Free Paradise Burns by J. P. Sumner

directly,’ he
said. ‘My only contact with them is through her.’ He gestured at Clara with his
head.
     ‘Okay, so let’s recap. Your company,
GlobaTech, is selling land that contains a uranium mine to a militia outfit
called Dark Rain. They think you’re being really nice by handling all the
mining and processing of the uranium, but actually have no idea that you’re
setting them up to take the fall for everything, freeing you guys up to sell
the material and make loads of money.
    ‘You were originally going to sell the
land to the mob to make some extra cash. At the time, you had no idea what the
land actually was, and now you do, and your company has charged you with managing
this new deal, you’ve had to back out of the old one, which has caused the mob
to hire a hit man – that would be me – to kill you for screwing them over. Have
I missed anything?’
    Jackson let out a heavy sigh.
    ‘Nope, that’s pretty much it,’ he said.
    ‘Excellent.’
     I pulled the trigger and put a bullet
directly in the center of his forehead.
    The bullet was roughly ten millimeters
in diameter, which was about half that of a dime. The tip is rounded for easier
penetration. It travels at a speed of roughly three hundred and seventy-five
meters per second. As the bullet impacts, the velocity causes the end of the
bullet to shoot up to the tip, causing it to flatten and double in width. As a
result, the exit wound is significantly larger than the entry wound.
    His head snapped back violently as the
bullet pushed its way through the thick bone at the front of his skull. The
recoil of the impact meant that his head sagged heavily forward again as the
bullet worked its way through his brain and out the other side.
    A spray of pinkish fluid – a mixture of
blood, bone and brain – exploded over the floor behind him. From my finger
squeezing the trigger to the dead weight of his lifeless body sagging against
his restraints in his chair, just under one second had elapsed.
    Job done.

 
    FIFTEEN
     
    I looked at
Clara. She seemed unfazed, but I could see her thinking of ways to avoid
suffering the same fate. I had no intention of shooting her. But it wouldn’t do
any harm to keep that to myself for now.
    I walked behind her, being careful not
to step in the bits of Jackson that were scattered across the carpet. I cut her
restraints and aimed the gun at her.
    ‘Okay, Clara,’ I said. ‘Get up, nice and
slow, and move over to the desk.’
    She did.
    ‘Now ring down to the front desk and
tell them Mr. Jackson has decided to extend his stay, and will require the
suite for another three nights.’
    She did.
    ‘Now sit on the bed.’
    She sat down.
    ‘Right.  Clara, this is make or break
time for you. Tell me what you know about Dark Rain.’
    She looked at me with her dark green
eyes. They were filled with conflict. She said she’s been with them a couple of
years, but given this uranium thing seemed as new to her as it was to me, my
guess was she’s currently re-evaluating her association with them.
    ‘Now I think about it, I realize I don’t
actually know much about them,’ she began. ‘They recruited me a couple of years
ago after some work I was doing over in Sierra Leone. I met a guy over there
who said he was with an organization that had money and plans and they could do
with someone like me. The usual sales pitch.’
    I was actually beginning to feel sorry
for her. It was becoming clear that she’d been blinded by the promise of money,
and made the rookie error of not finding out who she was going into business
with. And you could tell she was realizing that too. Her voice was quiet, and
the confidence and presence she’d had earlier had gone.
    ‘I did a few jobs for them - nothing
major. Then a few weeks ago, I was brought in to meet with their leader,
Colonel Roman Ketranovich. He said I’d been impressive with the work I’d done
for them already, and had proved my dedication to their cause.’
    ‘And what