Good Intentions - Adrian Hell #6 (Adrian Hell Series) (2 page)

No one moves or speaks, as the sound grows louder. A figure steps into the faint glow of the overhead lights. He’s wearing black leather shoes and a brilliant white suit. He stops a few feet in front of me, just behind the guy with the sore nose, and regards me silently, expressionless.

Huh…

My eyes go a little wide with surprise. “Fuck me… Colonel Sanders? What the hell are
you
doing here? I thought you said your offer had expired on account of me taking too long to think about it?”

He takes a deep breath, stroking the loose skin under his chin. “We’re not completely without heart. I was perhaps a little unfair pressuring you like that, under the circumstances. You have potential, so I thought I’d take a chance on you. How are you feeling?”

I shrug. “I’m not dead, which is nice. Have I got you to thank for that?”

He nods. “You have, and you’re welcome. We replaced some of the guards and the doctors in that facility with our own men. I have to say, it all went better than I had hoped. Your execution made for good viewing.”

“Glad I could entertain. So, how
exactly
did you…?”

He smiles politely, without humor, as if he was expecting the question. “We switched the chemicals usually found in the lethal injection with a neuro-inhibitor known as TTX.”

I frown. “Isn’t that… oh, what’s it called? Tetro-something?”

He nods. “That’s right. Tetrodotoxin. It’s extracted from the pufferfish, and with just the right dosage, it can essentially simulate death. You were officially pronounced dead in front of President Schultz a little over forty-eight hours ago. You were then given an antitoxin shortly afterward to counter the effects. We brought you here to recover.”

“Right… Well… Thanks for not killing me. Sort of.” I glance around. “And where’s
here
, exactly?”

“That’s not important. What
is
important, is
this
.”

He nods subtly, and the guy on my left grabs the back of my head, forcing me to look down. I feel something cold press against—

“Ow! Hey!”

I spin around and push him away before clasping my neck. That piece of shit just injected me with something!

“Calm down, Adrian,” says the man in white.

I turn back to face him, frowning. “What did you just do?”

“We simply implanted a small tracking device into you. It’s accurate to about three feet. It’s nothing to worry about—it’s for your protection more than anything. Everyone who works for The Order has them. It allows us to monitor your progress while on a mission, and assist you should things go wrong.”

“Uh-huh… You forget, I used to work for the CIA. When people inject you with shit and say it’s for your own good, it usually means it’s not.”

He nods, as if he understood my point of view, but ultimately could care less about it. “I appreciate this must be… overwhelming for you, Adrian. I know it’s a lot, asking you to trust me, but you’re a member of The Order of Sabbah now. From this moment on, this is the only life you have, and you need to come to terms with that.”

“Yeah, yeah—fine. Just, next time, if you need to stick anything in me, can you just ask? Or at least buy me a drink first…”

He nods, smiling humorlessly. “Of course. Now, I have to be honest, getting out of that room and giving you the tracking device were just the first part of a test. An initiation, if you will. There’s no doubting your skills, Adrian, but we haven’t existed for so long by letting just anyone join our ranks.”

I raise an eyebrow. “First part?”

“Yes. The second part will begin shortly.” He nods to the man on my left.

“Wait… What do you mean? Can someone just tell me what the f—”

2

May 5, 2017

??:??

I open my eyes slowly. It takes a moment for my vision to focus. I put a hand to the back of my neck and scratch where I was injected.

Ow!

My head’s throbbing from where I was hit. I’m definitely shooting the bastard who was standing behind me next time I see him! Piece of shit, thinking he can—

Hang on…

What’s that noise? It took a minute to register, but now it has, it’s deafening! It sounds mechanical, like an engine. A really big engine…

I look around. I’m in a large empty space, sitting on a bench that runs along the full length of one side. I glance down and see I’m dressed in an unmarked khaki coverall. Sitting opposite me are two men. I haven’t seen either of them before. They’re dressed in similar outfits, and they’re both holding automatic rifles. Carbines, I think—hard to tell from over here.

I close my eyes and sigh. I’m fairly certain I’m in the back of a cargo plane, and judging by the noise, I would say there’s a pretty good chance I’m not on the ground.

I look over at the men facing me. “Hey, where are we?”

They exchange a glance and smile, but don’t answer.

I frown. “Hey!
Assholes!
I said, where are we?”

The one on the left stands, adjusts his grip on the rifle, and walks steadily toward me, stopping a few feet away.

Oh yeah,
definitely
a carbine…

He smiles. “You’re in a plane!”

I roll my eyes. “No shit… Wanna tell me why?”

He reaches behind him and produces a brown envelope, which he throws unceremoniously into my lap. He nods at it and walks back over to sit next to his friend.

I open it, and take out a black and white eight-by-ten. Looks like an image taken via satellite. It’s a little grainy, but otherwise good quality. It shows two men standing side-by-side, seemingly deep in conversation, in a clearing surrounded by trees and undergrowth.

I look across at them and shrug. “Who are these guys?”

The man on the right leans forward. “The short one on the left is who we want you to kill. The one on the right is his head of security. You’ll probably need to go through him to get to your target.”

I look down at the picture again. The guy on the right is probably twice as tall and twice as wide as the guy on the left. And the difference is all muscle. It’s practically bursting through his shirt.

Great.

They both glance to the side and place a hand to their ear. I’m guessing they’re receiving a message over comms. A moment or two later, they stand and walk over to me. “On your feet,” says the first guy. “Turn around.”

I fold the picture up and stuff it inside my pocket before standing, which I do, not because they told me to, but because my options for rebellion are vastly limited when I’m on a plane, in the air. A stray bullet would kill us all, and I don’t know how many other men are on board. It’s not worth the risk.

“Arms to the side,” says the second guy.

I move them and feel a backpack slide over my shoulders. It’s bulky. Actually, it feels more like a…

I sigh.

Ah, shit.

It’s a parachute, isn’t it?

I sense this isn’t going to end well…

“Turn around,” says the first guy again.

I do, and one of them lets his gun hang loose on its strap as he reaches over and secures the backpack around my waist. He then moves over to the rear of the plane and grabs a lever on the side. He throws it down, and a mechanical whirring sounds out, loud enough to be heard over the roar of the engines. The floor of the tail lowers slowly to reveal a mostly clear sky rushing by outside. A scattering of light cloud surrounds us, but there’s still a good level of visibility. He holds on to a handle next to him, fighting against the pull of the wind.

I take a small step forward and peer over the edge.

Fuck me sideways! We must be twenty thousand feet up, easily!

I look over my shoulder at the guy still standing with me. “What the hell’s going on? If this is a contract, where’s my briefing? And my weapon?”

He smiles and shakes his head. Without warning, he grabs me with both hands and shoves me backward. I’m not prepared for it and lose my footing, stumbling down and…

Shit!

The plane rushes up, away from me. The cold wind bites at my face, forcing me to squint against the sheer speed of it.

Sonofa
bitch
!

??:??

I landed in a fucking tree! Seriously! Can you believe this shit?

Stop laughing—it’s not funny!

A wind picked up and blew me off course, and I came down over some forest. The parachute caught on the branches of a big-ass tree, so I’m now hanging maybe twenty feet above the ground, suspended by the straps. I have no weapons of any kind, no immediately obvious way down from here that won’t sting like a bitch, and all I have to go on is a picture of some guy and his beefed-up bodyguard who could literally be anywhere in the hundreds of miles of forest I’m dangling above…

I’m starting to think the lethal injection maybe wasn’t so bad after all…

Okay, let’s think about this for a—

Whoa!

One of the branches just snapped! I’ve dropped a couple of feet. Must have snagged on one lower down. Think I jolted my shoulder, too. I’m trying to rotate it as best I can, loosen it up, but it hurts like hell.

I close my eyes for a moment and take in a few deep breaths while trying to remain still. I don’t want to fall from this height. The risk of injury would be high, and when you’re in the middle of nowhere, the last thing you want is to have your movement impeded in any way.

I reopen them, breathing slowly. I’m calm. I’m a professional, after all. I’ve been in much shittier situations than this. I just need to—

Whoa!

Shit!

Ow!

Shit!

Fuck!

Ow!

Ugh!

I’m lying flat on my back, staring up at the treetops and the clear blue skies beyond. The ground feels soft. I move my hands around next to me. Yeah… twigs, leaves and damp earth.

Oh, man, that sucked…

I raise my head slightly and look down my front. Both straps broke. My back is sore and I’m a little winded, but thankfully, I don’t feel too bad. Hell of a fall, though.

I prop myself up on an elbow and twist my body, slowly rising to my feet. I stretch everything, take a breath, and turn in a slow circle. I hear birds tweeting sporadically above me. Aside from the occasional noise of whatever wildlife is nearby, it’s unnervingly quiet.

Where the hell am I?

Okay, think… It’s very humid. My first thought is I’m in a jungle, but there’s no sound of water and the trees look too… green. It’s hot, but it’s not tropical. These trees see their fair share of rain, I reckon.

I glance at the ground, searching for any signs of tracks. It doesn’t look as if any animals or people have passed through here in a good while, either. I’m nowhere wild… so I’m going with forest. It’s a pretty dense tree line, so it makes sense. If that’s the case, I reckon that puts me somewhere in the region of twenty miles from civilization. And that’s a very rough guess. I’m far from an expert on the great outdoors. The Discovery Channel was always Josh’s thing, not mine.

Shit! Josh!

I’ve not had time to stop and think about much of anything since waking up after my fake execution. It sounds awful, but I completely forgot about him. I can’t imagine how he must be feeling right about now. He thinks I’m dead…

I’m such a prick for putting him through that. I should have told him. I should have found some way to let him know that—

You know what? Now probably isn’t the time.

I look up, find the sun, and set off walking toward it. I don’t know what time it is or where I am, so I’m either heading north or south. I guess it doesn’t really matter which one—everywhere leads somewhere, right?

??:??

My body clock isn’t what it used to be, but I think I’ve been walking for about an hour. I’ve kept a steady pace, only pausing for a few moments every now and then to make sure I’m still traveling in a straight line. I’m following a faint path through the trees and plants. In the last ten minutes or so, I’ve been able to hear the gentle sound of running water in the distance. I’ve covered maybe three miles now, so I’m hopefully closing in on somewhere.

I tread carefully, trying to minimize the noise of my footsteps. I’m always glancing left and right ahead of me, alert for any sign of a threat. Bottom line is, The Order sent me here to kill someone, and no matter how far off course I was blown, I can’t be too far away from where they intended me to land.

With a bit of luck, I’ve not been walking in the opposite direction to my target for the last hour…

CRACK
.

What was that?

I drop to a crouch, placing a hand on the ground for balance as I hold my breath.

I heard rustling over to my right.

I wait patiently.

CRACK
.

There it is again.

Might be an animal… No idea what, as I don’t know where I am. Could be anything from a squirrel to a grizzly.

Too quiet for anything bigger than me, though, which is a small comfort.

I take a step and shuffle toward the nearest tree trunk, rest against it, and peer around. The sound of water is more prominent now. There might be—

There!

Through the gaps in the trees I can see a figure moving confidently across my line of sight. It’s hard to see, but… yeah, it’s a woman. Small. Can’t see her features.

Where are you going, lady?

I stand, staying low, and make my way quietly toward her, pausing behind each trunk that’s big enough to cover me.

I don’t want to scare her, and definitely don’t want to hurt her—she’s no threat to me—but she’s the first sign of life I’ve seen since I was pushed out of the airplane, so I have to take this opportunity to find out where I am.

I slowly circle away from her to my left. I need to see if she’s alone, and I need to be able to approach her openly so she can see I mean her no harm.

She stops, crouching on the spot, looking at something. I make my way farther round, drawing level, directly ahead of her—maybe a hundred feet. I’m low, hidden behind another tree. I have a better view of her now. She’s carrying a basket and it looks as if she’s picking fruit or something. She’s wearing a long dress fitted tight to her legs. She turns her head as she puts something in the basket, which she then places beside her on the ground. Her skin is tanned, a light brown. I can see from her eyes she’s Asian, Oriental. She has a headscarf around her and a garment covering her top half, like a poncho.