Death in the Beginning (The God Tools Book 1)

by Gary Williams

  The man who had attacked them was a professional killer. A professional, no matter what their calling, always has a back-up plan in case circumstances do not unfold as expected. It would be sloppy for him to allow any of the three targets to escape. He had made no attempt to conceal his identity. Lila was certain he would not risk leaving a survivor who could identify him to the authorities.

  Her heartbeat notched up.

  She slowly retracted the key from the ignition. Since opening the door had not been a trigger, the most probable alternative was a detonator synced to the start of the engine. Cautiously she opened the door and stepped out, then closed it ever so gently.

  Lila walked to the front of the SUV, bent down, and examined the hood latch before raising it. She knew very little about cars; only what Curt had taught her, but when she saw exposed green and black wires running behind the grill, she knew they did not belong there.

  Lila thought for a moment. She did not dare try to raise the hood. Besides, she would have no idea how to disarm it. Her best alternative was to use the remote key, which also had a button that functioned as a remote engine start button. She could stand a safe distance away behind a tree, click the remote starter, and detonate the vehicle. The killer would hear the explosion and assume she was dead. She could then journey through the woods down to the nearest town six miles away. It would not be easy, but it was a hell of a lot safer if the killer thought she was already dead.

  Lila walked from the glade and took refuge around a secondary line of trees. The SUV was still visible, but she would be well shielded here. She sat on the ground, leaning back against the tree. The young faces of Trudy Gaines and Walker Denoy popped into her head. Theirs were senseless deaths, one carried out by a ruthless killer. It still made no sense, unless perhaps someone else was trying to claim discovery of the ancient cave. But then why destroy it? Lila’s rage returned. This time it festered. It was beyond comprehension to think the bearded man might walk away from his crimes. Dr. Lila Falls could not accept, nor could she live with, this possibility.

  Lila looked down in her hand at the remote starter button.

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  Thursday, August 18, 1:45 a.m.

  Tina had called for her mommy continuously for hours, gagging through the tears, eyes squeezed shut. She could not bear to look at the thing on the ground even though it was facing away from her. Now, her cheeks ached, her eyes burned.

  Tina whimpered in her next breath, trying to hold back the tears. She opened her eyes and looked around the room, avoiding the floor. A small candle provided murky light. There was an odd, unsettling smell about the place.

  Without windows, Tina had no idea if it were day or night. A howling outside sounded as if ghosts were lurking just beyond the walls. It was an all too familiar sound Tina had once heard when she and her mother were driving through a storm. Her mother had told her it was just the wind. Listening to it now, Tina knew the wind was alive and angry.

  Claps of thunder rumbled in the distance. Over the last several minutes, the sound had grown louder. The storm was coming for her. Tina began to sob again, writhing in pain, her wrists and ankles bound tightly to the chair.

  Out of the corner of her eye she saw the shoddily clothed figure on the floor twitch. Tina’s breath caught, and her heart raced. The body slowly rolled over. A hand flopped on the ground next to its closed eyes. One finger was malformed, missing, nothing more than a grotesque stump of skin. Tina gasped, terrified at the sight. Tears welled. For the first time, she saw the woman’s ghastly face: taut, leathery skin with deep eye sockets. The woman scowled even in her sleep, exposing yellow teeth. Her dirty, stringy dark hair was in knots, and her arms had fresh scratches. The dress hung loosely, sleeves ripped up to the shoulders.

  Tina knew she was in the presence of evil. She had witnessed the power and viciousness of the woman when she had struggled with her captors. The two bad men had given her a shot of something, and she had gone to sleep. Then the door had been shut, and it was the last she saw of the men.

  The scary woman had remained still ever since. Now, she shifted again, rolling away from Tina onto her back. Tina cringed, watching the woman’s closed eyes.

  Please don’t wake up! Please don’t wake up!

  The woman twitched again.

  Where are you, Mommy?! Why haven’t you come for me?!

  Tina sobbed sporadically, swallowing hard each time. Tears slid down her warm cheeks. She was terrified of making noise and waking the woman, yet she could not stop crying. She desperately wanted her mommy to take her away from this place; away from the mad woman on the ground.

  A burst of thunder made Tina flinch. She clamped her eyes shut waiting for it to pass.

  As the rumbling faded, Tina opened her eyes and looked down. Two white eyes stared back at her from the floor. A snarl was fixed on the charcoal-smudged face. With a malevolent expression as horrifying as anything Tina had ever witnessed, the monster slowly pushed herself up.

  Tina let out a blood-curdling scream.

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  Thursday, August 18, 1:45 a.m. EST US (6:45 a.m. DST.) – Isla de la Palma

  Addison Gagnon was surprised to see Dr. Falls scaling the side of the mountain.

  A beautiful archaeologist with evasive skills. He smiled.

  He had watched her movement all the while pretending not to notice her. He felt a certain degree of professional pride at the redundancy plan he had put in place. Frankly, he had thought rigging the SUV with explosives was unnecessary. Force of habit caused him to adhere to his own strict protocol, and he was damn glad he had. It was situations like these that justified his reputation as a top-notch mercenary. He did things right.

  Goddamn, I’m good.

  Now, the backup plan would work to perfection. The series of cell phone scramblers he had placed around the base of the mountain guaranteed she would be unable to call for outside assistance. Predictably, she had returned to her SUV. In a way, it was a perfect ending to the job. He was going to have to ditch the car and destroy everything in it anyway. Now he would kill two birds with one stone.

  It was a pity, though. For a woman in her thirties, she had one hell of a body. He would have preferred to admire her lifeless form, her seductive curves, with a simple gunshot to the head. He might have even taken advantage of the situation. Now he doubted any trace of the body would ever be recovered.

  Fifteen minutes passed, and he was still waiting for the explosion. Curiosity got the better of him, and he moved up the mountain for a better view. He turned and slowly traversed the perimeter of the slope until the glade came into view. The SUV was still there, perched beside the small body of water. Blocked by the mountain, sunlight would not reach the glade for hours. For now, the area was cast in shadows. Several white-colored items hung off the side window of the vehicle. What appeared to be a flag was draped over the hood. Gagnon saw no movement. It was a curious sight.

  He pulled his binoculars from his backpack and settled behind a boulder for cover. He lifted the binoculars with hopes of clarifying the scene below.

  What he had mistaken for a flag was actually a beach towel. It was lying on the hood as if it was being dried out. On the half-raised driver’s side window were two items that took a moment to register: a bra and a pair of panties.

  “Oh, this is interesting,” Gagnon said aloud.

  He surveyed the ground around the vehicle. He saw clear footprints in the low grass leading from the vehicle to the small pond.

  “Looks like she felt the need to bathe.” He restlessly scanned the rest of the glade and the tree line beyond, searching for the woman. A glimpse of her naked body would be icing on the cake for the time invested in this job.

  He lowered the binoculars, scanning the entire valley. He brought the binoculars back up, this time focusing on the car window. The front seat was reclined, and the
re was a tan form in it.

  “I’ll be damned. The little wench washed off and is now naked sitting in the car resting. Big, big mistake.”

  He shoved the binoculars back in his pack and checked the pistol in his belt. He had a full clip just in case she became uncooperative.

  He glided down the hillside quickly. When he came to the trees straddling the mountainside, he threaded his way through them with urgency. Ahead, he saw the SUV. There was still no movement. The panties rose in a modest breeze, and the bra gently flapped.

  The sight brought a rush of excitement.

  He stealthily circled to the rear of the SUV, weaving between underbrush and trees. Content he was undetected, he pulled the weapon and rushed the vehicle. He tread as lightly as he could, moving like a cat. It was critical that he reach her before she panicked and started the engine. He was upon the car in seconds. In one fluid motion, he yanked the door open. The panties and bra flew off the window. Gagnon aimed the pistol in the direction of the lowered driver’s seat.

  To his surprise, she was not there. The tan form he had seen through the binoculars was a rolled tent.

  With bitter disappointment he realized she had deceived him. Dr. Falls had escaped and was making her way to a nearby town.

  His anger erupted. He slammed his open hand down on the top of the SUV. “Where are you, bitch?!”

  “Right here,” a calm voice responded.

  Gagnon had not expected an answer.

  Dr. Lila Falls stood near the tree line several dozen feet in front of the vehicle. She was fully clothed and held a small black device attached to a key chain.

  He was livid. This stupid bitch was an archaeologist. She was no match for him. What was she hoping to accomplish? “You gonna stab me with a key from way over there?” He did not wait for an answer. Instead, he decided to end this quickly. No more fucking around. He raised the pistol.

  Lila pressed the ignition button before he had a chance to aim.

  In the millisecond before Addison Gagnon was blown to pieces, he knew he had died at the hands of his own device.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  Thursday, August 18, 1:53 a.m.

  Tina’s shriek caught the raggedy woman by surprise, and she nudged backward on the floor. Tina gagged, gasping for air. She instinctively paused and took a breath. Tears flooded her face.

  The woman’s fingers curled over the top edge of the desk. She slowly pulled herself up, facing Tina with an ominous, insane grin splayed upon her lips. She cocked her head this way and that. Her anger suddenly spiked, and the woman lifted the desk up and down, shaking it violently, banging the legs on the floor.

  Tina had never been so terrified in all her life. Her eyes remained unavoidably fixed on the monster.

  The woman shifted her head, directing it from one side of the room to the other. She sniffed the air and mumbled a few unrecognizable words. It was then, even in her irrational state, that Tina realized the woman was blind. The horrid, cloudy white eyes were searching for her, waiting for sound. Knowing she should not make a sound, Tina barely contained her sobs.

  The ghastly woman took a cautious step and kicked the knife. Warily, snorting rabidly, she bent down and felt for it. Once in her hand, she stood, feeling the serrated blade with her other hand. As if she had just been given a gift, the woman grinned diabolically.

  The sight was too much. Tina screamed, “Mommy! Save me!”

  Malice spawned across the monster’s face. She targeted the source, releasing an animalistic growl.

  In the same instant, ear-piercing thunder struck.

  Tina Falco’s scream was silenced as the monster clamped a rough hand over her mouth.

  ****

  Not far from the Gulf Coast, Scott received a call from Kay. She was concerned about the impending hurricane. There was no way he could go into the details regarding what had transpired. He simply assured her he had already evacuated the city, which was technically true. When she asked about her cat, Austin, he gulped a response. “I’ve got him.” The truth was, their house was far enough inland that there was no threat of storm surge. In all likelihood, the cat would be safe there. God help him if anything happened to the animal.

  Several miles from Dekle Beach, Scott’s cell phone rang again. Expecting it to be Kay, he answered without looking at the display. “We’re fine. Austin is fine.”

  “That’s great, Scott. It’s Lila. Is Curt with you?”

  “Yes,” Scott replied confused, “he’s here. Hang on.”

  Scott handed the phone to Curt, who switched it to speaker. “Lila, why are you calling Scott’s phone? Whose number is this?”

  “I couldn’t reach you on yours.”

  Curt reached for his pocket. His cell was gone, lost somewhere in their travels.

  “I’m using a phone that belongs to the owner of a banana plantation, but never mind that. Curt, we were attacked by a man. My two assistants are dead. I escaped through the crevice in the saucepan depression in the floor.” Her words came quickly. Curt could tell she was flustered. “Then the man who attacked us dynamited the cave. I found a volcanic fissure which led to the surface on the other side of the mountain. I…killed him, Curt,” her voice faltered.

  “Oh my God, Lila. Are you okay?”

  “Yes, yes. I’m still…rattled.”

  “You did what you had to do to survive, Lila.”

  “It’s daylight, and I can see frantic activity in one of the towns below. We suffered an earthquake. I’m going to make my way back to town and get to the authorities.”

  “I don’t know what to say, Lila. Get to the police.”

  “I’m going now. Oh, one thing. In the cave beneath the cathedral room I found a series of scenes. They were different than the images of the paired animals in that they told a story. At first they made absolutely no sense. They depicted a thin land mass with curled lines to the right. Then I remembered that a hurricane is approaching Florida. The curled lines seem to represent massive waves. Curt, as crazy as this sounds…I think they tell a prophetic story. Which side’s the hurricane going to impact?”

  “Both. The state is being sandwiched by Hurricane Elena coming in from the Gulf of Mexico to the west coast and a much more powerful storm, Hurricane Fernando, targeting the east coast. It’s expected to make landfall at St. Augustine.”

  “Curious,” Lila continued. “In the picture, it shows the waves only coming from the right side of the state. Nevertheless, the images show a man dipping a small skeleton into the water. Then the waves go flat. The man and skeleton disappear. It’s all very strange.”

  “Lila,” Curt asked, “what does the small skeleton look like?”

  “That took some close examination, but if you removed the flesh of the Noah Fish on the wall in the room above and left the skeletal structure intact, it would appear to be the same creature.”

  “Lila, get to safety, and take care. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

  “Bye, Curt.”

  Curt handed the cell phone back to Scott.

  “Now we’re dealing with a prophecy?” Scott asked skeptically.

  Marvin spoke, “I don’t think we know what we’re dealing with, Scott.” He paused, looking at the hand-held electronic device, placing the screwdriver to the side and applying the back panel. “There, that should do it.”

  “You fixed it?” Scott asked.

  Marvin toyed with the controls. “Yes,” he sighed, “but the 9-volt battery is dead. Sorry.”

  Stern winds bucked the plane back and forth. The lightning was closer, and thunder shook the night air. So far, the rain had held off. The dark coastline came into view.

  “Are you going to land in the road?” Curt asked.

  “No,” Sherri responded, looking at Curt worriedly. She checked her watch. “If Uncle Sydney is right, Sabine will be coming to w
ithin minutes.” She turned to him with desperate eyes. “Medication is not an exact science. She may already have revived. I’m landing on the beach, it’s only a third of a mile, but it’s the fastest way to get to her.”

  “There,” Sherri pointed down. “There’s the beach. The winds are rotating counterclockwise, pushing south to north, so I’m approaching from the north to head into them. Hopefully, they’ll slow the plane down before we run out of shore.”

  At the southern end of the beach, Curt saw a shimmering ribbon cutting inland: a waterway. If the landing was too long, they’d plunge into it.

  “I’ve never tried to land in conditions like this. Hold on.”

  Curt looked to Scott and Marvin in the rear seats. No one said a word.

  Sherri banked the plane to the north and descended. She turned left, completing a wide arc so that the plane was aimed south. Below, the water stirred violently, the waves already churning from the impending storm. On the left in the distance, a row of houses bordered the beach. Curt spotted the second house on the end, identifying where Tina Falco was being held. He prayed the crazed female Huguenot was still unconscious.

  The turbulence grew. Sherri struggled to maintain the horizon. She dipped the nose of the craft. Her heightened anxiety was obvious as she gripped and regripped the yoke. With time running out, Curt doubted she would consider a second pass, even if circumstances warranted. Sherri was getting them on the ground in one try, crash landing or not.

  The night was suddenly ripped by lightning. A clap of thunder sent vibrations throughout the small plane. Sherri jumped. Then, as if strengthening her resolve, she re-gripped the controls. She lined up with the beach and dropped the gear. The extra drag was felt immediately. A strong gust of wind turned the plane on its left wing, and she fought to right it. The ground suddenly appeared more prominently below them. The coastline was being deluged by angry waves breaking farther inland than usual. Her landing strip was going to be no more than fifty feet wide.