Read Online Paradise Burns by J. P. Sumner - Free Book Online

were
going to try and kill the guy I’m supposed to protect.’
    ‘Well, I was only going to kill him
because he screwed a gangster out of millions of dollars.’
    ‘Oh, well, that’s alright then!’
    She pulled a face, and I realized we
were arguing like siblings.
    ‘Why are you protecting him anyway?
What makes that guy so special?’
    ‘I’m just following orders, like you.’
    ‘I don’t follow orders, I don’t answer
to anyone. A benefit of being self-employed.’
    ‘Are you always this argumentative?’
    ‘Are you always this much of a bitch?’
    ‘Oh, your words cut me like a knife.’
    ‘There’s no need for sarcasm.’
    ‘There’s no need to tie me to a chair!’
    ‘You had a gun on me!’
    ‘What, that again? Get over it,
you pussy.’
    I sighed. What is it with this woman? I
didn’t particularly want to shoot her, but she was testing the restraint of my
trigger finger while pitching her tent on my last nerve.
    ‘Enough,’ I said. ‘You’re going to
answer my questions, or I’m going to shoot you in the face. Understood?’
    She said nothing, but raised a quizzical
eyebrow - either to show she understood, or to silently call my bluff. I
assumed it was the former, not the latter, seeing as I don’t bluff.
    ‘What’s your name?’ I began.
    ‘Does it matter?’ she replied.
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Fine, my name is Clara Fox.’
    ‘Thank you. Okay, Clara, who do you work
for?’
    ‘Right now? Him.’
    She motioned with her head to Ted
Jackson, who was slumped next to her.
    ‘So, what, are you freelance?’ I asked.
    ‘I go where I’m told to. I don’t ask
questions.’
    ‘That’s a weird answer to a perfectly
straightforward question.’
    ‘Take it or leave it, I don’t care.’
    ‘Do you know why you’re protecting him?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Elaborate.’
    She sighed. I don’t think she was losing
patience as such, I think she was just unhappy because she’s not used to not
being the one asking the questions. I don’t know what it is about her, but I
like her. Not like that. She’s more of a kindred spirit, I think.
    ‘My assignment was to protect Jackson while
he closed a business deal between our respective employers for the sale of a
plot of land in Heaven’s Valley. We knew that the local mafia had been approached
to buy up the land as well, but we also knew that deal had been cancelled. It
was assumed there would be some comeback, so I was assigned to make sure
Jackson remained safe while he closed the deal with my employer.’
    ‘But you don’t know why the original
deal had been cancelled?’
    ‘Don’t know and don’t care. I do what is
asked of me. If I need to know something, I will be told.’
    ‘You’re the consummate Army brat, aren’t
you? Tell me, where are you from? Your accent’s very... multicultural.’
    She smiled.
    ‘I was born in Russia. My mother was
Swedish and my father was American. I’ve traveled around Eastern Europe since I
was seven.’
    ‘Well, you sound great. You should work
in a call center.’
    ‘I’d kill my boss within a matter of
hours.’
    I had to smile.
    ‘I don’t doubt it.’
    There was a moment’s silence, which was
interrupted by the groans of a man who was regaining consciousness after being
shot for a second time in the last hour.
    Jackson looked groggy, and he gazed
around the room slowly like a man with a hangover. He saw Clara next to him,
staring at him. He then turned his gaze toward me. I was also sat staring at
him. Except I also had a gun pointed at him.
    I turned to Clara.
    ‘Be right with you honey,’ I said. She
rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. I turned back to Jackson.
    ‘Teddy, good of you to join us. Me and
Clara here were just getting acquainted. She’s lovely, don’t you think?’
    He groaned, clearly in pain.
    ‘What do you want from me?’ he said, all
confidence now having left his voice.
    ‘I want you to answer a few questions,
completely and honestly.’
    ‘P-please don’t sh-shoot me