“The sheriff. He died while in the throes of ecstasy with a hooker dressed like a lamb.”
Kent’s eyes slowly met mine. “The sheriff?”
“Yep. Weird town. The CDC will have to come in and dry it out, if you ask me.”
“They won’t.”
The doors opened to the elevator. “Why not?” I asked.
“They don’t think there’s anything here. They investigated during the winter when there was a dry spell and found nothing. They’re done.”
“The FBI?” I whispered.
“Nope. No homegrown criminals. They won’t even consider it.”
“That’s the pits.” I stopped before we opened the door to the big room. “How do you dry out a whole town?”
“One day at a time. We’ll bring in doctors and psychologists and dry them out. But first, we dismantle the water sprinklers. They’re a hazard and the state will probably come in and take over dealing with a lot of it. Considering it’s close to Grande Mesas, we can always declare it unfit.”
“That might be a good idea.”
We wheeled the sheriff’s body into the room, where a few well-wishers were waiting. After we had it set up on the stage, I checked my watch. It was nearly six. My buddies, however, were nowhere to be found. Not even in the back of the room.
“Where’s the gang?” I asked Kent.
“I’ll find out. Don’t leave here. You’re safe.” He nodded toward the back. “Jim’s waiting for you.”
I nodded as Kent left the room. It was just Jim and me left with the mourners, so I joined him in the back.
His arm went around my waist as he leaned up closer to my ear. “Whatcha doing after this is over?”
“You tell me.”
“No, you’re the boss,” he whispered. “I’ll do whatever you want.”
“You know I’m going to be battling the effects of the drugs, right?” I whispered.
He grinned. “That’s why I asked.”
I covered the side of my mouth and moved to his ear. “You know you’re my one and only, and I promise not to sleep with any of them unless they rape me.”
He nodded.
“And I promise not to do anything stupid if I can control it.”
He nodded again and leaned toward my ear. “But if you can’t control it, I won’t hold it against you. It’s not your fault. Just try your best to remember me.”
A tear teased my eye as I looked at his face. “I’ll remember you forever.”
“Do you feel okay?”
“Just a little sad. I guess I’ve been to too many funerals.”
“But you never cry. What’s going on?” he whispered.
I forced a smile to my lips. “I’m going to miss you.”
“Where are you going?”
I leaned up to his ear. “Back to the cell in D.C.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it.”
“You won’t be able to.” I moved back and lowered my head. “Raise our kid the right way, will you?”
He lifted my chin and wiped a tear from my cheek. “I’ll have you do it. You have rights, you know.”
I shook my head and looked at the stage. “The flowers. I’ll be right back.”
He grabbed my arm, making me stop. “I’ll come with you.”
“Not necessary. Chris is down there, and I’m fine.” He let me go and I ran down the stairs. Chris wasn’t at the front desk. No one was around, making me a little bit nervous. I didn’t have time to go find Jim, either, which was troubling in itself. I was alone, and terrorists, who knew I was a Fed, wanted to kidnap me. I just wished I had a gun.
I looked out the front window, but the place was empty. It was almost surreal, because I knew a lot of people would be entering the mortuary at any time for the sheriff’s funeral. I checked my watch. It was five minutes until six. I had five minutes before I’d be kidnapped.
I ran into the back room and took the flowers out of the huge refrigerator, where they kept the flowers fresh. They were yellow daisies with purple irises, looking gorgeous.
I spun around and saw Mr. Moody before me.
“It’s time,” he said.
“Yes, and I need to get the flowers upstairs.” I tried to inch past but he blocked my way.
He took the flowers from me and put them on the table. “No, it’s time for research.” He pulled a gun from his pocket. “My friends want to talk to you.”
“Your friends? Who are they?”
Assam and Vladimir walked out of the autopsy room, also holding guns. “Time to go, Harley,” Assam said.
“My name’s not Harley. Where am I going?”
“With us. We have some things to do to you, just to see how a Fed feels when tortured.”
Vladimir leaned closer to me. “My government wants to talk to you. It seems Natasha’s death wasn’t taken very well.”
“Jim,” I yelled.
“He can’t hear you,” Mr. Moody said. “The music has been turned up.”
“How do you figure into this?”
Mr. Moody glanced over at the two terrorists. “I was given the same antidote they had, and I made money if I helped them out, which I have. The whole town was given money to be used as a test site. It’s sitting in the bank.”
“That’s right,” Assam said. “And when you walked right into our trap, it couldn’t be better.” He chuckled. “Granted, you were kind of forced out here, so it wasn’t as coincidental as you think.”
“No?” I asked him. “Why?”
“We were told there would be some Feds coming into our town.”
“Who told you that?” I asked Assam.
“Someone higher up that we are. We weren’t sure who you were until Jordan verified it for us. But when we found out for sure, we had to tell others. They couldn’t be happier.”
Uh-oh. “Who did you tell?”
“Not your problem,” Vlad said.
I had to stall for time so someone could rescue me. “So who killed Alana?”
“I did.” Willy entered the room, holding a gun. “It’s all been arranged, and now, it’s time to do more testing on a Fed. They’re the worst kind.”
Assam and Vladimir grabbed my arms and dragged me out to their van, pushing me into the back.
“Jane,” Jim yelled from the back of the mortuary, but he was yanked back by Mr. Moody and Willy. He was as stuck as I was.
I was seated beside Vladimir in the middle of the three rows of seats while Assam drove.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Out of town,” Vlad said. He moved me up in the seat and slapped a pair of handcuffs on me. “This should keep you in line.”
I knew how to get out of handcuffs, from the many times my handlers had put me in them. But I couldn’t make my move just yet. I wanted to know what was going on with these guys. If I had to play the stupid female to get it, so be it.
The sun was setting and the drugs in my system were starting to work. I felt miserable, and my heart was racing.
“How does it feel?” Vlad asked.
I looked up at him. “What?”
“The new batch of drugs. How does it feel?”
“Just peachy. How do you feel?”
He looked into my eyes. “Major dose. Do you have a cut on your body somewhere?”
“Yep. My hand. Why?”
His grin turned scary. “Good. We like that because we can do a lot of testing with you. My government will be so happy.”
“Tell me, Vladimir, what happened to Boris, the Russian Ambassador?”
“He was promoted and works directly for the president now. He’s a hero to our country.”
“Even though he wanted to destroy the United States and cause a worldwide incident?”
Vlad smiled even more. “Harley, you don’t know what you’re saying. Boris was sanctioned by one of your own.”
I snapped my head toward him. “Who?”
He grinned. “He’s in Señora Bonita right now; however, I do
n’t think anyone will believe you, since you’re considered to be a sleeper. We had Dieter tell everyone that, just to lessen your credibility.”
I couldn’t believe it. “So I’m not a sleeper?”
“Would you like to be?” He touched my cheek again. “You’re beautiful and we could really use someone like you. Jordan…I mean Jack, didn’t measure up. We smelled him a mile away as a Fed. But you…you could be anyone. We had no idea who you were until Jordan spilled the beans this morning.”
“Why would he do that?”
He leaned closer. “We gave him drugs to tell us everything. We have information like you wouldn’t believe.”
“So who gave Boris the go-ahead? Was it Kent?” It would certainly make sense.
“Ah, I can’t tell you. But there are more Feds here than you know about.” He looked out the front. “Pull over here so we can perform the operation.”
“Operation?” I asked, working on the handcuffs. They were different from the ones I’d had before and not nearly as easy to remove.
“For your tracking device,” Vlad said. “We know all about it.”
Assam pulled to the side of the road and parked. He moved to the back seat, on the other side of me, and waved a wand over my arms.
I was making a plan in my mind. “You guys know I don’t feel well, right?”
“Yes, but you’ll live,” Vlad said and looked at Assam. “Did you find it?”
“Yep.” He reached down to a bag on the floor, removed a knife, and lifted it to my arm.
“Aren’t you going to numb it first?” I said, moving away toward Vlad.
“Nope. You’ll feel nothing,” Assam said. “The drugs in your system will take away all your pain.” He ran his finger over it. “It’s healing. See that?”
The colors swirled around my upper arm. “Are you a doctor or something?”
“Yes. I’m a surgeon in Saudi Arabia.” He cut my arm but I felt nothing. I even felt myself smile.
“Do it again?” I asked.
He looked over at Vlad and laughed. “She’ll work nicely.” He dug the device from my arm while I watched the pretty colors in front of me. I didn’t even care about the handcuffs any longer.
Assam threw the tracking device out the window, and waved the wand over me again. “Nothing. Not even a listening device.”
I should’ve left Kent’s listening device on my shoulder. I had enough sense left in my brain to realize I was doomed, but I just couldn’t remember why.
Chapter 36
After changing vehicles, I was driven far away. I wasn’t sure where it was, because my eyes weren’t fully focusing. The colors moved with the light, striping my view with the most amazing hues I’d ever seen.
“Can you take off my handcuffs so I can touch the pretty colors?” I asked the guys.
“There are no pretty colors. What are you seeing?” Vlad asked.
“Amazing things. I wish you could be in my head. Want to try?”
Vlad inched up to talk to Assam. “Should she be acting like this?”
“The new batch shouldn’t affect them as much. I wonder if she’s experiencing some sort of residue from the last batch.”
“She may be hypersensitive, too.” Vlad moved back to my side. “Want to have sex with me?”
I watched the gray and black colors mingle on his face. “No. You look evil to me.”
“Why?”
“Your colors are gray and black. That can’t be good. Are you dying of a disease?”
“I don’t think so. What color is Assam?”
I looked up at the driver. “You’re Assam, right?”
He glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “Yep.”
I began to giggle uncontrollably. “You’re girlie pink. Are you gay or something?”
“No,” he yelled. “I’d rather be gray or black.”
“Girlie pink, with swirls of odd colors of girlie yellow. I swear, you’re gay. Are you sure you don’t want to make out with this guy?” I nodded toward Vladimir, still swirling in gray and black.
“The name’s Vladimir,” Vlad said. “Do you have any wishes right now?”
“Yeah. I want to eat. Whatcha got to eat?”
“No food,” Assam said. “And I’m not gay. I’ll prove it to you as soon as we stop.”
“No, I don’t sleep with men like you. You’re mean and cut my arm.” I looked down, watching the red and blue colors run down my arm. “It’s still bleeding, so you don’t care about me. I don’t like men like you. Nope, no way.”
“You’re not bleeding,” Assam said. “I put a bandage over the small hole I made.”
“I’m watching it right now.” The blood poured out of my arm and down to my leg. “It’s hitting the seat right now. What pretty colors.”
“Give her the antidote,” Vlad said. “I think she’s going nuts.”
“There’s no blood,” Assam said. “Harley, you’re hallucinating.”
“My name’s not Harley.” At least I could try to snow them. “I have a new name. It’s Ethereal.” Oh, I liked that name.
“Ethereal?” Vlad leaned up to Assam. “Give her the antidote right now. She won’t tell us the truth and won’t know reality from fantasy.”
“Fantasy?” I nodded off into the distance. “I think we’re headed for the castle. But why are we riding green horses?”
“You’re playing with us,” Assam said.
“Playing what? Ping-pong? I think there’s a table being dragged in that house behind us. Want to check? Whoa, horsey.” I tried to stop the horse, but since my hands were behind me, I had to move with my body. “It won’t stop. Stop the horse.”
“Give her a sedative,” Assam said.
“Won’t that kill her?”
Assam shook his head. “Probably not.” I ignored whatever they were saying, looking out at the places we were passing. Jim would never find me. I was on a different journey, probably facing my death. The thought saddened me and I wanted to cry.
Tears filled my eyes as Vlad put something up to my skin. “I don’t want to die,” I said. “Please don’t behead me?”
“We weren’t going to behead or kill you. We were going to make you into a sleeper,” Vlad said. “You can do a lot of things for us, Harley.”
“Ethereal, please. That’s my name.” My head fell to my chest and my eyes went closed.
~~~~~
“Harley, wake up.”
I opened my eyes and saw Jordan in front of me. “What are you doing here?”
“Protecting you,” he whispered. “What happened?”
“I have no idea.” I tried to move my arms and legs, but they were tied to whatever I was lying on. I looked around the room and decided I was on a king-sized bed. “Where am I?”
“You’re in Animas. This is where they live.”
“Do our guys know this?”
“Nope.” He loosened my straps. “And they won’t find out, either.”
I sat up and massaged my wrists while he pulled the straps off my legs.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because Kent’s their mole. He already knows where they’re located.”
This was just odd. “Are you sure?”
“They told me themselves. I wasn’t to tell him anything, and played along like I knew nothing.” He checked his watch. “Kent should be here any minute.”
“Something’s going on and I don’t know what to do.”
He helped me off the bed. “Come with me. It’s not bad. They did the same thing to me.”
“But you turned to their side.”
“Not really,” he whispered. “I’m just playing along.”
Now I knew they had his mind so discombobulated, he didn’t know right from wrong.
I got off the bed and followed him down a hallway. The swirling colors had subsided, making me wonder why. “How long was I asleep?”
“A day and a half. Today is Wednesday. They did most of the tests on you while you were asleep.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll report it all back to Jim so he’ll know what was done. They didn’t hurt the baby, in case you’re wondering.”
I stopped walking and grabbed his arm, making him stop, too. “You told them?”
He shot me a grin. “No. I didn’t have to. Kent did.”
Now I knew something screwy was going on. Why would Kent tell them that when I wasn’t even sure if I was pregnant.
“What else did he tell them?” I whispered.
“I’m not sure, but I told Dr. White everything. He’s looking into it.”
“Do the good guys know where I’m being held?”
“Not exactly.” He put his hand to a doorknob at the end of the hallway.
I grabbed it and stopped him from opening it. “What do you mean, ‘not exactly’? Can they rescue us or not?”
“Nope.” He opened the door and we both entered. It was a living room. Inside were Assam, Vladimir, Tilvin, and two other men I didn’t recognize.
“Harley,” Vlad said. “How are you feeling now?”
“I’m not sure. What’s going on?”
“Well, we did a lot of tests on you, and thanks to you, our mission is a success. We can continue with taking over America, and with the help of the Department of Homeland Security, it will now become part of Mexico.”
“But the people in town think Mexico’s part of the United States,” I said.
“Nope. The other way around.” Vlad sat up. “As a matter of fact, someone wants to talk to you.”
“Kent, I’m sure,” Jordan whispered. “Now we’ll know for certain.”
A man walked through the door from a different room, smiling at me. “Harley. We meet again.”
My mouth fell to the floor and my eyebrows rose as far as they could go. “Boris? What are you doing in the United States?”
“Porous borders. I’d like you to meet my associate.” He walked to the door. “Is it ready?”
“Sure.” I knew that voice, but it wasn’t Kent’s voice. The man entered the room and I felt all the blood drain from my face. “It’s good to see you again, Harley.”
It was Hugh Jacobson, none other than the Homeland Advisor for the president, director of internal affairs. “You?” I said.
“Director Jacobson?” Jordan said. “I was told it was Kent.”
“Nope. That was to throw you off.” He turned toward me. “And to think we had to torture you for six long months, just to satisfy Kent’s curiosity, when I knew the truth all along. You see, Dieter and I have been friends for years, and I knew you before you even came to the United States from Geneva.”
Murders on the Edge Page 22