I look up into the sky. The moon hung high, shining over the city like a watchful eye. A thorough search of the house didn't turn up anything. Just a broken window on the third floor. The destroyed breaker was chalked up to faulty wiring. Though I've never heard or seen something like that from a blown breaker. I have seen the aftermath of the charred wall and floor at every scene I've worked on this case. As for the broken window? That was reported as a botched robbery gone wrong. That left just my place and Harper's place for them and the girls to stay at. Mine would have us boxed in like sardines. Which left Harper and Henry's place outside New York. With nothing left for me to contribute to the Detectives and all their questions answered, I head out to Harper's house first. Maddie and Harper, with the girls, are being escorted later at Captain Kremer's request. He filled me in on the fire at Thomas's house. Something didn't sit right with me.
Harper's house came into view. The white, gray marble mansion was quite a sight. Wells and Wells were doing well. The lights of my cruiser shined over the large estate as I pulled past the circle driveway around the central water fountain. No one looked to be home as expected. Harper and her husband just came back from their vacation. Henry went straight to Washington D.C, and Harper to Parker's home. It looked like the maids weren't expected to arrive until morning. I fiddle around in my pocket for the keys Harper gave me. Something about the front door catches my attention. I take a double take as the door is cracked and opened slightly. 'Shit!!!' The door suddenly swung up before I could draw my gun. A low curse came out of my mouth, along with a familiar face. Sergeant Bob Mchahon pointed a 12 gauge at the center of my chest. The tall, muscular man retained the blonde buzz cut from back in our service days. His piercing blue eyes were wide as he looked at me in recognition. The thick blonde pointy beard made him look like a Viking. He wore green hunting attire with a tactical vest.
"Jesus, LT! I nearly took your upper half off!" Bob said.
"No shit, Bob! What the heck are you doing here?" I countered.
He lowers the barrel, allowing me to relax. Having a shotgun aimed at you twice in one night was enough for anyone. The Marine vet looks around the front of the house like he is expecting someone or something else.
"Look, Henry was supposed to meet me here. Said he had some information about some of our missing team members," Bob said.
"You're talking about the ones missing in that photo, right? The ones that are marked?" I asked.
"Yeah, how did you know about that?" Bob questioned.
"They're dead, all of the marked ones. Including Parker Wells. What's Henry got to do with this?" I questioned.
"Damn it, Henry and Parker were looking into our old unit. They came to me a few months ago. I think they hit up Enrico and Jason, too," Bob said. "I think they were tracking down everyone," he added.
"They're both dead too now. What the hell is going on? Is someone going after all of us?" I asked.
"Henry said he'd found out what was going on. He's supposed to be here. Came straight here after he got back from a trip to Europe. Something about he'd found something overseas that was a breakthrough," Bob said.
"Hold on, Harper and Henry were overseas for a vacation," I countered.
"He said he was going there under that cover. Didn't want his wife and sister-in-law to know. That was their plan when Parker returned to meet me a day or so ago," Bob revealed.
A crash came from somewhere in the house. I immediately look at Bob. "Is the house clear?" I snapped.
"No, I just got here a few minutes ago. Parked out back like Henry instructed. I thought you were him returning," Bob said.
"Okay…," I said, stepping inside with my gun drawn.
Bob stepped behind me as I panned the foyer. We start the task of clearing the house. The place was untouched, as far as I could tell. Nothing like Parker's place. Not a sign of anyone in the living room, kitchen, dining room, or den. The first floor was devoid of human life. Bob and I carefully ascend the stairs in the foyer. Flashes of smoke snaking down the stairs from my friend's house returned to my mind. Noises came from down the second-floor hallway. Henry's study was that way. I took the right side of the hall as Bob took the left. Muffled sounds came from inside the study as we posted on either side of the doorway.
I could hear heavy footsteps inside. There were two people inside from the sounds. One sounded in distress and possibly tied and gagged. I grip my weapon handle tightly as my free hand grabs the doorknob. Bob silently whispers a countdown from five. As he reaches three, he shoulders the shotgun. The moment he hit one, I swung the door open. A burst of force knocks me back against the opposite wall. An ungodly screech fills my ears. Suddenly, I'm picked up and thrown into the room. Hitting the wall just shy of flying through the window. A shotgun blast goes off, and a flash of light illuminates the gloomy room for a millisecond. Another shot goes off, and I spot a dark figure moving at an impossible speed across the room. I draw my spare and let off a few shots as a shadow flies past me. Flames burst from candles on the floor in a circle in the middle of the room. Henry sat tied up in the middle of the room.
The shadowy figure ran circles around me, and Bob tried to get a shot off while avoiding hitting me or Henry. The noise was deafening between the muffled yells of Henry, the gunfire, and the assailant's screeches. A force slammed me into the wall next to Bob in an instant. Crashing me into the hallway through the drywall. Bob disappeared into the drywall behind him next. Whoever this was, they were fast and strong. Not one time could I get a clean shot off. I stagger to my feet and head for Henry. It was time to go. We were fighting against unknown odds. For all I knew, there were multiple hostiles. I quickly take off the gag over Henry's mouth and untie one of his hands in record time. Before I could go any further, he grabbed the collar of my jacket.
"Get the fuck out of here while you can, Eddie!" Henry barked. "It's too late for me! Save yourself!" he added.
"I'm not going anywhere without you?" I countered as I untied his other hand.
In a swift motion, he grabbed the revolver from my chest holster and fired behind me. I spun around to see a towering figure. A hand grabs my throat and lifts me higher than a man should be capable of doing. Bright red burning eyes stare back at me with malice intent. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. A man that was dead held me like a flimsy piece of paper in the air. Fingernails dug deep into my windpipe. Any deeper, my vocal cords and windpipe would be shredded. The dead man rips my shirt off and tosses it to the ground. I watched in pain as he dug his fingers into my heart. Like he was slowly about to rip it out. My vision is restricted to tunnel vision. Flashes light the room, and the dead man's body rocks with each hit of the 357 rounds. His grip loosened enough that I could wiggle out of his grasp. A loud bang from point blank opens a hole in the dead man's upper chest, just missing me and Henry's. I stubble up just fast enough to witness Bob flying right at me. The impact thrust us back against the far side of the room.
"That can't be Fletcher! He's dead...," Bob said, coughing.
The man we knew as Gene Fletcher began reciting some language I couldn't understand. As he spoke, smoke came out of his mouth and nose. Sparks of embers came from his eyes. The fire from the candles burst into towering flames. Surrounding him and Henry. The flames were so hot we couldn't get near. Henry must have pulled a couple of speed loaders out of my jacket. He reloaded the revolver and fired on Private Fletcher.
"Get out of here, both of you!" Henry shouted. "You can't help me now!" he yelled.
The 357 rounds did nothing to Gene. He'd unloaded fourteen rounds already and was putting another seven bullets into him. Bob grabbed my shoulder, preventing me from going to our friend's aid. More dark figures were filling the room. The fire was spreading from the circle and engulfing the room. The heat seared my skin.
"We have to go now!" Bob yelled.
I could barely hear his frantic yells over the crackling flames filling the room. There was no way out but to jump out the window. The fire quickly dances its way to us. Together we turn and leap out the window, crashing into the glass. A heat wave bursts out behind us, sending us flying into the house's backyard. We barely have time to run twenty feet before an explosion launches us into the air again. I roll over to see a column of flames reaching high into the sky, like a firestorm ascending to the heavens. The burning figure I saw at Parker's home towered in the place of the house like some giant. A sudden suction of air whirls towards the column of flames. The following explosion was beyond comprehension.