Chapter 37
Gabriel obeyed each speed limitation imposed and was mindful to stop at every yellow light to not draw unwanted attention to the fact that he was driving a dead man’s car.
He drove with vigilance and caution until he reached the private gravel-filled road that doubled as his driveway.
He did not bother entering the house. Instead, he strode directly to the unremarkable patch of sod that covered the portal to Dr. Franklin Terzini’s underground research laboratory.
Using the keys that remained in his pocket from days earlier, Gabriel disengaged the locking mechanism. With a soft whoosh, the door opened.
He moved down the concrete staircase, stepping down slowly on each tread. The corridor was already illuminated indicating that Terzini worked, waiting for confirmation from Eugene that Melissa and Gabriel were dead.
To the right resided an alcove with a fold-down cot, a chest of drawers and a nightstand. The sparsely furnished niche was Terzini’s living quarters when he slept. Atop the chest of drawers sat an instrument resembling a thin, black notebook. The apparatus was not a notebook, however. It was Dr. Franklin Terzini’s personal computer, a device that contained hours of filmed research and development and journals of the results of hours of experimentation.
Gabriel took Dr. Terzini’s computer before continuing, a single purpose propelling him.
Stalking down the center of the formidable facility, Gabriel spotted a small figure perched on a steel swivel-top stool. He was hunched over a stainless-steel table looking into an electron microscope.
Dr. Franklin Terzini peered through the dual lenses, unaware of his visitor.
Gabriel approached his maker. He reached his hands out behind the collar of Terzini’s crisp, white dress shirt. In one swift motion, his hands would clutch his maker’s neck, squeeze and collapse his windpipe. Terzini’s death would guarantee Melissa’s safety.
Gabriel wrestled with the idea of murdering his creator. Aggression against Terzini was a breach in protocol. Killing him would be an epic violation. Gabriel doubted he could do it.
His hands began to tremble. His breathing became shallow. Beads of sweat dappled his forehead. His anxiety-riddled body would not comply with what his mind instructed it, urged it to do.
He spun Terzini in his chair to face him. Shock marked the geneticist’s features.
“Surprised to see me?” Gabriel asked through clenched teeth.
“Gabriel! I don’t know what to say,” Terzini began in a shrill voice.
“Then don’t bother saying anything,” Gabriel interrupted, “I will do all the talking.”
“Eugene is dead,” Gabriel continued evenly. “I killed him. But not before he murdered three teenage boys. Their bodies and my SUV are in the woods behind the high school where the killings took place.”
Gabriel paused, gauging his maker’s response. Terzini’s face was blank, unreadable.
“Eugene went to Melissa’s house, tried to kill her father. I stopped him. His body is in her foyer. An ambulance is heading there now. A police cruiser will not be far behind. You know what all of this means, don’t you?”
Terzini bobbed is head in affirmation.
“Investigations, autopsies, everything will eventually point to us. We will have to leave.”
Terzini opened his mouth to speak. Gabriel raised a hand, warned him against doing so.
“You will not destroy me. And you will not harm Melissa,” Gabriel commanded. “Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes,” Terzini muttered feebly.
“If you so much as imply that she will be contacted by you or any of your creations, I will go straight to the FBI and tell them everything. They will lock you up and destroy all that you’ve achieved. You will be powerless to stop them. You will sit idly by and rot in prison while untrained strangers rub the Earth clean of your existence.”
Then, Gabriel leaned in closely and whispered, “I have your laptop. It has hours of footage of everything you’ve been doing down here. That will be my insurance policy.”
Dr. Franklin Terzini assumed a more sickly pallor than usual. He swallowed hard, but did not speak.
Gabriel offered his final condition.
“You will leave, tonight. And never return to this continent. I will monitor you from wherever I go. If I get the slightest inkling that you are planning anything that involves Melissa, you will suffer.”
His maker nodded and indicated he understood Gabriel’s demands.
Gabriel turned and walked, with Terzini’s personal laptop computer tucked under his arm, the length of the clandestine facility to the concrete staircase that rose to the grass above. He fastened and secured the steel door before replacing the patch of grass on top of it.
After crossing the property, he entered the Gothic Victorian for the last time to pack a few items for his journey and to retrieve a large sum of money.
He would wait until sundown to handle the last phase of securing Melissa’s safety.
Dark Creations Boxed Set (Books 1-3) Page 55
