by RJ Johnson
“Miss, I’d like to suggest something to you.” Geoffrey’s voice was low, a whisper in the cold night air. Sienna’s mind went blank in fear, the sharp point of the knife nicking her throat slightly as a tiny trail of blood began to run down her neck.
“You can tell me all you can about Scott Ermy right now, or with a simple twist…” Geoffrey’s other hand grabbed the soft flesh in between her neck and throat, pinching a nerve. As he did so, bright lights exploded in her eyes, and tortuous bolts of pain ran up and down her spine. The feeling was intense, more than anything else she had experienced so far in her short 25-year life.
Geoffrey smiled as he watched her eyes roll back into her head. It was so satisfying when his extensive knowledge of human anatomy gave him the desired effect.
“OK!” she screamed. Geoffrey relaxed his grip, and Sienna fell to the ground, heaving and gagging as her nervous system attempted to put itself back together.
As Sienna sobbed violently, Geoffrey bent down on one knee and began to rub her back.
“There, there,” he said in a soothing voice. “I’m not proud of what I’m capable of. Honestly, I hate that I have to use it at all, but now, since we know what I can do to you, I won’t have to use it again…right? It’s sad, really…” Geoffrey sighed. “…it’s been a talent of mine for all my life. I mean, you can imagine the horror on my parents’ faces when I told them I torture people for a living?” Geoffrey chuckled slightly at the thought of that. “It ain’t easy telling Mom and Dad that you want to switch your major to Invasive Interrogation Techniques.”
She raised her head, looking up at her tormenter. “You’re completely nuts,” she gasped, her breathing returning to normal.
Geoffrey only smirked at her and nodded, acknowledging her statement as if she had instead just made a clever comment about the weather.
“Well, Miss Hutton, it’s a living,” He stood up putting his knife away and took out his pistol, sliding a new magazine into the grip of his gun. “Now then, you were saying? About Scott Ermy?” His voice hung in the air, a professor anticipating a brilliant answer from his star pupil.
Sienna’s eyes reached skyward as her brain frantically searched for any detail she could possibly remember about the short and muscled resident of Apartment 212. “He’s a single guy, orders the occasional pizza, works long hours over at JPL...” She trailed off, uncertain of what else to tell the dangerous-looking man.
Geoffrey nodded; they were getting somewhere. The stick had done its job. It was time for the carrot. “What about friends?” he asked, his voice velvety smooth.
“He doesn’t have too many that I see,” Sienna said, hoping for a light at the end of this terrifying tunnel. “He hosts a monthly game night that I always have to break up. Beyond that, he’s fairly quiet.”
Geoffrey sighed. This woman was useless. He took out a silencer from his inside pocket and screwed it onto the end of the barrel of his gun.
Sienna felt the despair grow. She cried in protest, “You said you’d let me live!”
“I did, at that, didn’t I?” Geoffrey nodded. “But the thing is, you weren’t really much help. I think I can find anything else I might need in his house.”
Sienna prayed that somewhere God was about to intervene and give her some hope that she might survive this. Her eyes darted about, looking for any escape. Unfortunately, Scott’s apartment was located in a trio of cul-de-sac apartments, far from any of the other tenants.
“Wait! I didn’t tell you everything!” she screamed as the man put the gun against her head. There was so much she hadn’t done yet, so many things.
“Do you really think that some precious piece of information will keep me from killing you now? I’m not even here right now,” Geoffrey said patiently. “There will be no finding your body, no investigation into your death. This is the kind of person I am, Miss Hutton. This is what I am capable of.”
“He works at JPL. He’s always spending weird hours at that lab. I’d bet my life that he’s there right now.” She was crying.
“Are you certain?!” Geoffrey roared, grabbing her face with his hands, “You would bet your life? Because that’s precisely what you’re doing right now, Miss Hutton; you are gambling with your life. If we go to JPL, and he’s not there, you are a dead woman. Do you understand that? It will not matter where, or how far you run. I WILL find you.”
Through her tears, hoping against hope that this wasn’t the end, she held up an unsteady hand, pointing at a red Mustang. “That’s his car, right there. That’s his, ” she said, her voice small.
“Well, he’s not here, Miss Hutton!” Geoffrey shouted at her. “You try my patience. Where did he go? How did he leave?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know!!” she sobbed, “Please don’t kill me. I’m supposed to grow up and get married and have babies, and watch them have babies. Please, give me that chance.” she begged through the tears.
Geoffrey rolled his eyes. It was a lead worth following up on. He turned and began walking back towards his truck. If Alex had come to his friend for help, the first thing they would want to do is find someplace that was safe. The apartment manager’s story about Scott’s odd hours at the lab was something, and if they found Scott there without Alex, they might have some leverage against the young man from the desert.
Geoffrey nodded at his team, indicating silently that they were ready to go. As they began to pack up, Geoffrey glanced at the terrified young woman hiding her face from him. He sighed, put away his pistol, and snapped his fingers. One of his men disappeared.
For a moment, Sienna felt safe, right up until one of the masked men reappeared, handing Geoffrey a small black metal case. He nodded to the man, who walked back over to Sienna. She screamed, certain the final deadly blow was forthcoming.
Geoffrey flipped the small case over on top of the Suburban’s hood. Metal clanged against metal. His body blocked Sienna’s view of what he was doing. Not knowing what was about to happen to her was the greatest torture she had ever faced.
“Grab her,” Geoffrey said, his voice devoid of emotion. “Bring her over here.”
Her eyes clenched shut as she remembered the small church her family used to go to. She lost her faith early in life, not because of some Earth-shattering revelation, but rather because she got caught up with boys and makeup and school dances.
Her spiritual side had taken a break since she was fifteen, but now she thought to herself, praying to God, hoping for safety, wondering if He would help her, even though she abandoned Him so long ago. Whatever her fate, whatever awaited her on the other side, she just wanted it to be over. Omar stepped forward, pulling her forcefully off the ground and towards the man who was about to kill her.
Geoffrey turned back towards Sienna, brandishing a long hypodermic needle. Her knees grew weak. She managed to get a yelp out before the powerful hands of the man dragging her over to the shiny needle slammed down on her mouth, silencing any further attempt to attract attention. She had a sinking feeling that it was too late for anyone to help her anyway.
Geoffrey grabbed her tightly as he slid the sharp needle into her arm. She moaned, scared of what was to come. Her body, previously rendered useless from the fear and adrenaline pumping through her veins, now began to feel light, as if she were becoming disconnected, piece by piece. Time and space lost all meaning to Sienna, and then, finally, her eyes closed as she slid gratefully into darkness.
Geoffrey withdrew the needle from the young woman’s arm. The sedative was a powerful one, laced with a potent chemical specifically designed to fry the short term memory section of the brain. The next morning for the young lady would prove to be extremely confusing. Geoffrey didn’t care if she blamed it on aliens or an awful weekend bender; either way, it was doubtful she would be a problem. Some in his profession believed you needed to immediately kill any and all witnesses, but Geoffrey disagreed. With the right chemistry on your side, his way was just as effective, and this way, th
ere was no need to dispose of a body, one of the most distasteful and inconvenient parts of his profession. Should she ever begin to talk to authorities about this mysterious night, Geoffrey could revisit the woman with a more permanent solution, but fortunately, as Geoffrey was certain his victims would see it, the drugs hadn’t failed him yet.
“Find her apartment and put her back to bed,” he said. Omar nodded silently and picked her up easily. Geoffrey grabbed the thick arm of the mercenary. “Do not molest her in any other way. Do you understand?” Omar sighed at the needless instruction and nodded again as he jogged away, the chubby young woman flopping uselessly in his arms.
Geoffrey nodded in satisfaction, then turned, walking over the red Ford Mustang. Using the butt of his handgun, he smashed the window open and unlocked the door.
Brushing the broken glass out of his way, he sat in the driver’s seat, looking through the glove box and car.
“Disgusting,” Geoffrey said to himself as he ran his hands around the car, searching for anything that could help him. He popped open the glove box and discovered an entry pass for JPL.
“I’ll be taking you,” Geoffrey commented lightly to the pass. He turned his head, seeing Omar return without the apartment manager. “You find her place?”
“Door was still open; I left her snoring on her bed.” Omar replied. He might not have been happy about having to take orders from a civilian, but Omar appreciated Geoffrey’s handling of the woman. Smart operatives kept the body count low.
Geoffrey grunted in response, barely acknowledging the compliment. “Get in the trucks. We’re going to JPL. We’ve got nerds to hunt.”
Chapter Twenty
Exiting the elevator from Scott’s hidden JPL laboratory, the two found themselves in the long hallway that wound around the massive complex. Alex and Scott hurried down the corridor towards the front door, where Scott had parked Alex’s stolen Suburban just outside.
“My only problem,” Scott was saying as they walked down the corridor, “is that it’s at least six hours to SETI from here. How are we even gonna find her?”
“Well,” Alex said as he calculated their options, “I’ll admit it’s not the best plan, but most important, it’ll put some real distance between Kline and us.”
Scott fumbled with the keypad with Alex waiting over his shoulder impatiently.
“Why can’t we just open the door?” Alex asked, his head moving looking out at the parking lot, watchful for any threats.
“If I don’t key in my code, then the locks won’t open. There’s a strict log of who enters and exits at all times.” Scott cocked his head over to the empty reception desk. “They also have us on camera right now, so say hello to Big Brother.”
Alex glanced over at the camera high in the corner. He’d seen several others just like it scattered throughout the facility.
“Like a casino security system.” Alex said, approaching the camera to get a better look.
Scott grunted his acknowledgment. “It’s really only here to impress on investors that our research is safe when they first show up. No one’s allowed into the main security suite. But I’ve heard it’s awesome.”
“You’ve never been?” Alex asked, half a smile forming on his lips. “I’m starting to get the feeling you’re not as big of a deal here as you’ve been telling me.”
Scott ignored the dig. The keypad flashed red as he keyed in his code for the fourth time. It wasn’t working; something was wrong. Scott knew he had some fat fingers that got in the way of keying out sometimes, but he’d never punched his code in wrong four times before.
“What’s the problem, Scott?” Alex walked over, impatient from the holdup.
“Umm...” Scott’s face fell into confusion. “I don’t know what the problem is. I’m keying in my code, but the pad isn’t accepting it. But it only does that if the system is in lockdown, and that wouldn’t happen unless…” Scott trailed off as he sprinted towards a monitor set into the wall. As he pushed a section of the wall directly below the security monitor, a tray sprung out from the interior of the wall, complete with keyboard and display information on the various security cameras around the complex.
“What’s wrong?” Alex asked, alarmed.
Scott didn’t answer, only scanning each camera on the video feed in front of him, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Scott was flipping through the various channels and angles so quickly that Alex almost missed it. He cried out the moment he saw the parking lot.
“Right there!” He pointed excitedly to a monitor in the lower right hand corner. “You see that?”
Scott flipped back, and the picture became clear. Two black Suburbans, the engines idling. Scott looked up at Alex with concern.
“Oh my God…” Scott moaned. His thoughts quickly went to Carl, the front gate security guard. Scott’s fingers flew over the keyboard as he called up the front gate cameras.
They were too late. Carl’s body lay slumped in the chair, bleeding from three distinct holes in his chest.
Scott glanced at Alex, his friend’s face already confirming the answer to his question. “Your friends from the desert?”
Alex grabbed his pistol from the inside of his jacket, racking the slide back and loading a bullet into the main chamber. That was answer enough.
“Can you help him?” Scott asked desperately.
Alex shook his head, “Unless I can get to him while he’s still alive, or if he dies within the last few minutes of me getting to him…” He shook his head. “There’s nothing I can do.”
“Well, buddy,” Scott said, his voice betraying how uneasy he felt. “I did the whole sciencey thing, it’s your turn to kick ass. What do we do now?”
Alex thought through their options. “Front lobby’s no good,” Alex said, almost to himself. “Is there a back way out?”
“Sure, there’s an emergency exit over that way,” Scott said, pointing down the hallway opposite from where they had come from, “but there’s no guarantee…yah!” Scott yelled as Alex grabbed his shirt collar and began dragging him with him down the hall.
Scott collected himself and began jogging alongside Alex. In his entire life, Scott had never seen his friend’s face like this before. Alex’s jaw was set in grim determination, his eyes darting around the complex, constantly watching his environment for any threats. This was a different man than the one he had known growing up, Scott realized. This was who Alex had been for the last six years.
“You don’t have another one of those, do you?” Scott said, pointing to Alex’s pistol. “I seem to have forgotten mine.”
“Next time you want a gun,” Alex replied as they jogged down the hallway towards the bright red emergency exit sign, “bring your own.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” The pair rounded a corner. Scott, puffing hard, yelled at his friend, “You know, I was in the middle of a nice dream that involved a lovely and trusting Brazilian stewardess.”
“A brazilian? That sounds like waaay too much for you to handle...” Alex retorted as the pair finally reached the end of the hallway.
“You’re hysterical.” Scott replied.
The emergency exit stood ahead, the bright red light a shining beacon of safety for the two men fleeing for their lives. “I’ll be sure to keep your sleeping schedule in mind next time I’m the target of a maniacal businessman and his evil henchmen.”
Scott stopped and leaned over, panting as they reached the end of the corridor. “Fair trade,” he wheezed. He needed to get back to the gym.
Alex paused, putting his back to the door, his pistol high and ready for any target that presented itself. Counting down in his head, he lowered his body and pushed the emergency door open.
Immediately, gunfire erupted around their profiles. With only a moment to realize a trap had been sprung on them, Alex turned and shoved Scott back inside the hallways of JPL, closing the emergency exit behind him.
Scott hardly had enough time to even react to what happened. For a mom
ent, he was outside with Alex. Then something had whipped past his ear with a hot angry buzz, and before he knew it, Alex had tossed him back inside and slammed the door.
“Dammit, Alex!” Scott yelled at the door. His answer was a hail of bullets, pinging loudly against the solid metal door and peppering it with dents. Scott ducked, falling to the ground as he covered his head.
As Scott scooted himself across the floor, away from the emergency exit, he moved towards the monitors and looked at what Alex was facing. There were too many of them, Scott was sure. Alex would need his help. But how? What could he do? Suddenly, Scott was struck with inspiration.
“I’m coming, buddy! Hold on!” Scott shouted to the closed emergency door. He turned and began sprinting back towards his lab. Alex might have the power to heal instantaneously, but Scott wasn’t about to leave him to fend for himself.
Ignoring the grim thoughts of his friend cut down before he could get back in time to help, Scott spurred himself to run faster.
Chapter Twenty-One
Alex had only an instant to see the four men standing outside the exit pointing their weapons at him. They had left the Suburbans out front, knowing Alex would see them and go out the back instead.
Like mice running into a trap. Alex cursed his own stupidity. He turned, using his back to shield his best friend from the hellfire of bullets, and threw Scott back into the hallway from where they had come. He then slammed the door shut in the nick of time as a second round of gunfire peppered the door behind him.
Scott had landed far harder than Alex had intended, but a broken bone was one thing. Dodging his way through the gunfire and weaving his way over behind a parked truck, Alex stumbled, taking a few hits to his body before managing to take cover. The wounds the bullets inflicted on him didn’t hurt anymore, the bloody holes healed only a few seconds after they appeared.
Alex turned, peering around the corner of his sanctuary, and tried to get a bead on the four men intent on killing him. He smiled grimly and thought of a plan. It was daring, but Alex was secure in the knowledge that the stone would protect him.