Black Sheep

by David Archer

  Provided you didn’t look too closely.

  She turned toward the door Michael had pointed to when he said his parents were sleeping. It was time to make sure there couldn’t be any more like these, but suddenly she heard shouting from the apartment next door.

  “Police comin’,” she heard a man call out, “I done call nine one one, they comin’!” She cursed softly, frustrated that the neighbors had apparently not left for work at their usual time. For a brief moment she considered adding them to her list, but then she chided herself. They’d had nothing to do with her sister’s death, she knew, and she was only here for vengeance.

  The bedroom door opened and a woman looked out, saw Jenny and slammed it shut. An instant later she heard hysterical screaming from inside that room, so she raised the gun and emptied its clip through the door, then turned and left the apartment. She ran down the stairs, shoving the empty gun back into her purse as she did so, and emerged onto the sidewalk just as a squad car slid to a stop in front of her.

  Two officers leapt out with guns drawn and ordered her to freeze. She looked at them and began to sob, crying about someone going crazy upstairs with a gun, but one of the officers pushed her against the wall and yanked her purse away. When he dropped it on the sidewalk it fell over, and the pistol spilled out.

  More police arrived and Jenny was arrested on three counts of murder and two of attempted murder. Neither of the parents had been hit, and when Jenny learned that fact during her interrogation, she looked at the detective across from her and said, “I should have waited until they woke up, I guess.”

  Everyone who knew her was shocked, and the tabloids and TV magazines spread the story around the world. Jenny was convicted on all counts and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, which she later referred to as “a long-term death sentence.”

  Two months after her sentencing, it was reported that Genevieve Spears had committed suicide in her prison cell. Two days later, Jennifer Lance arrived at Neverland.

  Every recruit Allison came up with had to pass an interview with Doctor Parker before entering training. If the candidate failed, the note that Parker gave them at the end of the interview would simply say, “Pass.” When that note was shown to one of the senior officers of the organization, that single word would be a death sentence. The candidate would be taken out to a remote location behind the training facility, where a single shot to the head would bring their short Second Life to an end.

  “Allison said you were a fox,” Parker said to her as she entered his office. “Nice of her to send me something to look at once in a while.”

  Jenny’s eyebrows went up at his comment. “I’ll bet you say that to all the girls,” she said.

  “Only the pretty ones,” Parker said. “Sit down and shut up. You don’t say a word unless I ask you a question.”

  Jenny sat in the chair in front of his desk. “Okay,” she said.

  “Bzzzzzzzzzzzt!” Parker spat out. “I hadn’t asked a question. Mess up again and I’ll reject you.”

  Jenny said nothing, but the ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. Parker looked at her for a couple of seconds, then slipped on a pair of reading glasses and glanced down at some notes on his desk.

  “Says here you murdered four people in revenge for the killing of your sister,” he said. He took off the glasses and looked up at her. “How did it make you feel afterward?”

  “Horny as hell,” Jenny said. When Parker just stared at her for a moment, she shrugged. “Well, you asked.”

  “And later? After you were arrested and locked up?”

  Jenny pursed her lips and thought for a moment. “I kept going over it and over it, again and again in my mind. I was a little bit nervous before I pulled the trigger on the first one, but then all of a sudden I felt like—I felt this wave of pleasure go through me, and when I shot the second one it got more intense. The third one took it up a couple more notches, but that last one, the one who actually killed my sister? I had a freaking orgasm. When I was reliving it in my cell, I realized that this was something I really, really enjoyed and wanted to do again.”

  “Hmpf,” Parker said. “Psychiatrist at the jail talked to you several times and decided you’re a sociopath.”

  “High-functioning sociopath, actually,” Jenny said. “Oh, I’m sorry, wasn’t that a question?”

  “Close enough for that time.” He put on the glasses again and glanced at his desk, then looked over them at Jenny. “According to the psychiatrist, you also display tendencies of sadistic psychopathy. That would refer to your becoming aroused and gratified by violence. However, he notes that you display a well-developed sense of right and wrong. How would you respond to that?”

  Jenny’s face displayed a brief expression that Parker took as a form of shrug. “Well, I think it was wrong of that bastard to kill my sister just so he could join a gang, and while it may have been legally wrong to blow his brains out, it felt right to me at the time.” She winked at him. “On the other hand, I didn’t kill the neighbor who called the cops on me, so I guess that should count for something.”

  “We compiled a history on you,” Parker said, “going back all the way through elementary school. There are notations in your school records indicating that you had a tendency to be disrespectful of others, but there are no recorded instances of violence. Did you ever become violent as a child?”

  “I got into a couple of minor fights,” Jenny said, “but I never actually set out to hurt anyone. Is that what you’re asking?”

  “Close enough. What about in your adolescence, were you ever aroused by scenes of violence in movies or books, or by witnessing someone being hurt or injured?”

  Jenny smiled. “Yeah. I can remember, I was probably, oh, maybe fifteen or sixteen when I saw this movie where this family of crazy people were all into being killers. There was some pretty graphic death scenes in it, and it got me really turned on. But I never thought about it like, I wanted to be doing the killing, that never occurred to me until this happened. That’s kind of interesting, now that I think about it; I wonder why it didn’t?”

  “Yes, I wonder,” Parker said. He sat forward and took off his glasses, folded his hands on his desk, then looked Jenny in the eye. “How do you feel about what we do?”

  “I guess—from what I was told, this outfit kills people who need to be killed. Considering my own situation, that strikes me as making a lot of sense. Some people just don’t deserve to live, and if it makes the world a better place to take them out of it then somebody needs to do it. That lady who came to see me said she thought this might be the best place for me, and if it means I get to have a life again and get my rocks off, I’m all for it.”

  The conversation went on a while longer, but in the end, Parker approved Jenny for training as an assassin. Her training program had been a few months longer and much more intense than Noah’s, since she didn’t have his military background, but she finally went on her first mission only two months after Genevieve Spears’s twentieth birthday.

  FOUR

  Three days. It’s been three days since they loaded me onto the boat. Three days, don’t forget that.

  Of course, it was hard to tell for sure. Sarah was counting days by the number of times she’d been fed, because there were no windows in the room she was held in. The boat had run at high speed once they got away from the shoreline some distance, and the ride had been rather rough as it bounced over the choppy waves, but it hadn’t been a long one. A couple of hours out, the boat came to a stop and it wasn’t long after that before Sarah heard the whomp-whomp of a large helicopter. It had settled onto a platform on the topmost deck and two men had come and dragged Sarah out of the room and up the stairs.

  She was shoved into a rear seat and strapped in, and the helicopter lifted off. Two men sat facing her, and both of them were not only armed, they had the look of men who hoped that the person they were guarding would be stupid enough to try to escape.

  Sa
rah wasn’t stupid. A couple of hours later it landed on a beach and she was dragged out again, then hustled into an amphibious airplane that had been run up onto the beach and strapped into a seat once more. Tweedledum and Tweedledee took their seats around her, and then the two huge engines high overhead started up. The big seaplane moved backward until it was afloat, then turned and bounced faster and faster across the waves until it managed to catch the air and rise into flight.

  She slept on that flight, but had no idea for how long. One of the flight crew woke her at some point and gave her a plastic bag that contained slices of dried meat, along with a bottle of water. She ate and tried to go back to sleep, but was still awake when the plane landed a few hours later.

  She was blindfolded, this time, before they took her off the plane. The two men took hold of her arms as they walked her down a ramp and pushed her into a car. She could hear a number of sounds she associated with the military—the sound of many people marching together, as well as the distant sound of gunfire and helicopters and aircraft passing overhead.

  Those sounds finally fell behind them, and it wasn’t long before she could tell they were in heavy traffic. The ride lasted almost an hour, and then she was unceremoniously dragged from the car and walked into a building, then down a flight of stairs. She was taken into a cool room and then the blindfold was removed.

  That’s where she had been ever since. The room contained a cot, a table and a single chair, as well as a covered bucket that was obviously intended for use as a toilet. As soon as the men escorting her left the room, she took advantage of the last item.

  Since then, she had only seen the man who brought her meals and took the bucket away for cleaning once a day. She admitted to herself that she had not been mistreated, but the fact that she was a prisoner was not lost on her. From what Lom had said, she knew that she would be interrogated at some point; her guess was that the interrogator had yet to arrive.

  The worst part was the torment of her own thoughts. Lom had told her that Noah believed she was dead, and had left Thailand. A part of her couldn’t believe he would leave her behind, but if they had truly convinced him that she had died, his logical mind would decide there was no reason to stay.

  The only problem with that was convincing herself that he would accept her death without seeing her body. That would be out of character for Noah; it just wouldn’t fit with the way his brain worked. And if that was the case, then she had no choice but to believe that he suspected what had happened and was already working on a plan to get her back.

  Yes, that was the Noah she knew. Unfortunately, there was no way for her to know what that plan might be. Until he found her—and she was certain that he would—Sarah was on her own.

  The most recent meal she had eaten was one she thought of as breakfast: boiled rice in sweetened milk. That had been a few hours earlier, and she was anticipating the arrival of lunch in another hour or so, but then she heard the key in the lock on the door and hastily sat up on the cot. A man she didn’t recognize opened the door and looked at her.

  Sarah looked him over, as well. He was a few inches taller than her own five foot two, and she got the impression that he was not as young as he appeared. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, but something in his eyes made her add about ten years to her guess. His hair was black and neatly combed, and he was dressed casually in black slacks, a white shirt and a light brown jacket.

  “Hello,” he said in English. “Have you been treated well?”

  “Other than being locked up like a prisoner? I guess okay.”

  The man smiled. “My name is Chung,” the man said. “It is my hope that you and I shall become friends. Would you care to take a walk with me?”

  Sarah looked at him for a moment and considered whether cooperation might be advisable, and decided that it was. “Sure,” she said. “Where we going?”

  “Only for a walk,” Chung said. “I thought perhaps you might enjoy being outside for a little while. The air is fresh and the sun is shining, a very pleasant day.”

  Sarah stood and walked slowly toward the door. When Chung stepped back and motioned for her to come on out, she saw that he was alone. She knew, however, that there were other men in the building, so she didn’t want to give them a reason to beat the snot out of her just yet. Better to accept the friendliness while it lasted; it might give her a chance to learn the layout of the building. She would need that if she got any chance to escape.

  She stepped out of the room and waited quietly while he shut the door, then fell into step beside him as he started along the hallway toward the stairs. The overhead lights were not bright, but she could see light streaming down from the floor above.

  “I apologize for taking so long to get here,” Chung said. “I was actually supposed to arrive the night before last, but you have created something of an uproar. Your capture marks the first time my country has ever been able to confirm that your organization truly exists. For that reason, there are many in my government who wished to advise me on just how to deal with you.” He smiled at her. “You should be happy to know that I have little respect for most of them, and will not be taking their suggestions. You and I will get along much better that way.”

  Sarah turned her head and glanced at him as they ascended the stairs. “Everyone I’ve met so far keeps asking me about this organization,” she said. “I tried to tell them all I don’t know—”

  “Ms. Child,” Chung said, “I have heard the recording that was made when you informed your captor that he should fear this Camelot, the assassin you work with. You cannot lie to me, not if we are to be friends. And I truly do want that. If I am unable to gain your cooperation, those others I spoke of will send someone else to do what I choose not to. Torture is unpleasant, but in skilled hands it is extremely effective in obtaining information.”

  Sarah stayed quiet as they emerged from the stairs, and continued to walk beside him as he led her through another hallway. They came to a door, and a guard standing beside it quickly opened it for them. Sarah looked through it and saw what looked like a quite lovely garden, full of flowers and trees. Chung extended a hand to invite her to step out first, then followed her when she did so.

  “As you can see,” he said, “this is an enclosed courtyard. As this is an official government building, there are guards stationed all around it. Escape is out of the question, I’m afraid, so please do not consider trying.”

  Sarah shrugged as they walked along, her sandals making flopping noises with every step. “I get the impression I’m in China,” she said. “Considering I know absolutely nothing about China, trying to escape probably wouldn’t get me anywhere, anyway.”

  Chung beamed at her. “That is a wise decision. You are correct in your assumption; we are actually not far from the city of Hong Kong.”

  “Figures,” Sarah said. “That’s one of the places I always wanted to visit. Somehow, I don’t think you’re going to let me go there for a holiday, though, are you?”

  “If you are cooperative, I think I could arrange something. Of course, I would have to accompany you, and there would be others along to ensure that you did not try to get away.”

  At least in Hong Kong, she thought, I might have a chance to make contact with an American, maybe a tourist or even the US Embassy. “What kind of cooperation are we talking about? It’s not like I have any important secrets or anything.”

  “We have found that employees of American organizations often know far more than they believe they do,” Chung said. “I have a number of questions I would like to ask, and if you provide the answers we need, I can assure you that you can have a long and happy life here. If your cooperation is complete and genuine, you might even earn the freedom to live as a welcome guest in our country.”

  “And if I don’t,” she said, stopping and turning to face him, “you turn me over to the Chinese inquisition, right?”

  Chung made a grimace and shrugged. “Unfortunately, that would be likely. As I tol
d you, there are those who believe that my approach has little chance of success. If it were up to them, you would already be suffering. I truly hope to avoid that, but it will, in the end, be up to you.”

  Sarah crossed her arms and looked down at her feet. “So, give me an idea what kind of questions you want me to answer.”

  He laughed softly. “Americans are always in such a hurry,” he said. “Can we not simply enjoy the beauty around us for now? There will be more than enough time for questions after we move you to your new room this afternoon.”

  “New room?” Sarah asked.

  “I was actually intending to save it for a surprise, but that is not the first time my mouth has given me away. Yes, I have ordered a room prepared for you on the second floor. You will find it much more comfortable than the one you’re in now. There is even a television, or if you prefer to read, I can see that you are given books and magazines.”

  Sarah allowed herself to give him a small smile. “TV would be good,” she said. “Anything is better than the boredom of just being locked in by myself.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Of course, that’s part of the psychological conditioning, isn’t it? Boredom is a form of torture in itself, right? Now you come along, and like a hero of some kind you’re going to rescue me from that boredom. That’s supposed to make me feel indebted to you, so that I’ll want to cooperate when you ask me to.” She leaned her head toward him with a small grin. “Sorry, I was just reminding myself of the class we took on psychological conditioning. The section on dehumanization was really interesting.”

  Chung gently touched her on the shoulder. “All of that is true,” he said, “which is precisely why I have decided to bring that sort of thing to an end. Ms. Child, I am not one who believes that torture is necessary in this world. Your country and mine are not at war, though there are many who believe we should be, among both our peoples. Your associates perform a necessary service in the world, but we have learned that the great Sun Tzu was correct.”