The Death: The Complete Trilogy

by John W. Vance

  “How do I open the door?” she asked.

  One of the other guards opened the door.

  With her hands up and palms facing them, she stepped out of the car and knelt down immediately.

  The first man took her hands in one hand and with the other took out a set of handcuffs. He pulled her arms back and placed the handcuffs on, then stood her up and laid her over the hood of the car. He patted her down thoroughly and professionally. “She’s clean. Check the car,” he ordered.

  The two other men, with flashlights in hand, began to rip the car apart. “Nothing here, sir.”

  “I’m going to take her back myself,” the first guard said and escorted her to a white SUV. He put her in the back and got in the driver’s seat.

  Everything happened so fast that it almost seemed like a blur.

  Just before they were coming to the main gate of the DIA, he slowed down, adjusted the rearview mirror and said, “Lori, you okay?”

  “Huh?”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, thank you.”

  “You’ll be fine. We’ve got your back,” he said.

  His comment surprised her; according to the magistrate, she wouldn’t know any of the sources or her allies once there. Apparently, she thought, this man had just broken protocol. However, she didn’t play along for fear she’d give something away. “Thank you.”

  They drove up to the main gate but were waved through.

  Once inside the main area on the tarmac, she looked around. It all looked like it had when she had arrived before. Men, women and machines were coming and going; it was always nonstop there.

  He took her to the security headquarters, where he transferred custody to another man. This man was wearing the black uniform of the DIA agents, but missing were the flags and patches she had seen before; they were replaced with the strange logo Travis had mentioned.

  They sat her in a corner while they discussed what to do with her. Suddenly the phone rang. The agent answered it and quickly hung up. “You two, take her topside.”

  Two agents grabbed her and took her through the underbelly of the airport until they reached the elevators. They got in and went to the main floor. When the door opened a young, handsome man was standing there, his arms crossed. “I’ll take her from here, and please remove the handcuffs,” he said.

  The two guards followed his instructions and released her to him.

  The young man turned around and began to walk away. “Follow me,” he ordered.

  She did.

  As they made turns through the hallways, she began to recognize where she was. Confirmation of where she was going came after the last turn. At the end of the hall stood a single door and two guards.

  The man stopped and held his arm out, pointing towards the door farther down. “Please go.”

  She looked at him sheepishly, yearning to see if he was someone on her side. However, he gave no indication of that.

  “Go,” he ordered.

  She slowly made her way down the hall. The last time she was there she had just murdered a man and was making her escape. Now here she was, voluntarily stepping back into the viper’s nest. She prayed that she could fulfill her plan and kill him. She prayed that she’d be able to see Travis again. She reached the door, the guards opened it without question, and she stepped across the threshold into the vestibule.

  The guards closed the door behind her.

  She wished just then that she could turn and run away again. Her body was shaking uncontrollably. The determination the magistrate had given her was now gone. Horton did more than scare her, he terrified her to a point that no other had ever done before. Resting in him was pure evil, she thought. She knew she had been in the presence of bad people before, but this man was the embodiment of all that was wrong in mankind.

  The dead bolt clicked, causing her heart to skip. The doorknob turned, and instinctually she took a half step back. The door began to open but at a torturously slow pace until she saw him.

  “Hello, Lori, nice to see you. Would you please come in? We have a lot of catching up to do.”

  Outside Charleston, South Carolina

  After Devin had brought it to her attention that the ship had to come into port now and then, she went to go visit their captive in the garage. As before, he offered up all the information he claimed he knew and promised upon his life that it was true. When he told them Charleston was the port where they were making landfall, she calculated the travel time and set to packing the Humvee so all they had to do was get up and leave.

  Tess was an optimist, but she had a streak of reality that coursed through her, and it showed in what she unloaded from the Humvee and how much she did take.

  Devin had questioned her about the packing, but she grumbled and he didn’t want to waste time or energy arguing with her, especially after her display of anger earlier. Gone was most of the food; she only packed a case of MREs and a variety of different canned foods. She left most of their weapons and ammunition but kept the .50 caliber and all the rounds for it. She hoped that again would be the weapon that could help turn the tide.

  The man appeared to be forthright with his information and told them the specific port in Charleston they routinely pulled into. He described in detail the refueling procedures and how many men they could expect to engage. It was the information about manpower that gave Devin a scare. According to their captive, there were fifty men on board the ship, but that number grew when they hit port.

  Renfield, while going insane, was still a rational man. The one place he kept a formidable-size group of armed men was at the port.

  Their captive told them that the port had over twenty-five men guarding it.

  For Devin the mission was starting to sound impossible, but for Tess, any ability to gain access to the ship without sailing out to it was better than that type of plan. She wasn’t a foolish person and knew they had a huge disadvantage. However, she had no choice; she had to go get those kids.

  Their departure from Topsail Beach was a sad affair. Alex had begged to go, but she refused to allow that. She told him a half-dozen times that his place was there with Brianna protecting the other smaller children.

  Melody, who had been suffering from tetanus, had almost recovered to a hundred percent. Her successful recovery gave Tess hope that things were turning in their favor. Tess still remembered little Meagan coming out calling her name. Had she not done that, most or all of these kids would be dead or, worse, in captivity with Renfield.

  When Devin pressed her on just how they were going to make the mission a success, she would only answer ‘of course we are’.

  Just as the sun was rising, she, Devin and their captive set off, heading south along the coast. As always, they prepared for the worst but found the drive uneventful.

  Their captive, who Devin finally got to give them his name, was called Morgan, and he claimed to be a native of Charleston. Neither Tess nor Devin had been there, so this could be beneficial, if he were honest.

  They had parked in a residential neighborhood a half mile from the south tip of Wando Welch Terminal, a large container loading and offloading dock. Wando Welch was massive for a city the size of Charleston. It had four container berths, eleven container cranes and over ninety acres of container storage, which now served as Renfield’s onshore base of operations. From their position they’d be able to see the ship coming in from the south, and with dozens of small personal boat docks nearby, they could find one to use if need be.

  They had arrived in plenty of time, as Morgan said they should expect the ship to be pulling into dock for refueling in the next day or two. He told them that Renfield was returning from pirating up north.

  With the Humvee tucked away in a hide position and Morgan tied to a tree, Tess and Devin walked towards Hobcaw Creek, a small inlet off the Wando River.

  Tess stopped at the water’s edge and looked out, her mind deep in thought.

  Devin walked up beside her and said, “So
far so good.”

  “This was the easy part.”

  Devin saw a flat rock and picked it up. He cleaned off the mud by wiping it on his pants, then ran his thumb over the smooth sides.

  Tess exhaled deeply.

  Sensing a tension in her, he said, “Whatever happens, we did the right thing, the good thing.”

  “I know, I just don’t know how we’re going to get these kids. We’re outnumbered a hundred to one.”

  “We’ve bested those odds before,” Devin said in an attempt to reassure an extremely skeptical Tess.

  “I know, but this just feels impossible, and I hate to use that word.”

  “If it’s impossible, then what are we doing?”

  “We’re doing what must be done.”

  “But if we die, don’t we fail the little ones we left with Brianna. Don’t we fail Brianna by leaving her all alone?”

  Tess craned her head at Devin and was about to snap but took a second to reflect. “You have a point, but we can’t leave these kids in their hands. I couldn’t sleep at night knowing we didn’t try.”

  “I agree with you, but we have to look at the real possibility that this just might be impossible, and if it truly is, this is nothing more than a suicide mission and we accomplish nothing.”

  Tess looked at the rock he was holding and snatched it out of his hands. She ran her fingers over the smooth surface. She recoiled and threw it at an angle in an attempt to skip it across the water; it sank upon first strike.

  Devin looked for another rock and found one. He quickly snapped his arm and the rock zinged and skipped five times before disappearing in the dark waters. He bent over and grabbed a few more and handed her one. “Here, this is a good one.”

  She took it and tried again, but like before, it went right in the water.

  “You’re doing it wrong; don’t throw it that way. It’s a sideways snap of the arm like this,” he said and tossed another rock that skipped a few times.

  She studied his technique.

  “Try this one,” he said, handing her another.

  She tried to duplicate him, but it failed.

  “Didn’t you ever skip rocks as a kid up in the wilds of the Dakotas?” he asked. “My dad used to take me to Central Park almost every day after school, and we’d skip rocks, run around, play hide and seek, you know, kids’ stuff. The best was our rock-skipping competitions. If I bested him, he’d buy me an ice cream cone from this little shop on 88th. They had the best soft serve. I personally loved vanilla. I know that can be kinda bland or boring to some, but theirs was so creamy…”

  Frustrated, she turned around and stormed off.

  Devin was confused by her reaction, but things were stressful so it could be anything, he thought. He jogged up to her and said, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  “Just leave me alone for a bit.”

  “No, now’s not the time to be leaving each other alone. We don’t have much time to figure this out.”

  She stopped and barked, “Just let me be.”

  “Was it about the rock skipping or are you pissed about something else? If it’s about the rescue attempt, then we need to talk because we need to make a plan.”

  She folded her arms in a defiant manner and held firm.

  “You’re pissed because I could skip rocks and you couldn’t? You’re so good at everything and here I go skipping rocks and that pisses you off?”

  She lowered her head and confessed, “It’s not that but is that.”

  “What?”

  “Maybe I’m beginning to have PTSD or something, but I’m having a hard time coming to grips with everything. I came back to find a message from Travis only to find these children alone, scared and in need; then we find out more have been taken, no doubt tortured and raped. Then back in Reed we tried with all our might to find Daryl’s son and we failed—we failed! All we have to show for it are scars and nightmares! This whole fucking world is just fucked up!”

  “Like you said, we’re the good guys, and we’ll do what we can to make things right.”

  “You mentioned two things over there that really got me here,” she said, pointing to her chest. “One was about not trying to save them because if we die, who takes care of the little ones? I want so much to disagree with you, but it makes sense. This just seems so impossible to do, and we’d just be racing towards our death.” She stopped talking and began to cry.

  For Devin seeing a woman cry was tough for him. His male instinct to protect her kicked in as he stepped into her, and she rested her head on his chest.

  “You asked me if I ever skipped rocks as a kid. No, I didn’t skip rocks, I sat locked away in a children’s home. My real parents didn’t want me. The other kids in the home picked on me because I had an ugly tumor on my face. I’d see adults come, and they wouldn’t take me, they’d take the mean and horrible kids who picked on me and called me names. For years I sat and watched as a new crop of kids would come, they’d pick on me, and then leave. I grew hard there, I grew resentful of others. I once had a foster home, but those parents were sick. The man touched me. He hurt me. I was only twelve.” Tess stopped talking and looked down. Tears fell from her face. She had rattled off in rapid-fire succession this long list of issues from her childhood that Devin never knew and had no experience himself.

  He brought her in closer, and she allowed it. Soon they were embracing.

  She began to sob heavier now as she just let go. It was hard for her to be vulnerable, especially since she always wanted to portray the strong one. Travis had known about her past, but he had never seen her like this. His only experience of her was the beautiful tough-as-nails woman he had met in high school. Besides the harrowing adventures and the near death situations she and Devin had experienced together, Devin had gotten to see a private and vulnerable side of her that Travis had never seen. This made her feel exceptionally close to Devin, a closeness that surpassed her feelings for Travis.

  They lost themselves in each other’s arms. It was Morgan’s cries that brought them back from the emotional sanctuary they felt in the other’s embrace.

  “I wonder what he wants,” Tess griped.

  “Who cares?” Devin replied. He pulled up her head and said, “I’m sorry your childhood was shit. I really am.”

  “Now I hope you can fully understand my personal connection to all of these kids. I know what it means to be abandoned and not to have family.”

  “I get it.”

  “I hope you do, but I also get conflicted like I am now. I can’t stand the thought of knowing those older kids are suffering, but leaving the little’s all alone frightens me just as much.”

  Morgan cried out again.

  “We should go see what he’s whining about,” Tess said and stepped away from Devin. She brushed her hair back and wiped her moist cheeks.

  “Can I ask one more question?”

  “Sure.”

  “Where was the tumor on your face?”

  “You haven’t seen the scar right here before?” she asked, pointing to a faint line that ran from the bottom of her right nostril two inches down at a forty-five-degree angle.

  “Yeah, I’ve seen that but didn’t think anything of it.”

  “I had a hemangioma, was born with it. It grew to be about the size of a quarter on my face. It was removed when I was eight years old.”

  “I think you’re beautiful,” Devin said.

  Hearing him say this made her blush. He’d never been so sweet before.

  “I don’t know about that.”

  “Help, hurry!” Morgan cried louder.

  “Let’s go,” Tess said, her tone showed her lack of concern.

  They walked over to Morgan, who was tied to a tree, and saw the reason for his cries. A large snake was near his feet.

  “Kill it, hurry. It’s a cottonmouth.”

  “Aren’t those poisonous?” Devin asked jokingly.

  “Yeah, I think so, very poisonous.”

  “Please!” Morgan pl
eaded.

  The snake inched closer and lifted its head to begin moving up Morgan’s leg.

  “Are you scared of snakes?” Devin asked Morgan.

  “Come on, man, please?”

  “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to tell us the best way to get into the shipyard and onto the ship,” Tess said.

  “Okay, okay, but kill this fucking thing.”

  “Nope, not till you tell us,” Tess pressed.

  “Oh, c’mon, that ain’t fair.”

  “Fine, let’s go back to scouting. What do you say, Dev?” Tess asked.

  “Sure,” Devin replied and turned around.

  “Stop. Okay, fine,” Morgan replied, his dark brown eyes as wide as saucers as sweat was sliding down his face and dripping from his thick bushy brown beard. His greasy dark hair clung partially to his face. He wanted to shake his head to move it, but fear the snake would bite prevented him from moving.

  “Jump across the creek there. The south end of the shipyard isn’t heavily guarded. There’s a roving patrol but no real presence. You can cut through the chain-link fence there. It’s easy to hide behind the Conex containers. Oh, man, the snake is getting closer. C’mon, I told you.”

  “How do we get on the ship? That’s where the kids are, right?”

  “Um, yes, but whoever owns them might take them off. I don’t know if all the kids will be on there.”

  “Own?” Tess asked.

  “Yeah, the girls are traded and purchased. The boys are trained to fight and be part of the crew.”

  Tess looked at Devin and shook her head.

  Devin could see the rage building in her.

  “Who owns the girls we’re looking for?”

  Morgan wouldn’t stop looking at the snake; it had slithered over his boot and was lying on his right calf.

  “I don’t know, c’mon, I really don’t know. You gotta believe me, there’s like a shit load of guys on Renfield’s crew. I don’t know who has them specifically.”

  Tess believed him, but she didn’t want to stop the snake just yet, as she enjoyed the terror it gave him.