The Huey settled down onto a cleared landing area reserved for it, but the pilots did not shut its engine down. They waited for Lenox and Staci to make their exit. As the two climbed out and moved away from the Huey, it once again lifted off and took to the skies. Lenox turned his head and noticed the Storm Breaker a short distance away.
“Oh, boy,” Staci said softly under her breath.
Lenox glanced at her, wondering why she had uttered such an epitaph. He saw the reason heading straight for them in the form of Jerry Averill.
Averill glared at them. “We were expecting you, Lenox! But what is she doing here? That woman is supposed to be in custody!”
“Dr. Cohen is with me,” Lenox told him.
“That is unacceptable.”
“Where’s your boss?”
Averill placed himself in front of them and glared at Lenox. “Director Carr is busy at the moment.”
“Director Carr is the one who cleared Dr. Cohen’s release.”
“That’s absurd. Why would he do such a thing when he knows that this woman is a murderer?”
Staci frowned, but she remained silent. She didn’t like the idea of being referred to as a murderer, especially when she was innocent. Arguing with Averill would not make him realize the truth, however, so she decided to allow Lenox to handle it.
Lenox took a step forward. “Where is Director Fuller?”
“Lenox,” Averill snapped, shaking his head, “if you think I’m going to allow her to walk freely about this outpost, you’re in for a rude awakening.”
Lenox abruptly grabbed Averill by the collar of his shirt and before the man could do anything about it, Lenox dragged him away from Staci. When he was confident Staci would not be able to hear them, he stopped. As it was, he had dragged Averill close to the Storm Breaker so he used the helicopter by slamming the Justice agent into it.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” Averill demanded.
Lenox slammed him again for good measure. “I don’t have time for your power trips, Averill. If you have a problem, take it up with your boss. Dr. Cohen is here because he cleared it. He knew I was bringing her so get off of your high horse and drop it.”
Averill glared at him. “Why would he clear this?”
“Why don’t you ask him?”
Lenox released him and returned back to Staci’s side. Together, they headed deeper into the outpost. Lenox decided to find the area assigned to the ATD on his own. He and Staci, however, were unaware that Alyson was standing off to the side, watching them with a mischievous grin.
Fuller and Barrington found the others gathered around Fronk and his laptop in their assigned area. They joined them in the hopes of finding out what was going on. They were surprised to see a video feed playing on the monitor.
“What is this?” Fuller asked.
“This is a private FEMA quarantined room somewhere in this outpost,” Erin told them. “William tapped into it.”
On the screen, a man in an environmental suit was releasing the straps from a cot, which had been holding a woman. The woman appeared to be unconscious. The man then appeared to be injecting something into the woman’s right arm. When he was finished, he exited the quarantined area. Once outside the barrier, he began to take off the heavy suit.
“Is this a live feed?” Barrington asked. “This is happening right now?”
Fronk nodded. “Indeed it is, my silly little friend.”
“Who is she?”
“We don’t know, otherwise we would tell you. Right now, you know just as much as we do.” Fronk rubbed his hands together. “However, in a moment or two, Mr. Kissing Bandit himself will enter this room with intentions of interrogating the woman.”
Shiva nodded. “We heard him talking to someone who interrupted your meeting.”
The door opened and in walked Lenox and Staci.
Fuller sighed with relief. “Staci, I’m so glad you’re alright.” He went over to her as a father would to his daughter and put his arms around her, hugging her. Then, he pulled back to look at her. “You are okay, aren’t you?”
Staci smiled cheerfully and nodded. “Uh huh. Yes. I’m okay. Michael got me out of there without any trouble, but that’s because I think they were afraid of him.”
Barrington regarded Lenox for a moment. He had questions he wanted to ask, but chose to keep them to himself until the appropriate time came. Lenox joined him and the others at the laptop.
“What’s going on here?” he wanted to know, looking down at the video feed on Fronk’s laptop. He tapped the Crazy Man on the shoulder. “Hey, are you tapping into something you’re not supposed to be watching?”
Fronk snorted. “You’re a sick little man, aren’t you?”
Shiva filled him in on what they had discovered.
Lenox leaned forward. “Hey, guys…Carr just entered the room. Whatever he intends to do is going to happen soon.” He looked over at Fuller. “Do we have any idea where this woman is being kept?”
Barrington nodded. “The HQ looks bigger on the outside than it does on the inside. I suspect there may be a hidden room in the back.”
“Why don’t we go confront Carr and see what his intentions are for her?” Shiva asked.
Fuller shook his head. “No. I’d rather wait. I don’t believe he will do anything at the moment so let’s see what he’s up to before we make a move.”
As it turned out, the more they watched what was happening, the more they realized that Fuller was wrong. Ed Carr did have intentions for the woman and his intentions were realized within a few minutes of his entry into the private room.
King entered into the barn and he listened for any sign of movement from up above in the hayloft. He didn’t hear anything, but he knew that this Jim who sowed discord was somewhere up there. Something had been nagging at him in the back of his mind ever since Jim had arrived. He was bound and determined to discover what was causing it once and for all.
“Jim!” he called, looking up toward the hayloft. “Jim, I must speak with you.”
There was no response from above.
However, something creaked, as if someone had moved on the wooden floor in the loft.
King paused. “I know you are up there. I know what you are doing.” He listened. “You will not succeed in hindering the work God is doing here.”
From above came a chuckle.
“You find something funny?”
The chuckling stopped. But then Jim finally spoke, his voice deep and soft. “Yes…I do. I think you’re funny.”
King frowned. Had he heard that voice before? “Tell me, Jim. What about me amuses you so much?”
Jim let out another chuckle. “Everything.”
“That is not an answer.”
“Sure it is. It is the answer I am giving you because it’s the only one I have.”
King moved toward the ladder. “Why don’t you come down here so that I can see you?”
There was no response.
“I could come up there.”
“You wouldn’t like it up here.”
“Why not?”
“Because…we’re not exactly friends.”
King let out a sigh. “Listen to me, Jim. I am growing weary of this game that you seem to be enjoying. Either you come down here or I will come up there.”
There was a pause. “Well…you seem to be getting a little testy, don’t you think?”
“Jim!”
“Okay…why don’t you just relax?” There was another pause. “I’ll come down.”
King nodded gratefully. “Fine.” He backed away from the ladder and looked up. “Please do so. I cannot enjoy our conversation when we are not face to face.”
“You like head-on debates, don’t you?”
“A debate can be good, but in the case of gathering souls for heaven, it is important to keep focused on the Word of God. It is His Word that cannot be defeated.”
“Yeah…I’ve heard that.”
King let out a sigh. “Jim, why have you come here? What are your intentions?” He continued to look up, still waiting for Jim to make his way down.
“You know me,” came the response. “I always love to stir things up a bit.”
And that was when King recognized the voice. Just as he realized who Jim truly was, the man began to climb down the ladder. King’s eyes widened in surprise. Even though he had just come to realize who it was, it still gave him cause for hesitation.
The mans back was to him as he came down the ladder. But he finally jumped down the last two steps and turned around, a big grin on his face.
James Bollinger spread his arms wide. “Well, here I am, Darwyn, old buddy. Did you miss me?”
King just stared at him. He had no idea what to say.
No comments:
Post a Comment