by James Abel
Jordan turned his head toward Blue and said, “Blue, when we make a move, you stay put. Stay flat on the ground until you see an opening and then you get up run as fast as you can into the dark. No matter what you hear, just keep running. No arguments. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
Jordan rose to one knee as he called out, “Hey! What the hell are you guys doing over there, planning the senior prom? My shoulder is killing me, so can we please just get this thing over with.”
Lance glared at him and said, “Really, your shoulder hurts?” Then he nodded at Ricky and said, “Why don’t you show Mr. Nichols what real pain feels like.”
Ricky smiled and walked toward Jordan, pulling back his Honey Badger to slam the stock into Jordan’s shoulder.
Jordan was about to make his move when BANG—a rifle shot rang out from somewhere beyond the perimeter. Jordan was the first to realize what had happened. He had been looking directly into Ricky’s eyes when they bugged out, his face contorting from the impact of a high-powered round hitting him square in the forehead. The force threw his body backward onto the pavement, with blood quickly starting to pool around the exit wound in the back of his skull.
Bennings was quick to react. He sprung to his feet and lunged at the woman, who was standing less than five feet away. Bennings hit her chest to chest, knocking both of them to the ground as the Honey Badger fell from her hands. Bennings quickly maneuvered behind her, putting a lethal chokehold around her neck while using his legs to control her like a wrestler throwing in a crab ride. The guard with the .38 special turned to fire at Bennings but hesitated, waiting for a clean shot.
BANG! It cost him his life.
He fell to the ground with a bullet in the back of his head, fired from the same rifle that had taken out Ricky seconds earlier.
As that shot was being fired, Jordan charged Lance.
This is really gonna hurt. Jordan landed on top of him as they both crashed to the pavement. With Jordan crying out in pain, Lance quickly rolled out from under and sunk the ball of his hand deep into Jordan’s bad shoulder.
As Jordan started to lose consciousness, Lance smiled and asked, “Hurts, doesn’t it?” Then he reached behind his back and pulled a 9 mm pistol from his belt. He jumped up, straddled Jordan with his feet, and lined up a kill shot when BANG—a close range pistol shot rang out.
The gun dropped from Lance’s hand, and he staggered backward. He turned to his right to see Blue standing by the Tahoe pointing Jordan’s gun at him. Then he looked down to see blood filling the front of his pants in the crotch area as Blue said, “That one was for Peanut, you son of a bitch.”
Then BANG! She shot him again, this time in the chest. As he fell to the ground dead, she said, “That one was for me.”
Jordan, semi-conscious, looked up to see Blue leaning down and asking, “Are you alright?”
Jordan offered up a weak smile and said, “Not again?”
Jordan staggered to his feet and turned his attention toward Bennings, just in time to see him release his chokehold. As the woman slumped to the pavement, Jordan knew she was dead. He knew first-hand about Bennings’s martial arts skills.
The three of them looked at each other for a few seconds, the smallest smiles of relief showing on their faces, and then Jordan asked, “What? Who?”
Bennings said, “I don’t know. But right now, we need to get inside the building, or it won’t matter.”
Jordan said, “Roger that.” And they quickly moved toward the rear entrance.
Bennings stopped and said, “Wait a minute, forgot something.”
He ran over to Lance’s body and pulled out his wallet. A second later, he pulled a key card out of the wallet and said, “This oughta open some doors.”
CHAPTER 33
As Bennings was using Lance’s security card to open the door by the loading dock, the three of them heard sirens approaching. They exchanged glances and then quickly moved inside. They sprinted down the hall, past the kitchen and took a right turn to another hallway. Bennings pointed to the scanner on the wall and said, “There it is!”
The three of them pulled up. Jordan looked at Bennings and asked, “Now what? Schulman used that thing to scan his eyeball.”
Bennings said, “Let’s hope this card works. Otherwise, I’ll have to go back outside and pop Lance’s eyeball out of his skull.”
Bennings held the key card up and waved it in front of the scanner. A second later, the wall panel opened as Bennings smiled and Blue said, “Thank God.”
They jumped in the elevator and when they reached the second floor, Bennings and Jordan sprinted to the solid metal door as Blue followed behind. Bennings waved Lance’s card, and the door lock released. With Blue waiting by the door, Bennings and Jordan rushed down the corridor as Jordan yelled “Molly! Mom! Can you hear me?
Nervous seconds of silence followed until, halfway down the hallway, they heard a muffled, “Dad! We’re in here!”
Jordan charged ahead of Bennings, yelling, “Keep talking. Where are you?” As he neared the center of the corridor, he heard, “We’re in here. In here!”
He stopped in front of one of the service doors, the same kind they pried open on their past visit, and Bennings waved Lance’s key card across the electric eye. The door’s lock released. When Jordan raised the door, he found Molly waiting for him on the other side. Barbara, his mother, was lying on a nearby couch, her head wrapped in a bloody bandage. Jordan reached his arm down through the opening, taking Molly’s hand as she said, “Dad, you’ve got to get us out. Nana’s not doing so well. They cracked her head with a rifle butt when she wouldn’t go in the cell.”
Jordan said, “Okay. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes. Can you remember anything about how they got you in there?”
“Yes. Just go to the end of the hall you’re in and turn right. You go down some steps and then there’s another door on your right that gets you to the front of these cells. Dad, there’s a whole bunch of other people in here. Most of them are women!”
“I know. I’ll be there real soon. Now go help your Nana.”
Jordan turned to Bennings and said, “I need to get to Molly right away.”
Bennings nodded and said, “Take the key card. I need to stall the cops until Keaster gets here.”
Jordan said, “Keaster?”
“That was one of my stops today. Like Blue said, ‘We had to bring this show to a theater near you.’”
“Okay. Then keep her with you. She can probably help with the cops. See you in a couple of minutes.”
Jordan took the key card, and they split up. No sooner had Bennings retraced his steps and got to Blue when the two of them heard a voice on a megaphone from outside the building, back by the loading dock.
“Jordan Nichols, William Bennings. We know you are in there, and the building is surrounded. Make it easy for all of us and come out with your hands in the air. If you don’t cooperate, we will have no choice but to take you by force.”
Bennings pulled out his burner phone and punched in a number. On the other end he heard Keaster’s voice say, “Is this Bennings?”
“Who else? You here yet?”
“Yeah, I’m here. But I’m looking at four dead people, and that was never part of the deal.”
“Listen, those dead people are the bad guys. Tell the police that if they let you and your camera crew in here for 10 minutes, we will surrender and come out with our hands up. If they don’t, we’re gonna hole up in here and start killing off hostages. You are the only one we want to communicate with.”
A minute later, Bennings’s cell phone rang. It was Keaster who said, “The police have the logbook from the guard house outside, and they say there’s no one in there with you.”
Next a different voice said, “That’s right, Mr. Bennings. This is Officer Daughtry of the Georgia state police. We don’t believe that anyone else is in there. You’ve got exactly two minutes to walk out here with your hands up, or we’re comi
ng in with our guns up.”
Blue, listening in on the conversation, ripped the phone from Bennings and said, “Officer Daughtry, this is Jessie Warring. Did you forget about me? If you don’t do as Bennings says, they say they’re gonna kill me. Do you want to have to explain that to my mother?” Blue hung up as Bennings smiled in appreciation.
A minute later, Officer Daughtry, this time back on the bullhorn said, “Okay. We have Keaster and his camera crew waiting by the back entrance. We’ll back off and give you five minutes, but that’s all. Then we’re coming in.”
Bennings looked at Blue and said, “Come on, let’s move. You’re gonna have to hold the elevator open on the first floor for me while I go for Keaster.”
Blue said, “Okay. But first, I need to make a call.”
“To who?”
“A close friend.”
Bennings nodded and took off for the loading dock door. By the time he got there, Jordan had already worked his way to the door that Molly had said would give him access to the front side of the cellblock. He used Lance’s key card, waived it over the electronic eye, and heard the click. When he walked through the door, he wasn’t prepared for what he saw.
CHAPTER 34
Heather Warring’s prime time interview with Bob Asher, GNN’s anchor from the Washington desk, was about to wrap up when they went to commercial break. Asher smiled at Warring and said, “Nice job. You have my vote.”
Warring returned the smile and said, “Why thank you so much. I look forward to working with you once I get settled in up there.”
Behind the two cameras being used, Travis stood off to the side. He was on a cell phone and said, “Will do. You just be careful.” Then, he hung up. He walked up toward one of the cameramen and started motioning wildly toward Heather Warring.
She saw him, then turned to Asher and said, “Excuse me, I’ll be right back,” and stood up, disconnected her microphone from the battery pack, and set it down on the chair.
Asher said, “Governor, you have 45 seconds.”
Warring nodded as she walked over to Travis and said, “What is it Travis? Is there a call for me?”
“No. But Mr. Lance just called me. He said that it was urgent. I’m supposed to tell you that it all went as planned and that you’d understand.”
Warring didn’t show any emotion until she turned away and walked slowly back toward Asher. Then her lip started to quiver. By the time she sat down and reconnected her microphone, a tear had appeared in her eye.
Behind the camera, a voice said “four, three, two, one, and…”
When the camera turned on, Asher found himself looking at Governor Warring as she started to sob. He had no choice but to ask, “What is it, Governor? What’s wrong?”
Heather Warring looked directly into the camera and said, “I’ve just been told that they’ve found my Jessie, and that…that she’s…that she’s been murdered by the kidnappers.”
Asher said, “Oh my God, I am so sorry. Please,” and turning toward the camera he continued, “Take the camera off the governor and pull in on me. America, this is tragic. We need to go back to the studio now so Governor Warring can deal with this in privacy. Washington, take over for now. As for the rest of us, let us all pray for Governor Warring.”
As the Washington news desk took over for all of GNN’s affiliates, there was a frantic discussion going on at Atlanta’s news desk. The man in charge that night was Fred Hutchins, and he was on the phone with Brent Keaster.
Keaster yelled at him, “Take me live. Now! I am at Warring Pharmaceuticals. I’m right in the middle of the biggest news story of our lifetime.”
Hutchins said, “I can’t do that. Jessie Warring has just been found murdered, and I’ve got orders to stay plugged into the Washington office. They’re coordinating all coverage.”
Keaster said, “Well, I’m standing right beside Jessie Warring, and she sure as hell doesn’t look dead to me.”
Phones were ringing off the hook around Hutchins. Having just been promoted to assistant news director, he was in over his head. Panicked, he said, “I don’t know. I’ve got orders from…”
Keaster interrupted, saying, “Just cut to me, you idiot. Last time I looked, I was still the news anchor in Atlanta. If I’m wrong, I’ll take all the heat.”
Hutchins, his eyes on a monitor said, “Okay, Washington just went to commercial break. I can give you at least the next two minutes.”
For viewers in the Atlanta market, their televisions suddenly flipped from a commercial out of the Washington desk to a live news feed from Atlanta where Brent Keaster was standing next to Jessie Warring.
“This is Brent Keaster, and I’m standing here live with Jessie Warring, Heather Warring’s daughter. Jessie, your mother just told the world that you’d been murdered. What do you have to say to that?”
“That my mother is a complete fraud. She tried to have me murdered and frame Jordan Nichols and William Bennings. These men didn’t kidnap me. They rescued me from her! When you see what’s going on here inside of Warring Pharmaceuticals, you’ll understand why. Now, please follow me into the secret lab that she’s been operating.”
Blue walked ahead of the camera crew as viewers followed a bouncing picture being transmitted by a cameraman with a shoulder-mounted camera as he tried to keep up. Halfway down the hall, Blue slowed her pace, allowing Keaster to catch up with his microphone. Then she turned and said, “There really is a Deep State, and they just tried to kill all of us up on top of a mountain in North Carolina. Check news accounts for the helicopter that crashed up there. Mr. Bennings, a former FBI agent, shot it down because they were using it to launch killer drones at us.”
Blue turned the corner at the end of the corridor, again with the camera crew and Kester in tow, and paused by the doorway leading to the cells. She looked into the camera and said, “Now, you’re about to see the cells where my mother keeps prisoners, most of them kidnapped from WWA foster homes, for human experiments.” She opened the door and paused in front of the first cell, allowing the cameraman to scan the area. It didn’t have any bars. It was made of a thick, clear acrylic material. Inside was what appeared to be an 85-year-old woman, huddled in a corner with a blanket pulled around her. Blue motioned to the cameraman and said, “Look! Point the camera in there.” Then she pointed to a chart that was on the door and said, “Then focus in on the chart. The Deep State and my mother are doing stem cell research on human beings… not to find cures for failing organs, but to try to reverse the aging process! See for yourself!”
On the chart was the following information:
Patient’s Name:
Chrissy Malcolm
Age at beginning of trial:
15 years, three months
Case start Date:
03/25/22
Case Objective:
Advance to 80 years old and stabilize
Case Reference #
143-67A
Keaster asked Blue, “Are you telling me that secret human trials are going on here? Something to do with the aging process?”
Jessie said, “Pretty sure that’s what I just said! Now, follow me to this next cell.”
The television audience watched as the cameraman followed her down the hall to a cell holding what appeared to be a teenager. Her chart read:
Patient’s Name:
Stacy Whitlock
Age at beginning of trial:
45 years, seven months
Case start Date:
06/05/22
Case Objective:
Revert to 14 years old and then monitor for resumption of aging
Case Reference #
162-62B
Jessie said, “See… This is what they’ve been working on. They’ve cracked the code to immortality, right here in my mother’s labs. And when I found out, they decided to kill me.”
Keaster shook his head and said, “No. This simply can’t be.”
Bennings and Jordan walked out of the cell three space
s down, Jordan still holding his 9mm Glock. When Keaster saw the gun, he quickly backed away, moving out of camera view. Jordan, seeing the reaction said, “Sorry, no worries,” and laid the gun on the ground. When Keaster moved forward with the microphone, Jordan took it out of his hand and, looking into the camera said, “Come here. I want you to meet someone by the name of Stacy. I’d like her to tell you her story.” He waved the key card in front of the cell’s sensor, heard the release and walked in as Keaster, his cameraman, and Bennings followed behind. Jordan, still holding the microphone, sat down next to the girl and said, “Hi, Stacy, how are you doing?”
Showing no emotion, she said, “Like I just told you, I’ll be doing a lot better when you let me out of here.”
Jordan said, “I know. But first, why don’t you look into that camera and tell the people what you just told me a few minutes ago.”
Stacy nodded and said, “Sure. I’m 45 years old and a year ago, I was homeless…that is until I was kidnapped off the streets of Atlanta and thrown in here. They started injecting me with all sorts of things and in all sorts of different places. So now look at me. They tell me I’m about 15 years old again. I don’t mind that part, but I sure don’t want to stay in here the rest of my life.”
Jordan, turning to Keaster said, “A few more cells down the hall, you’ll find my daughter and my mother. Warring’s head of security, one of the dead men lying outside of this building, kidnapped them and brought them here to force Bennings and I to surrender Jessie. The plan was to murder all of us, calling it a kidnapping gone bad. Oh, and back in the labs, near the elevator, you’ll find the machine they’ve been using to dispose of all the dead bodies they’ve been racking up. Please believe me. The Deep State is real, and its real name is the Guild. Half of the politicians in Washington D.C., along with all the wealthiest people in the world, are part of it. If we the people don’t revolt soon, we will no longer be free. In fact, most of us will probably be dead. Their long-term plans do not include us. The earth cannot sustain a population that is immortal, and that is precisely why they have tried to ruin our economy, turn us against each other, and to expose us to diseases for which they have developed their own private immunizations. If we don’t fight back soon, it will be too late..”
