by Hadena James
“Well?” He suddenly exploded at us.
“Well what?” I asked, giving him a look.
“By now, I’m immune to that glare, Cain,” Gabriel told me.
“I haven’t the foggiest idea what you are rambling about,” I shook my head and then cocked it sideways.
“Are you feeling anything at the moment?” Lucas asked me.
“Not really,” I answered.
“Because you two tackled teenagers on Las Vegas Boulevard and it’s not only on the news but on the internet,” Gabriel informed me.
“Is that why you’re angry?” I asked.
“Good fucking grief!” Gabriel shouted, raising his fists towards the ceiling and shook them.
“In our defense, they opened fire on us, we just chased them down,” Xavier said.
“What the hell were you doing there in the first place?” Gabriel shouted again.
“I told you it was a bad idea,” I whispered to Xavier.
“Oh my god,” Gabriel’s demeanor completely changed with that utterance. He sank onto the bed like a deflated balloon. His face changed color again, returning to its more pasty white appearance.
“That’s better,” I said. “Now that you’re calm, I’ll explain. So, Xavier and I went to the morgue to assure the coroner that our bodies wouldn’t be a problem. But Xavier became creepy and I sociopathed out and we ended up freaking her out even more. We decided to exit before we did more damage, meaning I think you and Lucas should go talk to her tomorrow. Her name is Dr. Andrea Price, very nice girl, very young for a doctor, but what do I know.”
“Get on with it,” Gabriel’s head was now being supported by his hands.
“Anyway, after jerking Xavier out of the morgue, we were discussing things in the parking lot and decided we would come back using the Strip to get here. We were stopped at a red light and two young men, juveniles, opened fire on our vehicle. We jumped out, they ran, we pursued and caught them. We held them at our vehicle until the local police arrived. At that point we turned them over to local authorities and we drove straight here. I don’t know why everyone and their mother seemed to want to record the event. I do know that we were well within our purview. Not only did they open fire on us and a federally marked vehicle, but they were shooting with a large crowd near them. If they had turned on the crowd, dozens would have died. We were running on the theory that our job, as hunters of mass murders as well as serial killers, made us duty bound to secure the subjects and stop them from harming innocent lives.”
“I hate when you sound sane and logical,” Gabriel groaned.
“Funny, Nyleena always says the same thing. Or rather, she says that crazy people should not sound that sane and logical, but it’s essentially the same,” I answered.
“Did you learn anything?” Gabriel asked in defeat.
“I learned that I never want to be on Las Vegas Boulevard again. I don’t know if it was intentionally designed to trigger seizures, migraines and other neurological disorders or not, but if it wasn’t, it was geniusly and subconsciously designed to do just that,” I told him.
“Is that why you closed your eyes and were leaning against the window?” Xavier asked.
“Yes, it was making my eyes hurt. Next stop would have been my head,” I answered.
“I thought it was the nude guy running down the road,” Xavier said.
“I must have missed the nude guy,” I answered.
“Maybe you already had your eyes closed,” Xavier shrugged. “That’s probably why the locals responded so fast though. They were probably already on their way to handle the nude guy when someone called our incident in.”
“Sometimes, I feel like I’m babysitting a kindergarten class,” Gabriel sighed again.
“You are not allowed to have a nervous breakdown. Perhaps you should spend a few hours a week working out your issues with Lucas,” I tried to make it sound encouraging.
“Your concern would be touching if I didn’t know you better,” Gabriel looked at me and rubbed a hand over his face.
“I am concerned about you,” I told him.
“Yes, but only because if I go and have a break down, you get a new boss. So the concern is actually ‘you-centric’.” Gabriel stood up.
“It’s still concern, that’s more than most people get out of me,” I admitted.
“There is that,” Gabriel stretched some. “We have real beds tonight, I recommend we use them. Xavier’s mummy specialist will be in tomorrow to give us some information about the bodies. Hopefully, we can use it to start chasing our serial killer.”
“I think I prefer the ones that shoot women because they have mommy issues,” I yawned, realizing I was tired.
“When was the last time we had one of those?” Lucas asked.
“Beats me,” Gabriel answered, sitting back down. “It’s been a while.”
“At least we aren’t being blackballed for shooting chimpanzees,” I grinned, thinking about Malachi, who was still stuck in the desert.
“I admit, I’m very glad we passed on that case,” Gabriel said.
“Me too,” I agreed. “Should we do the methyl mercury check list before going to bed?”
“Do you think you were exposed to methyl mercury?” Gabriel asked.
“No, but I didn’t think I’d get shot at on Las Vegas Boulevard tonight either,” I said.
“Actually, you did. If I remember right, you said it was a bad idea because we were lunatic magnets,” Xavier chided.
“I would never use the word ‘lunatic’,” I commented.
“I was paraphrasing,” Xavier answered. “Besides, I don’t believe we were exposed to methyl mercury. We wouldn’t have been able to run down two teenagers with semi-automatic weapons.”
“You might not have been able to, but Ace could,” Lucas spoke again for the first time in almost twenty minutes. “You forget, Ace isn’t like us.”
“You say that like I’m deranged,” I told him.
“In some ways,” Lucas smiled at me. “Take it as a compliment. Do we have a game plan?”
“Not really,” Gabriel told him. “We are mostly hoping that our serial killer doesn’t get injection happy while we sit with our thumbs up our asses wondering what to do next.”
“Do we actually investigate anything?” I asked.
“Yes,” Lucas answered.
“No,” Xavier said.
“I don’t know,” Gabriel looked the most thoughtful.
“Ok, on that note of optimism, I’m off to bed,” I stood up, left Gabriel’s room and entered mine in a matter of less than a minute. Our rooms shared walls. I was sandwiched in between Lucas and Xavier’s shared room and Gabriel and Michael’s shared room. Having a room to myself was a huge bonus of being the only girl.
In my own room, with the air conditioning on full blast, I kicked out of my shoes. The irony of having the air on full blast was not lost on me and I took a moment to wonder how cold my house was.
I needed a laundry service because I was quickly running through clothes due to sweat. My socks peeled off my feet with weird noises and a foul odor. I tossed them into the trash and texted Lucas about a laundry service. He texted me back and told me that the hotel did indeed have one.
Since I couldn’t figure out where or how the laundry service worked, I broke down and called the front desk. While talking to the annoying night time desk clerk, who thought my calling about laundry at 9:45 p.m. was obscene, my stomach growled. So I ticked him off a little more by ordering room service.
It had been two very long days. I didn’t have a sunburn, not even a red spot. My sunscreen had done the job. I did have a minor wind rash on my face, but nothing lotion and lip chap wouldn’t help.
After searching my room a second time, I finally found the “To Be Laundered” bag and shoved most of my clothes into it. I debated digging the sweaty, smelly socks out of the garbage and decided my ankle sweat could remain in the trash. I could always buy new socks. I did tie up the flims
y, opaque trashcan liner and put it in the hallway with the bag full of laundry.
I spent the next twenty minutes checking email and searching for the videos of Xavier and I chasing down the hoodlums from earlier in the evening. They weren’t hard to find. As a matter of fact, Xavier and I were trending. I knew because the internet told me so.
Room service finally arrived with my salad and turkey sandwich. I tipped the delivery man and closed the door. The food made my stomach growl even louder. There was a knock at the door.
“Go away!” I shouted, sitting down to eat.
“We’re going out to grab food, do you want anything?” Lucas shouted back.
“I just ordered room service,” I got up and opened the door to him.
“They have room service this late?” He eyed my sandwich.
“Yes and get your own,” I told him as I sat back down.
“No problem,” Lucas used my phone and ordered food. He disappeared again.
Food was a huge part of our lives. We were on the road almost all the time, good meals were few and far between, unless you were addicted to restaurant fare. Xavier and I both had to eat at regular intervals; he had blood pressure issues that I suspected were related to his bleeding problem. I wasn’t a bleeder, Xavier was a gusher. I wanted to ask him if he was a hemophiliac but I hadn’t gotten up the nerve yet.
My door opened again and Xavier came in. Behind him were Gabriel and Lucas. I sighed at them.
“We are going to enjoy a meal together,” Gabriel told me.
“This isn’t a work unit, it’s a family from Hell,” I told him.
“I would agree with that,” Gabriel gave me a small grin. “Besides, togetherness breeds...”
“Contempt,” I interrupted him.
“I was going to say fondness, but contempt might be more accurate,” Gabriel eyed my sandwich.
“Don’t even think about it,” I told him. “I like you, but not enough to let you have part of my sandwich. As a matter of fact, I’m so hungry; I might stab you with my fork if you touch it.”
“Noted,” Xavier pulled his hand back.
“You, I’ll share with,” I handed him half of the turkey sandwich.
“Why is he special?” Lucas asked.
“Because we had lunch at the same time and I don’t want him passing out while he waits on his overloaded cheeseburger,” I told Lucas.
“How’d you know I got a cheeseburger?” Xavier asked, shoving part of the sandwich into his mouth.
“Because you almost always order a cheeseburger,” Gabriel mimicked Xavier’s odd speech pattern, but not on purpose.
Xavier seemed to have a past within a past. I didn’t know all the details, like Lucas, there were things he didn’t talk about. His blood pressure problems were among them. The scar that went right through the area of his heart was another. But I had seen Xavier suddenly turn white as a sheet and pass out. I’d been with him once or twice when he sprinkled white powder on his superficial wounds and seen him start to stitch himself up while barking orders to others about getting extra gauze dressings and things to help control the bleeding.
I couldn’t imagine the Marshals letting a hemophiliac into the Serial Crimes Tracking Unit, but anything was possible.
“Don’t worry, we ordered you another sandwich,” Gabriel said, taking a bite out of my salad.
“You’re an ass,” I told him.
“I know, but you love me anyway,” he said, shoving lettuce and a tomato into his mouth. I didn’t really care about the tomato, I didn’t like them; they were too sweet. I didn’t eat many fruits for that reason. I considered making a snide comment about the “love comment,” but thought better of it. Xavier and I had already pushed enough of Gabriel’s buttons for one night.
I had finished off my food, with their help, when theirs arrived. They had indeed ordered me another sandwich. This one wasn’t turkey, but spicy chicken. I ate about a third of it before I had to push the plate away. My mouth was on fire and I was stuffed.
Xavier polished off his extra loaded cheeseburger that had everything but silverware in it and then they began dividing up the leftover chicken sandwich. I sighed and pushed away from the table. I looked around and realized I could either sit back down at the table or throw myself onto the bed.
I went for dramatic and let my body just fall into the bed, backwards. There was a whooshing noise as the air exited the comforter under my weight. All three guys turned to look at me.
“Sleepy?” Lucas asked.
“Exhausted and full. When you finish, take the room service trays into the hall and go away,” I told them.
“You are exceptionally cranky tonight,” Xavier said.
“I found our video online. It is trending. I haven’t figured out what that means yet, but I’m sure it’s not good,” I told him.
“It’s a search engine/Twitter thing. It means people are actually watching your video and as more people watch it, it becomes progressively more attractive, ensuring that even more people watch it. The SCTU trended last month when you took down that serial killer in Charleston with multiple stab wounds gushing blood,” Gabriel said.
“Great,” I muttered and closed my eyes.
Twelve
It was dark and ice cold when I awoke. I was in the same awkward position that I had been in while the guys ate dinner. I hadn’t heard them leave, proving I had been exhausted. A noise caught my attention. It was faint, almost inaudible, but as the doorknob clicked a second time, I suddenly realized exactly why I was awake.
It wasn’t the cold or the uncomfortable position. Someone was trying to get into my room. I slid quietly from the bed, unholstered one of the Berettas and knelt down beside the bed.
Another click. I held my breath. If it was one of the guys, they would have knocked by now. I searched the dark for my phone. A tiny flash of green light caught my attention on the table where we had been eating. Carefully, I reached for it and quietly brought it down to me. I started texting just as the door to my room opened.
The gunfire was loud. It echoed off the walls, floors, ceilings, making it impossible to hear anything else. I moved closer to the bed, my only cover. I held my breath and counted to five, then I rolled out and fired, emptying the magazine of my gun at the figure silhouetted in the doorway.
The shadow jerked with every bullet. The body appeared to be doing some spasmodic dance as I fired. It wouldn’t sink to the ground. Finally, it fell face down into the room and a second shadow appeared in its place. I grabbed the other gun, but the figure was joined by a third larger shadow. The larger shadow was holding something to the smaller shadow’s head. I let out a breath.
“Clear?” I shouted.
“All clear, Ace,” Lucas’s voice came back to me.
I stood up. Lucas, the large shadow, was placing someone in handcuffs. In the hallway, Gabriel’s voice was trying to calm someone or rather, several someones. Xavier moved into the room and flipped on the light.
If I had been in the bed, I’d be dead. The mattress was riddled with holes. The wall leading to the exterior of the hotel was also full of bullet holes.
“Has anyone checked outside to see if there was collateral damage in the parking lot?” I asked pointing to the wall.
“On it,” Gabriel shouted from the hallway.
“Are you okay?” Xavier asked as he bent down to check on the guy I had shot.
“I’m fine,” I answered inspecting myself. Sometimes when the adrenaline was surging, I didn’t feel injuries. I checked my shirt and pajama pants for blood spots and didn’t see any.
“Are you sure?” Lucas asked again.
“Do you know something I don’t?” I retorted. “I’m fine, what about the guys that just broke into my hotel room?”
“One’s dead, the other in custody,” Lucas answered.
Xavier was examining the bed. His fingers tracing lines on the ruined bedspread. In a whisper, almost too quiet to be heard over the swishing of the air condi
tioner, he was counting. I guessed he was counting the holes.
“You are very lucky,” Lucas dragged the other thug into the room with him.
“I heard the door trying to open,” I told him.
“Ace, I think you should go to the hospital,” Xavier stood up and stared at me.
“I feel fine,” I gritted my teeth.
“I believe you do, but the blood on your leg says otherwise,” Xavier came around the bed and knelt in front of me. There wasn’t much blood on my pajamas. However, a small pool of it was forming and spreading on the floor around my socked foot. Xavier lifted the leg of my pajamas and found the wound. I had gotten a gash in my calf or more likely, I had been hit by a bullet. I felt no pain, but the entire area was already raised up and mottled white and pink from numerous scars.
“It’s going to at least need stitches and I would recommend a nerve test,” Xavier dropped my pant leg.
“Go with her, Xavier,” Gabriel came into the room. “No bystanders were hit.”
“Good,” I stared at the thug. He had a shaved head, more tattoos than I could count and skin so white, he seemed like a ghost. I wanted to ask if he instantly sunburned in daylight, but refrained.
“We’ll get our hotel rooms moved while you go get cleaned and stitched,” Lucas said.
“Fun,” I looked at Xavier.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you seem more detached than normal,” Xavier finally stood up.
“I’m wondering why they broke into my room with machine guns,” I answered.
Now that the immediate danger was over, rage was building. Rage was the only emotion to ever penetrate the calm. However, it wasn’t like being angry. Anger conveyed an emotion that could be controlled. Rage was different. It was primal, a caged tiger waiting for the right moment to pounce its prey. It broke through the calm and created a monster that was threatening to explode.
The jerk and his buddy had busted up a perfectly good hotel room, endangered the lives of others, and for what? One had died, the other was in custody and I was alive. Whatever impulse they had hoped to fill had brought them into my clutches.