Threshold Series (Book 1): Threshold

by Luquer, David

  “Rob, it’s Shirley. I just got a call from Helen Jones.”

  “Shirley, I’m on my way in. Jimmy’s been attacked.”

  “Helen Jones said they need you at her parents’ house. Her father’s been attacked but she didn’t say who the attacker is. Is Jimmy alright?”

  “Jimmy’s dead. Are Helen and her mother okay?”

  Shirley nearly dropped the phone in shock. “Jimmy’s dead? What happened?”

  “I’ll explain when I get there. It’s an unbelievable story. I’m on my way to the Jones’ place with Reverend Brighton. Then I’ll be in. Lock the door and don’t let anyone in until I’m there.”

  “Nobody?”

  “Nobody!”

  “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t have time to explain, right now. Just don’t let a soul in the building and stay put!”

  “Okay,” she said in a low voice. “You two be careful.”

  Shirley was glad the reverend was with Rob. It would not be good for him to be out there on the road by himself, heading off to an emergency right after losing his best deputy.

  Shirley sank back in her chair, her hands on her forehead. She tried to calm down but decided she was going to need a cigarette, getting up and heading for the door. The sunlight greeted her when she opened the door a little to check the streets but did nothing at all to lift her mood. She would have just one cigarette outside before locking the doors, just to calm herself down and ease the shaking in her hand. She lit up, took a drag and began sobbing.

  * * * *

  Joel walked into Doctor Johnson’s office and closed the door behind him. The doctor looked up at him impatiently and let out a sigh.

  “What do you want, Joel?” the doctor asked.

  Joel tossed the small piece of flask onto Johnson’s desk and sat in the chair across from him. He had gone back for the glass shard brought it in once he had decided to confront the man himself.

  “I want you to explain this to me,” Joel said.

  Johnson shrugged. “It’s a piece of broken glass. Who gives a shit? Get back to work.”

  “It’s a shard that has PEF marked on it.”

  “So what?”

  “It was on the ground where you had your accident.”

  Johnson’s look of annoyance turned to anger. “Were you snooping for something?”

  “No. I just happened to find it. There were two flasks that were not on the destruction log.”

  “What does that have to do with me?”

  “Did you take the flasks?”

  “Are you accusing me?” Johnson asked in amazement.

  “I’m asking a question and hoping for an honest answer.”

  “And you may have just lost your job. I’ll be taking this up with Doctor Blake tomorrow.”

  “You can also explain this flask to him, as well. If you don’t, I’ll be talking to him about it in the Human Resource Department when they fire me.”

  Johnson gave a small laugh. “You’ll tell him you found broken glass near the tree?”

  “I’ll convince him to launch a full investigation into the two missing flasks with the evidence I found near that tree. If this stuff gets out, you know the results could be devastating. We have no idea what it could do. It should have all been destroyed.”

  “Get the hell out of my office!” the doctor yelled.

  Joel stood and picked up the piece of flask. “If you don’t tell them by tomorrow, I will.”

  He walked out the door, hearing the doctor’s fist slam onto his desk. He’d managed to enrage Johnson, though he wasn’t sure he could actually convince Doctor Blake to get an investigation going.

  He had already known about the risk of getting fired, which was why he hadn’t told Julie of his plan. There was no point in both of them having their jobs lost.

  Whether it was worth the risk or not, he had already given Johnson the ultimatum.

  CHAPTER fIFTEEN

  Pacing his office, Doctor Blake waited for the arrival of Johnson and Williams. He knew he could be in trouble for keeping the rats but his findings outweighed his fear of reprimand. He’d been checking on the rats each time he went into his office for anything, even going so far as to introduce new rats who hadn’t been given any injections.

  “I heard you two went over to the cemetery,” Johnson said with a chuckle as he and Williams entered the office. “Find anything creeping around?”

  “Very funny,” Williams responded.

  Blake studied Johnson a moment. Though he was attempting to joke, something had him bothered. The two had worked together long enough for him to tell when the man was nervous about something. This time, he was quite shaken up.

  “Look, guys, I think we should look into this more and make sure that none of PEF07 could have possibly gotten into the cemetery,” Blake said, his tone remaining serious.

  “There is absolutely no way it got in there,” Johnson insisted, not looking Blake in the eyes. “You oversaw the destruction of it yourself.”

  “Yes, I did, but I am not sure you guys understand how serious this stuff is,” Blake said.

  “And you think you know more about it than we do?” Williams asked.

  “Actually, I do.”

  “How is that?” Johnson asked.

  Blake took the polycarbonate cage from beneath his desk and set it on the surface. “What do you see here?”

  “I see three albino lab rats, just like all the others we work with,” Williams answered, now sounding annoyed and impatient. “Is this why you wanted to see us?”

  “What’s so special about these three?” Johnson inquired.

  “These three were bitten by another rat,” Blake explained. “That rat was bitten by one of the rats that had been given PEF07. The first two rats were both sacrificed and then burned when they began to move around after death.”

  “The second one moved after death?” Johnson asked. “Are you sure he was never given PEF07?”

  “I’m positive,” Blake replied. “And now, we are going to sacrifice these three rats and see if they all move around as well.”

  “And what’s the point?” Williams asked.

  “To see if the PEF07 serum has gone systemic in them, as it did in the other two.”

  “Oh, my God,” Johnson said, his face draining. “If this stuff is systemic, you should have destroyed these rats as well. Why did you keep them? Why are you messing with this?”

  “Because I had to know.”

  Blake put in a pair of protective gloves, picked up a rat and injected it with enough barbiturate to end its life in less than a minute. He held it firmly until it stopped moving, then set it on his desk. The three men stood watching it for a minute. Then two minutes passed. Finally, after three minutes, the rat twitched. The rat twitched a few more times, then slowly got up and began walking around the desk.

  “What the hell is going on?” Johnson stammered as they watched the rat shuffle along.

  “It’s gone systemic,” Williams muttered.

  “It’s worse than that, gentlemen,” Blake said. “It goes systemic, not localized as we had intended, then it is passed on when they bite another rat.”

  “How?” Johnson asked.

  Blake shrugged, unsure if his theory was correct. “I’m not sure. I think it has to do with the nerve endings in the teeth but that’s only a theory. Maybe it’s in the bloodstream or perhaps it’s just going into the saliva.”

  “We need to destroy these rats and get rid of any evidence that we ever saw this,” Williams said, putting the rat into the cage and putting it under his arm to take it to the incinerator.

  “We can’t just cover this up,” Blake insisted. “If this is passed through blood and saliva, we need to get help to control it. This could be serious if it has escaped.”

  “We don’t know that the PEF07 has anything to do with what is happening out there,” Williams said. “All we saw was a bunch of graves that had been dug up.”

  “You mean a
bunch of graves that appeared to be dug from the inside out,” Blake pointed out.

  “Impossible!” Williams said.

  “OK, what other explanation are you prepared to offer?” Blake demanded.

  Williams was clearly agitated. “I don’t have one, but I do know that it can’t be this!”

  Johnson placed his face in his hands. “Actually, it could be.”

  “What?” Williams asked.

  “There were two vials that didn’t get destroyed. I had them in the trunk of my car. I forgot about them until earlier, when your technician barged into my office, but they might have been broken when I hit the tree with my car. It was raining, the road was flooded and it may have gotten into the cemetery that way.”

  “You stupid mother fucker!” Williams yelled. “That cemetery is practically in our front yard!”

  “Who went into your office?” Blake asked.

  “Joel Spence.”

  “Let me get him. He may have something to offer this.”

  “I threatened to have him fired,” Johnson admitted.

  “You and I have worked together a while now and formed somewhat of a friendship,” Blake said. “However, right now, I want to punch you right in your fucking mouth. You would try to have one of my best technicians fired to cover up your stupidity?”

  Johnson stood, now defiant. “I needed to study that formulation further.”

  “That generation was far too dangerous to fuck around with further!” Williams shouted.

  “Let’s all calm down,” Blake insisted.

  Before he could say another word, they heard a commotion in the hallway. People were yelling and screaming, as if in terror. The three men looked at each other and opened the door to see what was going on.

  * * * *

  It was almost dark when Lenny Hackett began walking home from the supermarket where he worked in the meat department, cutting steaks and grinding burger all day. Now smelling like raw meat, he was looking forward to a shower and a nice quiet night in front of the television. He lived only a few blocks from work in a small apartment, making it easier to walk instead of driving, except on the colder days in the winter.

  He was thinking about seeing Helen in the cemetery earlier, and how good she looked now. College life was certainly agreeing with her. He thought about asking her to a movie or dinner. Maybe they could rekindle the romance they started in high school. He wasn’t sure why he had let her get away, but rather than thinking about the past, maybe he should start looking to the future. Then again, he would need someone to continue filling the time she was away each semester.

  He was almost to the gas station when he first saw Deputy Jim Tucker shuffling out of an alley, then back again. He seemed to be moving awfully slow. Perhaps he was just looking for something. He would have suspected the deputy was drunk except he was still in uniform.

  “You lose something, Jim?” he called into the alley.

  No response came from the deputy. There was only a low groan and then he continued his shuffling. Lenny shrugged and continued on. No point in trying to communicate further. Besides, as he neared the gas station ahead, he spied a familiar blond, standing in front of the glass door and smoking a cigarette. Assuming she must be on duty, he decided to stop and talk to her for a moment. After all, they had been going out for a while, on and off. Unless he hooked up with Helen again, there was no reason to push this one aside.

  “Hi, Margie, how’s it going tonight?” Lenny asked as he approached her.

  Margie Barnes was a cute girl. She had long blonde hair, nice eyes and a toned body from running and working out. Margie had known that Lenny and Helen had dated before Helen had gone off college, but while she was away he’d had no trouble getting Margie to date him. He had to admit that he saw her as little more than a pass of the time, but she certainly had her good points.

  “Hi, Len,” she replied. “I’m just working in this dump. What are you up to tonight?”

  “Just heading home. Got any plans for after work?”

  “Nope. I’m Just going to go home and watch T.V.”

  He smiled. “Stop over. We can drink a few beers.”

  “A few beers?”

  “I don’t have much hard liquor.”

  “You just want to get me drunk so you can take advantage of me.”

  “Would I do a thing like that?”

  “Of course, you would,” she replied. “I’ve known you long enough to know how you operate.”

  “I’m hurt.”

  “You’re a pig.”

  He nodded in agreement. “Yes, I am. You never complained before, though.”

  “How come you never take me to dinner or a movie?” she asked. “We always just hang out at your place, drink beers, watch some television and end up screwing until we fall asleep.”

  “What’s wrong with that?”

  “What’s wrong with a little romance once in a while?”

  “OK, I’ll take you to dinner and a movie this weekend,” he said.

  “You promise?”

  He nodded. “I promise.”

  “OK, I’ll see you in twenty minutes. My shift is almost over.”

  Lenny rushed home so he could shower before she arrived. He stopped for only a moment at the entrance of the ally when he saw Jim, still shuffling around.

  “You OK down there, Jim?” he asked into the darkness.

  There was no response, so he waved it off and headed home.

  * * * *

  It was already getting dark by the time Rita Banks finished her shift and exited the diner for the night. Her back hurt. Her feet hurt. It was like this every night when she went home. Working the overtime was helpful in the paycheck but it was wearing badly on her body. If she could ever get ahead financially, she could work normal hours like a normal person.

  She was crossing the street when a sound made her stop. She was certain it had been a scream. She listened for a moment but heard nothing further, so she continued toward her cart on the other side of the street.

  She was walking to her car when she saw Shirley, pacing in front of the sheriff’s office and smoking a cigarette. It looked as though she had been crying, her eyes red and swollen with dark bags under them. Every now and then she would reach up and rub them with her palm, smudging her mascara, then take another drag from her cigarette. Rita ran up the sidewalk to where she was, approaching her with concern.

  “Shirley, are you Okay?”

  Shirley shook her head. “Rob called in a little while ago. He said Jim had been killed at the park.”

  “Oh, my God, I’m sorry,” Rita said, her hand going to her lips as she spoke. “What happened?”

  “I don’t know yet. He said he would explain when he got here.”

  “He didn’t tell you anything?”

  “Nothing. He only said that Jim is dead.”

  “Where is he now? Is he on his way?”

  “Not yet. Just before I spoke to him, I got a call from Helen Jones. She sounded frantic. He’s on his way there first.”

  “You shouldn’t be alone.”

  “I’ll be okay,” Shirley assured her.

  “You’re shaken up.”

  “I can’t leave, though.”

  “I’ll wait with you,” Rita said. “Let’s go inside.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Rita nodded. “I’m positive.”

  “Thank you.”

  The two women moved inside, Shirley locking the door behind them.

  * * * *

  Sheriff Daniels and Reverend Brighton arrived at the Jones’ house and got out of the car, bolting for the front door. Before they had a chance to knock, the door was thrown open by Helen, looking as though she had seen a ghost. Her eyes were swollen from crying and her voice was hoarse from screaming.

  “Thank God you’re here, Sheriff!” she croaked and started to sob again. “I think Dad’s dead. Grandma killed him!”

  “Grandma?” Rob said. “You mean Abigail?”


  “Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true.”

  “Normally, I would say it is crazy,” Rob said her. “However, I saw something just as crazy earlier. Is your mother alright?”

  “She’s inside but she’s in shock.”

  She walked inside as the two men followed her in. When Rob saw Bernice on the sofa, crying into a wad of tissues, he sat next to her and tried to comfort the woman. He knew she was not going to be able to talk for a while, not until the shock wore off, so he directed his questions at Helen.

  “Have you seen your father since the attack?”

  “No, I looked out back a little while ago, but it was too dark to see anything,” she answered. “I tried calling the fire department to send an ambulance right afterward but there was no answer. I’ve been trying to call ever since.”

  “You said you thought he was dead though.”

  “He was bleeding so bad that there was no way he could have survived, Sheriff.”

  “I’m going to take you and your mother to the station if you’re okay with that. Reverend Brighton and I will explain everything we know on the way. First, I want to go out back and see your father”

  “You know what’s going on?”

  “Not much of anything, really. Just what we saw earlier. Nothing is making any sense.”

  “I’ll show you where he was,” Helen said, throwing her sweater on. “There’s blood everywhere, though.”

  Rob, Helen and Reverend Brighton walked out to the back yard, Rob shining his flashlight in front of them. They approached the area where Richard had fallen, Helen pointing ahead to the spot.

  “He was right over there.”

  “How far ahead?” Rob asked, moving the flashlight beam around as he searched for the body.

  Helen pointed at an empty spot in the grass. “Right there.”

  “There’s nothing there,” Rob said, scanning the area.

  “He was right there. I don’t understand why the body is gone. I know it was here, I swear.”

  “You’re sure he was right there?” Brighton asked.

  “Yes, right there. I’m not crazy.”

  “I believe you,” Rob said, his beam of light reflecting off more blood in the grass than one human body should be able to lose. “We better get out of here. We’ll head for the station.”