“Wh-where did you find these?They’re my personal journals,” he said.
“We found more than your personal journals,” said Trak.
Jericho whipped around, staring at the other men in the room.His breathing began to come rapidly and he clutched at his chest.Zeke gripped his throat.
“Oh, no.You’re not getting off that easily.We’ve got some folks that want to speak with you.”He jammed the needle into his arm, slowing his heart rate enough to calm the panic attack but not kill him.Not yet anyway.
“Who are you?What do you want?” he demanded.
“We just want to give Sutton and the other kids a chance to say goodbye,” said Nathan.“You do remember Sutton, don’t you?Clever, bright, what did you say, oh yes, sneaky little girl.”
“Sh-she was sneaky.She probably stole these journals.You don’t understand, you can’t possibly understand the depths of this research.It’s complicated and highly desirable.We’ll save millions of children.”
“No you won’t,” said Joseph.His father continued to glare at the man, staring straight through his black soul.It made even the strongest men squirm and Jericho was anything but strong.
“Your sick, perverted, twisted serum dumped into formula and milk was meant to give deaf children gifts they couldn’t possibly understand,” said Kiel.“Gifts that the world may never know or may never see.”
“No!No, you must show the world!You must.They need to see my discovery,” he said with passion.
“Your discovery?” frowned Zeke.“I don’t believe it was your discovery at all.In fact, I know that it wasn’t.It was Colonel Weston Moore and the sick son-of-a-bitches who worked for him.You simply figured out how to get his daughter to give you the notes she possessed and you went from there.
“No.No, you’re not nearly smart enough to figure all this out on your own.Your colleagues are all gone.Judy and, what was his name?Oh yes, John are dead.”
“Did you kill her?” he asked quietly.
“With great pleasure,” said Trak still staring at the man.
“Where is Madsen, Benjamin Madsen?I won’t be charged alone for this,” he said defiantly.
“You don’t get it,” laughed Zeke.“There will be no trial.At least, not in the traditional sense.You’ll be tried by a group of people better than you could ever possibly be.”
With a hood placed over his head, his mouth stuffed with a rag and his hands tied, they gave the signal for the cameras to be disrupted and made their way to the service elevator.
In the basement, they tossed him in the back of the SUV and casually drove toward Belle Fleur on the bumpiest road they could possibly find between New Orleans and home.
They parked across the bridge to the animal sanctuary, then tossed Jericho into a wheelbarrow, pushing him over the bricked, bumpy bridge to enter the zoo.
“How ‘ya doin’, Charlie?” asked Zeke to the watchman.
“Doin’ fine, Mr. Zeke.Looks like you got yourself a fine catch,” he chuckled.“The others are all waitin’ for you.”
“Thanks, Charlie.Close the gates, please.”
“Yes, sir.Happy to.”
Jericho yelled for help the entire way, in spite of being kicked and punched by the men pushing him.
“Bastard needs to lose some weight,” said Nathan breathing heavy.
The little girl, Sutton?” asked Eric. “She’s normal?”
Nathan let the handles go, the cart ramming into the ground, jostling their visitor.Hawk picked them up, tossing them up and down a few times to get a feel for the weight.
“Yeah, he’s a heavy bastard,” said Hawk.“Well, I hope he enjoyed the meal last night.It was his last.”
“Let me go!Please!I have money!”
“Damn, the gag came out,” frowned Kiel.“Oh, well.”
