Cardinal Rule: A James Kendrick Thriller

by James Kendrick

  29

  DIMITRI YUMASHEV FELT annoyed. Furious. Defeated. No one had ever uprooted him from a hand-to-hand combat maneuver. His giant muscular stature kept him always erect. Even with multiple opponents attacking him at one time. But today he’d been taken down by a complete stranger.

  “I’ll kill him,” he thought as he tried to suck in deep heavy breaths.

  Felt his lungs expanding and contracting slowly. Then his breath normalizing. But there was a stabbing pain at his sides. Felt some blood in his mouth. Crack a rib, he realized.

  But he didn’t stop to think about it. His assailant was shoving his target into a lift a few feet away. But something was wrong with him. Staggered like a drunk on his feet. The impact to his skull had done something to him. His sense of balance was out the window. Couldn’t place his one feet in front of the other without palming the wall beside him. It’d crippled him. Made him slow and sluggish. Dimitri chuckled and smiled. He wasn’t going to get that far ahead now. Not with an injury like that.

  Dimitri sucked a deep breath in and then rose to his feet. He steadied himself, concentrated his mind and then darted towards them like a viscous predator set on loose. Like a bird of prey closing in on its kill. He was out for blood. Out for vengeance. Out to kill. Someone was going to pay the price for pissing him off.

  30

  THE ELEVATOR DOOR screeched open to a halt. James and Lee stumbled out into an empty parking lot. A wide complex spanning several thousand feet that was still under renovation. It was partially lit. It smelt funny and wet. And there wasn’t a single soul in sight. A sense of foreboding doom loomed over its vacant disposition.

  The effect was greatly magnified for James. His vision spun in dizzying circles around him. His eyes fluttered involuntarily. His feet wobbled and his sense of balance was gone. The impact had fractured the occipital bones located at the back of his skull. Blood trickled from his ears and down the side of his cheek. He shook his head and tried to keep himself erect but he’d to brace the wall beside him for support.

  “Pain is weakness in the body,” he reminded himself.

  As a C.R.O, he was trained to ignore pain. Trained to blot out his senses by focusing on the mission. By channeling the pain into anger and rage. Turning a weakness into an advantage. But this time around, it was different. This wasn’t like breaking a rib or fracturing an arm or a leg. The pain wasn’t the problem. No. The real setback was his sense of balance. His vestibular system was shot. The electrical signals from his sensory system to his brains were impaired. He sensed the pain. But he couldn’t sense his balance. The fluids that bounced around in the semicircular ear canals weren’t being read correctly anymore. Felt like he was learning to ride a bicycle again. Only he wasn’t. He was learning to ride his own body instead. And he’d to sense and shift his weight around his feet and waist just to keep himself erect. Had to fight through the pain and nausea and the debilitating vertigo that he was experiencing. The world around his spun in circles. But he’d to learn to adapt to his new world fast. And he’d to do it fast. Now more so than ever. His life depended on it. Lee’s life depended on it. The fate of a countless number of lives depended on it.

  But time was running out. He knew their pursuer would catch up onto them soon.

  “Damn it. Not now,” he cursed.

  He looked at Lee and said, “Lee. Terminal B12. Two people are waiting there for you. They know who you are. One’s called John. Make sure you give the antidote to him. And only him. Tim and Nancy should be there by now. I told them to go there.”

  James saw Lee nodding his head. But there was fear evident in his eyes. Appalled by the sight of blood trickling down the side of James’ cheek.

  “What…what about you?”

  “Forget about me. Now go! We don’t have much time. I’ll take care of the guy behind us.”

  Lee nodded his head, turned away and then darted down the end of the complex. Then stopped short just a few feet away. He turned around and looked back. James had his back against the wall adjacent to the lift. He was barely standing. Looked weak and dizzy. Not like the man he knew him as. Something was wrong. Something was off. Lee stood his tracks: hesitating to move forward like he’d been instructed to. This man had done nothing but go out of his way to help him. To protect him and his family. And now he was in need. Was he going to abandon him now? No. Enough was enough. He wasn’t going to leave anyone behind for the second time around today. He’d already done that once. To his own children. And he’d made a mistake in not trusting James. And it was the only way he could ever earn his kids respect again. Running wasn’t an option anymore. Sure. The antidote was important. It could save countless number of lives. But so was this man’s life too. He had to try at least. Lee pulled a deep breath and steadied his nerves.

  Then took a step back towards James.

  31

  DIMITRI YUMASHEV CAUGHT sight of Lee Dawson running towards the end of the complex as the doors slid open. But to his surprise, he stopped in his tracks and swiveled around to face him. Watched him stand silent, as if weighing something on his mind. Then as if something had possessed him, he darted towards him at top speed.

  Dimitri was amazed. Something was different about this man. He looked angry. He looked furious. He looked enraged. And he was storming at him at full charge. Not like the pathetic creature he’d met before.

  Dimitri chuckled.

  “Finally, some balls. But that isn’t going to save you,” he thought.

  He sprang out of the elevator and dashed towards Lee. Closed the gap at lightning pace. Raised his right arm high above his head. Ready to strike a lethal blow that would smash Lee’s face back into his head.

  But as he neared his target, his peripheral vision caught sight of something rushing headfirst towards his left side. This time he was prepared. He swung his right fist across his body in full force. Aiming it directly at the base of his skull.

  But to his surprise, the man buckled his elbow across his face and dived deep under his waist. He crashed his entire form into his knee right knee with a powerful momentum that dislocated his knee cap from its socket. Dimitri’s felt his massive form shifted abruptly onto his busted knee and, for only the second time in his life, fell backwards on the ground again.

  But before his head could touch the concrete slab of the terminal, he grabbed the man by his nape and swung him wildly across his body. He somersaulted over Dimitri and landed straight on his back. Right next to his head.

  Dimitri sprang to his feet and saw the man mirror his actions. He’d jumped to his feet swiftly. Dimitri was enrage and felt utterly irritated. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen from his pocket. Then unsheathed its tip and gripped it tightly in his palms. Pointed it downwards towards the ground. Then he rushed the man and swung it high in the air and brought it down in a stabbing motion. Right on the man’s crown. But the man jumped aside. Avoided his head from being impaled. The pen staked him hard in his right shoulder instead. He screamed in agony. But Dimitri didn’t stopped. He pulled it out, lifted it in the air a second time and jabbed it at his head again. This time it missed completely. Stabbing only the empty air instead. The man had backed away swiftly. And put himself at safe distance from his arm’s length and reach.

  “Hey! You want this?” a voice yelled.

  Dimitri turned around and saw Lee holding a bag in his right hand above his head. Then he threw it in the air towards Dimitri. But before he could grab it, the tall man leapt into the air to grab it.

  Dimitri swung his boot high and kicked him straight in the face. It connected with his jaw and threw his head backwards. He fell head first to the ground. Crashed his skull on the hard slab and was instantly knocked out by the blow.

  Dimitri watched him for a moment, then knelt on his knees and picked up the bag by the side of his feet. It felt empty. The bag was weightless. He swung open the flap and inspected its contents. Nothing. The tablet wasn’t there. Just like he’d suspected. He looked up
to find Lee. But Lee was gone.

  His nerves boiled. Felt his heart race. His head hurt. He let out a frightening cry, then got up to his feet and approached the tall man that was sprawled over the floor. He knelt beside him and grabbed him by his hair. Then pulled back his head and saw the man’s battered countenance. Blood trickled from his ears. His nose was broken. Jaw dislocated. Looked like he was dead. He checked his pulse. Nothing. He’d really died. Was a goner. Then Dimitri rose to his feet.

  But he felt unsatisfied. Smashed his boot into his sides and spat on his body. And then swung his boot again into his sides.

  ‘Suka,’ he screamed. ‘Glupaya suka.’ And kicked the limp body several more times.

  His opponent had died too easily. Taken the pleasure of torture and murder with him. But back home, in his county, if he’d kill him there, he would at least had the pleasure of butchering his body into a million different pieces. Then feed it to the pigs. That’s how he dealt with his worst enemies. That’s how he killed them. That’s how he got the nickname. But this wasn’t Russia. And he didn’t have the time. His target was getting away. And he couldn’t afford that.

  He spat on his body again. Then turned around and darted towards the end of the terminal. He needed to secure the package. Whatever the cost.

  32

  JAMES KENDRICK FLOATED in the deep dark chasms of void nothingness. In a space where the blackness was so deep that he felt he was being sucked deeper and deeper into the looming emptiness beyond. He’d come close to surfacing once, but he fell back into the pervasive dark abyss that engulfed him from every angle. Time wasn’t present here. And there no perceived sense of space beyond the blackness. Sound was absent. Like it didn’t exist. And everything felt still and silent. Like it was empty and hollow. God-forsaken.

  A powerful blast of light blinded James. Emanating from high above to where he drifted aimlessly. An enormous winged silhouette descended against the pure brilliance that radiated behind it. Gigantic wings flapped about in and out and then the creature came to a gentle stop. Hovering above James in all its glory and magnificence.

  A quasi-equivocal voice pierced the silence. Strong and substantial yet sweet and tender. With a comforting quality in its tone.

  “Thou remember the most sacred of duties that all heavenly beings hold?” it said.

  “Who are you?” James said, struggling to keep his eyes open as the light grew stronger and brighter. The winged creature now seemed like it was on fire.

  It ignored his question, then slowly turned, and ascended towards the bright light that emanated from behind it. As it did, it grew in size and radiance. To the point that it glowed brighter and harder than its surrounding ambience. James had to throw his hand over his head. The rays were too powerful. It penetrated his eyes agonizingly.

  “Thou remember the most sacred of duties that all Guardians hold?”

  Then as if a bolt of lightning had struck him, James grasped the meaning of the question posed to him.

  “So that others may live,” he answered.

  He heard own his voice pierce his surroundings and disappear into oblivion. Then the dazzling white light that emanated from high above vanished into thin air. The magnificent fiery creature that hounded him disappeared. Left him again in the deep dark blackness that he floated in before. The same deep chasm that was void of any form of spirit and life. The empty and hollow place that he despised. But then he heard something slowly bouncing back at him. And it came in slow short bursts. One at a time. It was an echo. An unmistakable echo.

  “So…that…others…may….live.”

  James cracked his eyes open.

  33

  LEE DAWSON YANKED the steel lever down with all his might. But the big steel door in front of him refuse to budge. Not an inch. He’d tried punching in several random numbers in different combinations on the electronic keypad, hoping that by some miracle he would strike the correct combination and unlock the door. But it didn’t work. So now he resulted to brute force. But it was useless. And he knew there was no way he could find the correct combination in time. He backed off, then desperately slammed his foot several times into its metal surface with all the strength he could muster. Again, it was useless. That door was sealed shut. It wasn’t going to open itself anytime soon. He tried to look for another way out but he was holed in the corner of the complex with no other way out. Except through the way he’d come from. But that wasn’t an option.

  He looked at the tablet he hefted in his hand. His assailant would be coming down that path soon. He knew he couldn’t risk it falling into his hands. He look at the steel door in front of him and noticed the tiny opening at its bottom. It seemed big enough, he thought. Maybe something fairly thin and small could slide through it. Like the tablet that he held in his hand.

  He knelt down and jammed the pad through the slit. It slid through halfway and then got stuck. He jammed it in further and it went in three quarters of the way. Then stopped. He poked his finger at it. It budged in. Then poked at it until the whole tablet slid through to the other side of the door. He drew a deep breath and prayed that someone on the other side would find it. It was a long shot in the dark. Chances were good that someone would discover it anytime soon. Report in as missing object. Problem was if that someone or anyone for that matter, would even realize about the secret information it held inside it. It was a remote possibility but it was the only shot he had.

  He turned his back on the door. Then leaned his back against it. Felt weak and wobbly. His knees gave way and he slid to the floor in despair. The hulking man was coming. Coming to kill him. And there nothing he could to escape from him now. He drew a deep breath and tried to accept the fact that his end had come. That he’d done all he could do. That at least what he did at wasn’t in vain. But the thought of dying a miserable death shook him out of it. He couldn’t accept it.

  He looked up for another way out. Then caught sight of a familiar sign that hung loosely from the ceiling. Just a few feet away from where he sat. He’d failed to see it before. An international symbol that meant only one thing.

  Lee rose to his feet and dashed towards it. Then saw a second sign. It’d an arrow on it that pointed to his right. Then saw the small aisle that led father into the complex. He rushed down it. Got to end of it where he found a door. He bashed it forcefully. It opened. And then dashed into one of the open cubicles at the furthest end and shut it tight. Then slammed the seat cover shut, climbed onto it and perched on it. Curled himself into a tiny lump. Kept his legs away from the floor, hoped and then prayed. That somehow his pursuer would miss the little aisle. Slide right pass it. And head the other way. But it was wishful thinking.

  A minute later, the restroom door creak on its hinges. Then stopped. There was a momentary air of silence. Then it creaked again. This time he heard it swing its full arc. Then heard the pair of boots that crunched the tiled ground of the restroom.

  * * *

  Lee Dawson felt the beads of sweat trickling down his forehead and onto his cheeks. He closed his eyes shut, and let out a breath of air. Then heard himself pray, “Help God. Please. Please help me.”

  When he cracked his eyes open, he spotted - through the open slit under the door - a pair of crusty black boots firmly planted onto the ground in front of the cubicle. His heart skipped a beat. Heard his scream caught in his throat.

  The cubicle door nudged a little. But the bolt prevented it from opening. Then saw the pair of boots step back. It waited for a few seconds. Did nothing. Everything fell silent and still. Time stopped. Then the door busted open wide with a force so strong that it jumped itself off its hinges and crashed onto the floor. A pair of sinewy hands reached out at him; grabbed his shirt by the collars and threw him outside the little cubicle he was in. He crashed head first into the urinals in front of him. Felt a stabbing pain in his head and then the dizziness set in. Then felt a hand grab the back of his collar and yank him straight into the mirrors above the washing sinks. He crashed in
to them like a deer crashing into the windshield of a speeding truck. The mirrors shattered a thousand different pieces. Pierced him all over in his face and neck.

  Then he heard a crude guttural voice.

  “Where…is it?”

  “I don’t have it with me,” Lee blurted out. He looked up. His vision blurred by the blood that trickled into his eyes. Couldn’t see the man standing in front of him.

  Then felt a palm pressed his head down. Against the cold hard marble slab of the sink. He groaned in agony. Felt the pressure at the back of his head build. Then perceived a round shaped figure close to his face. Heard his scabrous menacing growl again. Muttering something into his ears.

  “Where…is…it? This is your last chance.”

  “I don’t have it with me,” Lee winced in agony.

  The palm squeezed his skull deeper. He felt an excruciating pain at the back of his eyes. Like they were about to pop out from their sockets. He yelled in agony. Grinded his teeth in agony. He knew the moment had come. Felt the sense of impending doom seep into his soul. That it was only a couple minutes now. He squeezed his eyes shut. Pictured his kids before him. Then whispered something to them. That he was sorry. Then waited for the final moment to come.

  But the pressure lifted. He felt lightheaded and dizzy. Sensed that his world was spinning and swirling. He cracked his eyes open slowly. Saw the huge hulking man standing in front of him. He was struggling. Struggling to pull something that was strapped around his neck. Lee tried to make out what it was. But a heavy darkness slowly crept into his view. And then everything went black and still.