15 Signs Of Murder (Fifteen thrillers)

by Luis Samways

  Cindy Goldstein soaked her head in the bath as she took a deep breath in and fully submerged herself. She could hear the bubbles in the tub click and pop as her head went under. The emerging water covered her face, and her eyes went blurry as she looked up at the ceiling from below the soapy water. She could see the ceiling to the bathroom wiggle from left to right as it danced in the dim lights. She felt a smile creep across her face. It was a joyous occasion. She had managed to get to safety. After all her guilt and all the sacrifice she had endured, she and her daughter Mary-Lou were finally away from the bad men who wanted her dead. One of the bad men was already dead, and even though the natural feelings of guilt were present as she soaked in that bath, she couldn’t help but feel proud of herself for accomplishing what she had.

  Many men had tried to assassinate her high-ranking police officer husband. The rebels would try, and they would fail. Many believed that one day his time would come. And they were right. It did come, but it wasn’t a lowly rebel to take her husband’s evil soul — it was the woman herself who had been on the receiving end of his criticisms and beatings.

  She was still smiling when she thought about the man who was chasing her. The one she had evaded and made to trip over her luggage at the train station. It was unlikely that she would ever forget that man’s face. She started to wonder why she had done so on the train. Why hadn’t she noticed him more quickly? Why was it so hard to pinpoint who he was? She was grateful that she’d finally realized what danger she was in and recognized the man for what he was. For who he was.

  She was a little mad at herself. She didn’t understand how she could have allowed her husband’s best friend to follow her onto the train. If she was going to survive the many dangerous obstacles that were likely to stand in her way, she would have to get better at judging a person’s face. She would have to get better at spotting danger, or she and her daughter would not make it to where they were going.

  Cindy emerged from the bottom of the bath and took a deep breath. She was going to take another until she heard a slight rattle in the distance.

  “Mommy, someone is at the door!” Mary-Lou shouted.

  Then the panic sank in. Cindy’s heart was doing somersaults in her chest. Her breathing was raspy. The sudden heat that came across her started to choke at her neck. She couldn’t breathe. For some reason, Cindy knew it was him. She knew that her husband’s best friend had finally caught up to her. It was something about the knock on the door that gave it away. It was unmistakable to think the person on the other end had anything but bad intentions on their mind.

  And then there was another knock.

  BANG. BANG. BANG.

  They were no longer rattles. They were fist-baring slams. They were heavy knocks. The sort of knocks that shake the foundations of one’s core. Cindy’s core was shattered. She didn’t know what to do. She was naked in the bath, sweating and struggling to breathe. The knocking continued until it was no more and the door was kicked open. She heard the door splinter into what she imagined to be a thousand pieces. She heard her daughter scream. She heard the door creak back shut. She then heard silence. And then footsteps.

  He was outside the bathroom. And then he walked in. Tall and foreboding, breathing heavy and looking menacing. Cindy couldn’t move. She could feel the vibrations in the water. It was as if the bath was about to explode. She knew it was over.

  “I knocked, but no one answered. I hope you don’t mind me barging in like this,” he said.

  Cindy finally screamed.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Baston and Danni Mendez were running through the woodland. They had spotted their destination. It was a village in the east. From afar, it looked untouched by the devastation of the New Germanian takeover that happened some sixty years ago. It looked idyllic. It looked clean. But it was far from safe. Baston knew that. He was certain of it, in fact. He looked over his shoulder and spotted Danni trailing behind. She looked worn out and was close to giving up. At least that’s what her face was saying. Her spirit, on the other hand, was far from giving up. She wasn’t a quitter. She didn’t know the meaning of the word. She was a tough woman, and she’d rather die than give up. It was a useful mantra to have, considering the likelihood of them dying. They both knew it wasn’t far off, for the German army wasn’t far behind them. They could hear the tanks in the distance. They knew they would stumble on the remains of the rebels, along with the Krauts that Baston had taken out. It wouldn’t be long until they were searching for him and Danni. It wouldn’t be long until they found the idyllic village in the east and blew it to kingdom come.

  “Maybe we should carry on?” Danni said from afar. Baston didn’t bother looking at her. He was too busy making headway toward the village. It was like a mirage in the desert. Growing ever closer, yet feeling so far away.

  “No, we have to rest. We hunker down in the church over there. We wait for the Germans. With any luck, they move forward. They leave us be.”

  Danni didn’t feel convinced. She struggled to breathe as she tried to keep up with Baston.

  “But they’ll find us. They’ll kill us. We should continue on. We should find a cave or something. Something that can hide us well.”

  “Danni, we will be found either way. There are so many of them. At least in the village we’ll die fast. At least we’ll die rested.”

  It was no use arguing with Baston. He was right. They would be better off hiding in the village. If they were lucky, they would stumble upon a cache of ammo. It was unlikely, but a girl could dream.

  “We take the steeple. That chapel looks secure. We get on top of the chapel and scout out the Germans. If they come for the village and start searching, at least we’ll have a vantage point,” Baston huffed. The village was getting ever closer. It looked deserted, which was a good thing.

  “I have six bullets left in this rifle. We could take a few of them out before they manage to spot us,” Danni said, lugging the rifle on her back. She’d picked it up from the rebel scout who had his head blown off earlier that day. She could still see his face. It haunted her. But she needed to get through her ordeal. She owed it to the rebels. It was either die now, or die later. Those were her options.

  “Did you pick up any of the other weapons?” Baston asked.

  “No, we should have taken some of the Krauts’ ammo. I took a canteen off one of them,” she replied.

  The village loomed a few feet from them. They were practically there. Baston stopped and caught his breath.

  “That will have to do. We’ll get through this, Danni. We can survive this, ay?”

  Danni caught up to him and shrugged. She wasn’t convinced of anything anymore. After seeing so many of her people die in one day, she knew how easy it was to perish at the hands of the more prepared and better-equipped Germans. Even if they were New Germanians and not the real deal.

  “We’ll try…I’ll try,” she said, unholstering her rifle and cocking the bolt. She looked down the sights and spotted someone standing in the middle of the village, looking their way. The person waved. Danni’s heart sank.

  “There’s somebody near the chapel. It’s a man!” she said.

  Baston turned his head and scrunched his eyes. He could just about see the figure in the distance.

  “Oh, shit. You reckon it’s a German?” he asked.

  “Could be a scout!” Danni replied.

  Suddenly there was some movement in the brush next to them, and a camouflaged man came out of the bushes with an AK-47 in his hands. He looked at both Danni and Baston, and greeted them with a stern nod. He then broke a smile.

  “Baston, you legend! How the hell are you doing?” the man asked.

  Danni and Baston stood there, shocked. They didn’t know the man in the bush. He saw their expressions and lowered his weapon.

  “How many of you survived? Any more of us?” he asked.

  “Sorry, who are you?” Danni interjected, shaking slightly.

  “I’m Quako. Eighth dist
rict rebellion. It’s a pleasure to meet you. And an honor to meet the famous Baston!”

  Both Baston and Danni stood still in shock. They had managed to stumble upon a rebel from the capital. They just weren’t sure if it was a good omen or a bad one.

  “I don’t believe it,” Danni said.

  “Am I glad to see you!” Quako said. “Come with me. We own this village,” he said as he ushered them into the village with a grin on his face.

  Danni and Baston weren’t smiling. They were wondering. They were calculating.

  What were the odds of something finally going their way?

  Not very high.

  Chapter Seventeen

  On a Mountainside, New Germania

  We flew down the slope at great speed. I could feel the dirt and rocks beneath us kick up at our backs as we shot down the mountainside on our sled. The makeshift sled was holding up pretty well as we hurtled toward the unknown. To my surprise, along with Jerry’s, we managed to avoid any trees. The sled stuck on its course and remained traveling in a straight line. The only thing that happened, really, was the sheer gut-wrenching terror that we experienced as we came flying down the mountainside and nearly barrel-rolled off our slope and into a tree. Jerry had saved the day, and we missed it by a few inches. Before we knew it, we were at the bottom of the mountainside, covered in mud and sweating copiously. The sweat that covered me was cold. I was in absolute shock at how much fun that had just been. I hadn’t had fun in…well, I hadn’t had fun in forever! And there I was, having fun!

  “Damn, that was good!” I let out as we came to a stop. We idled at the bottom of the slope in a ditch. Just a few meters from that was the dirt road we were heading to. It looked like it wound down the mountain for miles. I knew Jerry had a plan, but I didn’t know what was coming next. I was still thinking about the sledding and how I might be willing to do it again!

  “You enjoyed the ride?” Jerry asked, getting off the sled and cracking his knuckles. I looked down at the metal sheet and nodded. I couldn’t believe we had made it in one piece. It was cause for celebration.

  “WHOOOOOOOOOO!” I screamed.

  Jerry hushed me. “Quiet, down! We don’t know who is around here!” he said, putting his finger to his lips and giving me the stink eye.

  “Relax, Jerry. I’m sure if anybody was in the vicinity, they would have heard two guys screaming their heads off as they rode a metal sled down a damn mountain ridge. I think we blew our stealthy escape.”

  Jerry started to laugh. It was a deep bellow of a laugh. “You got that right! You were screaming like a girl!” he said.

  “Nah, I wasn’t.”

  “Whatever you say, man!”

  Jerry wiped the sweat off his brow. He gave me a look, and then I knew we were back to the reality of the hell that we lived in. There were no more fun and games in store for us. It was no longer smooth sailing. It was back to surviving, and that made me sad.

  “Shame it can’t always be like this,” I said.

  “Like what?” Jerry interjected. He was fiddling around with his fingers. It looked like he had cut them while holding on for dear life on the sheet metal. That made me feel happy inside. I didn’t want Jerry to know I clocked onto his fear. It was obvious he hadn’t enjoyed the sled as much as I had.

  “It’s just a shame that our lives have come to this. Escaping from bombs and being shot at on a daily basis,” I said.

  “Well, that’s our hand, my friend. We need to work with what we are given. If we don’t, then we won’t have anything, and that, Abel, is truly sad.”

  I shrugged. The ground beneath me felt unsteady. I was tired of standing on uneven ground. I decided to jump from the ditch onto the road just a few meters in front of us. Jerry looked bemused.

  “What’s the rush?” he said.

  “Well, the fun can’t last forever!” I said bluntly.

  Jerry followed me and jumped up the ledge onto the dirt road. I looked to my left and then to my right. I gave Jerry an inquiring look.

  “Which way, then?” I asked.

  “Right. The village is down there,” he said.

  And that was when I remembered what he had told me before we were captured by the farmer. He said to go and meet him at a village down the ridge, to the east.

  “What’s so special about that damn village? I don’t see why we aren’t just running for some trenches or something. You know, out of sight, out of mind,” I said.

  Jerry patted me on the shoulder. His bloody fingers made a stain on my cloth-like attire.

  “We can’t hide underground forever, Abel.”

  “Maybe we could,” I replied.

  “Not when you know where another rebel base is!” he said.

  That was when I realized what the plan had been all along. Jerry wanted to join some more rebels.

  “You shot most of them, remember?”

  “Nope, I didn’t shoot these ones. I know a few guys. Let’s just say they are expecting us.”

  We started to walk down the winding road. If I squinted, I could see a steeple in the distance. It belonged to a large white church that found itself planted in the middle of a high-rise of buildings. All of them white. All of them peaceful-looking.

  “Looks more like a city from here,” I said out of the blue.

  Jerry marched on in front. He didn’t look back when he replied to my statement. “It is a city, Abel. The City of Rebels,” he said.

  Chapter Eighteen

  New Germania, Section 8

  “What do you think you are doing?” Sebastian Faber asked from the doorway to Commander Klaus’s office. The Commander didn’t make eye contact from his desk. He was too busy watching the monitor in front of him. On it, a small blip was making its way across the screen. It was flashing red, and underneath it was a message reading: ETA: 4:35….4:34….4:33. It was counting down to something. Something that Sebastian Faber didn’t want to happen. Something the German Empire couldn’t afford to have take place.

  “Are you even listening to me, Klaus? Do you not understand what you are doing? You could destroy this damn planet!”

  Klaus didn’t answer. He was too immersed in the blip on the monitor.

  Blood. Bloop. Bloop.

  4:19….4:18…4:17….

  “KLAUS!” Faber screamed.

  It was no use. The Commander wasn’t listening. He was watching. He was waiting. His eyes were growing green with the reflections coming off the screen. His eye whites were no longer that of a human. In them, they possessed a certain animal-like instinct. He was ready for what he was doing. Making history was within his reach. All he had to do was see it through, and he wasn’t going to allow anyone to talk him out of it. Not even First Officer Faber.

  “I am giving you your last warning. If you do not relinquish your command and divert that missile, than I will be forced to detain you and charge you with treason! Do you read me, soldier?”

  The Commander wasn’t reading anything. He wasn’t capable of seeing past the blips.

  3:30…3:29….

  First Officer Faber reached into his pocket and pulled out a walkie-talkie. He pressed down on the side trigger of the instrument and bellowed into it:

  “We have a situation in the Commander’s office. He’s gone MAD. We need…I need assistance. He’s fired a damn nuke! I need assistance right away!”

  The Commander finally acknowledged the reeling First Officer in his doorway. The office overlooked the square in Section 8, and through a big bay window, Faber could see the sun setting in the sky. It alarmed him. It could be the final time he saw such a sight. If the nuke went off, the rebels might finally show their force. It could set off a war. He knew they possessed certain weapons. It would be all that was needed to start a spark. A spark that could ignite New Germania and keep it lit up for years to come.

  “If that nuke goes off, then we are doomed. You are going to provoke some sort of retaliation. The rebels, they have warheads of their own! They will use them. China
will fight against us. It goes against the treaty we signed with them. We made them give up their nukes, remember? And then the news breaks that we let off some of our own? Do you know what that will do to the Empire?” Faber said as he edged himself closer to the Commander sitting behind his desk. Klaus was still looking intently at the screen. He was immersed once again.

  “We own the world, Faber. We can do what we like,” Klaus finally said, breaking his immersive stare at the monitor in front of him.

  “That’s where you’re wrong. We may own the world now, but after you do what you are planning to do, we’ll have a lot to answer for. You think the people will stay loyal to the Reich and the Empire if we are letting off nukes on our own land? On our own people?”

  “Fuck the people,” Klaus said out of the blue.

  The clock continued to countdown until it reached zero. And then the blip disappeared. Klaus got up from his desk. He stretched.

  “They’ll know the next one won’t be a warning. They’ll know that we are prepared to use whatever force we deem necessary.”

  “The nuke? It was a dud?” Faber asked.

  “It wasn’t a dud,” Commander Klaus said. “It was a warning shot. The first shot. It’s the beginning of the end of this all. We need to deal with the rebels. As you said, I’m antagonizing them. I want them to make their move! It’s about time they remember who we are.”

  “That’s ridiculous. They will destroy us. There are too many of them.”

  Klaus nodded his head and smiled at the First Officer.

  “Bring the troops over from Germany. New Germania needs its motherland’s support. We can’t allow this land of ours to be a breeding ground for a revolution. I learnt that lesson from the Last Jew and the Traitor. They thought they could get away with what they did. But they didn’t. We showed them. We showed the hunter. NO ONE FUCKS WITH US!”

  Suddenly an alarm sounded in the office. Sebastian Faber was pushed out of the way when seven armed men entered the Commander’s office. They pointed their weapons at Sebastian. He looked shocked. He raised his hands in terror.