by Bill O. A
Scott Thomas has been efficient and effective in his last three hits. Louisiana, Oregon and North Carolina. All his victims’ names from a hit list he created about eleven months ago. Some vendetta.
Today, his fourth target was a social worker. A member of the board of trustees of an NGO called Planet Green, a body set up to promote the ideals of the preservation of trees in the USA and the planet in general. He was an ardent worker, committed to the cause he believed in, but his good works weren’t going to save him from his killer’s bullet.
Paul Jackson had just finished his shopping when he strolled out of the mall. He had the shopping carts rolling towards the direction of his SUV. This was his monthly routine for his family. His two children were married and he was alone at home with his wife; she had the flu and couldn’t make the shopping today.
Scott waited patiently for close to an hour for his target to arrive. Then suddenly, there was movement around the Grand Cherokee. He adjusted the telescopic lens on the M24 rifle; he needed to be sure he had the right man in sight. He was enjoying this. It was certainly personal to him what this shot would mean. He had a nine-man list to execute and today number four on the list was going to be taken out. He took his time, waiting for the right moment, savouring every moment till the final shot.
Paul loaded the contents from the basket of the shopping cart into the storage box of his Grand Cherokee. He was still fit at the age of sixty-eight. Scott followed him with his vision scope via the cross hair on his rifle’s lenses, till he got to the door of the driver’s side. As Paul was selecting the right key from the bunch in his hand, the keys fell. Paul was on the ground bleeding from his head, the shot was fatal.
Scott was six blocks away, lying on the table facing the window in his hotel room. He got up, gently dismantled his rifle and stored the pieces in its come-along bag. He had trailed Paul for two months now, getting all the details he needed. He was getting good at this.
Mary James loved to shop. She would go online and spend hours going through stuff; she had become an addict. On days when she couldn’t get what she wanted, she would visit the nearby mall and have a field day. Today was one of those days.
She had bought the new smoothie maker and was about to return home when she saw her foot prints were stained with some red substance. She retraced her steps and found that it was blood gathering in a hole in the ground. She bent down to see where it was all coming from and saw a figure on the ground at the other side of her car. She turned around and went to have a proper look and then it dawned on her. A man was dead with blood coming from his head. She froze for a while, shook herself out of her daze then dialled 911 on her cell phone.
Two sergeants and a captain were at the crime scene within eighteen minutes, the paramedics had confirmed the victim dead. Captain Todd recognised Paul at first sight; he had provided security for an event hosted by Planet Green. He knew Paul to be a gentle man, hard to anger and jovial to everyone, he practically had no enemies. Sergeant Eric called on the captain to share a view with him on the bullet trajectory, from the stain on the driver’s glass.
“It seems Paul was standing here when the bullet struck, and from estimated angle calculations we can presume the bullet came from one of the windows on the fifth or six floor of the Hyatt Place.”
“Good. I am sure the hotel will have well-established surveillance cameras. Come on Eric, let’s pay them a visit.”
The hotel’s head of security was a short man with an emerging baldness. He has been running the security of the hotel for the past twelve years and knew every inch of the building.
“Good evening, I am Captain Todd Walters and my colleague is Sergeant Eric Hayes. We are investigating a murder. We believe the gunshot came from one of your rooms on the fifth or sixth floor. Please, can we see the video recording on those floors from the past three hours?”
“Certainly,” said Joe. “If you can follow me, I will take you to our security room. You know we keep all records for a six-month period before we delete them.”
“Hold on, please go back a minute.” Todd was talking to the young technician guiding them through the video. “That man. We can’t see his face. He is wearing a cap and looking downwards. Please, what room is he coming from?”
“That will be Room 515.”
“Does the room have a view of the mall across the road?”
“Yes, it does,” said Joe.
“Okay, we need to get to that room now.”
“All right, I just need to check if the occupant has checked out.”
Joe began to look worried as he spoke. “You mean there is still someone in the room?”
Todd brought out his pistol as he signalled to Eric to follow him, while Joe confirmed status of the room from a nearby computer.
“The room is still occupied; the lodger has not checked out.”
That very instant Eric called for backup on his walkie-talkie, while Todd led the exit towards the elevator.
“Eric, stay at the foot of the stairs and let no one pass through. Joe, you come with me do not sound any alarm so as not too draw any attention. Everything should be as normal as it can be.”
Immediately the elevator doors opened on the fifth floor, Todd came out with his gun aimed in the direction of the rooms to the left. Joe was beside him holding a taser.
“Under no circumstance should you come in with me. The suspect is most likely armed and dangerous. Just give me the door swipe.”
Todd was an experienced officer and knew the procedure all too well. At Room 515, Todd swiped and opened the door gently. The lights were on, so was the TV. There was no one in the room. He still had to check the bathroom and closet as he wasn’t taking chances. He brought out his walkie-talkie.
“Hey Eric, has anyone come through the stairs? The room is empty.”
“No one, Captain and backup are already here.”
“There will be no need for that anymore. The shooter must have left immediately the deed was done. You can tell forensics to come upstairs and comb this place through.”
The pathologists with the Omaha Police Department worked overnight. Paul Jackson was an important man and his cause of death needed to be clarified; although it was certain he died from a gunshot to the head, due process had to be complete.
Doctor Fred Smith was in charge of the Pathology Department. He was called back to the lab by the Chief of Police when the news broke about Paul’s death.
“So, what do you have for me?” inquired Chief Lester.
“Well, I can confirm the victim died from a gunshot wound to the head.” Fred was careful with his next statement. “The only strange thing is the bullet is different from other M24 bullets. This one was locally made and the most interesting part is it has a number at the base. The number four carefully carved in by the maker.”
“Hmmm, have you shared this information with Todd and the rest of his team?”
“I have sir. I understand Eric is running MO with all security agencies on the newly installed inter-agency platform.”
“Outstanding. I will follow up with him on development. Paul’s murder still remains a mystery.”
Fred nodded in agreement.
Todd got a call early in the morning the next day. He had slept in the station while work was going on the Paul’s murder.
“Good morning, Captain Todd here.”
“Morning to you, I am Special Agent Jack Dillon with the FBI and we’ll be taking over the investigation of Paul Jackson’s murder. We will be in your office in the next hour. Our flight landed fifteen minutes ago.”
Todd was in shock. He couldn’t understand how the FBI got wind of the case and the sudden attention from the Feds was all but alarming.
“Not a problem, sir. I will inform my team of this recent development.”
“Meanwhile has Chief Lester been informed? We will discuss handover in more detail when we speak in person.”
Jack terminated the call with his last statement.
&n
bsp; Chapter 4
San Francisco, California
25th June 2015, 11:15 a.m.
“Amy’s case is truly peculiar. My research has cut across all aspects of medicine and there is no precedent of any kind,” said Doctor Mark who spoke in his usual low voice.
The Joneses had to remain silent to hear him audibly.
“One established fact is that your child is normal during non-sleep hours. Her condition during sleep is inexplicable. It is definitely a non-psychiatric issue. At this stage, I will suggest you look towards the spiritual. I received a reply from a historian cum archaeologist during my quest on her symptoms and Professor George Holmes also called me and spoke in length about the issue. I think it is best we all visit him and hear from him. Please brace yourselves, for the journey we are about to begin is uncharted.”
“You are all welcome to my home. Most of my work is done in my newly converted study room now personal office,” said Professor George as he directed his guests to his living room.
Mark, Donald and Jessica all sat down on the settee.
“Thank you for having us under this rather short notice,” said Donald, clearing his throat as he spoke. “As parents we can only wish the best for our children.”
“I understand you perfectly and I wouldn’t be wasting your time.” George sat up right while speaking. “You see, your daughter’s condition has not been seen for the past one thousand years if my analysis is correct. And I’ll tell you: In the tenth century BC, 985 BC to be precise and according to my calculations, ancient Greece was ruled by a king who had four daughters and no son to inherit his title, so he went to the temple of Aphrodite and prayed to the goddess asking for a son. The next day, the temple priest went to the palace and informed the king that the goddess had made a request for his prayers, stating that he should sacrifice his first child in the sanctuary at the temple’s altar.
“The king thought long and hard about it, and declined the goddess’s request. This was an affront to the goddess, so she ordered the temple priest to place a curse on the king’s firstborn child. The priest prepared the sacrifice for the curse and went to the environs of the palace at midnight. He had known the girl since she was a baby and felt a little remorse, so in placing the curse and offering the sacrifice to Zeus, he decided to amend the pronouncement. Please note that the junior gods couldn’t place irreversible and terminal curses during that era, hence Zeus’s involvement. That night, the eighteen-year-old girl had her first experience. She was visited by a man most likely in ghost form, and the experiences continued for many nights.
“The king was confused. There was no such thing in the kingdom, so where did this come from? He summoned all his physicians and wise men, till finally a soothsayer came forth and told the king of the goddess’s curse and its implications.
“He informed the king that the curse placed on his child is known as haptomai and his daughter would experience this nightly anomaly until the man is found and the ritual is observed. The king was suddenly hopeful, knowing there was an end to this curse, and asked what he should do. The soothsayer spoke further saying that the man in her dreams and visions needed to be found, and when he is, he would have to be with the princess to lift the curse.
“The king was distraught and asked the soothsayer if he meant the man would have carnal knowledge of his daughter and was told that the exact methodology was unknown but when the gods say a man should touch a woman, then the obvious should apply; we don’t want to make any mistake here do we? It was settled. The king summoned for the palace artist to make a facial image of the ghost. The king was all authoritative again and asked the soothsayer what could be done in the interim to reduce the symptoms. The soothsayer replied saying the princess needed to accept her fate and embrace her lover. But the question now was how does a human make contact with the spiritual? The king felt this was impossible and became furious.
“The soothsayer calmly replied saying once the sketch of the man was ready they would need to make copies in different sizes and have them all placed around her room, and she must be seen to have accepted the man as this would please the ghost version that visits from the goddess. The king was pleased with the reply from the soothsayer, noting that he was an experienced man in his field. He decided the soothsayer should live in the palace and be provided with anything of his calling as he needed the man around till the curse was lifted.”
Professor George looked at his guests intently as he finished his story.
Donald and Jessica were dumbfounded; things were obviously getting scarier and confusing. They never thought they would ever be in this situation. Donald was about to speak when George interrupted.
“Hold on, Mr Jones. You need to get the full picture.”
George continued with his story.
“The princess’s room was amended and fitted with various pictures of the man. She was even given a necklace with a small image of the man on it. Her nightly experiences reduced dramatically and her intruder’s visits were not as frequent as before. She might have a scream once in a fortnight; the remedy was working but the solution was not yet achieved. It took the palace army about 235 days to find the man. He was a young farmer in the city of Byliss. The resemblance was unmistakable, and so he was brought before the king.
“King Philip understood what needed to be done. He called in the soothsayer and consulted with him, asking if his daughter is to have sex with the man. However, the soothsayer said he didn’t say so and that he was only interpreting the message from the gods. At night, the man was taken to the princess’s room. He had been washed and bathed with the finest perfumes. The princess was eager to get rid of the curse and so she acted along. In the morning when the sexual encounter was over the man was warned not to discuss the issue with anyone. The king planned to have him executed to save face and keep the secret, but he held on to make sure the curse had been lifted.
“Nights passed and there were no more experiences from the princess. Her room was returned to order. Eight years later, the princess got married. She had children, they grew up and no experiences were transferred to them, everything seemed to be back to normal.
“You see, when the curse was placed it was meant to be a daily curse, but the temple priest altered the words and conjured that a thousand years is like a day before the gods, hence he shifted the curse to a thousand years’ appearance in the princess’s bloodline.”
Jessica was shivering. She now understood why Mark had said they needed to brace up for what was ahead. George rose to pick up a piece of ancient paper to show his guests.
“I don’t understand what all of this has got to do with us,” said Donald as he tried to remain calm. “How does a three-thousand-year-old curse affect my family?”
“To be honest with you, the Greek empire later became a democracy and all traces of their former kings have been lost. The last known occurrence of haptomai was in Syria around 1015AD, although there has been talks about an occurrence in 15AD,” said Professor George.
Mark broke into the discussion to lighten the mood and cheer up the Joneses.
“From what I understand, the curse started in Greece about three thousand years ago.”
“Why has it migrated to other areas of the world?”
“Now that’s a good question. I have been asking myself the same thing for the past twenty-eight years,” said George as he looked at Mark with respect.
Donald stood up and paced for a while. Then, he sat down.
“If the bloodline of King Philip is still around today, that will make either Jessica or I descendants of this king’s daughter,” said Donald.
Mark and George both smiled; the message had finally gotten through to the Joneses.
“We need to be ready for this one. The last two occurrences lead to death of the victims as the ghost man could not be found,” said George as he tried to chip in a fact not yet said.
“What do we do now?” asked Donald who was eager to get a solution.
“Well, time might have passed between the first encounter and that of your daughter but the remedy still remains the same,” replied George who was excited now that the Jones’ were ready to play ball. “I will send for a sketch artist from the university to your house this evening. We need to accept her lover first to reduce his appearances and thus give your daughter some reprieve.”
In the evening after the sketch artist was through with the painting, he left Amy’s room and went to the part of the house where Donald, Jessica, Mark and George were waiting patiently. One look at the painting and George spoke directly to the Jones.
“We will need to send it to the University’s lab for fine tuning and more copies in various frames. Can we get her room ready tonight?” asked Donald. “And please don’t forget the necklace I gave you. Please replace the picture inside it with that of the man.”
Jessica was excited at all this. “We need to see proof tonight,” she said as she walked over to her cell phone on the table.
“Where are you going?” inquired Donald.
“I need to call Sandra. She has been so supportive; it’s only fair she is informed of the developments.”
“But it is late.”
“Don’t worry. I will speak to her mum. She already told me Sandra was ready to support in any way.”
“Okay then, hurry up if she is going to spend the night. Amy will need all the help she can get tonight.”
Chapter 5
Omaha, Nebraska
23th June 2015, 9:45 a.m.
Special Agent Jack Dillon stepped into Chief Lester’s office with his colleague, Special Agent Brad Murphy. Todd and Eric were also in the office waiting for them.
“I believe you are Chief Lester,” said Dillon. He spoke with an air of superiority.
“Yes, that is definitely me and these are Captain Todd and Sergeant Eric. They have begun the investigation into Paul Jackson’s murder.”
“We are welcome to have any assistance with this investigation. As you already know from my brief, the MO is the same with three other murders in our portfolio. The distinguishing factor is the head-shot wound and the number at the base of the bullet, but what is most striking is the fourth murder has given us some clue on what the killer is doing. Paul and the other three victims have something in common, they all served in the Marines when they were in their twenties, but more peculiar is the fact that they were part of a team stationed in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. From the records, they only worked together during a reconnaissance mission in South Vietnam. We have made up the list of the team after getting info from Eric. The nine-man Marine squad that operated in South Vietnam are all in America except the first four who have been taken out,” said Jack. He stopped to drink some water.