owned the garage where I worked, had family there.

I only intended to stay a couple of weeks,

but ended-up staying there three years.

That's when I decided to write it all down.

The first thing I wrote was on 16th February 1997...

"went to a party at Sophia's place"...

she was a niece of Carlo...

"Got wasted and smoked too much blow.

Set eyes on the most beautiful man.

Woke-up in his bed the next morning and I was in love"

if only it could have finished then.

But the pull of Alessandro... the partying...and the drugs...

I just got sucked further and further into something I couldn't control.

I soon became totally dependant on Alessandro.

I'd have done anything for him, and I did.

Being a young prostitute from London was a novelty in Naples.

They especially liked my posh accent

and Alessandro exploited it.

His father lived off fucking over other people,

so he was just following in the family business...

...although he was a psychotic with it.

You are doing really well.

I just need a break.

Go!

You look tired...

old...

What do you want, Alessandro?

Ah, Claudia...

You've been a stranger all these years.

No letter... no call... nothing.

I brought you luck... made you money.

We were a good team... surely I deserve at least a call?

... You know I still don't understand

what it is that I ever saw in you...

I knew how to Fuck!

So what do you want!

Franco sends his regards. Our two families work together now.

We have something for you.

I don't do that work anymore.

You'll fly to ltaly, meet with Franco...he's brief you.

Why me?

We want a woman... a woman we can trust...

and Franco always said good things about you...

never new why!

Do I have a choice?

Your flight is at six tomorrow.

When you arrive, a car will be waiting to take you to Franco.

Driver, stop the car!

When you get back to London, we must have dinner one night.

I'm going to be in London for a while.

Go!

One of my clients was Franco Jano,

who I found out later was

a senior enforcer for the Cantellini Family.

I liked Franco,

he treated me with respect.

Franco wanted to set me up in my own place.

But when I told Alessandro, he went crazy...

said he'd destroy me if I ever tried to leave.

By then he'd become possessive and violent...

felt he owned me.

What made matters worse was that

there was bad blood between Alessandro's family and Franco's people.

Then an opportunity came up.

On one of my visits to Franco's weekend place,

he asked if I'd be interested in making some extra money on the side.

He felt I'd be good at it.

That's how I got started.

I wrote here, "15th October."

My first assignment:

a test to see if I could do it... had the nerve for it.

I went out for a drive with two of Franco's men.

We stopped on a backstreet in Naples...

... and I was handed a gun...

... and he asked me to shoot a man walking down the street

... a complete stranger".

Do you know it even made the papers.

Apparently he was a respected school teacher.

The first person I killed for money

was a 'john' that I'd been set-up with by Franco.

"18th November, visited Mr B"... never knew his real name...

"at the Nero Hotel - Room 16.

I shot Mr B in the head as he came - used a small Beretta,

... which Franco's boys had given me"

I finished by writing:

"hairy man... small cock... short life."

I even took a photo of him.

I got paid 10 million lira,

around three-and-a-half grand at the time, plus the 'john' fee.

Thankfully I didn't have to dispose of the body.

Franco's boys did that.

But part of my training was to know how to do it.

I used to have to practice on a dead pig...

By Cutting the body down to size

so it could be stuffed into bags and disposed of.

I then had the confidence to confront Alessandro.

When I told him I was leaving, he went ballistic.

Hit me several times -

threatened to ruin my face.

The next morning I left anyway - didn't leave a note...

The truth is If he'd known I was pregnant,

he'd have forced me to abort like he had twice before.

The truth is I didn't know he was the father.

That's when I came back to London.

Island of ischia Napies, ltaly

Claudia

Franco...

Its so nice to see you.

Do you like what we've created here?

It was hard work but worth it in the end.

We have a problem...

I think you may be able to help us.

It's a sensitive problem...

...so I'm telling you in the strictest of confidence.

It's a problem which needs handling with care...

...that's why I thought of you.

...It pays particularly well.

I explained to Alessandro, I'm retired now from my old life.

Yes, you have a daughter. How old?

Seven.

That's such nice age.

Growing up, but still so much innocence.

You have a man?

No... not a permanent one.

That's a waste - you're still a very attractive woman.

What is it you want me to do?

Alessandro may have told you, our families are working together now.

It makes good business sense.

But there's been a problem with Alessandro.

It's something...

... yes its something in his character.

He's always had it, but it's now got out of control,

and he's 'related' which makes the problem sensitive.

He has become a serious liability to our business,

and that cannot continue.

We'd like it done discreetly...

out of the country.

That's why he's been sent to London.

If I agree to do this... what will be the repercussions...

especially from his family?

I'll look after that.

No one needs to know of your involvement.

It'll be treated as an internal matter...

within the family...

...strictly business.

And there'll be no further obligations...

... you'll then leave me alone?

Do the job right and you'll be left alone.

When do you want it done?

We'll let you know, the place and time.

You need to tell me how you want to get paid, and where.

I don't have a choice in this do I Franco?

Gianni will take you back to the airport.

Call me when it's done.

How was ltaly?

Great...

Thanks for looking after Zoe, she really likes you.

It was only for one night.