“Why?”
“She was positive there was something terribly wrong with it.” He paused. “At the time, I thought this was simply hysteria induced by some hormonal imbalance, but it turned out she was right.”
“What happened when you told her you couldn’t perform the abortion?”
“She wept hysterically, insisting the thing inside her wasn’t human. She spoke of drinking blood and eating raw flesh and having sexual relations with every man of her acquaintance. She blamed this on Tiburon, insisting he was the devil incarnate and that her soul was damned unless she killed the baby inside her.”
“What did you do?”
The doctor frowned and shook his head. “I’m not proud of it, in fact it’s tormented me every day since, but I did what she wanted. I attempted a third term abortion.”
Carmella felt there was more that happened before the abortion but decided not to push. “So, she died during the abortion?”
“No. The fetus seemed to sense it was in danger and decided it was time to be born. It…” He paused and looked up at her, “On the bible, I swear this is the truth. It literally clawed its way out of her. Ripped her belly open and crawled out. She died before I could do anything to help her.”
“How could a baby rip…”
“It wasn’t a baby. It wasn’t anything like a baby.”
“What was it?”
“A panther. A twelve-pound black panther.”
Neither spoke for several minutes.
“What happened to it?” she finally asked.
“The creature was sitting on her belly, eating her ripped flesh. It took all the courage I had to come near it. Using clamps, I snared its front paws and hind feet, so I could safely get it off Wyla’s body. It had a seizure and died before I could get it to the counter.”
“How did Tiburon react when he was notified of her death?”
The doctor shook his head. “I don’t know. I refused to get anywhere near the man. I listed her death as a miscarriage and the abomination as severely deformed fetus and put in for a sabbatical, leaving someone else with the responsibility of notifying him.”
He looked at the doe-eyed girl. “I suppose you think my behavior cowardly, but I was terrified. I was afraid he would know that I knew he was a demon incarnate and kill me on sight or take my wife and children in revenge.”
Carmella shook her head. “I think you were very brave. If it’s of any consolation, I don’t think an abortion would have helped her. Some of the other women attempted abortions as early as the first trimester, and none survived the procedure.”
“And the fetus?”
“All dead. Wyla’s is the only one that was born alive. It’s probably why Tiburon didn’t question your report that the fetus had been born dead. They had all died before this one.”
“How many?”
“I’ve located seven before Wyla and four more after. There could be more.”
“My God! Can no one stop this monster?”
“Well up to now, no one has really investigated his past.” Carmella sighed, “And to be honest, his past is so incredible, most wouldn’t believe my report anyway.”
“But someone will?”
“I think so. My boss prides himself in being open-minded. This will test just how open-minded he actually is.” Carmella stood and shook his hand. “I want to thank you for your honesty. I know it wasn’t easy. You were the first to state clearly the fetus resembles a black panther. The other doctors described features that when assembled would resemble a cat, but none of them would say it.”
“The damn thing mewed at me just as I snared its paws. It was exactly like a cat.” The doctor walked her to the door. He opened the door, but then placed his hand on her arm. “Take this journal. It may help. I had planned to burn it before I died, but I’d rather you have it.” He paused. “There are things which happened, which I’m ashamed of…things I cannot rationally explain. I suppose I was seduced by the devil myself. I ask you not to judge me too harshly.”
***
Kyle could tell Carmella’s interview had gone well by the bounce to her step. She should feel drained and exhausted. Instead, she looked energetic and alert.
“Well?” Kyle asked
She gave Badruk her next address and flipped on her flashlight, speed-reading the journal.
Kyle knew she wasn’t going to answer him. He leaned over and attempted to read the journal along with her. However, he’d get no more than one paragraph into the page and she’d flip to the next page.
“Are you looking for something in particular?” he asked. Again, she didn’t answer. He watched her face to see if she was annoying him on purpose, but all her concentration seemed focused on the journal. He watched her eyes and the way they moved down the page. He realized she was reading—just at an incredibly fast pace.
Chapter 20
Jason woke up with his head pounding. He lay on an unfamiliar bed in total darkness. He reached over, found a light on the night stand, and turned it on. The vision of Tiburon seated before him, chilled his blood.
“How do you feel Agent Connors?” Tiburon asked, his voice cold and hard.
“Like shit. Look, I don’t understand what’s happened…”
“I know that, Agent Connors,” Tiburon assured him. Then he smiled, his sharp canines almost glowing in the dark. “I do. You find my wife irresistible.”
“I…” Jason stammered. He was at a loss of words.
“There’s something you should know, Agent Connors. Just between us. The marriage is a farce. I saved Catina’s life in the jungle and in return, she got me into this country, so I could retrieve my sister. I have my sister now. So, I would like you to arrange our deportation immediately. No fines, no prison time. Just a clean, fast deportation. In return, I will leave you my wife.”
Jason’s jaw clenched in anger. “It doesn’t work that way. The immigration department will demand prison time on this one.”
“Nonsense. They have no proof. They should be happy just to get rid of me and my sister.”
“You just told me that the marriage was a farce.”
“That was between us. Just like your afternoon delight with my wife.”
Jason sighed. “Unfortunately for my career, Dr. Tiburon, that indiscretion is fully recorded and known by the FBI and Immigrations. Your room is bugged.”
“Yes. It was careless of you not to remember that, but I suppose you weren’t thinking with your brain at that point. Not to worry. It remains our little secret. I removed all of the listening devices this morning after the first episode with Catina.”
Jason was stunned. “And what do you want in return?”
“Only the immediate deportation of my sister and myself.”
“Your sister?”
“Morta.”
“Taylor’s mistress?”
“Yes,” Tiburon replied, his voice low and angry.
“She’s here?”
“Yes. Taylor has kept her locked up for the last twenty years. She was very ill when I found her, but she is much better now.”
“I’d like to meet her.”
Tiburon paused. “That would not be advisable. You seem to have a low tolerance for attractive women, and my sister is far more sensual than Catina.”
Jason tried to stand up, only he became dizzy and sat back down on the bed. “What is wrong with me?”
“You’re just weak from the loss of blood. Perhaps you should be more careful in the future.”
“Careful?”
“With Catina. A little finger suck is nothing unless you allow it to go on for hours. You’re lucky I intervened.”
“You’ve drugged me,” Jason countered.
“Believe what you wish. As long as you get my sister and me out of the country, I don’t care,” Tiburon assured him as he stood up. “For your own safety, you should lock this door from the inside when I leave.”
Jason made no effort to stop him from going.
Once J
ason was alone, he reached for the phone. He knew the line was tapped but he needed to get out of this house. He waited impatiently while the phone rang.
“What?” the voice on the other end snapped.
“Sorry for the wakeup call, but I need you to pick me up. I’m up at the Cat Refuge. How soon can you be here?”
“Ten minutes,” the reply came, and the line went dead.
As he set the phone down, he noticed the knob of his door turning. He had not locked the door as Tiburon advised. What now? He wondered.
He could hear Tiburon’s voice commanding someone away from the door.
“I just want to see him,” the woman replied.
“I said no!” Tiburon replied.
“I won’t hurt him.”
He heard a gasp of pain. “Don’t ever question my authority,” Tiburon warned, his voice so deadly that it ran chills down Jason’s spine.
Cursing his own weakness, Jason stumbled to the door and opened it. He saw only a glimpse of the woman as Tiburon forced her into the other spare bedroom and locked the door. Tiburon seemed to sense Jason’s presence and turned to face him. His visage startled him. Tiburon’s eyes glowed with anger, his sharp white canines shining against his coal black skin.
There was a moment of silence between them while Jason waited for the attack from this inhuman creature before him.
“Shall I help you downstairs, Agent Connors? Your ride should be here soon.”
Jason reached for his jacket and gun. He didn’t ask how Tiburon knew someone was coming for him. He assumed Tiburon had picked up another extension. Given the events of the afternoon, he wasn’t about to complain over such a minor lack of courtesy.
Tiburon led him to the door. “Perhaps you would not mind waiting outside. There may be other listening devices in the house, and I don’t think anyone needs to know the hour you left here.”
Jason nodded then looked at his watch. It was two in the morning! No wonder Winston had been asleep.
He sat on the steps and waited for Winston, hoping to God this whole day was just one never-ending nightmare and he’d wake up soon. He was so disoriented and dizzy that he feared he would black out before Winston arrived. What the hell was wrong with him?
***
He woke to a room of white.
“Hey, guy,” Winston said.
Jason looked around. Dear God, not a hospital, I can never explain why I’m here. “Where am I?”
“A hospital.”
Jason groaned. His career was over.
“Don’t worry. It’s a very private hospital. They keep no records. The CIA frequently uses their services. They won’t ask any questions.”
“Good.”
“But I will. Want to tell me what happened?”
Jason shook his head. “I think I was drugged.”
“What makes you think that?” Winston asked as he moved his chair closer.
“I blacked out. I woke up dizzy and disoriented.”
“Well according to the doctor, that’s because you’re missing almost three pints of blood.” He raised Jason’s hand and indicated the bandaged finger. “Besides this cut, he didn’t find any other wounds. Any idea how you lost three pints of blood from a finger prick?”
Jason shook his head. “Has Carmella reported in to you?”
“She did. Precisely on time. I know Kyle is impressed with her, but I gotta say, her report is a bit weird. You sure you sent the right person?”
Jason stared at his bandaged finger. “Do you know, if a UFO set down on the front lawn of the White House, most of my agents would manage to write a report which never mentioned a flying saucer? They wouldn’t even realize it. They would mull over what happened and reorganize the facts to match what they know to be possible. However, Carmella would describe the saucer in detail. She never stops and says: do I really want to be reporting this? She just digs in regardless of how bizarre the truth may sound.”
Winston smiled. “Well, I’m not sure how true it is, but she gets the prize for bizarre.”
Jason grabbed his friend’s hand. “Winston. I need you to tell me what she said, no matter how bizarre it sounded. I need to know her full report. Things are getting out of control. To be honest, I feel like I’m losing my mind. I need to understand what I’m involved in.”
Winston sighed and reached for his briefcase. “Well, I doubt this is going to clear anything up, but I kept writing, even after I determined your agent was a bit loco. Oh, you should know that Kyle confessed she had too much to drink the night before. He didn’t say, but there might have been drugs taken as well, so this may be some sort of hallucination.”
Jason shook his head. “That’s hard to believe. Just tell me what she said.”
“She’s sending a full report by a CIA courier today, but she felt it was important I tell you that Tiburon has previously impregnated at least twelve women, all of which have died due to complication of pregnancies.”
“Catina!” Jason cried out.
“What?”
“Nothing. Why did they die?”
“The fetus showed severe deformities. Now here’s where she goes off the deep end. She says in one case a live black panther cub weighing twelve point, two ounces—love the detail—is said to have clawed its way out of the mother’s womb during a third term trimester abortion. More likely the doctor killed the woman trying to abort at such a late stage.”
Jason remembered his dream of the claws ripping through Catina’s stomach. Oh God, please let this be a nightmare! “What happened?”
“Well, the good doctor killed the little cub. Said it was munching on its mother’s flesh. Do you want me to go on, or have you heard enough foolishness for one night?”
“What else did she say?”
“She said to warn you that the pregnant women…you’re gonna love this…I mean picture this little demure, soft spoken Agent saying this…”
“Just tell me damn it!”
“The pregnant women were virtually irresistible to men. All of the doctors remembered them as the most beautiful women they had ever met. In one case, the doctor shared his journal in which he described his lust a bit more vividly, finally consummating the desire one hour before he killed her performing a third trimester abortion.”
“Damn it, Winston. You’re mixing your words with hers. Don’t tell me your interpretation of what she said. Tell me exactly what she said. This is important!”
Winston sighed and skimmed his notes. “Fine. To be exact, she said that prior to the woman’s visit, the doctor claimed absolute devotion to his wife and children. His first entry of the woman commented on her extraordinary beauty. Subsequent entries became more erotic as his sexual desire for her increased. His work and family became secondary to his need to have her. Nothing else mattered but the woman. At the point he agreed to perform the abortion, he was so mesmerized he would have agreed to anything at all.”
“What was Carmella’s assessment?”
Winston rolled his eyes. “She believes these women exude a mating pheromone so strong that it overrides cognitive processing.”
“Good God!” Jason whispered.
“So, you want me to tell Kyle to bring your bizarre woman home?”
Jason stared at his friend for a moment. “How long have we been friends?”
“Awhile. Why? Are you about to ask me to do something illegal?”
“I am about to tell you something and I need you to set your cynicism aside and listen to me. Today, I drove over to Tiburon’s home, snuck up stairs and banged his pregnant wife for hours while he was on the grounds.”
“No way!”
“You want to know how I lost that blood? I let Catina Nelson suck it out of me from that tiny little wound on my finger.”
“Have you gone insane?”
“To be honest, I thought I had. You know me. I would never—never in a million years—do anything like this. Carmella’s assessment explains everything: what happened to me; why Dr. Taylor pu
t his wife into an asylum—everything.”
“This is too weird.”
“You’ve seen the photo of Catina Nelson. What’s your impression?”
Winston shrugged. “She’s okay.”
“That was my impression the day I watched her and Tiburon behind a security mirror. However, the next day, when I met her face to face, I thought she was the most beautiful woman I had ever met. Don’t you see? It was the pheromones affecting my mind. And the more I was around her, the less rational I became. She’s like a drug. She is a drug.”
“Should we call in Narcotics?”
Jason shook his head. “You still aren’t buying any of this.”
“Truthfully? No. I don’t know what happened to you up in the house. Maybe it’s your time for a mid-life crisis. But there is no way I believe that a bunch of kitten-bearing women are wandering the earth, mesmerizing men.”
Jason paused. “He must have an antidote!”
“Who?”
“Taylor. He must know how to stop this. He certainly isn’t mesmerized anymore.” Upon removing the IV tube from his arm, Jason pushed himself out of bed. “Find my pants. I’ve got to talk with Taylor.”
“Can’t you wait until the doctor runs a few more tests? I’m still thinking they’ve drugged you.”
Jason opened the closet and located his pants. “You coming?” he asked as he dressed.
Winston sighed. “I think I’d better. You’re apt to fall on your face. You’re still about a pint low.” Winston nodded to the blood remaining in the transfusion bag.
***
The sun was rising just as they reached Dr. Taylor’s mansion. The butler refused to wake his master, but Winston solved the standoff by dropping a metal urn on the marble floor. Its reverberating thunder was enough to wake the dead.
“Maxwell, what’s happened?” Dr. Taylor demanded from the top of the stairs.
“I’m sorry, sir! I told these gentlemen to return at a more suitable hour,” Maxwell tried to explain, but Jason pushed him aside and climbed the steps to Dr. Taylor.
“Is there an antidote?”
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