Good Intentions - Adrian Hell #6 (Adrian Hell Series) (21 page)

She moves for the door, but I step in front of her. “Okay, Kaitlyn, you have to stay here. This isn’t my protective older brother thing kicking in, alright? You have to trust me. My spider sense is off the scale right now, and I think we’re about to be in some serious trouble. You need to let me handle this.”

“Brad, what’s going on? What aren’t you telling me?”

I go to speak, but hesitate. What can I say? I can’t exactly—

“And I read people for a living, so don’t even think about lying to me. I know sometimes, for whatever reason, you tend to be a little… vague about certain subjects. If you’ve learned anything at all from our sessions, I hope you know you can trust me enough to be honest with me, tell me what’s
really
going on. You swapped the seats around moments before what sounded like a small bomb went off outside the building. Trust that you can open up to me, Brad.”

I sigh. “Adrian.”

“What?”

“My name isn’t Brad, it’s Adrian.”

“Okay… so, you felt the need to conceal your true identity during our sessions. I can maybe see why—”

I shake my head. “No, Doc… Don’t try to analyze it. Right now, I don’t have the time to explain why you’ve been missing the mark with so many assumptions you’ve made about me. I just need
you
to trust
me
… I’m pretty sure we’re about to find ourselves knee-deep in shit, and if we’re gonna get out of this in one piece, you need to listen to what I’m about to say.”

She holds my gaze, and I can see in her eyes that she’s both afraid and professionally curious at the same time. And maybe a little pissed off, which I can understand.

She nods. “Okay,
Adrian
. Tell me what’s going on.”

I glance over my shoulder at the door, assuring myself it’s still closed. “Have you caught the news today?”

She shakes her head. “I’ve not had chance. I’ve been with clients most of the day.”

“Okay. Well, there was an incident at the Etihad Towers a few hours ago. Most of the top floor in one of the towers was decimated by a helicopter gunship, and close to thirty people lost their lives.”

Her eyes widen with shock. “Oh my God! Was it North Korea again? Do you think there’s still a threat in the city? Is that what this is?”

I shake my head. “There’s no threat in the city. I’ve not seen the ‘official’ story on the news myself. I’m just assuming the incident was at least mentioned on it. But I was there. The chopper came to rescue me, because I was trapped up there with a significant number of armed security guards who had designs on killing me.”

“I… I don’t understand… Is this some kind of metaphor you’re trying to use?”

I smile weakly. “I’m afraid not. This might be hard to believe, Kaitlyn, but sometimes my job requires me to do some… questionable things. And one of those things involved being in that tower today to kill someone.”

Her expression is neutral, as if she’s not committing to believing what I’m saying, but she’s not dismissing it either. It’s probably the professional in her—stay detached, look at the facts, and try to help the person in front of her without letting her own emotions cloud her judgment.

She nods, processing the information. “And did you?”

“Did I what? Kill him?” I shrug. “Oh, yeah, obviously. But I also killed his seven bodyguards, which I wasn’t supposed to do. I did it because it was either them, or me. They left me no choice. But—”

I look back at the door again. I can hear footsteps outside. Only faint, at the moment, but I think they’re getting closer. We’re in an old apartment building, which has been converted for commercial use. It’s not a typical office block, so there’s one central stairwell and a handful of rooms on each floor. I think the footsteps are coming from two floors below us.

I look back at Kaitlyn. Her bottom lip is trembling. She’s breathing fast. She looks afraid.

I let out a heavy breath. Not of impatience, but of regret. “Look, Kaitlyn, we really don’t have time for this. I’m sorry, but here are the facts—I’m an assassin, and the people I work for have ordered me to kill Lily. She’s also an assassin, and the guy I killed in the Etihad Tower was a favor for her, because she was meant to kill him and failed. As punishment, our mutual employer has ordered her dead and given me the job. I don’t wanna do it, obviously, but it turns out I have a small bomb implanted in my neck, which means if I don’t kill her…” I make the explosion gesture with my hands. “Ka-boom—off comes my head. Hence me coming to you, so you can help me make sense of my shitty life. I think whatever’s going on below us has to do with that, and I don’t think it’s gonna be good. Which is why I need you to do as I say so I can get you to safety.”

“I… I… You’re—”

The footsteps are getting louder outside. Whoever it is, they’re on our floor.

I pull Kaitlyn close to me, put my hand over her mouth, and step to the side, resting against the wall next to the door. Her body is pressed close to mine, and her eyes are wide with genuine fear. I feel really bad about this, but there’s nothing I can do about that right now. I look into her eyes and place a finger to my lips.

Oh, man… what the fuck is going on?

I try to slow my breathing. My heart’s hammering against my chest as the adrenaline begins its familiar surge around my body. The low, rumbling march of multiple boots outside the room is growing louder. I close my eyes, trying to pinpoint how many people there are.

Four… maybe five—I can’t tell.

Shit.

Think, Adrian…

It has to be The Order, right? But why would they send a team after me when they’ve given me the job of killing Lily? And that red dot… Who even knows I’m here? And why would whoever it is target Kaitlyn and not me? Why send a message by hurting someone I’m linked to?

Goddammit, I hate not knowing what’s going on!

The movement outside has stopped.

Whoever it is, they’re standing right outside our door!

18

16:02
AST

Kaitlyn lets out a muffled moan. I press my hand harder over her mouth and shake my head, willing her to understand she needs to stay quiet.

BANG
…
BANG
…
BANG
…

A heavy, methodical knock on the door sounds out.

I slowly shake my head once more at Kaitlyn, signaling to her not to move or make a sound.

BANG
…
BANG
…

“Brad, I know you’re in there. Stop being a pussy and open the goddamn door, will you?”

I frown. That’s Pierce…

What the hell?

I let go of Kaitlyn and chuckle nervously. “Sorry about that… Wait here.”

I quickly step over to the other side of the door and put my back to the wall. I reach over and grab the handle, then glance over at Kaitlyn and place a finger to my lips again. She nods hurriedly.

“Pierce, is that you?”

“Yeah. Open the door.”

“Why should I?”

“Because I’m telling you to.”

I laugh humorlessly. “Try again…”

“We need to talk.”

“Now’s… not a good time.”

Silence.

“I don’t care. Open the door or I’ll blow it off its fucking hinges.”

“Oh, excuse me,
Big Bad Wolf
! Look, this is a private appointment, alright? Little piggies only. If you wait outside, I’ll be with you in about… a half hour?”

“Brad, don’t kid yourself by thinking you
have
privacy anymore. You’ve got a job to do, and that should be your only priority.”

“What’s it to you how I go about doing my job?”

“Horizon asked me to keep an eye on you… make sure you don’t do anything stupid?”

“Who? Me?”

“Just open the fucking door.”

I sigh. He’s not going anywhere, is he? He’s probably not alone and he’s almost certainly armed. I’m pretty much trapped here, because I have to assume whoever the sniper is, they’re still watching the window. Plus, this isn’t exactly a large office. It’s a modest, open-plan space with a small bathroom built into the far corner. That’s it. Nowhere to hide. No way out.

Shit.

“Okay, Pierce, here’s the thing. I’m not alone, and the person in here with me has nothing to do with any of this. You hearing me? They’re innocent and unaware of the life we live. I need you to promise you won’t hurt them. I’m not trying to make a big thing out of it, but if I let you in and you’re all confrontational and shit, I’m gonna have to whoop your ass a little bit, and maybe even kill you. We clear on that?”

More silence.

“I’m not here looking for a fight. I’m here to help you.”

Huh… Well, I wasn’t expecting that. Help me? How?

Probably best to let this play out for now. I can’t think of any reason why he would actually want to hurt me, or Kaitlyn, so I think I’ll be okay.

I look over at her and smile, trying to reassure her, and then look back at the door. “Well, why didn’t you say that in the first place?”

I turn the handle and pull, letting the door swing open. Pierce is standing casually in the hall. He has an assault rifle hanging loose over his shoulder, and he’s with the same four guys who picked me up in Vietnam. They’re all standing to his left, looking more alert than he does.

I move in front of him. “How did you find me here?”

He rolls his eyes, as if I’ve just asked a stupid question. “That thing in your neck I can detonate? It is still an
actual
tracking device. I know exactly where you are at all times.”

“Great… So, what’s up?”

He gestures to the room behind me. “You not gonna ask me in?”

“No.”

He smiles. “I’m sure Miss Moss won’t mind.”

Huh?

I raise an eyebrow, but say nothing.

“No privacy, remember? You gotta learn to keep up—this is getting embarrassing.”

“Hey, fuck you, alright? What do you want?”

“We think you’re being hunted.”

“Yeah, I think so, too. What’s it to you?”

“Horizon gave you a job to do. My job is to make sure you do yours. Sometimes, that means I gotta give people… an incentive. Other times it means I gotta watch their backs.”

“And which is this?”

“The latter. For now.”

I step to the side and he strides into the middle of the room. He turns to face me and catches sight of Kaitlyn. He nods a polite greeting. “And you must be the therapist. Nice to meet you.”

She looks at me. I can see concern and confusion in her eyes. “Adrian, what’s going on?”

Pierce turns to me and raises an eyebrow. “
Adrian
, eh? You’ve told her your real name? Tut tut…”

I wave my hand dismissively. “She’s bound by confidentiality, so she won’t say anything to anyone. She’s not a threat. Anyway, I hadn’t told her anything. I was forced to when you stormed in here like a stampede of wild assholes… I had to say
something
.”

“Whatever. I’m here because you’ve got bigger problems.”

“So what else is new…? What is it this time?”

“Lily.”

I frown and actively avoid making eye contact with Kaitlyn. “She’s not a problem. I’ve been told to kill her, and I will. Admittedly, only because I have no choice, but even so—I will.”

“Oh, I know.
That’s
not the problem. The problem is we’re pretty sure she’s showing some initiative and actually hunting
you
.”

I take a breath. “Ah…”

“She’s found a way to hack into our network, which means she has access to the information received from the tracking devices. Which means she has eyes on every asset The Order has.”

“Oh…”

“We’ve been monitoring her movements, and we know she’s in a nearby building right now. I think it’s pretty obvious she’s making a pre-emptive effort to get rid of you.”

I pace back and forth, processing what Pierce has just said.

Kaitlyn steps close to me and puts a hand on my arm. “Adrian, what does all this mean?”

She didn’t hide the tremble of fear in her voice.

I stop and look at her “You need to… just… gimme a minute, alright? I’m trying to wrap my head around this myself.”

I carry on pacing for a moment, and then turn to Pierce. “I don’t understand why she would suddenly want to kill me. We were—”

He raises an eyebrow. “Friends? Adrian, she’s been in The Order a lot longer than you have. She knows how we work. She’ll know Horizon will give you the contract to take her out, and she knows you can’t turn it down, which means she knows it’s only a matter of time before you try to kill her. Fuck friendship, man. It’s just basic survival tactics.”

“Yeah, but she has the same device in her neck, right? Surely she knows that if she were to somehow take me out, Horizon, or you, or whoever, could just push a button and blow her head clean off her shoulders?”

He shrugs. “I didn’t say it makes sense, I just said it’s happening.”

I let out a heavy sigh. “Shit…”

Kaitlyn moves over to me. “Adrian, you
have
to tell me what’s happening! I don’t understand!”

I stand and face her and put my hands on her shoulders. “Kaitlyn, I appreciate this is a big ask, but I need you to trust me. Once I get you safe, I promise I’ll explain everything. But right now, you need to focus on the fact there’s a very dangerous assassin trying to kill me, and anyone who’s with me is just as deep in the shit as I am. I’m the only one who can protect you right now, so you have to stick with me.” I gesture to Pierce with my thumb. “Hopefully, this guy’s gonna get us out of here, and then I can get you out of the city.”

“But, Adrian, after everything you’ve told me about Lily, do you really think she would just try and
kill
you without at least talking to you first?”

I nod. “Everything I’ve told you about Lily is only half the story, I’m sorry. And yeah, under the circumstances, I think she would, because neither one of us has much choice in the matter. We either kill the other one, or we die.” I turn to Pierce. “So, what’s the plan?”

He gestures to his men standing in the hall. “Me and my team are gonna make sure you get out of here in one piece. You’re in no position right now to take her out. She has the advantage, so it’s my job to protect you long enough for you to get your head out of your ass and do your job.”