Good Intentions - Adrian Hell #6 (Adrian Hell Series) (3 page)

I let out a short breath. I have to play this right…

I wait until she’s picking fruit again and stand. I hold my arms out to the sides and walk slowly toward her. I smile and try to appear as friendly as I can.

She looks up at me. Our eyes meet for a brief moment. I stop no more than thirty feet from her. She frowns for a second, and then her eyes go wide. Her mouth opens and I see her body tense. She takes a deep breath.

She’s going to scream, isn’t she…?

Shit.

I don’t think, I just run, lunging as I stretch out to her. I reach her at the exact moment the sound passes her lips. I clasp my hand over her mouth as I dive forward, and we both hit the ground, landing awkwardly next to one another. My shoulder takes the brunt of my weight, but I ignore the pain. She’s on her back and doesn’t try to fight me off. She’s probably paralyzed with fear, the poor thing.

I feel really bad about this.

I kneel next to her and look down. Her dark, unblinking eyes are accentuated by her tanned skin. Despite her ethnicity, I still have no clue where I am, besides somewhere East of India.

I take a deep breath. “It’s okay, it’s okay… I’m not going to hurt you.”

She screams into my hand, her breath hot on my palm.

“I’m sorry about this, but I really need your help, okay?”

I try to keep my tone calm and mellow. I’m not sure if she can even understand me, but communication isn’t always about words. If the sound of your voice isn’t threatening, it doesn’t matter what you’re saying, people will be less inclined to perceive you as a danger.

Her breathing slows and her face relaxes.

I nod. “That’s it—it’s okay, I promise. I’m not going to hurt you. I just need your help. Can you understand me?”

She’s still for a moment, her eyes darting around in all directions, still panicking, but finally, she nods.

Phew!

“Good. Now, I’m going to move my hand. Please don’t scream. I’m lost and I need your help, that’s all. You have my word I won’t hurt you.”

She nods again.

“Promise you won’t scream?”

Another nod.

“Okay, here goes…”

I gradually lift my hand from her mouth. She takes some quick, shallow breaths, and for a moment it looks as if she’s going to shout out, but she doesn’t. She uses her hands to scramble backward and put a little distance between us. I don’t make a move to follow her, as I want her to feel safe. She pushes herself up, bringing her knees to her chest and hugging them.

I sit down in front of her and do the same. “I’m sorry about that. I’m just not sure where I am, and I didn’t want you to make any noise in case there was anyone around who might be dangerous. I hope I haven’t hurt you?”

She shakes her head.

“Good. What’s your name?”

She goes to speak, but stops herself. As if something inside her caught the words before they could escape.

“It’s okay, I’m a friend. My name’s Adrian.”

I extend my hand, not thinking for a moment that she would accept it. But, much to my surprise, she does. She shakes it gently. “I… am… H-Hong Yun.”

I smile. “That’s a lovely name. It’s nice to meet you.”

She nods, but says nothing.

“Tell me, Hong Yun, where are we?”

She frowns. “You not know?”

I shake my head. “Not a clue.”

“This is Vietnam.”

Huh…

I raise my eyebrows, unable to hide the surprise. A forest in Vietnam, eh?

“Where do you live? Is it nearby?”

She nods and points to her right. “Not far.”

“Can you take me there?”

She shakes her head. It’s a rapid movement this time, and I see the look in her eyes change. I see fear. “No! You no come with me!”

I hold my hands up. “Okay, okay—I’m sorry. I won’t come with you.” I slowly reach inside my pocket and take out the picture I was given on the plane. “I’m looking for somebody. Maybe you’ve seen him?”

I open it up and hand it to her. She takes it and looks down. I see that same fear in her eyes again. She says nothing, but desperately claws her way to her feet and sets off running away from me.

Shit!

I jump up and run after her, quickly catching her up, and place my hand over her mouth again, just in time to muffle the scream she lets out. I stand behind her, holding her close to me with my arm, allowing her to calm down. “Please, I’m
not
going to hurt you. I need your help.” I let her go and spin her round to face me. “Do you know the man in that picture?”

She nods.

“Who is he?”

“H-he is… Mr. Way.”

“Mr. Way? Okay. And what does Mr. Way do, exactly?”

She looks away from me and stares at the ground. Her eyes well with tears and she begins to shake as the unrestrained emotion spills out of her.

Oh, for fuck’s sake… As if I don’t have enough on my plate, I now have a crying woman to deal with! I’m not trained for this shit.

I rub my eyes and forehead before putting an arm tentatively around her. “It’s okay… you don’t have to say anything.”

And I mean it—she doesn’t need to. Her tears say it all. A young woman, not unattractive, in the middle of nowhere, in Vietnam, near where a man I’ve been sent to kill is supposedly based. Whatever it is he does, I suspect it’s not good, and she’s clearly not happy about being a part of it.

After a few moments, she looks up at me, staring right into my eyes, as if searching them for something. “What is it you want Mr. Way for?”

I purse my lips together and tense my jaw as I take a deep breath. I wouldn’t normally be this honest, as I don’t want to scare her any more than I already have, but seeing how she reacted when she saw the picture of him, I’m going to take a chance.

“Hong Yun… I’m here to kill him.”

She goes through a whole catalogue of emotions. She frowns, as if trying to hold back tears. She looks concerned, surprised, afraid… perhaps even happy, at one point. But then the tears start to flow again. This time, however, she buries her head into my chest and throws her arms around me. She shakes uncontrollably as she sobs.

That reaction speaks for itself, I guess.

I stand, my arms out to the side, with a woman I’ve just met crying on me. I stare ahead until my vision blurs. The last forty-eight hours fade away and I’m left with a familiar and comforting sense of purpose.

I don’t know who this Mr. Way is, but I know all I need to about him.

That piece of shit is a dead man.

3

14:02
ICT

My God, it’s hot! The tree line has thinned, and there’s less cover than before. The sun is beating down relentlessly, and it feels as if it’s sucking the air out of the forest. I’ve rolled the sleeves of my coveralls up over my forearms in a somewhat futile attempt to cool down, but it still feels like I’m walking through the Amazon!

I’ve managed to convince Hong Yun to show me where she lives—where Mr. Way is based. If I can get a good look at the place, I’ll be able to plan my attack.

I absently scratch the back of my neck where that asshole injected the tracking device into me earlier. I’m guessing Colonel Sanders is looking on, sat behind a fancy desk or something, watching a satellite feed in God-knows-where they had me when I first woke up.

I never thought they would have me jumping through hoops, or out of planes, taking all these tests. I kind of figured the fact they approached me to join The Order meant I was already in. But
no
… I have to prove myself.
Prove myself
? I’ve been doing this shit for nearly fifteen years! Everyone knows I’m the best in the business. Hell, they wouldn’t have come to me in the first place if they didn’t think that, surely? Having to audition for them is almost insulting. I know they saved my life and everything, but even so…

Hong Yun is walking a few paces in front of me. She hasn’t said much since we set off. I tried to find out whereabouts in Vietnam we are, but other than ‘north of Ho Chi Minh City’, I didn’t get much out of her.

I offered to carry her basket for her, which she reluctantly agreed to. After the first five minutes, she said I could help myself to a piece of fruit. I graciously accepted with no hesitation whatsoever. I’m so hungry! I’ve not eaten since I died…

It feels very weird saying that.

A handful of berries later, I was craving a steak and a Bud like you wouldn’t believe, but I have to block thoughts like that out for now. I have more important things to worry about.

We’ve been walking for maybe twenty minutes. I see a clearing up ahead, and Hong Yun slows down.

I draw level with her. “Is this it? Are we here?”

She glances at me and nods. “I… I can’t—”

I hold a hand up and smile. “It’s okay… I know you can’t take me in yourself.” I hand the basket back to her. “You’ve been a great help, thank you. And I’m sorry again for scaring you back there.”

A smile flashes across her face and she looks at the ground. “No apologize, Adrian. You… a… kind man.”

I shrug and try to hide how uncomfortable I feel receiving a compliment of any kind. She looks as if she wants to say something else, but she’s stopping herself.

“Hong Yun, what is it?”

She sighs. “Are you really here to kill Mr. Way?”

I clench my jaw muscles and nod curtly. “Yes.”

“W-why?”

Huh…

Well, I didn’t expect that… I had the impression earlier that she would be glad when this guy’s dead, but now she’s questioning my motives? And you know the worst part? I don’t really have an answer. How bad is that? I mean, what can I say? ‘Because someone told me to?’

I stroke my chin. There’s nearly three days’ worth of stubble there, and it grates against my hand as I contemplate my answer. But as soon as I start thinking, my mind rushes off on a tangent…

What the fuck am I doing here? I’ve never carried out a contract I didn’t research beforehand. And by me, I mean Josh, obviously. But, in all my life, going back to the Army, to the CIA—to D.E.A.D… I can’t remember a time when I’ve ever fired a bullet I wasn’t completely certain needed firing. And now, here I am, blindly following the instructions of a guy I don’t even know, who runs an organization I didn’t even believe existed until a few days ago. Granted, the guy saved my life, but what has he done since then? Imprisoned me and thrown me out of a plane? I’m angry with myself for neglecting to notice how much of a prick this guy actually is.

Hong Yun is staring at me expectantly, her brown eyes wide and innocent.

I sigh. “Tell me, is he a bad man?”

She nods slowly.

I shrug. “What other reason do I need?”

She smiles momentarily, and stares at the ground again.

Well, at least
she
believes me, even if
I
don’t.

I place a hand on her shoulder. “Look, you better head back before you raise any suspicions.”

She nods again. “The camp is not far.” She points ahead. “Just past clearing.”

“Thank you.”

“Be careful. There are… many men, and… many… guns.”

Oh.

I chuckle and wave my hand dismissively. “It’ll be
fine
…”

With basket in hand, she turns and scurries off through the clearing, bearing left. I watch her until she’s out of sight.

So… many men and many guns, eh?

Sounds like fun!

14:39
ICT

I decided to head left before the clearing and make my way clockwise around the perimeter in a wide arc. I reckoned the place where the path opened out would serve as the main entrance to the camp, so I would essentially be walking up to the front door and knocking if I followed Hong Yun. Not normally something I would worry about doing… but as I have no weapons, I figured discretion is the better part of valor.

It took me over ten minutes of careful maneuvering through thick bushes and tree lines before I was able to locate the camp’s borders. A tall fence, shrouded in forest, runs along the left side and, presumably, all the way around. I can’t get too close, but I’ve found a spot a few hundred yards farther on that gives me a good view. I’m crouching behind a small mound of broken trunk and trampled shrubbery, looking through the fence at the camp within.

It’s not what I expected, if I’m honest. The place looks more like a military base! There are guard towers… a vehicle pool… barracks… lots of men with guns patrolling the compound… look-outs—the works!

Who the hell
is
this guy? And more importantly, how the hell am I meant to—

Oh, shit!

I hold my breath. A guy’s stopped right in front of me! He’s maybe six feet away, stood with his back to me. He’s dressed casually, wearing jeans and boots with a thin jumper underneath a thick, sleeveless hunting jacket. Christ, he must be melting wearing that out here!

He turns slightly and I catch a glimpse of his gun. It looks like a variation of the old Vector SMG, but I’ve never seen this particular model before. The barrel is long and thin with a disproportionately large suppressor attached to the end. It has what looks like a magazine sticking out of either side on a forty-five-degree angle.

I frown. It kind of looks like…

I squint and lean forward as much as I dare to get a closer look.

The guard turns again, momentarily stepping out of the shade of the trees and into the glare of the sun. The metallic weapon glimmers and I can just about see a logo engraved on the side.

GlobaTech Industries.

Fuck! I
knew
I recognized the design. It’s just like the AX-19 Oscar gave me a few days back. I wonder if Josh knows people like Mr. Way are using his weapons…

I shake my head to re-focus. That’s a problem for another day. Well, it’s not, actually. Not for me, anyway. I’m dead, remember?

Okay, so, there are lots of guys, and they’re all well-equipped with top of the range hardware…

Piece of cake!

First thing’s first—how do I get in the damn place?

I slowly back away, dissolving silently into the forest. I continue left, keeping the fence visible. It takes me a good half hour to make my way around the perimeter of the compound. I find a spot and crouch low behind a cluster of trees, almost directly opposite where I was before. On my left is the clearing that leads inside.