Good Intentions - Adrian Hell #6 (Adrian Hell Series) (13 page)

They exchange a glance and look confused.

“Wha-what do you mean?” asks Nicki.

Lily steps backward, drawing level with me, and in a lightning-fast movement, reaches behind me and takes out my Beretta. She levels the gun at the pair of them, her arm steady.

“I mean… I’m trying very hard not to shoot you both, you stupid bitch.”

They both scream. Loudly.

I hear the faint sound of a siren in the distance. They’re playing our song…

I think it’s time we were somewhere else.

I move beside Lily and push her arm down gently with my hand. I ease my gun from her grip and slide it back into its holster. “Come on, Lily. We’re done here.”

I put my arm around her shoulder and usher her away from the screaming women and the retreating men, walking hurriedly in our original direction. After a few minutes, we turn off down a side street and drop to a more discreet, casual pace.

I turn to look at her. “So, are you gonna tell me what happened that really brought you here?”

She turns to meet my gaze, her brown eyes sparkling in the glow of the streetlights. “I will, but not now, okay? After all that, my adrenaline’s pumping, and I just want to drink and dance. We can talk tomorrow.”

I nod. “Fair enough. Drinking sounds good.”

“And dancing…”

I shake my head and smile. “You can dance. I’ll drink and watch.”

She rolls her eyes at me and we share a laugh.

I have a feeling our night is just beginning…

11

June 3, 2017

09:31
AST

Holy shit… what was I drinking last night?

I open one eye. I’m lying in bed, face down, buried in my pillow. It’s daylight outside. Far too bright for my liking… I glance at the alarm clock on the bedside table and close my eye again.

Ugh! The inside of my mouth feels like the desert, and my head is banging louder than the music was in the club last night. I’m not cut out for this shit anymore. I’m too old.

I frown.

Wait a minute…

I snap both eyes open and quickly roll over on my back. I look to my right and see Lily lying next to me, seemingly still asleep. She’s sprawled on top of the covers. She still has her cropped top on, for what it’s worth, but she’s dispensed with her white jeans. Her underwear doesn’t look like it offers much in the way of warmth.

Oh… my… God…

I stare at the ceiling, massaging my temples. What the hell happened last night?

I roll out of bed carefully, so I don’t disturb her, and make my way to the kitchen. I grab some juice from the refrigerator and stand looking out the window at my pool. It’s already hot, and there isn’t a cloud in the sky, so the glare from the sun is unrestrained. Neither of which are prime conditions when dealing with a hangover.

I hear something behind me. I look over my shoulder and see Lily padding barefoot into the kitchen, looking tired, but decidedly more awake than I feel. She waves silently and heads straight to the fridge, takes out a beer, pops the top, and takes a big gulp before walking back out. I force myself to look away, so I don’t stare at her ass as she goes.

She really is something else…

I finish my juice and follow her out. I push open my bedroom door to see her sitting on the bed, leaning back against the pillows.

She smiles weakly. “Morning, sunshine.”

I nod a quick greeting. “It sure is. You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m alright. Those cocktails were stronger than I thought, though...”

“Yeah… what happened last night? I remember going in the first place we found after the fight, but then things get a little blurry…”

She chuckles. “Yeah, I think that was where we discovered that really expensive tequila.”

I raise an eyebrow and try desperately to recall anything about what happened last—

Wait…

Tequila?

I remember shot glasses.

I hold my head with both hands and breathe a heavy sigh. It’s as if remembering it is actually
increasing
my hangover.

“Oh yeah… tequila.”

I sit down on the end of the bed, lean forward, and rest my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands.

Lily moves next to me and pats me on the back. “Don’t worry, big boy—it’s just your age.”

I don’t bother looking up. “Gee, thanks. How are you so perky, anyway? You’re way too skinny to absorb that much alcohol, surely?”

She giggles. “Practice. I’m gonna jump in the shower… that okay?”

I wave a dismissive hand. “Go for it.”

She disappears inside my bathroom. I quickly throw some clothes on, pick up my cell phone from the bedside table, and walk back out to the kitchen. I make a pot of coffee—I need the caffeine to wake me up—and check my phone.

No messages.

I let out an impatient sigh.

Considering all the hoops I jumped through to get in The Order, and the fuss they made about recruiting me, things have been annoyingly quiet. I guess I envisioned being busier than this…

I sit down and sip my coffee. Ten minutes or so pass easily enough before Lily appears next to me, wearing the same clothes as yesterday, looking more refreshed and smelling amazing. She pours herself a cupful of the good stuff and sits down opposite me.

I gesture a silent
cheers
with my mug. “Feel better?”

She nods. “Yeah, thanks.”

“Okay, down to business. I don’t know what, if anything, you told me last night, but I’m damned if I can remember any of it, so we need to run through it again. Or for the first time—whichever. Who’s your target, and what went wrong?”

She sighs and stares at the counter, seemingly reluctant to tell me. I can understand that—it’s a pride thing. We’re meant to be the elite in our profession… it’s not easy to admit you failed.

“Horizon activated a contract on a man called Sayed bin Mawal. He’s a Saudi prince visiting the city for a few days. Naturally, he’s well protected. My plan was to use what God gave me—” She gestures to her chest with her hand. “—to get close to him, then take him out once we were alone.”

I shrug, trying not to stare. “Makes sense. So what happened?”

“I couldn’t get close enough. His security was too thorough and they didn’t trust me. When I pushed the issue, they threatened me and I was forced to defend myself, blowing my cover. I barely got out of there alive. I won’t get within a mile of him now.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it, Lily—that happens sometimes. Just regroup and try again.”

She shakes her head. “No, you don’t understand… I told Horizon it was done. I said I’d killed him.”

I frown. “Why would you do that?”

“I don’t know! I panicked, I guess…”

“But won’t Horizon and The Order find out he’s still alive?”

She nods.

“And I’m guessing they frown upon the whole
failing and lying about it
thing, right?”

She nods again.

“Shit… How long d’you think you have?”

She shrugs. “Twenty-four hours, max.”

I nod, processing the information. Instinctively, I start thinking about the hit—looking at every option, every eventuality… playing out the contract in every possible way, considering every possible scenario, until the target’s dead. Then I rewind everything in my mind, right back to the very beginning, and focus on the single most important question.

“Why does The Order want this guy dead?”

Lily sighs. “Not this again, Adrian… I don’t know, okay? I didn’t ask, and Horizon didn’t tell me. Besides, who cares?”

“You should. You’re putting your life on the line here… don’t you wanna know why?”

She shakes her head. “No, I don’t. We’ve been through this—that’s not how things work. It’s not for us to ask why. I trust that Horizon has his reasons. I’m just his weapon.”

I roll my eyes. “Jesus, Lily—when are you going to wake up and smell what you’re shoveling? You sound like you’re brainwashed, reading out of the Welcome brochure! We’re highly trained killers, but we’re not animals. We’re professionals, and you can’t honestly tell me, if you were working for yourself, you wouldn’t ask that question…”

She pushes her mug of coffee away from her slightly and sits up straight in her chair. “No, Adrian, I wouldn’t! I don’t work for myself, but even if I did, I wouldn’t care. I’m an assassin. People pay me to kill other people. I’m not interested in why—all I’ve ever cared about is how much I’m getting paid for it. And I respect the fact that, like many other jobs around the world, there are people who know things others don’t—now, even more so. I’m not here to know what he knows. I’m here to shoot who he tells me to. End of story. Why is that so hard for you to come to terms with?”

“Because I’m the absolute best at what we do, Lily. Without exception. Not finding out why you’re killing someone is amateurish. It leaves you vulnerable to potential repercussions. You have to—”

She stands and slams her hand on the counter. “Fuck you! Who are you calling
amateurish
, you fucking asshole?” She paces away toward the back door. “I can’t believe I came here…”

Jesus…

I’m a little taken aback by her outburst. I hold both hands up. “Alright, take it easy. I’m not questioning your abilities, Lily. Knock it down a notch, okay? All I’m saying is it’s a mistake not to ask that question, and mistakes get people like us killed.”

She doesn’t say anything, holding my gaze for a moment. There’s a confused rage in her eyes that I can see her wrestling with. She slowly sits back down and grabs her mug, taking a sip. I can see her jaw muscles tensing as she thinks about what I’ve said. I can see the doubt slowly creeping in, replacing the anger.

I smile to myself.

I’ve been there, sweetheart.

“Lily, I’m sorry, alright? I didn’t mean to give you a hard time. Old habits, I guess. We’ll do this one together. That’s not against the rules, is it?”

She fixes me with an unblinking stare. I can see her trying hard to stay angry at me, but after a moment, she relents. Her expression softens and she smiles. “No, there’s no rule against a helping hand… providing it’s from someone in The Order, obviously. Thank you.”

“Forget about it. I’ve been looking for something to do anyway. This playboy lifestyle gets a little boring after a while.”

She laughs. “A bottomless bank account, total anonymity
and
immunity from everyone… it’s every man’s dream, surely? You’ve barely been at it a month, how are you bored already?”

I shrug. “You were bored when you got here… what’s your excuse?”

She rolls her eyes. “Yes, but I was
lying
, remember?”

I sigh. “Whatever.”

She smiles. “So, what now?”

I finish my coffee and take a breath. Resting on the counter, I glance down at my right arm.

WWJD.

What would Josh do?

I smile, mostly to myself. “Research.”

10:07
AST

I grabbed a quick shower, threw on some fresh clothes, and set my laptop up on the kitchen counter in front of Lily and me. She’s sitting on one of the stools, transfixed by the screen. I’m just pouring us both another glass of juice. It’s hotter than hell, and despite the AC blasting cool air throughout the entire house, it’s still unbearably warm.

I sit next to her and pass her a glass, which she takes silently. I watch her studying an article on the page for a moment, looking uncomfortable. I bet she feels as if she’s betraying The Order or something by showing some initiative. She’s probably never done the whole research thing before. I know The Order says they will provide you with all the information you need to carry out the contract, but I would bet my bottomless credit card they only give you half the story. I can guarantee they leave out the important bits, such as why you’re killing them…

I don’t think it’s just me being stuck in my ways and stubborn, either. It’s a perfectly legitimate question that I think we have the right to have answered. Lily, me, probably countless others… we’re the ones on the front line, risking everything to kill these people. The least The Order could do is tell us why. They’re not a religion—they don’t operate on unquestioning belief and donations.

Besides, I know from experience never to ignore my spider sense. Every time I do, it nearly gets me killed. And it’s not as if I’m asking for an in-depth report or anything, I just want a simple explanation.
The guy’s a terrorist…
or
they profit from other people’s misfortune…
Hell, even
they’re a bit of a prick—
I deem all those statements as more than adequate reasons to shoot someone. But saying nothing immediately makes me question things.

Anyway… to business.

As much as I’m an advocate of research and preparation, I have to say it’s actually pretty fucking boring, and definitely not my thing. I’ve just spent about twenty minutes doing it, and I have a whole new level of respect for Josh. Here am I, feeling bad about making him think I’m dead, when I’ve been making him do this shit for over a decade! I’m surprised the guy hasn’t tried to kill me himself.

Okay, so Sayed bin Mawal wasn’t exactly a hard man to track down online. It turns out he’s one of the richest men on the planet. He was loaded before 4/17, but in this unstable new world, he’s one of the few who has actually maintained his wealth.

Despite only being at the tender age of thirty-one, he’s the majority shareholder in numerous companies across the world. The most prominent of those companies is Fuelex—a public, multi-national corporation, and one of the largest exporters of crude oil in the world.

So Forbes says, anyway.

Now, I have to admit, I kind of glossed over the details here, because they weren’t really about him, but the basic gist of why he’s so rich is that Fuelex stock rose significantly in the aftermath of 4/17.

The attacks affected Eastern Europe and Asia, mostly, with The West being largely left alone—with the obvious exception of Texas—as was Africa and parts of the Middle East. Consequently, there’s been somewhat of a power shift in certain areas. International trade agreements have mostly been ignored in favor of the greater good. No one can afford anything anymore. Millions of people are homeless. Half the world is drowning in poverty and economic recession, despite the other half, to its credit, doing everything it can to help out.