Disclaimer: Please see Chapter I for the usual statements
Author's note: For all those who are still reading, thank you!
The things I do…
Chapter X
By Callisto
The Renaissance Hotel
Pittsburgh, PA
It had been several days since Jarod and Alex had seen first hand the handiwork of Erebus, the Centre's current money-making horror. After exhausting all their leads and coming up empty, tempers were running short as desperation began to settle in. Alex pushed away his laptop in frustration, giving the computer a filthy look.
"We have only a couple more days to find the next victim or we'll be too late," Alex commented in disgust.
"The files from Raines' office doesn't give us enough information. We need a name and location of the next family or they'll continue with this project. From the news reports, Erebus has already made his mark on the psyche of millions, this was the third time the Orphan-maker killer has struck, that means they already have 2 children entangled in their web. The only reason for another pair is as a failsafe. Losing the third child should make the last useless," Ethan reasoned.
"They will use this last child as a back-up for the other two. If anything happens to one of them then they will have a backup trained and ready to step in. The Centre is nothing if not well prepared. And greedy," Alex replied solemnly.
Before anything more was said, Cyrus burst in the room wearing only briefs, soaking wet and laughing, followed closely by Parker who was trying to corral the boy. Catching up to him she draped a large towel around his shoulders.
"Okay, nature-boy. Time for you to dry off and get some clothes on before you catch a cold," she stated affably.
"Hey there, you look different," Ethan said with a smile.
"I just got my hair dyed, how does it look?" the boy inquired.
"Very different. I think dark hair actually suits you," Ethan replied. Suddenly, his eyes took on a faraway look as though he were listening to a tune he couldn't quite identify. Then in an excited voice, Ethan asked, "Cyrus, we're looking for another child who is like you. We think the man who killed your parents may attack another family. Can you help us?"
The boy's ebullient mood quickly evaporated. Pulling the towel around his body more securely, Cyrus shook his head and looked down. Jarod stared at his half-brother for a moment then asked, "Cyrus, I want you to think back and tell me if there was a time when either of your parents took you someplace to take some tests? They probably pricked for forefinger to make it bleed, then put you in a room to see if you could make a replica of a building or statue."
Cyrus stared at Jarod and then slowly started nodding. "Yes. My Mom took me to New York last year. We had a great time but then I had to take all those tests."
Alex perked up but remained silent. It was doubtful the child would be able to give them a clue about the next victim but this was better than sitting around on their thumbs while the Centre built up another group of Pretenders who would reshape the lives of billions--all for a profit or worse. Wisely, he kept to his seat to avoid giving the child the feeling of being encroached upon.
"Do you remember any other children at the place where you took the tests?" Jarod asked quietly.
"No. I was alone when they gave me the tests. But…before the tests, there were a couple kids in the room with me before the nurse came to prick our fingers. We weren't supposed to talk but this kid Daniel made me laugh. Do you think the man that killed my parents will try to hurt Daniel?" Cyrus asked with abrupt concern.
Turning to Alex, Jarod watched as the sociopath typed feverishly on his laptop. A few seconds later, Alex looked at Jarod and shook his head. Checking the news reports, neither of the other two children where Erebus had struck were named Daniel.
Jarod nodded sharply, then turned again to Cyrus. Keeping his excitement at bay, Jarod asked, "Cyrus, do you remember anything more about Daniel? Did he tell you where he was from or give you his last name?"
Cyrus paused as his glance shifted from Jarod's anxious face, to Alex's piercing gaze and Ethan's equally concerned expression. A soothing hand landed on the child's slim shoulder, turning he saw Parker looking down at him with a neutral expression.
"Cyrus, it's important for us to find Daniel and his family. So far you're our only lead and possibly the only hope for Daniel. Tell us everything you know about the other little boy," she asked.
"He didn't really say a lot 'cause we weren't supposed t talk. Would his e-mail address help?"
Parker bowed her head and chuckled. Ethan released a breath he was unaware he had been holding and Alex shook his head in disbelief. Jarod gave the boy a mischievous grin and nodded fondly at him. Armed with this information, it would take only minutes to find the next potential victim's home.
Carlsen residence
Ohlmwood, IA
Night fell with a grace that none of those who waited impatiently for it felt in their hearts. On the Centre's side, Erebus waited with an air of annoyance for the time of his strike. Inside the spacious observation van, the atmosphere was thick with malice and unvented violence. For the past few months, despite his insistence on using Erebus for this project Lyle would have given almost anything to be elsewhere. Erebus oozed corruption and hatred the way odiferous sweat seeped from a frightened man's pores. The van was just short of the size of an RV with fewer windows and for those still present, heavily tinted. Tension finally giving way to his increasing desperation to be out of Erebus's presence, Lyle peered into the inky blackness that seemed to take on a malevolent life of its own at the back of the van which was used as the pretender's personal space.
"It's almost time, perhaps you should be getting ready," Lyle stated with heavy impertinence in an attempt to mask his growing fear.
Erebus' disembodied voice answered Lyle with casual disdain. "I will go when it feels right and not before. If you're so eager, why don't you start without me?"
The hairs on the back of Lyle's neck stood on end at the sound of the pretender's deep grave-robbing voice and despite his frustration at being kept waiting, he retreated further towards the front and relative safety offered by putting any distance between himself and Erebus. This was the only person living who could ever elicit this type of reaction out of Lyle. As for self-awareness, Lyle understood his own demons and occasionally gave into them. Erebus was a different kettle of fish altogether. Releasing a heavy sigh, Lyle moved off without responding. After twenty agonizing minutes, and several surreptitious glances later, Lyle turned again to confront Erebus to find the pretender completely suited up, balaclava pulled over his face and ready to go. In disgust, Lyle stated tightly, "Place the sweepers where you need them. Raines believes Jarod may have gotten wind of where the last child lives, if he shows up, then your focus will have to shift momentarily to capturing him. I don't like it but those are our orders."
"For once we agree. If I should run into the ever elusive 'crown jewel' rest assured, he will return to the Centre--dead and useless." Turning to the backlit map of the neighborhood that was hanging on the wall of the tactical van, Erebus pointed out the strategic areas he wanted the sweepers set up. After supplying his orders and quietly checking with his Control, Erebus deployed to the darkened, unsuspecting home.
Waiting for over 3 hours was tiring in itself but the stakes were too high for any of those on watch to let down their guard. Soon a shadow entering the quiet residence through a jimmied side window alerted the group and a light tapping on their communication devices informed everyone to get set. Waiting another anxious 5 minutes, Alex and Jarod followed the shadow Jarod spotted, into the residence. Outside, Ethan kept his distance and soon spotted a sweeper stationed at the rear corner of the residence who was about to report the presence of his half-brothers to the fiend inside. Smoothly, Ethan raised his weapon and shot a high-compression dart at the sweeper who sunk to the ground with a soft thud. In quick succession, Ethan dealt similarly with three other sweepers when his weapon jammed. He curled up in a deeply shaded spot and silently tried to figure out what went wrong with it. As he was doing this, the soft sound of another's approach caused him to freeze. Relying on all his instincts, Ethan surmised that the person approaching hadn't seen him--yet. Ethan closed his eyes and concentrated on making himself invisible. His breathing slowed and his body seemed to melt into the background of garden foliage and bushes. The infinitesimal sounds from the other person continued to draw near then suddenly stopped. Without hesitation, Ethan jumped on the intruder and using the butt of his weapon, struck the masked intruder over the head.
Inside, the home was eerily quiet as Jarod and Alex once again navigated silently through a forest of furniture. They followed the steps of the serial killer and then were rewarded with the muffled sounds of talking. Praying they arrived before Erebus could begin his bizarre experiments, they quietly eased the bedroom door open. Jarod and Alex were surprised to see the lights were still off. The sounds of someone unintelligibly murmuring continued as Alex slid through the partially opened door. Jarod had only stepped across the threshold when he felt a muzzle pressed against his neck.
"Please join us, I've been waiting so patiently for you two to arrive," the sepulchral whisper greeted. Abruptly, the bedroom lights were turned on and before Alex could pounce, Jarod's body was shoved into him, throwing him off balance. After several seconds, Jarod blinked several times to force his eyes to adjust to the sudden light. Looking up, he saw a powerfully built man dressed all in black with a brown heavy-looking pouch slung across his body and pointing a silenced 9mm at him and Alex.
"Onissius and the Chameleon I presume," Erebus stated in his deep, funereal whisper. "One more arrogant than the next, didn't think there ever would be another who could equal, if not surpass your braininess, eh?" An evil chuckle exuded from Erebus as he watched the other two masked men.
Shifting his gaze from the 9mm to the eyes of the masked man, Jarod's anxiety rose dramatically. The disturbingly pleasant and twistedly wicked expression in Erebus' eyes explained much to Jarod. This was a man who was thoroughly different from the banally evil men he had brought to justice over the years and immeasurably more dangerous. The bedroom door again began to open and Jarod saw Ethan peering through the gap. A quick glance at Erebus quieted Jarod's urge to call out a warning to his brother, as the other swiftly extracted a second automatic from the small of his back and pointed it at Ethan through the door panel.
Puzzled, Ethan noticed his brothers standing at one end of the room and was about to leave when a deep voice commanded, "Come in." Knowing his life was suddenly in jeopardy, Ethan raised his hands in surrender and as a silent warning, then slowly entered the room. Glancing around he saw a couple tied and gagged on the king-sized bed. As he came further in the room, Erebus placed one of his weapons to the base of Ethan's skull.
"And who might you be?"
He was about to answer with his name when suddenly his instincts took over again. "Mirage," he answered.
"Interesting. I have a menagerie of code and project names before me, including one that belongs to my long overdue back-up. Only one of you will be returning to the fold a--" Before Erebus could complete his sentence, the butt of a 9mm connected with the back of his head, crumpling him to the floor. Alex and Jarod both reacted and pounced on the other man, relieving Erebus of his weapons and patting him down. Jarod removed the leather sack slung across Erebus' body which turned out to be his murder kit complete with a custom weighted tokusho keibo or steel telescoping baton, nylon rope, a small hankerchief in a plastic sandwich bag, plastic specimen containers, duct tape and a separate case with several hypodermic needles and vials filled with a thick liquid. Looking up, Jarod favored his benefactress with a bright boyish grin. A masked Parker stepped further into the room and nodded to the rest of the group. Ethan stepped around them and approached the adults on the bed.
"Are you hurt? Did he give either of you an injection?"
Dual negative head shakes reassured him that Erebus truly hadn't started without them. Ethan was about to untie the couple when Alex vetoed his intentions. "No, leave them alone for now. We have a few things to figure out before we do anything else. How many sweepers did you shoot outside?"
"I got 4 when my gun jammed. Had to hit the fifth one over the head," Ethan answered.
"I took out another 4 when I decided to help out Ethan," Parker answered quietly. Looking at her twin's darkly, cheerful expression she asked, "Are we keeping with the plan? Judging by the look on your face, I would assume a few things have changed."
"Nothing's changed, I always planned on killing this walking nightmare," Alex replied promptly. At the stunned silence that followed he looked up and said in a raspy whisper, "Alive, he will just return to the Centre and continue assassinating their targets. Not to mention trying to hunt us down because we were the ones who captured him and not the other way around. Nothing will stop him or deter him and he is the chief money maker for the Centre. Taking him out will cripple them for a long time."
Jarod, after getting a good look at Erebus, was forced to agree with Alex--much to his chagrin. Without shifting his attention away from the monstrosity in his grip, he asked Parker, "Were you able to find the target?"
"He's out cold in one of the other bedrooms. I couldn't wake him but otherwise he seems to be fine," she answered quietly. Nodding slightly at Erebus she said, "His Control is in the other room, Ethan and I had to shove her through a window but we got her in here. She should be out for another hour or so."
"She's the control? What is she, his girlfriend or something? How horrible," Ethan muttered with distaste recalling Erebus' horror movie sounding voice. The woman he caught had beautiful blonde hair with a face to match. It must be a living nightmare for her to be tied in anyway to this cretin.
"I'm forced to agree but to answer your question, yes she's 'or something' for him. After getting a look at his eyes, I can't imagine anyone being able to keep him together but apparently she's had some effect on him or they would have terminated her by now," Alex said with light sarcasm.
"Let's finish this before Lyle works up some courage to come in here and check up on what's keeping his little fiend," Jarod said evenly. Before he released his grip on Erebus, the fiend regained consciousness suddenly and unexpectedly reared up, knocking Alex completely off balance and almost succeeded in loosening Jarod's iron grip.
With a little vindictiveness, Alex righted himself and grabbing Erebus by the neck, he lifted the masked face upwards, bowing his back. Leaning over, Alex said, "Let me introduce you to my twin, you bottom-feeding piece of shit, the Ice-Princess. She's got a brutal left hook, wouldn't you agree?"
Parker looked into the calmly debased expression in Erebus' eyes and shuddered involuntarily. Ethan who was standing next to his sister, felt his mouth go dry at the waves of wrongness emanating from Erebus.
"Kill you. I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill you," Erebus stated with eerie certainty in his funereal whisper as he returned Parker's morbidly fascinated stare. He continued to chant the threat despite the practical strangle-hold Alex had on his throat.
In irritated disgust, Parker rolled her eyes and in averting her gaze, her eyes caught sight of a half-eaten knish resting on a dish on the bedside stand. Inspiration hit and she reacted swiftly, grabbing the pastry and unsympathetically ripping the duct tape from the lips of the male victim on the bed, she forced the knish into Erebus' mouth and sealed the deal with the borrowed piece of duct tape.
"You need a new tune. Try chewing on that for a while," she said flatly. Exchanging a quick glance at Jarod, she pulled out her cell phone. The male victim on the bed remained silent, his lips still smarting from their abrupt freedom. Both he and his wife listened carefully to the exchange and the sudden switch in control that had occurred.
The room remained quiet while Parker spoke on the phone. "Trooper Vance? How nice to hear your voice this time. You probably don't remember but I'm one of the Samaritans who helped free your kidnapped brother-in-law some time back. Well, we've found ourselves in another situation and need your help. Come to the address I'm about to give you and bring some help along with a few forensic scientists." She paused for a moment and listened. "Trust me. You're about to solve the Orphan-Maker case that has stumped the Feds for the last few months. Fortunately for your brilliant detective work and sharp eye, the latest victims are unharmed and the suspect is laying next a murder kit unconscious and ready for transport to jail. The only catch is this sweet-heart deal has a half -life that is expiring as we waste time talking. She then rattled off the address and brusquely ended the call. "He'll be here in about 20 minutes or less."
"Good, we've got him secured now," Jarod replied with satisfaction as he relaxed his lock-grip on Erebus' wrist and shoulder.
"What are we going to do with him?" Ethan asked uncertainly.
"Erebus goes with us, his Control will stay behind and try to explain herself to the authorities, which ought to be interesting," Alex stated. When Erebus heard this, the one small shred of decency hiding in his consciousness pierced his fetid mind. In desperation, he started struggling in protest to their plan and in his anger, he unwisely breathed in a large chunk of knish which promptly lodged itself in his airway completely cutting off his supply. This exacerbated his struggles which the others took as an example of his unhappiness.
Watching Erebus slowly calm down, Ethan looked up and stated, "Are you sure about this? I just caught her watching the house acting like a look-out."
"Early in the case, the forensics suggested that at the first murder scene another person had to be there to subdue the second victim who had tried to run away while the first was being tortured. She is complicit and actively helped him." Jarod stated. Walking over to the male victim on the bed, Jarod squatted down and said softly, "I apologize for keeping you tied up like this, but it's necessary for the police to find you as you are. Someone will pay for this crime against your family and the other families as well. Do you have access to any resources?"
The man blinked and nodded. "We have money and jewelry, take whatever you want. Please don't harm my family," he rasped hoarsely. His eyes were wide with fear and apprehension.
"We're not the ones who will be needing it. When this is over, you'll need that money to leave here and disappear." Extracting a piece of paper from one of his numerous pockets, Jarod held it up in front of the man's face, then gently slid it in the jacket pocket of his pajamas. "Once all the furor has died down and your ready, call that number. Your family will be safe while the spotlight remains on you, but once that fades you'll be in grave danger again. The people who sent him," Jarod nodded at Erebus' now limp body, giving the murderer a double-take glance, "will try again. It's your son they're after and killing you to get him won't deter them. All we ask in return is for you not to mention our presence, it'll complicate things."
"I understand. The Centre is behind this, isn't it? Somehow, I always knew those people were too good to be true. They were too interested in Danny. You have my word and…thank you, all of you."
Jarod nodded distractedly, then moved quickly over to Erebus. Shielding his actions from the others, he felt the pretender's neck and couldn't find a pulse. Carefully, he halfway removed the duct tape to find the murderer's mouth still filled with knish. Erebus' eyes were open wide and staring in death. Jarod replaced the duct tape, then turning to Ethan and Parker asked them to bring Erebus' Control into the room to switch places. When they left, Jarod closed the dead man's eyes and whispered to Alex that Erebus was already dead. At the puzzled look on Alex's face, Jarod commented softly, "the knish."
Understanding flooded Alex's mind as he nodded distractedly. "Let her believe I did it. It'll make things easier for now."
As Parker and Ethan returned with the still unconscious partner, Alex leaned over and punched the dead man in the face several times. With Jarod's help they expertly switched the bodies, then left, leaving few traces of their visit and taking Erebus with them.