A Necessary Kill (17 page)

Heskith nodded. “He does, sir. He retired there a couple of years ago.”

“Hmm. I wonder if he has anything else waiting for him back in Texas…”

10:57 EDT

Ruby and I are sitting side by side at a table by a window overlooking the small parking lot and the busy intersection in front of the Applebee’s on the corner of North Michigan and Baltic. Sunshine is periodically glimpsing through the gray clouds above, looking to put an end to the dismal weather of the last few days.

We left our ride at the convention center and continued on foot through the city. The car served us well and made the thirteen-hour journey a little less of a chore.

It’s busy inside, with a mixture of late breakfasts and early lunches. We’re sharing a pot of coffee between us, and I’ve got a plate of actual food in front of me—bacon, eggs… the works. I look at Ruby, who’s regarding her stack of pancakes with reluctance.

“What’s the matter?” I ask. “Do you want me to shove them inside a donut for you?”

I smile as she gives me the finger.

“I’ll shove them somewhere in a minute…” she mutters.

I chuckle and take a sip of my drink. “Right, we need a plan. I’ve contacted Jonas and brought him up to speed on everything since Greensboro. I’ve told him not to get here until midday tomorrow, which gives us a full day to find The European and take him out. I think it’s safe to assume he’s already in the city. He’s not expecting Jonas until tomorrow, so he’ll be lying low somewhere. Now, I’m not sure he knows we’re still alive, so we might be able to get the jump on him, if we can find him. Any ideas?”

She shrugs as she finishes a mouthful of food. “I don’t know. Can’t we just wait for Jonas to get here and use him as bait?”

I shake my head. “Nice idea—and a little ruthless—but no, we can’t afford to just sit and wait. We need to start taking the fight to these bastards. The European is their weapon now, which means we need to find him and take him out of the game.”

“Yeah, fair point. Hey, speaking of ruthless—why did you tell Fernando where Jonas would be, anyway? You practically handed him over on a silver platter…”

I shake my head. “No, I told him because this way we know roughly where that prick will be. It saves us wondering and looking over our shoulders. We know where he is and what he intends to do, so that’s advantage us, the way I see it.”

“Okay, so what’s
your
bright idea for taking him out before Jonas arrives tomorrow?”

I sigh, take another sip of coffee, and stare absently out the window. “I’m working on it.”

Outside, the traffic is heavy and the sidewalks are cramped. I hear the roar of a loud engine and glance across in time to see a sports car drive into view. The driver’s revving the shit out of it, presumably trying to showing off despite doing the same ten miles an hour that everyone else is in their cheaper, more modest vehicles…

My first thought is the person driving is a guy, early thirties, probably wearing a suit and works in an office where he’s paid an obscene amount of money for talking shit to strangers. A little presumptuous, maybe, but I’m sticking with my first impression that the guy’s an asshole.

But my second thought is a stroke of genius. The sound of the engine made me think about The European’s fancy Ferrari…

“Ruby, do you know much about cars?”

She shrugs. “I can drive one…”

“Your ex drives a top-of-the-line Ferrari. Wouldn’t something so exclusive have a built-in GPS tracking device? Like as an anti-theft measure or for Triple A or something?”

“Possibly. Sounds like something they would do nowadays. Why does it matter?”

“Because… if someone was able to hack the signal, they could pinpoint the location of the vehicle. I think.”

“You
think
?”

I shrug. “Not my area of expertise, but it sounds clever, doesn’t it?” I smile as I stand. “Besides, I know a man who can…”

“Where are you going?”

I gesture outside with a nod to the window. “I won’t be a minute.”

I head out the door and take out my burner phone, dialing Josh’s number as a pace away from the junction, so it’s a little quieter. He answers on the second ring.

“Yeah?”

I frown. His British accent sounds tense. Josh never gets tense…

“It’s me,” I say. “You alright?”

He lets out a tired sigh. “Yeah, I’m fine. What’s up?”

“I’ll tell you in a minute. Seriously, man, what’s wrong? I know when something’s bothering you.”

“Mate, you don’t wanna know about my problems, trust me. You’ve got enough of your own.”

“Yeah, I know, but—”

“Adrian, seriously. I’m running one of the largest corporations in the world single-handed, despite having practically no experience in such things. At the same time, I’m deploying soldiers from a private military—which, at last count, isn’t too far behind this country’s own armed force in terms of number of boots on the ground—to all corners of the globe in an effort to keep the peace in nations that have very recently been blown in half. I’m just… I’m just
stressed
, okay?”

I don’t say anything. I can just about imagine the kind of pressure he’s under. Everyone has a bad day, and everyone sometimes needs to vent in order to stop things from getting on top of them.

I’ll just give him a moment…

He sighs heavily. “Look, I’m sorry. It’s just been one of those days, y’know? And at this level, ‘one of those days’ is pretty fucking bad. What can I do for you?”

“Y’know what? It doesn’t matter. I’ll sort it.”

“Adrian, don’t be a dick. What do you need?”

I roll my eyes. “Well, I was wondering if you’d be able to track down the location of a specific car if I told you the owner’s name… Maybe hack into its GPS signal or something.”

I’m met with silence.

“Josh?”

“Huh? Sorry, I just fainted for a second because you asked me something incredibly smart and technical… Who are you? And what have you done with the assassin?”

I smile. There he is.

“Just when I thought I was starting to miss you, you remind me how much of a douchebag you are.” We pause for a second to laugh. “I did tell you that I listen when you talk… So, can you help me or not?”

“Man, you’ve changed… Pretty soon you won’t need me at all!”

“Now we both know
that’s
never going to happen, Josh!”

He laughs. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Okay, gimme a sec… Seriously, you have no idea how good it is to be given something easy to do for a change! What’s the guy’s name?”

“Fernando Garcia.”

“Fernando… Isn’t that—”

“The European? Yeah, it is.”

“What, have you
lost
him? What’s going on?”

I sigh. “Okay, long story short, he’s already been hired by General Matthews to kill me and everyone else on the list I got from Ashton Case. Ash is dead, as is the last name, who I didn’t even get chance to approach. I’m in New Jersey now. He knows Jonas Briggs will be here tomorrow, so we’ve got twenty-four hours to find that talking colostomy bag and take him out.”

He lets out a low whistle. “Christ, and I thought
my
life sucked…”

“It does, Josh. Massively so.”

“Gee, thanks.”

I shrug. “Just calling it like I see it.”

“So, wait, is Ruby still with you? Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she’s fine.”

“Well, that’s something… Okay, what car does he have?”

I think back. “It’s a… Ferrari… something.”

“Aww, and you were doing
so
well…”

“Hey, I’m thinking! It was something to do with a spider…”

“The 488 Spider?”

“Yeah, that’s it! In British racing green—I remember now.”

“Nice car… Hey, what’s the difference between The European’s Ferrari and a hedgehog?”

“I have no idea…”

“On a hedgehog, the pricks are on the
outside
!”

I laugh out loud. I really didn’t want to, as it just encourages him, but that was pretty funny.

“Alright, let me see here…” he says casually. The line goes silent and I hear the rapid tapping of keys in the background. “And… got him. The GPS last transmitted from the hotel parking lot of the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. Where are you?”

I subconsciously glance over my shoulder to get my bearings. “I’m about seven or eight blocks west of there, outside an Applebee’s.”

“Okay, well… now you know where he is.”

“Thanks, man. I’m gonna go and, y’know… kill him and stuff. Listen, I appreciate the assist, Josh.”

“Always happy to help, you know that.”

“I know. Speaking of which, have you had a chance to look over my plan yet?”

“Yeah, I’ve had a look… Where the hell did you come up with that?”

“It just kinda came to me, I guess. I thought about the skill sets of everyone involved and went from there. What do you think?”

“I think it sounds like a perverted squirrel’s favorite pastime.”

I frown. “Huh?”

“Fucking nuts!”

I close my eyes and shake my head. “That’s terrible.”

“Hey, I gotta laugh, man, otherwise I’d cry.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.”

“Alright, joking aside, your plan is actually insane, you know that, right?”

I think about it for a moment. “Yeah…”

“That being said… I reckon it could work. There are a lot of moving parts, though. It won’t be easy.”

“Nothing worth doing ever is. Can I leave it with you?”

“You got a time in mind for this thing?”

“Any time after tomorrow. I need Jonas for part of it, so as soon as possible after we link up with him.”

“Okay, I’ll get back to you.”

“Thanks, Josh. Listen, you take it easy, alright? I know it probably doesn’t feel like it right now, but the whole world isn’t on
your
shoulders. Remember that.”

“I appreciate you saying that, but it kinda is. I mean—”

“Josh, you have an entire company at your disposal. You don’t have to do everything yourself. Well, unless you’re doing something for me…”

He’s silent for a moment and then laughs. “The more things change…”

“…The more I get shot at!”

He laughs again. “Take it easy, brother.”

“You, too.”

I hang up and turn to face the restaurant. I see Ruby in the window watching me as she sips her coffee.

What was that?

It was faint, high-pitched… like a ping. It’s a familiar sound…

I frown as a small hole appears in front of Ruby, the edges of it spider-webbing across the glass. My primal instincts tell me straightaway what’s happening, but I can’t do anything. Time slows to a crawl as I stand on the crowded sidewalk, my feet feeling like they’re sinking in quicksand. I look on helplessly as the coffee cup explodes in her hand a split-second before she’s punched off her seat from the impact of what I can only surmise at this point to be a high-caliber sniper round.

Shit!

11:14 EDT

My first reaction is to look in the direction opposite the restaurant to see if I can pinpoint where the shot came from.

I can’t.

I just see traffic and people running and screaming—which I note has been happening a little too often lately when I’m around…

The next reaction is to get to Ruby. I don’t want anyone else going to her aid in case she’s still alive and there’s a follow-up round being loaded into the chamber of a sniper rifle at this very moment. If anyone’s catching a random bullet, it’s me.

I sprint across the parking lot and burst through the door. I’m met with chaos and shouting, but I take a deep breath and ignore it. I mentally drown out all extraneous noise to the point where the only thing I can hear is the sound of the blood pumping from Ruby’s body.

I push through the crowd of people huddled around our table. Ruby’s lying on the floor. There’s a small pool of spilt coffee at her side, and several fragments of the cup she was holding when she got hit are scattered all around.

There’s a thick puddle of blood behind her head and torso. Her eyes are wide and unblinking. I look at her chest. It’s rising and falling with rapid, shallow breaths.

Well, that’s something…

I crouch beside her. “Ruby? Ruby, talk to me—are you okay?”

Nothing moves except her eyes, which flick to me, staring at me as she furrows her brow.

I shake my head, silently cursing myself at the woefully inept attempt at helping. “Yeah, of course you’re not… never mind. Sorry.”

I can see the entry wound on her right shoulder, just below her collarbone. I carefully put my hand behind her and reach down her back, feeling for an exit wound. My finger touches the wet, sticky flesh an inch or two below her neck.

“Okay, the bullet went through and through—that’s a good thing. Can you move?”

She takes a few extra breaths, mustering up the energy to speak.

“Do I… have… to?” she manages, wincing with each syllable.

I shrug. “No, you can stay here and get shot some more if you want? Or you can wait for the EMTs and the police, see how that goes. Or you can get your ass up so we can find the sonofabitch who just shot you. Your call, sweetheart.”

“I… hate—”

“Me… Yeah, I know you do.” I smile, and she just about succeeds in returning it. I move my arm behind her head, and grab her hand in mine, preparing to lift her. “Okay, this is gonna sting like a bitch…”

I lift her up, and she unleashes a scream of agony that might actually raise the dead. I shift around to her left side and put her arm around my neck, moving my right arm around her waist to support her.

“Come on,” I say. “You can do this.”

In front of me, the crowd of onlookers slowly moves out the way. A guy steps forward and looks at me. “Hey, buddy, shouldn’t you call the police or an ambulance or something? She’s just been shot!”

I stop and stare at him, unable to hide my frustration as I struggle to hold Ruby upright. “Look, you and everyone else here might not be able to comprehend the full extent of what’s just happened, so let me clarify.” I cast a glance over the crowd around me and raise my voice so everyone can hear. “My friend’s just been shot by someone with a sniper rifle. You all know what one of those is, right? And I genuinely believe the intention is to kill her. Now, I happen to have a pretty good idea who pulled the trigger. I also happen to know he’s a pretty good shot. Which means this non-lethal wound wasn’t an accident. It was intentional, so she’d feel pain. Which leads me to believe that right now he’s still looking down his scope at us all, lining up his next shot, which he may or may not have decided is the one that will finish her off. And you bunch of assholes are standing here watching…”