Rustles

Part 24

There were two cars parked outside, blocking the entrance. One was what Nathan had used in their first meeting, but she couldn’t recognize the other. Must have been what Tony and Silver were using. When they heard his car approaching, they came out and stood on the front door, watching them approach.

“Remember…” Nathan started.

“William was attacked by Morton, I know.”

“And keep distance with Fort.”

Her eyes flew back on him in shock. Perhaps she already knew, sensing he might have underestimated himself, but she didn’t want to believe it.

“Why?”

He stopped the car. His voice was unnervingly shaky. “You’re not that stupid!”

“Sorry, reaction.”

He didn’t go out immediately, but sat for a moment with his hands on his knees. He was breathing hard.

Guys were coming their way.

She took a deep breath too and pushed her door open. She went outside quickly and went to meet them on the half way there to give Nathan moment to get his act together.

“Nate?” Tony called out, but she reached out and pulled him back a little.

“Give him a moment,” she said in grim whisper.

“What happened?”

“William, he…” she couldn’t say it out loud. Her arms rose and she hugged herself, feeling the cold breeze going pass. Their eyes fell on the side of the car and the half-dry blood covering it.

“H-how?”

She looked at Silver and gulped hard. Her first thought was to say something, but she couldn’t lie, so she shook her head instead and shrugged.

Silver started screaming the moment the news reached her mind. She had to look away if she didn’t want to loose her head, too. She blinked hard to chase the tears, but somehow they still found their way on her cheeks and soon her eyes were shadowed by two constant flows.

Nathan wasn’t that untouched either. He sat in his car, left hand on the wheel and knead it hard.

“Where’s his body?” Tony asked, walking around the car and seeing no other marks of blood.

Her mind cleared up in a microsecond and they gave each other a clear unmistakable glance. They forgot to bring the body!

“Don’t tell me you forgot to bring him back here!”

“He is safe!” Nathan said, but his tone of voice wasn’t convincing anyone and sergeant pulled Nathan’s side door open.

“Where is he?”

On that moment Kenneth’s right hand rose from next to gear shift and Tony fell from a puffed shot to his head. His fall was quiet, as if a leaf had crumbled from a tree. Then he turned his gun to Silver and swiftly opened the door behind him, came out and still holding the gun at her, moved around the car.

Silver rose her hands up without saying anything. Not a sound.

Margaret stared at Nathan, mouth open. That was two murders in just ten minutes! Not even justified self-protection, but two cold blooded murders!

“Let’s go back inside, shall we?” Nathan asked Silver, turning her around with a pushed grin.

“The hell is going on?” she finally asked when they got up the stairs and she opened the door.

Margaret followed them silently. She wasn’t sure anymore, who she had unwittingly chosen as her partners. They claimed to be part of their group, yet neither Kenneth nor Nathan showed any regret at shooting them.

“I told you it will be ugly! Now, get inside!” he said from the door while waiting for Margaret to catch up.

She answered with a long frown. She entered right after him and then pulled against the wall while he herded them all together and sat them down on the sofas in living room. They even let him tie them up with no attempts to run.

This was too easy. She felt the sick feeling in her stomach. Something was wrong.

She quietly pushed her shoes off and concentrated on the sounds coming from downstairs. She couldn’t feel any. By what she had seen under, the back edge of the cage should have been right under the kitchen. They liked dark corners, so at least someone should be sitting right under her feet.

She couldn’t feel anything. Not one scratch or scribble created by someone brushing the surfaces.

“The cage is empty!” she said with rising horror in her stomach. Four cages – all had been occupied with several men and this one was empty? Not a chance.

Nathan sprung around.

“What?”

“You said only Morton got out!”

“W’ll, yeah!”

“There were several men in each cage – this one is empty!”

Her new phone suddenly started yelling in monotone ringtone. They all jumped on the alien sound. She pulled it out from her bra, but still didn’t know what to do with it and thus Nathan grabbed it away from her. She only saw it was Kenneth.

The moment he got it open and pressed against his ear, they could hear yelling from the other side.

“They all received poison shots before we let them go.”

Nathan’s gun lowered and his face paled. “They’re dead.”