The Nebraskan
Homicides
By: Nick Hays
Chapter One
"Hello?" Detective Gabriel White asked, holding the Blackberry Pearl next to his ear.
"Gabriel, this is Michael. Cain's been at it again." His partner said, sighing with frustration.
"What happened?" Gabriel asked; his attention now fully on the conversation at hand.
"We've found another body down here in Sidney, Nebraska and it has Cain's name written all over it." Telling from Michael's voice; the sight must not have been pretty.
"Okay I'll be right down." Then without another word Gabriel hung up the phone and turned his attention back to the haunting files on his desk. A picture of Cain's last victim stared back up at him with gruesome detail and sent his stomach churning. "AARRRGGHHH. - Gabriel turned his gaze towards the yawning German shepherd and smiled faintly.
"Well Ace, looks like our man is at it again." Getting nothing but a curious look from the dog; Gabriel rose from his chair and went up stairs to get ready for another busy night.
5:00 a.m.Grass Dumps
The flood lights illuminating the night sky over the crime scene as looked like beacons; sending their light high beyond the heavens. Gabriel drove the black Nissan easily down Elm Street towards the large grass dumps. Turning left onto the short gravel road, Gabriel's vision turned into a type of slow motion as he began to take in the scene around him.
Officers began to slip on white hazmat suits to protect themselves of narcotics and blood, camera flashes flooded the scene like a lightening storm, and small orange number cards were being placed through out the scene. After the car had come to a smooth halt, Gabriel sat in his seat in absolute silence; losing himself in deep thought as he readied himself to see what grotesque picture awaited him this cold dark morning.
"It's okay; we've been through this before. You can handle it. Just get a grip of yourself and everything will be okay. " Gabriel thought to himself; as his hands trembled on the steering wheel and his stomach fluttered with butterflies. "Tink! Tink! - Gabriel turned his head towards his window and saw his partner, Michael Griggs, standing by his door; shivering from the cold October morning. Gabriel opened the door and stared back into his partner's bright blue eyes. He could tell by the way Michael looked at him that this one was probably the worst one yet.
"You ready?" Michael asked; his breath visible from the cold.
"Yeah. Let's get this over with." Gabriel mumbled, as he slid out of the car and began to walk into the crime scene. The victim lay at the center of the perimeter and it was indeed not a pretty sight. The man's intestines lay out across his body like rope and looked as if they were pulled out from a hole in his abdomen while he was still alive. Blood covered the victim's agonized face and pooled on soft soil underneath him.
"Dear God. - Gabriel thought as he tried to keep from vomiting from the stench and sight of the scene. "Gabriel this is Investigator Andrew, Sherriff Johnson, County Attorney Schaub, Assistant Chief Major Akins, and Chief Deputy Jensen. They were kind enough not to touch any of the evidence until you arrived." Gabriel shook their hands and looked them over; sensing that these men have never seen such a scene before.
"So have you found anything new here?" Gabriel asked; directing his question more to his partner Michael than anyone else.
"Not yet, we're going to have to send in this stuff for lab testing at the state trooper station, but it's probably going to end up like it always does. Nothing." He said; staring at the disemboweled victim. Gabriel shook his head with understanding and cast his gaze towards the ground.
"Okay let's go ahead and start gatherin' up the evidence and we'll deal with who keeps what later, okay?" Gabriel said; now including everyone into the conversation. The officer's nodded their heads and continued on with their business.
"Hey, I'm gonna grab a smoke." Michael whispered to Gabriel as he began to walk out of the crime scene.
"Okay, I'll call you over if I find something." After snapping on two pairs of gloves, Gabriel walked over to where the victim lay and knelt slowly next to the body. The body was pale and the veins were a dark purple, the man's insides oozed with blood and fluids, and a brand of Cain's name was seared onto his chest. Gabriel's mind began to wonder in thought as he began thinking of why Cain chose this man to be his next "Abel".
"Why did you do it Cain? What is the purpose of killing your brothers?" he asked himself; as he stared into the dead man's lifeless eyes. "Bzzzzzz! Bzzzzzz! - Gabriel's phone vibrated in his pocket.
"God d*** what is...- His thought went unfinished as he stared at the caller I.D. The call was private. Knowing that nobody he knew ever used *67 he answered the call with hesitation. "Hello?"
"Good morning Gabriel." Said a man's voice, catching a hint of English accent as he spoke.
"Who is this?" Gabriel asked; sensing in his heart that the man on the other end was not just another ordinary man.
"Oh Gabriel, I thought you would have known who I was by now. Considering that you have been chasing after me for two years now." Said the man bluntly; Gabriel suddenly realized now that the man on the other end was Cain.
"How did you get my number?" asked Gabriel, fearing that the man knew a lot more than just his number.
"That doesn't matter right now Gabriel. But what does matter right now is if you can save the next victim in time."
Gabriel, now confused, slowly rose to his feet and began looking around him; thinking that Cain was somewhere around watching them in his crosshairs. "What do you mean?" he asked, his heart slowly being eaten away by anxiety.
"Well you see Gabriel; I'm kinda sick and tired of doing the same routine over and over again. And I've had a change of heart and decided that I wanted to have a little fun in life and play a game. Do you see the evidence around you Gabriel?"
Gabriel looked around him and noticed a piece of paper lying next to the victim. "Yeah what about it?" Gabriel asked, looking to make sure that the evidence wasn't just trash but actual evidence.
"What do you see?" The killer asked; with anticipation in his voice. Gabriel picked up the paper in his trembling hands and saw that a verse had been written on it. "I see you being you and leaving verses from the Bible next to your victims." Gabriel said, standing on his feet now.
"Good because that is one of your major clues on finding the location of your next victim. And you might want to hurry, because I believe the victim only has thirty minutes to live." Cain said, with a small chuckle.
"Why are you doing this?" Gabriel asked, hands trembling with terror. The other end was quite for a moment and Cain replied, "The story will explain itself soon enough. Now don't be keeping the victim waiting; he's under a lot of pressure." Then with another chuckle, the other end went dead.
"Cain? Cain!" The officers around him stopped what they were doing and stared at him with curiosity in their eyes. "God d*** it! Michael, call North Platte for back up. Cain has another hostage and we only have thirty minutes to find out where he's hiding him. Investigator Andrew I need your help to determine where the location of the hostage could possibly be. The rest of you I need you to help find more evidence or clues. We're going to need everything we can get our hands on." Gabriel said, walking towards his Nissan.
"How do we know where to find the hostage?" asked Michael, throwing out his cigarette and walking towards the black SUV.
"Cain says he's left some clues or evidence for us to use to find where he's hiding his hostage. I have a feeling things are gonna get real ugly here soon." Gabriel said, reaching the hood of his Nissan.
"Detective White what does the paper say?" Investigator Andrew asked, walking up behind him by the hood of the car.
Gabriel set the paper on the car and began reading the verse, "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matthew 7: 13-14"
"And what do you make of this?" asked Investigator Andrew, staring down at the crumpled up piece of paper. Gabriel quickly went inside his car and grabbed a notebook from between the chairs in the car and scribbled down the verse.
"There," Gabriel said, circling three words on the pad, "You see in this verse that it mentions the word gate three times. Usually the number three would represent the holy trinity of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. But knowing Cain, he's not telling us that the place involves the trinity, but rather he's mocking it like demons would during a visitation. He's telling us that this place is holy and has a gate."
"So what you're saying is that the hostage is most likely going to be at a church? Like we don't have many of those around here." Investigator Andrew said sarcastically. Gabriel also feeling the same frustration turned around and looked at the officers searching around the area for more clues. Then Gabriel's eyes fell upon the pale corpse, lying on the ground undisturbed.
"The victim. - Gabriel thought, as he began to walk towards the corpse. Again Gabriel knelt next to the corpse and began searching for things that could possibly be used as clues to find their hostage. In the victim's hand was a small pile of gravel; sitting in solitude. Realizing that the ground underneath the corpse wasn't gravel, but rather soil he knew Cain had planted the evidence there as an item of use.
"Gravel." Gabriel told himself, writing the new find in his notebook. "What else? - He thought to himself as he began searching for more clues. After finding nothing else on the outside the corpse, Gabriel took his flash light and checked inside the victim's mouth. Setting on the inside of the man's mouth was a small chunk of cement tucked between his gum and left cheek.
"Cement." And again Gabriel wrote the word down on the notepad. Standing up, Gabriel stared at the corpse; confused by both of the items that was left for him. "Where are you getting at here? Where are you trying to lead us? " Gabriel thought to himself as he rubbed his hand along his chin in thought.
"Detective!" Yelled one of the officer's standing behind a bulky pile of grass, "You might want to come take a look at this." With adrenaline pumping through his veins, Gabriel ran to where the officer stood and couldn't believe what his eyes were beholding.
On the ground, on an open patch of dirt, between three piles of grass, sat a lonely rose. Sitting in perfect beauty as water droplets sat on the petals and the petals blew gently with the wind. Then the idea struck Gabriel like a hammer.
"Investigator Andrew! Does your cemetery have gravel roads and a gate?" Gabriel asked, quickly turning towards the local investigator.
"Yes, it does." He said; grabbing his radio from his belt.
"Okay call it in. Tell all available units to get to the cemetery pronto. Get the Sherriff's Department to; we're going to need everyone we can get. " Gabriel said; running for Michael's SUV.
"Dispatch this 3901 we need all available units to rendezvous at Greenwood Cemetery for a search and rescue of hostage over." Investigator Andrew said, running towards his vehicle.
"3901 this is dispatch we are sending all available units to the cemetery over and out."
"Michael!" Gabriel yelled; running towards the open driver's door, "How long is it going to take for FBI units to reach Sidney?" Michael set the radio back on the dash and slid the keys in the ignition.
"They should be here in about forty-five minutes." Gabriel slapped the door and swore; wishing that they would have called sooner.
"Okay they're gonna have to sit this one out. But we've got to get to the cemetery fast, or we're not going to be able save the hostage in time." Michael snapped his head up and looked at Gabriel as if he couldn't believe what he's just heard.
"Did you just say the cemetery?" Gabriel looked at his partner and answered with a hint of curiosity in his voice.
"Yeah what's wrong with the cemetery?"
Michael shook his head in disbelief; "The cemetery is just behind that bridge." Gabriel stared towards the direction of Michael's gaze and saw the narrow concrete bridge only a few hundred meters away.
"You're kidding me?" Gabriel said, not believing that the victim was only a few hundred meters away.
"No I'm not joking with you look." Michael said pulling out his Tom Tom. "This is where we are," Michael said; pointing to the green dot on the screen, "This is where the cemetery is." A red line appeared on the screen and ended at Greenwood Cemetery.
"Unbelievable." Gabriel mumbled, shocked that the hostage had only been a thirty seconds drive away. Gabriel looked down at his watch and saw it was 5:27. They had five minutes left before Cain leaves another body. "Okay let's get up there and start looking then why we still have time." Gabriel said; running for his car.
5:28 a.m. Greenwood Cemetery
Gabriel slid his car to a halt next to a giant dirt mound near the back of the cemetery and quickly got out from his car. Police car sirens were wailing, the red and blue lights flashing, and officer's hurriedly scrambled through the cemetery, as they looked for any signs of the hostage. Gabriel stood by his open door and watched as the officers scoured the area like a swarm of locusts.
Radios were squawking and officers were yelling as they searched frantically across the cemetery. But something wasn't right though. Cain had said the hostage would be at this location; unless, Gabriel had read the clues incorrectly. No he couldn't have, the clues were obvious enough that... His train of thought ended abruptly as Cain's last words rang through his head. "...he's under a lot of pressure."
Gabriel slowly turned around as he now knew what Cain had meant. "He's in the mound! Hurry he's in the mound!" Gabriel yelled; as he ran around the hood of his car and began digging into the enormous mound. The officers stopped what they were doing and ran to where Gabriel was; digging like their lives were counting on it. The dirt was moist and soft from last night's rain and slid between his fingers as he dug into the mound.
"Come on where are you! - Gabriel's mind screamed; as he dug frantically.
"Gabriel! Over here!" yelled Michael from the other side of the mound. Gabriel swiftly rose to his feet and ran to where his partner was digging; in the hole Gabriel saw a pair of bound pale-white hands jutting out from the mound. Gabriel's heart jumped with surprise as he stared at the belt bound around his hands.
"Hurry he still might be alive." Gabriel said, moving the dirt in great heaps from the hole. With every scoop, more and more of the victim came into view and every time they revealed more and more of him; the more Gabriel's heart filled with anguish. The man's eyes were closed and caked with mud and his mouth was filled with dirt; suffocating him by filling up his lungs.
His heart sank, for now he knew they were too late. Michael stopped digging and sat next to Gabriel with failure in his sigh. After a long silence Michael shook his head and looked back down at Gabriel.
"I'm sorry Gabriel." Gabriel looked back at him somberly and said; "Don't be. This isn't over yet." Michael was now confused and stared back in misunderstanding.
"What do you mean this isn't over yet?" he asked, shifting his position so he could face him. Gabriel took a deep breath and replied, "When Cain called me he said he wanted to play a game. I have a feeling that this isn't going to be over anytime soon." Gabriel said, looking up at the brightening sky.
Chapter 2
5:35 a.m.Greenwood Cemetery
-Bzzzzz! Bzzzzz! - Gabriel took the vibrating phone from his pocket and answered the phone sternly. "Alright you b**** tell me why you're doing this."
A chuckle sounded on the other end. "I take it you didn't reach the hostage in time then; what a pity I thought you would."
"Enough with the freakin' psychobabble and tell me what you're doing!" Gabriel yelled, infuriated by the man's sarcasm.
"I'm telling you a story Gabriel, my story. You didn't think I wouldn't be doing this without a purpose did you?" Cain asked.
"It's hard telling with you psycho's these days," Gabriel said; looking down at the corpse in the hole, "you're really just out of your freakin' minds or you're just that sick and messed up and kill other people for pleasure."
Cain let out a small laugh, "Was that supposed to be an insult. Dear God Gabriel if you haven't learned anything over the past two years is that I take pride in my work, and I enjoy every minute of it."
"Well you aren't going to enjoy it as much when I get my hands on you." Gabriel said, walking away from the mound.
"Oh don't worry Gabriel; you'll get your chance. Just not yet. Your next set of clues is with the victim, and you only have an hour to find out where your next hostage is. Try not to keep her waiting." The other end went off with a click. Gabriel could feel the heat rising in his face as he began cursing under his breath.
"Michael what do we have for clues so far?" Gabriel asked, taking out two pairs of gloves from his pocket.
"Well we have another verse," Michael said, taking pictures of the corpse and searching the body for clues, "and what looks like an old tape recorder."
Gabriel walked up beside Michael and looked down into the hole. "Let's dig him up. There might be more here than we're getting."
5:50 a.m.
"Lift!" Gabriel yelled; as they began to haul the body out from the hole. After a long exhausting struggle the officer's pulled the body out from the hole. What they saw disturbed them in a strange way. The victim was bound by belts at the feet knees and arms; he was dressed in all white, and had things that resembled wings strapped to his back.
"Turn him over." Gabriel said; looking down at the strangely dressed corpse. They rolled the victim to his back and saw written in black marker across his chest were the words "Light of God." Not understanding what the words meant Gabriel looked over to Michael and asked where the tape recorder was.
"Right here." Michael said, bringing Gabriel the hand sized recorder. Taking the recorder from his hand, Gabriel pressed the play button and listened to what the tape said.
- The "Light of God" is one of the names I'm known by, but to keep it interesting you'll only know me by this name. I carry a book or scroll to symbolize my wisdom and was honored with the tasks of divine visions and guiding the souls of the faithful to heaven. Responsible for the destruction of the armies of Sennacherib; I stand at the Gates of Eden with a fiery sword, waiting to be your repentance. This is who I am and this is where you'll find me. - The tape ended with a click.
"What the h*** is he talking about?" Michael asked, shaking his head in confusion. Michael wasn't the only one; Gabriel too was also confused about what was said on the tape.
"What does the paper say?" Gabriel asked, walking up next to Michael to read the verse.
"Like I was saying when the story would explain itself, the reason I brought you to the cemetery was because my mother was buried here. In this very cemetery I watched as they lowered my mother in to the ground. My mother died trying to protect me and my brother from my father during a drunken rampage, and she ended up paying for it with her life. It was a sad day, my father was put in prison and we were sent to live with our grandparents. The very next day they found my father in his cell with his shirt tied around his neck. He had committed suicide. That's the story for this location Gabriel and I'll keep on telling you stories as we keep on playing our little game. Here's your verse to lead you to the next story I have prepared for you. 'In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, so shall your offspring be.' Romans 4:18. "
"This doesn't make any sense. We're looking for a location not a person. What does this have to do with anything that's going on here?" Michael said, throwing the piece of paper on the ground. Gabriel began to think, knowing that these clues had to lead them somewhere.
"Maybe it's not a person we're looking for, but maybe a memorial or shrine of the person we're looking for." Gabriel said, picking up the paper from the ground and heading for the hood of his car. "Michael do you have your laptop with you?"
Michael pulled out the cigarette from his mouth and replied; "Yeah why?"
"I need you to look up 'Light of God' and see what you can find for me." Gabriel said, rewinding the tape so he could listen to it again. Then remembering the officers around them, Gabriel turned to them and began thinking of something they could do.
"Okay I really don't know what you guys could really do at the moment, but I guess you could either help Agent Griggs search for information or you could help me decipher the meanings of these things. You're choice get busy." He said, as he turned his attention back to the information at hand.
One by one the officers swarmed and squeezed by the agents and began to help in anyway they can. Gabriel picked up the recorder and began to play the tape again. "Okay be quite and listen."
- The "Light of God" is one of the names I'm known by, but to keep it interesting you'll only know me by this name. I carry a book or scroll to symbolize my wisdom and was honored with the tasks of divine visions and guiding the souls of the faithful to heaven. Responsible for the destruction of the armies of Sennacherib; I stand at the Gates of Eden with a fiery sword, waiting to be your repentance. This is who I am and this is where you'll find me. -
"Okay if you guys have a paper and pen I need you to right down anything that could be of importance to finding our next location." Gabriel said, as he began to right down what he could pick up from the tape.
"Gabriel. There's nothing that refers to a person as the Light of God." Michael said from within his car.
"Okay try the destruction of the armies of Sennacherib." Gabriel replied, readying to play the tape again.
"How do you spell that?" Michael asked, getting ready to type.
"I don't know; sound it out for God's sakes!" Gabriel yelled, irritated beyond the point of belief.
"Okay Gees, you don't have to be an a****** about it." Michael mumbled under his breath.
After listening to the tape three times Gabriel looked up at the officers around him and asked if any of them had ideas. "Well we know the person was a type of religious character and apparently is someone of great importance to God."
Gabriel shook his head; not surprised at all. "Anything else?"
"He mentioned the Garden of Eden in his description of the person. Could this possibly be part of the location of the next hostage?" asked another officer, with a quizzical look upon his face. Gabriel thought about what the man said, and knew that this could be a possibility.
"The Garden of Eden could be a possibility, not the Garden itself but a garden that has importance to this community."
"Gabriel we're not finding anything about the 'Light of God' being involved in the destruction of the Sennacherib army." Michael said; not bothering to take his eyes away from the computer. Gabriel exhaled deeply and turned away from the hood of his car.
Gabriel stood next to the mound and rubbed his temples as he began to think of what they were missing. "What are we missing? We have the verse, we have his story, we have his tape. What could we possibly be forgetting? - He thought to himself as he stared down at the corpse on the ground. That's when the final clue revealed itself to him like a sign from heaven.
The victim wasn't dressed like that without a reason. Being dressed in all white with wings strapped to his back could only mean one thing. The "Light of God" was an angel. "Michael! The 'Light of God' isn't a person; it's an angel. So search for 'Light of God' angel." Gabriel said, as he rushed back towards the SUV.
Michael punched the words in the search bar and entered them in the system. What Michael saw pleased him deeply. "Gabriel! Look at this." Michael said, as he clicked on the wikipedia page for Uriel.
"What do you got?" Gabriel asked, leaning in the vehicle to read what was on the computer's screen.
"This page has everything we need about Uriel, who is referred to as 'Light of God', and has his origins and everything about him on here." Michael said, as he kept scrolling down on the page.
"What are some of the other names he goes by?" Gabriel asked, feeling that they were getting close to revealing the next location. Scrolling through the information on the page Michael found many names that didn't mean anything to him; until one of them caught him by surprise and sent his heartbeat thundering in his ears.
"Oh Gabriel you're going to love this one." Michael said, with a smile that spread ear to ear.
"What is it?" Gabriel asked, leaning in for a closer look.
"It says that another common name for our friend here is the Angel of Hope."
Gabriel was dumbfounded; all the clues now fit together perfectly. There was a statue located in Sidney called the Angel of Hope and was indeed located in a garden; The Living Memorial Gardens. Gabriel checked his watch and saw that it read 6:23 a.m.
"Okay everybody load up! We're going to The Living Memorial Gardens and we only have twelve minutes left. Michael! Tell the FBI units to get to the Gardens ASAP." And without another word Gabriel left the SUV and ran to his car.
Chapter 3
6:32 a.m.Angel of Hope
"Alright everybody get ready to lock 'n' load. FBI S.W.A.T. units will go in first to secure the area and then everyone else will follow after the breach. I want this to go smoothly without any screw ups. Am I understood?" Gabriel said into the radio, as he pulled into the parking area in front of the Gardens. The radio was flooded with understanding and the FBI units began to hop out of the armored buses.
"Move! Move! Move!" yelled Captain Jefferson as he tapped the shoulders of the men getting out of the bus.
"Okay," Gabriel said, walking up next to the S.W.A.T. teams. "Blue team, you'll be taking the right entry way to the gardens with Michael. Red team, you're with me in breaching the left entry. And White team, you'll go down to the park and set up snipers to watch the rear. I don't want this b******* getting away again; now let's move!" then without another word the three teams separated into their assigned positions.
"Blue team is ready for breach. Red team is set and ready for take down. White team is in position."
Gabriel checked his watch. The time was 6:34 a.m. Gabriel tapped on the team leader's shoulder in front of him and told him to move in. "All units, Alpha has ordered breach. I repeat Alpha has ordered breach."
"Let's go! Let's go!" yelled the team; as the line began running into the garden. Staying behind the leader, Gabriel could feel the adrenaline pulsing through his body as he looked around him at the small garden. In the center of the garden sat a large wooden gazebo; standing alone in silence. Turning his gaze past the gazebo, Gabriel could see the statue of the Angel of Hope surrounded by marble walls and a wrought iron gate. What Gabriel saw next bothered him deeply. On the ground in front of the statue lie a woman wearing a black business suit shaking uncontrollably. She looked like she could be no more than thirty years old. Her breathing was constricted, drool crept from the corners of her mouth, and she began to lose control of her bodily functions and started to defecate and urinate on herself. "Oh my God," he mumbled to himself, "Somebody get a medic!" running towards the dying woman.
"Secure the area!" yelled Jefferson as he and his man began to surround the perimeter. Gabriel reached the black gate and pushed up on the lever. The gate swung open with a loud screech and Gabriel quickly went and knelt next to the woman.
"Move! Move!" yelled the medics as they made their way through the Gardens carrying a stretcher.
"She's been poisoned." Gabriel said, as he moved over for the medics to do their work.
"Okay I'll need to go get some...Holy s***!" The sentence was interrupted when the woman began to puke up blood all over them. Some of the warm bloody vomit landed on Gabriel's shirt and hands; making him feel nauseated. "God! Somebody get me some freakin' Atropine!" yelled the medic, quickly restraining her to the ground as she began to have severe convulsions. Gabriel's heart spiked as he watched in horror as her whole body began to spasm with lethal force.
"Stay with me!" yelled the medic, holding on to her pale hand. Then with a loud sickening wet pop, the spine in her back snapped and made her go limp. After a long silence, the medic reached up to her neck with a gloved hand and tried to feel for a pulse. Now, there was no denying that she was dead.
A cool breeze drifted by as tears began to well up behind his eyes. He looked down slowly at his hands and shirt and saw that they were covered with blood and vomit. Nausea began to kick in. He began to feel light headed and his vision began to swirl as the smell of the vomit rushed into his nose.
"Here," Michael said, holding out a white button down shirt in front of him, "I think you'll be needing this."
Without taking his eyes away from the victim, he gradually rose to his feet and watched as one of the officers began taking pictures of the body. "Come on," Michael said, grabbing Gabriel by the shoulder, "Let's get you cleaned up." Without even thinking Gabriel walked backwards slowly and followed Michael out of the gardens.
Chapter 4
6:41 a.m.Angel of Hope
-Bzzzzz! Bzzzzz! - "What?" Gabriel asked into the phone; a new edge coming into his voice.
"Late again I see." Said Cain, "How does it make you feel that you've already let three people die already today?"
"Shut up!" Gabriel yelled, feeling the heat flush under his skin, "Do you have any idea what you've done you sick twisted son of a b****! You've crossed the line and you're going to pay for this!" Gabriel breathed heavily, exhausted from his sudden burst of outrage.
"No Gabriel you're the one paying for this." Cain said bluntly, "These people have been putting their trust; their lives in your hands and what do you do? You sit there and let them die. You took away their lives like a selfish b**** who thinks she deserves everything she wants in life and..."
"Enough!" Gabriel screamed into the phone, as sweat dripped from his brow. "You're the one doing the taking not me!"
"No Gabriel; you know what I'm telling you is true and you know you can't deny it. You Gabriel are playing the role of God in this game. You choose which of your children live or die; you choose whether to give or take away. Not me. God has already taken everything from me Gabriel, and I intend on getting even with him by killing all of his children; just like he took away mine." The sudden revelation of Cain having a son struck Gabriel speechless.
"You have thirty minutes to find the next hostage. You're clues should be at the feet of the statue. Good luck." And with out another word Cain hung up the phone and left Gabriel alone on the other end.
Ending the call, Gabriel slid the phone back into his pocket and began walking back towards the statue.
"What did he say?" Michael asked; following closely on his heels.
"He said we have thirty minutes to find the next hostage and that are clues were at the feet of the statue. I have a feeling this isn't going to be good."
Lying at the feet of the statue, next to a bunch of white roses, were a piece of paper with writing on it and a photo of a dove in a stain glass window.
"This place was my sacred place; my hope, my peace. Every time something upset me and I wanted to get away; I would I hide here in the gardens. This is my heaven, my paradise. 'For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son and whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.' I too had a son, but both he and my wife were taken away from me by God and this paradise soon turned into a living hell. This is the story of this place and I hope you'll enjoy the next story to come." Gabriel read; scanning the paper that Cain had left for them.
"Wait a minute, Cain was married and had a child?" Michael asked, just as shocked as Gabriel was when he first heard the news.
"Apparently so." Gabriel said as he stared into the eyes of the intriguing statue.
"What's on the picture?" Michael asked as he stepped up and took the photo from Gabriel. Gabriel sat deep in thought as he kept his eyes on the angel.
Without taking his eyes away from the photo Michael asked, "Do you think it could be a church?"
Gabriel shook his head in disagreement. "Cain wouldn't make things that easy for us. There has to be some kinda catch to it." Michael handed Gabriel back the picture and stood with his hands in his jacket.
"So what do you need me to do?"
Gabriel looked at his partner and took a deep breath. "I want you to go see if anyone knows where this window could be. If nobody knows we're going to have to use the internet."
6:50 a.m.
The small golden cross on the altar shined brightly, as Cain began to put on his gloves. The man behind him kept on begging and pleading to let him go, but Cain stayed calm and ignored him. "Oh God help me please. Dear God please help me." The man bawled as he sat in the pew hooked up with wires and an electrocution helmet on his head. "Dear God save me. Boo-hoo-hoo I'm a dirty freakin hypocrite save me boo-hoo-hoo. Save your breath your God isn't going to come save you." Cain said mockingly; putting the man's bound feet in a bucket of water. "Yes he will; he'll let the police catch you and..."
"Enough!" yelled Cain, punching the man in the face. "There is no bloody God! He doesn't exist! Tell me has he answered any of your prayers, huh? Has he ever saved you from anything before huh? Tell me!" And again Cain struck him across the cheek. "There is no God! God is just a freakin' figment of everyone's imagination. He's just some character out of some book written thousands of years ago. He's hasn't done anything for anybody! If something good has ever happened you d*** hypocrites say 'Thank the lord." Well I say bull s***! Anything that happens in this world is by chance; you people fill yourselves up with a false hope of their being an afterlife when there's actually nothing there. Trust me I've been there my friend, and there is no God!"
The man sat in silence as his lip began to quiver. "Now tell me, is there a God? And answer this carefully, because your life could count on it." The man stared at him with fear in his eyes as he began to think of what to say. "Well?"
"Just because you don't believe in God doesn't mean he exists, I know what sins I've done and know that I'll pay for them." Said the man, building up a little courage now.
"You're right you are going to pay for them. You're going to start paying for them in a matter of twenty minutes."
6:55 a.m.Angel of Hope
"Did you get anything?" Asked Gabriel as Michael began walking back to him.
"I don't know for sure. There are some officers that say it's at some of the churches and then there's some that say they've seen it elsewhere. And then the internet didn't pick up s***." Gabriel shook his head and stared down at the body; now covered over by a black tarp.
"There's gotta be something else here we're not finding."
Remembering that there had been clues found on the victim; Gabriel pulled on a white pair of gloves and removed the tarp from the body.
"God." Mumbled Michael, covering up his nose and mouth to protect himself from the stench. Gabriel looked over the body and saw nothing that stood out of the ordinary. Around the woman's neck was a worker I.D. for the Memorial Health Center.
"Cina Iverson." Said Gabriel, reading the name on the card.
"Is that her name?" Michael asked, looking down over his shoulder.
"Not sure. We need a second positive I.D. before we can officially identify her."
Gabriel stood up and looked around the small area. Catching his eye at the base of the statue, hidden from view was a small black leather purse.
"Michael, I think I found her purse." Said Gabriel; picking up the bag from the ground.
"Is her driver's license in there?"
Gabriel opened the purse and looked inside for the wallet, and found her driver's license inside. "Alexandra Iverson." The name confused Gabriel; when suddenly, the thought hit him. "Wait a minute," he said taking out a piece of paper and switching around the letters on the I.D. tag, "If you take the a in Cina and put it before the i you'd get Cain. He's at the hospital." Gabriel said dropping the things and running for his car. "Everyone get to the Hospital now!"
7:08 Health Center
Driving into the hospital parking lot, Gabriel grabbed his radio off the dashboard and quickly spoke into the speaker. "Okay I want Blue team to take the entrance to the bottom floor on the north side of the building. Red team, we'll go in through the main entrance and White team will enter with us and find their way to the roof. If any of you find the chapel go ahead and breach it. We don't have enough time for procedural bull s***. Now let's move!"
Parking his car in front of the main entrance, Gabriel grabbed the Kevlar vest from the passenger seat and got out of the car. All around him, agents jumped out of the black buses and began making their way to the assigned entry points.
"Detective White!" yelled Captain Jefferson as he and his team made their way to Gabriel. Letting the captain go in front of him, Gabriel pulled out his 9 mm. Glock and fell within the line of officers.
"Let's go!" Gabriel said, and as one the line moved into the building. The glass doors slid open with ease and the team made their way through the admissions area and down a long narrow hall. There were many doors to either side of them and none of them had been the chapel.
"Reaching intersection." The Captain said into his earpiece as the men began fanning out to cover and secure the intersection. In front of them was a group of double doors and to the right of the doors read a sign that said chapel.
"Michael I've found the chapel." Gabriel said, running up to the door.
"Okay will be right there."
Looking at his watch Gabriel saw that they only had ten seconds to save the hostage. "Take it down!" And without a wasted moment the door broke with an ear shattering crash as one of the agents kicked in the door.
"Go! Go! Go!" they yelled as they began the take down procedure. Coming in through the door, Gabriel saw something that he would never see in his lifetime of being an FBI agent. Sitting in the front pew was a younger man, tied down to the bench. He was hooked up with wires and had an electrocution helmet strapped to his head. On a small wooden altar, Gabriel saw a small digital timer sitting next to a golden cross. Gabriel's heart spiked as he saw the one turn to zero on the timer.
"No!" he yelled and without warning the man on the pew arched his back and screamed as the electricity traveled through his body. "AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" the man screamed as his body jerked violently and blood dripped from his ears and nose.
"Turn it off!" yelled Gabriel as he began to search for the outlet. Finding the outlet behind the altar, Gabriel swiftly yanked the plug from the wall and looked back over the altar. The man lay back slumped to one side and blood continued to poor from his nose and ears. The man was dead.
"D***!" yelled Gabriel as he grabbed his hair out of anger.
"Gabriel calm down." Said Jefferson; holding out his hand.
"Calm down! How can I freakin' calm down when we just let somebody get killed!" Gabriel said, taking the golden cross and throwing it against the wall. "God d***!" Gabriel said, one last time before finally taking a seat in the opposite pew.
Michael finally rushed into the room and stopped short when he saw the body in the pew. "What happened?" Michael asked; looking around at everyone in the room.
"God d*** it Michael, what does it look like!" Gabriel yelled at him without turning around to face him. Michael looked over at Captain Jefferson and raised up his hands like he didn't do anything wrong.
"He was electrocuted." Jefferson said, standing near the back of the room, "The timer went off right when we came into the room." Michael shook his head in disbelief and stared at the wilted body in the pew.
Chapter 5
7:15 Health Center
-Bzzzzz! Bzzzzz! Bzzzzz! - "Talk." Gabriel said, staring at the ground between his feet.
"Gladly," said Cain with a hint of enthusiasm, "what would you like to hear?"
"You put on death row and executed by an electric chair." Gabriel said, not changing the tone in his voice.
"Oh is that supposed to be irony. Tell me this, how are you planning on catching me when you can't even save the hostages, hmm? How are you going to catch a killer when you can't even save a life? You can't. You're nothing but a poser trying to get ahead in life by catching sick freaks like us. Well guess what, I'm in control of this game; I say who lives and who dies; I make the decisions in this game not you. You might be 'God' but I'm evil at play and doing what evil does best."
"You think very highly of yourself Cain; what are you going to do when I finally prove you wrong and watch you get executed?" Gabriel asked, squeezing his free hand into a fist. "I'll consider it out after you catch me. But I don't that's ever going to happen...would you like to here the story of this place?"
Gabriel rubbed his forehead and began counting to ten in his mind quietly. "Yeah tell me." After clearing his throat Cain took a deep breath and began his story.
"Back in the year 2006 my wife and I were still living here in Sidney when we finally got the news that we were going to have a new baby son. We were so happy that we began to get the place ready for our new son. Soon after my wife fell ill and was rushed to the emergency room. She was held there for weeks and I never left her side. One day I was praying in the chapel when I suddenly got the news that my wife had died of bacterial meningitis. They had tried to save the baby, but they were too late in saving him. This place Gabriel is where it all began; this is where I lost my mind and stooped down to the scum level. Like I said Gabriel God has taken everything from me and I'm making sure that he feels the exact same pain that I did every single time I kill one of his children. Your next set of clues is in the small box on the wall next to the victim. You have exactly one hour before he dies. See you then."
The call ended and Gabriel slid the phone back into his pocket. "Well let's get busy."
7:17 Health Center
Taking a large envelope out of the box, Gabriel walked towards the center of the room and began to read the letter that Cain had left inside for them.
"To find out where your next hostage will be I have left you with three names: William Bernhardt, Catherine Aird, and Herbert Adams. Every one of these people has one similarity that is of importance of finding the next location. You have exactly one hour before things begin to heat up. 'A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.' Matthew 7:18-20." Gabriel read; paper trembling in his hands.
"So what do you want us to do?" Michael asked, staring up at his partner from where he was seated. Gabriel thought and stared down at the names on the paper and knew that they were going to need computers.
"Where's Sherriff Johnson?" Gabriel asked as he began to walk his way towards the entry of the chapel.
"He's outside in the parking lot." Michael replied back; following Gabriel out of the chapel and down the hall towards the main entrance. Walking through the sliding glass doors Gabriel looked around the parking lot until he spotted the Sherriff talking to one of the deputies by the clinic entrance.
"Sherriff Johnson!" Gabriel called out as he made his way towards the man. Turning his attention away from the deputy, the Sherriff looked up and began walking towards him.
"What can I do for you detective?"
"I need to know if you happen to have any computers down at your station." Gabriel asked, grabbing a hold of the man's shoulder. "Yes we do."
"How many?" Gabriel pushed, trying to see if they would be able to get enough computers to look up the information.
"We have seven." Said the Sherriff; shaking his head with certainty.
"Okay we're going to need to use them and I might need some help from your men in finding information. Can we do that?" Gabriel asked, wanting to make sure he had the man's permission.
"Yes, I'll start rounding up some officers right away."
"Good, Thank you." Gabriel said, walking away towards his vehicle.
"Gabriel," Michael called out from behind him, "Where are we going?" Gabriel opened his door and looked over at Michael. "The Sherriff's Department."
7:27 a.m.Sherriff's Department
Following the Sherriff through the department entrance, Gabriel looked around him at the small department and began looking for the computers. Running down a flight of stairs, they walked down a narrow hall and entered the room for dispatch.
Upon entrance to the room, there was a large desk in the center of the room to their left with two women busily working at two stations. On their right sat the small row of computers; awaiting to be used by him and the officers.
"There you are. Tell me when you find something and I'll set the deputies on it." Said the Sherriff; walking back out of the room. Quickly separating the officers into three groups, Gabriel began to assign them which of the three names they were to look up.
"Okay, Michael your group will look up William Bernhardt, Captain Jefferson's group you will look up Catherine Aird, and my group will be looking up Herbert Adams. If any of you get any good information tell me; we want to try and get information passed along as quickly as we can. I want to have enough time to save the next hostage. Now let's get busy."
7:45 a.m.Sherriff's Department
"What have we got so far?" Gabriel asked, leaning back in his chair. Michael swung around in his chair and began to tell Gabriel about William Bernhardt. "William Bernhardt is an author who happens to be a mystery writer and has a large collection of books he's written."
Grinning about the information he received Gabriel turned his attention to captain Jefferson. "And what about you?"
"Catherine Aird is also an author also basing her stories in the same genre."
Shaking his head, Gabriel began to tell what he found on Herbert Adams. "Okay we found that their were many known Herbert Adams in history, but the way this is going looks like we're talking about the author Herbert Adams who also writes about mystery stories."
"So that's it then?" Michael said, swiveling in a chair, "He's keeping the hostage at the library?"
As strange as that sounded, Gabriel could think of no other similarities. But he couldn't help but have this strange feeling that something wasn't right. "That can't be it, there has to be something else in common between these people we're not getting. Try looking at the descriptions of each of their books, see if any of the story lines between them have something in common." And without another breath wasted the men began to bury their attention into the computers.
7:58 a.m.Sherriff's Department
"Okay I have a question for you guys." Gabriel said without turning his gaze from the computer, "Does any of your authors books happen around a golf course."
Keyboards going silent at the sound of the information, the men around him stared at Gabriel like he read their minds. "Well?"
"Yes actually, William Bernhardt wrote two books called Cruel Justice and Final Round where there happened to be a homicide at a golf course in both books." Michael said, rising up from his chair.
"Catherin Aird wrote one book called A Hole in One about a homicide on golf course also." Captain Jefferson said, staring over at Gabriel from his seat.
"Well then it looks like we have our location." Gabriel said, happily rising from his chair. "Herbert Adams writes most his homicide stories happening at a golf course."
8:10 a.m.Sidney Golf Course
Pulling up the Nissan near the front of the bar and grill, Gabriel opened his door and began walking over towards the manager of the course. The manager was a short fat man, bald on top with brown hair, and had an Italian accent in his voice.
"Hi my name is Detective Gabriel White; I'm here on behalf of the FBI. We're here because we possibly have a hostage situation going on and we need to know if you've seen anything unusual." Gabriel said, shaking the man's hand.
"Well detective I honestly can't say that there's anything unusual going on or that there's a hostage situation, but if you need to check it out be my guess." The man replied, looking down towards the east side of the course at a set of dead trees where a lonely golf cart sat parked alone. "Excuse me detective, I need to go grab that cart real fast." The owner said, walking towards the abandoned golf cart.
"Not a problem."
"Hey! What the h*** are you doing in there? Get out of there now!" The owner said, looking at a sturdy man; dressed in tan cargo pants, gray zip down sweat shirt and a blue cap over his blonde hair. Turning around, the man stared at him coldly with pitiless blue eyes and smiled subtly. "Hey I told you to..." Then as quick as lightning the man whipped out a silver M60 and aimed it at his head.
-Blam! - turning towards the sound of the gun shot, Gabriel saw the distant figure of the owner crumple to the ground like a sack of rocks and saw a man aiming a gun at the man's chest.
"Blam! Blam! Blam! - The man shot three more times into the owner's body; blood spraying from the wounds with each shot like a fountain.
"Freeze!" Gabriel yelled, pulling out the Glock from his shoulder holster and running towards Cain.
"Freeze!" Gabriel yelled again aiming his gun at the man's chest. Following quickly on Gabriel's heels, both the SWAT units and Michael yelled for the man to drop the weapon.
Cain slowly raised his hands in the air and in his left hand he held a remote controlled detonator. Stopping twenty-five feet away from the killer Gabriel once again told him to drop the weapon. "Drop them Cain, it's over!" Gabriel said, staring into the man's merciless eyes.
-Beep-Beep! Beep-Beep! Beep-Beep! - Slowly a devious smile came across his face. "Your right Gabriel; it is over." Cain said, moving his thumb over the small red button. "Cain no!"
-Booooooooommmmmmmmm! - The explosion sent them to their knees and a roaring fire spiraled skywards out of the trees.
"Blam! Blam! Blam! - Dirt kicked up as the bullets from the M60 zipped past them and into the ground. Returning fire, Gabriel missed and hit a tree; splintering the wood as the bullets tore through them.
"Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! " The course was like a battlefield as Cain began to make his way for the golf cart.
"Don't let him get away!" Gabriel said, and fired another shot at Cain. The bullet zeroed in and found its way into Cain's left arm; spraying a fine mist of blood as it shredded its way through the man's bicep.
Cain screamed and grabbed a hold of his bleeding arm. "Get him!" yelled Jefferson as he began to lead his men towards the injured killer. Popping off three more shots, Cain hopped in the golf cart and began to drive towards the north side of the course.
"Stop him!" Gabriel said as he started chasing after the cart. Turning around in the driver's seat, Cain pointed the M60 out of the back of the cart and began taking pop shots at his pursuers. Gabriel ducked behind a small hill and the bullets kicked up dirt as they buried themselves in the ground.
"Stop him d*** it!" Gabriel yelled as he hoped on a golf cart Michael took from the grill.
After pursuing the man for two minutes, Cain drove off the course and down onto a concrete trail that was hidden in between the valley of two hills.
"Close in on him." Gabriel said, clenching his hand into a fist as they followed the killer's route. Cain suddenly stopped the cart under the narrow concrete bridge and ran to the ladder on the second support on the right side of the bridge.
Not wanting him to escape, Gabriel chambered a new round into his Glock and began firing at the man.
"Poom! Ting! Pew! - The bullets ricocheted off the concrete and Cain climbed through the hole to get on top of the bridge.
"Stop him!" Gabriel yelled, getting ready to jump out of the cart. SWAT units began to swarm Cain's cart and climb the ladder when suddenly, -Booooommmmm! - The cart exploded, sending shrapnel and flames in all directions of the area and destroying anything that got in their way. Many men lay on the ground, burnt and mutilated from the flying shrapnel and flames of the cart.
Looking back up at the bridge Gabriel could see Cain staring back down at them; unmoving and smiling. Gabriel could feel the anger rise up in his heart as he stared at the lone man on the bridge. Then with no more than a small salute the man turned to his left and ran away.
8:23 a.m.Sidney Golf Course
Gabriel turned away in disgust as the smell of the burnt flesh of the victim entered his nose.
"So you're telling me that that whole pond was emptied of water and filled with gasoline and the trees and the area surrounding it were also soaked with gasoline. How did he manage to pull that off?" Michael questioned the fire marshal, standing out by the edge of the trees.
"I don't know, he probably planned this out long ago and filled the pond with gasoline over a period of time."
"God d***." Michael swore, turning away from the fire marshal and worked his way towards Gabriel. "How many of ours were hurt?" Gabriel asked quietly, not turning away from the corpse.
"We have three dead and then ten others wounded." Michael grumbled as he lit a cigarette.
"Has he called yet?" He asked, trying not to pay any attention to the burnt body in front of him. Gabriel shook his head and stared into the empty sockets of the victim's eyes. Knowing what was on Gabriel's mind Michael grabbed Michael by both of his shoulders.
"Don't be too hard on yourself. We'll catch him next time; you can't put all that weight on yourself like that. It's not good for you. It's not even all your fault. Keep your head up and let's get ready for the next one."
Gabriel stared at his partner for a long few seconds and smiled weakly, "Thanks Michael." His partner tapped on him on his shoulders one more time and let go.
"No problem." Then before Gabriel could say anything else, the phone in his pocket began to vibrate. Taking the phone from his pocket, Gabriel pushed the talk button and put the phone up to his ear. "Hello."
"You were close that time Gabriel, you almost caught me. But I guess you know how life is; you don't get everything you want." Cain said, breathing heavily into the phone.
"Will if you want to play your little game you got to give me what I want and I want the next set clues." Gabriel said, walking out of the forest of dead trees.
"Oh what are you in that big of a hurry to let another person die? Don't get you panties in a bunch, your next set of clues are by the lone white tree near the center of the course. You have one hour before the next homicide." The line went dead.
8:35 a.m.Sidney Golf Course
"There it is." Michael said, looking at the tall white tree next to a small cliff. With anxiety growing inside his heart Gabriel saw a sheet of paper nailed to the tree, flapping wildly in the wind. Tearing the paper off the tree, he began to read the letter.
-Even though it may not seem like it this is also the location of another homicide that happened almost twenty-seven years ago. At this very tree you're now standing by was where my brother was found tied to it and beaten to death with golf clubs. The two people who responsible for it happened to be some of his friends and were later found and sentenced to life in prison. Even to this day I wished I could have gotten my hands on those two, but there's just some things in life that you can't get. The next location doesn't consist of one hostage, but many. I will be blowing up one church within the next hour. I will give you three churches to choose from, and the only clue to finding out which church it is lies with in the following poem. If you just go and evacuate all three churches at once I'll blow them up before the designated time. One church; one chance. You have one hour; I suggest you start getting busy. From his holy Hands he gave us his ten Commandments, long after the death of the son the people had called him Chi Rho to honor his name, dying on the Cross for our sins so that we may one day resurrect from our graves and rise up like Doves to join our heavenly father, the son, and holy spirit.
List of Churches: St. Patrick's Catholic Church, First United Methodist Church, Evangelical Free Church.-
"Dear God." Gabriel mumbled, slowly taking his eyes off the paper.
"What?" Michael asked, looking back at Gabriel with fear in his eyes.
"He says he going to blow up a church."
8:45 a.m.Sidney Golf Course
"This doesn't make any since, how the h*** is this going to lead us to a church?" Michael asked, covering his face in frustration. Agreeing that the passage wasn't making any since what so ever, Gabriel kept on thinking; knowing that somewhere hidden inside this poem was their clue in finding the right church.
Seeing that the H in hands, C in commandments, C and R in Chi Rho, C in cross, and D in doves were all capitalized; they could not make anything out of them for they wouldn't spell a single word.
"Maybe he's not trying to spell a word with these letters, but telling that the words capitalized have something to do with the church." Gabriel said, pulling out the walkie talkie from his belt.
"What do you mean?" asked Michael, looking at the passage again.
"I mean," Gabriel said, getting to talk into the radio, "That maybe every single one of those words relates to the church somehow. Like the history of the church or religion of it."
"Investigator Andrew this is Detective white; I need you to come down here with Michael's laptop and help us find the church we need." Gabriel said, staring down at the piece of paper while he spoke into the speaker.
"This is Andrew I'll be there in a minute over an out."
8:52 a.m.Sidney Golf Course
"Okay," said Michael, clicking the mouse on his computer, "I have both the history and the pictures of all three churches on here and ready to read." Gabriel walked up behind him and began looking over his shoulder.
"Okay let's start with the Catholic Church."
After looking at all three churches nothing seemed to click or connect to the poem. Gabriel looked down at his watch and was horrified to see that it read 9:10 a.m. With dread eating away at his heart Gabriel stared sadly at the picture of the First United Methodist church on the screen.
That's when Gabriel began to notice something he hadn't noticed before. On the center of the church running down the steeple were five squares with symbols inscribed onto them.
On the first one was a hand that had rays extending out of it. On the second square there was a picture of the Ten Commandments. Then on the third tile there was a picture of the Chi Rho symbolized by the P with the X intersecting its stem. Then on the fourth square was the picture of the cross. And finally on the last square there was a picture of a dove. Quickly grabbing for his radio again, Gabriel stood up and began to walk towards the cart.
"Where are you going?" Michael asked, quickly following suit.
"He's going to blow up the Methodist Church." Gabriel said, getting ready to talk into the radio.
"How do you know?" Gabriel stopped in his tracks and turned to look at his partner. "Look at the five squares running down the steeple and you'll find your answer." He said, turning on the speaker. "Attention all units, this is Detective White. We need all units to immediately begin evacuating the First United Methodist Church. I repeat begin evacuating the First United Methodist Church. We have ten minutes; everybody get movin'!"
9:15 a.m.First United Methodist Church
Snow began to fall lightly as Gabriel quickly ran through the two glass doors and into the chapel. The chapel inside was large and to his surprise the three sections of pews sloped downwards towards the altar. The room now in silence at his sudden intrusion, Gabriel swallowed hard and began to address the crowd in the church.
"FBI! We need you to evacuate the church immediately! Don't ask why just move it!" Gabriel yelled, pointing vigorously towards the glass doors. Everyone, now panicking, got up out of their chairs and quickly began moving out into the isle.
"When you get outside go to the opposite side of the street!" Gabriel ordered as the throng of people moved past him. Looking down at his watch Gabriel saw that it was 9:18.
"They're not going to make it. - Gabriel thought to himself as he bit his lip. "Move!" Gabriel yelled, quickly shoving people out of the chapel. People, now afraid, began to move faster. Getting the last person out the front door Gabriel looked down at his watch again and quickly ran out the door.
"Take cover!" He yelled, waving his arms wildly at the people walking in the parking lot.
"Booooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmm! - The earth trembled under his feet, the sound erupted like thunder, and the heat burned like the sun as the explosion washed over everyone in the parking lot. Many people in the parking lot lay on the ground covered in debris, ash, and blood. Gabriel lay face down on the ground, a headache as big as Texas erupted in his brain and a horrible burning sensation rippled through his back.
"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!" he cried out as he tried to push himself up off the ground. Quickly officers and paramedics rushed into the area and began attending to the wounded.
"Gabriel!" yelled Michael, running up next to him. "Somebody get me an ambulance!" he yelled, his hands shaking with horror. Quickly, Gabriel was carefully placed on the stretcher and they began to move him out of the parking lot. Once again his world went into slow motion as he looked at the damage around him. Many scorched bodies lay squirming on the ground crying out in pain and families held their loved ones in their arms as they kept them company either dead or alive.
"Michael!" he yelled the burning growing worse on his back.
"It's going to be okay Gabriel we're going to take you to the hospital! Just stay calm!" Michael said from outside the ambulance. "I need two police cars to escort this man to the hospital ASAP." Then not being able to bear the pain any longer, Gabriel passed out and his world faded into a black abyss.
Cain watched tentatively from the rooftop of Get 'n' Split as the small Convoy of emergency vehicles made there way towards the hospital.
"Yes, that's it just a little closer." Cain whispered to himself, licking his lips as he waited to push the detonator in his hand. When the first police car in the escort reached the point he wanted it to, Cain pushed the small detonator in his hand and the car in the convoy into flames as the mine underneath it exploded.
The rest of the convoy swerved out of control and slid to a halt as they tried to avoid the wreckage. Knowing he didn't have much time, Cain quickly reached for the AK-47 leaning against the small wall in front of him and began to shoot a hail of bullets down at the second police car.
The officers collapsed to the ground as the bullets ripped through their body like a knife cutting butter. Then quickly aiming the AK at the driver of the Ambulance, he unleashed another volley of bullets.
Striking the driver in the head, blood burst onto the surrounding windows of the ambulance and left Cain with a smile on his face. "Now I have you all to myself." He said, quickly climbing down the ladder.
Chapter 6
10:00 a.m.Cain's home
- Everything was a blur as the past five hours played inside his head. "Wake up." Said a low soothing voice in front of him and suddenly everything came back to him in a flash. He remembered hearing an enormous explosion outside the ambulance, he remembered the ambulance veering out of control and sliding to a halt, he remembered hearing sporadic gun fire and saw the officers behind them get shot down, he remembered seeing the blood spray on the glass behind him, and remembered Cain coming in and knocking him unconscious. -
"Wake up!" and suddenly Gabriel felt something strike him across the cheek. Cheek now stinging from the blow, he snapped his eyes open and felt the horrible burning sensation ripple through his back again. Trying to ignore the pain Gabriel looked at his surroundings.
He saw that he was in an old abandoned house; the front gaping with a large wide hole and all the furniture within was scattered and thrown about. Trying to move his arms, he found that he was bound to a wooden support and couldn't break free.
"Where am I?" Gabriel mumbled as he continued to try to free his hands.
"You're in my home Gabriel." Said a voice; coming from in front of him. Snapping his gaze up towards the source of the voice, Gabriel saw Cain standing shirt less in the kitchen door way; with a bloody bandage wrapped around his left arm.
"This was my home Gabriel," he said, running his fingers across the top of the doorway, "This is the home I lived in before I lived with my grandparents. This is the house I watched my mother die in." Cain said reminiscing.
Looking around him once again, Gabriel took in the scene of the killer's old home; not believing it himself. "So many memories here. Too bad they were all bad memories." Cain said, swallowing hard as remembered the events that went on here.
Sensing that Cain hadn't told him everything that went on within this house, he looked back at him and asked, "What happened here Cain?"
Cain looked up at him and stared coldly at him with his crystal blue eyes. "The time will come Gabriel. That time isn't up yet." He replied putting on a conniving smile.
With fear now entering his mind Gabriel swallowed hard and asked, "What do you mean?"
Taking his hands off the top of the doorway, Cain began to walk slowly towards Gabriel with malevolence in his eyes. "What I mean Gabriel is that I left one last clue for your partner. I have given him exactly one hour from 9:30 to find out where the last two hostage were located, and you do you know who one of those last hostages is Gabriel?" Cain asked, kneeling down in front of him so he was only an arms length away. "That hostage is you." He said coldly, staring into Gabriel's eyes if he could crush his soul.
9:40 a.m.Kidnapping scene
Michael ran around frantically among the wreckage as he began to search for Gabriel. "Gabriel!" he yelled, his eyes darting left to right as he made his way towards the shot up ambulance.
"Gabriel!" he yelled, reaching the back doors. Looking inside the vehicle, Michael found out that what he had been told had been correct. Gabriel was gone.
"God." He said, leaning his elbow up against the door of the ambulance in disappointment. Then out of the corner of his eye Michael saw a piece of paper taped to the door. Taking the fluttering paper off of the window, Michael began to read what was written on the paper.
-Dear Michael,
You have made it to the last part of my game and are ready for the final search. This last location is one you'll truly remember and will never forget. You know why, because you know who one of last hostages is. You have exactly one hour from 9:30 before the game is over. The verse on this paper is your only clue. Good luck.
"And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." Matthew 7:25-27-
10:00 a.m.Cain's Home
-Beep-Beep! Beep-Beep! Beep-Beep! Beep-Beep! Beep-Beep! - Cain slowly rose from the wooden chair in front of Gabriel and leisurely walked into the kitchen again. Gabriel squirmed as the burns on his back began to sting as he moved over the wooden support.
Suddenly his heart was gripped by sheer terror as Cain came back into the room with a young woman and a chain saw. "Cain what are you doing?" Gabriel asked, staring at the chain saw in the man's hand. The young woman whimpered and Cain led her calmly to the wooden table in front of Gabriel.
"Cain?" He said, hoping he wasn't about to do what he was thinking on doing. Ignoring Gabriel, Cain continued on with his business and strapped the woman face up on the table.
"Cain?" Gabriel said again as Cain began to pick up the chain saw.
"Vrrrreeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrr! - The chain saw came to life as Cain pulled the cord.
With a menacing smile spreading across his face Cain began to lower the saw to the woman's foot. "No Cain don't!"
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" the woman screamed as the blade sliced through her foot. Blood sprayed onto Gabriel's face and his mind went into pure horror as he watched her foot land in front of him.
"Oh my God!" he yelled as he went into a mental shock. Cain smiled and took his finger and licked some of the girl's blood off of his finger. Gabriel couldn't believe what he was seeing and puked on the floor. Cain laughed and woke the unconscious girl so he could do the whole process over again.
"Cain no!" Gabriel yelled as the man began to lower the saw once again.
10:15 a.m.Kidnapping scene
"Agent Griggs!" yelled an officer entering the scene. "I've got the results on the blood you had me test!"
Quickly wanting to get the information, Michael ran over to the large man and asked for the results. Receiving the paper from the man, Michael looked over the paper and found the name of the man they were looking for. "Did you find his address?" Michael asked, grabbing the radio off his belt.
"Yeah it's the old abandoned house up over on the north side of town by the propane tanks."
"Okay good," Michael pushed the button on the radio and began to relay his information to the others. "All units we have located where Cain is keeping the last two hostages. We will all rendezvous at the old abandoned house on the north side of town. I repeat the abandoned house on the north side of town now let's move."
10:25Cain's home
-Beep!-Beep! Beep!-Beep! Beep!-Beep! Beep!-Beep!- Gabriel looked up at Cain weakly as a small string of vomit hung from his lip from Cain's last cutting of the woman' head. Cain saw Gabriel looking at him and grinned malevolently.
"Your turn." Cain said, cat 'o' nine tails dangling in his hand. Gabriel shook his head and stared back up at the man.
"No, please don't." he said weakly, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Do you see these scars on my back Gabriel?" Cain asked, turning his back towards Gabriel to reveal many thick scars on his back, "My father used this very same whip to make those scars and I decided that I was going to share the pain and suffering that I went through with every single of my scars with you." Cain said, readying the straps on the table for Gabriel.
"Cain you don't have to do this. We can work things out."
"Shut up!" Cain yelled, slamming his fist into Gabriel's cheek. "I'm in control! Not you! I call the shots around here and remain doing so until I die! Am I understood?!"
Gabriel tried to ignore the stinging in his face and remained silent.
"That's what I thought." Cain said, standing back up straight again and stared at him with ruthlessness in his eyes. Grabbing the knife off the table, Cain went behind Gabriel and cut the plastic cuffs from his wrists.
"Get on the table." Cain ordered, pointing the knife towards the wooden table where he had cut up the girl.
"Get up!" he yelled and kicked Gabriel in the ribs. With a loud crack, Gabriel could feel some of his ribs break inside.
"Ahhhh!" Gabriel groaned as he held on to his ribs and began to stand up.
"Lie down on your back." Cain ordered him again getting ready to strap his feet to the table. Doing what the man ordered, Gabriel lay looking up at the rotting ceiling and began to remember the good memories he's had in life.
"Well Gabriel, this looks like it's it. It's going to really suck not having you around anymore to play with me, but some of us have promises to keep." Cain said; quietly over Gabriel.
"What do you mean promises to keep?" Gabriel asked hoarsely.
"Well Gabriel after my family died I promised God that I was going to take all his children away from him. I promised him that with every single one of his children that I killed I was going to make him feel what I felt when I lost my family. Assuming there is a God in this little God forsaken world of ours." Cain said, running the whip through his hands.
"So you don't believe there's God then?" Gabriel asked, looking at the blood thirsty killer standing over him.
"No I don't think there's a God. I think religion is just a whole bunch of bull s*** people come up with to explain something they can't explain. Everybody has their own religion; everybody gives credit to their Gods. To me your God is nothing but a fake. Your religion has so many flaws it's unbelievable."
"Like what?" Gabriel asked, wondering what Cain knew that he didn't.
"For one, I thought your God was a selfless God. Am I correct?" Cain asked quizzically.
"Yes."
"Then how come your God takes things away from you? To me that looks like selfishness. Why would a selfless God take away? It looks to me that your God is two totally different people. Then he uses David and Abraham to wipe out his enemies and yet the people they killed too were his children and creation. I thought one of God's laws was not to kill. So then that means he broke his own law. You see, God himself is a hypocrite, he told his followers to love his enemies and yet he kills his. Do you see where I'm getting at here Gabriel? Do I have to continue? You see there are so many things you people over look in your own religion it sickens me. It's bull s***. There is no God, there is no after life, there is nothing."
"Then why do you kill like there is a God?"
Cain stared at him in silence for a moment then answered, "Because if I'm wrong and there is a God that took away from me. Then I want to make sure I want to get even with him." Now Gabriel totally understood why the man is doing this; he understood the man's motive and hatred of God.
"Now suffer like your God suffered; suffer like I suffered." Cain growled as he slowly raised the whip above his head.
"No Cain, please stop. Cain." Gabriel said, tears welling up behind his eyes.
"Sorry Gabriel, but I have a promise to keep and I'm going to enjoy every minute of God watching you suffer."
-Boom! Boom!- Blood spewed out from Cain's arm and leg as the bullets tore their way through him like paper.
"AAAAHHHHHH!" he yelled, and collapsed to the ground with a thud; swearing as the blood seeped it's way onto the floor and through the floor boards. "Clear!" yelled one of the officers as the S.W.A.T. units began to breach the house from the giant hole in the wall.
"Gabriel!" called out Michael as he made his way over to the Gabriel.
"How did you find me?" Gabriel asked; taking his hands and feet out of the straps that bound him to the table. Michael grinned an intellectual grin and said, "We found out Cain's address and history thanks to the bullet you put in his arm. We used blood samples from the golf course and tested them for matches."
Gabriel looked at his partner and shook his head and chuckled. They both watched as Captain Jefferson began to cuff Cain and escort him to the armored truck.
"Well I guess it's all over." Gabriel stared and watched as Cain stared back out the small barred window in the back of the armored vehicle. "Yeah I guess it is."
10 years laterNebraskan Execution Chamber
Gabriel looked at his reflection staring back at him in the observation glass as he waited for Cain to be brought in for his execution.
"Figured you'd be here." Said Michael; walking up next him.
"Why wouldn't I? I thought I'd just come and make sure that he keeps his promise." Gabriel said, not changing the look on his face.
"And what promise was that?" Michael asked; looking at Gabriel confused.
"You'll see." He said as the chamber door swung open. Escorted by two Guards, Cain walked into the room and sat in the steel chair and stared at Gabriel through the glass.
"Okay Cain you have the choices of hanging, firing squad, legal injection, gassing, or the electric chair. Which of these would you prefer?" Cain chuckled, displaying a mischievous grin as he stared at Gabriel in the eyes.
"I choose the electric chair." Cain said, sticking his tongue between his cheek and upper gum of his mouth.
"Was that it?" Michael asked as he looked at the deranged killer.
"Yeah, that was it. He told me we would never catch him after he electrocuted that man at the hospital. We proved him wrong."
"Okay is there any last words you'd like to say before you are executed?" Said the executioner; ready to push the button to begin the electrocution.
Cain stared back at Gabriel through the window and smiled his devious smile. "Hebrews 2: 14-15. Make sure you look that up Gabriel."
Pushing the button on the wall Gabriel's voice flooded the speaker.
"You can count on it." Then without another word the executioner pushed the button and Cain jerked in his seat and gripped the arms of his seat as he began to laugh a nightmarish laugh as his brain began to fry. "Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha!"
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death"that is, the devil"and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
Hebrews 2:14-15