by E. E. Borton
“The kind that doesn’t care who they hurt,” replied Ryan.
Kristina heard Dallas’s last sentence and ran back into the store before Ryan could stop her. Dallas held up a roll of duct tape he picked up out of the stockroom. “Are we taking them with us?” asked Dallas, tapping his finger on the roll of tape.
“No, but we’re taking her. Use the whole roll on these jerks and stuff them in that dumpster. Did you find anything on your guy?”
“Yeah, I’ve got his wallet, phone, and gun.”
“Well, that’s good news. You got your gun now,” smiled Ryan.
“You should get a holster for that trash can lid,” laughed Dallas. “That was very Starsky and Hutch.”
“Thank you. Have Michelle dump both their phones and run their IDs,” said Ryan. “I want to know where that order came from. I’ll go get Dr. Anderson while you tape up our friends.”
Ryan walked back inside the store where Kristina was attending to Emma.
“Are you two okay?” asked Ryan.
“I’m fine, but she needs to be seen in an E.R. She has high blood pressure and broke her hip last year. Who were those animals?”
“I don’t know. But I do know they were coming for you and not her.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know that, either,” said Ryan. “You need to come with us.”
“This is all a bit much, Agent Pearson.”
“Please, call me Ryan.”
“I can’t leave her here, Ryan. She may have internal injuries.”
“Call an ambulance, but as soon as we hear the sirens, we need to head out the back. I can’t be seen here and certainly not with you.”
“You’re an FBI agent. You’re not supposed to be the one running.”
“I’m not running, Dr. Anderson. I believe we have a mole in the Bureau. Right now, the guys calling the shots think I’m in New Orleans hunting Elliot. If they know I’m operating under the radar to find the truth, they’ll pull me off this case. And if they do, more innocent people are going to die. I hate to say this because I’ve been hearing it thrown around too much lately, but I have to ask you to trust me.”
“Kristina.” she said, quietly stroking Emma’s silver hair.
“I’m sorry?”
“Call me Kristina.”
“Okay, Kristina. We need to get back to New Orleans. The other half of my team is there looking for Elliot. You’ll be safer there while we find out who came after you and why.”
“Boss,” said Dallas, motioning Ryan away from the women. “We need to move. How are we going to get her to New Orleans? We can’t just stroll into the airport. These goons aren’t too sharp, but they’ll probably have the airports covered. As soon as her name hits the ticketing system, she’s done. It’s an eighteen-hour drive, so we need to get rolling.”
“We can’t waste eighteen hours,” said Ryan. “We’ll drive south to Richmond, Virginia tonight. It’s about a three-hour trip. That should put a little distance between us and them.”
“What’s in Richmond?”
“Hopefully a plane.”
“How did you – never mind.”
Emma persuaded Kristina to let her stand. She walked without pain to her seat behind the counter. She was shaken, but was aware they weren’t after her.
“Why do they want to hurt you?” asked Emma with a trembling voice.
“I don’t know,” replied Kristina. “These men are FBI agents. I have to go with them so we can find out. An ambulance is on the way. I can’t have you argue with me right now, so will you promise me you’ll go to the hospital?”
“Yes, child, I’ll go. You have to leave now?”
“I do. I can’t explain why, but I promise to get in touch with you as soon as I can.”
“Be careful, sweetie.”
“One more thing.”
“I’m listening.”
“Tell the medics and the police two men tried to mug you, but a good samaritan chased them off. Don’t mention I was in here or the FBI agents. I’ll explain that later, too.”
“Okay. I can do that.”
“I’ll see you again soon,” said Kristina, hugging Emma before leaving.
During the three-hour drive, Ryan brought Kristina up to speed on the events of the past several months. She sat quietly, taking in every word. Ryan worried he was overwhelming her with the details of the killings, but he wanted her to know everything. He wanted her to trust him.
They arrived at Hanover County Airport located fourteen miles north of Richmond and boarded a small Learjet. Less than two hours later, they landed in New Orleans. Tom and Michelle gave each other puzzled looks as Ryan, Dallas, and Kristina piled into the back of the sedan.
“Sorry, guys,” said Ryan. “I didn’t want to pass any compromising information over the airwaves. Tom, Michelle, this is Dr. Anderson.”
“Welcome aboard, Dr. Anderson,” greeted Tom.
“Please, call me Kristina.”
“Not a chance, huh?” said Dallas, smiling at Michelle.
“We’ll be dropping you and Michelle off at a house two blocks from ours,” said Ryan. “She’ll be staying with you tonight. It’s safe, but tomorrow Dallas will be reinforcing the locks and installing a security system. You’ll have a keychain panic button that’ll put us at your front door in less than forty-five seconds.
“Kristina, it’s very important you understand you cannot leave that house for any reason. You can’t call home. You can’t let anyone know where you are. That means no e-mails and no checking in at work. Do you understand?”
“I do.”
“Okay, good.”
Ryan’s phone alerted him to an incoming call from Deputy Director Donaldson. “Quiet, please.”
“Ryan, we’ve just received information that one of the scientists who resigned from the project has gone off the grid. Her name is Dr. Kristina Anderson, and her last known location as of yesterday was Baltimore. There’s evidence she’s in a relationship with Joshua Bell and has been in close contact with him since the first killing. If we find her, we’ll probably find him and Derek. We believe she’s the one responsible for their condition.
Scott Wilson is on his way to see you now. His team is also in New Orleans and should be at the house in a few minutes. He worked with her and thinks he may be able to help us locate her. I want your team to consider her just as dangerous as the monsters she created.”
“Yes, sir,” responded Ryan. “Do you have any idea where she might be heading?”
“Elliot and the other Marines are still your priority, Ryan. Get what you can from Scott and keep an eye out for her, but don’t concern yourself with finding her. I have a team of agents leaving Quantico now to hunt her down.”
“Understood,” replied Ryan, ending the call. “Step on it, Tom. We’re going to have visitors as the house in a few minutes.”
Kristina and Michelle quickly exited the vehicle and entered the scientist’s new home. The rest of the team arrived back at the FBI safe house less than two minutes before two familiar black SUVs screeched to a stop. Four heavily armed security personnel jumped out of the first vehicle as Scott and another man darted out of theirs. A third SUV parked behind the house unloaded four more troops, effectively sealing the perimeter. Scott banged on the door continuously until Dallas opened it.
“Where’s Ryan?” Scott demanded.
“He’s upstairs, but –”
“You stay here,” said Scott to his companion. “I need to speak with Ryan alone.”
Dallas escorted Scott to the windowless room where Ryan was sitting at the table. He closed the door behind them.
“I said I need to speak to Ryan alone,” repeated Scott with emphasis.
“It’s okay, Scott. He’s one of the good guys.”
“Really? Because I thought you were one of the good guys, Ryan. What the fuck did you do? I gave her name to you as a sign of trust, and you literally handed her over to them! I told you she was a friend and to
be careful! What kind of idiot are you?”
“Hold on, Slick,” said Dallas. “Easy with who you’re calling an idiot. We didn’t give up your girlfriend.”
“She’s not my girlfriend, you ape. She’s someone I care very much about, and you two goons probably got her killed. I don’t know where she is, and your boss is sending a team of headhunters after her. So not only are the bad guys looking to shut her up, but you’ve got the so-called good guys doing the same. You couldn’t have fucked this up better if you were actually trying! You’re right, Dallas. I take back my idiot comment because I’m the fucking idiot for trusting you!”
“What are you, Scott? A buck forty?” patronized Dallas. “Are you going to shank me with your slide rule?”
“You really are an ape,” said Scott, trying to stand his ground.
“Well, Dallas,” interrupted Ryan. “Do you think he’s one of them?”
“I hope not, Boss. He’s a little wolverine. I really think he’d take a shot at both of us right now.”
“You think this is funny?” said Scott, taking an aggressive step toward Dallas.
“Scott, we have her,” said Ryan, saving his life.
“What?” asked Scott, halting his advance and turning his attention to Ryan.
“We made contact with her yesterday evening in Baltimore,” explained Ryan. “While we were having a nice conversation, two thugs were tailing her like you suspected. They received an order from someone and they tried to take her. They’re probably still duct taped in a dumpster.”
“So she’s okay?” asked Scott, needing more clarification. “Where is she?”
“She’s fine. One of my people is with her now. I hope you understand I can’t tell you exactly where.”
“No, no, I understand,” said Scott, calming down and taking a seat at the table. “I’m sorry for getting so upset. You don’t know how much she doesn’t deserve to be involved in all this.”
“Actually, I do,” said Ryan. “The fact that my boss wants her out of the picture makes you one of the few I believe. With that phone call, he effectively removed all doubt he can’t be trusted. I still don’t know how involved he might be in any conspiracy, but I certainly can’t let him know I have Kristina.”
“This is getting out of control, Ryan,” said Scott. “I’m looking over my shoulder every second of every day. I can’t trust my own people, the military or the federal government. If the second most powerful man in the FBI is in on this, how do we fight that? How do we end this?”
“Scott, listen to me,” said Ryan in a calming voice. “You’re doing great. I just need you to hold it together a little while longer. I’ll sort this out. But I need you to tell me everything you know. I need to know what happened to those Marines at the lab. I need to know why they’re killing.”
“Ryan, I don’t know what happened to them,” said Scott. “I really don’t. I have theories, but absolutely no evidence. I wasn’t a part of the Didache Project. I was working on a different project, trying to figure out ways to make their metabolism more efficient.”
“Then why did they choose you to lead the forensics team in Virginia?” asked Ryan. “Do you have a background in crime scene investigation?”
“I told you at the farmhouse, I’m here to clean up after you guys,” explained Scott. “That’s what we do. Those Marines are property of the U.S. Military. Let me put it to you this way: those four men are the most expensive weapons ever created in the history of warfare. You could build a fleet of nuclear submarines with the amount of government funding allocated to genetic research over the past ten years. Most of that money has been awarded to the Michaels Laboratory. Losing one microscope slide of their DNA would constitute a catastrophic breach of national security. It’s my job to recover every drop of blood or piece of tissue they leave behind. I have nothing to do with the actual investigation.”
“So who’s collecting evidence and feeding us information about where to go to next?” asked Dallas.
“There’s another team that travels with us, but we never speak,” said Scott. “I mean not a word. No ‘good morning,’ no ‘how’s the family,’ no ‘fuck you.’ They poke around as we recover biological material. Every once in a while, they’ll get on their cell phones, but I don’t know who’s in charge. Well, I mean I don’t know for sure.”
“Okay, understanding you don’t know for sure, who do you think it is?” baited Ryan.
“Ask Kristina about Colonel Marcus Brown,” conceded Scott. “He’s the Marine military liaison and the commanding officer of every soldier at the lab. I’ve only bumped into him in the hallways. Kristina worked very closely with him. She’s not a fan.”
“Will do,” said Ryan. “Hang in there, buddy.”
“Easier said than done. You don’t know these guys.”
“That’s going to change very soon.”
“Scott, what are the chances of you getting ahold of the autopsy reports from the three women Arrington buried in the basement in Virginia?”
“Actually, pretty good,” said Scott. “The bodies were taken back to the lab in Maine. They’re basically being scrubbed for any biological material left behind, like Arrington’s saliva, hair or blood. We use the reports to identify wounds that may contain material. I’ll make copies and try to get them to you in the next few days.”
“Perfect, thank you.”
“I need to go,” said Scott. “Please tell Kristina I’m sorry. I hope she understands why I’m doing this.”
“Consider it done.”
As soon as Scott appeared in the doorway, the security detail quickly scanned the area and then returned to the vehicles. The small convoy turned the corner and headed for the interstate. They sped by two intoxicated tourists hugging the walls, still clutching their large cups of dragster fuel. Their numerous Mardi Gras beads glistened as the headlights from the vehicles lit up the corner and then disappeared down Canal Street.
“Quite a bit of activity tonight at the feds clubhouse,” said Joshua Bell.
“Scott looked pissed,” said Derek Mathews, guzzling the rest of his soda.
“Easy on that pop, Derek. You don’t want to rot your teeth.”
“You’re hilarious.”
“I didn’t see the female agent go into the house,” mentioned Joshua. “I wonder where she disappeared.”
“Is that important?” asked Derek.
“No, not really. We’ll deal with her and the rest of them later.”
“I just wish there was another way,” said Derek, lowering his eyes to the ground.
“There isn’t,” replied Joshua. “I don’t want to sacrifice him either. But when we give them Richard, the only one that can get close to us will be Alex. And when we remove him from the equation, we’ll make them all pay for what they did to us.”
“Richard goes fast,” demanded Derek. “We need to make sure of that. I don’t want him feeling the agony Peter did.”
“Okay. We’ll make sure,” said Joshua, “But either way, you and I are going to feel it. There’s no getting around that.”
“I don’t want to get around it,” said Derek, becoming angry. “I want to remember how it feels. I want to remember when I’m making all of them feel it, too.”
“It’s about time you started coming around, Derek. I have to admit I was beginning to worry you might soften up like the others.”
“Don’t worry about me. Those bastards deserve everything we’re going to give them.”
“Good, brother. That’s what I like to hear. Now, all this talk of a reckoning is making me hungry. Let’s go grab someone to eat.”
9
What’s Up, Doc?
Michelle heard the heavy footsteps of a man on the front porch. She put her hand on her weapon as she approached the door. The smoked glass made it difficult for her to identify the visitor. A light knock and a whisper lowered her guard.
“It would help if you’d call before strolling over here,” said Michelle.
“Sorry,” said Ryan. “Is she awake?”
“I don’t think she’ll be sleeping anytime soon. I can’t blame her for being a little rattled. She told me about you making her run down an alley as bait so you could TKO the bad guy. A trash can lid?”
“Yeah.”
“Nice touch,” said Michelle, walking him into the living room where Kristina was sitting.
“How are you holding up?” asked Ryan.
“I wish I knew how Emma was doing. She must be scared to death.”
“Michelle?”
“I’m on it, Boss,” said Michelle, grabbing her untraceable phone and walking into the kitchen.
“Scott Wilson was here a few minutes ago. He wanted me to tell you he was sorry you became involved. He seems to be genuinely worried about you.”
“He was always worrying about me. Most of the men in my life do worry. I think they see me as frail and easily breakable. I’m not a weak person, Ryan.”
“I don’t believe you are, Kristina. But I can see where others would want to protect you from the ugly things that are out there.”
“That sounded a little patronizing,” she said.
“Not my intent. We could all use a little protecting every now and then. It’s why I need your help. But I’m not here now to ask you questions. I just wanted to make sure you were okay and as comfortable as possible under these circumstances.”
“I’m fine, really. I am a little tired, though.”
“I know it won’t be easy, but try to get some sleep,” said Ryan as Michelle returned.
“Good news, Kristina. Emma was released from the E.R. shortly after you left Richmond. She had a little bruising around her neck, but she’s fine.”
“She’s going to be worried sick about me. Is there any way –”
“I’m sorry, there isn’t,” interrupted Ryan. “The men after you will be watching her every move and listening to every word she says. If you contact her, you’ll unknowingly put her in harm’s way. She’ll be in more danger if she knows where you are.”
“Is this where you tell me to trust you again?” asked Kristina.
