Paradise Burns (17 page)

THIRTY-SIX

Robert Clark
left the room shortly after I handed over the deeds. He said he had to arrange
a meeting with his lawyers to straighten everything out.

I was sat with Clara, who hadn’t said
much since we’d got off the phone with Ryan Schultz. I’d been pacing around the
room, running things through my mind. Was I right to trust GlobaTech? My gut
says I was, and not just because the Secretary of Defense vouched for them.

What’s my next move? Can I just leave? I
had no chance taking on Ketranovich and Dark Rain on my own, I admit that. But
I felt responsible, and consequently obligated to finish what I’d inadvertently
started. There’s no doubt Dark Rain were out to kill me. And Pellaggio will
definitely want my head on a spike after all this. I wasn’t convinced it’d be
that easy to just walk away.

I looked over at Clara. What about her?
Dark Rain was after her too. She had the money I took from Jackson. I just had
to convince her to use it and get out of town. I didn’t want her to go through
anything else, she’s been through enough already.

I’m aware of how hypocritical I sound –
me and Clara are in the same position, really. I’m thinking I should stay when
most people would be urging me to leave, yet I’m one of those people trying to
get Clara to leave when she’s thinking the same way I am. Maybe it’s just male
pride. With all due respect to Clara, I know she’d understand that to an
extent. But I know she’ll want to see this thing through, just as I do.

She saw me thinking.

‘What’s the plan, Adrian?’ she asked. ‘Are
we done here?’

I thought I’d try the chivalrous route
anyway.

‘
You
are,’ I replied. ‘Clara, use
that money and clear out of here - start a new life. Between me and GlobaTech,
I promise I’ll stop Dark Rain.’

Clara laughed.

‘You macho asshole! I’m not going anywhere,
and you knew that before you even opened your mouth and fed me that bullshit
line.’

I smiled and held my hands up.

‘You got me.’

‘So, seriously, what’s the plan? Me and
you – we’re in this ‘til the end, no matter what, right?’

I smiled, touched by the sentiment.

‘Well, forgetting that we’re top of Dark
Rain’s hit list for the moment, we still need to find this scientist. Once
Ketranovich finds out that GlobaTech have turned their backs on him, and realizes
he’s lost any chance of access to the uranium site, that scientist is as good
as dead.’

‘Agreed. But where do we start?’

‘You said you knew a few places Dark
Rain could use to house them, right?’

‘Yeah, but I don’t know for sure if they’re
in use.’

‘It’s okay - right now, that’s all we’ve
got to go on and it’s worth a shot.’

I picked up a pen and some paper from
Clara’s bedside table and took down details as she gave me the addresses. Then
I took out my phone and rang Josh, putting him on speakerphone.

‘Hey Boss,’ said Josh’s cheery voice. ‘Still
alive then?’

‘Just about,’ I replied. ‘Josh, you’re
on speaker and Clara’s here. We’re in her hospital room.’

‘You found her? How’s she doing? Sorry -
Clara, hey. Are you alright?’

‘I’m fine,’ she replied, laughing. ‘Just
got shot a little bit.’

Josh laughed.

‘I can see why you like her, Adrian,’ he
said.

‘Thanks, asshole,’ I said, laughing but
avoiding Clara’s gaze. ‘Listen, you had any luck on our missing scientist yet?’

‘No-one of any significance has been
reported missing in the last six months, sorry,’

‘Try searching back eighteen months,’
said Clara. ‘Dark Rain will have been planning this a long time, so it’s
feasible this scientist has been in play a lot longer.’

‘Hmm, good idea’, I said. ‘Also, Josh,
Clara’s got a few locations of safe houses that Dark Rain use. Can you look
into them, see if there’s any recent activity, etc?’

‘Yeah, of course,’ said Josh.

I gave him the address details and asked
him to ring me back if he got anything.

After I hung up, we sat in silence for a
few moments. I like to know how something is going to end before I start it. I
like to play out every possible outcome first, so I can prepare for anything
going wrong. I hate surprises. Josh says I have O.C.D. but I just like to be
thorough and cover my own ass.

This whole thing has been a disaster
from the moment I entered Heaven’s Valley. I needed my exit strategy. I need to
stop Dark Rain from doing whatever the hell it is they’re doing. It’s not going
to involve uranium now, which is a small comfort, but they have the numbers, the
weapons and the token megalomaniacal leader, so nothing’s going to end well
there.

I also have the mob to contend with.
Whichever way you look at it, Jimmy Manhattan had a point - I
did
go
back on my contract by not fulfilling every stipulation of it. And I told them
to shove it up their ass when they questioned me about it. It’s something I’ve
never done before, and it’s the only golden rule in the world of contract
killing. Nobody wants to hire someone who might not do what you pay them to. I
know these are extenuating circumstances, but nobody else will ever know that. Pellaggio’s
empire stretches far and wide, and I won’t be able to outrun them, or any bad
press they put out about me.

I looked over at Clara, who had fallen
asleep. I looked at the clock on the wall. It was the middle of the night, and
I’d had a long couple of days with very little respite. I sunk into the chair
and put my feet up on the table in front of me. I rested my head back and
stared up at the ceiling, in an effort to stop my mind racing.

I’ll just close my eyes for a second and
rest them.

I was out like a light.

THIRTY-SEVEN

I woke with a
start. It took me a minute to come round and realize where I was. I looked over
at Clara. Her bed was empty. I sat up and looked at the clock again. I’d been
asleep nearly eight hours.

Whether it was the fact I was thinking
about it before I fell asleep, I don’t know, but I woke up with a clear plan
how I can solve my current list of problems.

My phone was on the table. I checked it
and saw I’d had a missed call from Josh a couple of hours ago. I rang him back.

‘Josh, it’s me.’

‘You sound half asleep. You alright?’

‘Yeah, I nodded off in Clara’s room. I
just woke up and saw your missed call. Clara’s gone from her room as well.’

‘Uh-oh...’

‘What do you mean, “uh-oh”? Josh...?’

‘Well, I rang you and she answered. She
said you were sleeping. I told her I’d had some luck and got a hit on both the
missing scientist and one of the locations you gave me.’

‘That’s good news, isn’t it?’

‘I told her what I had, and I think she
may have gone off on her own to rescue them...’

‘What?!’

‘That’s why I tried ringing you back,
but there was no answer.’

‘What exactly did she say?’

‘She said she’d go and check out the
address. I said she should probably wait for you. She said she felt fine and
wanted to go on her own. Said she felt responsible.’

‘Ah, shit! What’s the address?’

‘It’s a few miles from the hospital you’re
in, so you’re gonna need a car. Listen, Adrian, I’m sorry – I had no idea she
was basically a female version of you!’

‘It’s okay, I just need to find her. I’ll
ring you back.’

I left Clara’s room and ran down the
corridor and into the waiting room where I met Robert Clark last night. A
couple of the soldiers were walking around, still dressed in their non-descript
black and red fatigues. I walked over to one of them.

‘I need a car,’ I said.

‘What for?’ he replied.

I quickly explained why, omitting any
details about the scientist that Dark Rain had kidnapped. The soldier looked
over at his partner, who shrugged back at him. He then reached into his pocket
and pulled out a set of keys.

‘It’s the black Jeep out front,’ he
said, handing the keys over to me. ‘Don’t scratch it.’

I took the elevator down to the ground
floor, went outside and located the Jeep. I climbed in, pulled out of the
semi-circle driveway and set off down the road. I rang Josh again.

‘Right, I’m on the road now – give me
directions,’ I said.

‘Okay,’ he began. ‘Keep straight for
another two miles, then turn right at the junction.’

‘Will Clara be there by now?’

‘Easily, yeah.’

‘Shit.’

‘Adrian, I’m sure she can take care of
herself – you worry too much.’

‘They sent a hit squad to shoot up an
entire building, just because she was in it. And now she’s heading to one their
safe houses to try and save a scientist who just became disposable. Plus, as
far as I know, she’s unarmed.’

‘All valid points. You wanna know about
our missing scientist?’

‘You’ve found out who it is?’

‘Well, the search results were
surprisingly narrow. Once I filtered for location, I was left with literally one
name: Jonathan Webster. He’s a nuclear physicist who worked out of Columbia
University in New York. He apparently went to a conference about fifteen months
ago and never came back. He sent a note to his colleagues a couple of weeks
later saying he resigns from his position at the University. No explanation,
and hasn’t been seen since.’

‘Sounds like our guy. We sure he’s at
this particular safe house?’

‘Satellite imagery from the last three
weeks shows regular movement at this particular location. Out of all the
addresses we got from Clara, there was only one other that showed any activity,
but I ruled it out because of the location. It was miles away on the other side
of town, close to the state lines. It’d make no sense keeping him there, as
this place is in close proximity to the mine.’

‘How the hell do you find this stuff
out?’

‘Trade secrets,’ he said, clearly
smiling smugly down the phone. ‘If I told you, I’d have to kill you.’

‘Even if you
could
kill
me, you’d have to take a ticket and get to the back of the line of people who
wanna try.’

‘Yeah, you do seem to be a popular
target at the moment, eh?’

‘Looks that way. Good job I’m not
heading to a building that’s likely to be filled with people who have guns and
orders to shoot me on sight... Oh, wait.’

Josh laughed.

‘Even when faced with such adversity, it
amazes me how you always find time for sarcasm.’

‘I’m glad someone’s impressed. I’m
turning right now. Where do I go from here?’

‘Okay, carry on and take your fourth
left, then your first right. It’s the second house on the right hand side.’

‘Got it, thanks Josh.’

‘Just add to it to the list of things
you owe me. Be safe.’

I hung up and navigated my way to the
house. It was a quiet suburban neighborhood. All the houses were detached with
expensive cars on the driveways and well-manicured front lawns. It was hard to
believe that somewhere so quiet and peaceful could house soldiers fighting in
an extremist militia. What goes on behind closed doors. . . Even in this type of
neighborhood.

As I took the final right turn, I heard several
loud cracks that took me by surprise. My windshield had spider-webbed as
bullets peppered the car, obscuring my view of the road.

‘Jesus!’ I shouted out.

I braked hard and swerved left so I stopped
side-on with the passenger door facing the road ahead. I ducked down, unable to
see who fired at me and from where. I reached behind me and drew one of my
babies. I checked the mag as I heard the rapid
clunk clunk
of two more
bullets hitting the body of the Jeep. I had a full clip, but no spares. I’d
have to be careful.

THIRTY-EIGHT

I opened the
driver’s side door and quickly climbed out. I took a quick peek around the back
of the Jeep. There were two guys in black - one in the doorway, the other knelt
on the front lawn. I couldn’t tell if there were more in the house. No sign of
Clara, either.

I hoped she was alright.

How the hell did they know I was coming?
I looked around behind me. I checked the houses and the vehicles. Then the
roofs. I saw a black figure crouched low next to a chimney. He was almost
completely obscured from my view, because of the shape of the roof and position
of the chimney, but as I was approaching, he’d have had a clear view.

They had a scout, the sneaky bastards.

I was also painfully aware that I was now
flanked and trapped in the middle, with no cover to protect me from the rooftop
scout behind me. I turned and sat on the road, my back to the Jeep. The scout
had to be my primary target.

I took a deep breath and aimed by gun at
the chimney, closing my left eye to help with aiming. This was a difficult
shot. Not only was I shooting upwards, which immediately reduces accuracy, but
my target was totally hidden. I needed two shots, on target, in quick
succession. The first would be as close as I can get without hitting him, to
draw him out. The second would need to follow immediately, and be quickly aimed
at his head, which he would undoubtedly move out to see where I’m shooting
from. A small target, above me, around three hundred feet away. And I have a
handgun.

Luckily, I’m a helluva shot.

I aimed as close to the top of the roof
as I could. I practiced the slight movement I’d need - up and right - to catch
his head as it popped round the corner to aim at me. One, two. Bang, bang. Nice
and quick.

I took a deep breath. Then another, and
held it. I squeezed the trigger and saw roof tiles go flying. A split second
later, I re-adjusted and squeezed the trigger again. At the exact moment the
scout leaned out of cover to shoot, his head snapped back, disappearing out of
sight leaving a small puff of red mist dispersing in the air.

I breathed out with relief. It’s not
easy to be accurate with a handgun at any distance over a couple of hundred
feet, but it’s possible.

I got back up into a crouch and turned
my attention back to the two guys in the house. The guy out front was crouched
low behind a large bush. The guy in the doorway had his back to the open door
and was out of sight just inside the hallway.

Where the hell was Clara?

Bullets intermittently struck the Jeep
and the ground around me. I couldn’t stay here like this. I pulled out my other
gun from my back holster. I checked the clip and it was full. With a gun in
each hand, I rested the barrels against my forehead and closed my eyes.

I pictured how this would go down. If I
go left or right. If I stay low or stand and run. If I dove for cover or ran in
shooting. Every possible outcome was played out in my head. I took slow, deep
breaths, watching it all happen like a movie. Then I saw it. The one sequence
of events that might just work.

I opened my eyes, took one last deep
breath, then made my move.

I stood quickly and aimed a gun at both
the doorway and the bush. I squeezed off a few rounds in rapid succession, then
ducked back down. I dived to my left and went around the front of the truck. As
the man behind the bush took aim at where I’d fired my first shots, I dropped
to one knee in my new position and fired. Two bullets, one from each gun,
struck him in his chest, propelling him backward and off to the side. He
crumpled onto the ground.

I dived back behind the Jeep as the guy
in the doorway aimed and fired at me. I stayed low and ran around to the right.
I dropped to a knee and squeezed a couple of rounds from both guns at the doorway.
The guy disappeared inside, which was the risk I wanted to avoid. Ideally, I
wanted him to come out so I could pick him off. But now he’s inside, he has the
advantage again. I don’t know if he’s alone in there or not.

I quickly ran over to the guy I took
out. I searched him for any ID, but he had none. I found a knife in a pouch on
his pant leg which I took. I then put my guns away and took his assault rifle.
Dark Rain’s weapon of choice: the AK-47. I checked the mag, which was half
empty. He had two spares on him, which I pocketed.

The front door was still open, but going
straight through it was suicide.

Keeping low, I made my way around the
side of the house, ducking under the windows I passed. I came around the back
of house, which had patio doors that were open. I crouched still and took a
look around. Satisfied there was no-one in the garden, I crept in through the
patio doors and into the kitchen, the rifle raised and ready. I heard movement
in one of the rooms down the hall.

The kitchen was clear, so I moved on. I
stopped outside a closed door, directly opposite the stairs. I listened
closely, hearing more movement inside. Then I heard the unmistakable sound of a
gun cocking. Without thinking, I stood and kicked through the door, dropping
low as I entered. A split second check of the room showed nothing except a
dining table with four chairs in the centre and a fireplace built into the far
wall. Besides the carpet, the room was practically empty.

Apart from the guy aiming a gun at me.

A quick three round burst to his chest
dropped him, and I breathed easy once more. I left the room and headed for the
stairs, happy there was no-one else downstairs with me. I took a look upstairs
and viewed what I could of landing, but saw nothing.

The hardest part is always going
upstairs. If someone’s up there, they have the angles and the cover. If you’re
the one going upstairs, you have nothing. You can’t cover every angle, you don’t
know where every door is and you’re firing upwards as you’re trying to climb
stairs.

I was crouched next to the stairs, just
out of sight of the landing, weighing up my options. Then I heard a gunshot. After
a few moments, I heard another, followed by a thud. I don’t know who fired, but
the thud was definitely a body hitting the floor.

My only thought was Clara. I rushed
upstairs, which in hindsight was stupid of me and I was very lucky not to be
shot. The rifle out in front of me, I quickly moved room to room until I
reached the main bedroom at the front of the house. The door was open, and a
pool of blood was creeping into view over the carpet.

I dashed in, gun raised.

Clara was stood where the bed would’ve
been. The gun in her hand still smoking slightly from the bullet she clearly
just put in the third and apparently last Dark Rain soldier in the house.

‘Jesus!’ I said. ‘Clara, are you
alright?’

She was staring into space, like she was
in shock, looking at the dead guy on the floor.

‘Clara, are you okay?’

She looked at me. There was a bloodstain
on her top from where her bullet wound had clearly re-opened. When she spoke,
she sounded like she was daydreaming.

She said, ‘I was too late. I’m so sorry.’

I was too busy focusing on Clara that I
didn’t notice the far wall of the room.

Jonathan Webster was nailed to the wall
by his hands and feet. He was naked, and was positioned like a starfish. His
body was a mess, covered in deep cuts and blood – both fresh and dried. He had
a bullet hole in his forehead that was new.

She must have killed the guy right after
he killed Webster.

I looked back at Clara, who was staring
at the floor.

I could feel the darkness and the anger
building inside me. I was blind with rage. Ketranovich hadn’t just disposed of
the scientist, he had tortured and sacrificed him, needlessly, just to leave
him knowing we’d find him.

Again, the piece of shit was two moves
ahead of me.

‘Come on,’ I said to Clara. ‘We need to
get out of here.’

I took her by the hand and led her out
of the room.