Page 76 of End of Days

I heard a door open and saw Jennifer come out of our bedroom wearing Nike shorts and a T-shirt, saying, “Still no word?”

I said, “Nope. Not sure why, but it can’t be good. Go back to bed. At least someone will be alert when we go to war.”

She stood next to my chair and said, “What happened in that room? What happened with Lia? I saw the video feed from the Echo, but it cut right when the action started.”

“Nothing, really. It was easy. Aaron missed the guy climbing out of the back, but there wasn’t anything that would be what I’d call outside the ballfield. No gunfire. No real contact.”

She looked at me for a moment, then said, “Okay. If you say so. It just seemed you guys had touched the beast. Shoshana was on fire when she came back.”

I chuckled and said, “Well, that part is true. The guy we’re chasing is in fact a beast. I think the man we’re hunting wants to start World War Three to cause a biblical apocalypse, and he’s also apparently a damn serial killer. I mean a real, honest-to-God serial killer. Heisthe beast. Shoshana wants him in a bad way, but nothing happened during the assault.”

She rubbed my back and smiled, and I felt the connection. Ever since we’d met, she’d protected me from my worst instincts, and she was attempting to do it now. She leaned in and kissed my head, saying, “Don’t let that bad man get to you. I saw the video.”

Meaning she’d seen what that asshole was doing right before we entered, and because of it, she was afraid of my talent. She knew my history and was leery I’d fall back into the abyss because of his craziness.

Truthfully, I had a skill few on earth possessed, and she was afraid I’d use it indiscriminately. It wasn’t anything that could be leveraged for money, power, or fame, but it was potent. Maybe ten or twelve people on planet earth had my talent, and when the worst happened, when the bad man came, I was the person you wanted to show up to help. Jennifer understood my power, and she didn’t want that unleashed in the wrong way. And she wasn’t wrong.

The truth is that at one point in time I had been just like the guy I was chasing, my moral compass broken. But I was way beyond that now. I was on a different plane, not the least because of Jennifer.

I turned and brushed her cheek with my lips, saying, “All I’m worried about right now is rolling this guy up so I can get married. Something none of these DC assholes seem to remember.”

She chuckled, then said, “I’m serious, Pike. Don’t get wrapped around this guy. I saw you when you found out he was killing women. Don’t do it. Let’s find him and eliminate the threat, but don’t turn into Shoshana.”

I leaned back and said, “Hey, that’s not fair. Not fair to her. She doesn’t kill out of anger.” Which was something I’d done in an earlier life. To the point that I was almost a serial killer in my own right.

She ran her hand through my hair and said, “I know, but since I’ve been with you, I’ve seen the beast on my own. I’ve killed for vengeance, and I’ve regretted it ever since. I still have dreams.”

Not for the first time, I wondered about the world I’d pulled her into. I’d done many, many things I’d regretted, and I really didn’t want my wife to feel the same. It wasn’t exactly a good foundation for a long-term relationship.

She said, “Shoshana is like you on this one. TheRamsadwas her touchstone. She’ll kill now just to relieve the pain, even if it’s not right. Just like she did in Bahrain.”

I pulled my head away from her hand and said, “You knowyou’rethe one who created that monster. She wants to beyounot me.”

She laughed and said, “Monster? Come on. She’s not that. She is what she is, but she’s a little off on this one because of theRamsad.”

“Yeah, well, her instincts are still pretty damn good. I don’t know how she does it, but she’s like a cadaver dog sniffing the ground. When she finds something, it’s usually right, and she was right on this one.”

She lowered herself to my level in the chair and said, “I get that. I really do. She’s my bridesmaid for a reason. Just don’t let her do anything that will make me regret she’s my bridesmaid.”

She locked on to my eyes and I saw the earnestness of her plea. She didn’t want Shoshana to do something evil, even if it meant a greater good. I nodded and said, “I hear you. I understand.”

She stood up and said, “That didn’t come out right. Don’t ever let her do anything that makesherregret being my bridesmaid. She loves me and I love her. We are the same, even if we’re different. Keep her from doing something in the heat of the moment she’ll regret. I don’t want another Bahrain killing.”

I said, “Her, or me? Are we really talking about her?”

She flashed me a little grin and said, “Very good, young Jedi. You’re learning.”

And then the VPN finally opened up. After hours of waiting, I heard it beep and saw George Wolffe behind the camera.

He said, “Creed tells me you’ve been an active little operator tonight. Tell me you have something.”

“Sir, I do, but it’s not what you think is going on, and you’re not going to like it. I didn’t find a rabid Iranian Qods Force operative. I found a serial killer.”

“What?”

“I know it’s crazy. It’s why I didn’t tell you before. There’s a serial killer running around Rome, and he’s also tied into the killing of our diplomats.”

“Pike, how does that have anything to do with the murders of Israelis and Americans? What the hell am I supposed to do with that? Take the Oversight Council an Italian criminal case? I need closure. Things are getting to the breaking point, not the least because of your idea to blame Keta’ib Hezbollah about the attempted murder of Knuckles and Brett. Ineedsomething here.”

---