by Matt Rogers
‘Was that all?’
King shook his head. ‘I only spent a couple of years there. In training drills I was noticed by a few higher-ups. They watched me. Ran some tests. Turns out I have close to the fastest reaction speed on earth.’
‘Jesus.’
‘And these men were right at the top of the food chain. Four-star generals, that sort of thing. They were already in the planning stages of an unofficial operation. They called it Black Force. I was their first recruit. And there’s zero evidence that anything I did ever happened. They sent me into the worst hellholes on earth. Often alone. I was their freak science project. I saved a lot of good people, killed a lot of bad people. I was Black Force’s main operative for eight years. I don’t know how many others there were. No-one told me anything. I was a ghost, a secret independent contractor. They paid me enormous sums of money to do the things that never would have ordinarily been sanctioned.’
‘When did you retire?’
‘Two months ago. Everything was beginning to catch up to me, and I couldn’t take much more of it.’
‘All the killing?’
‘Not so much that. Partially, but not all. It was how close I kept coming to death, over and over and over again. I knew it wasn’t sustainable. Sooner or later, I’d be too slow. I’d get caught from behind. I’d find myself in open ground, with no cover. Something like that. It ate away at me until I finally mustered up the nerve to call it quits.’
‘How did the higher-ups react?’
‘They knew I meant it. They had enough goodwill to let me go.’
‘Maybe not.’
King turned to her. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Maybe that’s what this is. They want you out of the picture. They don’t want someone so dangerous roaming around. Maybe they think there’ll be peace of mind if you’re eliminated.’
He shook his head. ‘I already considered that. But this is something else. If they wanted me dead, they could have done it as soon as I gave my notice. No-one would have ever known. They didn’t need to follow me here. Construction workers and police officers and civilians didn’t have to die. This is something I’ve stumbled upon. I’m connected in some way. I don’t know how. But it’s bigger than just me.’
He stared at the trees passing by, rustling in the mountain wind. The cold sliced in and beat at their faces, chilling them to the bone.
‘It’s up here,’ Kate said, motioning to the forest on the right-hand side of the road. ‘The head office. We’re close.’
As they drove further out of town, a section of the forest cleared up ahead. They began to pass large industrial sites; factories, warehouses, farmland. Dirt trails branched off in many directions, inter-connecting the facilities. She beckoned to a path slicing between two enormous metal warehouses and King swung the sedan over its rocky surface.
They pulled up to a long low building made from polished timber planks. An old home that had been converted into an office. A wooden deck ran round its entire perimeter, much similar to Kate’s house. Behind the building he could see a sprawling industrial complex home to a concrete plant and an array of mixing trucks, lined up in orderly fashion. Beside Rafael Constructions’ land, an abandoned factory sprawled into the sky. A lot of potential vantage points. Many places to hide a marksman.
King got out of the sedan, wondering if he would make it to the head office without catching a bullet in the brain.
As his feet touched the gravel surface, the door to the office opened and a small rotund man dressed smartly in a pair of slacks and an oversized dress shirt hobbled out onto the patio. His name badge read Bernie.
‘What brings you two all the way out here?’ he said, an overly false smile plastered across his face.
CHAPTER 25
Bernie led them through the main reception area. A pretty receptionist sat behind the desk, but apart from that the building was entirely devoid of people. The rest of the room consisted of a few waiting chairs, with various magazines strewn across a coffee table. Nothing out of the ordinary. Bernie strode into a small interview room and beckoned them through. This room was smaller, furnished with a conference table and a handful of rickety chairs.
King shivered involuntarily. The whole place made him feel uneasy. Everything was too clean, too unimposing. He looked at Bernie’s greasy comb over and awkward gait and soulless black eyes and couldn’t help but find the man suspicious. Nevertheless, he and Kate sat down without a fuss. On the front porch, he’d simply explained to Bernie that he wanted to ask a few questions about the company. Bernie had ushered them into this room. Now, he sat down on the opposite side of the conference table and clasped his hands together.
‘What can I do for you?’ he asked with the same over-the-top smile.
‘My name’s Jason.’
‘American?’
King nodded. ‘On vacation.’
‘Ah! Of course.’
‘I’m just passing through and I thought I’d drop in here to visit an old friend.’
‘Is that so? Let’s see if I can go find him for you.’
‘His name’s David Lee.’
A split second of hesitation. Unnoticeable to the average civilian, but in that moment King knew that Bernie was a lying piece of shit. The man cocked his head to pass off his surprise and said, ‘Well, Jason, I’m sorry to inform you that David actually stopped working for us a few weeks ago.’
‘Oh.’
‘Yes, very unfortunate.’
‘May I ask why?’
‘He was just a contractor. Came into town looking for some temporary work. Nothing more.’
‘So he’s out of town?’
Bernie nodded. ‘He left almost straight away, I’m sorry to say. Did he tell you he’d be here?’
‘He said he’d be around.’
‘Well, I haven’t seen him for weeks.’
‘What about Miles Price?’
‘I’m sorry?’
‘Miles Price. He’s another friend of mine. Did he conveniently happen to leave a few weeks ago as well?’
Bernie coughed and laughed sardonically, a bad attempt to dissipate the tension in the room. ‘Give me a moment to just check my files. I’m not up to speed with everyone who works for this company.’
‘That’s a shame. You should be.’
Bernie shot him a glance, then pulled out his phone and flicked at the screen. He used over-the-top gestures, to make it look like he was scrolling through notes. Another poor performance. King had seen a lot better in his time. Sweat broke out across the man’s brow. A thin droplet ran down his forehead.
‘Ah yes, here we are,’ Bernie said. ‘Miles Price! He only worked here for a couple of days. Even less than David. That was weeks ago also. I’m afraid you’ve missed both of them. Are you able to contact them?’
‘No.’
‘You don’t have their numbers?’
‘I have their numbers.’
Bernie cocked his head.
‘I think you know why I’m not able to contact them, Bernie,’ King said.
‘I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t say I follow.’
‘I think you know they’re dead.’
He feigned surprise. ‘I’m sorry?’
‘I think you’re in on this whole thing.’
‘What whole thing?’
‘You know exactly what’s going on. You’ve done a shit job of covering it up, too. So you’re going to tell me the truth; you’re going to tell me everything you know about why Miles and David are dead, and who bought this place a month ago, and why people are trying to kill me, and what exactly is going on behind closed doors.’
Bernie shook his head. ‘I’m afraid you’re awfully mistaken, Jason. You must think I’m someone I’m not.’
‘Oh, I don’t think you’re behind this. You’re sweating and shaking. You’re shitting your pants. This isn’t your gig. But someone is paying you to keep quiet, or use your facility. You need to let me help you, or you’re just going to end up
the same way everyone in this town is ending up at the moment.’
‘I beg your pardon,’ Bernie said. ‘Was that a threat on my life?’
‘Not from me. But I can pretend you talked.’
Kate said, ‘We know enough already.’
King said, ‘They’ll kill you slowly if they think you divulged important information.’
Bernie scoffed and rose out of his chair. ‘I think we’re done here. You seem delusional, Jason. And as for you—‘ he turned to Kate, ‘—I don’t know why you’re hanging around with this lunatic. Surely you have better things to do.’
King got up slowly and took a step toward the door. Putting his bulk in between Bernie’s means of escape. Making sure he couldn’t take off running. ‘I’m just about done with all this stalling.’
‘I’m just about done with your ludicrous accusations,’ Bernie said.
Movement behind them. From the reception area. Hurried footsteps, urgent. King’s reflexes kicked in and he spun rapidly, ready to explode, primed for combat.
He didn’t expect to see another pair of familiar faces. Guns up. In uniform.
Kitchener and Dawes.
The trio recognised each other simultaneously. Dawes nodded a greeting, despite the tense circumstances.
‘Been a while, King,’ he said.
‘What the hell’s going on?’ King said. ‘Are you two in on this?’
They both looked confused.
‘In on what?’ Kitchener said. ‘Someone just called us reporting an aggressive visitor. Guess that’s you.’
‘I told my receptionist to call,’ Bernie said.
‘We’ve only been here minutes,’ King said. ‘You must have done that before you came out to greet us. So you know who I am.’
‘Enough with your assumptions!’ Bernie said, raising his voice now that figures of authority were present. Now that the risk of violence had dissipated. He stepped in front of King and approached the two police officers. ‘This man is insane. He’s accusing me and my co-workers of some kind of conspiracy. Please get him out of here.’
Suddenly Kate perked up, talking to Kitchener. ‘You need to listen to us. It’s—’
The female officer raised a hand, cutting her off. ‘Right now, it’s best if we just take you both to the station. We’ll sort everything out there.’
‘But—’
King made eye contact with Kate. He knew it would do no good to cause a scene here. ‘At the station, Kate. We don’t have a choice.’
Dawes grabbed him by the arm and led him back through reception to the parking lot. He saw their police sedan parked next to Billy’s. He was forced into the back seat, and Kate ducked in beside him. The doors slammed on either side of them. King watched the pair of officers approach Bernie and speak to him, their mannerisms calm. Bernie nodded along, playing the victim. Tears appeared in his eyes.
‘Piece of shit,’ King muttered under his breath.
‘Surely those two know something’s afoot,’ Kate said. ‘Didn’t you break out of their station yesterday?’
‘They know. But they’re not going to discuss it in front of him. At least, I hope that’s what’s happening.’
The pair walked back to the car. They opened the front seat doors. They got in. Kitchener turned in her seat and faced King. ‘You’d better have some answers.’
He started to speak, but she held up a hand to stop him. ‘Save it for the station. We’ve had a lot of shit to deal with lately. Let’s just have some quiet for a while.’
Dawes drove them out of the industrial zone, beginning the short trip back to Jameson. It seemed that whatever he did, wherever he went, King was unable to escape the pull of such a small town. He feared he’d never leave it alive.
CHAPTER 26
As they trawled back through the town, King noticed much of the road in front of Yvonne’s motel cordoned off. A forensic team scoured the crime scene. They’d hid the imposter’s mangled body from view, obscuring it with a tarpaulin sheet. It seemed like half of Jameson had come down to check out the scene. He guessed it would be the talk of the town for months, if not years, to come.
‘I’m guessing this was you,’ Kitchener said, pointing a finger in the direction of the commotion.
King shook his head. ‘No idea what you’re talking about.’
‘Oh, I’m sure.’
They carried on. As King stared out the window, he decided he’d seen enough trees for one lifetime. When he got out of here — if he got out of here — he would make a change of scenery as soon as humanly possible. Another forest would drive him insane.
They pulled into the Jameson Police Department. He and Kate were led through into a different room than the one he’d last been held in, this one much larger, much more open. A floor-to-ceiling window faced out onto the front yard. King noticed Dawes and Kitchener’s relaxed attitudes. There were no handcuffs. No hostility.
They sat down opposite him, and Dawes took a deep breath, as if releasing all the tension of the past twenty-four hours.
‘Let’s start from where we left off,’ he said.
‘I broke out,’ King said.
‘We know.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘We know that also. It seems like you’re doing the right thing, at least.’
Kitchener pointed at Kate. ‘How’d you get her wrapped up in all this?’
‘After the whole debacle with Brandt, I figured that she would be the one to have answers. So I decided I needed to kidnap her. And you two wouldn’t approve of that, obviously. So I left.’
‘And?’
‘Dead end. She doesn’t know anything.’
‘I was paid to deliver a package to the post office,’ Kate said. ‘I don’t know who by, and I don’t know why. I swear.’
Dawes leaned forward. ‘Brandt’s imposter escaped.’
‘Wow, that’s news,’ King said.
Kitchener shook her head. ‘No it’s not. Because you would have been staying in that motel. He would have come after you. He stole one of our vehicles.’
‘How exactly did he manage to do that?’ King said.
‘We’re still trying to work that out. We found him dazed in the hallway. He refused to speak. Didn’t say a word. We put him in a cell and made the necessary calls. He must have slipped a key, or picked the lock, or something. That’s still unclear. But now he’s dead. That’s very clear.’
‘Do you have anything else on him?’ King said.
‘We ran him through the system. He flew in from America the day before last. Fake passport. We don’t know his real name. Now we never will.’
‘How did he get his hands on a grenade in the time it took to get to the motel?’
‘How do you know it was a grenade?’
‘I know what the remnants of a grenade blast look like. I was in the Special Forces.’
‘We know that also,’ Dawes said.
‘You do?’
Kitchener pointed at him. ‘I did some digging, King. After you escaped. Made some calls. You weren’t just a soldier. You were part of something called Black Force. What are the chances that a government mercenary just happens to come wandering through Jameson at the same time that all this shit goes down?’
King cocked his head inquisitively at Kitchener’s speech. Then he answered. ‘Very slim. Which is why I’m thinking it has something to do with me.’
‘I’m starting to suspect that too,’ Kitchener said.
‘You think I’m the one in charge?’
‘I don’t know what to think. This is a clusterfuck.’
‘Why would they send an imposter into the police station to try and kill me if I was the one in charge? See how little sense that makes?’
Silence.
‘See my face?’ King said. ‘You think I’d do that to myself?’
‘Like I said, I don’t know what to think.’
‘Well, use basic reasoning. I’m trying to help you stop this. And it has something to do with Rafae
l Constructions, I am one hundred percent certain.’
Dawes detached the radio from his belt and held down one of the buttons. ‘Helen, you there?’
Another voice crackled out of the speaker. ‘Here.’
‘Still at the motel?’
‘Yep. Forensics had to come down from Hurst. Twenty minute drive. They’ll be here a while.’
‘Can you run an errand for me?’
‘Sure.’
‘Head down to Rafael Constructions. Their head office. Just check it out quickly. Make sure everything looks okay.’
‘Will do.’
The conversation ended sharply. Dawes slotted the radio back into its place and leant on the conference table on his elbows, running a hand through his hair.
‘I’ve barely slept,’ he said. ‘We went to check out Brandt’s place yesterday afternoon. No sign of him. He’s likely dead. There’s something bigger going on…’
‘That’s what I was trying to work out,’ King said. ‘Before you two crashed my party. That Bernie guy is a slimy fuck. He knows something we don’t.’
‘Helen will give the place a look-over.’
‘Who’s Helen?’
‘Another officer.’
‘Can she protect herself?’
‘Of course.’
‘I’d say we should all head back there right now,’ King said. ‘Because that place gives me the creeps. And after all the shit I’ve seen in my life, anything that gives me the creeps is definitely worth checking out.’
‘We’ll let Helen handle it,’ Kitchener said. ‘Until then, we’re going to need a statement of everything you’ve done from the time you left yesterday to the time we picked you up today.’
King sat back in his chair and stared at them, allowing the silence to grow to an uncomfortable length. ‘You know I’m not going to be able to do that.’
‘Why is that?’
‘Well I could lie. It wouldn’t take much effort to make up a bunch of bullshit. But I don’t want to waste your time. I want to get to the bottom of this.’
‘Then tell us what you saw.’