Flawless Dreams

by Hadena James

  “I have no intention of going into Mexico, especially not at Juarez. I attract serial killers like most people attract mosquitos. I’m crazy, not stupid. It’s the closest I’ll ever get to real Mexican food. You know how much I love it.”

  “You expect me to believe you’re going to El Paso for Mexican food?”

  “I don’t expect you to believe anything. That’s why I’m going. I have nothing to do here, might as well go to El Paso for Mexican food.”

  “Yeah, I don’t want an international incident, so you aren’t going alone.”

  “My mom, Nyleena, they’re in Australia. You guys are on a case. It seems like now is a good time for a vacation and I don’t have anyone to go with me.”

  “I’ll have someone on the ground waiting for you.”

  “I do not want to be in El Paso with someone who is out of their skull,” I was referring to Malachi. His new status as an SCTU leader-in-training was driving me nuts. He kept trying to give me orders.

  “It won’t be Malachi.” Gabriel hung up on me. I considered telling him I wouldn’t be alone in El Paso, but that would make life complicated for him.

  Two

  It’s was already sixty degrees when my plane landed. I hated flying commercially. It was impossible to carry a gun on a plane, even if you were a US Marshal. Not that it mattered, I had made arrangements ahead of time. I just hoped whoever was on the ground didn’t throw a fit about it. With any luck, Gabriel had sent Xavier. Xavier understood more than most where I was at right now. We shared an unspoken understanding that things had changed and that we needed people like Apex and Patterson.

  The plane stopped short of the gate. The captain made an announcement that we should all stay seated as the door opened. The person that stepped on the plane had a cowboy hat, tight jeans, cowboy boots, and looked right at home in Texas. Except for the freckles and fair skin that would get seriously sunburnt without the hat and SPF 50 sunscreen reapplied every half hour or so.

  I watched Gabriel walk towards me. Of all the people I expected him to send, I didn’t expect it to be him. He was smiling at me, something he hadn’t done for a while now. I stood, grabbed my carry-on bag, and sighed. It was good to see him smile, it wasn’t going to last for very long though.

  “Ace,” he nodded towards the exit.

  “Gabriel,” I walked into the aisle and followed him out to the bewilderment of the other passengers. Some made tutting noises or grumbled about the delay. Most stayed quiet.

  “I think it’s time to go back home,” a woman tried to whisper. “That’s Aislinn Cain of the SCTU.”

  Gabriel tipped his hat to her and nodded once. I avoided eye contact. It was true that I was hoping to talk to a serial killer, but I wasn’t intending to arrest him. He was about as dangerous as a clawless, toothless kitten at this point. He just mewed loudly.

  The tarmac felt like a million degrees. The heat radiated up from the pavement creating shimmering waves of air. It might have been sixty, but the sun was baking the Earth where we stood. Gabriel directed me to an SUV. I walked quietly to it.

  “Cat got your tongue?” Gabriel asked as I closed my door.

  “No, I am wondering why you came, personally.”

  “Because there are only three or so people on this planet that I trust by your side when you are this close to Juarez, Mexico and I’m at the top of the list.”

  “Lucas or Xavier could have done it.”

  “Neither of them are on the list. Malachi, Patterson, and me, plus I think your contact that shall not be named, those are the people I trust here.”

  “I do not think I understand,” I told him as he pulled away from the airport.

  “Most good looking women attract men, you attract psychopaths. This time of year, the Rio Grande isn’t much more than a creek between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. Border patrol isn’t prepared for anything like you or what you might tempt out of Mexico. Hell, they aren’t prepared for whatever you are doing here. I have a feeling I don’t want to know, but I also know that the only way this is going to work is with full disclosure.”

  “I think you just complimented me on my looks.” I dodged his last comment.

  “I did, stop stalling.”

  “Ever heard of a man named Harley Pierce?”

  “No.”

  “Ever heard of the serial killer the Soul Collector?”

  “Of course, he went off the grid about five years ago.”

  “Yep, same time that Harley Pierce got into a motorcycle accident that left him a quadriplegic. No one thought much of it at the time, but Pierce was a man of many interests, including being the manager of a factory in Juarez. The same factory that most of the women taken by the Soul Collector worked for. He’s never been arrested, but he was involved in a few incidents before the accident. In one instance, five guys tried to kidnap him. He beat three of them to death with a hammer and the other two probably wish they were dead. Another time, he killed a cartel enforcer with his bare hands, ripped his throat out. Two weeks before his accident, he killed a man named Juan Aliviero with a pipe, again he beat him to death. Only problem is, Juan turned out to be a serial killer of the psychopathic variety. He was out matched by Pierce. City of El Paso gave him a freaking medal for it. After digging into Pierce’s past, I got to thinking about the Soul Collector. He fits. His victims were all petite women who had their throats ripped out. I do not know a lot of people that do that for fun.”

  “How’d you stumble upon Harley Pierce in the first place?”

  “I was looking for serial killer patterns in Texas. Juan Aliviero’s case popped up. Considering how he died, I decided to dig into the background of the man that killed him.”

  “Well, you didn’t come here to arrest him for the Soul Collector cases, so why are you here?”

  “I said Pierce was a man of many interests, among them, he has been on the El Paso city council twice and been the mayor once. However, in his file, there are pictures of him all stitched up after his motorcycle accident. He might bear the tattoo we are looking for. The pictures were unclear and there was a lot of damage done to him, part of it is just gone. I hope to see it in person and if I’m right, maybe convince him to talk in exchange for not moving him to the Fortress in his condition.”

  “You’d let someone like the Soul Collector go free in exchange for information?”

  “He is not going to be killing anyone any time soon, Gabriel. Unless he has someone doing it for him. However, he seems like the hands on type of guy, so I doubt the thrill would be there if he was not doing it himself.”

  “Fine. I’m going to give you some guns and pretend you did not have a backup plan on how to get them into El Paso. This means, I’m going to pretend it’s just you and me in El Paso.”

  “Gabriel,” I started to lie to him then thought better of it. “It is not Patterson that was my backup plan if it makes you feel any better.”

  “It does and I already figured as much. How do you think I found out you were coming here for something other than tequila?” Gabriel shot me a quick look that made me look away. “Ace, I understand your feelings on this, I really do. For the most part, I agree with you. My only problem is that if he decides to change sides, you’re an easy target for him.”

  “I know.”

  “We all have his number and he has ours. For now, Malachi and I agree that he is more useful out here than in the Fortress. Should that change, I expect you to do your job. Can you manage that?”

  “Yes.” I finally looked up at him. “I did not expect you to see things the way I do.”

  “Someone is coming after us, all of us. I had to put my children in witness protection while you were in the hospital because someone sent them a severed head. Malachi, Xavier, Caleb, they all have family in WitSec right now because of it. Your family is with a mercenary outfit in Australia. Even your sister’s children have become targets and they are in Australia.”

  “Why did everyone else’s family go into WitSec and
mine went to Australia?”

  “Because your mother has some serious connections. She wanted to be the one to explain it to you, but that ship sailed the moment you decided to go fishing for leads.”

  “Are they safe?” I asked him.

  “Even Malachi wouldn’t mess with these guys.” Gabriel told me. “They’re all ex-spooks and black ops guys. Do I believe no one will come after them? No, I think that’s unlikely. Do I think it will be a huge mistake to go after them? Yes, I do.”

  “My mom admitted to me that she wasn’t DOJ before she left, she was NSA.”

  “With your mother, I totally believe that.” Gabriel turned into a parking lot. “Whatever is going to happen, Ace is going to happen fast and it’s going to be stealthy. They tried the blitz attack and it failed. Next time, they’ll be trying to kill us in our sleep.”

  “Good thing I don’t sleep much.” I answered as he parked.

  Three

  Gabriel’s motel accommodation plans seemed to include picking the worst motel in all of Texas to call ours. No self-respecting serial killer would have set foot in my room. I wasn’t sure I could stay in it.

  There was literally a huge blood stain on the carpet. Someone had tried to bleach it away, but had done more to fade the carpet than the blood stain. High velocity spatter climbed up the wall and decorated the ceiling. It wasn’t fresh by a long shot, probably more than a year old, but that didn’t ease my mind very much.

  The bed squeaked when I sat on it. The headboard hit the wall with a heavy thud that made it rain plaster dust from the ceiling. The entire place stank of sweat, sex, and marijuana.

  There was no shower curtain, probably used to transport whoever had left all the blood in the room. The sink and toilet had rust stains. The bathtub looked like things should be crawling out of the drain.

  The only way the place could be improved was with a match and lots of highly flammable liquids. And I had the nicer of the two rooms. Gabriel’s was somehow much worse. When the door had opened, I had wondered if we were actually dead and entering Hell.

  His room had the distinct odor of rotting meat. It wasn’t strong, just strong enough for me to catch a whiff of it. I had warned him about it and he’d broke out a bottle of Oust. I was positive we were both going to need vaccinations if we spent the night.

  However, that appeared not to be part of the plan, which was why we were in this god-forsaken motel. Gabriel wanted to go talk to Harley Pierce and move on. He’d already returned my badge and credentials. At least for the moment, I was reinstated. However, I was beginning to wonder how fluid my status was.

  Especially with the completion of the second SCTU team. They were technically all in training, but Malachi had a five-person team to lead and once they found the killer they were looking for, the groups would become separate again. Malachi and Caleb would join Vladik Daniels, Rachael Monk, and Dominic Lazar. I knew Vlad and Dominic, but I had only met Rachael once. She seemed nice enough with the medical skills needed to stitch the group up, give them a good dose of narcotics, or autopsy a body. She was their Xavier. I checked the time. Gabriel and I were meeting to go eat and then heading to talk to Harley Pierce.

  The Motel Hell was meant to give us both a place to freshen up. I brought out the worst in psychopaths. We didn’t know if it was a pheromone or some sort of mental identification, but they really were drawn to me. Xavier was convinced it was a pheromone. Some sort of special undetectable smell that reacted with the primal parts of our brains. The reason for mine being worse was because I was somewhere in between a sociopath and psychopath, something that wasn’t classifiable yet. I did not share the mental aspects of a psychopath, but I did the physiological characteristics, to some degree. This meant I still identified myself as a sociopath, incapable of true empathy or sympathy and more socially awkward than a psychopath. My brain lacked about half the pain receptors a normal person had. My central nervous system worked slightly different as well. I had inverse reactions to pain; my blood pressure and heart rate dropped. My blood was heavy with red blood cells, providing far more oxygen to my muscles allowing them to work better. Essentially, Malachi and I had a lot of physical traits in common. The biggest difference was that he had even fewer pain receptors than I did and he could empathize, but didn’t understand fear.

  The more I learned about myself, Malachi, Caleb, and the monsters we chased, the more I wondered about everyone around me. Gabriel was the only real mystery and I was starting to figure him out after more than a year as my boss. The wendigo that still haunted him was more than just a demonic figment of his imagination meant to block out some childhood trauma. His rage had only manifested a few times, but when it did, it was a thing to behold. As long as it was from a safe distance. A person did not want to be on the receiving end of it.

  I still had some time to kill before meeting Gabriel. I was supposed to be freshening up, but there was no way I was using that bathroom. Instead, I went to the blood stain. Somewhere in my brain I connected it to Rob Zombie. Not because Zombie was dead, but because I realized the motel could probably inspire one of his movies. Of course, if I was Zombie, I wouldn’t have set foot in the place either. So, it was too dirty, dark, and desolate for serial killers, Rob Zombie, and myself. I would probably go home with a suitcase full of bed bugs, a flesh eating bacteria, and a case of gonorrhea. I think I’d be most pissed about the STD. Hard to explain how one picks up a sexually transmitted disease when one doesn’t have sex, it would make my life complicated.

  There was a knock at the door. I stood from the bed that I was positive had things living in it that I didn’t want to know about and crossed to the door. Gabriel stood on the other side. He looked a little pale.

  “Is your room as bad as mine?” He asked.

  “Probably,” I answered, stepping back so he could see the long dried blood spatter. Gabriel shook his head and turned around, motioning me to follow him. I walked back into my room, grabbed my go bags, and then followed him.

  “Is your special friend meeting you there?” He asked once we were safely tucked inside the SUV.

  “My special friend has been there since yesterday.” I answered, refusing to make eye contact.

  “I’m sorry I asked.”

  “Me too,” I said.

  Gabriel drove about twenty minutes. It was a neighborhood full of large houses with owners that had spared no expense. Sadly, it hadn’t stopped Apex from getting in, but I wasn’t sure what stopped men like Apex. Hand grenades would do the job, maybe.

  The SUV parked at the curb of a large house that had lots of landscaping. Gabriel gave me a look. I shrugged back. Somewhere, Apex was watching or that was the theory. There weren’t a lot of trees and there were no abandoned houses. I didn’t know if that was a problem for a man like Apex or not. I didn’t ask many questions, guilt by association and all that. The less I knew the better and it gave Gabriel plenty of plausible deniability. No reason to drag everyone down with us if we were caught. Except Gabriel was here with me and that was troubling. I didn’t want Gabriel in trouble if this thing went sideways. Gabriel trusted me and treated me like a person, not a sideshow freak or a monster.

  “Maybe you should go for a drive,” I stopped him.

  “In for a penny,” he answered me with a smile. I didn’t share in his smile. This was one of those moments when Malachi was worth his weight in gold. I would have gladly dragged him to Hell with me because he would have rejoined in teaching demons a few torture techniques. Gabriel had already seen enough demons for one lifetime. The word was branded on his soul and only people like me could see the scarring. One day, I would figure out exactly what happened to him that day with his wendigo and if the guy was still alive, I would make him pay for the branding.

  Gabriel rang the doorbell. His face hidden in shadows as he stood in a covered archway. My hand had moved to my gun automatically. He rang it a second time.

  Harley Pierce opened the door. He was scarred worse than I was. Road rash
had eaten away part of his face, leaving it pitted and mottled, with one eye slightly down turned at the corner. He walked with a cane and a pronounced limp. One arm was completely gone, the other was just a mass of scar tissue.

  “Whatever you’re selling, I don’t want.” He started to close to the door.

  “US Marshals Service,” Gabriel flipped his badge open. “We’d like a word or two, Mr. Pierce.”

  “Go away,” Harley slammed the door in our face. I rang the doorbell, refusing to remove my finger. The door opened a second time. “Go away.” Pierce said to us.

  “No,” I answered. “Marshal Aislinn Cain with the SCTU, this is Marshal Gabriel Henders also with the SCTU, we’d like to talk to you.”

  “I have nothing to say to either of you.”

  “I think you have a great deal to say and if you close that door again without letting us in, my associate will not ask as politely.” I pointed behind Harley Pierce.

  “Jesus Christ!” Harley Pierce jumped as he faced the grinning man behind him. Some of the confidence drained from him. “How’d you get in here?” He demanded.

  “I have my ways,” Malachi patted a chair back. “We were given a tip about you, Mr. Pierce. Now, I’m new to the whole SCTU rulebook thing, but Marshal Cain suspects you are a serial killer that has gone dormant. As such, I believe we all have a right to be here. Also, I think you have two choices in who you talk to, the SCTU or Apex since he’s the one that told us you were the Soul Collector. I think a conversation with the three of us would be more civilized.”

  Four

  When we left Harley Pierce, he was screaming that we were all crazy. None of us argued this, after all, we had used a few unconventional means to get him to start talking. Unfortunately, we were no closer to knowing about our band of organized serial killers than we were before we arrived in El Paso. The only names he could give us were either dead or working on it. He’d been recruited by a man named Enzo Brand, who had died during the LA uprising. Killed by none other than Malachi Blake. After Enzo’s death, his contact had become Mitch Holgram. Holgram had been killed two years ago while being taken into custody by the SCTU, it was before my time. After that, Christian Hunter had become his contact.