AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll decide when it’s enough,” Dopple said. “You fucking son of a bitch. You’re nothing. I’ve no idea why they warned me to be careful around you.”
“No.” Caleb’s voice was almost indifferent. “You’re finished. You shouldn’t have gotten this close to me.”
Dopple’s eyes suddenly began to water, and a moment later the tears turned to blood. He stood and staggered backward. He wiped his eyes and looked in horror at the blood on his hands. “What the hell?”
“I believe you have something in your eye,” Caleb said.
Blood from Dopple’s eyes was now dripping down his cheeks. “I can’t see. I can’t see!”
Caleb smiled. “I know.”
Vito recoiled in horror. “What’s happening?”
Caleb turned to face him. “You tell me.”
Blood suddenly spurted from Vito’s nose and mouth. He dropped to his knees as he gagged.
Caleb stood up and pulled the knife from his shoulder. “Don’t worry. You won’t suffer for long.”
Still blind from the blood in his eyes, Dopple fumbled for the gun in his shoulder holster. Caleb quickly took it from him. Blood began to gush from Dopple’s left ear. He gasped, “You’re a demon!”
“Hmm, I’ll try not to take offense,” Caleb said. “But I assure you it’s about science, not superstition.”
Dopple screamed in pain and held his head in his hands. He fell and began writhing on the floor.
Caleb watched the two screaming men for a moment longer. “Why were you warned to be careful around me, Dopple? Perhaps because it’s been discovered that some animals secrete odors from their glands or emit vibrations that provoke all kinds of harmful physical reactions in their prey? There are also rare cases when that ability appears to occur in humans and can occasionally be inherited. And what may begin as an instinctive, involuntary ability sometimes can be controlled. As you gentlemen are finding out. I can’t tell you how pleased and fascinated MI6 was when I demonstrated that skill to them.”
Vito coughed up a mouthful of blood.
“Whatever pain you’re now enduring, I’m sure it’s no worse than what you two put this poor man through,” Caleb said. “Perhaps you’ll think about that in these last moments of yours.”
An electronic chime sounded from Dopple’s jacket pocket. Caleb bent down and pulled the phone from his pocket. A text message flashed on the screen:ONE MINUTE OUT. SUBJECT NEUTRALIZED?It was clear he’d signaled for Bohdan’s soldiers to come out of hiding the instant Caleb had shown.
Caleb heard the sound of vehicles outside. He went to the window and saw half a dozen SUVs bearing down on the shack. “That’s my cue. Goodbye, gentlemen.” He turned back and saw that Vito was dead. Dopple, still choking and gagging on his own blood, wasn’t far behind.
Caleb ran from the room and bolted down the stairs. He could hear Bohdan’s men taking positions outside. The front and back doors were probably already covered, so he needed to find another way out before he was totally surrounded.
Caleb ran to the shack’s far side, away from the road. His first instinct was to go for a window, but he needed a less conspicuous option.
He looked down at the creaky floor. Of course.
He stomped on the floorboards until they finally gave way. He dropped into the crawl space below and scrambled for the shack’s edge.
He peered outside. From there, he had a straight shot to the forest, but he’d have to cover thirty unprotected yards first.
He heard more vehicles arriving at the front of the house.
Shit. The situation certainly wasn’t going to get any better for him.
Caleb kicked out the crawl space panel and rolled outside. He jumped to his feet and ran for the forest.
So far, so good.
He’d almost made it to the trees when someone cried out behind him.
More shouts, then gunshots.
He sprinted into the forest. Great. Now he had fifteen or twenty armed killers on his tail. Just another day in the life.
