Abomination (6 page)

“
Foxtrot One squeezed off two rounds, but he says he
missed by a mile. We were trying to figure out which one of you cowboys took
his head off with the shotgun. We saw his head come apart, but it wasn’t us,
over.”

“Really? I don’t think anyone down here was carrying a –”

Ryan reached over and pushed the radio microphone away
from Dallas’s mouth. He immediately knew why his teams were being separated. It
had nothing to do with containment of exposure to Arrington. It had everything
to do with preventing anyone from comparing notes. The puppet masters wanted to
make sure none of the pieces of the puzzle were put together. Ryan needed to
figure out who was pulling the strings. He already suspected who might be
pulling his.

*****

Over a mile away, another black SUV was creeping down a
dirt road without headlights. The driver was scanning the tree line wearing
NVGs. A faint infrared strobe light invisible to the naked eye caught his
attention. When the truck stopped, four men rose from their camouflaged
position. Two were carrying high powered .50 caliber sniper rifles. They
quietly climbed into the waiting vehicle.

“Nice work, Alex,” said the driver.

“The Feds made it easy,” he replied.

The only people on the planet Ryan felt he could trust
were standing next to him. Dallas still had a puzzled look on his face as to
why his boss prematurely ended his conversation with the sniper team. Tom and
Michelle were staring at the ground trying to make sense of the inconsistencies
of Arrington’s behavior. All three were wondering why Ryan seemed distant and
dismissive of their observations. He was beginning to wonder the same thing
when his phone alerted him to an incoming call from the deputy director.

“
Ryan, we just received a video tape from the
Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Department in Louisiana. It shows Richard Elliot
abducting a young woman from a supermarket parking lot yesterday. We have
subsequent data that he may have taken her to a location in the Lower Ninth
Ward in New Orleans. We believe we’ve contained exposure, so any local police
or press interference should be minimal. I’m sending a plane over to you now.
It should be there in about an hour.”

“Yes, sir,” responded Ryan. “We should be finished here
shortly. I’ll brief the team.”

“
I hate this part, but we both know she’s already
dead. I want the same setup as the Harrisonburg mission. Find his kill house,
set up surveillance and wait for him to return with the next victim.  I’ll put
together the assault and sniper teams and get them to you as soon as possible.
You’ll have the full cooperation and assets of the New Orleans field office,
but the same rules of containment apply there as well. All of the files and
reports on Elliot will be on the plane. Call me when you get settled in down
there.”

“
Yes, sir.”

It took a tremendous amount of restraint for Ryan not to
ask the questions he needed answered. But he also knew, if he asked, he’d
probably be pulled from the team as Scott warned. He didn’t completely mistrust
Deputy Director Donaldson, but he was certainly more cautious about voicing his
concerns.

Ryan pulled his team in close to give them the news that
they were heading to New Orleans to take down the second UA Marine. “Okay, guys,”
started Ryan. “Looks like our next monster, Richard Elliot, made a few
mistakes. They have him on video abducting a woman in South Louisiana.”

“Where exactly?” asked Michelle.

“He said Terrebonne Parish.”

“I have family there,” she said with obvious concern.
“My sister lives in Houma. It’s a small town in Terrebonne Parish. She’s
twenty-five and –”

“Use discretion if you need to contact her,” said Ryan,
immediately.

“Thanks, Boss,” said Michelle, quickly grabbing the
phone from Ryan’s outstretched hand.

 “Thought we were supposed to leave those behind,”
smiled Tom, referencing Ryan’s cell phone.

“The rules are for you guys.”

“Boss, goon squad approaching,” said Dallas. Michelle
discretely palmed the phone and slid it in her pocket.

“Agent Pearson, we have evidence Richard Elliot may be –”

“In New Orleans,” said Ryan, finishing Scott’s sentence.

“Yes. We’re done here. I’ll be taking you and your team
to the airport now.”

“We need to recover our vehicles from town. We’ll drive
ourselves from there,” insisted Ryan.

“Of course,” said Scott without an argument.

Ryan took the passenger seat next to Scott as his team
filed into the back. As soon as they pulled onto the main road from the long
dirt driveway, Scott handed Ryan a small piece of folded paper and nodded for
him to read it. Feeling like a schoolboy being handed a secret note in class,
Ryan carefully unfolded the paper.
No questions. They’re listening and have
been since day one. They’re already heading to New Orleans to shadow your team.
I don’t know exactly who they are. Figure it out and you may get some answers.
Be extremely careful!

Ryan finished reading the note and looked over at Scott.
The scientist glanced over just in time to see him stuff the note in his mouth
and start chewing. Scott quickly returned his eyes to the road, but a slight
smile was growing on his face. A few moments later, he began to laugh out loud.
Ryan joined him. Not another word was spoken during the ride into town.

“Thanks for the lift,” said Ryan, stepping out of the
truck with his team.

“It’s the least I could do. Your plane will be landing
shortly. The sooner you get started down there, the better. Elliot has the same
capabilities and temperament as Arrington, but he also has the same weakness. I
know you learned a hard lesson at the farmhouse, but it’ll help you deal with
Elliot. I’ll see you after you take him. Good luck, Ryan. Good luck to all of
you.”

“Thanks, Scott. You take care of yourself as well,” said
Ryan. The SUV pulled out of the sheriff’s department parking lot, leaving the
agents alone for the first time since they entered Arrington’s hideout.

“So, are you two friends now?” asked Dallas.

“He’s got a job to do just like us. I think he’s doing
the best he can under the circumstances,” said Ryan.

“Speaking of circumstances,” added Tom, “I can’t shake
the thought that Arrington was just reacting to us –”

“Not now, Tom,” said Ryan, cutting him off. “I’m going
inside to talk to the sheriff. Stow the gear and grab us some coffee from the
café across the street. I won’t be long.”

“Sure,” said Tom, feeling like a scolded child. “We’ll
make it quick.”

Ryan walked inside the office as his team crossed the
street. He knocked on the sheriff’s door which was already open.

“Good morning, Sheriff Parker,” said Ryan, moving inside
and closing the door behind him.

“Hopefully it is, Agent Pearson. How’d it go last
night?”

“Arrington’s dead. A sniper took him down after he
killed his victim and two of my agents. We were a few seconds too late to save
her. I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry about? She did her job, right? Being
the bait? She served her purpose and you got your man. Now you can write your
reports, receive your attaboys from D.C., and ride off into the sunset. Me,
I’ve got another home to add to my list of places I have to go to devastate a
family.”

He stood there silently taking his lumps from the sheriff.
He knew he was the most appropriate target for him to aim his anger. It wasn’t
the first time Ryan had to be the punching bag, and it certainly didn’t look
like it was going to be the last.

“I also wanted you to know we found the other three
missing girls in graves underneath the house. I don’t know when their bodies
will be released to their families. I imagine it’ll be a few days, maybe even a
week.”

“Well, me and my boys will just sit around, drink some
moonshine, and spit tobacco until then.”

“I am sorry, Sheriff. For what it’s worth, I don’t believe
they were raped or tortured. I think they died very quickly and in little pain.
I know it’s not much, but it may offer some consolation to the families.”

“It isn’t worth shit,” said Parker. “They’re still dead
and we’ll probably never know why. And you’re sure as hell aren’t going to tell
us. So, please, stop pretending to give a crap about what happened here.”

“That’s where you’re very wrong,” said Ryan, running out
of cheeks. “If I didn’t give a crap, I would’ve just left town after we
finished. Nobody told me to come here and see you. I told you the men I’m
hunting are out of your worst nightmare. I wasn’t being melodramatic.”

“Agent Pearson, you may be surprised at what kind of
nightmares I have. You made the mistake of assuming I’m some hayseed born in a
barn who stumbled into this job. I was a homicide detective in Chicago for fifteen years. The truth is, I was born and raised here. After seeing the worst
parts of what people were capable of doing to each other up there, I couldn’t
wait to get back to this small, slow town. This accent is from my memory, and I
use it to make folks around here more comfortable talking to me. I’m not the
redneck you think I am.

“I was elected sheriff after I returned because the
locals thought they’d be safer with a man of my experience watching over their
town. All they see now is a weak man powerless to protect their daughters from
a monster. A monster that took another one of their innocent girls and two of
your best federal agents with him. This town will never be the same again,
Agent Pearson. Forgive me if I wanted to give the families answers to questions
they should be allowed to ask.”

“Do you have any children?” asked Sheriff Parker.

“No, I don’t. I’ve never been married, either.”

“Well, if you did have a daughter, wouldn’t you want to
know why someone murdered her? Wouldn’t you want to put your hands on the
animal that did it?”

The sheriff’s questions hit Ryan hard. Of course he
would want to know why. Of course he would want to put his hands on the animal
that did it. The families did deserve to know what happened to their daughters.
Ryan started to feel anger towards everything and everyone associated with the
manhunt he was chosen to lead. Ryan pulled up a chair close to the sheriff’s
desk.

“What I’m going to tell you can’t leave this office
until I find the other three fugitives. You have to give me your word.”

“My God, the other three,” gasped the sheriff. “Yes, you
have my word.”

*****

Across the street at the café, Tom, Michelle, and Dallas
waited for Ryan to return to the car.

“Tom, I’m sure he has his reasons,” said Dallas,
defending his long-time boss and friend.

“I’m sure he does,” said Tom. “I’m just not used to him
shutting me up. Sure, sometimes I ramble, but I can’t seem to finish the first
sentence before he slams the door on me. Actually, on any of us.”

“He’s been acting odd since the first day he told us to
pack our bags,” added Michelle. “On every other manhunt, he’s inundated us with
the smallest details of the targets. He pushes us to find answers, and if we
can’t, he pushes harder until we do. I mean, think of the countless hours of
all four of us sitting around a table full of files, photos, and reports,
bouncing questions and ideas off of each other.”

“We’ve never come across anything like this in our
careers, Michelle,” said Dallas. “Maybe he’s just at a loss right now. Maybe he
needs us to give him a little space while he figures out what the hell is going
on instead of bombarding him with theories.”

“Why change what’s worked for years?” asked Michelle.
“You can’t just simply dismiss our combined experience and tell us to think
outside of the box. I’m sorry, Dallas. But none of this, including his
behavior, makes sense to me. And figuring out behavior is what I do.”

“So, what do you want to do?” asked Dallas, becoming
frustrated with the mutiny. “Put him in the corner and demand he pay attention
to us? Tell him whatever he’s thinking is wrong and we’re right? He’s earned
more from us than that.”

“Christ, Dallas, that’s not what I mean,” said Michelle.

“I have to say I agree with Michelle,” added Tom.

“Thank you, Tom.”

“Not with everything,” said Tom, bursting her bubble.
“Mainly with the part about none of this making sense.”

“My turn to say thanks, Tom,” sneered Dallas, sticking
his tongue out at Michelle.

“Seriously,” responded Michelle. “You just stuck your
tongue out at me?”

“It could’ve been worse,” laughed Tom. “Kidding aside, I
also agree we’ve always worked as a close team on all our assignments. On this
one, he’s keeping us at arm’s length. It’s as if he doesn’t want us to get too
involved, which is ridiculous. He cuts all of us off before we can say a word
and –”

“Fuck me,” interrupted Dallas. “That’s it.”

“This should be good,” said Michelle.

Dallas put his finger up to his mouth as he grabbed a
napkin from the table. He scribbled one word and showed Tom and Michelle.

Bugs
.

*****

The sheriff stared at Ryan in disbelief at the
revelation that four UA Marines simultaneously turned into serial killers. He
was taking a risk telling the story, but Ryan was confident the listening
devices were embedded in the team’s cell phones and gear. Both Ryan and Dallas
had extensive training in surveillance and, more importantly, counter-surveillance.
Training they received courtesy of the FBI and the military.

“We have a lead on the whereabouts of one of the other
Marines. We have a plane waiting for us at the airfield,” continued Ryan. “I’m
not sure when I’ll be back. I’m afraid the families are going to have to wait a
little longer for their answers. But I promise you I will come back.”