A Necessary Kill by James P. Sumner Page A

from the top of his pile and opened it in front of him.
    “GlobaTech Industries—deployment and financial records,” he muttered to himself. “Let’s see the secrets behind your magic, shall we…?”

10
ADRIAN HELL
    22:16 EDT
    Oscar agreed to help us out, and we left with a large bag of weaponry and the promise he’ll deliver more to us if we need it, whenever and wherever I ask. He refused to accept any money, basing his charity on the fact that if he’s sponsoring my attempt to change the world as we know it, the publicity he’ll get if I succeed will earn him untold fortunes.
    I appreciate his faith in my ability to do this, if nothing else.
    We didn’t want to risk exposing ourselves any more than we already had, so we decided to lay low in Allentown overnight before moving on in the morning. We’re holed up in a cheap motel on the outskirts of the city. It’s a basic place—parking lot facing a row of rooms, each identical to the next inside, with a double bed, crappy TV, and basic bathroom facilities.
    Ruby’s been in the shower for almost an hour.
    I’m lying on the bed, staring up at the broken ceiling fan, trying to think of a plausible and effective way to assassinate the leader of the free world. I’ve never struggled to carry out a hit before, at least not in terms of how to go about it. Some jobs have been harder than others, granted, but the difficult part was always carrying it out, never deciding how to approach it in the first place. This is new, unfamiliar territory to me, and right now I would give anything to have one conversation with Josh. He would know what to do in a heartbeat.
    I rub my hands over my face, wiping away the fatigue. I haven’t slept in forever. I just can’t silence my mind long enough. I mean, forget trying to kill Cunningham for a moment, I still need to figure out what the guy’s actually trying to accomplish. I know Josh is probably all over that, too, but I need to know so I can prepare for it.
    Why do all this? Why kill nearly half a billion people and make a quarter of the world’s land mass uninhabitable for the next God knows how long in the process? He already had it all. America’s the richest country in the world. He single-handedly eradicated organized drug-related crime. Unemployment, the homeless, poverty—all at an all-time low. Why destroy other countries?
    Ah, fuck it. My head hurts.
    I stand just as the bathroom door opens. Ruby appears with a towel wrapped around her.
    “Oh my God, that feels good!” she declares loudly.
    I stare at her. The towel isn’t doing a good job of covering her body. It’s high on her thigh and low on her ample chest. My gaze is drawn to her upper body. The image burned into my mind of her standing before me, back in her cell, as naked as the day she was born, covered in a frightening network of self-inflicted wounds.
    Wounds which no longer seem to be there…
    “Hey, I’m up here,” she says, smiling.
    Flustered, I look at her emerald eyes, which are playfully taunting me. “Sorry, I was…”
    “You were staring at me again. This is becoming a bit of a habit, isn’t it? Here…” She grabs hold of her towel in both hands and opens it like a curtain in a theater, revealing her naked body. “You want a better look?”
    I put my hand up to block my view and turn my head away. “Jesus, will you stop flashing me? Do you even know what dignity is?”
    She closes the towel again, laughing. “Dignity’s for pussies.” She gestures to her body. “ This is as much a weapon to me as a gun is.”
    “And a mighty fine weapon it is, but that’s not why I’m looking. What happened to your scars? The ones that ‘keep your demons in’—or whatever it was you said…”
    And yes, I just air quoted then. Got a problem?
    “Oh, those?” She smiles. “Just before I got myself committed, I had a makeup artist friend of mine put them on for me. I figured they’d help with the charade.” She moves over to the