by R. Gualtieri
“But why?”
“That kind of genetic damage can’t be good for one’s state of mental health,” Mitchell offered.
“I don’t doubt it,” Derek replied, “but I think it goes deeper than that. Ezekiel showed us a picture of his great grandad’s family. There was over a dozen boys, but only one girl. He even specifically pointed it out. What if there simply aren’t enough women in the family to go around?”
Arthur stood up and smiled. “The Y chromosome!” When the others turned toward him, he quickly sat back down, “Sorry about that.”
“What did you mean?”
Arthur appeared to consider this for a moment, but then he locked eyes with Derek, the first time he’d seen the kid be self-assertive. “I didn’t think anything of it when I was doing my original analysis, but the DNA results seemed to suggest an overly aggressive Y chromosome. Whatever it was that the sample came from, it was almost definitely male.”
“What does that have to do with these things kidnapping my sister?” Julia asked.
“In nature, some species can change sex during times of need,” Arthur explained. “If there are no females present, the males can spontaneously change their sex so as to allow for continuation of the species. But maybe, thanks to the damage introduced here, nature is kind of working in reverse. What if they’re predetermined to be mostly male thanks to the screwed-up nature of their genes?”
Derek nodded. “I see where you’re going with this. And what if there are some stretches of time where it’s worse than others? Remember the Lesterfield exorcism? It was brought about because girls had gone missing in the area, presumably taken by the devil. Well, what if that was true? Maybe, out of desperation for their fucked-up way of life, that’s exactly what happened.”
“And Jedediah used the exorcism as a way to cover it up before people converged on the woods in force.”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking, Mitch. What we’re looking at here right now is history repeating itself.”
“So those bastards kidnapped my sister to rape and impregnate her?” Julia cried, a look of horror upon her face.
“Danni, too,” Derek said grimly, “as well as any others they’ve taken.”
“But what about the guys?” Arthur asked. “I thought I read that a few men went missing, too.”
Derek narrowed his eyes. “I’m not a betting man, but if I was I’d say they did to them the same thing they tried to do to Frank and me.”
♦ ♦ ♦
“He did what? B-but that’s crazy.”
“Is it any crazier than what we’re going through?” Danni asked. “Or the things that kidnapped us?”
Bolstered by a need to do something, anything, to keep the oppressive weight of her situation at bay, Danni had started talking ... keeping at it until Sophie finally responded again. And, despite the pain of the memory, she could think of no better way to bolster her resolve than to once again face the horrors she’d already survived.
“And your brother actually tried to fight that thing?”
“We both did. But he was first, inspired me to keep going even after...”
“I’m so sorry,” Sophie said.
Danni gritted her teeth. “I didn’t tell you that story to make you feel sorry for me. I wanted you to hear it so that you understand there’s no such thing as an unwinnable fight, an unkillable monster. These things are big, they’re scary, and they’re smart, but beneath it all, they’re not much different than you and me. They can be beaten, but you can’t give up. That’s what they want.”
“But how?”
“I ... don’t know.” Danni couldn’t bring herself to lie to the poor woman. That would have been wrong. At the same time, she realized that so long as she could perhaps inspire a little hope in at least one other person here, she could keep that flame alive inside herself. “For now, all I know is this: we need to do whatever we can to keep ourselves safe and unhurt.”
“Unhurt? But...”
“You don’t have to say it.” The truth was, she didn’t want to hear it, was too afraid her own resolve would crumble. “Believe me, I know. I won’t lie to you and say anything is going to be easy, but we have to try. None of that Stockholm Syndrome crap, no thinking we deserve this, no giving up. Always fight, even if it’s only in your mind. No matter how long it takes. Let them get sloppy, complacent, make a mistake. And when they do...”
“What?”
“You do whatever you can to make them pay. We do whatever we can.”
“I-I’m not sure I can. You don’t understand what they’ve...”
“That’s okay. Not knowing is fine, but it’s a lot better than giving up. But please believe me when I say I won’t stop fighting. And I swear on my brother’s soul that I will find a way to...”
The sound of a door being thrown open immediately silenced both women.
“But i-it’s not f-fair!”
“That will be enough, Noah.” The voice of Ezekiel Lesterfield floated down the dank prison hallway toward Danni. He didn’t sound pleased. “It’s rightful retribution, that’s all. I earned my place, my Sarah. It’s only fair that I be compensated being that she hadn’t taken to seed yet.”
“But Sssarah is mine.”
“She belongs to whoever Adam says she belongs to. Unless, that is, you’d like to bring it up with the old man.”
Silence followed, save for the fall of footsteps, one normal, the other heavy and plodding.
“I didn’t think so. Now mind your manners and maybe you can have the next.”
“Liked this one.”
“I can see that. There is a lot to like. It’s rare to find a vixen in these woods so fresh-faced and unspoiled.”
Danni could see them approaching. They passed by Sophie’s cage. The woman stayed quiet, no doubt hoping to go unnoticed. Danni couldn’t blame her, but at the same time, she had a bad feeling that she wasn’t their target.
“M-maybe you share her?”
“Now now, dear Noah. Don’t be greedy. Did I not try to be generous with you earlier, despite it coming at great personal cost to myself?”
“Wasn’t me,” Noah replied in an almost sulking voice. “Didn’t even get a turn.”
“I know that, child. Your cousin, on the other hand, had best steer clear of me for the foreseeable future.”
Danni backed up as the grotesque form of Noah Lesterfield appeared in front of her cage. He leered down at her with barely concealed greed as Ezekiel stepped next to him.
“Good day to you, Sarah,” he said cordially, removing his hat as if trying to be polite.
“My name’s Danni.”
“No, it isn’t. But that’s okay. You’ll learn. All eventually do. Don’t worry. I won’t hold your initial reluctance against you.”
“It’s Daniella Kent, to be precise,” she continued, ignoring him. “I want you both to remember that name. Danni Kent. Because I’m going to be responsible for you and your whole crazy family ending up behind bars.”
Noah laughed a wheezing chuckle.
Ezekiel joined him. “I so do appreciate a sense of irony in a bride-to-be. I appreciate seeing it broken even more.”
Danni looked past them, suddenly realizing they’d returned alone. “Where’s Abby?”
“Who?”
“Abigail,” Danni replied, refusing to play their game. “The girl you took earlier. If you’ve hurt her...”
“Ah, yes,” Ezekiel replied, leering at her. “Alas, I am heartbroken to say that I have recently been widowed. My Sarah, she was a good lass, quite comely. I so did enjoy my time with her. Sadly, she was not cut out for the rigors of this life. But you, you have some fire in you, girl. Adam has agreed that you’ll be my new Sarah to help ease my suffering.”
She’d heard them say that name before. “Adam?”
“He’s the patriarch of our dear family, Noah’s father.”
“Sssupposed to be m-mine,” N
oah complained.
Danni opened her eyes wide at their exchange but said nothing.
“But she’s not,” Ezekiel chided. “Your pappy has spoken and his word is law. If you have a problem with it, I suggest you take it up with him. Maybe he’ll slap some manners into you.”
That shut Noah up and he shrank away from the much smaller man like a whipped dog. Danni felt the slightest bit of empathy for his plight but quickly pushed it away. Her friends might very well be dead because of him. If he was looking for pity, he’d need to look elsewhere.
She shook that thought from her head as quickly as it came. Derek and Francis were both survivors. They’d pulled through worse. They had to be okay. And if they were okay, that meant they were coming for her. She had to hold on to that hope, do what she could to survive until then.
But if she got the chance to take out her frustrations on any of these fuckers in the meantime, so much the better. She sized up Ezekiel. He was thin and severe looking. She had little doubt that if push came to shove, she could take him.
He noticed her staring at him and stepped up to the cage smiling, revealing crooked teeth. “That’s good. A woman should take a measure of her husband to be. You’ll get to know the rest of me soon enough, but not quite yet.”
A feeling of relief washed over Danni, but it was instantly quashed as he continued.
“Adam insists on getting to know every new Sarah first. Breaking them in, so to speak. And if his mighty seed should happen to germinate in your womanhood first, so be it. The clan will be that much stronger for it.”
CHAPTER 27
“All right, we’ve waited long enough,” Derek said. “Mitch, head down and make sure we’re loaded up. I’m going to call Norah back.”
“You’re in no shape to do this.”
“Duly noted. I trust you have something in that bag of yours to help me compensate.”
“Can I go on record as stating this is a stupid idea and that you should be in a hospital bed?” Mitchell asked with a frown.
“Of course.”
“Good, because if you drop dead from a heart attack out there, I’d prefer to not be written up for it.” He grabbed his backpack and began cataloging the various vials inside it. “And, just for the record, I have stuff in here that will not only keep the pain at bay, but it’ll make you high as a fucking kite in the process.”
“Keeping me on my feet will be good enough. Save the rest for when we end this.”
“What about me?” Julia asked.
“Us,” Arthur corrected. “I want to help, too.”
“Absolutely not,” Derek stated, borrowing Mitchell’s cell.
“But you need backup,” she said.
“Which is exactly what I’m calling for. No offense, but I need trained agents on this one, not someone with mean grammatical skills.”
“I know how to use a gun,” Julia said.
“Me too,” Arthur added. “If you show me what to do, anyway. But seriously, I want to help you guys find Danni.”
Derek turned to the younger man and put a hand on his shoulder. “You are helping her, son. The work you did for us has been immeasurable. We now at least have an idea what we’re up against. We went in underestimating these ... things last time. We won’t make that mistake again.”
“You made a lot of mistakes you won’t be making again, Jenner.”
The group turned to see Jonas Yarlberg step in the door, with Eric Zeist and two uniformed police officers flanking him.
Derek stood up, wincing as he waited for the pain to pass, then strode over to him. “Governor Yarlberg,” he said as way of greeting, forcing his voice to remain calm. “I don’t know what you’ve been told, but...”
“You bastard!” Julia snarled, stalking past him. She raised a hand, no doubt intending to smack the smug grin off the governor’s face. Derek managed to grab hold of her wrist before that could happen, just barely holding her off in his weakened condition.
“Let me go! This pig covered up John’s death.”
Mock concern replaced the grin and the governor replied, “Whatever do you mean, Ms. ... whatever your name is?” He turned to Derek. “By all means let her go.” He glanced back at the two cops with him. “If she so much as raises her voice to me again, arrest her and have her charged with felony assault.”
“Assault?” she cried.
“Oh, yes. It’ll be your word against mine and my witnesses.” Julia turned to Derek, to which the governor added, “I wouldn’t count on Dr. Jenner’s help or that of his friends.” He stopped and looked around the room. “Friend, anyway. I think you’ll find they have little to add to your defense in a court of law. Isn’t that right, doctor?”
Derek refused to be baited by the man. Unfortunately, he was right. Doing what he and his team did required a certain amount of discretion, whether they liked it or not. “Julia, please go back and wait with the others.”
“What?” She rounded on him, her green eyes wide and angry. “How can you just...”
“I’m not,” Derek interrupted. “You’ll just have to trust me. This isn’t going to help anyone, including Sophie. We need to pick our battles, and this one is for another day. We don’t have the time, and our friends certainly don’t.”
That seemed to get through to her. She nodded, however ruefully, then walked back to sit with Arthur and Mitchell, but not before flipping the governor off.
Eric looked like he wanted to say something, but the governor merely held up a hand. “Don’t mind her. Just exercising her first amendment rights, nothing more.”
“Enough with the games, governor,” Derek said. “We need...”
“I one-hundred percent agree, Dr. Jenner. No more games, such as the cock-up I hear your people caused out there in the woods. I thought you were supposed to be professionals, yet in one day you’ve managed to potentially screw this up worse than my people have in months.” He lowered his voice. “What the hell were you thinking? She’s a reporter.”
“She’s also the only reason I’m still alive,” Derek replied, careful to keep his tone neutral. “You’ll have to forgive me, but when I’m at death’s door, I tend to forget to ask whether people have press credentials or not.”
“You look pretty lively to me.”
“I apparently don’t have much choice in the matter.”
The governor shrugged as if he wasn’t concerned. “My apologies for that. I figured a celebrity, however minor, such as yourself would attract some undue attention in a public hospital. Such attention would bode ill for my administration, considering yesterday’s press conference. I doubt we could convince everyone you were there for a simple case of food poisoning. Besides, it looks like your man did a fine job of patching you up.”
It was all Derek could do to not deck Yarlberg, but he held himself in check. He didn’t fancy being arrested, especially since he wasn’t in any shape to do much damage anyway. Might as well save it for when he could at least dislocate the fat bastard’s jaw.
The governor looked down and noticed the phone in Derek’s hand. “I wouldn’t bother if I were you.”
“Oh?”
“Agent Caseman,” the governor clarified. “I assume you’ve been trying to reach her. Don’t waste your breath. I already had a chat with her superiors. There will be no backup coming.”
“What?!” Mitchell stormed over, echoing what was going through Derek’s head. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“Dr. Jenner, kindly keep your subordinate under control.”
“Do you have any idea what happened out there?”
The governor faced Mitchell. “I only know what I’ve been told, as I believe is the case with you. Or did I hear incorrectly and you were out there, too, confronting this so-called Jersey Devil?”
Mitchell glared at him.
“I thought not, Mr. Harkness. Seems Dr. Jenner here is the only eyewitness. Awfully convenient, I’d say. And, considering
his somewhat less than stellar condition, I’m not sure how any of us can be expected to believe his take on matters with one-hundred percent certainty.”
Derek put a hand on Mitchell’s shoulder. “If I’m not to be trusted, then where’s the rest of my team? Are you implying that perhaps they ran off, maybe got a better deal from a competing channel?”
“Could be,” the governor replied, all good humor gone from his beady eyes. “Or could be that you had an accident out there and are afraid to admit it. Or, maybe a falling out. These things have been known to happen.”
“That’s a serious accusation.”
“Not an accusation at all. Merely speculation. But you’ll forgive me if I find it a bit more believable than ... what was it you said, Mr. Zeist ... ah, yes. Toxic, inbred hillbillies.”
Eric smirked and nodded toward his boss.
Derek turned to his teammate. “Knew we should have discussed that in the other room.” After a moment, he faced the governor again. “Regardless of what you believe, the fact remains that my people are missing and I aim to find them and bring them home.”
Yarlberg shook his head. “Out of the question. You’ve done enough damage out there and I, for one, won’t stand by and let a small army of feds march into the preserve to play cowboys and Indians. The only thing you’ll be doing is catching the next flight out of my state. I should have known better than to think you could fix this without making a mess of things.”
“We’re not leaving without our friends,” Mitchell said.
“I don’t recall giving you a choice.”
“But...”
“Do I really need to point out,” Yarlberg said, addressing both men, “that the door swings both ways when it comes to your service? I have lots of pull in Washington. Believe me, it would take all of one phone call to get an investigation launched. We’re talking dereliction of duty at the very least, possibly even criminal negligence.”
“Criminal negligence?”
“If you were to disobey, say, the jurisdiction of a publically elected official such as myself.”
“That would never stick,” Derek said.
“Maybe not, but you and your friend here would still have a chance to cool off nicely in a prison cell while awaiting trial.” When neither Derek nor Mitchell said anything, he continued. “I’ll assume my point is made then, gentlemen.”
