Exodus (8 page)

“Ye…yes Mr. Clark I’m sure.”

Mr. Clark nodded and hit play on the DVD player.  “Nickie, this is what they do at LSK.”

IX

“You okay Nickie?”  Mikey stepped onto the porch and asked.

“Yeah.  I just…I just.  What the hell Mikey?  Those were kids.  That’s what they’re doing to Anthony?”  There was a somber, confused tone in her voice.

She turned back around and stared into the lawn.  Mikey took a seat next to her and sighed.

“I hope not, but we need to find him and I think we’re close.  That password you gave us worked.  There’s a facility they use for holding somewhere near here.  We just need to find an address.”

“There’s some secure lab my stepdad works at off of Highway 92.  I’ve been there with him once.  He made me stay in the car, but there were guards and everything.  It could be that.”  Nickie looked up.

“That’s great!  Do you think you can show us where it is?”

“Sure.”

“She puke yet?”  Steve’s voice echoed from behind them.

“Nah, she’s a trooper.  She knows where that facility on the computer is though.  Said she can show us where.”

Steve tilted his head.  “Oh yeah, let’s go.”

“What, now?”  Nickie stood up.

“Yeah, why not?  If he’s really there don’t you think rescuing him sooner is better than later.”

“Fine.”  Nickie shot back.

“I’ll go get Mit.”  Mikey headed for the door.

Steve stopped him.  “Nah, him and Mr. Clark are still looking into a few other things.  We can handle this.  We’re just going to check it out.”

Mikey stared at him for a moment and smirked.  “Alright, fine.”

With Nickie navigating, they jumped into Steve’s car and headed off down the road.  The sky glowed an amber hue as the sun started to dip into the Earth.  Traffic was light enough that on some stretches Steve managed to get the car up to a hundred and fifteen before backing off.

“Slow down champ.  We’re gonna die before we can rescue anyone.”  Mikey griped from the backseat.

“It’s not me.”  Steve smiled.  “Sweetness is motivated.”

“Boys and their toys.”  Nickie rolled her eyes.

“Like you’d know.”  Steve shot back.

“What’s your deal?”  Nickie whipped around in the seat, turning her body so she was completely facing Steve.

“What’s your deal with me?”  Steve glanced over then turned back to the road.

“Guys, can’t we all just get along?”  Mikey sighed, trying to calm the situation.

“No!  No we can’t.  He’s had a problem with me since day one.  Don’t be a girl about it, just say it.”  Nickie raised her voice in agitation.

“Yeah she’s right.  I do have a problem with her.”

“Well don’t bite your tongue.”  Nickie snapped.

“You show up out of the blue and the next thing we know someone is trying to kill Anthony.  We try to get out of town, somewhere he’ll be safe.  Aside from us I’m sure you were the only person who knew where we were going.  Yet before we can make out of the state we’re already being shot at.”  Steve pushed the throttle harder as he spoke, the speedometer sliding back into the triple digits.

“Sticks gets killed and I damn near lose my life.  We make it back and what two years Nickie…two years before you said a word.  And now that we’re close to finding him, here you are.  What’d you come to try and finish the job?”

The Camaro roared as it approached 150 mph.  Mikey tried to lift his head, but he was glued to the backseat.

“Just say it, tell me I’m not lying.”  Steve yelled.

“Um, dude slow down.  I mean really slow down!”  Mikey screamed trying to latch his seatbelt together.

Steve slung the car off an exit ramp and mashed the brakes.  The car began to fish tail as he sped around the winding road.  In a storm of dust and gravel, the Camaro spun onto the shoulder of the road and stopped.

Nickie glared at Steve with absolute loathing in her eyes.  Her mouth hung wide open in disbelief.  Her face was drenched with tears.

“You don’t think that maybe I was scared?  Maybe I was terrified of everything that happened.  Maxey was gone, Sticks was dead, even you didn’t come back.  All anyone could talk about is how Anthony had been murdered.”

Mikey squirmed in the backseat uncomfortably.  He cleared his throat and Steve shoved his hand over his face, smashing it into the charcoal leather.

“Go on.”  Steve said annoyingly.

“I was scared Steve.  Scared to death, but when Mikey told me I could help and maybe get Anthony back…I had to try.”

Slapping Steve’s hand off of his face, Mikey sat up.  “We don’t have time for this.  You can either let her tell you where to go or turn Sweetness around and take me home.”

Steve grinded his teeth and cut his eyes at Mikey.  He squeezed the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white and took a deep breath.

With his foot slammed on the gas the Camaro spun back onto the road and sped off.  “Where to Nickie?”  Steve asked through clenched jaws.

“You need to get back on the interstate.”  She responded.

Mikey smirked at both of them from the back seat.  He’d come along to look for answers, not referee a verbal throw down.  He knew sooner or later they were both going to have to get on the same page.

It was completely dark when they finally turned onto Highway 92.  Mikey snored loudly in the backseat while Nickie stared out of the window, refusing to look in Steve’s direction.

“The silent treatment is cute and all, but you are gonna tell me when to turn right?”  Steve glanced over.

“Hmph!”  Nickie responded.  “I guess.  You should probably turn now.”  Nickie smirked as the car blew past the street.

Steve slammed on the brakes, slinging Mikey into the back of Nickie’s seat.

“Nice.”  Steve rolled his eyes as he shifted into reverse.

He backed all the way down to the intersection and stopped.  The long narrow street was dark and desolate.

“We’re going down there?”  Mikey mumbled from the back seat.

“You scared?”  Steve shot back.

Revving the engine, he tore off down the empty street.  Nickie smirked at him and shook her head.  Mikey anxiously looked from side to side trying to pretend that he wasn’t afraid.

“Slow down.  You can pull over up there.”  Nickie pointed at an empty lot.

Steve let off the gas and the car coasted onto the cracked pavement.   He let the car roll in between the fence and a row of dumpsters and stopped.  From there he could see the beige building up ahead, but his car was hidden from the road.

“Well, that’s LSK.”  Nickie nodded.

“Doesn’t look like much.”  Steve smirked.

Mikey leaned up from the backseat and poked his head out of the window.  The building was a wide one-story office set in the middle of nowhere.  A motorized fence wrapped around the back of the facility and a tarp had been attached to the mesh, making it impossible to see behind.

“So what makes you guys think Anthony is here?”  Nickie asked curiously.

“Mr. Clark found something about a holding facility, said it was in North Shore.  So unless you know of another one…he’s in there.”

“We need a plan on getting in there.”  Steve said more to himself.

“I’m sure Mr. Clark and Mit will figure it out.”  Mikey grinned.

“Get down!”  Nickie said in panic.

At the top of the street a black suburban was slowly rolling their way.  The headlights flashed past the garbage bins as the car rolled by.  It pulled up in front of the building and stopped under a streetlight.

Steve slowly lifted his head and peered down the street.  A skinny man in jeans and a t-shirt hopped out of the driver’s seat puffing on a cigarette.  Leaning his head back, he blew a cloud of smoke into the air and walked to the back of the car.

“You think they can see us?”  Nickie whispered.

“Nah.”  Steve responded without moving his eyes.

A slightly larger man in cargo pants and boots with a fatigue long sleeve shirt got out of the passenger side of the truck.  He spit a wad of tobacco on the ground and joined the other man at the back.

They both looked back and forth down the empty road, their eyes lingering for a moment on the trash bins hiding Steve’s car.

“You see that Patterson?”  The smaller man asked.

“See what?”  He responded.  “Look, nothing’s down here, let’s just finish already and leave.  This place creeps me out.”

“You’re right.”  The skinny man said as he flicked his cigarette into the air and opened the back of the suburban.

Cautiously, he reached into the truck and started tugging on what looked like a black rolled up tarp.  As he pulled it to the edge Steve could see that it was actually a long black bag like the ones used in a morgue.

Together the two men grabbed the bag and heaved it out of the truck and laid it on the ground.  Something inside of it moved and the men stepped back.

“You think it’s alive?”

“Nah, probably just nerves, they like em fresh here.”  Patterson spit to the side then knelt down and grabbed the bag again.

“I think somebody’s in there.”  Mikey mumbled.

The two men picked the bag back up and started heading into the building.  Steve watched them closely trying to detect any movement.  Suddenly a loud bone crushing moan erupted from inside the bag and then men dropped it again.

“Argh!  What the hell!”  The men screamed in unison.

The front door swung open and a stubby gray haired man walked out.  He wore a white lab coat and green corduroy pants.  He waddled towards the men like a duck, shaking his finger angrily.

“What on earth is all the commotion about?  Pick the subject up and bring it inside now!”  The man was nearly yelling at the top of his lungs.

“It’s…it’s alive.  They promised us no problems, said we wouldn’t have to deal with anything.  Look at it Dr. Young.”  The skinny man pointed.

The bag was flopping about like something was trying to rip its way out.  The imprint of hands could be seen clawing against the black nylon material.

“Oh dear!”  Dr. Young exclaimed.

“You’re damn right oh dear.  There’s somebody alive in there mister.  Come on Earl help me get this thing open.”  

“You don’t understand.”  Dr. Young said calmly.  “You’ve already seen too much.”

Patterson and Earl looked at each other dumbfounded.  They were still trying to decide what to do when another man walked out of the front door directly towards them.  He was at least seven feet tall and built like an NFL quarterback.  His dark brown hair hung over his angled face covering his eyes.

“Oh yes Daniels please do something about this.”  Dr. Young pointed at the black bag.

Reaching for his utility belt Daniels pulled out a long silver coated syringe.  He knelt down beside the bag and smirked at Earl and Patterson.  Then raising his hand to eye level he stabbed the syringe into the bag.  There was a quick jerk and the squirming stopped immediately.  Daniels huffed and then stood back up.

“Drop that off and then do something with these two.”  Dr. Young said dismissively.

Daniels tossed the bag over his shoulder and headed back inside.  Earl and Patterson shared anxious glances.

“Now…now we still get paid, right?”  Earl stuttered.

Dr. Young smiled.  “Oh yes, of course.  Daniels will be back shortly to sort that out.”

Earl grinned at Patterson and winked.  Patterson nodded back at him then turned to Dr. Young.

“And…and what about that bag?  We was told no trouble.”

“I’m certain Daniels can more than accommodate for any inconvenience.  Ah here he comes now.”  Dr. Young raised his hands and walked towards him.  He paused and whispered something into Daniels ear and headed inside.

“Uh Dr. Young there said you’d have our money.”  Earl said anxiously.

Daniels smiled at him.  “If you two will follow me.”  He said calmly.

Steve watched as the three men headed around the building and entered through the mesh gates.  They slowly closed behind them and the men disappeared out of sight.  Moments later there was a loud crack, followed by another, and then complete silence.

“That was a gun.”  Mikey jumped up from the backseat.

“No way.  That could’ve been anything.”  Nickie said dismissively.

“We need to get out of here.”  Steve said as he reached for the key.

Nickie grabbed his hand and stopped him.  “No, look.”

Up ahead the gate was starting to open again.  Daniels stepped out with the lifeless bodies of Earl and Patterson hoisted over each of his shoulders.  In four strides he was back at their SUV.  He tossed the limp bodies into the back and slammed the lid shut.

Nickie gasped and covered her mouth.  Steve looked on in shock as Daniels turned around and headed back inside.  He waited for a few minutes to pass then cranked up the car and pulled off in silence.

Once they were on the main road and were certain they weren’t being followed, Steve finally spoke.