by Brian Cotton
Chapter .32
Paxton finished with Forte’s left index finger. He made sure the nail stuck to the blade this time. He held the blade in front of the Agent’s eyes. Gone was the look of defiance and fear…all that remained was sheer terror. With a flick of the blade, the nail went airborne. The Agent followed it with his eyes.
“Okay!” Forte cried out. “I’ll talk!”
“Come out with it, then.” Paxton replied.
“First, what kind of guarantees do I get…”
The blade penetrated underneath the middle finger’s nail. Paxton didn’t take his time with this one. The blade was in and out within a matter of seconds. The unexpectedness of the motion caused Forte to cry out louder than the other two times.
“The only guarantee you get from me,” Paxton said, holding the nail in front of Forte. “Is that I leave the rest of your fingernails intact.”
Paxton used the Agent’s cheek to wipe the nail off this time. He wiped the blood on the blade with Forte’s pants. Forte looked around the room at a frantic pace, possibly looking for an escape which wouldn’t come. Maybe, in his wormy brain, he thought that other Agents heard his screaming and were coming for him. He wouldn’t have much time to wait; he still had seven more fingers and ten toes to go.
“Ohhhkay…okay,” Forte panted. “What do you want from me? What do you want me to say?”
“Don’t play games with me,” Paxton replied. He held the blood stained blade up. “Or, shall I take another one?”
“No, no…please…no more.”
“You have a family, don’t you?”
His eyes gave away the answer. Paxton took out a phone and started to press buttons on it. A new look of fear, with a hint of sadness, filled the Agent’s facial expressions. Paxton talked into the phone, he told his men to get into position.
“You wouldn’t dare harm an Agent’s family.” Forte said, anger in his voice.
“Does it look like I care?” Paxton replied, looking down at the blade. He looked back up to Forte. “You don’t seem to care about your own wellbeing, and that’s fine. If I was you, I wouldn’t care, either. But, think about your family, Travis. I didn’t want to do this, but we are running short on time.”
“If you even think…”
“You can save them, you know.”
Forte looked straight to the ground. “What do you want?”
“Let me be clear. If I even think that you’re lying, I will send my men into your home to kill your family. Clear?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Paxton slid the blade back into the handle and placed the knife back into his pocket. Games again, this Forte prick just wouldn’t listen to reason. He motioned with his head for Kilbourne to back away. Kilbourne did so and the Agent moved his stiff neck in circles and breathed in heavy.
“You better start convincing me.” Paxton ordered.
“Okay, okay, man. But, listen, I’m only in this shit because the pay is good…”
“Spare me,” Paxton reached into his pocket. “Or should I continue?”
“No,” Forte cried, the chair’s legs shook with violence. “No, not that!”
“Then start talking!”
“Our next target is Howard Anderson, some guy I interrogated…”
“Tortured.” Paxton corrected.
“Fine, tortured, you hypocrite. Like I was saying, we interrogated some guy who said that Mr. Anderson was a member of your resistance. We are going in to take him tonight.”
“Where?”
“At his apartment, man. Some little piece of shit for him, his wife, and six year old daughter.”
“Six year old?” Paxton asked. A new type of rage burned in his soul at the mention of the little girl. “What’s the plan for her?”
“Raise her in the schools, show her our way of thinking, you know.”
“Just what we fucking need,” Kilbourne said from behind. “Another fascist.”
“Look at yourselves, then judge me, okay?”
Kilbourne grabbed at Forte’s shoulders, “What does that mean, little man?”
“You people are just like us. Just like us, all right? You just hide behind those damned stars and stripes. You pretend that you are doing something noble for those people out there.” Forte spit on the ground. “You condemn me, that’s fine. But, you are doing the same exact thing that I would be doing to you.”
“Now, you listen to me,” Paxton said, his face red with anger. “I am nothing like you. You and your boys at the USR have pinned us into a corner, we’ve just taken the gloves off. We would never murder innocent women and children…”
“What about your wars, leftover?” Forte asked.
“Wars are different…a little collateral damage is unavoidable.” Paxton replied.
“Collateral damage? Does it make you feel better…calling your victims that?”
Paxton could feel his blood boil in his veins. He wanted to reply, but he bit his lip instead. He cursed himself under his breath for letting Forte get to him. The situation had gotten out of control and it was up to Paxton reclaim it. No more games, he grew angry at himself for giving that piece of shit the time of day.
“Enough! Where is the apartment?” Paxton demanded.
“15…15…Baxter. Umm…second floor, 218.”
“When’s the raid?”
“I don’t know the exact time…I just know it’s when the little prick gets off work.”
“Where does he work?”
“I don’t know.” Forte replied.
Paxton retrieved the knife and press on the handle. The blade shot up in the air. Forte’s eyes widened at the sight of it. His body started to do that tremble thing again.
“I don’t know where he works! We never know where these citizens work, it’s forbidden for us to know. We are only permitted to take these shit bags in from their homes.”
Paxton put away the knife confused, “I believe you.”
“Have I convinced you enough, then?”
“I guess we’ll find out.”
“What about my family?”
“I guess,” Paxton replied, “we’ll find out.”
The old veteran stood and retrieved a Glock .45 from behind him. He pulled the chamber back then clicked the safety off. Forte’s eyes never left the gun. He tried to speak when he saw Paxton begin to attach the silencer to the barrel.
“What the hell is this about?” Forte demanded. “I told you what you wanted to know!”
“Yes,” Paxton replied, “you did, and I thank you. I never said you’d be getting out of this alive, though, did I?”
“What’s killing me going to prove? Killing an Agent in cold blood…”
“It won’t be the first time. But, let me ask you one last question.”
“What else do you want from me?” Forte demanded.
“That name…Jenna Kaspar, are you sure you don’t know it?”
“No, I’ve never heard that name.”
Paxton pulled the gun up and aimed it at Forte’s forehead. He used the curved “U” shape and the metal pointer at the end to aim: easy shot. The Agent would be dead before he felt any pain from the bullet entry. He breathed in, the look of a hardened killer in his eyes. What was one more body?
“Wait! Wait!” Forte cried out.
“Last words,” Paxton replied. “Make them count.”
“Tell my wife and kids that I love them.”
PSST!
The silencer made the shot of the gun come out like a whisper. Forte’s lifeless head now hung to the left. Paxton looked at the mess he created as he twisted the silencer off. He motioned with his head for Kilbourne and Li to get out. He gave the lifeless body one last look before he joined them.
“What happened?” Krys demanded, wiping away at her eyes.
“It’s done.” Kilbourne replied before walking outside.
Li said nothin
g and joined Kilbourne. Paxton refitted his Glock into its holster and walked into the lobby. The look on Krys’s face caused a hint of guilt in his stomach. He tapped her on the shoulder and motioned for her to leave.
“What happened to him?” Krys asked.
“He’s expired. We’ve got to get out of here.”
“So, you just killed him?”
Paxton scratched the back of his head, “Of course I did. He’s USR, the enemy. We’ve been over this.”
“How are we supposed to…” Krys started.
“Krys, we’ve been over this. If you want to talk about it, we can back at the safe house.”
Krys turned and walked out without saying anything or even looking at Paxton. Kaspar looked deep into his boss’s eyes and did not like what he saw. A horrible thought filled his mind: is this what he would have to become to avenge Mother?
“Let’s go.” Paxton said.
“Sir,” Kaspar replied.
Kaspar led the way outside. At the far end of the alley, the USR van awaited them. He looked over to his right and saw a woman. She stood there terrified. Kaspar wondered if she heard the screams coming from the inside. Did she know…
“Let’s go!” Paxton barked.
Paxton ran towards the van at a pace uncommon for a man of his age. Kaspar looked away from the woman and did the same. He climbed into the back of the van and, before the heavy double doors closed, he heard one last thing.
A terrible scream.