A young couple are at the next table over from me. They’re maybe mid-thirties. I look across at them. “Guys, you need to get out of here. Get as far away from this building as you can. Do you understand?”
The woman’s crying, gripping the hand of her man tightly. He’s trying his best to comfort her, but I can see that he’s just as scared as she is—his arms are trembling and his breathing is fast and shallow.
He stares at me. “W-why aren’t you running?”
“Don’t worry about me, alright? Just take care of your girl. Get out of here, and make sure you take everyone else still in here with you.”
The woman looks up and stares at me through her teary, red eyes. “Th-then come with us.”
“I… I can’t, alright? Like I said, just get out of here as fast as you can. It isn’t safe.”
They both stand and move slowly away from the table. The guy frowns, his fear giving way to concern. “Wait… what’s wrong? Who are you? And why aren’t you trying to run like everyone else?”
I sigh. I was only trying to help, not make a big deal of things. Jesus…
“Look—that was my car that exploded outside, alright? I think my friend might’ve been in it at the time, I’m not sure. The guy I was just sitting with is the one who blew it up, and he’s put a bomb under my chair. If I move, this whole building goes up in smoke, too. I can’t let that happen, which is why I need you guys to run like hell and get as many people as you can who are still in here to go with you. Please!”
Their eyes go wide and any fleeting concern soon reverts back to panic. They turn on the spot and bolt for the door, shouting to the few remaining people they pass to follow them.
It worked—everyone’s leaving. But as the door opens, the sound of the approaching sirens gets much louder. They must be right outside…
“Adrian?”
I frown. Is that…“Ruby?”
She appears from behind me, stands at my side, and looks down, confused. “What the fuck are you doing?”
I scoff. “What am I doing? What are you doing? How are you not dead?”
She shrugs. “I saw him coming and dove out of the car just before he shot the gas tank. I waited till he’d gone, and when I didn’t see you come out, I circled around back to see where you were. Why are you just sitting here like an idiot?”
I sigh and let my shoulders slump with shame. “There’s a bomb under my chair. If I stand up, it goes off.”
“Piss off! There’s no way…” She crouches down and looks under my chair. “Holy shit!” She stands up and punches my arm. “There’s a bomb under your chair!”
“I know! And, hey!” I nod at my arm. “Do you mind?”
“Oh, sorry… So what’s your plan?”
“My plan? Ruby, if I had a plan, do you really think I’d still be sitting here?”
“Huh, fair point. Well, listen, there are cop cars and fire trucks everywhere out front.”
“I figured. Your ex-boyfriend also mentioned the CIA are coming, so we really have to find a way out of here, and fast.” I shift uncomfortably on my seat while trying to keep all my weight on it. “Any bright ideas?”
She frowns. “Wait, how does Fernando know the CIA is heading here?”
I let out a tired sigh. “Because the director of the CIA hired him to kill me, and you, and everyone else on my list. Ashton Case is already dead, as is the remaining person who we didn’t get a chance to approach. He knows where Jonas is going to be, so we need to find your ex and kill him.”
“That bastard! I’m gonna—”
“Ruby? Can we please focus on my problem? We’ll get angry at him later, okay?”
She sighs, tucks her gun at her back, and crouches beside me again. “Okay, fine. Gimme a minute.”
“Hey, whoa, what are you doing?” I grip the edge of the seat in both hands, my body tensing.
“Relax. I’m just going to defuse this thing…”
“You’re gonna what? What do you know about bombs? And why are you being so casual?” I look down trying to see what she’s doing. “Ruby? Ruby! I don’t like you messing with this thing! Just—”
She stands. “Okay, you can get up now.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Huh?”
She smiles. “You can stand up. I’ve disabled the dead man’s switch. The bomb won’t detonate if you get off the chair.”
“But how did you…?”
“Hey, I’m not just a pretty face, you sexist asshole. I dated this guy for a few months. He might’ve shown me a thing or two. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I showed him a thing or two as well, if you know what I…”
I glare at her.
“…You know what I mean—never mind. Look, just trust me. Get up so we can get out of here.”
I take a deep breath. And another. I try to stand, but my legs don’t agree with what my brain’s telling them to do. Don’t get me wrong, despite my initial reservations I’m actually starting to like Ruby. I think trusting her might be a way off, but I’m open to the idea at least. One day. But…
Ah, fuck it.
I jump out of the chair into a crouch, shielding my head with both arms. I hold my breath.
One second. Two seconds. Three… four…
Nothing.
I look around and see Ruby standing with her arms folded across her chest. She doesn’t look happy.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, dickwad.”
I scratch the back of my head nervously. “Heh… sorry. It’s not that I don’t… I just wasn’t sure if… I’m…” I give up. “Thanks for saving my ass, Ruby. Heh… Literally!”
She continues frowning and pouting at me for a few moments, and then her face relaxes. “You’re welcome. Now, can we get out of here?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
She turns and heads for the back. I follow, but stop after a few steps as an idea hits me. “Ruby, hang on a sec.”
She stops and looks back at me. “What?”
I glance back at the chair. “How good are you with bombs, exactly?”
She paces slowly toward me, frowning. “Why?”
“I’m just spit-balling here… We’ve got Christ knows how many CIA agents heading here to kill us, right? There’s no way they’re going to keep us alive a second longer than they need to if we’re caught. Their orders would’ve been very clear, probably given by either the CIA director or the president himself.” I shrug. “Would be nice to get one over on them.”
She smiles, with a hint of disbelief in her eyes. “Are you suggesting we take them out?”
“I’m suggesting you set that bomb to count down and go off in, say, three minutes’ time? The way I see it, if it goes off before they get here, there’s a chance they’ll think we were taken out by the blast, which buys us time. If it goes off once they arrive, there’s a good chance we’ll take them out, which would also be pretty useful and entertaining.”
Ruby raises an eyebrow and starts pacing back and forth, staring at the floor. I’m not sure, but I think she’s experiencing doubt…
“What is it?” I ask.
“Killing people I’m paid to kill is one thing, but killing G-men is something else… We’re not stupid, Adrian. That’s a whole other level of heat we’d be bringing—”
I hold my hand up to stop her. “Ruby, sweetheart… it’s a little late for that, don’t you think? In case you haven’t noticed, those G-men already are coming to kill us. And they’re doing so because President Cunningham wants them to. It doesn’t actually get any worse than that. This is what you signed on for—it’s literally us against the world right now.”
She takes a deep breath and nods slowly.
“Besides, it was only a week or so ago that I took out over twenty NSA agents with a proximity mine…”
“You what?”
“Hey, it was me or them…” I shrug. “Fuck ’em.”
She chuckles somewhat desperately. “Christ… okay, gimme a sec here.”
She crouches beside t
he chair and carefully picks it up, flips it over, and rests it on its side, revealing the bomb. It looks… impressive, for want of a better word. Explosives aren’t my strong suit—never really used them or found a good enough reason to learn how.
I watch Ruby as her hands move delicately and expertly over the device, figuring out the wiring and reconfiguring it to suit our own violent needs. She carefully starts moving things around. I hold my breath instinctively.
“Three minutes on the clock?” she asks.
I nod. “Yeah, that should do it.”
She reconnects a couple of wires in different places and presses a few buttons.
“Okay, and… done.” She stands and looks at me. “We should probably leave.”
I glance down at the device, which is now showing two minutes fifty-four seconds. “Good idea…”
We both run over to the back of the bar, through the storage area, and toward the rear entrance. I ease the door open slowly, peeking out as I do. There’s a track that runs along the back of the building like an alley. There’s a squad car parked at one end with its nose facing the parking lot opposite, but I can’t see any cops. Cautiously, I look the other way, which leads away from the main street toward some railroad tracks. It looks clear.
“Come on,” I call over my shoulder.
We step outside, careful not to make too much noise. We check all the angles, quickly and professionally, and then I reach behind me, grab Ruby’s wrist, and break into a jog. She keeps pace without a word, and we make it to the tracks without being seen.
We both glance left when we reach a clearing and see West Market Street beyond, overrun with cops, firemen, and terrified passers-by. The railroad crossing is blocked off, which should mean the tracks have been cleared.
“C’mon, this way.”
We set off along the tracks as quickly as we can. We run under West Friendly Avenue where it opens into a wooded clearing. We keep going full speed for another thirty seconds then stop, turn around, and watch as we catch our breath. Ruby’s leaning forward, her hands resting on her knees. I’m standing upright, hands on hips.
I’m reminded for a very brief second of the morning jogs I used to go on with Styx. Chasing the sunrise around Devil’s Spring with my dog keeping pace next to me.
I take in a deep, heavy breath, sighing away the painful, raw memory.
A thunderous explosion rings out, distracting me by illuminating the dull, early evening sky with a bright orange flash before clouding it with billowing smoke. The ground shakes beneath our feet, and even though we’re probably a good half mile away, I can hear the sound of glass and brick showering down on the immediate area.
I hope the innocent people were smart enough to get clear of the building before that thing went off… Even the cops—I mean, they’re just doing their jobs—it’s nothing personal with them.
Now, the CIA guys… I hope they got blown to shit. Fuckers.
“Okay…” says Ruby between breaths. “What… now?”
I shake my head, unsure. “I guess we keep running.”
19:27 EDT
As I suspected, any trains due through here had been diverted because of the chaos behind us, so we’ve had a clear run of things as we walk along the tracks at a steady pace.
We’re both tired and hungry. Plus, as time’s passed, I think we’ve both become notably disillusioned. We might have escaped relatively unscathed from The European’s unexpected attempts to take us out, but right now, certainly from my point of view, that doesn’t make me feel as happy as it should.
The CIA, not content with sending teams of agents across the country to kill me, has now hired a professional assassin to try as well. I wouldn’t normally be too concerned, but when that shit stain blew up our ride, he took our weapons along with it, which means we’re defenseless except for the gun Ruby has at her back.
We’re also hours and miles behind him, and he’s on his way to kill the one remaining ally I’ve got—Jonas Briggs. I just hope Briggs’ natural paranoia buys us enough time to reach him before The European does. I can’t afford to lose anyone else.
I look over at Ruby, who’s walking silently beside me. We haven’t said much since we started walking. Not much you can say, really. She’s staring at the floor with her arms crossed.
“You alright?” I ask her.
She nods. “Yeah…”
“Really?”
She smiles. “No…” She sighs. “What the fuck is going on, Adrian? What have you gotten me into?”
I tense my jaw muscles. Not because I’m angry at the accusation, but because I feel guilty that it is my fault she’s caught up in this. I thought hiring help was the smart thing to do, but so far all I’ve succeeded in doing is getting two people killed—one of whom I considered a friend.
Goddammit…
“Look, I know this is far from an ideal situation, but it’s the way it is. When you pick a fight with the US government, things tend to be a little one-sided.”
She looks at me challengingly. “You speaking from experience?”
“Heh… kinda.” I shake my head. “My life sucks.”
I start laughing. It’s the only option I have to stop me from shooting myself. After a moment, she joins me. We’re walking side by side, laughing with increasing gusto until our sides start to hurt. We calm down and take a few deep breaths, pausing for a moment in the middle of the tracks, surrounded by shallow woodland.
“So, come on, tough guy—spill. What’s your story? I mean, most people in our world know who Adrian Hell is. But how have you managed to go from that guy to this guy.” She gestures to me with her hands. “Public enemy number one.”
I smile. “That’s a long story.”
She shrugs. “It’s a long fucking walk.”
I stare ahead of us, seeing the edges of the tracks join together in the distance.
“Yeah, I guess it is…”
20:13 EDT
“…And then you climbed up the side of Alcatraz?” asks Ruby, sounding shocked.
I smile. “Yup. That was… quite an experience.”
“The Alcatraz?”
I nod.
“Jesus…”
In the last forty minutes or so, I’ve told her about my first interaction with GlobaTech Industries in Nevada, and about my unexpected, short-lived partnership with the FBI in San Francisco.
I shrug. “Life’s been a little… unorthodox these last few years, to say the least.”
“No shit! I thought I had it bad being locked up in Stonebanks.”
“Are you still regretting your decision to leave with me?”
“I don’t know… I mean, this sucks—don’t get me wrong—but… hearing about the things you’ve done, the things you’ve been through and why you’re here now… I guess it’s the right thing to do, isn’t it?”
I try to hide a small smile of pride as I see the difference in her compared to twenty-four hours ago. “I think so, yeah.”
She chuckles. “You sure know how to pick a fight, I’ll give you that.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re not very good at identifying compliments, are you?”
“I just tend to assume most things are meant as one—it’s easier.”
She shakes her head. “You’re an idiot.”
“Thanks!”
“Oh my God…”
We come up on a building that looks like a warehouse of some kind from behind, but as the trees clear, a sign becomes visible. I point to it. “It’s an auto shop.”
Ruby looks across at me and smiles. “Perfect place to borrow a car.”
I smile back. “My thoughts exactly. Come on.”
We move carefully, stepping through the undergrowth until we reach the chain-link fence at the back of the property. We scale it quickly and quietly and drop down behind the building. I scan the area for any security cameras, but I can’t see any, thank God.
We move so our backs are against the wall, tentatively edging around
the southeast corner. I feel Ruby’s arm move behind her, presumably going for her gun.
I put my hand on her elbow. “No need for that. Even if there’s anyone here, they won’t be a threat.”
She shrugs me away. “Instinct. Sorry.”
“Yeah, I get that, don’t worry. Come on.”
We move around, staying close to the wall as we make our way down the side of the building. As we reach the northeast corner, we stop again, drop into a crouch, and peer around. There’s no sign of life—the place must be closed for the evening.
At the front of the shop is a parking lot, a gas pump, and an air machine for tires, at the opposite end from us.
Ruby nudges my arm and gestures to the handful of vehicles standing in the lot. “Jackpot,” she whispers.
I take one last look behind us before scanning ahead. There’s a security camera above the door to the office, which is maybe six yards along the front of the building from where we are. I can just about see another one at the far end, above the metal shutters.
I lean in close and whisper, “We need to be careful here. If we get caught on camera, there’ll be a trail of breadcrumbs leading everyone right to us.”
Keeping low, I set off moving forward, away from the building and the camera’s line of sight. A few moments later, I hear Ruby behind me. We make it almost to the street and then head parallel to the shutters until we reach the cars.
I stop by the hood of a generic tan-colored saloon car and look back at Ruby. “This one’s fine.”
She shakes her head. “Uh-uh.” She points past me, and I follow her gaze. “That one.”
She’s pointing to a 1978 Silver Corvette C3 Coupe.
I shake my head. “No…”
She barges past me to the car and runs her fingertips along the side. “Yes! God, yes!” She turns and looks back at me. “We have to drive this car!”
I walk over to her. It’s a nice set of wheels, I admit that. A real classic, and it looks sexy as hell. But…
“Ruby, we need to stay discreet. This… this will be like a beacon attracting every G-man and LEO to us like moths to a flame.”
She shrugs. “Let’s be honest, Adrian. They’re gonna find us sooner or later anyway. At least in this, we get to have some fun! Plus, we’ll get to Atlantic City a helluva lot faster. Come on… live a little!”
A Necessary Kill Page 12
