If the rioting mobs over his head somehow managed to force their way down into the bunker, Roger was certain he would be able to escape. The idea of retreating from a mob of miserable worms sickened him. Besides, he needed to wait for Tim.
How long? Two weeks at the most. But what would he do in the meantime? What if the rioting mob somehow did locate the entrance that lead down to the bunker? Stress began to build in Roger’s chest, causing the man to feel chest pain.
“Emergency personnel?” he demanded and began rubbing his chest with his left hand.
“Absent,” Matt answered, and then added: “It looks like the unknown subjects are not well organized. At this point, they have managed to set HQ on fire, but it doesn’t appear that they have any intention of sticking around. Still, Red Team recommends you place more security at the bunker door.”
“You’re a dead man, Green,” he hissed, continuing to rub his chest as he finally answered Matt. “Stay in position, Red Team.”
He changed the channel on the walkie-talkie and yelled, “Gray Team, Red Team recommends adding extra security to the bunker door. Make it happen!”
Roger slammed down the walkie-talkie and continued to rub his chest. “Tim, we need the woman. Don’t return to me empty handed, or you’re a dead man.”
Roger stood up and walked over to Bryant’s dead body. He studied the arrogant young man with curious eyes as he whispered in a shaky voice, “I may end up like you, boy. Green managed to outsmart me. How? I’ll never know. I never believed the man would allow America to fall, not like this.” Roger closed his eyes and rubbed his chest harder as he whispered, “Not like this.”
Back outside, Matt tossed his walkie-talkie down onto the snow-soaked roof he was perched on. “Man, if those people get ahold of us, they’ll tear us limb from limb.”
“You’re telling me,” Reed agreed. “I say we abandon ship, get out of Dodge City while we still can.”
“Let’s move.” Matt grabbed a black duffel bag full of gear, and took off into the night with Reed, crippling Roger Alden’s contact to the outside world. Matt and Reed didn’t know, as they ran off, that the members of Blue, Yellow, and Brown teams had also deserted their positions. They had clearly realizing that Roger Alden had lost control, and that President Green had placed the man’s king into Check Mate.
Yes, Roger Alden was slowly losing his team, being reduced to a skeleton crew who would all abandon ship sooner or later. Roger Alden, one of the most powerful men on the planet, was being reduced to a helpless mole forced to hide underground.
Jessica Mayes wasn’t aware of Roger Alden’s situation. She was focused on Lionel Brown. “Please, Mr. Brown, how can you help us?” she asked in a cautious voice, standing in Tom’s shadowy office while watching the glow of emergency candles flicker in the cold air.
Lionel, still in a state of shock that he was willing to die for his enemies, leaned back against Tom’s desk and rubbed his chin.
“This is the SITREP,” he said, and then began to explain how he had managed to form an agreement with Roger Alden’s right-hand man. “Tim seemed honest in his desire to kill Roger Alden. He could have killed me and Wendy,” he explained, speaking in his thick, British accent. “I believe Tim realizes that Roger Alden has lost control, and he wishes to join a stable team.”
“Boris Petrov’s team,” Jacob spoke, holding his gun in a secure position. Lionel was a trained killer; a man with deadly intelligence. Jacob wasn’t going to trust him.
Lionel nodded his head. “Yes.”
Alvin rubbed the back of his neck. “So, this Tim guy kills Roger Alden. So what? That’s good for us?”
“Yes,” Lionel agreed, and then looked at Jessica. The woman was clearly very fragile, and still mourning her husband. “I believe Tim would be very useful to us and—”
Before Lionel could finish his sentence, Tom’s office door was kicked open. Tim stormed through and grabbed Jessica around her throat before Jacob or Alvin could react.
“Drop your guns or the woman is dead!” Tim ordered in a voice that told Jacob and Alvin that he wasn’t bluffing. “I have nothing to lose!”
“You betrayed us,” Jacob hissed at Lionel, trying to decide if he had enough time to kill the man before Tim killed Jessica.
“No...I...” Lionel locked his eyes on Tim. “You lied to me.”
“Of course, I lied to you,” Tim snapped. “Do you really think I would trust you? My plan was to deceive you and then monitor your actions. Wendy is a very sneaky woman, Mr. Brown. I had to be careful. I assumed you might be doing the same. I was correct.”
“Where is Wendy?” Lionel demanded.
“Outside in the snow,” Tim assured Lionel. “Now, drop your guns,” he ordered Jacob and Alvin. “No more warnings.”
“Drop your guns,” Mandy begged.
Jacob hesitated, and then dropped his gun onto the floor. Alvin followed.
“Don’t hurt her,” he told Tim. “The woman is innocent.”
“All I want is the virus,” Tim explained. “I don’t want to harm anyone.”
“I don’t know where the virus is,” Jessica informed Tim in a trembling, scared voice, and then waited for Tim to end her life.
Stay strong a loving voice spoke into her heart. Stay strong, my love.
((((((((((*))))))))))
Fiona spotted Wendy walking back toward the church with a very angry expression on her face.
“Oh my,” she gasped, and then got her old legs moving and hurried toward the door Jessica and Jacob had been hiding behind. “I have to locate Pastor Braston.” Fiona hurried past crowds of talking people, worked her way through the door, and rushed down a deserted candlelit hallway. When she reached Tom’s office door, she heard talking. She stopped and listened to the conversation taking place inside.
“A letter was located on your husband’s body, Mrs. Mayes,” Tim informed Jessica, and quickly offered a summary of the letter to the frightened woman. “I am certain, at least in my mind, that your husband spoke to you about the AI virus.”
“I never knew about Jack’s letter. My husband never spoke to me about his work,” Jessica insisted, as tears ran down her cheeks. “Jack was going to confide in me...”
Jessica closed her eyes and saw herself lying on a soft bed, as a powerful, angry thunderstorm raged outside her bedroom window. She saw herself in a deep sleep caused by a drug that Jack had slipped into her tea. Next, she saw the door to the bedroom slowly open, and then she saw Jack appear. He was holding a cassette player with a pair of headphones attached to it. Jack carefully approached the bed, bent down, and gave Jessica a soft kiss.
“I love you so much,” he whispered, and then slipped the headphones over Jessica ears. He stepped back to a green chair and sat down to wait while his voice programmed Jessica’s subconscious mind. Jack, uncertain if his secret experiment would work, had decided to write his wife a letter of confession but then changed his mind. He decided to make a phone call instead, to speak with his wife in person. Unfortunately, he was killed, leaving only his secret experiment behind.
“Oh Jack. Why?” Jessica whispered, wiping at her tears before looking at Tom.
The pastor knows, a deep voice spoke into Jessica’s heart. I gave the pastor the truth.
Tom saw Jessica staring at him through her tears and felt his heart break. He pleaded with Tim, “Leave the woman alone. Can’t you see that she’s been through enough?”
“Mrs. Mayes is aware of the AI virus,” Tim insisted. “Roger Alden went through a great deal of trouble to make America believe she was an enemy of the people…to trap her. Roger’s plan has backfired. We must have the virus.”
“I wasn’t aware of my husband’s work,” Jessica told Tim, as more tears streamed down her cheeks. “My husband never spoke of his work to me. You people framed me for a crime I didn’t commit, and you killed my husband.”
“Yes, that is true.” Tim nodded his head, presse
d the barrel of his gun harder against Jessica’s ribs, and continued, “Roger Alden framed you, Mrs. Mayes, by telling simple lies to the media. He turned you into the most wanted woman on the face of the planet. Our plan was succeeding until the situation began to crumble. It is very difficult to control a large number of people while attacking your enemies. Unfortunately, Roger Alden didn’t think matters through very carefully.” Tim locked eyes with Lionel. “I do intend to kill Roger Alden and take control for myself. I’m willing to work with Boris Petrov, if he assists me in killing Edwin Green.”
Lionel felt a strange and wonderful voice enter his heart. It was time for him to prove that the Lord Jesus had truly changed his heart.
“Boris Petrov is now my enemy. Tonight, I surrendered my heart and life to Jesus Christ. I died, and Jesus brought me back to life. I have much to answer for when I stand in Judgment, but tonight I will do what is right before the eyes of God.”
Lionel grabbed Tom’s hand and yanked the pastor behind him. “Mrs. Mayes, do not speak to this man. I know you are scared, but if this man gets the AI virus, there will be no stopping him. We must force him to kill us all. That is the only way to stop him.”
Tim narrowed his eyes. “Don’t play your games with me, Mr. Brown. I’m fully aware of who you are. I know your reputation. You’re after the AI virus, the same as me.”
“I was,” Lionel confessed, “but a sweet woman introduced me to Jesus tonight, and Jesus took all the poison that was killing my spirit out of me.” Lionel looked into Jessica’s frightened eyes. “Mrs. Mayes, do what your husband would have you to do.”
Jessica stared at Lionel and then looked at Mandy. “I love you more than anything, Mandy,” she whispered, and forced a weak smile on her beautiful face. “I love you.”
“Jess...no,” Mandy pleaded. Alvin put out his arm before Mandy could try to work her way toward Jessica.
“Whoever you are,” Jessica told Tim, “you’re going to have to kill me, because I will never confess...”
“There are ways,” Tim assured Jessica, and decided it was time to clean house. All he needed to do was get off five clean shots, and then vanish into the snow with Jessica. “I didn’t want to kill anyone, but you leave me no other choice.”
Fiona watched in horror, as Tim aimed his gun at Lionel. “No!” Tom yelled and tried to throw his body in front of Lionel.
“No!” Fiona cried out, terrified that Tom was going to be killed. She burst into the office and struck Tim’s arm as hard as her old hands would permit. Unfortunately, Tim managed to fire a single shot before his arm was forced down to the floor.
Jacob, realizing he had no time to waste, dropped down onto the floor, grabbed his gun and yelled, “Down!”
Jessica, seeing Fiona struggling to hold onto Tim’s firing hand, felt a powerful wave of anger rush into her heart. She threw back her right elbow, straight into Tim’s gut. He stumbled backward, managing to push Fiona away from him and tried to raise his gun into the air. Jacob filled him full of bullets.
“Jess!” Mandy cried, breaking free of Alvin, and forced her body over to Jessica who embraced her. Mandy watched Jacob check for Tim’s pulse, as she moaned, “I can’t stand this!”
“He’s dead,” Jacob stated in a relieved voice.
“And the pastor might be dead, too,” Lionel whispered.
Jessica looked down and saw Lionel holding Tom’s head in his lap. “Pastor Braston! No!” she screamed in misery.
“Is he dead?” Alvin asked in a pained voice. “Please, tell me that man ain’t dead. He’s the good...he’s...better...please, just tell me he ain’t dead.”
Lionel lifted two blood-soaked hands. “He’s been shot in the head.”
“No!” Jessica cried. She ran to Tom, bent down, and began checking for a pulse. “He’s alive. He’s breathing. We have to get him to a hospital.”
“Stand back, child,” Fiona begged. “I’m a retired nurse. Let me check.” Fiona gently moved Jessica aside and began checking Tom. “Get that candle down here.”
Jacob grabbed two candles off Tom’s desk, ran to Fiona and bent down to hold the light over Tom’s face.
“Alvin, secure the door!”
Alvin nodded his head and stepped into the office doorway to monitor the hallway. To his dismay, the hallway began filling with people who wanted to know what all the shooting was about.
“It’s okay. Just pray for the pastor,” Alvin begged, unaware that Wendy was standing in the midst of the crowd. “Right now, we need all the prayer you people can give the pastor. He’s hurt bad.”
Fiona checked Tom’s head with careful, loving hands. As she did, a relieved smile touched her old lips. “The bullet grazed his head. He’s bleeding badly, but that’s because he has a bleeding disorder. We need to get the bleeding stopped.”
“Hey, somebody get me some towels; lots and lots of towels!” Alvin yelled out into the hallway.
“Don’t die. Please don’t die,” Jessica begged Tom, as tears ran down her face. “You can’t die. I need you.” Jessica crawled over to Tom and gently placed the man’s head into her lap. “Mr. Brown, go find some towels. Hurry.”
Lionel scrambled to his feet and ran out into the hallway, just in time to see Wendy appear at the front of the crowd.
“No!” Lionel yelled at her. Wendy turned and fled.
“What?” Alvin yelled.
Lionel snatched Alvin’s gun out of his hand. “Guard the pastor,” he ordered, and took off after Wendy, determined to kill the woman.
Far away, in a place that man could never be able to understand, Tom’s eyes opened. The first thing he saw was a warm, clear, blue sky floating over a beautiful, white, sandy beach. The sound of gentle waves, accompanied by a slight, warm breeze slowly registered to him.
“Where am I?” Tom asked, his voice completely calm. A feeling of immense peace filled Tom’s heart; a peace he had never felt before.
“Hello, Pastor,” Jack Mayes said, leaning against a lazy palm tree.
Tom raised his head, saw a handsome man leaning against a palm tree, and smiled. “I know you.”
“Yes, you do.” Jack smiled back and then happily touched his red, blue, and yellow tropical shirt. “How do you like the shirt? Is it me?”
“I guess,” Tom smiled back, as he slowly stood up.
“I like your shirt.”
Tom glanced down and saw that he was wearing a tropical shirt of his own. “Yes, me, too,” he smiled, and began brushing sand off a pair of brown shorts. “You’re Jack Mayes.”
“Yes.” Jack slowly left the palm tree and approached Tom. “You do remember me, then?”
Tom looked deeply into Jack’s eyes. “I buried you.”
“Only my body.”
Tom nodded his head and said in a sorrowful voice, “Your wife is in a great deal of pain, Mr. Mayes.”
“I know my wife is suffering.” Jack sighed, allowing all pleasantries to fade away. His tropical shirt turned into a gray, sad t-shirt. “Walk with me.”
“Okay.”
Jack turned and began walking up the tropical beach while he stared out at a calm ocean. “You’re the key, Pastor. I made you the key, because I was afraid Jessica might not be able to accomplish my goal on her own.”
Tom allowed his eyes to search the beautiful ocean. “You came to me on a snowy night, Mr. Mayes. I remember that. You showed up at my office dripping wet.”
“Yes.”
“And you injected me with some kind of serum,” Tom continued. “You injected me as soon as I shook your hand.”
“I regret that I deceived you,” Jack apologized. “At the time, I knew Roger Alden was going to kill me. I didn’t panic. I had studied mind control in my younger years, but I strayed away from that area due to spiritual reasons. I...Jessica was the only woman I could trust, and you were the only man I could trust.” Jack looked down at the white sand. “I debated on whether to send Jessica a letter to
explain my purpose or to place a phone call. In the end, I decided to confess everything to my wife and to you. I was afraid that the hidden messages I placed inside of your minds might fail.”
“Why me?” Tom asked.
“As a young man, you lead me to Jesus,” Jack confessed. “I knew you didn’t remember me, but I remembered you.” Jack looked up at Tom. “You were a man I trusted.”
Tom stopped walking and put his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Son, your wife believes that I know where the virus you created is located. Do I? Did you reveal the location to me?”
Jack nodded his head. “My AI virus is hidden in my journal. I hid my journal in your office.”
“My office?” Tom asked.
“Yes. In the ceiling tile above your desk,” Jack explained. “There’s a disc containing the virus inside my journal. A second disc holds information on President Green.” Jack gazed out at the ocean. “President Green is a good man, but he is being forced to make some very difficult decisions and play nice with some very dangerous people.”
Tom nodded his head. “Yes, I know.”
“Pastor, you have to help my wife,” Jack begged, without looking away from the ocean. “I have caused a great deal of trouble. For that, I’m very sorry. I believed my cause was for the good of mankind.”
“From what I understand,” Tom told Jack,” your virus may be the only weapon America has left.”
Jack turned his eyes away from the calm ocean to look at Tom. He nodded his head. “I’ll be with my wife, in heart. You have to protect her in person. Please.”
“You have my word,” Tom promised.
“Never leave her side.”
“Your wife is like my own daughter, now,” Tom assured Jack, and squeezed the man’s shoulder. “From gray, cold funeral rain to a bright, warm beach. Is this what death is?”
Jack reached out and took Tom’s hand. “Pastor, this is merely a dream. Heaven is unimaginable. Now, you must go.”
“I don’t want to leave this dream. It’s very peaceful.”
Green File Crime Thrillers Box Set Page 41