“Don’t push your luck, Ryan.”
The Secret Service agents around his car all flex their shoulders back and shift uneasily on the spot. Sensing it, Schultz half-turns, and gestures with his right hand for them to relax.
“Fair enough, son. You’ve done your job and on behalf of the United States, I’d like to extend you our appreciation.”
“Does this get me off the government’s shit list?” I ask.
Schultz frowns and glares at me for a moment in silence, before making a dismissive gesture with his hand and turning back to his car.
“Doesn’t mean I like you, son,” he says, climbing in the back as one of the Secret Service agents slams the door shut behind him.
The limousine drives off, and I turn to Chambers.
“Nice guy.”
She smiles and we both set off walking back toward Josh and Wallis.
“So, what now, Adrian?” she asks. “Do you still intend leaving?”
“I do,” I reply.
She nods, but fails to hide the look of disappointment from her face.
“Where are you going? Do you know?”
I take a deep breath.
“I’m heading for Pittsburgh,” I say after a moment. Saying it out loud makes it seem more real. This is going to be one of the hardest things I’m ever likely to do in my life.
“What’s in Pittsburgh?” she asks.
I lean forward and kiss her on the cheek before taking a step back and looking into her steel-gray eyes.
“Closure.”
THE END
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The first short story in the Adrian Hell: Origins series is available now! Visit www.jamespsumner.com/ahow to get your copy, and see how Adrian got started!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James P. Sumner was born in 1982, in Stockport, UK. He's married with a son, and currently lives in Bury, UK. His "other" job, besides being an author, is a full-time Account Manager for a large, international company.
An avid reader from a young age, his heart has always been in writing. In July 2013, he began work on his first novel. After some trial and error, he published his debut thriller himself on Amazon, and hasn't looked back!
He is a Top 10 Bestselling Author on Amazon, with both Hunter's Games and One Last Bullet. True Conviction is also a permanent fixture at the top of the Free charts.
When he's not writing, he's either reading (usually thrillers or comic books), cheering on his beloved Manchester City, or enjoying one of the many TV shows he follows religiously—he's a big fan of Game of Thrones and The Flash!
OTHER TITLES BY THE SAME AUTHOR
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THE ADRIAN HELL SERIES
True Conviction
Hunter’s Games
One Last Bullet
Deadly Intent
THE ADRIAN HELL: ORIGINS SERIES
A Hero Of War
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ONE LAST BULLET
1.
ADRIAN HELL
September 30th, 2014
08:37
WE LEFT SAN Francisco a couple of days ago, deciding to take Josh’s Winnebago all the way to Pittsburgh. It’s a long journey, but we’re not in any great rush to get there. I’ve decided it’s finally time to go after Wilson Trent, and now the wheels are in motion, I figured it’s best to take our time, get our heads straight, and make sure we do this right.
Josh is driving, whistling along occasionally to the radio. I’m sitting next to him with my feet resting up on the dash. Outside, the gray clouds overhead have started to spit down on us. I gaze out of the window, my mind racing in every direction as it tries to process what lies ahead.
“You alright?” asks Josh, his trademark British enthusiasm subdued by concern.
“I’m good,” I reply, without looking over. “You?”
“Honestly? I’m a little nervous. But also a little excited, I guess.”
I smile, but remain silent.
“So, I’ve taken the liberty of arranging a job for you along the way,” he continues.
“I dunno about that,” I say, turning to face him. “I wanna stay focused on Trent, not get distracted by some small-time hit that anyone could do…”
“I wasn’t asking for your opinion, Boss—you’re doing this job. You absolutely need to stay focused on Trent, you’re right. But you also need to stay sharp and keep on top of your game. The whole Pellaggio thing took it outta you, and practice doesn’t do anyone any harm every once in a while.”
I smile as I regard him while he drives. His shoulder-length blonde hair gives him the look of an aging surfer. Josh Winters has been by my side almost half my life. Over the years, we’ve come to know each other better than brothers. We can have an entire conversation without saying a word. He knows what’s best for me, even when I don’t, and I know it goes without saying that he’s got my back right to the bloody end of the crusade we’re embarking on.
I sigh loudly, mostly for effect, acknowledging one of the rare occasions when he has me beat in an argument.
“Alright, fine... What’s the job?”
“That’s the spirit! The job’s in Vermillion, South Dakota. A rich investment banker has put the word out that his sister’s being violently abused by her husband. It’s been going on for years, apparently, and she’s too scared to do anything about it. Our client has taken matters into his own hands, and wants to hire us to take out the husband.”
My jaw muscles clench as a wave of white-hot anger sweeps over me. I might be a highly skilled, highly paid assassin, but that doesn’t make me a monster. I can’t abide any kind of violence toward women. There’s the occasional exception—namely, if the woman’s trying to kill you... In those rare situations, it’s perfectly acceptable to impose violence. But something like this situation in Vermillion—there’s nothing anyone could say to me that would convince me it’s justified.
I take a deep breath, to subdue the growing rage I feel inside.
“Tell the guy I’ll do it for free,” I say, after a moment.
“Really?” asks Josh, sounding surprised.
I shrug. “I need the practice, not the money. And from the sounds of it, I’d be doing the world a favor. So, yeah, set it up.”
“Alright then,” he says, nodding his head in agreement.
I turn back and resume my staring out the window, watching the world as it passes us by at eighty miles an hour. Since we hit the road, I’ve found myself in a somewhat reflective mood. Understandable, I guess. I’m heading into a war that I inadvertently started eight years ago... A war that’s already cost my wife and daughter their lives... A war that I’ve been running away from ever since... I know I’m a different person than I was way back when—I’m far more capable than I used to be, and mentally I’m in a much better place. But that doesn’t mean I’m not still a little apprehensive.
I quickly massage my temples and rub my eyes, eager to get out of my own head. I look back over at Josh.
“How do you find these jobs?” I ask, my curiosity randomly piqued as my mind wanders, trying to think about something else.
Josh laughs. “All these years and that’s the first time you’ve ever asked me that,” he says.
�
��Is this going to be one of those things, like when you first find out where milk comes from? Is it going to ruin the magic for me?”
He laughs again. “Not quite. There’s a network of people out there who collaborate with each other to find work,” he explains. “They look at who’s best suited to take the job, then pass the details on to guys like me, who then send guys like you to carry out the hit. We get paid by the client, and my contact gets a percentage, like a finder’s fee.”
I raise my eyebrows, genuinely surprised and impressed at how organized it all is. I can’t believe I never knew all this…
“Fair enough. It actually sounds like pretty slick business. So do we have, like, a union or something then?”
Josh laughs so much he almost swerves the Winnebago off the road and has to quickly fight to keep control. I smile to myself and resume my observations through the window.
We drive on in silence for a few more miles before Josh speaks again.
“It’s not too late, y’know,” he says. “If you wanna change your mind?”
“No going back now,” I reply, shaking my head. “One way or the other, when all this is over and the dust has settled, I’ll have put both my girls to rest.”
Josh nods slowly. “Amen, brother.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small device, which he connects to the vehicle’s radio.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“It’s my music player,” he replies, like it’s the most stupid question he’s ever been asked. “Stocked full of MP3s.”
I roll my eyes. “I stopped paying attention when CDs hit the shelves,” I say.
He smiles. “You’re such an old fart sometimes, d’you know that?”
“Is that a British insult?”
He shakes his head with mock disbelief and selects a song, which starts blasting through the Winnebago. The opening guitar riff is brilliant, but I don’t recognize it.
‘Well I’m standing by the river, but the water doesn’t flow... It boils with every poison you can think of.’
“What’s this?” I ask. “It’s good.”
“Sure is,” he replies. “A bit of British rock and road music—one of Chris Rea’s all-time classics.”
“Never heard of him,” I shrug.
“You Yanks—don’t know you’re born!” Josh sighs purposefully.
“You Brits—don’t speak proper English!”
We laugh again, relaxing and enjoying the light mood during such heavy times.
‘This ain’t no technological breakdown... Oh no, this is the road to hell.’
I smile at the lyrics as the music plays on. You can say what you want about my life, but you can’t deny it’s always got a damn good soundtrack!
2.
10:57
THE WEATHER’S STILL dull and miserable as we arrive in Vermillion, South Dakota. We’ve headed straight for the first place we could find that provides food and drink. Josh pulls up in the parking lot out front and we both get out, stretching appreciatively. My back and neck crack—a small cry of relief after a few hours on the road.
It’s not particularly cold, despite the clouds and the light rain. I quickly duck in the back of the Winnebago and throw my jacket on, leaving it unfastened. I step back out onto the parking lot as Josh walks around to stand beside me. He’s wearing a black t-shirt that has a silver skull on the front of it with knee-length denim shorts and work boots, and a backpack over this left shoulder. I can’t decide if he’s going for the surfer or the rocker look, and I haven’t the heart to tell him that he ultimately looks like someone who refuses to accept they’re no longer in their twenties. Although, now that I think about it, I doubt he’d care even if I did say anything.
I’m wearing a more conservative tee shirt underneath my leather jacket, with simple jeans and boots. My custom holster is attached, holding both of my Berettas in place at the small of my back. I never leave home without them.
We walk into the diner—a long and low building with simple décor and a family-run look about the place—and sit down in a booth at the back that gives us a full view of the interior, as well as the main entrance and the doors to the kitchen area and restrooms. We take a quick look at the menu and, after a few moments, a waitress walks over to us—a young, pretty girl with dark, shoulder-length hair and a practiced smile. We both order coffee and stack of pancakes.
The diner looks nice enough. Not too big, half-full with what I presume is a local crowd who probably sit in the same seats at the same time every day. The morning rush has long since died down, and the lunchtime crowds are likely still an hour away.
The counter runs along the back wall, facing the door and windows, and two career waitresses approaching retirement age permanently man it. Sounds bad to say it, but they clearly have the younger, better-looking waitresses working the floor, bringing in the tips.
A few minutes pass, and our waitress reappears with our coffee and advises us the pancakes will be along in a few moments.
Josh opens his bag and takes out his laptop, which he sets up on the table in front of him, boots up, and starts typing away.
“I’m just contacting our client, letting him know we’ve arrived in town,” he says, offering an explanation without my asking. “How do you wanna do this?”
I shrug. I’ve not really thought about the specifics of the job yet, but it’s a simple hit. I know complacency can get you killed, but this won’t take much planning or too long to execute.
“Just get me the guy’s address and find out when he’ll be home,” I say. “I don’t want to spend too long on this—we’ve got a long drive ahead of us. Should have it done in the next few hours, hopefully.”
He nods his acknowledgement as he types.
Our pancakes arrive, and we both eat them with gusto, swilling them down with another mug of coffee.
Josh is working away in silence on God-knows-what, so I sit back and let my mind drift again. I run through the past eight years in my head, like viewing a thirty-second movie. From finding my wife and daughter, dead on my kitchen floor, dealing with my demons, working the hundreds of contracts I’ve done over the years, Heaven’s Valley, San Francisco—all the way up to that last mouthful of pancakes and the journey ahead. I’m under no illusions how hard this is going to be. Even setting foot in Pennsylvania again after all these years isn’t going to be easy.
I shake my head, trying to clear my mind so I can focus on the task at hand. Wilson Trent is still close to a thousand miles away, and right now, I’ve got a job to do in South Dakota.
“So, tell me about my target,” I say, trying to change the subject of my own internal dialogue.
Josh closes the lid on his laptop and looks up.
“The guy’s name is Jonathon Faber,” he explains, as if remembering the details off a cheat sheet. “He’s been married to his wife, Tania, for five years, but they’ve been together almost twice that. According to Tania’s brother, the beating’s started a couple of years into the marriage. She’d have a fresh bruise or a black eye every other week, and explain it away with a weak excuse of having fallen or walked into something… the usual, sad affair.”
I shake my head with disbelief. A part of me can’t understand why any woman would allow herself to be treated that way. First sign of domestic abuse and they should get out of there without looking back. But at the same time, I fully understand fear can do strange things to you. Thanks to her husband’s abuse—which I suspect would be mental as well as physical—poor Tania probably blames herself or feels she deserves it. You hear about it all the time—too scared to walk away; too ashamed. Still in love with their other half, in spite of everything.
My jaw muscles tighten, and I force myself to stop thinking too much about it... to stay detached. Emotions will get you killed.
“So why wait three years to make the call?” I ask, referring to our client.
“Well, about a month ago, he happened to call round to see his sister and was standing on the fr
ont porch when he heard a beating taking place inside the house. He said he was too afraid to react, but stood listening as Faber hit her. That particular one was nasty, and she was in hospital for almost a fortnight.”
“Jesus...”
“He asked around locally, and finally got in touch with a contact who I deal with from time to time. The request was pretty simple: money was no object, but he wanted this Faber guy dead.”
I nod, absorbing the information and formulating the plan in my head.
One of the many reasons I’m so successful at what I do is because I harness the rage and violence that circles around inside me and use it to my advantage. Josh is always on hand to rein me in and make sure it doesn’t consume me completely. But I use that unbridled fury to walk into any situation and pull the trigger with zero hesitation. It’s one of my rules: don’t think too much about it, just do it—like an instinct.
Right now, I can feel my inner Satan cracking his knuckles, limbering up, ready to rush out from behind his door and claim another soul.
“Where do I find him?” I ask.
As if on cue, the laptop dings and Josh opens it up to check the incoming message. After a few moments, he spins it round to show me the screen.
“I just heard back from my contact,” he says, gesturing to the laptop. “Here’s the address, and confirmation that Jonathon Faber is at home right now.”
I nod and take a final gulp of my coffee. “Drink up,” I say. “We’ve got a job to do.”
11:23
The Faber’s live in a small suburb just outside the center of town. It’s a nice, quiet neighborhood. All the houses on the street are detached properties, with good-sized front lawns, driveways, and a garage on their individual plots.
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