Son of Tesla

SON OF TESLA: Chapter 26

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN she's gone?" shouted General Damien Samil. A string of spittle flew from his lips and landed on Detective Owen Callaway's chest. Callaway decided to ignore it. The general's face was blotchy with rage, and a thick vein pulsed angrily over his left temple.

They were standing in the hallway outside room 2E of Bellevieu General Hospital. Between them, a dark streak of blood on the white tile floor was all that remained of the EMT they'd found sprawled half in and half out of the doorway. He'd been shot in the stomach, then strangled to death. His hand had been clutching a pistol that belonged to the night security guard, Gale Bassinger. He was also dead.

"She's not here," Callaway repeated, struggling to keep his voice even. Inside the room, Rachel Parson was being questioned by two of his men. They hadn't found a trace of the woman's daughter. The head RN, a woman named Gillian Fletch, was also missing.

"I want both of them found immediately," whispered Samil. "You have an hour."

"We're working on it as fast–"

"Find them!" Samil shrieked. The vein throbbed, threatening to burst from his forehead. "Now get out of my way."

Samil elbowed past Callaway and pushed open the door to room 2E. Inside, the Parson woman was propped up on the bed, talking to two plainclothes detectives.

"Out," Samil ordered.

The detectives turned, and one of them, a short, frumpy looking man with a thin mustache, looked down at the notebook in his hand, then looked back at Samil.

"Sir, a few questions if you don't mind."

"I said..." began Samil, but the detective cut him off. Samil ground his teeth and held the detective with a piercing glare.

"Do you think this is connected to the incident at the Parsons' home? If so, is the army withholding evidence from this investigation? We've had reports of a CIA fugitive..."

"Listen, you little worm," the words came out thick through Samil's clenched jaw. The detective looked surprised. "When I say to get out, I mean you drop what you're doing and you get. The hell. Out of my sight." Samil practically hissed the last words, and the detective unconsciously took a step back. On the bed, Rachel's eyes were wide.

"Now go!" Samil thundered. When the two men didn't move, Samil grabbed the one with the mustache and shoved him toward the door.

"Hey!" shouted the other one, stepping forward.

Callaway burst through the door. "What's going on here."

"Peterson! Jacobs! Get these two maggots out of here," Samil shouted through the door. He rounded on Callaway. "Your pissant little investigation is closed. If I hear another word about you interfering, you'll be sorry." Behind Callaway, two armed soldiers appeared in the doorway.

"Is that a threat?" Callaway asked.

"What the hell do you think?" He looked at the soldiers. "Get rid of them."

"Does the name Petar Tesla mean anything to you, General?"

Samil shut his eyes for a brief moment, focusing on the shrieking headache pounding between his ears. Why did they do this to themselves? These little ants, scurrying with their self-important lives. Getting in the way. Always in the way.

When Samil opened his eyes, the room was too bright. Something black shifted in the corner. Samil ignored it; he'd been seeing them for weeks. He nodded to Peterson and Jacobs, still waiting in the doorway, and they bodily pulled the detectives out of the room amidst cries of protest.

As the shouts faded down the hallway, Samil turned his eyes to Rachel. She looked back at him with a terrified expression. Samil smiled.

"We have Ashley," he said. A lie, but right now a useful one. "You're coming with me too."

Thanks for reading my story! Please VOTE and let me know what you think of it so far, then check out Chapter 27!