Abomination (23 page)

Jennifer noticed him looking at his watch with more
frequency as the midnight hour started to creep up on them. It was time to put
her plan into action. She took her phone out of her purse as if she were
receiving a call. She spoke loud enough to make sure Ryan heard her fake
conversation.

“Hello? Yes, I am,” she said and paused briefly. “No, no,
that’s fine. If the doors and windows are locked, I’m sure it was a false
alarm. Sometimes when the air conditioner kicks in it blows the curtains and
sets off the motion detector.” Jennifer paused again and noticed Ryan listening
to her call. “Okay. Thank you very much. I appreciate the fast response.
Good-bye.”

“Is everything okay?” asked Ryan.

“Yeah,” said Jennifer, exhaling. “My house was broken
into a few months ago while I was at work. It freaked me out a little, so my
dad installed a security system. Actually, he had no choice. Either he
installed the system or I was going to become a permanent resident in his
basement man cave.”

“Was that the monitoring service that called?” asked
Ryan.

“Yeah. They said a motion detector went off inside, but
when they sent a patrol car to check it out, all the windows and doors were
locked. I guess maybe it was the air conditioner blowing the curtains.”

“I need to call it a night,” said Ryan. “Why don’t you
let me make sure your house is clear. I am Super Fed, remember?”

“Why Mr. Pearson, are you asking to come home with me?
That’s a little forward after all these years.”

“Funny girl. But, yes, I’m asking to go home with you.”

“Seriously, Ryan,” said Jennifer, playing him like a
fiddle. “I’ll be fine. I’ll have my mace and cell phone at the ready.”

“I won’t go into gory detail, but it would make me feel
much better knowing nobody was in a closet waiting for you to lock up, thinking
you’re safe, and climb into bed with you.”

“You sound like you’re talking from experience,” said
Jennifer, showing genuine concern.

“Too much experience,” said Ryan, standing from the
table. “Shall we?”

Ryan and Jennifer said their good-byes and left the
Village Tavern. He followed her the short distance to her home. They pulled
into her driveway and Ryan did a quick perimeter walk while Jennifer waited in
her car. When he finished, he told her to unlock the door, disarm the security
system, and then return to her vehicle and wait for him to clear the rooms
inside.

He walked inside the small one-story ranch home, drew his
weapon, and turned on his high-powered flashlight. From her vantage point
outside, she could see the beam of light enter and then exit each room. When he
entered the furthest room from the carport door, Derek Mathews quickly and
silently entered the house. Jennifer exited her car and positioned herself in
the doorway. She could see Derek crouched behind the breakfast bar in the
kitchen ready to ambush Ryan when he reappeared from the back of the house. The
agent turned off his flashlight and holstered his gun as he walked through the
hallway toward Jennifer.

“All clear,” said Ryan, approaching the kitchen. “I
found a lightning bug, but he evaded me and went into the air-conditioning vent
in the spare room. If he gives you any trouble –”

As Ryan passed the breakfast bar, he instinctively went
for his gun when he felt a presence followed by movement out of the corner of
his eye. Before he could aim, Derek uncoiled into him, sending them both
crashing into the dining room table. His gun hovered in the air for a moment
then fell to the kitchen floor as the impact jarred it from his grasp.  The
genetically enhanced soldier with adrenaline firing through his veins continued
through the table, overshot Ryan, and buried himself into the far wall.

The FBI agent quickly recovered to his knees. “Run!”
yelled Ryan. “Get out of here! Run!” His eyes stayed focused on the intruder as
he attempted to keep himself between Derek and Jennifer’s escape. As both men
scrambled to get back on their feet, Ryan saw Jennifer still standing in the
doorway. He yelled for her to run again as he reached down to his ankle to draw
his backup pistol. In the blink of an eye, Derek launched again from across the
room sending them tumbling back into the kitchen. Adjusting his trajectory, the
Marine easily pinned the FBI agent’s arms while driving his head down to the tile
floor. Ryan was immobilized.

He turned his head to the side writhing in pain to see
Jennifer still standing in the doorway. “He’s going to kill you. Run,” gasped
Ryan, unable to catch his breath in his contorted position.

“He’s not going to kill me, Ryan,” said Jennifer calmly.
“And he’s not going to kill you either.”

She walked over to a corner in the kitchen and recovered
Ryan’s gun. She held it in one hand while putting the other on Derek’s
shoulder.

“He’s not going to kill you,” said Jennifer, looking
directly at Derek.

Joshua smiled as the young woman returned to the backcountry
shelter carrying a plastic container full of clean water. Her hiking partner
gathered up the rest of the dishes they had used for dinner on the second night
of their ten-day sabbatical. They started their scenic vacation journey on the
Appalachian Trail at Amicalola Falls State Park in North Georgia.

The couple boasted how they left their cell phones and
any other modern conveniences behind to put as much distance as possible
between them and the hectic pace of their normal lives. The boyfriend of the
young woman was an Army Ranger and instantly felt at ease with the special forces
Marine who claimed to be looking for a little distance himself.

As the isolated hikers were cleaning up after their
meal, Joshua startled his new friends when he jumped to his feet and walked out
of the shelter. He jogged over to an open field illuminated by the bright full
moon. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the sense of anxiety which
overwhelmed him seconds before. Less than a minute later, he felt an unprovoked
rush of adrenaline pump through his veins. He instantly knew the feeling was
originating from Derek, but he couldn’t pinpoint the reason. If Derek had been
killed, he would have experienced the debilitating pain similar to what he felt
the exact moment Arrington and Elliot died. What Joshua sensed was something
different, but significant enough to evoke the intuitive reaction experienced
by some identical twins.

The feeling left as abruptly as it arrived. Whatever Derek
experienced, it only lasted a minute before his excited state returned to a
manageable level. Joshua and Derek spent weeks learning how to control the
intuitive response. If they didn’t, Alex would be able to intercept the
non-verbal communication and be more effective at hunting them down. Because
Arrington and Elliot were emotionally weak, Joshua knew they’d be easy prey for
the only uninfected Marine from Didache. Joshua mastered the skill while
intentionally leaving Derek less capable in order to remain the most powerful
of the five super soldiers.

Joshua sensed something was wrong with Derek and felt a
sense of urgency to find him before the next designated rendezvous date in one
week. But he had unfinished business deep in the woods with his two new
friends. He heard the Army Ranger walk up behind him in the field.

“Are you okay, pal?” asked the young soldier.

“Yeah,” said Joshua. “I think the trail food was just
trying to come out of me before I was ready,” he laughed, putting his arm
around the soldier’s neck. “But there’s no way I’d let you think an Army
stomach is stronger than a Marine’s.”

“There’s no way a –”

While he laughed, Joshua snapped his neck. The sound of
the trauma which instantly killed the young man echoed in the still night and
startled his girlfriend thirty yards away. She poked her head around the corner
of the shelter, but didn’t see either of the men. She called out their names
with no response. She turned around to dig out the flashlight from her
backpack, but instead found Joshua standing in a dark corner. She could see his
shadow from the campfire near the opening of the three wall shelter rise and
fall from his heavy breathing.

“Shit!” she yelled. “You nearly scared me to death. I
told you two no creepy crap or I’d walk back to the car.” She paused, noticing
something odd about Joshua in the dimly lit room. “Where’s my boyfriend?” she
asked in a demanding tone.

“He slipped and fell off the mountain,” said Joshua,
taking a step forward into the light. “I guess that means you’re single now,
sweetheart.”

As the light revealed his mutated face, she screamed and
fell back against the wall. Joshua calmly walked up to her and punched her in
the stomach.

“That’s enough of that,” he said, as the blow stole her
breath and left her silent. “I’m sorry we can’t play, but I have to make this
quick.”

*****

Ryan sat on the kitchen floor with his back against a
cabinet, trying to wiggle out of his own handcuffs. His ankles were bound
together with a tightly wrapped extension cord. Derek hog tied him before
stepping into the next room to talk to Jennifer. They spoke for a brief moment
and then returned to the kitchen. Without saying a word, the Marine pulled Ryan
up by his shirt collar until his feet were dangling off the ground. He stared
into the FBI agent’s eyes only a few inches away from his.

“If it were up to me, I’d tear you out of your skin for
what you did to Peter,” said Derek, gritting his teeth. “But for some unknown
fucking reason, she thinks she can trust you. Me trusting you is going to be a
different story.”

“The real question is, can she trust you,” said Ryan
defiantly. “Does she have any idea what you are and what you’ve done?”

“I use more energy scratching my ass than it would take
to kill you right now,” said Derek, holding Ryan up with one hand while wrapping
the fingers on the other around his throat. “So I suggest you stop pissing me
off.”

“Derek,” said Jennifer in a disarming tone. “I know
you’re angry, but I need you to focus on what we talked about. You need to let
this play out.”

He released his grip from Ryan’s throat and put him back
on his feet. He stepped back as Jennifer stepped forward.

“We’ll answer every question you have, Ryan, I promise,”
said Jennifer in the same disarming tone. “But if you push him, he’ll push back
much harder.”

“You have no idea what you’re dealing with, Jennifer.
He’s a monster. He’s killed –”

“He’s killed women,” interrupted Jennifer. “I know. He’s
taken four and he’ll kill again in a little over a week. And if the thought
enters your brain I condone it or I’m some kind of accomplice, then you’re only
going to prove his point that this was a mistake. And when you do, you need to
get far, far away. So clear your head and listen to what we have to say for
just a few minutes.”

“Looks like I don’t have much of a choice,” said Ryan,
looking down at his restraints.

“Neither did Derek,” replied Jennifer. “The difference
being, he’s not going to kill you. He’s not going to hunt you down and shoot
you like you did to his friend. This is a fucked up situation, Ryan, and I’m running
out of options before he starts piling up bodies. Help me stop that from
happening. Please.”

Ryan could see the pained look on her face as well as
hear the exhaustion in her voice. He always thought of Jennifer as a strong
woman who didn’t take shit from anyone. It baffled him how she could be
involved at any level with a man wanted for rape and murder, but he was more
intrigued at what they had to say.

“So, you’re just going to let me walk out of here?”
asked Ryan.

“It’s as simple as that,” replied Jennifer. “All you
have to do is listen. If you know anything about me, you know I keep my word.
You should also know I consider you a good friend and wouldn’t let anything
happen to you.”

Ryan looked down again at his bound feet. “It’s a little
late to put that out there.”

“What choice did we have, Ryan, really? Would you have
just walked in here with a smile, sat on the couch with a cup of coffee, and
took notes? No, you would’ve done your job and called in the cavalry. But after
what happened to Peter and Richard, can you really blame us for being
cautious?”

“How do you know what happened to them?”

“Because Derek can feel it when the others are hurt or
scared,” said Jennifer. “I know it sounds crazy, but I was with him when Peter
died. He doubled over in pain and told me you were killing him. He felt every
bullet fired into Peter. But the worst part was Derek telling me he could also
feel Peter’s fear. I believe him, Ryan. If you had been here when it happened,
you’d believe him, too.”

“Jennifer, I can’t just walk away from here,” said Ryan,
trying not to deceive them. “You said it yourself. He’s going to kill another
woman in a week. I can’t let that happen. I’ll protect him, but he needs to
come in with me. I know people who may be able to help.”

“That isn’t part of the deal,” injected Derek. “Are you
that cocky, or stupid, to think I’m going to walk to my own execution? Christ,
I thought you were smarter than that. This was a mistake.” Derek, irritated,
turned to Jennifer. “This isn’t going to work.”

“It’s not about me being smart, Derek,” continued Ryan.
“It’s about you being smart. It’s about saving innocent lives.”

“Shut the fuck up, Ryan,” grunted Derek. “Jennifer
thought you’d listen, but you’ve obviously already made up your mind about me.”

“Derek, please,” exclaimed Jennifer. “Getting angry
isn’t –”

“He’s not going to listen, baby. He’s going to leave
here and call in his death squad to take me before he leaves the driveway. He’s
going to take you. I won’t let that happen,” said Derek, taking a step toward
Ryan. “For the record, fed, if one of you puts a finger on her, I’ll end all of
you.”