They slipped through the opening between buildings and entered a large courtyard which contained walkways on either side of the buildings. A fenced in pool sat in the middle of the manicured lawn.
The buildings of the condominium complex formed a large ‘U’ with the open end pressed up against the beach. Jake could hear the surf softly murmuring on the other side of the dunes. Nothing else moved or made a sound.
They counted the back screened porches until they came to the third one and Mike stepped back from the building assessing the situation.
Each unit had a porch, with walls on three sides, and a roof. The openings had waist-high aluminum railings and were covered from floor to ceiling with screen mesh. It would be possible to scale the porches from the outside as long as holes were cut or punched into the screen mesh, using the railings as footholds.
“This will work,” Mike whispered. “He won’t be expecting us from the backside. Let’s get the guns.”
Jake nodded and looked around in the gloom before he followed Mike back to the car. Only a few lights were on in windows throughout the complex.
The light globes spaced around the courtyard were painted black on the beach side to prevent the sea turtles from mistaking the glow for the moon. They provided only minimal lighting for the area. Hopefully it would be dim enough to keep their bodies from being backlit as they tried to enter from the porch. He turned and followed Mike back to the car.
Jake took the shotgun from Mike and looked it over, going through the instructions in his head which Mike had given him during the drive. He chambered a round, working the action, the noise sounding like a wrecking crew in the quiet of the night. Mike glared at him.
“Sorry,” he whispered, as he loaded the fifth shell.
The gun was a Benelli M4 Tactical Autoloader and would fire rounds as fast as Jake could pull the trigger.
“Just point the gun in the general direction and pull the trigger. It kicks some so be ready,” Mike had said. “Make sure Maddy is no where around.”
Jake would be sure.
As he held the gun in his hands, he could see it shaking slightly in the dim light of the parking lot. He felt like he was going to throw up.
“If you’re going to throw up, do it now,” Mike said as if on cue.
“I’ll be all right.”
Mike nodded once. “Let’s go.”
Jake checked to make sure the Glock was snug in the small of his back, tucked into the waistband, and then turned and followed Mike to the courtyard.
Dawn was still about an hour away and the night remained as still and quiet as when they first arrived. All the vacationers were sound asleep, tired from a long day of fishing or golf. Most would be sleeping in, but Jake figured if they were successful he, Mike, and Maddy would be long gone before any would be waking up.
They stood at the bottom of the third unit and Mike took a large knife from a sheath on his leg and cut holes in the screen mesh for his hands and feet. He slung the M16 over his back and started climbing. The aluminum railing creaked a little with his weight, but settled down after a few seconds.
He reached up to the floor of the balcony on the second story and pulled himself up. The knife was in his mouth now, and he grabbed it and cut two more holes in the second floor’s screen so he could get a decent grip on the railing.
When he was all the way up onto the second floor he waved Jake up.
Jake slung the shotgun over his back and started to climb. The going was not as easy as he thought and as he looked up to see Mike pulling himself up to the third floor balcony, his right hand slipped off the rail of the second story and he found himself hanging by one hand, his legs and free arm pin-wheeling trying to regain his balance and grip. The shotgun banged against the aluminum and then Jake got his other hand on the rail and braced himself.
The sound had been loud and both he and Mike froze in position and waited. After what seemed like an eternity, Mike signaled him up and he resumed his climb as he watched Mike disappear into the third floor balcony.
A hand reached out as Jake reached up for the third floor landing and Mike helped him the rest of the way up. He had to step over the waist high railing, through a hole Mike had cut into the screen, and then squeeze himself onto the porch between a table and chairs.
The condo remained dark with the shutters closed.
They had talked about how to enter the unit once they were on the balcony.
Jake nodded to Mike in the dark and watched him approach the sliding glass door on the right while he held the shotgun at the ready. Mike applied some pressure to the door and determined it was unlocked just as he suspected it would be. He turned to Jake and twirled his finger over his head. The ready signal to enter.
Jake crouched low and waited for Mike to open the door. No lights or movement from inside the condo. Jake hoped this was the right unit and at the same time wished it wasn’t. He was terrified.
The door slid open silently and Mike rolled the sliding plantation shutters to the side and entered the dark condo. Jake could see nothing beyond the door. It was as if Mike had stepped into a black void and disappeared.
He waited.
One minute—two minutes—he didn’t know what to do.
Mike was supposed to signal him in, but nothing happened. He listened with his whole body and could hear and see nothing. He shifted restlessly, torn. He would wait one more minute and then enter. Come on, Mike—come on!
The minute passed, so he stood slowly and moved to the door.
He peered in and could barely make out vague shapes of furniture but nothing more. He slipped in and panned his gun around the darkness and waited for his eyes to adjust. The room had some depth to it he could feel, but the unit was almost pitch black.
The lights came on and Jake was blinded.
“Drop the weapon!”
Jake raised his hand to shield his eyes.
“Now!”
“Do it,” Mike said to his left.
Jake slowly lowered the shotgun to the floor and took in the room. Mike was to his left with his hands raised and Omar stood just inside the small kitchen at the front of the unit, with Maddy held in front of him. A pistol was pointed at Jake’s head. Maddy was crying.
“You! Move next to the old man!”
Jake moved to his left and stood next to Mike.
He glanced over at him, but Mike was totally focused on Omar. He looked like a rubber band about to break. Jake could see Omar focused on this as he pointed the pistol at the two of them. Now he only had to cover one spot.
“Who are you?” Omar asked Mike.
Mike remained silent.
“Who are you?”
Silence from Mike.
“All right, I do not know you. But you,” Omar said, looking at Jake, “I know.”
Maddy looked horrible. She had dark circles under her eyes and her hair was disheveled as if she had just woken up. She was crying quietly and her eyes darted back and forth between Jake and her father.
“It’s all right, Maddy,” Jake said, with surprising strength in his voice. “Peter will be here soon.”
“You are not a very good liar,” Omar said. “Why are you here?”
“For her,” Jake said, staring hard into the man’s eyes.
Omar remained silent for a moment.
“Who is she to you?”
“Everything.”
Jake could see Omar almost flinch. Something flashed briefly behind his eyes, and then it was gone.
“How did you find me?”
Jake hesitated, started to open his mouth, and then closed it when Mike shook his head.
Omar turned the gun on Maddy and pointed it at her head. She stiffened.
“How did you find me?” Omar asked again.
“There’s a micro chip implanted in your leg,” Jake said. “When they fixed your knee, they put it there. You can be tracked via satellite to within a few feet.”
Omar nodded. “You are the scientist
who put me in that horrible machine. I should kill you where you stand for such torture. Are you part of The Organization?”
“No.”
“Then why did you do that to me and why are you here?”
“For her,” Jake repeated.
“Why did you try and kill me and fill my head with those horrible hallucinations?”
“I didn’t.”
“Liar! You were operating the equipment! Why!”
“I did not want to do what they did to you. I protested, but they are like you. They, too, held a gun to her head.”
This seemed to confuse Omar momentarily. He looked at the gun pointed at Maddy’s head, and then turned it toward Jake and Mike again.
“What did that machine do to me?”
“The machine did nothing to you. It only records what’s in your mind. They induced your death to give you a Near Death Experience.”
“Why?”
“Because when you die, your life will flash before you.”
“So…”
“The machine can record that and play it back. Your whole life—everything. They wanted what was in your head.”
He nodded, understanding, and then he looked confused again.
“But why did you give me drugs to hallucinate? I saw horrible things.”
Jake looked down and then back up again and locked eyes with Omar.
“You were not given any drugs to cause hallucinations. What you saw was what death will be to you.”
Omar looked like he had been slapped. The gun wavered ever so slightly, and Mike started to move on Jake’s left. Omar recovered and turned the gun on Mike, who stopped where he was.
“You are lying to me again,” Omar said. “If she is so important to you, why do you lie?
“He’s not lying,” Maddy said, quietly. “You know this to be true.”
“Silence woman!”
Maddy flinched and fresh tears began to fall.
“I am not lying,” Jake said.
“I do not believe you!” Omar yelled, his eyes blazing. “You will not put me in that machine again! Ever!”
And Omar fired at Jake, hitting him in the chest.
Jake went down, the pressure of ten jackhammers slamming into his body.
74
January 20, 2010 4:34 a.m.
Sanibel, Florida
As Jake fell, he heard Maddy scream and watched in slow motion as she ducked, reflexively and dived for cover.
Then Mike was rolling to his gun as Omar fired point blank at him. Jake heard the shots as if through cotton.
He reached behind him and pulled the Glock from his waistband. It was like pulling his arm through thick syrup. He felt the gun would never come up.
Just as his gun swung up, he saw Omar’s eyes shift to him and his pistol start to track back toward him. Shots fired again, and it was a second before Jake realized it was his own gun that had discharged. Omar spun and went down.
Then all hell broke loose.
Mike was up and grabbing the shotgun. He stepped over to Omar and pointed the barrel at his head, but Omar was practically dead already. Mike stepped on his wrist to keep him from using the pistol. Omar gasped as blood jetted from his neck. Jake’s bullet had gone through his windpipe and carotid artery.
Suddenly the ground beneath them shook and a familiar tearing sound permeated the air. Jake was having a hard time remaining focused, but he could feel the wind begin to stir in the small condo.
“Oh no,” Maddy said and she rushed to Jake. “Why is this happening?”
“Mike!” Jake tried to shout. “Get away from him! Now!” Jake started coughing uncontrollably and blood flew from between his lips.
A huge rip formed in the air, reaching from the floor to the ceiling. Red light pulsed from within it and Jake could see items from the room being sucked into it. Maddy’s hair whipped around her head and the lights in the condo flickered.
The horrible musical chord he had heard back in the lab suddenly announced Omar’s death and the windows shattered in the condo as it played its discordant notes. Mike ducked and threw himself toward Maddy.
Jake could hear voices again. The same angry voices he had heard looking into that awful red void. This time they seemed to mock him. They knew they had won and nothing was going to deny them. Jake heard screaming as it seemed Omar was lifted up from the floor. If he closed his eyes he could see thousands of arms grasp the terrorist and lift him into the void. When he opened his eyes, Omar was still lying on the floor, but he knew his energy no longer belonged to him.
The musical chord reached a volume Jake was sure would rupture his eardrums and then the conduit clapped shut, pillows and paper and dust vomited from the opening and silence settled into the room. Maddy cried.
The pain finally hit Jake and he started blacking out. He heard a ripping noise and the pain stopped.
He opened his eyes.
The light was blinding.
All around him, white light enveloped his body. As his eyes began to adjust, he heard music and Jake knew he was dying. The realization of this caused a moment of fear, but then the music grew louder and more beautiful and he felt calm—at peace.
He looked around and saw his body below him. Maddy was there, cradling him in her arms as Mike stood over them talking calmly into a cell phone. He could not hear what was being said.
He turned back to the light and saw a wondrous thing. Visions of his life passed in front of him. He wondered at the sights and thought he could watch them forever. As each scene passed, he relived it. Not just a memory, but an event he could see, hear, and feel. He realized now what Sara and Frank and all the others had felt. His pathetic machine could not recreate this. It had been a poor substitute at best.
Time, he realized, had slowed and maybe even stopped. It was as if it didn’t matter. When he looked down upon his dying body, time passed as it should, but when he looked back to watch his life review, it resumed as if it had been paused. He knew in the real world, the visions were flying by at incredible speeds, but here, it was paced. He needed to relive every single one.
He felt a presence next to him, turned, and watched a form materialize before him. He could hear his name and he recognized the voice. He began to cry.
Beth appeared in front of him, smiling radiantly and looking more beautiful than he ever remembered. She reached out to him, clasped his hand in hers and instantly felt her pass through him.
He gasped. It was as if she were part of him now. He could feel her soul and it was more beautiful than anything he had ever seen or felt. Tears flowed freely down his cheeks and he laughed with joy.
“Do you see?” Beth said.
“Oh, yes.”
“You have been given a great gift, Jake,” Beth said, “one which must never be abused. Only you can use it, and only with great care.”
He couldn’t think. Only feel.
He felt with his soul and all his being that this was true and right. That this place, with her, was the only place he was supposed to be.
“I’ve missed you so,” he said, and she smiled so brightly his heart ached.
“You have wanted an answer for so long,” she said. “Do you see now that it really was not important? You knew the answer in your heart all along.”
And he did. He could hear Beth’s voice clearly in his head now; Jake—I love you. Be good to Madison and Lucas. Teri forgives you. I love you.
And Teri was there beside Beth, smiling into his eyes, the warmth of her enveloping him along with Beth. She touched him and her whole life filled his as the universe opened to him.
Epilogue
The boy grabbed the doll from the girl, sand flying everywhere as she fought to keep it.
“You said I could have her!”
“No! She’s mine!” Her four year old mind was in a panic. “You’ll hurt her!”
“So—she’s only a doll, anyway.”
“You two, stop fighting and come in and eat!” their mother yelled.
>
“Mom! Lucas won’t give me my doll!”
He flung it back at her, grabbing his truck instead and driving it through the sand as if nothing had happened.
“Lucas, Madison, do as your mother says. It’s time to eat.” Jake hated yelling at his kids, and usually made some kind of joke afterwards. “I’m going to eat all your pudding if you don’t hurry up!”
Five year old Lucas Ryan Townsend and four year old Elizabeth Madison Townsend jumped up out of the sandbox in their backyard and laughed as they raced each other to the house. Jake bent to pick up his son and daughter and as they jumped into his arms, he grunted as pain shot through his chest.
“Daddy, are you ok?” Lucas said, looking very concerned.
“Oh yeah—I’m fine. Mommy just beat me up again.”
Lucas and Madison giggled as he tickled them and set them down.
Maddy looked at him over the counter, and something passed between them. She smiled. She knew the old wound bothered him sometimes and was proud he bore it. He had come back for her.
“How ‘bout a little sugar for Grandpa?” Mike McClaughlin said, and reached out for his grandkids. They laughed and jumped in his lap, hugging him. Sara smiled as she helped set the table. Jake’s life was good.
* * *
After The Incident, as Jake liked to call it, Jake and Bodey had been discharged from their respective hospitals on the same day. Since Bodey was unable to fly home just yet, Sara and Mike welcomed the two into their home while they convalesced for a couple of weeks. Jake was just glad he had his friend with him.
When Jake had returned to the lab six weeks later, everything was as he had left it. Except for the bodies someone had removed. The media had been informed that an industrial accident had occurred, but no one had been injured. Since the exterior of the building remained intact and they had not been allowed inside, the interest eventually waned and they moved on to more captivating stories. Someone had covered their tracks very well. Jake never heard anything about The General, Morris, Johnson, Jane, or Pierce. He didn’t even know if those were their real names.
Near Death (A Jake Townsend Science Fiction, Action and Adventure, Thriller Series Book 1) Page 27
