Paradise Burns by J. P. Sumner

Josh and
got him up to speed on the day’s developments.
    ‘That’s right, Josh,’ I said. ‘Uranium.’
    ‘Oh my God!’
    ‘Yeah, it’s pretty bad.’
    ‘I can’t believe it!’
    ‘Okay. Josh?’
    ‘Yeah?’
    ‘You need to calm down.’
    ‘Got you.’
    There was silence on the line for a few
moments.
    ‘You good?’ I asked.
    ‘I’m good,’ he replied.
    ‘Okay then. So, first things first. Who
are Dark Rain and how did they know to tail me before I’d even made a move
against Jackson?’
    ‘I’ve been thinking about that. The only
people you’ve interacted with are the mob, correct?’
    ‘Yeah. You thinking there’s someone in
Pellaggio’s crew who’s working for Dark Rain?’
    ‘That’s the only logical scenario I can
think of right now.’
    ‘I agree. Which leads me to my next
problem. What do I do about Jimmy Manhattan?’
    ‘Well, you can’t give him the land.’
    ‘I know that. But I can’t tell him why,
either.’
    ‘Can you not just say that Jackson didn’t
have the documents with him?’
    ‘No, because he would’ve expected me to
keep him alive long enough to find out where they were.’
    ‘Ah, good point.’
    ‘I’ll think of something. The priority
right now is Dark Rain. I need to know where they are and what they’re
planning. What do you have on this Roman Ketranovich that Clara mentioned?’
    ‘Adrian, this guy is hardcore. He served
in the Russian military and was a member of the Spetsnaz Special Forces for
nearly fifteen years. He was in the thick of it back in the eighties, when Bin
Laden was over there fighting and killing Russians. He fought against the
Afghans, and was known for his brutal torturing and relentless killing,
apparently.’
    ‘He sounds lovely.’
    ‘Seriously, this guy is up there with
Hitler, Stalin and Simon Cowell! He was badly injured in a firefight and was
left for dead by his comrades. He survived and has been underground ever since.
There’s very little on him after he was declared K.I.A. in the early nineties.
Dark Rain must be his revenge.’
    ‘So he’s pissed at America, pissed at
Russia and is after some nuclear material? Well, this couldn’t possibly end
badly.’
    ‘Exactly. Plus, if this guy is working
with GlobaTech Industries, he’s got some serious backing, so it’s conceivable
that he could infiltrate the local mob.’
    I sighed. I’ve been sighing a lot since
I got to this place. Probably because, so far, everyone I’ve spoken to in
Heaven’s Valley is either trying to kill me, or other people. You could argue I
bring it on myself by doing what I do, but even you have to admit this
situation is astonishingly FUBAR’d.
    ‘Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do,’ I
said. ‘I have to tell Jimmy Manhattan that he probably has a rat in his midst,
and that he can’t have the land, despite Jackson being dead.’
    ‘And I’m sure both bits of news will go
down a storm,’ said Josh.
    ‘Yeah, like a proverbial lead balloon.
Next, I need to track down this Dark Rain outfit and find a way of neutralizing
them before they can get their hands on any of this uranium.’
    ‘Have you given much thought to how
you’re going to stop an entire army on your own?’ he asked.
    ‘Short of knocking on their front door
and asking them nicely to stop, no. I’m open to suggestions though.’
    ‘You never know, that might work. We
rarely try the asking politely route.’
    ‘There’s a good reason for that.’
    ‘Very true.’
    ‘Right, I’m off to see Jimmy Manhattan.’
    ‘I’ll keep my eye on the local news
channels for any updates,’ he chuckled.
    ‘Oh, ye of little faith. I’m sure it
will be very civilised, and he’ll be understanding and sympathetic to our
situation.’
    ‘Really?’
    ‘No, not really.’
    I hung up and pulled on my leather
jacket and strapped my holster to my back. I then put both of my custom
Berettas at my back, so they formed the T-shape. My spider sense was tingling
big time. This was going