Madman's Monster

by Michael Louis Weinberger

  "We'll only be a little late," Lei spoke softly into my mouth as my mouth searched for her lips, desperate to reconnect.

  I pulled her tighter to me, my strength overtaking her own and she let out a small gasp at the effort. In that moment I said, "No fair using your superpowers against me."

  She looked up at me sheepishly as I felt her shift her pelvis in line with my own. The look she wore was such a chaotic mixture of emotions. Innocence, lust, and need were all evident, but I knew there was more, much more beneath the surface and I stared into her eyes as she returned the stare. I cupped one hand underneath her knee and raised her thigh up to my waist as her breath started coming in short heaving bursts. When I lifted her body and pulled her to me the whole world went white-hot and every fiber of my being melded with the woman I loved as everything else around me disappeared.

  For her part, Lei closed her eyes and let out a deep moan while wrapping her raised leg tightly around my body holding us together and not allowing for any separation or movement. I closed my eyes and reached out with my other senses to feel her muscles twitching as they spasmed and relaxed in syncopated reaction to my own movements and their accommodation of me. A moment went by that seemed to last and last as we stood there, pressed hard against one another without making any attempts to move or disconnect.

  Finally Lei raised her head an opened her eyes.

  "I love you," she said and her whole body quivered in some kind of release that was anything but sexual.

  I understood. I knew what Lei had been through before Alpha found her. She wasn't born into our community, she was one of the afflicted that Alpha managed to locate in time to prevent the condition from ravaging her. Unfortunately, he hadn't been in time to keep the world around Lei from nearly destroying her. From the time she was a little girl, she had been taught that sex was something that was more a means to an end. Adults around her had used and abused her with such severity that she knew nothing of what intimacy or love truly could be like on any other level. In the end, Lei had survived her childhood physically, but there would always be a part of her that would regard sex as something very base, impersonal and very, very, separate from whatever love might be.

  She was better now. A few decades would mend a lot of wounds, but every now and again there was a part of her that came to the surface when she let herself go. That was why the seduction had taken the dramatic turn it had.

  I kissed her gently, "And I love you. I always have. I always will."

  She looked at me and there was sadness in her eyes, "I lost you for a time."

  I nodded. Over a decade ago I had run from my people and all that I had known because of a misunderstanding. I had been a fool, but I was back now and nothing on heaven or earth existed that could drag me from her now.

  "Never again. Can't happen."

  "Why not?" her voice broke a little as she asked.

  "Because everything I am belongs to you. My heart, my mind, my soul and anything and everything else there may be is irrevocably tied to you. There is no longer a me without you."

  She breathed out heavily and then she began to gyrate her hips as her hands grabbed the hair on the back of my head. Her eyes shifted from the vulnerable and open expression to one that was more excited and feral.

  "You are mine," she hissed possessively and barred her teeth at me as she began moving faster, "every part of you, every fiber of you, mine!"

  The intensity of what she was doing threatened to overwhelm me, but I knew what she wanted, what she needed and I turned my head away and exposed my neck to her as I calmly said, "Yes."

  Lei's mouth opened and she surged forward and bit down on my flesh hard. My whole body jumped reflexively and I tried to twist away from the pain, but Lei only pulled harder at my head and kept me from breaking free as her body moved even faster, literally slamming herself against me as I continued to hold the majority of her weight aloft. My neck was on fire with the intense pleasure and pain as Lei savaged my flesh, snarling and growling as she went, and it was all I could do to hold on and keep us from falling.

  Like the woman had said. We would be a little late.

  Chapter 17

  Larson was looking at his watch as we came walking around the corner from the elevators. He looked a little miffed at being kept waiting, but when he saw the look on Lei's face he rolled his eyes and shook his head.

  "Feeling better are we?" Larson said sarcastically.

  "Much better thank you." Lei responded cordially but simultaneously cast Larson a look that was meant to tell him to back off.

  I don't know if turning his back and walking toward the street was backing off or not, but it seemed to satisfy Lei and we followed as he hailed a cab.

  As we climbed into the cab I asked, "So where's your buddy's apartment?"

  "Actually it's a rented house, and one that is being paid for by the American government under a false identity."

  "It is? Ah, so that's why you don't think it will be an issue to enter the location, you have a key or the security codes or something like that, right?"

  Larson was quiet as he seemed lost in his own thoughts before he said, "Something like that. The truth is another member of the special ops team in that picture you saw on the wall of my office was called in to replace Zach. Pick up the pieces as it were and continue whatever mission he was on. He basically moved into the apartment and took over the job."

  "Just like that?" Lei asked, "And no trying to find your friend?"

  "Washington is convinced that Zach was KIA, killed in action, so there's nothing to search for." Larson saw the look on Lei's face and added, "I know it might sound cold but the evidence was pretty convincing. Hell, I was convinced of it as well, until you two showed up with your pictures."

  "If Zach was taken by... um... "the enemy", then wouldn't they know where he lived? Your new operative is practically already busted."

  Larson chuckled, "You don't know Patrick. No one would ever suspect him of being some kind of operative."

  The drive took over twenty minutes as the cab driver wound his way in and around traffic in such a way that no New York cabbie would ever dream of trying. When we finally arrived Lei and I looked out of the cab’s window in surprise. The entire area looked as though the houses were built as separate boxes and loosely stacked on top of one another. The ground around the domiciles was unpaved, and the place looked as though it could fall apart if a strong enough wind blew through.

  I grunted, "You'd think the American government could afford to house their people somewhere outside of the local ghetto."

  Larson cast me a glance, but said nothing as he walked onto the property grounds and checking each building for a number or name.

  Lei elbowed me in the ribs, "This isn't a ghetto."

  "What?"

  "It's actually a pretty decent neighborhood and the apartments around here are for people who we would consider to be the "middle class" in America."

  I looked around and shook my head, "It looks like a dump and it might fall apart at any moment."

  Lei nodded, "That's the Western view, but the people who live here see it very differently."

  I shook my head in confusion and then I saw the look on Lei's face. She appeared haunted and I kept my mouth shut in case it was my vocal observations that were setting her off.

  We caught up with Larson, whom apparently found the specific building he was looking for, and waited behind him as he knocked on the door.

  "You okay?" I whispered to Lei.

  "Yes," she replied, "Just too many memories all at once."

  Oh crap, I had forgotten that Lei had..."spent some time"....in Bangkok before Alpha had found her. It explained a lot about the whole shower spectacle that had gone down before we left the hotel. I felt her fingers locate my hand and then tighten on it as if she needed me to help her keep her balance.

  A voice called out from behind the door in Thai, but Larson answered in English, "Rogers, open up. It's me."

&
nbsp; "Major?" the astounded voice asked in English.

  "Affirmative. Open the door Captain."

  "Dude, you alone?"

  Larson looked back at me and Lei, "Nope, but all is well."

  The sound of the locks unlatching could be heard before the heavy wood door swung open and we were greeted by the business end of a revolver from one side of the door jam.

  Larson immediately dropped while Lei and I both darted to the side, but no shots were fired. A portion of a face appeared around the door jam and looked down at Larson.

  "Whoa! Sir, it is you!" and then the rest of the face popped around the corner including a head full of dreadlocks, circular spectacles and a gaudy tropical shirt.

  Larson was clearly not amused, "Yes, it's me and I GAVE the all clear signal!"

  Rogers lowered the gun, "Aw dude, cool the jets, what you gave me was an old signal, although I suppose it's still legit. Now, pardon the negative karma vibe, but what the hell are you doing here?"

  Lei and I got back to our feet and ambled our way over to the door as Rogers eyed us suspiciously.

  "Can we talk inside?" Larson came as close to pleading as I believe I would ever hear and Rogers inclined his head at me and Lei.

  "Dude, you vouch for civis?" Rogers asked.

  "Yes."

  "Personally or professionally?"

  "I can only go with personally here. This ain't anything like an official visit."

  "Gnarly, I figured that, but was hoping that I was wrong. All right into the abode, all of you dudes."

  Rogers stepped aside and the three of us walked into the studio apartment. It was basically one great big room with a couple of small electrical appliances against a wall in the back alongside the only other door, which I guessed was the bathroom. In the center of the room was a large, open footlocker that contained a pile of clothes in various states of disarray and a smaller footlocker that was closed with an unclipped padlock still swinging from the hasp.

  Rogers walked to the smaller footlocker in his bare feet. He was wearing white cut off shorts and the entire area smelled like pot. The guy was obviously playing the part of an expatriated American hippie, or of a surfer with an endless summer attitude. Actually, I just assumed it was an act although it might not have been, but whatever the case I understood why the guy wouldn't be seen as a replacement agent and moving back into the old apartment was the same as hiding in plain sight. Rogers removed the padlock, then put the revolver inside, quickly closed the lid, relocking the padlock.

  "How long have you been here Pat?"

  "Just under three moons," Rogers looked around the room, "Guess I've never been much for setting down any roots and letting the grass grow beneath my toes."

  "Not that they'd let you."

  That brought a smile to Rogers face and he dropped the accent completely,” True enough." He held out his hand to Larson, "Good to see you again Major, whatever the reason."

  "Thanks Pat, but let's cut the titles. This is strictly a civilian op."

  "Speaking of the civilians..." Rogers turned to me and was about to introduce himself when he took in the full sight of Lei. Initially his reaction was the usual momentary hesitation that most men suffered, but he just as quickly became uncomfortable.

  "Major, I can't have any local talent on location."

  Bangkok was infamous for the various pleasure houses or discos that graced several of its "Walking Streets" and, clearly, Rogers thought Lei one of the local prostitutes. It was an honest mistake, but Lei was about to pull out the big guns on the poor slob when Larson spoke up, "She's not local or in the business. This is Steve and Lei Jacobs, private investigators out of Las Vegas. They're helping me find Zach."

  Rogers turned back to Larson, "Zach?! That's why you're here?"

  "I'm going to find him Pat."

  Rogers shook his head, "Nah, we spoke on this. Even if you were on a sanctioned search op, I'm not sure there's anything left to find at this point."

  Larson nodded, "Maybe so, but I promised all of you that I'd never let any of you get left behind. Way I see it that promise doesn't become null and void just because I didn't go in country with you."

  Rogers looked at Larson dubiously, "So you'd do it for any of the team? Not just Zach?"

  Larson smiled, "Mostly."

  Rogers laughed, "Right then. So what do you need from me?"

  "We need to see any of Zach's belongings that he might have left here before he disappeared. Also we're probably going to need a translator at some point."

  "Well, the brass cleared most everything out of this place before I got here. There were a few things but it was mostly clothes and some small photos."

  "Do you still have the photos?" I asked.

  "In the desk. Middle drawer, right side." Rogers indicated the desk by pointing to a pair of short file cabinets topped with what looked to be an unfinished door. I walked over and sat in the wicker chair that barely held my weight and opened the drawer. I could see the pictures resting on the bottom of the drawer but had to lift the large glass jar of marijuana out in order to be able to get at them. Well, at least that explained the smell.

  Rogers saw me handling his stash and jumped forward, "Whoa! Be subtle, man."

  Larson shook his head, "You asshole Rogers."

  "What? It helps me fit into the character."

  "You've been living your cover too long for it not to be genuine at this point."

  Rogers looked indignant for a moment and then said, "It's medicinal."

  I lifted the pictures out and saw that they were the small two-inch by two-inch photos from one of those old photo booths that kids used at carnivals, or in the mall. There were usually four snapshots in a vertical row, but in this case there were only two. An uneven border at the top of the photos told me that the other pictures were cut away. Interestingly the subject was a girl, maybe eight or nine years old, and of Asian, probably Thai, descent. She was a beautiful little girl and wearing a ‘Hello Kitty’ T-shirt, with her hair tied back in a pony tail, but her expression was very serious, maybe even confused in the first picture. Her eyes were distant and she seemed to almost stare out at me from the picture; however, in the second her face was frozen in a riotous fit of laughter. There was another person's arm and hand in her stomach area and, from her expression, was tickling her ferociously. The contrast between the two shots couldn't be more distant, but both were so perfectly expressive that I could almost hear her laughter.

  "Who is she?" I asked as I held up the picture.

  Rogers walked over, "That's the million dollar question. I haven't had any luck trying to I.D. her and Washington gave up on the search for any answers once Zach's body was delivered." Rogers paused and screwed up his face, "that's right, a body was delivered and I even heard that you confirmed the identity." Rogers glanced at all three of us, his face showing a sudden onset of concern and confusion, "So what am I missing here?"

  Larson walked over to where I was sitting in front of the computer, "Two days ago these guys gave me a picture of a man I believe to be Zach. The picture is supposed to have been taken somewhere between a week and two weeks ago."

  "Would you let me see it?" Rogers asked as Lei walked up beside him and handed him the eight by ten photo. Almost instantly his eyes widened, "Whoa! Yep, that's totally Zach. He's looking quite the mess though. What's wrong with him?"

  "He's looking quite a bit better than dead, Pat."

  Rogers nodded, "True."

  Lei asked, "Do you recognize the background?"

  Rogers scrutinized the picture for a moment, "All I can see are a bunch of jungle plants that could be from around here. There's no way to absorb anything further as far as I can see."

  I put the small photos back on the desk and pushed the file drawer closed when I noticed that the drawer felt sluggish on the rollers. I opened and closed it a couple of times and, even though it seemed to be working properly, it just didn't feel right.

  "Excuse me Mr.?" I started to ask.


  "No "misters" here, call me Pat."

  "Okay Pat, so the few appliances and things, are they yours?"

  "I suppose they are now."

  "But you didn't bring them in with you?"

  "No they were here when Zach lived here, but like I said the brass searched through them pretty thoroughly."

  Lei knew something was up and hurried over to the desk as Larson looked over my shoulder. "What's up?" Larson asked.

  "Maybe nothing, but I have a hunch."

  I pulled the drawer all the way out and then worked it off its rollers, separating it from the rest of the filing cabinet. I carefully set the contents on the desk, and then turned the drawer down and set it on the desk, too. The bottom of the drawer was the same metallic material that the rest of the cabinet was made of, but felt decidedly thicker when I rested my hand on it. My efforts must have been intriguing as I noticed Lei, Larson and Rogers all watching the drawer intensely as I fiddled with it. Then, as I tried to slide the metal in it's grooves something clicked and the bottom lifted away easily.

  It was a false bottom.

  Underneath was a manila folder that had been sandwiched between the false and real bottom of the drawer. I lifted the folder up and looked at the surprised eyes of the three people standing around me.

  Lei was smiling. Larson chuckled as Rogers shook his head and said, "How could the boys have missed that?"

  I shrugged my shoulders and flipped the folder open. Rogers reached over and closed the folder before trying to take it from my grasp. The second his hand struck the folder I pulled back and kept him from taking it while Lei pushed him forward and pinned his body to the desk.

  "Whoa! Stop! There might be classified information in there!"

  I frowned, "Maybe there is, but its not as though you would have found it without me."

  "That doesn't matter in the least." He turned his head to Larson, "Tell them Major, you know the protocols."

  "I do," Larson replied, "and I'm sure that if you had explained that little fact to my friends previously it wouldn't be an issue now."