Madman's Monster

  No further shots riddled the walls of the elevator. I waited for additional shots, but when none came I turned to Larson and watched as his eyes darting around, apparently scanning the area for additional hostiles, but it seemed as though he didn't find any.

  I could see but not hear as well as I would like, because even protecting my ears as best as I could, the two earlier bursts Larson had fired pretty much deafened me for the moment. Larson mouthed out a command and ran from the elevator. I wasted no time and bolted down the hall after him and nearly ran into some women who were running the other way, towards the elevator.

  I vigorously pointed them toward the stairway, and hoped they caught my meaning, before I continued after Larson. Following closely on his heels, I was in time to see him stepping back from the door to our room, as he dropped his shoulder and broke through the door as if it were paper. Screams that had been muffled by the closed door could be heard now, as well as the shrieking sound of a woman. My heart skipped a beat as I pushed my legs to run faster, but I skidded to a stop as a black-clad figure backed out of the ruin that Larson had made of the doorway.

  The man was clad all in black and desperately trying to fire his handgun back into the room. Unfortunately for him, he was out of bullets and as he realized it was empty he threw the gun into the room, turning to run. Larson emerged with his own handgun up and pointing at the man, but couldn’t shoot as I was in the line of fire.

  The man tried to run past me and went face first into my fist. The punch landed with such force that the man simply crumpled to the ground at my feet. I ignored the still form and walked into the room, which was completely torn apart. Not a single piece of furniture remained intact or upright and blood was covering everything. It was even dripping from the ceiling, and there were bodies lying around haphazardly in grotesque unnatural positions like a painting by Dali. Needless to say, it was a particularly ghastly sight, even for me.

  Lei and Chris were so covered in blood that it took a moment for me to realize that each of them was holding a black clad figure in a lethal embrace, as they fed from the arteries in their necks. Larson stared wide-eyed into the room and his gun wavered between aiming at Lei, and then Chris, and back, and I finally put a hand on the barrel, breaking the trance he was in. I pushed the barrel down gently, and initially Larson resisted the push, but dropped his aim under his own power a second later. For just a moment there I thought he had reached his mental limit.

  I couldn't have blamed him for a second.

  Lei ’finished’ first, pulling her mouth away to take in a deep breath, like a person who has been underwater far too long. Blood had poured from her mouth as she opened it, which made her already blood soaked clothes even more crimson, and Chris coughed and hacked like a child who drank too fast and choked on his beverage. He spat some blood against one of the few remaining white spots on the wall of the hotel room, clearing it from his throat. It made an interesting splatter pattern, and a few drops ran vertically downward from the center. He stared at it for a moment, looked down at the lifeless body he was holding, and dropped it with a "thump" that only dead weight can make.

  My heart felt like it was going to break seeing the look on Chris’ face at that moment. The reality and potential ugliness of his new existence had just come crashing down on him without anything to buffer it. He could have killed them with a gun, knife or his bare hands without thinking twice if he had to, but the feeding was going to take a toll on his thinking.

  Larson was running his fingers over his stubbly hair, while I just walked around the room and took in the shambles that had been made. Nothing seemed salvageable and, even if something were, there wasn't time to sift through the ruins. I knew we only had a few minutes before hotel security was going to figure out from where the body had dropped onto the pavement, and if we were caught in the middle of this we were going to have to fight our way out.

  My nose had just begun to take in the stench of the dead as it began to overpower the pine cleaner that the maid service had used in their duties, when Lei walked over to me and interrupted my thoughts. She was still lost in her bloodlust and she ran her hands over her body longingly before reaching out and tearing open my shirt. I immediately grabbed her wrists and held them up and away from me, but she shot her head forward, kissed and licked my bare skin, sending a chill through me and leaving a wet red streak that ran diagonally across my chest.

  "We need to go!" I whispered to her urgently even though I knew she was going to ignore me, "We can't afford to be detained by the hotel security, or the police. Chris!"

  Chris had been looking at his blood smeared face in the bathroom mirror and seemed lost in the gothic horror of what he saw in his reflection. My voice snapped him out of his daydream...or nightmare...and his head spun toward me.

  "Get the guns! We need to go now!"

  Maybe it was the urgency in my voice that cut through to his addled brain, but he nodded and moved to the hotel safe and opened it. We had stored the handguns in the safe, as well as a couple boxes of ammunition. The rifles, shotguns and Desert Eagle were safely stashed in Larson's room, which was why I spun to Larson and said, "You too Major! Go get the guns from your room and head down the stairs to the second floor. We'll meet you at the bottom of the stairwell."

  Larson still looked stunned. Couldn't really blame the guy, could I? Problem was I didn't have time to let him slowly recover his senses. I pushed Lei down to the floor and she moaned with pleasure apparently thinking I was going to mount her. Definitely didn't have time for that either.

  Shame.

  Larson let out a soft sound that made me turn my head to him and ask, "What?"

  "I asked where we were going to go?" he sounded sheepish, which was a complete one hundred eighty degree change of personality for the man.

  Not good.

  "Major!" I tried to sound like my old police academy drill sergeant, "Let's get a move on!"

  Larson responded to the tone of voice I used, and immediately stood up straighter and seemed to pull himself together as he ran from the room. I only hoped he wasn't bolting for the lobby before retrieving the guns from his room.

  We were really going to need them. And very soon.

  Chapter 44

  Larson had been right. I didn't know where we were going to go. We all made our way down to the second floor via the stairwell. My guess had been that this hotel, like many other large hotels, kept most of the internal workings lodged on the second floor. Room and maid service, laundry, hotel maintenance and the like were located on the second floor, which also meant that there was likely going to be access to some service elevators that would lead us outside. It took us less than a minute to steal some clothes and towels from the laundry bins, bottled water from a room service cart, and then find our way out of the hotel.

  The four of us stopped in a nearby alley, where Lei and Chris changed clothes as Larson and I dampened towels with the water so they could wipe away as much blood from their skin as possible. Once everyone had changed and cleaned up we headed to the garage where we had stashed the Jeep we had borrowed from Rogers. We had left the keys hidden under a floor mat so Rogers could collect it if he needed it, apparently he hadn't as the vehicle was sitting right where we had left it. Larson had the long guns in an army duffle bag to which we had added the handguns and ammunition and stashed it in the back.

  I asked Larson, as we waited for Chris and Lei to climb into the Jeep, "have you checked on Rogers?"

  "No, why?"

  I had my suspicions, but I wanted to tread as lightly as possible for the time being. Larson had just witnessed something that he had always believed was purely fiction and it was going to take a little time for his mind to wrap itself around what he had seen.

  I just shrugged, "He hasn't collected his Jeep. I just want to make sure he's okay."

  Larson frowned at me while Lei and Chris settled into the back of the vehicle, "If you have something to say, just say it."

  I lo
oked sympathetically at Larson and tried to sound diplomatic, "I don't have a statement to make, okay? I'm just trying to figure out how they found us at the hotel."

  "Rogers wouldn't rat us out," Larson said with a level voice filled with one hundred percent conviction.

  I raised an eyebrow at him, "I certainly believe he wouldn't rat you out, but they weren't waiting in your hotel room. They were in mine."

  Larson shook his head, "I don't know the reason, but I do know that it wasn't Rogers. You're way off base here."

  "If you have any other explanations, now's the time." I knew that I had left the subtlety behind at this point, but the gunmen had shot at Larson as well. He had to know that we needed answers, even if the questions were uncomfortable to ask.

  "What about you?" Larson asked as he walked around to the driver side of the Jeep.

  "Me?" I was so shocked by the question that I just repeated it back to him, "What about me?"

  Larson retrieved the keys from under the floor mat and climbed into the driver seat, "Sure, you."

  "You think I told the enemy where we were staying so they'd come and attack me?" I said dripping sarcasm off each word.

  "Not exactly," Larson said as he started up the Jeep.

  "Then what?"

  "Think about it, who else knew you were staying at the hotel?"

  I rolled my eyes, "Outside of the people sitting, here I can't think of anyone."

  In the periphery of my vision I saw Lei's head turn to look at me, her beautiful eyes wide with shock.

  I shook my head, "Okay, Alpha knew, but it isn't as though he was going to..."

  "No," Lei said urgently, "He isn't the only one."

  I frowned, not getting it, when Larson finished the thought for me, "What about your client?"

  Initially I was too dumbfounded to put the pieces into an actual thought, then I think my mouth dropped open a bit as everything came together.

  "Oh Goddammit! We even knew he was involved with Whelan before they had their supposed falling out." I shook my head in disgust for not having figured it out sooner, "How didn't I see that?"

  "Simple distraction," Larson said matter of factly, "He had you convinced they were adversaries from the beginning. Hell, they may really be adversaries, but you have what he wants now."

  I was trying to clear my head as I said, "He said he wanted information, but he also wanted Zach."

  "Maybe he was willing to cut his losses and just settle for Zach?" Larson suggested. "Any idea why he wants him in the first place?"

  I thought for a bit, but my head was still spinning from the revelation that Dimitri might have set us up.

  Larson started up the Jeep and pulled out of the garage, "Any idea where I should go?"

  I shook my head, "I'd say back to Rogers’ place, but the chances are good they're watching it. Can you call him?"

  "Sure, but why?"

  "See if we can meet him wherever he's staying. It's probably off the board."

  Larson nodded, "Good idea."

  It took Larson a couple of tries, but he did manage to connect with Rogers. Surprisingly, I was very wrong about him being "off the board" as he was at the bungalow apartment where we had previously visited him. I wasn't able to distinguish most of the conversation as Rogers apparently did most of the talking, but Larson had pulled the Jeep around and headed toward Roger’s apartment before he had hung up the phone.

  "We aren't actually going to the bungalow, are we?" I asked fearful that I already knew the answer.

  "We sure are," Larson said a bit too jovially.

  "Is that such a good idea? You agreed with me a moment ago when I said there was a good chance that the place was being watched."

  Larson nodded, "As a matter of fact, it was."

  "Was?" I asked.

  "Yep," Larson agreed with a big smile, "Apparently, Rogers had some recent visitors who cleared the area before he went home."

  "What kind of visitors?"

  "The U.S. Marines," Larson said proudly, "They've cleared out the area, actually came across a couple of people who appeared to be watching the house and took them into custody."

  "Custody?" I shook my head, "who's custody?"

  "Not sure. Looks like whatever Rogers was working on has been turned up significantly. He said something about the fact that because his cover was blown, the military was moving from a subtle role to a more aggressive one. Rogers let me know that he is being transferred and he's currently packing his things, but wanted us to come by and talk before he left. I think he wants to know if we found anything he can report before leaving. If there's something he can add to his report that will help, well, it will make up for the last couple days, and if not, then at least we can return his Jeep."

  It didn't take long to reach Rogers' place and as we rounded the corner we could see a pair of black sedans pulling away from in front of Rogers' bungalow. The cars drove past us as we approached, but I couldn't see anything or anyone beyond the sedans' heavily tinted windows.

  Larson looked uneasy as the cars past the Jeep, which made me wonder if he had some idea of who might be inside.

  "Friends of yours?" I asked.

  Larson shook his head, "I was expecting Navy personnel, given the Marines having been here, but those vehicles weren't military."

  I looked around, but couldn't make out any signs that there were soldiers in the area.

  "Your boys still out there?"

  Larson nodded, "That's what Rogers had said. They're probably dug in around the perimeter. Keeping a watch."

  Everyone in the Jeep started looking out the windows as Larson pulled the Jeep onto the dirt road that served as a driveway.

  "Okay," I said, "If they weren't military, then who were they?"

  Larson just grimaced and shook his head as he took the keys from the ignition and stepped from the Jeep. The rest of us followed his lead and exited the vehicle to walk the short distance to the Bungalow.

  When Rogers answered the door Larson’s pushed his way in angrily, "You were holding out on us Pat...holding out on me."

  Rogers initially smiling face dropped and was replaced by a look of regret.

  "Listen..."

  Apparently Larson wasn't in the mood to listen, "Just when, exactly, did you start working for the Agency?"

  Rogers sighed, "Why don't we all go inside?"

  Chapter 45

  "Everything I told you was true," Rogers wasn't making excuses as much as explaining himself, "I tried to help you any way that I could, without revealing myself. The problem was that since Zach was considered KIA the mission was already in serious danger of being scrapped before I even got here."

  "What mission?" Larson asked.

  "You know I can't tell you that," Rogers voice sounded both apologetic and disdainful at the same time, if that were possible, "Besides, the help I was giving you was legitimate."

  "Was it?" Lei asked accusingly.

  "Huh?" Rogers looked confused, then angry, "Who the fuck are you to ask that of me?"

  Lei bolted toward Rogers more quickly than the eye could track, and stopped right in front of his face, "I'm the fucking bitch who's gonna rip your throat out if it turns out you set us up."

  Rogers didn't back down, but his expression turned more confused and less angry as he stepped back and asked, "Set you up?" He turned to Larson, "What's this bitch talking about?"

  Larson sighed, "We had some unexpected visitors at the hotel. They were waiting for them in their room...and you knew where we were staying." Larson let the question hang in the air unspoken.

  Rogers mouth moved a couple of times with no sound coming out, but when he found his voice the indignation sounded out clearly, "That is a hell of a thing to accuse me of."

  Larson nodded sadly, "It would have been."

  "Would have been?!" Rogers was losing his temper apparently at the defamation of his character.

  "Yes," Larson said calmly, "Right up to the point I found out you're working with the
so called 'intelligence' agency."

  "Oh give me a break with the inter-departmental distrust shit!" Rogers had turned from Lei and faced Larson, "It's 'me' were talking about here."

  "Oh, really?" Larson said with equal indignation, "Then tell me what the hell is going on here?"

  When Rogers hesitated Larson softened without relenting, "Look, I still hold the rank of Major, and I'm still assigned with Special Forces, so I'm sure I have the necessary military clearance for whatever the classified information might be."

  Rogers shook his head, "At this point it's not military. It's Agency. That, and the fact that the freaks you are traveling with are complete unknowns to the system, that’s why I don't want to let unnecessary information out."

  If this wasn't my cue to speak up, then I couldn't image a better time, "Then use us...freaks."

  Rogers and Larson both turned to look at me. Rogers didn't have a happy look on his face, but was too curious to not respond, "What?"

  "It seems pretty obvious that this assignment, or whatever, has been taken out of your hands. Maybe they are passing it on or doing whatever you people do, but we aren't part of your collective organizations. Hell, for the most part we don't even officially hold United States citizenship, but I have a strong feeling that our interests are very similar, right? Otherwise, why would you have been so willing to help us?"

  Larson looked at Rogers with an interested gaze, while Rogers just looked at the ground.

  "Is that right?" Larson asked.

  I cut in before Rogers could answer, "I'm sure that there is a strong friendship between the two of you, but the CIA doesn't do anything, unless they see some kind of potential benefit to them."

  "Rogers isn't just CIA," Larson countered, “He’s still one of mine.”

  Rogers sighed, "No, he's right."

  Larson turned back to his former teammate, "He's right? How so?"