by Alex Siegel
He looked around but didn't see a second skydiver. He wondered whether something had gone wrong, and Robertson had sent just one person.
"I'll go see who it is," Mia said.
She ran off, moving fast with her head down.
"I thought we were expecting two," Lewis said.
Stony frowned. "We are."
Lewis made a small choking noise.
Stony looked over and discovered Brian behind Lewis holding a knife to his throat. Brian's black armor covered his slim body from the neck down. His hair was also as black as the night, leaving just his light brown face clearly visible. Brown eyes held a hint of amusement, while Lewis was clearly terrified.
"Who is this gentleman?" Brian said.
"Agent Lewis," Stony said. "He's been hanging out with us all day. Seems like a stand-up guy."
Brian slipped his knife into a sheath on his chest. "Glad to meet you."
Lewis was shivering as he shook Brian's hand.
"I need hardware," Stony said.
"I brought plenty," Brian said. "I'll go back and get it. I left the bag where I landed."
He turned and ran off. His footsteps were silent in the tall grass.
"Is that his idea of a joke?" Lewis said in a shaky voice.
"I thought it was funny," Stony said. "The look on your face was priceless."
Mia returned with Veronica, who was also wearing a complete set of armor. From a distance, her tall, angular body made her look more like a skinny man than a woman. Up close, the soft features of her face and her small breasts eliminated any confusion. A black scrunchie held back her long, black hair. She was carrying a duffle bag with two hands. Stony knew she was a strong woman, but she was struggling with the awkward load.
She dropped the bag on the grass, producing a metallic clank.
"Hello," Lewis said. "You must be Veronica. I'm Agent Lewis." He shook her hand.
"No need to be scared," she said. "We're on the same team."
"Brian was just messing with him," Stony said.
Veronica smiled. "That explains why he looks like he is about to wet his pants."
Brian returned with another duffle bag. Stony opened the bags and was delighted to find a complete set of combat gear for himself and Mia.
He grinned as he pulled out an AA-12. In his opinion, it was the best fully automatic shotgun on the market even though the design dated back two decades. Two drum magazines were in the bag, each with 32 shotgun shells. The gun could burn through an entire drum in seven seconds.
"We thought that would work well against dogs and bears," Brian said.
"It's perfect," Stony said.
"So what's been happening? The reports coming back to headquarters have been a little sketchy."
Stony and Mia changed into their combat gear as they made their report. Brian and Veronica didn't say anything when they heard about the tortured and sacrificed children, but their faces were tight.
Finally, everybody settled in to wait for Orcus.
A few minutes later, Stony saw activity at the police roadblock. The troopers talked on their radios briefly. Then they all jumped into their cruisers and drove off, abandoning the line of waiting cars.
"What's going on?" Stony said.
Mia's phone rang at the same moment as Agent Lewis's phone. Stony realized he really needed to get a new phone for himself.
"Orcus hit a different roadblock," Mia reported. "Tennessee River Bridge near Parsons. Thirty miles east of here."
"Did Orcus get through?" Stony said.
"Yes, and he left a mess behind."
"We'll take the helicopter."
The five of them sprinted back to the helicopter, which was still parked in a nearby field. Stony and Brian carried the duffle bags. The engine turned on as they approached.
"Tennessee River!" Stony yelled as he climbed onboard.
"I heard!" the pilot replied. "I have the coordinates! Buckle up! We're flying low and fast!"
Everybody found a seat and buckled their belts. The helicopter leapt off the ground seconds later and shot forward as soon as it cleared the trees. Stony looked out the window, and his heart pounded. They were so close to the ground, the rotor wash was making branches sway.
The helicopter reached the bridge ten minutes later. It circled the area, giving Stony an overview of the crime scene.
Three troopers were lying on the bridge, dead. There was so much blood, it was hard to tell what injury had actually killed them. The bodies of a few dogs were also visible, and Stony guessed they had been the attackers. He wondered if he might find any useful clues on the dogs.
Civilians were wandering around, and some were even taking pictures with their phones. Nobody was controlling the crime scene or protecting the evidence. Cars containing other troopers were arriving though, so Stony didn't expect the chaos to persist.
"Put us down," Stony told the helicopter pilot.
The river had a small inlet with a marina. The pilot landed the helicopter on the parking lot for the marina.
"Better leave the big guns behind," Agent Lewis said. "Don't want to scare the cops."
Stony, Mia, Brian, and Veronica grudgingly removed their automatic weapons and set them down in the helicopter. The members of the third division kept only their armor and a single pistol in a holster. They were still federal agents after all and had a right to be armed.
Everybody but the pilot climbed out of the helicopter.
"Fly east along the highway," Stony told the pilot. "Look for Orcus's horse trailer. If you see it or anything suspicious, call it in."
"Yes, sir," the pilot said.
The helicopter lifted off and quickly vanished from sight.
The five PEA agents ran to the nearby highway and proceeded onto the bridge. The Tennessee River was a few hundred feet wide, so the bridge was high and long. An endless line of cars was waiting to get across, and Stony expected they would be turned away now. The triple-murder investigation would probably last until morning.
Stony led his group at a run. Talking to witnesses was his top priority. They might know something that would help the PEA catch Orcus.
He reached the crime scene where a dozen state troopers were already working. They had established a perimeter around the evidence and were starting to conduct interviews.
"Whoa!" an officer said. "Who the hell are you guys?"
Agent Lewis took out his identification. "Federal agents. We're here to help."
The trooper stared suspiciously at Stony and his friends in their black, futuristic body armor.
"We're hardcore," Stony said. "Get over it."
He walked to the nearest witness, a woman in a blue dress with purple flowers printed on it. She was overweight, and the headlights illuminated her pink face.
"What happened?" he said. "Start at the beginning."
"A lot of dogs attacked," she said. "They came running down the bridge in a big pack. While the police were fighting the dogs, a bear ran in and finished the fight! You believe me, right?"
"Yes. What happened next?"
"All the animals ran back the way they came." She pointed west. "They were organized, like a little army."
"Did you see a horse trailer?" Stony said.
The witness narrowed her eyes. "Horse trailer?"
"You know! A big truck trailer for carrying horses. This one had stainless steel on the outside."
She shook her head. "No. I didn't see anything like that."
He clenched his jaw.
"A motorhome came through afterwards though," the witness added. "It almost drove over one of the dead cops."
Stony and Mia exchanged glances.
"Orcus could've switched vehicles," she murmured.
"Describe the motorhome," Stony told the witness. "Be specific."
Agent Lewis took out his phone, opened an app, and held the phone close to her mouth.
"White with brown stripes," she said. "Big. Twin axels in back. Definitely a luxury model."<
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"Any words or other markings?" Stony said. "Did you get the license plate?"
She shook her head. "No. Sorry. I was freaked out and not paying a lot of attention."
He sighed and turned to Lewis. "Call it in. Make sure the helicopter pilot knows to look for a motorhome."
"Yes, sir," Lewis said.
He began to make calls.
The police radios carried by the troopers came to life. Stony overheard something about an injured child in the woods near the west end of the bridge. Then he heard the name "Orcus," which the police shouldn't have known. The most obvious explanation was that a kidnapped child had escaped.
Stony looked at his teammates. "We need to talk to that kid now."
He sprinted off without waiting for an acknowledgement.
He ran back the way he had come and reached the end of the bridge after a short time. He spotted a State Police car with flashing lights and headed towards it. A group of adults with two police officers had gathered together.
Stony pushed his way into the crowd and found a boy sitting on the pavement. His face was badly bruised. Red marks on his wrists indicated he had been tied up recently, and a cut piece of rope was lying nearby. He had no shoes or shirt, and brown stains marked his short pants, as if he had sat on something nasty. Stony guessed the boy was eight or nine-years-old, certainly not a kindergartener. Perhaps he was one of the missing children from the dog fighting farms.
"I'm a federal agent!" Stony yelled. "Everybody back off! Give this kid some space!"
Mia, Brian, and Veronica arrived. Stony didn't see Agent Lewis yet.
Veronica knelt down in front of the boy. With her extraordinary sensitivity, she was the best person to interview him. Stony, Mia, and Brian pushed the crowd back a few paces, although the two police officers were reluctant to move at first.
"What's your name?" Veronica said softly. "I'm Veronica."
"Mason," the boy replied in a southern accent.
"What happened to you?"
"A bad man killed my ma and pa. Took me and my sister away. She is still with him."
"We're doing everything possible to rescue all the children." She gave Mason's hand a squeeze. "Does the bad man have a name?"
"Orcus." His face twisted in anger.
"We know about him. How did you escape?"
"All the kids had chains around their necks, but mine was loose. When Orcus took the dogs out, I got the chain over my head. I couldn't help the other kids. Their chains were too tight. I ran off by myself."
"Don't feel guilty," Veronica said. "You made the only possible choice. What kind of vehicle were you in? A bus?"
"In a bus at the beginning. Then we switched to a stinky horse trailer. Then a big motorhome. It was crowded with all the dogs."
"Did he have somebody with him? A woman?"
"She started with us," Mason said, "but when we switched to the horse trailer, she split off."
"What do you mean?"
"Half the kids and dogs went with her. I don't know where. I haven't seen them all day."
Stony and Mia exchanged alarmed looks. He remembered that the forensic technicians had found two sets of tire tracks inside the old warehouse in Jackson. Apparently, Orcus and Pomona had divided the hostages and had gone in separate directions. Pomona could be halfway to California by now, Stony realized.
"Do you remember anything else?" Veronica said. "A name? A place? Did you overhear an interesting conversation?"
"Orcus didn't talk much, and if we opened our mouths or moved, a dog bit us." Mason held up his arm and showed a bloody bite mark. "I couldn't sneak out until the dogs were gone."
Orcus took the dogs for the attack on the checkpoint, Stony thought.
"Think hard," Veronica said. "Anything you can tell us might help us save the other kids. You were with Orcus all day. He might've let something slip out."
"He said a name. It sounded important."
She leaned forward. "What?"
"Call... cool-gula or something," the kid said.
"Caligula?"
"Yeah."
Stony recognized the name as belonging to an ancient Roman emperor, one infamous for extreme cruelty and depravity. Stony didn't know why the name was relevant in modern Tennessee though. He looked at Mia, and she shrugged.
Agent Lewis had arrived by this time, but he was trying to catch his breath.
"Is that all you remember?" Veronica said.
Mason nodded.
She patted him on the shoulder. "You did a good job. You're a very brave young man. Wait here."
All the PEA agents made their way out of the crowd and found a quiet spot across the highway.
"We can't let the police take that kid away," Lewis said. "The PEA needs to check him out and make sure he isn't cursed."
"Call headquarters," Stony said. "Tell them to send somebody to get him. Also, have them run the name 'Caligula' through the computer."
Lewis took out his phone and made a call.
Stony looked around and tried to understand the exact details of Orcus's attack. He had parked the motorhome in the woods just off the highway. He had sent the dogs first, and then he had followed close behind in the form of a bear. Darkness had allowed the attackers to approach the police without being seen. Straightforward and effective, Stony thought.
Lewis put away his phone. "Caligula was a Roman emperor," he reported.
"I knew that," Stony said.
"Yes, but it turns out he's also a Satanist who lives north of Memphis. Alleged child molester, but no convictions. He lives with a clan of devil worshippers. The PEA has a whole file on him."
Stony narrowed his eyes. "Orcus has an ally."
"I have his address."
"We'll take the helicopter."
"We need some kind of approval before attacking," Lewis said.
"We'll call Director Robertson while we're in the air."
Chapter Fourteen
"We're approaching the target," the helicopter pilot yelled.
"Set us down about a half-mile away," Stony said. "I don't want the subjects to hear the helicopter."
"Yes, sir."
Stony, Mia, Brian, Veronica, and Agent Lewis were riding in the back of the helicopter. The first four had rearmed, although they were under orders to "avoid making a mess" unless Orcus was actually seen at the location. Caligula and his clan weren't wanted by the PEA. Stony and his team were merely authorized to question them.
"Seems strange," Mia said.
"What does?" Stony said.
"Orcus didn't need to kill those officers on the bridge. I'm sure he could've come here without calling attention to himself. There are plenty of backroads around here."
"Maybe he likes killing cops, or he's trying to throw us off. He goes east then west, north then south. We don't know where he'll strike next."
She frowned. "He's too smart to just mess around like that. It's like he's trying to attract attention."
"Or draw attention away from Pomona," he said. "We haven't even started looking for her."
The helicopter came down in a golf course but didn't actually land. The aircraft hovered a couple of feet above the grass.
"Looks too soft for the landing gear," the pilot explained.
The four members of the third division hopped out, and Stony discovered the ground was indeed soft, almost mushy. Lewis remained in the helicopter. He had no business going to a place where they might run into Orcus.
Mia used the navigation system on her phone. "That way." She pointed towards a line of trees.
Stony took the lead with Mia close behind. Veronica was third, the traditional position of the weakest fighter. Brian was last.
The team jogged across the golf course, passed through some trees, and reached a road.
Mia pointed right. "Go."
There were no streetlights, and Stony was afraid of tripping in the darkness, so he took a flashlight from his utility belt. He turned it on and pointed it forward.
"Damn!" Brian said. "Did you have to do that? You practically blinded me."
"Sorry," Stony said, "but I couldn't see."
"I was doing just fine. You need to develop your other senses. Practice working in the dark."
"Not tonight, and I don't want to hear about how you can catch an arrow blindfolded. It's some kind of cheap trick."
Whenever a car drove past, the team had to hide in the grass, but they still made quick progress. Traffic was very light so late at night.
After jogging half a mile, Mia raised her hand. "This is it," she whispered.
Stony turned off his flashlight.
A one-story house stood in the middle of several trees. He couldn't tell the color of the walls in the darkness. Some lights were on inside the house, but closed curtains prevented him from looking through the windows. He couldn't see any neighbors through the forest.
"Very secluded," Stony whispered. "Brian, we need some recon."
Brian had already vanished. Stony sighed with annoyance.
Veronica threw up quietly onto the grass, and the sour odor made Stony take a step away. He knew she wasn't scared. She just had a "pre-game ritual" which involved emptying her stomach. She didn't want anything slowing her down in a fight. Some professional athletes did the same.
Stony was cradling his AA-12 in his arms, and that was the only ritual he needed.
A few minutes later, he heard the tiniest rustle in the grass. Anybody else would've dismissed it as the breeze, but he knew what it meant. He spun around and aimed his shotgun.
Brian stood up. "So you are developing your other senses."
"With you around, what choice do I have?" Stony lowered his weapon.
Brian joined the group. "I didn't see any sign of trouble," he whispered, "but I didn't get a good look into the house. The curtains are taped in place. No gaps at all."
"Entrances?"
"Front door, back door, and a good number of windows. I like one of the windows on the right side. Veronica, you really need to puke further away from the battlefield. Enemies might smell it."
"Show us the window," Stony said.
Brian led the group around the house to the right. He pointed to a small, dark window high on a wall. Stony expected it was a bathroom window. Squeezing through wouldn't be a problem for Brian or the two women, but Stony had big shoulders. He doubted he could make it.