The Forgotten Eden (48 page)

Once the trunk was fully exposed, all Jack and Jeremy could do was stare in horror at its contents. Sprawled before them, amid a tire jack, shovel, and three twenty-pound bags of lime, lay the stiffening corpse of Peter McNamee. His face frozen in a silent scream, a small river of blood had already congealed just below the bullet wound in his left eye socket.

Jack gazed helplessly at the dead body, the last hope he and Jeremy had of escaping their present predicament alive. It seemed that Peter died without a struggle, for his designer suit, shirt, and tie were unruffled, almost as neat and pressed as when he first arrived that evening. His favored ball point pen was still clipped to his left breast pocket.

No more click-click, clicky-click…

“
Go ahead, Jack, ask away!” encouraged Reynolds. “Ask to your heart’s content, but don’t take too long. Save a moment for your last words to your creator.”

“
We’re so
fucked!
” Jeremy whispered, unable to remove his eyes from the open trunk.

Casey moved up closer, when suddenly the light flickered out. Everything cast into thick darkness, none of the men could see one another. An instant later, the flashlight flickered back on, its beam returned to full strength.

“
I thought you said that goddamned thing was brand new, Ben!” scolded Reynolds, visibly irritated by what just happened.

“
It is, Frank,” Casey replied, shrinking a little from his boss’s rebuke. “Maybe it’s a lemon.”

“
Well,
shit!
That changes our plans a little.” Reynolds reached into the trunk to pull out the shovel and one of the bags of lime. “It may take us longer to take care of our business here this evening, but I’m going to make sure there are absolutely no fuck-ups with this. That means we’ll dispose of these boys one at a time. Is everyone with me so far?”

All agreed they were.

“
Good. We’ll start with Jeremy,” he said. “Bo, grab Jack and throw him into the trunk for now. Then, you and Steve grab Jeremy and take him to the site.”

Bo Cochran was an enormous man with incredible strength. He moved over to Jack and effortlessly lifted him off the ground, stuffing him inside the trunk next to Peter’s body. Jack wondered why they just didn’t let this behemoth twist his and Jeremy’s heads off their shoulders and be on their merry way.

“
Go ahead and close the trunk, Bo,” Reynolds instructed. “Ben, we’re going to leave you here just in case anybody stumbles upon us out here....”

The rest of the agent’s words were reduced to a muffle as the trunk’s lid suddenly slammed shut on Jack.

***

Almost immediate, the buildup of heat and lingering exhaust fumes engulfed him, along with the familiar scent of Peter McNamee’s expensive cologne. Amid the tire jack and remaining bags of lime, the pair lay side by side. One sweated profusely from terror and the trunk’s cramped oppressiveness, while the other lay rigid from the mortification process that began shortly after the bullet shredded Peter’s brain.

Jack soon discerned an acrid smell among the other noxious odors permeating the trunk. He grimaced at the thought Peter should’ve relieved himself one last time of the many cups of coffee he consumed during their interview. Since he couldn’t move away from the agent’s leaking corpse, it made the experience much worse.

He tried to distract himself by listening for noises outside the sedan. Suddenly, he heard the faint sound of gunfire. This was followed by two more evenly spaced shots, and then finally, one last report came to him. Empty stillness enveloped the car.

Jack squeezed his eyes shut as burning tears of sorrow and fear welled and trickled down his cheeks. He also felt an odd sense of pride that Jeremy didn’t go down easy since so many shots. The unnerving silence lasted only a few minutes, but seemed like an eternity. At one point, he thought he heard Ben Casey call out to his comrades. Then, all grew quiet again. The wait for whatever would come next grew unbearable.

A slight glow seeped through the rear taillight reflector nearest his head. Casey shouted something indiscernible just before a heavy object landed on the ground next to the sedan’s rear. A moment later, a key jiggled inside the trunk’s latch and the lid flew open, allowing a rush of fresh air and near-blinding light to fall on Jack’s face.

“
Let’s get the hell out of here, Jackie!”

Jeremy??

Though Jack couldn’t see him yet, his brother reached into the trunk and pulled him out. As he did, he lowered the flashlight enough for Jack to see him clearly. His handcuffs were gone and he now held the pistol with the silencer in his left hand.

“
Stand up and turn around!”

Jeremy quickly removed his handcuffs, tossing them and the keys into a nearby bush. Jack noticed his brother’s shirt soaked with blood, the wetness glistening grotesquely in the flashlight’s glow.

“
What
happened? Are you all right??”

“
I’m fine, but there’s no time to discuss anything right now,” he replied. “Do you need any shit from in here?”

He motioned to the open trunk, shifting the flashlight’s beam to Peter’s lifeless body. Jack immediately thought of the agent’s duffel bag and attaché case, probing with his hands around the corpse. Jeremy only allowed him a moment before nudging him on the shoulder.

“
Whatever you’re looking for, you need to forget about it,” he advised. “Serious, Jackie, we need to get the hell out of here!”

The bag and case not in the trunk, Jack soon confirmed they weren’t anywhere else inside the sedan either. He moved back to the rear just as Jeremy closed the trunk. That’s when he noticed Casey’s body lying face up on the ground.

“
We’re taking the other car,” Jeremy advised, moving quickly to the other sedan parked a short distance away. The flashlight’s beam lingered long enough on the latest deceased agent to reveal several dark streams trickling down the side of his face.

“
Did you do that?
”

In shock, Jack pointed back at the lifeless form soon engulfed by darkness.

“
Yep.” said Jeremy, as he reached the other car. “Now, get your ass over here before anyone else decides to join our little ‘going away’ party.”

He moved to the driver’s side while motioning for Jack to get ready to enter the passenger side of the vehicle.

“
Are the others dead, too?” asked Jack.

Jeremy nodded ‘yes’, but then pressed the silencer’s tip to his lips.

“
You’ll have to hold your questions for now, man,” he whispered. “At least until we don’t need this set of wheels any longer. Get in!”

Jack wasn’t sure if he could control his curiosity or not, but climbed into the car with his brother. In the brief brightness afforded by the sedan’s dome light, he studied Jeremy more closely, noting again the large amount of blood greased on his shirt and pants. Despite Jeremy’s acute alertness, Jack worried he hadn’t escaped serious injury.

Before he could voice his concern, Jeremy shushed him, motioning more urgently to be silent. Jeremy pulled the sedan back onto the bumpy dirt road that brought them to this desolate place near Manassas Park. When they reached the main dirt road, he rolled down his window and cut the headlights, listening to the air around them. To the left would take them back to the agency’s interrogation center, while the park sat to their right. Satisfied no one from the center pursued them, he turned the lights back on and drove into the park.

The road merged with another one, paved, and Jeremy continued to leave his window down until nearly a mile inside the park. He relaxed and looked over at Jack, smiling weakly. Jack stared back, solemn.

The sedan’s dashboard was equipped with an agency communication and computer system. Jack finally looked away from his brother to study the various components. Though curious, dabbling with it could certainly give away their location. A digital clock read 11:04 p.m., and he prayed the remaining hours of darkness gave them a significant head start on whoever would pursue them.

Jeremy veered into an unlighted picnic area with a large restroom. He stopped the car and cut the lights. After placing the pistol underneath his seat, he motioned for Jack to get out of the car and follow him. The area deserted, Casey’s flashlight came in handy, illuminating their way to the restroom. They scurried over to the men’s portion of the building and stepped inside.

“
Keep a look out for me, Jackie,” whispered Jeremy, once he discovered the restroom contained a shower stall. “I’m going to try to get cleaned up a little bit.”

He moved over to a trashcan, tearing his blood-soaked polo shirt off and throwing it inside the container on his way to the stall. Jack felt relieved that he was okay. At least there were no obvious wounds.

“
Just leave the flashlight on the ground. Here, take these and see if you can get most of the blood out.”

Jeremy handed his jeans to Jack, who eyed them in horror, gingerly holding them as he moved over to a nearby sink.

“
What in the hell happened back there, Jeremy!” demanded Jack, grimacing while looking over his shoulder as he laid his brother’s trousers in the sink.

“
Sh-sh-sh!!!
Keep your voice down, Jackie!” Jeremy whispered, harshly.

The water pipes murmured as he turned on the shower.

“
Well??
”

Jeremy’s only response was a hearty serving of his most crude vernacular, tempered by his determination to keep his voice at a whisper. The shower’s cold water commanded his immediate attention.

“
Goddamn it, talk to me, Jeremy!!!
”

Still no answer, other than the sound of Jeremy working quickly to rid himself of the foulness that had soaked through to his skin. Jack reluctantly turned his attention to the task of cleansing the jeans.

Blood oozed into the sink’s basin. Jack scrubbed furiously, determined not to prolong this experience more than necessary. At first disgusted and horrified at how quickly the water in the basin turned dark, after repeatedly rinsing and wringing out Jeremy’s pants, the crimson residue finally decreased to where only slight traces were visible in the water.

Jeremy turned the shower off, and Jack hurriedly finished, turning away from the sink as he held the damp trousers out in front of him. Suddenly, the flashlight flickered and died just as Jeremy stepped around the corner from the shower stall.

“
Goddamn it anyway!!
”
he hissed.
“
Jackie, where exactly are you?
”

“
I’m right here, maybe four or five feet in front of you.”

“
All right,” acknowledged Jeremy. “Walk over here slowly and bring my pants, and for God’s sake don’t trip and fall while you’re doing it!”

Jack moved slowly toward Jeremy’s voice, still holding the pair of jeans out in front of him. He couldn’t believe the darkness’s depth. For all he could tell, the restroom’s interior had completely disappeared, leaving him and his brother in a deep and empty void. This initial impression soon gave way to reality, as he scraped the side of his right arm against a steel paper towel holder attached to the wall that separated the row of sinks from the shower stall.

“
Are you all right?” Jeremy asked, just before he grabbed Jack’s left arm.

“
I’ll live,” Jack replied, his tone pained. “At least for now.”

Jeremy let go as he grabbed his jeans, struggling in the dark to pull them back on. After a shrill whistle and a few more choice words in response to the damp coldness against his skin, he zipped up his pants.

“
Help me find my shoes, Jackie, and we’ll get the hell out of here.”

“
Where’d you leave them?”

“
Well, I believe over here.
Oh shit
—
!
”

He kicked the flashlight that lay hidden in his path. It skidded across the floor several feet before it flipped over. The light flickered back on again.

“
Hallelujah, thank you, Jesus!!
”
Jeremy exalted sarcastically. “I’d say it’s about time we get rid of this thing. That’s the third time in the past hour this has happened. What’s the saying, Mr. Baseball? Three strikes and you’re out. Right? Though, the second time it happened is the reason we’re still among the living.”

Several streams of water dripped onto his muscular shoulders from his hair. Naked from the waist up, Jeremy’s build was still the envy of Jack, built fairly well himself. A colorful tattoo of a buxom female posed seductively on a Harley just below his left shoulder was the only vestige from Jeremy’s younger and wilder days. The dark flowing locks long gone, but the mature version of Jack’s brother, who lacked just one full semester to complete his master’s degree in archaeology, still carried the glint of fiery excitement in his piercing green eyes. Like right then.

“
My shoes are right behind you, Jackie,’ he advised. “Scoot them over to me and let’s leave.”

“
First, why don’t you tell me what happened back there?” said Jack, moving the shoes toward his brother. “I’m dying of curiosity, man. If you were me and I pulled this shit on you, we wouldn’t be going anywhere until you were satisfied with my answers. Right?”