The Immortal Harvest

by L. J. Wallace

  As she lay on the ground bleeding from her nose, she cringed at the sight of the drunken slob of a man leaning over her and screaming at her like a mad man.

  From that day on she had been frightened of Burt and had dreaded the prospect of him coming home each night drunk and full of abuse.

  She hated herself for staying with the monster but at the same time knew that she couldn’t leave him.

  Who else would have this hag?

  She used to ask herself whenever she saw her reflection in the mirror.

  It was the sight of his naked bloated body on top of her only daughter that had caused the change in her.

  He had forced her to throw her only daughter and grandson out onto the street. She could feel her life spiralling out of control. She had lost herself to this monster. She could no longer stand his abuse.

  He had to die.

  She had taken a few days to summon up her courage and to plan the murder. Tonight was the night. She would wait for him to pass out in one of his drunken stupors and then she would slash his throat.

  After she had taken care of Burt, she would run herself a nice deep bath, slash her wrists, and then she would lay in the bath and let the blood drain out of her as she slowly went to sleep from the combination of alcohol and sleeping pills.

  She had just finished sharpening her knife when she heard the back door close. She carefully put the knife on the counter and called out.

  She grabbed the bottle of whiskey and a glass and pushed through the kitchen door.

  “Burt? Is that you? Do you want me to get you a…”

  She inhaled sharply when she saw the horribly scarred face of the man who had just slashed Burt’s throat and had tossed him to the ground like discarded trash.

  She screamed with horror as she watched the blood gush from the gaping wound in Burt’s throat as he thrashed helplessly around on the tattered carpet, grasping his throat with both hands in a futile attempt to keep his life from slipping away.

  Instinctively, she threw the bottle at the killer and turned on her heels.

  Dizzy from the alcohol, she staggered back into the kitchen and fell onto the floor and started scrambling on her hands and knees, desperately looking for some escape from the monster.

  Adrenalin pumped through her and she started sobbing. She felt her hair being pulled. She was jerked by the hair onto her feet, the blood slickened blade pressed hard into her throat.

  She inhaled sharply as her hair was pulled harder. She could feel the fetid wet breath on her ear as the killer spoke softly.

  “If you scream again I’ll kill you. Do you understand?”

  Gloria slowly and carefully nodded as she felt the pressure of the knife increase against her throat.

  “I just want to know where your daughter and the boy are.”

  This request from the monster activated her genetically programmed Mother’s instinct to protect their offspring.

  Hormones raced through her body priming her to fight. She knew however, that she was in an unwinnable position. She knew what she had to do.

  She shook as she grabbed the wrist of the monster which held the blade.

  “Go fuck yourself! I’ll never tell you where Sylvan and Justen are.

  “Go ahead…kill me,” she said quietly and calmly, as she forcefully pulled the killers hand across her throat, opening up her carotid artery.

  She collapsed to the ground slipping out of her assailants grasp and smiled as she felt the life drain from her.

  “You fucking stupid bitch!” were the last words that Gloria Peters heard as she slipped into oblivion.

  * * *

  Stringer sat shaking his head as he cleaned the blood from his knife. He had seen some screwed up people in his life, but he had never seen anyone so eager to die before.

  He finished cleaning his knife and started thinking about his next move as he dragged the corpse of the woman into the living room and laid her out beside her boyfriend.

  He looked around at the shit-hole that the corpses had been living in and grunted in disgust.

  He methodically went through any drawers he could find.

  He finally found a tattered photo album that had been used to prop up one leg of the coffee table.

  As he sucked on another nicotine infuser he pored through the photos. The most recent one was of a birthday party.

  The young blonde girl in the photo looked happy as she blew out the candles on a cake with twelve candles on it. The back of the photo had the words Sylvan’s 12th birthday scrawled across it.

  He went to his brief case that he had left just outside the back door and pulled out a pocket scanner to scan the photo.

  He pushed a button on the side of the scanner and the photo appeared inside his neural net.

  He manipulated the photo and aged the young girl’s features. He knew the age of the boy. He guessed that Sylvan would be in her early twenties and adjusted the image to reflect that age.

  After manipulating the photo he transmitted it back to the scanning device and pushed a second button and grabbed the printed image as it spat out of the side of the unit.

  He smiled. He knew that with the image he could use his neural net face recognition software to find the girl. There were thousands of closed circuit security cameras across the city to monitor.

  Satisfied that he had a plan to go forward with, he sat back on the couch and stared at the blood on his hands.

  He got up and walked into the filthy, mildew ridden bathroom and washed his hands. He then dried his hands and went back to his brief case and put back the scanner with the photo.

  He then pulled out another micro anti matter explosive, flipped the cap off it and grabbed his briefcase as he hurried back to his car.

  He didn’t bother to wait around for the explosion.

  As he drove through the streets, Stringer’s thoughts went over what had transpired.

  He was puzzled that the girl and her son were not at the old lady’s house.

  He started running through possible scenarios in his mind. He realised that the girl had somehow disappeared between her apartment and her Mother’s house.

  Where could she have disappeared? Did she change her mind and go back to the apartment? What changed her mind? Did she somehow find out that the kid had gone back to the apartment?

  There were too many uncertainties, and they were the one thing that Stringer despised.

  He made a decision. He would retrace his steps and return to the apartment. At the very least, he could hide out there and wait.

  He was very good at waiting.

  As he drove through the rain slickened streets he slowly relaxed as another nicotine neural infuser dissolved in his mouth.

  He blinked slowly to allow his eyes to focus as they stared out through the smear of road grime and rain droplets. He silently worked through his plan to find Sylvan and the boy.

  He flashed images of Sylvan up into his periphery and studied her features as he drove.

  Concentrating on the task, he failed to notice the crumpled form of the young girl who lay unconscious on the bus shelter bench, or the black van that had just pulled up beside her.

  Twenty

  Buck Lewiston paced nervously outside Baxter’s office. He had bad news. He knew that the boss detested bad news. He knew that his Boss was a grumpy old bastard at the best of times.

  He was afraid that once Baxter found out that the forensics returned from the Stringer double homicide had provided no new leads, he would explode.

  Surely he wouldn’t shoot the messenger, Lewiston thought and then swallowed hard before he knocked tentatively on the Baxter’s door.

  Lewiston’s relief was almost tangible when there was no response.

  “He’s not there Bang-Bang,” the voice which came from behind him was mellifluous.

  He identified it immediately and turned and looked into the clear green eyes of Lisa Roberts. Lewiston had a secret crush on the young agent.

  She w
as the youngest agent at the Bureau, a rare mix of beauty and brains. Lewiston knew that Lisa was at least as intelligent as him, although he would never be so bold as to make that claim in public. He was certain that Durning would never let him live it down.

  Lewiston could feel his face grow hot as he looked at Lisa, trying hard to disguise the chemical attraction that he was feeling. She smiled and then finally broke the silence between them.

  “I have been here at least six times today hoping to catch him in his office.”

  “Oh! I see! Have you tried his cell phone?” Lewiston asked, clearing his throat as he spoke and then instantly regretted asking the question.

  “Of course I tried his cell. Bang-Bang. I’m not a complete idiot,” Lisa said with annoyance.

  “Umm…ahh, I…I…I’m sorry I didn’t mean to imply that you were an idiot. I have this bad habit of asking obvious questions you see. I was just…”

  “That’s ok; I didn’t mean to snap at you, it’s just that I really needed to talk to the boss.”

  Being almost a foot taller than Lisa, he had the elevation to see over her head and he did not like what he saw. He frowned. Durning was approaching.

  Lewiston suspected that Durning and Drew Webster were having some kind of fling, a piece of intel he thought may yet come in handy should the need arise.

  He knew that fraternising with work colleagues was usually frowned upon by the Bureau. However, he would be reluctant to act on his suspicions because he did not want to cause trouble for Drew. He only felt contempt towards Durning.

  He subconsciously slumped his shoulders at the sight of the over confident agent who unfortunately had seen them and was quickly making his way towards them.

  Lewiston gritted his teeth; even Durning’s voice annoyed him. He was sure that Durning put on some type of goofy southern accent just to annoy everyone.

  “Well if it isn’t the dynamic duo, Bang-Bang and the ever lovely Miss Lisa. How are you both? Have you caught sight of our illustrious leader yet?”

  Lewiston let Lisa reply, he really wasn’t that interested in engaging Durning in a conversation.

  “Don’t tell me you been after him as well. I was just telling Bang-Bang that I have been looking for the boss all day. I’m beginning to get a little worried.

  I tried his phone and it gives no response. Did he mention anything to you about being away from his office today?”

  “I haven’t seen hide nor hair of the boss since last night when Drew and I filled him in on one of our theories concerning the Baker case.”

  “Is that right? You and Drew have a ‘theory’. When were you and Agent Webster going to let the rest of us in on it? We’re supposed to be a team you know.”

  Lewiston could detect the same annoyance that he felt, in Lisa’s demeanour and smiled inwardly as he watched Durning go on the defensive. She may have been tiny but she was dynamite when provoked.

  “Whoa! You just hang on a minute Lisa…”

  “I would appreciate it if you addressed me as Agent Roberts when we are here at the Bureau,” Lisa said loudly and then winked at Lewiston who blushed for the second time in as many minutes.

  “Ok ok, Agent Roberts. All I can tell you is that it seems to me that there is a lot more to this Senator Baker case than we first thought.

  Drew and I have a report from Antarctica about a mysterious case of a couple of dead geologists who were killed in an unusual way whilst investigating a site containing rare metals.

  “There is also a NORAD report about anomalous ionising radiation traces here in a specific part of Washington.” Durning said smugly as he leant in towards Lisa who instinctively backed away.

  Durning just smiled and tried to look coy. “I bet you can’t guess where in Washington?”

  Lewiston noticed that Lisa ignored the question and continued her questioning in a heated manner.

  “Just tell me how the Geologists died Durning, and then tell us what the hell it has to do with the Baker murder.”

  “Well if you must know, the Ionising radiation traces were sensed in the same area that Senator Baker died and it was the same Ionising radiation signature that char cooked one of the Geologists.”

  “What happened to the other one?” Lewiston asked.

  Durning continued smiling at Lisa and ignored Lewiston’s question.

  “You know, you are cute when you get angry,” he said as he winked at her.

  Lisa snapped at Durning.

  “Just answer Bang-Bang’s question Durning. What happened to the other Geologist?”

  “They suspect that his body is wedged halfway down a crack in the ice. Drew thinks the cracks were probably caused by the same thing that cooked the first guy.”

  “I don’t get it. How does all of this tie in with the Senator Baker case?” Lewiston asked as he flicked a stray strand of hair from his face.

  “Look, how’s about I email you whatever Drew and I have and then you can connect your own dots.

  All I’m saying is the boss was impressed with our efforts. I believe he took it upon himself to follow up on the intel we gave him. You know he’s used to going it alone.”

  “He’s gone out into the field by himself? Why would he do something so stupid?” Lisa seemed to ask as if she were posing the question to herself. Lewiston was the first to respond.

  “Maybe he thought we had too much other stuff to worry about. I know he really wants to find the boy.”

  “Yeah, right, whatever. I’m just really pissed off that even the boss doesn’t think we are a team. He should have taken at least one of us along with him.”

  “Ok Agent Roberts, if you’re such a team player, what have you got to add to the investigation?” Durning asked. A smug smiled played across his lips.

  “And what gems of wisdom do you have Lewiston? And for that matter, where is Thomson and Cambridge?”

  “Listen Durning, who died and put you in charge of the investigation?” Lisa almost growled when she spat the words and then paused to take a breath.

  “Anyway, I think we are wasting time. I have a bad feeling about the boss. I think we need to start tracing his steps.

  You said that you and Agent Webster spoke to him last night. What time was that?”

  “I believe it was around six.”

  “Are you certain?”

  “Yep, I took Drew out for a meal after work and the boss was the last stop we made before we left.

  We had reservations for six thirty at Bon Appétit.”

  Lewiston noticed that Lisa raised her eyebrow at Durning’s obviously expensive choice of restaurant.

  “Okay, well Agent Thompson told me that him and Alicia spoke with the boss at about four.

  Arnold said that the boss had called them and asked them to do a thorough background check on the Senator.

  I also did some investigation of my own. That’s why I needed to see him.”

  “Is that so? So tell me Agent Roberts, what crucial Intel did you find?”

  Lewiston noticed that Lisa chose to ignore Durning’s obvious taunt.

  He watched as she pulled a small notepad from her pocket and flipped over one of the pages.

  “Apparently the last place the Senator was seen was at a down town diner, and according to the owner he was speaking to two people.

  From the descriptions he gave me and then from matching the entry in the Senator’s Blackberry, I have determined that they were from an organisation called Mundus Nova.

  “That’s where Arnold and Alicia are now, they are checking out this organisation.” Lisa said defensively, directing her ire at Durning.

  Lewiston interjected, although he was enjoying the roasting that Durning was receiving, he was very curious as to where the boss might have disappeared to and decided to focus the discussion.

  “What makes you think the boss would have taken it upon himself to head out into the field Durning? What was the last thing that you discussed with him?”

  “I don’t think he w
ent out into the field I know he did.

  We were telling him about our findings about the missing homeless in Washington and that Senator Baker was working with the homeless before he was killed.

  The boss said that he would check it out for himself.”

  “Ok, but that still doesn’t explain why he is not answering his cell phone.”

  “Obviously the filtered air and fluorescent lighting in your lab has fried your brain Lewiston.”

  Lewiston felt the blood rush to his ears as his anger level rose.

  “I beg your pardon, what the hell do you mean by that?”

  “Now settle down Lewiston, it’s just that I meant that you’re not really an investigative Agent. You’re always stuck in your forensic lab while the rest of us actually go out and practice being agents.

  If you went out into the field occasionally you would know that you have to blend in. The boss is smart enough to know that if he was going to talk to the homeless he would have to appear to be like the homeless.

  How many homeless guys do you know carry a cell phone?”

  Even though Lewiston felt insulted he had to concede that Durning had a point.

  “Oh I see.” Lewiston said as he lowered his head.

  “Well if you’re such an expert in being a field agent, why don’t you go out and find out what happened to the boss?” Lisa said as she pointed her finger at Durning and then Lewiston felt her grab his shoulder.

  “Come on Bang-Bang, you can come with me and we’ll find out how Arnold and Alicia are going with their investigation.

  I would like to have a look at that forensic report of yours if you don’t mind.”

  “Yes Ma’am, sure, and I’ll grab Drew and we’ll go and find the boss. He’s probably hot on the trail of that kid. That’s if he hasn’t been abducted by aliens.” Durning said and then chuckled loudly as he began to walk off.

  Lewiston called after him. “What the hell do you mean by that remark?”

  He watched as Durning moved away down the corridor, not bothering to look behind him as he replied.

  “I’ll email you our report – just read it!”

  “Crap on a cracker that guy gets me so mad sometimes Drew,” Lewiston said as they walked off in the other direction together.