He laughs as I shrug innocently. “Hey, I didn’t ask for this,” I say.
“I know, I know… this shit just kinda finds you,” he replies with another knowing smile. “So anyway, we track these people all over the world — they’re on some mad recruitment drive, hiring the best and the baddest killers, mercenaries, scientists… you name it.”
“What for?”
He holds his hand up. “Ah-ah-ah, save the questions for later… I figured it was only a matter of time before they tried to recruit you. I mean, you’re the best assassin there is.”
“Was…”
“Whatever. Point is, retirement or not, these people knew where to find you and, in keeping with tradition, asked you to join them and tried to kill you when you said no.”
“Okay, Josh, the FBI has already told me something along these lines. A terrorist network nobody seems to know anything about has been going around recruiting people to work for them, for reasons unknown. The first three guys who came to me were apparently linked to someone called Yalafi Hussein. They were found dead in their rental car parked at the side of the interstate. Nothing to do with me, by the way. But they then sent two hit squads to kill me, and those guys I killed without prejudice. A real mixed bag of assholes, too, from all over the place. What’s going on, Josh?”
He sighs and looks at Schultz, who shrugs. “Just tell him,” he says.
Josh nods and looks back at me. “We do know who they are… they call themselves the Armageddon Initiative. They’ve got active cells all across the globe and seem to run what we think is their main base of operations from somewhere in Ukraine. Every time we try to track them via satellite, they disappear completely. We’ve got it narrowed to a thirty mile radius, but…”
“That doesn’t sound all that narrow,” I observe. “Are they underground?”
“That’s what I think, yeah.”
“So what do these guys want? What’s their plan?”
“We don’t know. That’s why I’m here. To ask you a favor.”
I take a deep breath. I can see what’s coming. “You want me to sign up with these assholes, don’t you? Be the man inside?”
Josh smiles. “That was my original plan, yeah. But that went to shit when you started killing them.”
“So what can I do? I just wanna be left alone, Josh.”
“I know, and I hate asking you… but we have a bead on Hussein. We have reason to believe he’s going to be in New York in the next twenty-four hours. We know he’s not in charge, but we think he has access to the people who are.”
“You seem to have the same information as the FBI–I wonder if they know where he’ll be tomorrow? Why don’t you just work with them?”
“Because GlobaTech has its own army, its own weapons, and its own planes. We don’t answer to the government because we’re in the private sector and, consequently, not funded by them. As long as we work under the radar, we’re very good at doing whatever we want. The government tends to make things like this public so they look good killing terrorists. But we both know that killing them doesn’t always stop them. We’ve got no one to impress, so we’ve taken it upon ourselves to lend a hand.”
“So you want me to go to New York and capture this Yalafi Hussein?”
He nods. “And bring him back in one piece to one of our sites for questioning.”
I sigh heavily. I’m retired — I don’t want any part of this. But I appreciate that a large, well-funded terrorist organization that hasn’t yet made it known what their plans are isn’t the best thing to leave unchecked. And I know Josh wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t necessary.
I think about my bar. I’ve got no business to run for a while, so I’ll only be sitting around with my thumb up my ass anyway…
What about Tori? She needs me, and I don’t want to leave her.
I wonder if Josh knows about her?
“I own a bar here, called The Ferryman,” I say to Josh, changing the subject. “It’s very recently been closed, pending some much-needed renovation. A bunch of terrorists shot the place to bits trying to kill me. You can still see it, though. Plus, there’s someone I want you to meet. Come on.”
I walk back to my truck, get in, and drive out of the police parking lot, with Josh and Ryan Schultz following behind me.
I arrive back at my bar as the chaos is winding down. The FBI crime scene team is still on site, but Sheriff Raynor and his deputies have gone, save for one who’s standing outside deterring anyone who tries to find out what’s happened by giving them the official, ‘There’s nothing to see here…’ line.
I walk around back, with Josh and Schultz in tow, and head up the stairs that lead to the main entrance to my apartment above. We walk inside and see Tori sitting on the sofa, hugging her knees to her chest. She turns as I enter and smiles. Her usually sparkling eyes are red, and tired from crying.
“Hey,” I say. “How you holdin’ up?”
“I’m fine,” she lies. “You alright?”
“I’m okay.” I smile and walk over to her, lean down, and kiss the top of her head. “I wanna introduce you to someone.” I take her hand, stand her up, and move her round to face the others. “Tori Watson, this… is Josh Winters.”
She smiles and extends her hand. “So you’re the famous Josh, are you?” she says, showing signs of her old self again. “Adrian’s told me a lot about you.”
He smiles and takes her hand. “Whatever he told you is either a lie, or I was drunk at the time…” He looks at me, smiling. Like a proud father would look at a son. “I’m happy for you, man. You have a good life here. All you need is a dog and a white picket fence, eh?”
Tori starts to cry and walks off, slightly embarrassed. I sigh and smile apologetically.
“Shit… something I said?” he asks.
I shake my head. “I actually had a dog,” I explain. “A stray wolf dog I called Styx. He’s under a blanket downstairs. He was with me nearly two years, and he caught a bullet in the attack earlier and died in my arms. I loved that dog, Josh.”
“Jeez… I’m sorry, Adrian.”
I glance over at Tori, who’s sitting on the edge of the bed across the room, staring at the floor. I turn back to Josh. “It’s alright, you didn’t know. Listen, I don’t know if I can help you with this,” I say. And it hurts me to say it. “I’ve got a life away from all that now. I can’t leave her, Josh. I love her.”
He nods, understanding and respecting my decision. “We’ll do what we can to keep you out of it from now on,” he says. “You have my word.”
“Thanks.”
Schultz steps forward holding his phone to Josh. “This is bullshit,” he says, interrupting. “He should just do as he’s goddamn told! Show him the photo already.”
We both look at him.
“Ryan, shut the fuck up, will you?” says Josh.
I love it when he loses his temper and curses — his accent is perfect for it!
“Ignore him,” he says to me.
“What photo?” I ask.
“Adrian, forget it.”
“What photo, Josh?”
Schultz sighs and thrusts his phone in my face. There’s a picture displayed on the screen. I move back slightly and grab hold of it, examining the image.
Josh mutters under his breath. “It’s nothing, Adrian, honestly. You’ve got your life here now, and I don’t want you involved. It’s not fair.”
I don’t acknowledge him. I’m too busy looking at the image. It’s a file photo, black and white, showing a man and woman talking. Judging by the background, it looks like somewhere in the Middle East. I don’t recognize the man. But the woman is very familiar.