Abomination (5 page)

“How many bullets do you think we put in him?” asked Dallas.

“Enough,” responded Ryan, curtly.

“I mean, you told us he was fast and strong,” continued
Dallas. “You didn’t say anything about being bullet proof. That information may
have helped down there in the basement.”

“You think I knew?” asked Ryan, stepping closer to
Dallas.

“No, Boss. That’s not what I meant. I meant
they
could’ve told us. I mean told you so you could’ve told us. Fuck, I don’t know.
I’ll shut up now.”

“It’s okay, Dallas. I’m sorry. I know what you meant.
I’m not happy with the way this turned out either. I’ve never lost an agent
under my command. Tonight I lost two. Believe me when I say I have more
questions than answers. I seem to be somewhat limited with what I can ask and
what I have to accept without question. Do you understand?”

“I do. I understand I wouldn’t want your job,” said
Dallas, lightening the mood.

“Did you take a good look around down there?” asked Tom,
changing the subject.

“I did,” responded Ryan. “It didn’t look anything like I
expected.”

“You told me and Michelle not to talk to anyone about
it, but I figured it was okay to talk to each other.”

“Speak freely,” said Ryan sensing Tom had something he
wanted to say.

“We both have extensive backgrounds in behavioral
science with serial killers. Nothing down there fits Arrington’s profile
evaluation we received from Quantico. Serial killers tend to escalate with
their violence and frequency of attacks. Arrington seems to have deescalated,
and he sticks to a concrete schedule.”

“Deescalated?” asked Ryan. “He killed three people in 15
seconds. How is that deescalating?”

“I have no doubt he was going to kill the victim, but
there were no indications he was going to brutalize and torture her,” continued
Tom. “My point is, the crime scene here is a polar opposite from the Syracuse
murder. As far as the violence we witnessed, I believe it was solely a reaction
to our presence.”

“Is it really that a big a deal if his methods have
changed?” asked Ryan. “We all watched him nearly cut her head off. Some of the
details of the environment may seem odd, but there’s no denying he’s our guy.”

 “I wouldn’t think twice about it if it wasn’t such a
radical change, Boss. Take away the fact Quantico pointed us in this direction,
and I’d bet this farm we’re looking at two different killers.”

 “Also,” interrupted Michelle, “No serial killer since
record keeping began has ever clearly marked the grave of a victim. Many have
left hints and even taunted police to find where they’ve hidden the bodies, but
none have ever marked the burial site with a cross and the victim’s name. That
shows an uncharacteristic degree of remorse. There were absolutely no signs of
remorse or guilt in Syracuse. If a murderer is going to display those types of
emotions, it’s usually with the first victim.  Everything about this crime
scene screams different M.O. and different guy.”

“Listen,” said Ryan, “Nothing about what we’re doing
here can be categorized or compared with previous cases. We’ve entered a
strange new territory, and I need you to start thinking outside the box. Dump all
your conventional wisdom about how these four killers are supposed to act.”

“Dump our conventional wisdom?” asked Tom, perplexed.
“With the lack of credible information we have on these guys, what are we
supposed to use? A crystal ball?”

“That’s enough, Tom,” replied Ryan, sternly. “I can
assure you the information I’m passing to you is credible. It may not be as
much as you’d like, but it’s all we have. You guys need to stand fast while I
go talk to the guys in the black coveralls.”

“Of course,” said Tom relenting.

Ryan walked away from the team and headed for the front
door of the farmhouse. He wanted to end the questions coming from his own team
without having to order them to back off. He hated having to dodge their
legitimate concerns. Michelle was the first to voice her opinion about Ryan’s
demeanor.

“What’s wrong with him?” asked Michelle. “You know we’re
right, Tom.”

“I’m not sure what’s wrong. He did seem to dismiss our
observations rather quickly. That’s not like him.”

“He has his reasons,” injected Dallas quickly. “He’ll
let us know when we need to know.”

“I think I just figured out who’s the teacher’s pet,”
said Michelle with a smirk.

“All that and a sense of humor, too. Weird that you’re
still single, huh?” replied Dallas. “Whatever reason he has for being elusive
is probably because he just lost two agents. I think you’d be a little off,
too.”

“All the more reason not to be elusive, wouldn’t you
think?” said Michelle.

“Look,” said Tom, attempting to keep the peace. “He was
just as surprised as we were down in the basement. Dallas is right. He’s never
lost anyone in the line. We need to give him a little space to sort things out.
And Michelle, Ryan sorts things out better than anyone else I know. That
includes us.”

 As Ryan attempted to re-enter the farmhouse, he was
challenged at the door by two armed guards.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t let you inside.”

“Are you FBI?” asked Ryan.

“No, sir, I’m not. But we’ve been given orders not to
let anyone enter other than the scientists.”

“Would it be too much trouble if you brought one of them
to me?”

“No, sir, no trouble at all.”

The guard turned quickly and disappeared into the house.
Ryan stared at the other guard who didn’t make eye contact. He carefully sized
up the sentry. His stance, weapons, and posture led Ryan to believe he was
military, or at least former military. Everything that happened since he fired
the first rounds into Arrington generated more questions. His patience was
wearing thinner with each passing minute. Being denied access to his crime
scene wasn’t helping. Scott Wilson, the man who seemed to be in charge,
reappeared with the guard.

“Again, I apologize, Agent Pearson,” said Scott.
“They’re under strict orders not to let anyone inside without my permission.”

“Could I bother you for a moment of your time?” asked
Ryan condescendingly.

“Absolutely,” replied Scott, walking with Ryan to the
side of the farmhouse.

“I have no idea what’s going on here, and I know you’re
not going to tell me. So I won’t insult you and ask. But I have a funny feeling
in a couple minutes you’re going to tell me in which direction I need to go in
order to find the other three Marines. And without question, I’ll go. How you
obtained the information doesn’t concern me. What does concern me is that I
know you have information which may help me keep my team alive when we do find
them. Help me do a better job than what I did for my guys being zipped up in
those body bags.”

Scott looked over at the slain agents and then turned
his gaze upward toward the night sky. Ryan couldn’t put his finger on it, but
he felt the scientist wanted to tell him more than he was allowed. He had a
feeling Scott was being ordered from above to produce the maximum amount of
damage control possible. Ryan understood his position because he was in the
same one.

“For the record, Ryan, the only chance you had here
tonight was to take him when he was in his most vulnerable state. You did
everything right. If you went a moment too soon, or too late, I’d be putting
all of you in body bags. I’m not exaggerating.”

“What happened to Arrington, Scott? He was a decorated
Marine with a spotless record. They all were. Now they’re heartless rapists and
killers? What the fuck happened to them?”

“I can’t tell you what happened because I really don’t
know. I just know what they are now. My job is to show up after you finish
yours and clean up the mess. You’re right about me telling you where to go
next, but I was made aware only a few hours ago. You’re not the only people
looking for them, but you are the only people with the legitimate authority to
stop them.”

“What’s with all the armed goons? You have more
firepower here than I do.”

“These soldiers are here to protect us.”

“So they are military,” deducted Ryan.

“Some of them are Marines assigned to the lab. Most of
the others are former military hired by our company as security.”

“What are they protecting you from?”

“I’ve already told you more than I’m allowed. I
shouldn’t be talking to you at all. Do you understand?”

“I do, Scott. Do you understand innocent people are
dying and will continue to die until we find the other three? Now, what are these
troops protecting you from?”

“That
is
what they’re protecting us from.”

“The other three? Are they close?”

“As you just found out, it would only take one of them
to wreak havoc. We believe they’re communicating with each other. We just don’t
know exactly how. This is going to sound weird, but –”

“After what I just saw, I bet it won’t.”

“All indications are they can communicate through other
than conventional means.”

“Scott,” said Ryan, growing irritated, “Just spit it
out.”

“We think they can feel when another is in distress or
needs help,” said Scott, pausing for the reaction.

“Telepathy? Are you kidding me?”

“Actually, I’m not. And it’s not so much telepathy as a
keen intuitive sense something is wrong. There have been numerous studies on
the ability of identical twins to communicate nonverbally when they’re
separated. You’re just going to have to take my word on this one. We don’t
really have the time right now for a lengthy discussion.”

“But these guys aren’t identical twins.”

“In many ways they are.”

“You’re killing me with this cryptic shit.”

“I’m sorry, Ryan.”

“That’s also the third time you’ve apologized to me. Why
can’t you just tell me exactly what we’re dealing with? I understand we don’t
want to create a public panic, but aren’t we on the same team here? I’m not
asking you to go into detail about the science or what may have went wrong in
the lab. But remember, I’m the guy kicking in the doors and taking all the
risks. The least you could do is tell me exactly what’s on the other side of
those doors.”

“Monsters. That’s the simplest way I can put it. I’m
almost positive they’ve murdered at least twenty women over the past six
months. We’ve only discovered eight. They’re not going to stop killing, either,
because they can’t. It’s now their nature. A nature I don’t believe they were
born with.”

“Scott, I couldn’t care less if they were born with it
or not. The more I know about them, the faster I can put an end to this. That’s
all I care about.”

  “I want this to end as well, Ryan. I didn’t sign on
for this shit. The only reason I’m here is because I understand how dangerous
those men are. The information I gave you put one of them down. You don’t
realize this now, but you need me. If I tell you too much, they’ll take me off
this team. I guess you’re just going to have to trust me.”

“Trust is earned, Scott. Give me something.”

The scientist paused and again looked up at the night
sky. It was as if he were looking for guidance about what he could give Ryan
that wouldn’t jeopardize his position. He brought his eyes back down to Ryan’s.

“Kristina Anderson,” he finally said.

“That’s it? A name?”

“She’s a civilian geneticist that worked with all four
Marines since day one of the project. She quit the lab six months ago and took
a teaching position at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She’s a dear
friend, Ryan. Be careful how you reach out to her. Because of her background,
they’re probably keeping an eye on her.”

“They?” asked Ryan. “Who are they?”

“You’re on your own with that one. I can’t tell you.”

“I understand,” said Ryan.

“I don’t think you really do, but you will. There’s one
more thing, and you’re not going to like it.”

“I’m all ears.”

“Any digging you do on your own, keep it to yourself.
Your boss and my boss are running the show here. Anything you tell yours, you
can be sure he’s telling mine.”

“You want me to do this behind his back? You do realize
he’s the Deputy Director of the FBI?”

“Trust goes both ways. Talk to Kristina first. If you
still think I’m being paranoid, then feel free to tell your boss everything we
talked about.”

Another man in black coveralls turned the corner,
startling Scott. He immediately changed the subject and his tone. Ryan picked
up on his diversion.

“Agent Pearson, for the last time, I need you to remain
with your team. There’s no way I can allow you back into the house. If you
continue to disrupt our work, I can call your boss who will explain I’m the one
in charge of this crime scene. Do I make myself clear?”

“Are you okay, Mr. Wilson?” asked the other scientist.
“We’re about ready to wrap it up down there and we need your help.”

“We’re done here. Right, Agent Pearson?”

“Apparently we are,” said Ryan, walking back to his
team.

He leaned against the SUV without saying a word. Each
member of the group could tell the wheels were turning inside his head.

“Looks like the sniper teams have made it back,” said
Dallas, noticing the six men approaching the helicopters. “I wonder which one
fired the money shot. I’d like to buy that guy a few drinks.”

“I don’t think we need to worry about radio silence
anymore,” said Ryan.

“Got it,” replied Dallas. He pressed the talk button on
his radio.

“Delta this is Alpha. Do you copy, over?”

“
This is Delta, go ahead
,” replied the lead
sniper, climbing into the chopper.

“That was a hell of a shot. Who gets the case of beer on
this one?” asked Dallas.

“
Say again
?”

 “Which one of you took down the target?”