Paradise Burns

by J. P. Sumner

  ‘I followed you to the club last night. Thought you might need some help.’

  ‘So where were you when Pick Axe threw me through a window?’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘The other guy.’

  ‘Ah, right. Strange name.’

  ‘He carried a pick-axe with him. He liked to throw at people.’

  ‘Oh, that makes more sense.’

  ‘So, wait - why did you follow me? Why would you care if I needed help?’

  ‘Well, forgetting for a moment that I pulled a gun on you, then you elbowed me in the face and pulled a gun on me - more than once, I might add - yesterday in the hotel suite was somewhat of an eye-opener.’

  ‘Now there’s an understatement,’ I said, remembering the uranium mine and the reason I went to the club last night in the first place.

  ‘Why did you offer me that money?’

  I sat back down on the bed.

  ‘Honestly? I felt sorry for you.’

  ‘Do I look like I need your pity?’ she said, with a hint of hostility in her voice.

  ‘You look like you need to get dressed.’

  She glared at me, clearly pissed about what I’d said.

  ‘Look,’ I began. ‘I meant no offence, alright? While I’m sure you are an extremely capable and highly experienced assassin, I could tell yesterday that you had no idea how bad this situation with Dark Rain was. You looked out of your depth, and you looked mad at yourself for letting it get away from you like this.’

  Her expression softened and she looked away. I continued.

  ‘As soon as I realized that you had no idea how bad this whole thing was, I admit I kinda felt bad beating on you the way I did.’

  She looked back at me and pulled a face, but remained silent.

  ‘I don’t need the money, and I didn’t want you getting caught up in this any further. Easiest way to leave a situation like this is quickly, and with a boat-load of cash. I thought it was the right thing to do.’

  She let the smile she was trying hard to hide slip just a little.

  ‘My hero,’ she said.

  ‘I think of it more like your big brother.’

  She smiled again, this time without trying to hide it.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said.

  ‘I think I should be thanking you,’ I replied. ‘I’m guessing I got back here because of you last night?’

  ‘I was keeping watch on the club. I saw you enter, and when I saw everyone running out screaming, I guessed the mob didn’t take your news too well.’

  ‘I didn’t tell them about the deeds. I just said I killed Jackson and he didn’t have them on him.’

  ‘And they bought that?’

  ‘They seemed to. They were certainly mad enough to suggest they did.’

  ‘That was simpler than I thought.’

  ‘Yeah, sometimes the best lies are the most straightforward ones.’

  ‘So, what now?’

  ‘Not sure. I definitely need to shower and change. Are you sticking around then?’

  She stood up. Her towel wasn’t anywhere near long enough. I made a point of keeping eye contact with her.

  ‘I can’t just walk away from Dark Rain, they’ll find me,’ she said. ‘I don’t care how much money I have. I’ve seen too much of their operation for them to allow me to leave.’

  ‘I could use some help finding them,’ I replied.

  ‘Are you as good as the stories say you are?’

  ‘Stories?’

  ‘Come on, you must know what I’m talking about? You’re Adrian Hell!’

  I swear to God, she air-quoted when she said my name.

  I said nothing. I knew what she meant. I knew why there were stories about me. Maybe I’ll tell you about them some day. For now, let’s just say I’ve managed to remain in control of my emotions since I came to Heaven’s Valley, which is something I’ve not always managed to do in the past.

  I looked at Clara, my blue eyes fixed on her green ones.

  ‘I’ll burn them to the ground,’ I said. ‘Every last one of them.’

  She stood quiet for a moment before she spoke.

  ‘Good,’ she said. Then she smiled. ‘Now go have a shower. I know exactly how we can start.’

  TWENTY-TWO

  After I’d showered and changed, we left the hotel and took a short walk to where Clara had parked her car. I didn’t really give much thought to what someone like her would drive, but I definitely wasn’t expecting to find a bright red Dodge Viper GTS with a vertical, white double stripe down the middle.

  ‘I’m impressed,’ I said. ‘That’s a nice set of wheels.’

  ‘Sure is,’ she replied. ‘It’s a classic – a V10 engine pumping out four hundred and fifty brake horse power. Zero to sixty in four seconds.’

  I looked her up and down, admiringly. Not in a physical way as such, I was just impressed that someone who looked as good as she did, and was as capable as she was, was also a car enthusiast. She’s most guys’ perfect woman.

  She saw my surprised and impressed look.

  ‘What can I say?’ she replied. ‘We all have our toys. You have your guns, I have Princess here.’

  I raised my eyebrow, questioningly.

  ‘Princess?’

  ‘What?’ she replied, with a shrug and a smile.

  I shook my head, smiling, and got in. She climbed in next to me and fired up the engine.

  ‘So, where are we going?’ I asked.

  ‘I clearly don’t know as much as I thought about Dark Rain, and we need to be prepared if we’re going to go up against them. I figured we could do some recon, ask around, see what we can find out. I know a good place to start.’

  I must admit, I liked the way she was talking as if we were a team. I’ve never had a partner. Well, not out in the field anyway. Josh is my go-to guy – always has been. But Clara was operating on the same wavelength as me, and it felt good.

  ‘Okay, let’s go.’

  As we drove, I took in the surroundings that flew by. I’d only seen a small amount of Heaven’s Valley so far, and wherever we were heading was taking us all round the center of the city. We passed briefly through the business district, where I’d first seen Clara with Ted Jackson. We went past the large fountain where I’d sat. We took a left turn and hit the freeway. We cruised at a steady eighty miles per hour for a few minutes before she spoke.

  ‘There’s a courier service that has a depot on the other side of town. Dark Rain has a guy on the inside who helps them transport weapons and money around when they need it.’

  ‘They seem pretty well organized,’ I said.

  ‘They really are. GlobaTech has given them a lot of money, and they’ve used it well. The Colonel is a smart man, and they’re well rooted in the city. They’ve got contacts and safe houses all over. It’s strange to think that the people who live here have no idea that their entire city is being used to organize a military operation like this.’

  ‘Yeah, it’s not a pleasant thought. When I spoke to Jimmy Manhattan yesterday, I told him then that he was in way over his head and had no idea who he was dealing with. I’m starting to think I don’t, either.’

  ‘We just need to know exactly what their plan is, and how they’re carrying it out. Then we can figure out how to stop them. Simple.’

  I had to smile.

  ‘Your optimism is encouraging, I’ll give you that.’

  ‘I feel better now that I’m doing something positive. I felt so bad the other day when I realized what I’d gotten mixed up in. I’ve done some questionable things in the past, don’t get me wrong, but for the most part I have no regrets. But this is off the scale. I mean, uranium? We could be talking about black market nuclear weapons. It’s insane.’

  ‘I completely agree. What’s worse is we don’t know their end game. That’s why I’ve been running interference with the mob. Pellaggio’s outfit pretty much owns this city. I’m surprised Dark Rain has been able to do what they have without Pellaggio finding
out to be honest. But the mob isn’t military, and if they got their hands on nuclear weapons, or the stuff used to make them, that just wouldn’t end well.’

  Clara navigated the traffic with ease, and took the next exit.

  ‘My idea is to scope out the courier’s place, hope to get lucky and see our guy making a delivery. We can then tail him and see what we find,’ she said.

  ‘Or we could just go and talk to him?’ I suggested.

  ‘Seriously? You don’t do subtle, do you?’

  ‘She says in a bright red Dodge Viper!’

  ‘Touché,’ she laughed. ‘But he won’t say anything. Ketranovich has everyone wound up tight. They’d die for his cause, so there’s no way you’d get anything out of him.’

  I looked at her.

  ‘He’ll talk to me.’

  Her jaw tightened and she bit her bottom lip, thinking. She knew better than to doubt me, but I think right then she was worried about how this whole thing was going to play out.

  We turned a corner and she forgot her concerns as quickly as she thought about them.

  ‘We’re here,’ she said as we pulled up.

  She pointed to a building over the road.

  ‘That’s the place.’

  It was a generic two story building with a yard on its left that had six trucks parked in it. The sign across the building above the main entrance said EXPRESS COURIER SERVICES. There was lots of activity, as you’d expect.

  ‘What’s this guy’s name?’ I asked.

  ‘Marcus Jones,’ she said.

  ‘Right, come on then,’ I said, opening the door to get out.

  ‘You’re insane,’ she said.

  We crossed the road and entered the building through the main entrance. Inside was a small lobby with a worn, blue carpet underfoot. There were a couple of seats on the left and a large plant on the right that was long overdue some water.

  The desk in front of us was manned by a short, portly guy with dark hair and a large moustache – both mottled with flecks of gray. His stomach was disproportionately large for the rest of his body and hung low over his belt. I reckon it had been close to a decade since he last saw his own feet while standing up.

  ‘Can I help you folks?’ he asked, in a thick, southern accent.

  ‘I hope so,’ I said. ‘I’m looking for Marcus, if he’s around?’

  ‘Jonesy? He’s out on a job at the moment. Due back soon though. Can I ask why you want to see him? Bit irregular for folks to come in and ask for a specific driver.’

  ‘We’re old friends. We’re passing through town and wanted to say hello is all.’

  ‘Well now, ain’t that something?’

  He stood and gestured to the chairs.

  ‘Grab a seat folks,’ he said. ‘Let me get you a drink while you wait. You know, Jones is a quiet sort-a fella - keeps himself to himself. He’ll be glad to see some old friends.’

  I looked at Clara and smiled. She rolled her eyes at me.

  ‘We’re alright for drinks, thanks,’ I said. ‘But we appreciate being allowed to wait. I promise we won’t take up much of his time.’

  He laughed again.

  ‘No problem. You’re nice folks, you know that?’

  Clara spoke. ‘That’s kind of you to say, thank you.’

  We sat down and she looked at me.

  ‘You make things look really easy,’ she said.

  ‘Thanks,’ I said.

  ‘It’s really annoying.’

  ‘Ah, don’t gimme that. You love it.’

  We both smiled.

  We were lucky, in that we didn’t have to wait long. After ten minutes or so, the door opened and a man walked in. Clara tapped my leg with her foot.

  Marcus Jones.

  He was average height, with dark skin and a shaved head. He had a few days’ growth on his face, but I wouldn’t have called it a beard. He was wearing a short sleeve navy blue shirt with a yellow logo over the breast pocket that said ECS, then jeans and boots.

  As he walked in, he saw the guy behind the desk smiling at him and pointing at us. He turned and looked at me, confused. Then he saw Clara, and his eyes went wide. I couldn’t tell whether it was fear or surprise. Whatever it was, he bolted for the door.

  I was straight out of the doors after him. I got outside just in time to see him climbing into his truck and setting off like a bullet from a gun.

  Clara appeared behind me and we both ran over to the car.

  ‘Well, that went well,’ she said as we got in and she started the engine. ‘Did he tell you everything you wanted to know?’

  We sped off in pursuit, narrowly avoiding a car coming from behind us.

  ‘Can you please just focus on trying not to get us killed?’ I replied.

  TWENTY-THREE

  The van was speeding down the road, erratically weaving in and out of the traffic. It was a six-lane freeway, three in each direction. Thankfully, there wasn’t any heavy traffic. We followed as closely as we could.

  ‘Try and get alongside him,’ I said to Clara.

  She was in a far superior car, so catching Jones wasn’t the problem. The problem was staying close to him, because he was swerving left and right whenever we approached. We didn’t want to risk a crash, so had to keep dropping back.

  Clara was focused on the road. I was trying to plan how to stop him without killing him. There aren’t too many options when you’re racing down a reasonably busy road chasing a van who’s driver is panicking.

  ‘Where’s he likely to be heading?’ I asked.

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Clara. ‘I doubt he’s going to run straight to their main base knowing we’re following him. There are a couple of other locations Dark Rain use - weapons drops and safe houses.’

  I frowned.

  ‘We need to get him before he reaches somewhere we can’t follow.’

  I leant out of the window and drew one of my guns.

  ‘What are you doing?!’ yelled Clara.

  If I was being honest, I had no idea what I was doing. It’s a near-impossible shot to hit a tire in this situation. I figured if I could at least hit the van, he might slow down or make a mistake.

  ‘Tell you in a minute,’ I said.

  I squeezed off two rounds. I’ve no idea where the first one went, but the second one hit the back door of the van. The noise was very high-pitched, and Jones swerved left and right out of instinct.

  He suddenly took a sharp left, narrowly missing the oncoming traffic he cut across. Clara saw it, but knew she wouldn’t have made it across the junction.

  ‘Take the next left, we’ll catch up to him,’ I said.

  We did, and we saw the van go across the end of the road. We turned right and were luckily back on his tail in no time.

  Clara pushed forward and was drawing level with him on the inside. He saw the move and edged to his left to close us down. We dropped back and fell in behind him again.

  He tried to take another sharp turn, to the right this time, but he was going too fast. He turned too early and clipped the curb. He was doing at least sixty when he turned and he started to slide as his front right wheel went up. The momentum made the van tip over onto its left side and he went across the road and into a parked car that was on the opposite side.

  Clara saw it and slowed down. The crash was deafening, and people screamed and ran from the scene. It was a miracle no-one was seriously injured.

  We pulled up just before the right turn and waited. The van had skidded to a halt, writing off the car it collided with. People were gathering around the accident now.

  ‘Jesus,’ said Clara. ‘This is all my fault.’

  ‘How do you figure that?’ I asked.

  ‘He only ran when he saw me. If I’d let you go in alone, you might have been able to talk to him and stop him from running.’

  ‘Look, neither of us were to know he was going to bolt the moment he saw you. No-one’s been injured - except him, and I’m okay with that.’

  She force
d a smile.

  ‘But we’re still at square one. We didn’t get anything out of him, and now Dark Rain will know we’re onto them.’

  ‘Hold up,’ I said, looking over at the crash.

  Marcus Jones was climbing up and out of the passenger door window. He looked relatively unhurt, apart from some cuts and bruises. He jumped down to the road and bent over, resting his hands on his knees. He looked around at the people staring.

  He saw our car. His gaze met mine. He set off running down the road, out of sight.

  ‘Oh, no you don’t, you slippery bastard!’ I yelled, getting out of the car and setting off after him.

  I rounded the corner and barged through the crowd of slack-jawed onlookers. Jones was just ahead of me. I sprinted on after him.

  I didn’t know where Clara was, but I realized after a couple of hundred feet that my body really wasn’t in any condition to be running. I was breathing heavily already, despite usually being in excellent physical condition, and the deep breaths felt like a knife stabbing my chest.

  Goddamn cracked ribs.

  I couldn’t maintain this pace for long. I had to catch him. He was just up ahead, and was heading into an alleyway in between two buildings on the left hand side of the road. He glanced behind him to see where I was and nearly ran into a trashcan. He jumped over it, but it bought me a couple of seconds.

  ‘Marcus!’ I shouted. ‘Don’t you be making me run, you asshole!’

  I entered the alleyway. He was nowhere to be seen. It was a dead end, with large dumpsters on either side. On the right was a fire escape. I looked up and saw Jones climbing the metal stairs up to the roof.

  Shit.

  I took a couple of steps back, then sprinted toward the ladder that led up to the fire escape. I jumped and just managed to grab a hold of the bottom rung. I can’t describe how excruciating it was to try and pull myself up that ladder with cracked ribs and a mild concussion, but take my word for it - it was painful.

  I made it onto the fire escape and started running up the stairs, taking two or three at a time. But by the time I made it onto the roof, he was almost at the other side. I set off after him again, but was too late. As he approached the ledge, he jumped and landed on the roof of the next building.