But my spider sense is going haywire. I don’t know why. I just know never to ignore it.
I smile and shake my head. Ironically, it’s taken me being accepted into a secretive, elite group of assassins to realize that maybe, just maybe, this isn’t the life I want anymore.
Figures.
I tried getting out of it once before. It worked for a while, but this life caught up with me eventually. I had no choice but to accept that and go along with it. And look where it got me? My entire town got fucking nuked! I lost the second of only two women I’ve ever loved in the blink of an eye, and I’ve not even stopped to think about it. It’s as if I don’t care. Except, I know I do.
What the hell is wrong with me?
I hear shouting outside.
Oh yeah…
I rush over to the entrance and carefully peek out. The 4×4s appear to be in place, which is good. There’s still a large group of armed men taking pot shots at me, but the exposed fuel drum in the vehicle is putting them off, thank God. I reckon that maybe half of them have already run off.
Seriously, what kind of outfit is this? All the people who work here are pussies!
I glance over my shoulder at Mr. Way’s corpse—a final check that my job is done… the contract fulfilled—then step outside, crouching behind the 4×4 for cover. There’s no sign of the women anywhere, which hopefully means they’re hightailing it through the forest as planned.
I look around and count eleven men grouped together along the left side.
They need distracting…
I pop up, quickly rest on the hood, and steady my aim. Now I’m exposed, I only have a couple of seconds before someone risks a shot. I get the fuel drum that’s visible on the rear seat of the vehicle next to them in my sights. I take a short breath… hold it… and breathe out as I squeeze the trigger gently.
BANG!
The bullet finds its mark. The vehicle explodes, immediately engulfed in flames. The deafening roar of the blast sends a small shockwave around the camp, and many of the group in front of me are knocked off their feet.
I dash around the hood, firing and picking off the ones still standing as I head for the way out. They go down with zero resistance. I spray a few rounds at the group on the other side, across from me, to give them something to think about. As they dive for cover, I take aim at the other 4×4. As requested, the fuel drum is lying exposed on the rear seat.
Those girls did good!
I stop for a brief moment and fire.
BANG!
Another massive explosion. Bodies fly in all directions. The shockwave takes out three nearby guard towers, too, which is a stroke of luck. Smoke billows into the sky, blocking out the sun. The loud crackling flames on either side drown out almost all other noise.
I sprint toward the entrance, running down the center of the compound to avoid as much of the heat as I can. I change mags and lay down my own covering fire, occasionally getting lucky and taking out a straggler as I go.
I reach the guard post. The fence is standing open, the area unmanned. That’s good—the women must have gotten out with no fuss. I turn and face the compound. The flames on either side are spreading, and many of the guard towers are catching fire. From what I can see, most of the men are dead or have run away. The ones who remain are rushing around in a blind panic.
At the far end, the last of the 4×4s stands ominously in front of Way’s tent. I take a knee, control my breathing, and line up my shot at the fuel drum. It’s a good distance from here, and considering I have a fully automatic SMG—which isn’t the most accurate of weapons—this needs to be a damn good shot.
Luckily for me… I’m me.
I squeeze the trigger.
BANG!
The tent disappears in an instant, quickly consumed in a bright ball of fire. I watch as the flames lash out at their surroundings, slowly burning any trace of Mr. Way’s operation to ashes.
“Before me is a sea of fire, on which the screams of my victims ride the waves.”
I can’t remember where I heard that quote. It sounds like something a Viking would say…
It feels appropriate, anyway. I drop my gun, turn, and set off running, back into the forest I landed in not four hours earlier.
5
15:40 ICT
It didn’t take me long to catch up to the women. They’re not the fastest of runners, and their crying soon gave away their position. A small group of stragglers at the back all turn as they hear me approach. They all stop and try to hug me at the same time as I draw level with them. I have no idea what they’re saying, but they seem happy.
I chuckle nervously, shrugging their hands off me. “Okay, okay… it’s no problem. You’re all welcome. Just…” I take a couple of paces back, putting some distance between them and me. “There we go. That’s right. You’re all okay now.”
I recognize one of them as someone who vaguely understood me earlier. I look at her. Her face is thin and gaunt, her eyes dark and sunken. She looks deflated… beaten. I move toward her. “Have you seen Hong Yun? Was she with you when you left?”
She frowns for a moment, presumably processing the question, and then shakes her head. “Not… with… us.”
Shit.
“Okay, thank you.”
I look forward and see the main group just up ahead. I break into a light jog and make my way between the trees, avoiding clumps of undergrowth and bushes sticking out as I catch them up.
I hope she’s—
Wait… What’s that noise?
I slide to a stop and look up, squinting in the sun as I search the pockets of smoke-filled sky between the treetops. That sounds like…
A helicopter whizzes into view for a split-second, and then disappears again. The noise is still loud though, so it must be landing somewhere nearby.
I let out a long, tired sigh. Now what?
I carry on and draw level with the second group of women.
“Hong Yun?” I say to them, slightly out of breath.
Collectively, they stop and turn, fear etched onto the face of every one of them. I can’t imagine what they’ve all been through, but at least it’s over now.
Hong Yun pushes her way to the front of the group and stands in front of me. She looks tired and afraid, but she manages to smile at me. “Adrian… you okay!”
I nod. “I always am. I was worried about you. I hoped you’d managed to get out safely.”
“Yes… thank you. Mr. Way… is he… dead?”
I nod again.
She looks down. Her shoulders slump forward and she sighs.
I frown. “What’s wrong?”
She gestures to the women behind her. “We all hated him… but for many of us… for me… this was all we had. We have… nowhere to go.”
I put my hands on her shoulders and smile at her. “Hong Yun, you’re free now. Do you understand? You’re not in danger. You don’t belong to anyone. You are all… free. You can go anywhere you want and not be afraid. Don’t you have family somewhere? Someone who misses you?”
She glances to the side as if she’s really thinking about it. “I have… sister. She lives in the city.”
“Well, there you go—go and be with your sister. Start a new life for yourself.” I look up and glance over the rest of the women. “Same goes for all of you. If you have family or friends, go and be with them. Your life is your own now. You can all—”
“Adrian!”
A voice up ahead interrupts me. Without thinking, I push Hong Yun behind me and walk through the group of women, making sure I’m between them and whoever’s approaching. The rustling of undergrowth and the sound of heavy footfalls is getting louder. There must be at least five or six of them.
It can’t be anyone working for Way… He didn’t know my real name, plus, he wouldn’t have been able to reach the phone from under the desk anyway… fucking coward.
So, who the hell is—
“Adrian.”
A group of men appears be
fore us from behind a tight clump of trees, rounding a slight bend. I was right—there are five of them. They’re wearing jungle fatigues and holding handguns. Drawn, ready, but loose.
“Let’s go,” says the man at the front, gesturing to me with his hand. He’s quite tall, similar in height to me, with a stern-looking, clean-shaven face and narrow eyes.
I frown. “And you are…?”
“…Here to bring you back in after a mission well done.”
“You guys work for The Order?”
He nods. “The name’s Pierce.”
“Christ… Okay, Pierce, where the fuck were you when I had a small army shooting at me a few minutes ago?”
He shrugs. “If you needed our help to get out of there, we wouldn’t be here to offer you a ride home.”
I roll my eyes. “Oh yeah—all part of my initiation, right?” I sigh. “Fine.”
I walk over to them, and they subtly fan out to surround me without getting too close. I note their positioning—two behind at wide angles… one on either side, practically level with me… and Pierce, who walked past me and took the lead. If I try to run, regardless of which direction, I’ll be tagged before I reach the guy I’m heading toward.
Smart. Effective.
I stop walking. “Hey, wait a minute…”
The men stop and turn. Pierce sighs—a hint of impatience. “What?”
I gesture behind me with my thumb. “What about the women? You’re not seriously just gonna leave them here, are you?”
He shrugs again. “They’re not my mission. Therefore, they’re not my problem.”
“They weren’t my mission, either. But given I’m not a world-class dickbag, I don’t wanna leave them here to fend for themselves. We’re in the middle of nowhere…”
The group of men exchange looks, and then Pierce reaches into his pocket and pulls out a cell phone. He presses a button and places it to his ear. After some inaudible muttering and the occasional nod, he hangs up and looks at me. “We’ll send another chopper for the women. It’ll take a few trips, but we’ll get them to safety somewhere in the city. That okay with you?”
I shrug. “Don’t tell me…” I glance over my shoulder and then back at him. “…tell them.”
He sighs and walks past me, stopping just in front of the women. He relays his message, which is met with murmurs of uncertainty. I move and stand next to him. We exchange a glance and he raises an eyebrow, almost challengingly. I look at Hong Yun. “My friends here are going to return in a helicopter and take you all to safety, okay? I promise you’re all gonna be fine. Just stick together until they arrive.”
She holds my gaze for a moment and then nods. “Thank you… Adrian.”
I smile. “Don’t worry about it.” I look at Pierce as I turn back. “You need to work on your people skills, man.”
I set off walking toward the chopper again, the group surrounding me keeping pace. Pierce marches past me and resumes his place at the front. A few minutes later, we enter a large clearing. The chopper is standing in the middle, with the pilot and co-pilot visible through the cockpit windows. The four huge blades on the roof slowly start to spin as we approach, and the smaller ones on the tail quickly follow suit.
As the speed picks up and the noise gets louder, we duck slightly as we all jog over to the open door on the side. Pierce jumps in first and turns to face us. “Everybody in!”
The two guys either side of me climb aboard first. One sits facing the cockpit on the far side, the other opposite him. Next, Pierce gestures to me. I get in and sit facing the cockpit in the middle seat. I fasten the belt around my waist as the two guys bringing up the rear get in, the last one shutting the door behind him. One sits on my right, while the other puts his back to the cockpit. Pierce sits across from me.
Less than a minute passes before we’re airborne, heading to God knows where. We bank right and I lean forward slightly in my seat, looking past the guy flanking me and out the window. The forest already looks so small and peaceful. It’s almost as if I was never there. Then I see a thin plume of smoke in the distance and remember that I always leave my mark on places I visit.
Now… where the hell are they taking me?
6
May 6, 2017
11:16 MYT
I’m standing on the balcony of an expensive hotel room, fifteen floors up, leaning on the rail and looking out at the Petronas Twin Towers looming over me. The heat in the center of Kuala Lumpur’s business district is already pushing eighty-five and it’s not even lunchtime. I’m only wearing a towel, as I’ve just stepped out of the shower, but I’m already sweating because of this humidity.
Yesterday, the chopper took us to Tan Son Nhat airport, a few miles north of Ho Chi Minh City. From there, a private jet flew us across the water to Malaysia. Once we touched down, Pierce and his team drove me to this hotel and said someone will be in touch. They told me not to leave my room—and reminded me I have a tracking device in my neck, so they would know if I did. They said to just sit tight and wait for someone to make contact.
It started out as a long-ass evening. I was pacing up and down the room with all kinds of things running through my head. But, eventually, I came to the conclusion that worrying and pacing wasn’t very productive. So instead, I ordered room service, ate like a king, and crashed out on the bed watching TV.
I slept like the dead.
Which makes sense… I mean, that’s what I am now, right?
Dead.
I took my time this morning, taking advantage of being able to lie in bed and not worry about who might try to kill me today. I ordered breakfast and grabbed a nice, hot shower before stepping out here for some air. Not that I’m getting much as it’s that hot!
I’m still exhausted after everything that’s happened in the last few days. Well, I say the last few days, but it’s been almost a month since fate decided my life would change forever. Almost a month since three assholes walked into my bar and dragged me into this shit. And now here I am, nearly four weeks on, standing alone in a Malaysian hotel room with very little to show for my efforts besides a heartbeat.
Not that I don’t appreciate still having one.
I’m looking out at a world still trying to make sense of everything after witnessing not only the largest terrorist attack in history, but also the global war that followed. Far below me, I see people hustling around in every direction, desperately trying to carry on as if nothing’s happened. The aftermath of 4/17 hasn’t reached this far south of China, so people here in Malaysia, as well as in places such as Thailand and Singapore, are still living relatively normal lives.
But normal is now a thing of the past for me. Thanks to Cunningham’s master plan, the North Korean invasion was indirectly responsible for my adopted hometown being turned into a three-mile wide crater. The final stages involved him using the Cerberus satellite to take control of another country’s missile, and blow up part of his own country with it. His thinking being, the American people would turn to him in their hour of need, pledging undying support in return for him finally stepping in and saving the world. He was beyond deluded, but I still couldn’t stop him. He launched a tactical nuke and that was it—game over. Everything’s gone. My bar… my life…
Tori.
I had to watch it happen on a fucking laptop. But I’m still not allowing myself any time to dwell on it. To all intents and purposes, I ceased to exist about five minutes later, so the way I see it, any grief belongs to another life.
That’s what I keep telling myself, anyway. Right now, denial seems the sensible option. I’m still trying to wrap my head around this whole Order of Sabbah thing, so I don’t want to overload myself with too much shit. I’m on my own now… I have to look after number one. I’ve never been great at handling all the emotional baggage that comes with the life I lead—at least, it does if you allow it to. I know I’ll struggle, so I’m choosing to ignore it completely and focus solely on what lies ahead.
I assume after e
verything in Vietnam yesterday I’m in now—that I’m officially a member of The Order’s ranks. So I’m also assuming whoever’s going to make contact will be doing so to either give me a proper induction or give me a job.
I wish they would hurry up, though. I’m getting cabin fever in here.
I turn and walk back inside the room, which really is incredible. I remember thinking that place we had back in New Jersey was nice. But this… this is a goddamn palace! For a start, there’s a water feature in the middle of the room. Seriously! I shit you not—it’s a marble plinth about three feet high, with a discreet fountain trickling out of it in a nice pattern. The sound is relaxing, but I can’t wrap my head around why any hotel room would ever need one.
The bed is far too big for two people, never mind just me, but it gave me the most comfortable night’s sleep I’ve had in years. It’s against the left wall, surrounded by fitted closets and drawers made from dark, presumably expensive, wood.
The thick, cream-colored carpet underfoot makes you feel as if you’re walking on clouds or something. In the middle of the room, facing the opposite wall and the cinema-sized TV mounted on it, is a long, five-seater leather sofa. At either end, angled slightly inward, is a matching armchair. There’s a glass table in the middle, with a bowl of potpourri in its center.
And the TV… Wow! I watched a bit of news on it last night. It’s slightly curved, and the picture quality is so clear it’s like looking through a window. Josh would be in heaven in a place like this…
I sigh, frustrated at myself.
Damn it! I need to stop doing that. Josh is part of my old life. He believes I’m dead. Maybe it would help me to start doing the same. I mean, I’m—
There’s a knock on the door.
About time!
I walk across the room. I’m not bothered that I’m only wearing a towel. I’m not exactly having a business meeting, am I?
I grab the handle and lean forward to look through the—
Good Intentions - Adrian Hell #6 (Adrian Hell Series) Page 5