Paradise Burns (7 page)

FOURTEEN

I was still
reeling from the bombshell Jackson just dropped. Under the circumstances, that’s
probably not the best phrase to use.

I aimed my gun at Clara, who was looking
as shocked as I was.

‘Are you working with Dark Rain?’ I
demanded.

‘They recruited me a couple of years
ago, yes,’ she stated.

‘What are they planning?’

‘I don’t know.’

I put my gun an inch away from her
forehead.

‘Don’t lie to me, Clara.’

She remained calm, but she was worried.

‘I honestly have no idea. I was assigned
to Jackson and told to keep him safe. That’s it.’

She was very matter-of-fact, and my
instinct was to believe her. I knew she was good, but I think she was given the
short straw assignment because she’s relatively new to this Dark Rain outfit.
Plus, the look of shock on her face when Jackson mentioned the uranium was genuine.
I turned back to Jackson and put my gun against his forehead instead. He
started crying again.

‘Ted, you gotta start talking. Uranium?
What’s the big picture here?’

‘W-we were going to mine it and then process
it in one of our R&D labs.’

‘Process it, how?’

‘We were using gas centrifuges to enrich
the material highly enough that it became weapons-grade.’

‘Weapons-grade? As in, the stuff that
goes in nukes?’

‘You could use it in nuclear bombs, yeah.
Having control of our own deposit meant we could sell it on for a hundred
percent profit. GlobaTech approached Dark Rain after learning of the mine’s
location and proposed the operation.’

‘So, you were going to sell the land to
Dark Rain, so that they essentially owned the mine? But then you guys were going
to do all the hard work for them, and sell the product that they technically
owned? That doesn’t make sense.’

‘The United States and Russia set up a
joint program back in ‘93 to convert all highly-enriched uranium into nuclear
fuel. Ever since then, practically all weapons-grade material has been disposed
of. We saw an opportunity to fill a massive gap in the market.’

‘That still doesn’t explain why you’d
give it to Dark Rain?’

‘Having weapons-grade uranium isn’t
exactly legal. If they owned the mine, they would have liability.’

‘And you offered to do all the mining
and processing and selling making it look like you’re doing them a favor – but
you were just setting them up to take the fall while you reaped the profits?’

‘That was the plan.’

‘Christ, is there anyone you won’t screw
over?’

Jackson shrugged.

‘If the money’s right, no.’

‘But you essentially gave an underground
militia control of a uranium mine!’ I continued. ‘Is the almighty dollar so
important you’d risk the lives of millions?’

‘Says the hired assassin?’ he scoffed.

‘Don’t try and lecture me on morals,
Teddy, this really isn’t the time.’

We fell silent. I was trying to think of
a plan. How could I put this right?

‘Has the deal for the land been finalized
yet between GlobaTech and Dark Rain?’ I asked him.

He sighed.

‘That’s what I’m in town for. I’ve got
all the papers with me, I just need to sign them and the land’s sold. Then
mining can begin.’

‘And does anyone have any idea what you
were intending to do with the land before you were brought in to broker this
deal?’

‘No, I covered my tracks well enough, I
think.’

‘You were just unlucky, right?’

‘Like you wouldn’t believe,’ he said,
gesturing toward me with his head.

I walked over to the desk he was working
at and picked up his briefcase. The same one he had handcuffed to him
yesterday. It had a combination lock on it. It didn’t take much persuading for
Jackson to give me the code, and when I opened it, I saw the documents relating
to the land purchase resting on top of a quarter of a million dollars in cash.

I took the briefcase with me and put it
on the floor in front of Jackson and Clara. I aimed my gun at Jackson once
again.

‘Is this everything?’

He nodded.

‘And I suppose it’s too much to ask for
you to have any information to hand about Dark Rain?’

He shook his head.

‘I never dealt with them directly,’ he
said. ‘My only contact with them is through her.’ He gestured at Clara with his
head.

 ‘Okay, so let’s recap. Your company,
GlobaTech, is selling land that contains a uranium mine to a militia outfit
called Dark Rain. They think you’re being really nice by handling all the
mining and processing of the uranium, but actually have no idea that you’re
setting them up to take the fall for everything, freeing you guys up to sell
the material and make loads of money.

‘You were originally going to sell the
land to the mob to make some extra cash. At the time, you had no idea what the
land actually was, and now you do, and your company has charged you with managing
this new deal, you’ve had to back out of the old one, which has caused the mob
to hire a hit man – that would be me – to kill you for screwing them over. Have
I missed anything?’

Jackson let out a heavy sigh.

‘Nope, that’s pretty much it,’ he said.

‘Excellent.’

 I pulled the trigger and put a bullet
directly in the center of his forehead.

The bullet was roughly ten millimeters
in diameter, which was about half that of a dime. The tip is rounded for easier
penetration. It travels at a speed of roughly three hundred and seventy-five
meters per second. As the bullet impacts, the velocity causes the end of the
bullet to shoot up to the tip, causing it to flatten and double in width. As a
result, the exit wound is significantly larger than the entry wound.

His head snapped back violently as the
bullet pushed its way through the thick bone at the front of his skull. The
recoil of the impact meant that his head sagged heavily forward again as the
bullet worked its way through his brain and out the other side.

A spray of pinkish fluid – a mixture of
blood, bone and brain – exploded over the floor behind him. From my finger
squeezing the trigger to the dead weight of his lifeless body sagging against
his restraints in his chair, just under one second had elapsed.

Job done.

FIFTEEN

I looked at
Clara. She seemed unfazed, but I could see her thinking of ways to avoid
suffering the same fate. I had no intention of shooting her. But it wouldn’t do
any harm to keep that to myself for now.

I walked behind her, being careful not
to step in the bits of Jackson that were scattered across the carpet. I cut her
restraints and aimed the gun at her.

‘Okay, Clara,’ I said. ‘Get up, nice and
slow, and move over to the desk.’

She did.

‘Now ring down to the front desk and
tell them Mr. Jackson has decided to extend his stay, and will require the
suite for another three nights.’

She did.

‘Now sit on the bed.’

She sat down.

‘Right.  Clara, this is make or break
time for you. Tell me what you know about Dark Rain.’

She looked at me with her dark green
eyes. They were filled with conflict. She said she’s been with them a couple of
years, but given this uranium thing seemed as new to her as it was to me, my
guess was she’s currently re-evaluating her association with them.

‘Now I think about it, I realize I don’t
actually know much about them,’ she began. ‘They recruited me a couple of years
ago after some work I was doing over in Sierra Leone. I met a guy over there
who said he was with an organization that had money and plans and they could do
with someone like me. The usual sales pitch.’

I was actually beginning to feel sorry
for her. It was becoming clear that she’d been blinded by the promise of money,
and made the rookie error of not finding out who she was going into business
with. And you could tell she was realizing that too. Her voice was quiet, and
the confidence and presence she’d had earlier had gone.

‘I did a few jobs for them - nothing
major. Then a few weeks ago, I was brought in to meet with their leader,
Colonel Roman Ketranovich. He said I’d been impressive with the work I’d done
for them already, and had proved my dedication to their cause.’

‘And what is their cause, exactly?’ I
asked.

‘I’m not sure what their end game is.
But they’ve got the numbers and they’ve got the backing to do whatever they
want. The Colonel is a madman, and I could tell he was determined to take
revenge on the various people he feels have wronged him, and he believes he’s
right in doing so. His followers are completely loyal to him and his ideals.
They would die for him without hesitation.’

‘And what about you?’

‘I was there for the money. I’m a
killer, not a monster.’

‘I get that,’ I said, with a half-smile.

‘He told me I needed to protect someone
for a couple of weeks. Said he was important and was doing Dark Rain a great
service. I had no idea that they were involved in things that would lead to
nuclear weapons. That’s more heat that I can be paid to deal with.’

Again, I believed her.

‘Good,’ I said. ‘That makes this next
part a bit easier.’

I walked back over to the briefcase,
took the documents out of it and closed it. Then I threw it on the bed next to
Clara.

‘I’ve got what I came for,’ I said,
waving the documents in my hand. ‘In that briefcase is quarter of a million
dollars. Take it and walk away.’

She was shocked, clearly not expecting
me to be so kind after seeing me shoot Jackson in cold blood. I could see her
doubts, so I tried to put her mind at ease.

‘He was a job, nothing more,’ I said. ‘The
whole thing has obviously got a bit messy, and I’m going to do what I can to
sort that. But it’s now my problem. I don’t see it as being yours as well. As
far as I can see, you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I have no
desire to hurt you. But you need to walk away. Now. Take this money - I’m sure
you’re resourceful enough to put it to good use.’

She looked at case, then back at me. She
smiled. Not her mercenary, ready-to-kill-you smile. But, as best as I can
describe, a girly smile. Then it faded.

‘I’ll never be able to hide from them.
The Colonel won’t allow me to leave. He’ll see it as treason and he’ll order me
killed if I even try.’

‘Then help me.’

‘You can’t manage on your own?’

‘Well, I’ve very recently found myself
in possession of a uranium mine that’s wanted by an extremist army that has
funding from a military defense contractor, as well as a very powerful mob boss
who is determined to get the land to build a casino on it, but has no idea it
even has a uranium mine underneath it. I’ve been in better situations.’

‘Yeah, that sounds like a pretty shitty
day,’ she said with a laugh.

I laughed too. But as I was laughing, I
remembered something. This morning, as I was coming out of Jimmy Manhattan’s
club, there was a leather-clad biker who sped off as I walked out, which
must’ve been Clara. I know a tail when I see one, but what I didn’t realize
until just now, is that she was tailing me
before
I’d even heard of her
or Dark Rain. If she was following me then, that means they knew who I was long
before I found out about them. And a betting man would think that if they knew
who I was, they knew why I was there.

Clara stopped laughing when she saw the
expression on my face change. I raised the gun once again.

‘How did you know to tail me this
morning?’ I demanded.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’
she said, defending herself. ‘I wasn’t tailing you this morning, I was with
Jackson. Besides, I’ve only just met you.’

‘Bullshit. You knew I was outside the
door before.’

‘I know, but that’s only because I’ve
been expecting some kind of attempt to get at Jackson ever since I was assigned
to protect him. Why else would he
need
protecting? Plus, your bellboy
routine was so transparent it was embarrassing.’

‘What? No it wasn’t. Shut up.’

‘I was just saying.’

‘Well, just don’t. If it wasn’t you following
me, then who was it?’

‘What did they look like?’

‘Like you - head to toe in black
leather, almost certainly a woman. Blue and white motorcycle, black helmet.’

Clara thought for a moment. I could tell
by the look on her face she’d figured something out and wasn’t happy about it.

‘What?’ I asked.

‘Natalia Salikov,’ she said.

‘Gesundheit,’ I said.

‘This isn’t a joke!’ replied Clara. ‘She’s
one of the Colonel’s top assassins. If she’s onto you, you need to leave town
right now. Forget everything you’ve seen or done and just go.’

I raised an eyebrow. This Natalia
Salikov seemed to concern Clara. And Clara didn’t strike me as the kind of
woman who scared easy.

I tucked my gun at my back, happy that
any threat was now over, and extended my hand.

‘Hi,’ I said, causing her concern to give
way to confusion. ‘We’ve not been formally introduced. I’m Adrian Hell.’

She went quiet for a moment, then burst
out laughing.

‘You know, a guy could develop a complex
if you keep laughing like that.’

‘
You’re
Adrian Hell?
The
Adrian Hell?’

I smiled, sheepishly.

‘You’ve heard of me?’

‘Yeah, I’ve heard of you. You’re a
legend in the killing business. I just didn’t expect you to look like, well,
like you do.’

I stood there for a moment, processing
the nose-dive my self-confidence just took.

‘I’m just gonna go right ahead and
assume that’s a compliment.’

Clara rolled her eyes, which I ignored.

‘The point of me introducing myself and
unknowingly leaving myself open to a verbal bitch-slapping, was to point out
that I’m not fazed by a woman on a motorcycle who’s meant to be a good
assassin. I’m going to see this thing through and fix it. I’m not sure how, but
I will.’

She smiled, softer this time, more
genuine and less insulting.

‘I believe you. I do. But don’t
underestimate what you’re up against.’

‘I never do. For a start, I need to know
how they knew about me before I’d even heard of them.’

‘How are you going to do that?’

‘I have my ways. But seriously, Clara,
get the hell out of here, okay?’

Before she could say anything else, I
picked up the keycard to the suite off the desk and put it in my pocket. I took
out a handkerchief and wiped down the briefcase. I hadn’t touched anything
else, so was happy I wasn’t leaving anything incriminating in there. I then
headed for the door.

Clara watched me cleanse the room of any
evidence I was ever there.

‘Erm, Adrian?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Aren’t you forgetting something?’ She nodded
to Jackson’s corpse tied to a chair.

‘Oh, don’t worry, I’ll sort that later.’

I opened the door, taking the Do Not
Disturb sign off the inside handle and placing it on the outside one. I stepped
out, went to close the door and looked back at her one last time.

‘Trust me, I’m a professional.’

I winked at her and closed the door.