“More than likely it’s being kept in a container of some
kind and not ingested. Even a small amount of human blood is at least extremely
irritating to the digestive tract. Ingesting a large amount would surely make
them violently ill.”
“What’s interesting is that, even though the wounds are
large and numerous, there seems to be little indication of anger or rage.”
“Once again, Tom, you’re losing me,” said Dallas.
“Like that’s hard to do?” jabbed Michelle with a smile.
“Seriously, he bit a hole in her neck, chewed on her
liver, and drained her blood. How is that not an indication of anger or rage?”
“Take wild animals as an example for perspective,”
started Tom. “I’m sure you’ve seen countless National Geographic episodes
showing lions hunting prey in Africa.”
“Now I’m with you,” said Dallas.
“When most people see the lion take down an antelope,
all they hear is the roar and see the violence of the kill. What they don’t see
is that it’s all about efficiency and self-preservation. It has nothing to do
with anger. The lion goes for the throat because it’s the fastest way to cut
off air to the lungs and blood to the brain. Going for the throat quickly
disables the prey. It may look like a defenseless animal, but if the lion
didn’t kill it quickly, the antelope has very powerful legs and sharp hooves
that could tear the lion open. My point is, wild animals have no desire to
inflict pain on their prey. They kill for survival.”
“Arrington killed those women for survival?” asked Dallas.
“In his mind, maybe,” said Michelle. “But what Tom is
saying is that Arrington’s primary focus was blood, not pain. Killers are
violent. They get off on the control and the pain they inflict on the victim.
The wounds on these women seem to be created with the sole function of
efficiently extracting their blood.”
“Absolutely,” said Tom. “The only other injuries listed
are ligature marks on the wrists and ankles. But even those are mild. They
weren’t bound so tight as to cut off circulation. They were bound to keep them
stationary. There’s no other bruising or abrasions on their bodies. There’s
hardly a scratch on them other than the neck and abdomen wounds.”
“It makes sense the first wound would be a major artery
in the neck,” said Michelle. “It’s the easiest to access with a bite. It
would’ve supplied a tremendous volume before the heart stopped. And when it did
stop pumping, it makes sense he would go for the organs engorged with blood,
like the liver.”
“This is all fascinating stuff, really,” said Dallas.
“But what are we trying to accomplish here? Is what you’re talking about going
to help us find the others? There are two more monsters out there we need to
find and stop before they kill again. Does it really matter how or why they’re
doing it? I’d just like to know where they are so we can scratch the last two
off the list.”
“I understand what you’re saying, Dallas,” said Ryan.
“You do?” asked Michelle.
“I do. But, Dallas, what we’ve accomplished here is
figuring out Arrington didn’t brutally rape and murder that woman in Syracuse. But people wanted us to believe he did. That tells me without a shadow of doubt
we’re in the middle of a conspiracy, and we’re being used like puppets to cover
it up. The more we find out about these monsters they obviously want us to
kill, the closer I get to finding out who’s pulling our strings.”
“I agree with you, Ryan,” said Tom. “This goes much
deeper than just apprehending four UA Marines on a killing spree. We know they
were genetically altered at the lab to make them super soldiers and something
went wrong. I can wrap my head around one man snapping, but not four at the
same time. What we need to figure out is what happened to them and who did it.
We have our theories, but proving it is going to be incredibly difficult.”
“It will be unless we can find the scientists who put
their hands on them,” said Ryan. “Kristina told me there were three main
players at the lab. They were working on some high- speed creepy stuff before
she left. Those are the guys with the answers.”
“Being the guys with the answers, they’re going to be on
short leashes by the guys who don’t want them talking,” said Dallas. “How do we
get to them?”
“It won’t be easy, but we already have a guy on the
inside,” said Ryan with a grin.
The team packed its gear and was ready to move in less
than thirty minutes. They still had over an hour before the plane would arrive
to take them to Atlanta. Ryan walked out onto the back porch for some air.
After a few minutes, Tom joined him on the deck.
“You need some alone time, Boss?” asked Tom.
“No,” said Ryan. “Just out here finding myself asking
the same question over and over.”
“What’s that?”
“Why? Why would they do that to those Marines? Why did
they turn them into monsters and then turn them loose on the public? And then
once that happened, why use us to hunt and kill them?”
“Tough questions, Ryan. But some of those answers can be
found in the history of biomedical human research. I’m sure you’re familiar
with the atrocities committed by the Nazis and the Japanese Army during the
thirties and forties, but are you familiar with our own?”
“No, but that’s why I have your big brain on the team.
You have to compensate for my little one.”
“I know you’re not serious,” said Tom. “Anyway, in 1932,
the U.S. Public Health Service recruited 400 underprivileged African-Americans
with syphilis to participate in a study. They called it the Tuskegee Syphilis
Experiment, and its main purpose was to study the untreated progression of the
disease. Now, at the time, there was no known cure. Where it became a serious
question of ethics was when penicillin was discovered in 1940. It did
effectively cure the disease, but it wasn’t administered to the Tuskegee recruits. The U.S. Government basically let those people suffer and die even
though a cure was available. They continued the experiment until 1974 when
someone finally blew the whistle and leaked the project to the press. By then
the victims included the men who died, their wives who contracted the disease,
and their children who were born with congenital syphilis. All of that happened
under the direct supervision of Uncle Sam.”
“That’s barbaric,” said Ryan. “You’re right, I didn’t
know.”
“And really, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. But if
there’s a bright side to that dark time in our history, it would be the
immediate formation of the Office for Human Research Protections, or OHRP.
Those are the guys providing the ethical oversight which mirrors the powers and
responsibilities of the FDA. Those are the guys that are keeping an eye on
what’s happening at the Michaels Laboratory. Like Kristina told us, the Marines
had to sign consent forms before any procedure could be performed on them. Those
consent forms are mandated and reviewed by the OHRP.”
“Obviously, they’re not keeping that close of an eye on
the lab,” said Ryan.
“Obviously,” said Tom. “But the OHRP is a very small
department within the much larger Department of Health and Human Services. They
probably have no idea something went wrong. And even if they did, they may not
know the extent. And even if they knew the extent, the individuals or group
responsible may not even be prosecuted.”
“Not prosecuted?” asked Ryan, perplexed. “People have
been murdered. How could they possibly not be prosecuted?”
“From 1932 until the end of World War II, Unit 731 of
the Japanese Army conducted gruesome experiments on thousands of prisoners,”
continued Tom. “It included vivisection, which means dissecting them while they
were still alive. They were opened up and exposed to numerous deadly bacteria
and viruses so the scientists could watch the deterioration of the internal
organs and tissues. The unit was headed by Shiro Ishi who was a lieutenant
general and microbiologist. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, General
Douglas MacArthur offered immunity from any prosecution to Ishi and his entire
unit. All they had to do was turn over the results of those experiments. And,
of course, they did.”
“That’s insane,” said Ryan. “Our government condoned the
murdering of our own POWs?”
“Now, that’s where it gets a little tricky,” said Tom.
“They didn’t condone it, but they understood the value of the data in those
results. It catapulted our own discovery of vaccinations and treatments which
has arguably saved millions of American lives and even more around the world.”
“Tom, you can’t seriously believe the ends justified the
means.”
“Not at all, Ryan. I’m just warning you what we’ve
stumbled across in this case may not see the outcome you’re looking for. We’re
going down a very slippery slope, and I worry that you’re sliding down it
faster than you need to be.”
“You don’t think I should concern myself with finding
those answers, do you?”
“I think we should concern ourselves more with stopping Derek
and Joshua,” said Tom.
“What are you really trying to tell me, Tom?” asked Ryan
with a disarming smile.
“I saw the way you reacted when you lost the two agents
at the farmhouse. And the way you reacted is the way a good leader should. You
felt responsible. But you also felt responsible for the woman Arrington killed
in front of us. And neither situation was your fault.”
“Tom, I’m not cutting you off this time. Just say what’s
on your mind.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to split up again and go
to Maine looking for the other scientists. I think we may be putting the cart
before the horse. Dallas may not completely understand the science or the
politics involved, but he does understand the importance of stopping the other
two. Powerful agencies and billions of dollars are at stake if it’s discovered
our own military created serial killers in a lab and then proceeded to unleash
them onto the public. If we tip our hand now we’re on to them, we’re out of the
game. And there isn’t a better team out there that plays this game.
“I know you want those answers so you can go back to the
families of the victims, including the two agents that died, and give them
closure. I want the same thing, but there’s more at stake now. We’re getting a
little overwhelmed here, and our resources are at critical mass. What would
happen to Kristina if we were pulled from the case? Who would protect her? Would
she have to run and hide forever?”
“Okay, Tom,” conceded Ryan. “Okay. We’ll focus on
finding Derek and Joshua. All of us.”
“I hope you understand –”
“Tom,” Interrupted Ryan. “I do. And thank you. It’s
another reason why I put you on this team.”
“What’s that?” asked Tom.
“Helping me to keep my priorities in order. I appreciate
that, Tom. I really do.”
“Anytime, Boss.”
“Speaking of our little hostage, I need to go talk to
Kristina. We’ll head to the airport when I get back. Our plane should be there
shortly.”
“Understood.”
Ryan made his way back to the house Kristina had called
home for nearly a week. He started laughing to himself as he approached the
back door. He started laughing after he thought about leaving her in New
Orleans with the security team Steve had assigned to the house. He needed her
help in Atlanta, but he also knew she’d be safer the farther away she was from
the action. Both Derek and Joshua would be there, and he also knew Colonel
Brown was going to send every thug he had on his payroll. Knowing another FBI
team was probably on its way to Georgia with the sole purpose of hunting her
down, Ryan had to think hard about dragging her back into harm’s way. He was
laughing because he realized he had become another one of those men in her life
who wanted to protect her.
He walked in the house and found Steve sitting in the
same spot at the kitchen table reading a book. “Nobody can accuse you of not
being vigilant. Alison would kill me if she knew I was the reason you weren’t
home.”
“No, she’s probably going to kill you for being in town
and not stopping by to see her or the kids,” said Steve.
“Are you going to turn me in?”
“Not if you promise to come back and visit them for more
than a few minutes.”
“Deal.”
“How’d it go out there?” asked Steve.
“Staged suicide, but the end result is that we’re done
here. They’re pointing us to Atlanta where it looks like Derek and Joshua are
in cahoots. We’re leaving in a few. Is that a fresh pot of coffee?”
“Very. I’ll take a cup, too.”
He poured their coffees and sat with him at the table.
Steve put his book down. Ryan noticed the title. It was Kristina’s beloved copy
of
Treasure Island
.
“I see she’s got you hooked on the classics,” said Ryan.
“Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum,” sang Steve. “Did you
know this is a first edition?” he said, patting the cover.
“I know she has a significant connection with it,” said
Ryan. “I overheard her talking about how her father read it to her when she was
a child.”
“Yeah, she mentioned that after handing it over to me.
She said I looked bored sitting down here by myself, and it would keep me
company. This book is probably worth close to 20,000 dollars, and she just
handed it over so I could enjoy it.”
“Sounds like you two are getting along well.”
“Oh, we are,” said Steve with a sly smile. “Especially
when she found out you and I have a long history together.”
“I’m not sure what that means.”
“It means Alison’s right, you are hopeless. But it also
means Kristina is a very sweet girl. I think being so intelligent, driven, and
beautiful intimidates most people, but especially men. How somebody hasn’t
swept her off her feet is beyond me. Anyway, there’s just something about her
that makes you want to look after her.”