The Belial Stone (The Belial Series)

by Brady, R. D.

  Laney gestured for Jake to take a seat as she grabbed the whistling kettle and poured steaming water into each of the mugs. She handed them to the two men, before turning to Patrick. “Is your computer and printer still set up?”

  “Yes. It’s in my bedroom. Why?”

  “I need to borrow it for a minute. I’ll be right back,” she said before disappearing down the dark hallway.

  Jake watched Laney leave and turned to find her uncle staring at him. He restrained the urge to squirm.

  “So, Mr. Rogan, Laney tells me we are placing our safety in your hands.”

  “It’s Jake, and yes. Chandler HQ has state-of-the-art security. You’ll be safe there.”

  Patrick pierced him with his eyes. “Jake, that young woman means the world to me. When my sister died, I promised I’d protect her from the evils of this world. She hasn’t had it easy growing up without her parents and with me as her guardian.”

  Jake interrupted. “How exactly did that happen? A Catholic priest getting custody?”

  Patrick took a sip of tea. “Not easily. Laney’s parents were killed in a car accident. She was only eight. Her father’s stepbrother and wife originally agreed to take custody of her. I was heading up a dig in Africa at the time and I thought a normal life with a mother and a father was what was best for her.”

  He shook his head. “It wasn't. They were…” Patrick paused, seeming to search for the right word. “Unkind. Laney hadn’t written me in a while and I became concerned. I made a surprise trip home. When I arrived, she was at the hospital with a broken arm. Her uncle was responsible. There were a rash of old bruises covering her as well. I petitioned for custody that day. I told the church they either supported my petition or I would leave them. I knew I was critical to their archaeological missions, so they threw their weight behind my petition.”

  Jake felt anger build at the image in his head: a little girl, with huge green eyes, being used as punching bag.

  “We’ve been a family ever since. So you need to understand, that when I say I won’t let anything happen to her, I mean it. Do we understand each other?”

  Jake looked into the man's clear blue eyes. He read the determination and love there. “I’ll do whatever it takes to protect her,” he replied, surprised at how strong his own desire to do just that was.

  Patrick nodded. “Laney tells me you’re looking for your brother.”

  Jake nodded. “Yes. Tom went missing about two days ago. I think a file Laney received from Drew Masters might help me find him.”

  The priest’s face tightened at the mention of Drew, although he was better at hiding his emotions than his niece. Drew mattered to Patrick as well. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Patrick cleared his throat. “Drew was a good man, a good friend. We thought of him as family. Laney introduced him to me about ten years ago. She’s convinced he didn't take his own life. I must admit, he never struck me as the suicidal type, though despair can overwhelm a person. But the alternative, that someone took his life, is no less comforting.”

  Jake knew that despair. After his mother’s death, it had gripped him. Tom and Mrs. Jeffries had kept him from giving in. “I have to admit, the timing of his death is suspicious. There’s a lot swirling around Dr. Priddle, who himself has disappeared. I think we need to keep all possibilities on the table until we can absolutely rule them out.”

  Patrick nodded and then his eyes shifted to a spot behind Jake. Jake glanced over his shoulder at Laney, who was tucking some sheets of paper into the big pocket at the front of her sweatshirt as she entered the room. “Just got a text from Rocky. She and Mike are a minute away. Time to go.” She started to pull open the front door.

  Jake bounded from his seat. “Laney, wait. Let me check–”

  His words were cut off as the door swung open, knocking Laney back.

  Paul stepped into the room. “There you are, Dr. McPhearson. We never had a chance to finish our conversation. How does now work for you?”

  CHAPTER 22

  Laney stared at Paul, unable to believe her eyes. His face was completely healed and he moved without any evidence of his earlier injuries. Every sci-fi movie possibility ran through her mind: cyborg, super-soldier, alien. What was this guy?

  Paul looked around the room, zeroing in on the two men. “And this must be your uncle. Family. That’s good. In fact, I brought some family myself.”

  Laney glanced behind him and saw an attractive blond man with piercing blue eyes, a few inches taller than Paul. Her heart, which had been racing, now started to gallop at a full sprint. They’d barely been able to get away from Paul. If this guy had the same abilities, they were dead.

  “Laney, move,” Jake yelled.

  She threw herself away from the door as Jake opened fire. Disbelief coursed through her as both men leaped out of the way, their speed inhumanly fast. Paul dove towards Jake, while his companion leaped at her. She stumbled back. He reached out and snatched the front of her sweatshirt.

  Twisting away from him, she gave herself just enough distance to unleash a vicious sidekick to his midsection. He grunted. She shifted and aimed the next kick at his head. It snapped back with a teeth-clenching jolt. His grip loosened.

  Her uncle latched onto her arm and yanked her behind him. He unleashed a series of brutal punches that backed the man into the wall.

  She ran into the kitchen, whirling around when she heard her uncle yell. The man raised her uncle into the air with one hand and threw him across the room.

  He turned and smiled as he stalked towards her.

  Snatching the kettle from the stove, she pulled off the lid. He grabbed onto her shoulder, spinning her around. She flung the boiling water into his face. Screaming, he clutched at his eyes. Collapsing, his face had already begun to blister.

  Laney sprinted for her uncle, hesitating as she saw Jake locked in combat with Paul.

  Jake caught sight of her. “Get out of here!”

  Her uncle had just gained his feet when she grabbed onto his arm. “Come on. We need to move.”

  Before she could reach the door, an arm wrapped around her waist and yanked her back. She shoved her uncle forward as she flew. She crashed into Paul’s companion’s chest with a grunt. It felt like she’d hit steel.

  She glanced up at him. The sight of his face made her stomach turn: blisters covered it, some of which were already beginning to ooze. But, incredibly, some seemed to have begun healing.

  He glared down at her, his grip on her arms painful. His fingers snaked around her neck and he began to squeeze. “Good-bye, Professor.”

  She reached up and yanked his pinky back to its wrist. With satisfaction, she felt the snap as it broke. He howled in pain.

  “Laney, get down!” Rocky yelled.

  She dove for the ground as Rocky and Mike opened fire from outside the doorway. The man flew back across the kitchen, flipping over the kitchen table for protection.

  “Help Jake,” Laney screamed as she crawled towards the door.

  She glanced up just in time to see Jake kick Paul off of him. Mike's bullets chased Paul into the hallway. She couldn't tell if he’d been hit. She prayed he had, while part of her wondered if it would make any difference.

  Laney and Jake reached the doorway at the same time. Mike shifted out of the way to let them pass, while Rocky kept her weapon trained on the room.

  Jake grabbed Laney and Patrick by the arm. “Time to go.”

  “We’re right behind you,” Rocky said.

  They all sprinted down the steps and Laney noticed parishioners scamper back into the church, out of range. Some already had their cells to their ears. Good.

  Jake slid his keys into Laney's pocket.

  She glanced at him in alarm. “What are you doing?”

  “You get the chance, you run.”

  Laney, Jake and Patrick ran down the porch steps and towards the parking lot. Mike and Rocky brought up the rear.

  “No!”

  Laney whirled
around at Rocky's scream. Mike was down, the companion sitting on his chest, waling away at his face. Before Rocky could get off a shot, Paul tackled her. Her head thudded sickeningly at the impact. Paul reached down and yanked her gun from her hand, emptying three bullets into Rocky’s chest before tossing it aside.

  Patrick shook himself loose from Jake. He ran for Mike, launching himself at the man atop him.

  The man dodged at the last moment. “Missed me,” he taunted.

  “Wasn't going for you,” Patrick replied. He raised Mike’s gun, which had been thrown in the fight. He pulled the trigger four times, all four bullets finding their mark in the man’s chest. The man staggered back into the building, disappearing from sight.

  Jake and Laney raced for Rocky. Jake faked a hook and then charged shoulder first into Paul, wrestling him to the ground.

  Laney dropped to the ground next to Rocky. “No, no, no.”

  Rocky’s eyes were closed, her breathing shallow. She had blood pouring from a wound in her arm, and one bullet seemed to have snaked in just under her vest, by her waist. “You wore your vest. Thank God.”

  She pulled Rocky's uninjured arm over her shoulder and dragged her towards the parking lot.

  She glanced back in time to see Paul's friend reappear and leap into the fray. Mike took aim, but missed and the man was on him. He punched him in the face. Laney was jarred by how far his head snapped back. Mike's gun fell and the man reached down for it. He fired - two in the chest. Mike’s body shuddered.

  Laney’s heart felt like it stopped. From the impact, she could tell Mike wasn’t wearing his vest.

  Jake flipped Paul over his shoulder, sending him flying, and then with a running jump, tackled his companion to the ground. Patrick crawled up next to Mike. He pulled off his jacket and used it to try and stop the bleeding.

  She locked eyes with Paul as she reached Jake’s car. Her heart hammered at the hate she saw there. She dropped Rocky to the ground and struggled to open the truck door.

  “Going somewhere?”

  Paul appeared as if out of thin air. He shoved her away from the truck. She fell over Rocky, who was still sprawled on the ground. She scrambled to her feet. Paul reached out and pulled her close.

  “You know, you really have been a nuisance. You were supposed to be a simple kill. A little professor. A female, no less. And now all this.” He pointed to his wounds. “I was going to make this easy on you. But now, I think you need to feel a little pain.”

  His hand whipped out and backhanded her across the cheek. The blow dropped her to the ground. Picking her up, he slammed his fist into her stomach. Doubled over, pain like she’d never felt raced through her. His next kick flipped her onto her back.

  Straddling her chest, his hands wrapped around her neck. “Let’s see how many times you can die, shall we?”

  Laney punched at him, but she might as well have been hitting him with cotton balls. He didn't even flinch.

  Spots began to dance across her vision. A movement underneath the car next to her pulled her attention. Her eyes flicked over and met Rocky’s. Somehow, she had crawled under the car and was now lying right next to her. Rocky pushed a gun towards Laney’s outstretched hand, a sheen of sweat on her face, her movements slow.

  Laney reached for it, trying to figure out where Rocky had gotten it. Her finger tips stretched almost to the breaking point. She felt like weeping when they finally wrapped around the hilt of the small .22. She recognized it. Rocky’s backup.

  Her finger firmly planted on the trigger, she pulled the gun between her and Paul. She pulled the trigger. Paul fell back. Blood dripped from the wound in the left side of his chest, but he remained straddling her chest.

  Laney gulped in air, almost lightheaded from the infusion of oxygen. “Get. Off. Me.”

  He sneered at the gun in her hand. “Haven’t you learned yet? That won't stop me.”

  “Might not kill you, but it’ll hurt you. I just need hit the right spot.” Latching on onto his shirt, she pulled herself forward, the gun flush to his chest, right over his heart. She pulled the trigger. Paul fell back, but Laney held on. The gun never wavered from its position. She kept firing until the clip was empty.

  A look of disbelief crossed Paul's face as the light in his eyes begin to dim.

  Laney squirmed, trying to pull herself out from underneath. But her legs remained pinned. “Get off, get off, get off,” she yelled.

  A yelp escaped her lips as he reached up and grabbed her, his lips pressed to her ear. She shuddered at the feel of his breath on her skin.

  His voice was weak, but she could hear his last words clearly.

  “You won’t stop us. We’ve waited too long. Humanity’s time is up.”

  CHAPTER 23

  An ear-piercing scream erupted from Paul’s companion as Paul took his last, rasping breath. The sound shook Laney to her core.

  Trembling, she tugged open the door of Jake’s car. She reached down and slid Rocky from underneath the car. Grabbing her under the arms, she pulled her up.

  “Leave me behind,” Rocky mumbled.

  “Not a chance.” She shoved Rocky into the car, head first. Pushing her legs in after her, she gave thanks for her friend’s small size.

  As she raced around to the driver’s side, she glanced at her uncle, still keeping pressure on Mike’s wounds. She hesitated. She couldn’t leave him behind

  “Go,” he yelled. “Now.”

  Jumping into the driver’s seat and starting the engine, she looked over at where Jake was waling away at Paul's companion, using the butt of the gun as his weapon. With a ferocious growl, the man jabbed Jake in the face, followed by a brutal hit to the chest. Jake dropped.

  The man whirled in her direction and began to run. She slammed the car into gear and crushed down on the accelerator. She sped towards the end of the parking lot, tires squealing.

  In the rearview mirror, he raced after her. She pulled a hard left as she reached the road, knowing her car would be hidden by the wall of the school. A hundred yards down, she made a U-turn. Bouncing over the curb and onto the sidewalk, she sped back towards the parking lot.

  She couldn’t have timed it better. The man sprinted into view just as she reappeared from behind the wall. The car smashed into him, flinging him into the air.

  Slamming on the brakes, she threw the car into reverse. She punched down on the accelerator, aiming for him again. Struggling to his feet, he pulled himself out of the way in the nick of time.

  She braked. Her eyes narrowed as they met his. “Fuck you,” she mouthed.

  Jake sprinted from the parking lot, firing at the man non-stop.

  With one last glare at Laney, the man stumbled down the street, clutching his arm to his side. With a burst of speed, he was gone.

  Laney put the car in park and let out a trembling breath. He left. He just left.

  Jake wrenched open the door. “Laney?”

  She looked at him, fear and terror colliding inside her head. “I’m okay. Mike?”

  Jake pulled out his cell phone. He glanced at Rocky and then back at her, shaking his head. “Your uncle’s keeping pressure on the wounds.”

  She closed her eyes. Oh God, no.

  Jake walked away as the dispatcher came on the line, telling them they had an officer down. Sirens sounded in the distance.

  She put the car into drive and turned back into the parking lot, pulling to a stop only ten feet from her uncle. He was working on Mike, his face a mask of determination. The pool of blood around Mike shimmered in the parking lots lights.

  Tears gathered in her eyes. Could anyone survive after losing that much blood?

  Next to her, Rocky’s eyes were closed, her right side soaked in blood. Laney pressed her hand to her neck to feel for a pulse.

  “Still here.” Rocky’s voice was faint and her eyes remained shut. “You need to go. That was the same guy from your house, wasn’t it?”

  Laney nodded, but then realized Rocky couldn’t see the
motion. “Yeah. It was him.”

  “And his friend?”

  “Don’t know. Never seen him before.”

  A cop car roared into the parking lot. Two officers leapt out, guns drawn.

  Jake walked toward them, hands raised, explaining the situation. The two men holstered their weapons. One ran to Mike, while the other pulled a first aid kit out of the trunk.

  Patrick stepped away as one of the officers took his place. His arms were covered in blood up to the elbows.

  An ambulance swung into the parking lot. Jake intercepted it, pointing to Mike, then Rocky.

  Laney opened her door. “The paramedics will be right here. I'll be back.”

  She stepped out into the night, pulling her sweatshirt tight around her. It felt colder than it had only a few minutes ago. Slowly, she walked towards Paul's body. Part of her expected him to pop back up like he had every other time. Why was he staying down this time?

  With shaking fingers, she reached down to check for a pulse. None. And his face had gone soft in death. He looked kind, harmless. Who was he? Why was he after her?

  Drew’s paper, nestled in the big pocket of her sweatshirt, rustled as she stood. Was this all because of a simple paper Drew had written? She glanced around. Was that really the reason for all this violence?

  A chill ran through her as she surveyed the damage. Mike and Rocky shot. Paul dead. And that didn’t include the four officers attacked today, and Drew. And maybe Jake’s brother and God knew how many other people.

  She glanced over at her uncle, standing next to Rocky, who’d been laid out on a stretcher. He was holding her hand, offering her comfort. Somehow, she had brought this horror to those she loved.

  She watched Jake, his face set in stone. Jake had enough going on with trying to find Tom. None of this craziness could be related to that. It would be better for him if he just left them behind.

  She shook her head. But she couldn’t let him do that. She had to keep her uncle safe. And Jake and the Chandler Group were her only shot at accomplishing that.

  CHAPTER 24