FSE

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Chapter Twenty

Joseph arrived at the address and saw what looked like an abandoned house. He stood there watching it expecting the wind to knock it over at any minute. The boards were rotten and the paint had long since peeled off. The grass around was overgrown and he saw fecal matter laying in certain spots.

He suddenly remembered the dog attack and wondered if this really was the base of the sniper. This could be another trap where he is lured inside and the building falls on him either trapping or killing him. It would explain why the sniper wanted him to come alone.

He cautiously climbed the steps taking it a step at a time and listened to the creaking sound they made. His heart was beating fast and he wondered if he was going to fall through the rotten wood. Out here it did not matter much because he figured he could free himself because the fall woul;d be a very small one. The most annoying thing would be if his legs became stuck by the broken beams.

His fear was what if the floor broke and he fell into the basement. Would he be able to get out? If he called for help coil;d they retrieve him? What if the fear of the house falling on them kept the rescue workers from saving him?

He stopped and took a deep breath to help him push away the fears he had. He needed to remind himself that every night he went out on the job had the possibility he was facing certain death. It was a fact every officer had to deal with. He had George to take care of his estate if something should happen and Marms would be well cared for.

In his mind he saw Marms sitting in George's lap purring away and probably forgot all about him. Would he even know if Joseph had been killed? He suddenly wondered how long would a cat remember things? Would he ever remember he once lived with him? The thought that Marms would forget him completely made him so depressed. After everything they had been through together would it even matter.

Another strange thought entered his mind and he remembered that pet owners tell the tale of the Rainbow Bridge. Supposedly when an animal dies it crosses the Rainbow Bridge and waits for their owner to die then they walk into heaven with the owner. He wondered what happens to an owner that dies first. Would he sit at the bridge and wait for Marms to arrive?

What he did not know was that even though cats have a short term memory of around 5- 30 seconds a cat's long term memory lasts up to 10 years and when a cat becomes attached to an owner they almost never forget them.

Joseph never believed in an afterlife and there had never been proof a soul exists. Most of the near death experiences and ghost sightings had been hoaxes. He found when he researched the near death experiences there were numerous inconsistencies in the stories. One of the more recent ones was a father telling the story that his son died and described being with his grandfather, whom he never met, and described him exactly. The father claimed there was no way the kid could have been with that grandfather and described him so perfectly unless it was true about an afterlife. Several skeptics, like himself, went and spoke to the doctors and learned that the child in question had never died, nor flatlined, but had been in a coma.

This becan a problem because once confronted with the truth the father admitted that he and his wife were talking about the grandfather while in the room with the comatose child. Many of the others that had similar stories were all disproved in some way.

Ghost sightings were equally false and one team of experts claimed they had a box with buttons and when they talked to ghosts they told the ghosts to press the buttons in response to the questions asked and a light on the machine would light up. This was done on television but what the ghost hunters never repealed was that a person was behind the camera with a remote control that activated the machine. So no ghosts answered the questions in any way, just another hoax to help people reinforce that which they wanted to believe was true.

The psychic came to his mind and he wondered if her tarot cards had ever told her that a parasite was inside killing her slowly? He vaguely recalled the reading she had done for him and the promises that he was going to have good luck and get his biggest wish come true. So far it had been just the opposite of what she had predicted. The accident, being forced to buy a new car, and Dr. Ami being killed. It was as if, theoretically a thing called Fate, had chosen to spite her by doing the opposite of everything she said. What else had she been wrong about?

He snapped out of his daydreaming and realized he was standing at the front door waiting to open it and go inside. He figured he might as well get this over with and he opened the door and stepped inside.

He flinched as he saw the surrounding and could not believe that the interior looked like this. While the outside looked old and was crumbling apart the inside looked like a brand new mansion some millionaire might own. He saw three very familiar dogs locked in cages and they saw him and jumped to their feet as much as the cages would allow.

Joseph saw their tails wagging and they did not seem aggressive at all. It was hard to believe these were the same dogs that chased him up that tree. He cautiously took a few steps towards them and he saw their tongues sticking out of their mouths. When he was about a foot from the cages he saw their empty water dishes and plastic bottles of water in a case near them. He grabbed a bottle for each cage and filled their dishes. The dogs squealed in delight and began to slobber as they drank.

"Come detective," an older man's voice boomed from some hidden speakers. He looked around and a door opened by itself making a squeaking noise. He reached for his holstered firearm but the voice interrupted. "Trust me, detective, you will not need that. Come I brought you here amicable." Joseph refrained from drawing his weapon and cautiously walked towards the door. He was not sure what to expect but even though the dogs had seemed nonaggressive he still needed to be careful because it could be a ruse to lure him into a false sense of security.

The room was decorated like a library with books and bookshelves lining the walls. In the center at the far end several large screen televisions were piled on top of each other so multiple views, or programs, could be seen at once. It looked as if a network of security cameras could be used to monitor. In front of them a large black chair was stationed and the occupant was facing them.

He was displayed on the televisions each one showed him standing at the entrance and nervously looking at them.

"I must say I really never thought you'd make it this far. Most people in your situation would have given up but not you. You, for some reason, refused to give up until the very end," The old man was saying as a younger man walked into the room from a secret panel behind him.

It took Joseph only a second to recognize the younger man and it was impossible for him to be here. He was very slightly taller than Joseph and his dark colored hair was cut short and stuck up like little spikes on top. The back was shaved and he adjusted the collar of his shirt. His suit was black with a white shirt collar sticking out and the sports coat was deliberately cut shirt so the cuffs of the white shirt were exposed fully at the wrists. He nodded to Joseph as the old man continued.

"I see you recognize my associate," the old man said without turning to look at him but before he could say another word the younger man took out a handgun and shot the old man in the back of his head. Joseph scrambled to retrieve his own pistol but the younger man laughed and gestured for him not to bother.

"Now is dat anyway to treat an old friend?" he replied.

"Hold it! put the weapon down!" Joseph yelled as he pointed his handgun at him.

"Fine, fine if it makes ya feel better." he said and cautiously put his weapon on the floor.

"Ned? Ned is that you?" Joseph asked while he kept his weapon trained at Ned. His mind was racing with questions but the sight of his old friend left him speechless.

"OK buddy boy I'm reaching into my pocket for my ID. Just relax a second and all will be explained." Ned replied and he slowly moved his hand into the suit's inside pocket and removed his wallet and opened it then stepped closer to Joseph to allow him to read it.

"I'm an M16 agent for the CIA. We've been in a joint collaboration with the FBI trying to follow a terrorist group trying to use a new biological weapon. The parasites as you call them. We discovered their plan a few years ago and have been trying to infiltrate it. Just recently they released several of the critters as a trial run to see the effects.

It was my job to infiltrate and learn as much as I could about them. I had to pose as an expert assassin to gain their trust. I never imagined that you would make it this far but it's good to see you again." Ned said and he retrieved his gun and holstered it and put away the ID he had. Joseph holstered his own weapon and his mouth felt dry as he was trying to make sense out of all this.

"You guys knew about this all along?" Joseph asked incredulously.

"We were aware of an experiment to breed a new form of parasites to unleash upon the populous. It was meant to cripple the United States. It was something that was meant to be undetectable and they were supposed to breed quickly.

The guy I just took care of was a leader in the cell. I was working under him to see if I could sniff out anything about this terrorist organization itself. I also had to play the part of an assassin to keep my cover. Sorry about the dogs and your car, it was just part of the job but I did hold back as much as I could to ensure your own personal safety."

"What about Dr. Ami? Was he part of your job? What about the countless others that lost their lives?" Joseph said bitterly.

"I can explain that one." Lee Ann replied as she suddenly entered from the same secret passage Ned it. Joseph flinched then chuckled to himself realizing that he should have known better.

"So you're an agent too?!" he retorted.

"Yes.... I 'm more of a scientist than an actual agent. I studied genetics and have been researching the parasites that... Ned managed to get us. I'd been trying to find a weakness so we could make a vaccine of sorts but it wasn't until you found the insulin connection that we are finally about to kill the little buggers." she replied.

"It was all thanks to you." Ned said and he was grinning but it was reminding him how much Ned used to get under his skin.

"And Dr. Ami?"

"He may have been one of their operatives but we can't be sure I just had to follow orders so my cover would not be blown. Plus as a bonus, we had another opportunity to sneak one of our agents in and found the cure." Ne replied.

"And you left to move back in with your parents. Was that another lie?"

"A cover story, I was called in on assignment and didn't know if I'd be back. Believe me I never thought I'd be back here again." New said.

"What about the Mad Cow Disease?" Joseph inquired.

"Another bit of brilliance on my part." Ned replied and Lee Ann elbowed him in his stomach.

"When we released the story we thought it would be so unreasonable that the truth of the parasites would come out. Unfortunately the media was not as truthful as we had hoped and the cover worked to our disadvantage as everyone was immediately believing everything they were told instead of being skeptical and fact checking." Lee Ann said.

"So what's the next step?" Joseph asked.

"We sent the new vaccine to the CDC to begin using on the populace. The biggest side effect will be their blood sugars dropping and they will want to eat more. After a few hours they will be right as rain and the parasites, if any, will be dead." Ned replied.

"Will the public be told about all this?"

"Gawd no, they are not ready to handle that kind of information. Plus if it was revealed that agents had infiltrated a terrorist organization out people on the inside would be in grave danger. Which brings us to you." Ned commented and Lee Ann excused herself heading back to the secret panel and disappearing.

"Am I killed because of what I know? If this was all a secret you did not have to monologue about everything to me."

"Yeah but we figured you would not stop until you knew everything. Which brings me to my next point. You know some highly classified and dangerous information. I had been thinking about what to do and came up with three options. Number one: I kill you, that way no one finds out what we have been up to and it keeps our agents alive and secure. Not the very best option but one we have to consider. Number two: You swear to never reveal any of this and you immediately drop all investigations into this matter. Just realize that should you tell anyone about this I may have to return to kill you. Lastly, number three: you join us as an agent you did remarkably well in this case and if it was not for your meddling we may never have found the cure." Ned said and was grinning again but Joseph felt his stomach turning. He wanted this to be a false trichotomy and that there were other possible solutions but right now he could not think of any.

"How much time do I have before I have to give you an answer?" he asked.

"Come on bro, it shouldn't take more than 30 seconds," he sighed before continuing. "Alright I'll give you 24 hours to decide. I must warn you that contact with anyone is forbidden. I don't want you talking to anyone about all this. Believe you me I'll be monitoring you and if you so much as tell your cat.... I'll have to kill you, understand?"

"I guess..."

"Good I'll talk to you tomorrow." Ned said.

Joseph carried a dozen roses as he approached the nursing home and kept wishing that the talkative receptionist would not be working today. He passed the tree that the woman with Alyzmer's had been shouting at and smiled to himself.

Terri was inside reading a book with her thick framed glasses and she turned to look at him, her eyes looked bug eyed.

"Hello," she said.

"Hi I'm looking for a person that lives here but I don't remember her name."

"Can you tell me anything about her?" she asked and re removed her glasses.

"She was yelling at a tree and did a dance number to a commercial about pie."

"Oh, hold on please." Terri picked up her phone and placed a call while he looked around. He wanted to avoid eye contact to prevent getting into a long debate with her.

"Oh hello detective." the nursing supervisor named Lisa said to him as she arrived at the desk. He smiled as he tried to appear as if he was not staring at her body. He realized he would love to see her out of that uniform and into his bed.

"Heello, I'm looking to..."

"Are you here to see Silvia?" she asked and his memory suddenly clicked.

"Yes that was her name, Silvia, she has Alyzmer's." Joseph said and he saw the look in her eyes and his heart sank because he suddenly knew what she was going to say.

"I'm sorry detective but she passed away a few days after you last visited. She was in the final phase of the disease and had stopped eating. The best we could do was make her comfortable before the end." Lisa said.

"Oh, I see." he said and turned towards Terri and gave her the roses. "This is in memory of that security guard. He can rest easy now that I caught the killer." Joseph withdrew a single rose from the bunch then walked out as Terri was telling Lisa a story about the security guard.

Joseph walked to the tree and placed the rose upon it in Silvia's memory.

"Pie, Pie, everyone loves pie, everything's better with pie. Apple, blueberry, cherry pie. Everything's better with pie......" he sang quietly trying to hold back from crying. She just reminded him so much of his grandmother and now that she passed it felt as if he had lost his grandmother all over again. It was strange because he knew nothing about Silvia yet he was blinded by his love for his grandmother that he really was not seeing her but he was only seeing who he wanted her to be.

He looked at his watch and realized he had time to grab a quick bite to eat before he had to give Ned his decision...