by M. L. WILSON
“It ain’t much, but you’ll be okay for now,” says Kuntz. “How are you on ammo?”
“Low,” Bishop says. “Doc also needs a gun. Got a throw-down?”
Kuntz nods and takes a snub-nose .38 from his ankle. “Here ya go,” says Kuntz as he hands Bishop the gun and some ammunition.
“There’s a little restaurant around the corner when you get hungry. Use cash only. No credit cards.”
“How do you know so much about this area?” Saunders asks.
“Don’t ask,” says Bishop with a smile.
“Well, that’s it, then. I’ll come by tomorrow morning, and we’ll get you out of town.”
“Thank you, Jeff,” Bishop says. He knows he has put his friend in danger by asking him to help them.
“No need to thank me. You know I love a good fight,” Kuntz says with a smile as he shakes hands with Bishop and leaves. Bishop watches him walk away and wonders if this will be the last time he sees his friend alive.
He watches Kuntz pull away, and then Bishop closes and locks the door. Saunders sits on the edge of the bed and tries to make sense of what’s happened. She regrets looking any further into this case.
“If I hadn’t started nosing around—”
“Stop right there, Doc,” Bishop interrupts. “I told you this is not your fault. You did what a good investigator is supposed to do: get the answers. I was doing the same thing.”
“Yeah, I know,” Saunders says. “I am sorry for getting you involved, though. If I hadn’t called you, you probably wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“Not necessarily. If what the agent said was true, then they were watching me, anyway. Whoever these people are, they are resourceful. They probably know that the agent passed information to me.”
“So what do we do now?” Saunders asks.
“Now, we try to put the pieces together and figure out what’s going on. Some ground rules, though. No phone calls to anyone. Don’t open the door for anyone. Agreed?”
“Agreed. Not that I have anyone to call.”
“You’re not...married?” Bishop asks, hesitantly. Even though he is not interested in a relationship, he does find her attractive.
“No, I’m not married. Not for a lack of trying either. I would love to be one day though. Maybe a couple of kids, live in the suburbs. That sort of thing.”
“Okay,” Bishop says, unsure of what to say next.
“You know, in all the excitement, I forgot about how hungry I am,” Saunders says.
Bishop checks his wallet and pulls out several one dollar bills. “There’s some vending machines down the hall. I’ll go see what they have.”
“Vending machines. We’re eating dinner out of a vending machine.”
“That’s all we can do for now. We’ll get some breakfast tomorrow morning at the diner.”
“Okay,” Saunders says. “Be careful.”
CHAPTER 52
CAPTAIN DANVERS SITS alone in his dimly lit, one-bedroom apartment with only a bottle of Jack Daniels to keep him company. Jack Daniels had been his best friend for years before he got on the wagon.
Drinking had become his favorite pastime after his wife left him. He’s been sober for over five years, but now he’s faced with a dilemma that he doesn’t want to face.
It’s only ten p.m. and he’s halfway through with the bottle. Like most alcoholics, he thought that if he drank enough, the problem would go away. It hasn’t, and he has a decision to make, a life or death decision.
His previous “orders” were to order Bishop to stop investigating the death of Kevin Phipps. That was easy to do and would not weigh on his conscious. It’s his new orders that have caused him to drink half the bottle in less than an hour.
He has to find Bishop and report his location to whatever organization has him over a barrel. Danvers knows they will kill him when they find him. He also knows that Bishop’s death will be his fault. Bishop has stumbled onto something that has made him a very wanted man. And now, they have to silence him. But what could it be?
Danvers had considered taking up the investigation himself, but doing so is too risky. He doesn’t see much of a choice. He has to tell them where Bishop is. The blood will be on his hands.
Set Bishop up to be killed, or go to prison for the rest of his life. Danvers considers taking the easy way out by “eating” his gun. Instead, he picks up his cell phone.
After rehearsing what he’s going to say to Bishop, Danvers reluctantly hits the speed dial to call him. No sense delaying. It’s going to happen one way or the other. Besides, his visitors didn’t seem like the patient, understanding type.
Danvers puts the phone to his ear and waits impatiently for Bishop to answer. After four rings, Bishop’s voice mail picks up.
“I’m not available. Leave a message.”
Frustrated, Danvers tosses the phone on the couch next to him. Resting his elbows on his knees, he puts both hands over his face, and tries to figure out how he got himself into this mess, hoping an answer to his problem will present itself.
He concedes that miracles don’t happen for people like him. He also now realizes that he can never escape his past.
CHAPTER 53
SERGEANT KUNTZ MAKES it back to his apartment. Like Bishop, he’s not sure of what to do next.
Go to the media?
Tell Captain Danvers?
Who can be trusted at this point? No one. At least not right now. Not until they know the extent of the conspiracy.
Kuntz is still skeptical about the whole alien thing, but he saw the bullet holes in Bishop’s car. Someone wanted him and Saunders dead, and he doesn’t know why.
Kuntz opens the front door and discovers that he did not leave a light on like he usually does. A cop’s mentality, never enter a dark room. In all the haste, he must have forgotten to leave a light on. He flips the light switch and locks the door behind him. He puts his keys and weapon on the table with a mix of frustration and fatigue.
Kuntz is also a little excited. He hasn’t had this kind of excitement in years. Kuntz does like the excitement, but he knows he is not as young as he used to be. He’s also not one hundred eighty-five pounds anymore either. It’s the processed foods and the smoking over the years. His fellow officers might be right. A heart attack waiting to happen.
He makes a commitment to eating right and exercising in the future, but for right now, he needs a drink. Kuntz goes to his bar and puts two pieces of ice in a glass and pours himself a shot of bourbon whiskey.
This will clear my head, he thinks to himself. Before he can take his first drink, three men in dark suits emerge from the back bedroom. All of them look like they are in their mid-thirties and are well-groomed and clean-shaven.
The two men that followed the first were pointing 9mm guns with silencers at him. The first man is obviously the leader. A hit team, obviously, but for who?
CIA?
Aliens?
One thing Kuntz knows for certain, he’s in big trouble. He knows they are here to kill him.
“Good evening Mr. Kuntz,” says the lead agent with a smile.
“Who are you?” Kuntz asks, knowing he will not get an answer. “How did you get in my apartment?”
“How we got in is the least of your concerns, Mr. Kuntz,” says the agent as he picks up Kuntz’s gun from the table and removes the ammunition.
“Well, if you’re Jehovah’s Witnesses, I ain’t interested.” Kuntz’s attempt at humor is lost on his visitors.
“We are here for Detective Ken Bishop and Dr. Laura Saunders. Where are they?”
“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about. Now why don’t you and your overdressed goons get out of my apartment while you can still walk?” Kuntz says, trying to bluff his way out.
The agent smiles and begins to laugh at Kuntz’s threats. “You humans. You are a strange species indeed.”
“You humans? Who the hell are you guys?” Kuntz asks again, but with much greater concern.
“I will only ask you one more time, Mr. Kuntz. Where are Bishop and Saunders?”
“I don’t know. And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell ya.”
The agent pauses for a moment at Kuntz’s answer. After a few seconds, the agent decides to display his superiority.
He walks up to Kuntz, grabs him by the throat, and picks him up off the ground with one hand. With his feet dangling three feet off of the floor, Kuntz grabs the agent’s wrist with both hands, trying to get free. He is as equally shocked at the agent’s strength as he is scared for his life.
Bishop and Saunders were telling the truth.
“I can see the fear in your eyes, Mr. Kuntz. Where are they? Tell me, and you won’t have to die.”
“G-go...t-t-to...hell,” Kuntz answers as he struggles for air.
“You are a brave man, Mr. Kuntz,” the agent says. “Very well.”
He lets go of Kuntz’s throat and lets him drop to the floor like a rag doll. Kuntz gasps for air and realizes he’s going to die tonight.
“Let’s get it over with, you son of a bitch,” Kuntz says bravely as he stands up and braces for the inevitable. He would rather die than be a traitor. “Kill me if you want. I ain’t tellin’ you squat.”
“I believe you, Mr. Kuntz.”
The lead agent looks at his two assists and gives the go-ahead nod. Without hesitation, the two agents relentlessly fire their weapons at Kuntz. He can feel the hot lead piercing his flesh.
A total of eighteen rounds are fired, all of which strike Kuntz center mass. Sergeant Kuntz is dead before he even hits the floor. The lead agent stands over Kuntz’s lifeless body, looks down at him, and grins.
“New York’s finest.”
CHAPTER 54
BISHOP AND SAUNDERS sit silently on separate beds with the television on. Neither is really watching the episode of Gomer Pyle USMC. It’s a little awkward for both of them.
Neither knows how to break the silence. Fortunately, the silence is abruptly broken for them from the next room. Apparently a john is getting his money’s worth.
Bishop and Saunders can hear the repetitive banging of the headboard and the moans of pleasure through the paper-thin walls. While they both find humor in it, they also are a bit envious as well. Neither has had a significant other in their lives in a long time.
After all of twenty minutes, the john is finished, thus completing the transaction. It’s quiet once again. Bishop and Saunders smile at each other and shake their heads.
“It didn’t take him very long, did it?” Saunders says.
Bishop smiles and shakes his head in agreement. “No, it didn’t.”
Finally, the ice is broken between them.
“If you don’t mind my asking, how long ago was the...accident?” Saunders asks. The question takes Bishop by surprise, but he doesn’t mind answering.
“Almost two years ago.”
“I’m sorry about your loss.”
Bishop doesn’t reply. He’s not upset that Saunders asked, it just conjures up the memories again. After today’s events, he needs to stay focused if they are going to stay alive. “I’m gonna see what’s on the news,” Bishop says.
“Ken. Do you mind if I call you Ken?”
“No, not at all.”
“It just occurred to me, Ken. There isn’t anyone we can trust besides Sergeant Kuntz. We’re all alone.”
“Yeah, I know,” Bishop says as he gets up and paces the floor. “We need a plan if we’re gonna get through this.”
“First, we need to get as far away from the city as we can,” Saunders says.
“Yeah.” Bishop gets up and peeks out the window. Saunders can sense something else is wrong with him.
“You don’t sound too excited to be getting away from this mess.”
Bishop rubs his forehead and tries to find a way to tell Saunders that he doesn’t want to leave.
“Look. I don’t want you in danger, but I have to know what’s going on.”
“You want to go back? Are you kidding?”
Bishop sits down next to Saunders and tries to explain. “These people are gonna follow us no matter where we go,” he says. “The only way we’re gonna get out of this is to go back and solve this case.”
“But that’s suicide.”
“We can’t run forever. You got a better idea, now’s the time.”
Saunders knows they can’t run forever and nods in agreement.
“Look, let’s not talk about it right now,” Bishop says as holds Saunders’ hand to console her. “Why don’t you take a shower and try to relax?”
“Relax?” Saunders says. “Easier said than done.” She takes his advice and goes to the bathroom, leaving Bishop to ponder their future.
CHAPTER 55
JUSTICE HAS BEEN calling his partner all night. Text messages, voice mail, still no response. After today’s events, he’s beginning to wonder if Bishop and Saunders are already dead.
He’s been told by the elders how ruthless and efficient the Promelians are. No way are Bishop and Saunders a match for a Promelian executioner. He’s thought about that all night. That, and on how to tell Bishop who he really is.
If he had told Bishop a few hours ago that he was an alien, he likely would have taken it as a joke. There’s no way Bishop will think it’s a joke now. Justice is concerned that his partner might just decide that all aliens are alike, and pull the trigger. That is the human way after all—racism, hate, fear of the unknown.
No matter.
The truth had to come out at some point. Not just his truth, but the truth about Cereleans and Promelians. The truth about the war the Cereleans brought to the human race, a war that could ultimately be the end of all human life on Earth.
Justice can’t help but feel some guilt about the dangers that are coming, even though he wasn’t even born when his people settled on Earth. The decision wasn’t his, and yet he knows that he likely wouldn’t have done anything different than what his ancestors did, turned death into a fighting chance to live. Even though he feels guilty, he knows there was no other choice. His people had to flee in order to survive.
Still, he can’t help but feel guilty about what his people have brought to humans. He knows humans are a savage race, filled with hate and greed, but they have a right to life just as his people do.
Whether it be by attack like the Promelians launched against his people centuries ago, or by accident, genocide is genocide, and in every way morally and ethically wrong.
His hands are tied for now. All he can do is wait and hope Bishop and Saunders are still alive.
PART III
THINGS ARE SUPPOSED TO
GET BETTER WITH TIME
CHAPTER 56
IT’S SPRING TIME in New York. Bishop’s favorite time of year. He took two weeks off from work to enjoy the seventy degree weather and to spend some quality time with Caroline and Brianna. No crime scenes. No investigations. No nothing. He even left his duty cell phone in his desk drawer at the office.
The department wants their detectives to keep their phones with them at all times, even on vacations. Not this time. Bishop made up his mind to take whatever discipline his captain deems fit to give him, but come hell or high water, he’s going to have his uninterrupted family time no matter the consequences.
Wearing shorts and sandals, Bishop sits next to Caroline on a park bench as they both watch Brianna play on the jungle gym with some of the neighborhood kids. Bishop has always been proud of how quickly Brianna is able to make new friends.
“Mommy. Daddy. Watch this.” Brianna demonstrates her gymnastic abilities by hanging upside down from one of the monkey bars and waving.
“That’s very good sweetie,” Bishop says as he and Caroline wave back. Bishop reaches over and gently kisses Caroline on the hand.
“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he says.
Just as Caroline is about to respond, everything goes dark. The park disappears, Caroline and Brianna are gone, and B
ishop is standing in the hallway at the morgue. Hospital staff and fellow police officers stand next to each other on each side of the hallway. They’re not saying a word. They just stare at Bishop and point to an open door at the end of the hallway.
Bishop slowly walks towards the room they are pointing to. He wants to go out the double doors behind him, but feels compelled to go where they are pointing as if some unknown force was pulling him.
Where am I? What’s happening? I was at the park.
He looks into the eyes of each of the hospital staff and police officers as he continues to slowly walk towards the room. Bishop wants to ask them what’s going on but he can’t bring himself to say anything.
As he enters the room, he see’s Justice, Saunders and Captain Danvers starring at him and pointing to what appears to be two bodies lying on separate gurneys, each covered from head to toe by a white sheet. Hesitantly, Bishop walks over to one of the gurney’s. With his hand shaking, he nervously pulls back the sheet to see who’s under it. Who he see’s frightens him.
“Caroline.”
Tears immediately begin to flow down his cheeks as he stares down at his wife’s lifeless body. Suddenly, Caroline’s’ eyes open. She slowly sits up and stares at him. Bishop backs up slowly. As he does, he notices the second body sit up. The sheet that covered the second body slowly slides down to expose another familiar face starring at him.
“Brianna.”
Terrified, Bishop begins to back away from his wife and daughter.
“No! No!” Bishop says as he backs against the far wall. As he does, he bumps into Justice.
“GET AWAY FROM ME!” he yells. “Dear god. Please don’t do this to me.”
“Why did you let this happen to us, daddy?” Brianna says.
“I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”
Bishop slowly starts to slide down the wall while covering his teary eyes with his hands.