CHAPTER 8
"Who the HELL do you think you are???"
It's an amazing but true fact that if you piss someone off enough, they're eyes actually WILL bulge out like in the cartoons when they yell. Josh didn't take much solace in this thought, nor did he answer Kilburne, he simply let the man go on, knowing he had to keep cool if he was going to get out of this one and get the people responsible.
"YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO ASK TO SPEAK WITH ME AFTER ALL THE SHIT you've PULLED??? YOU'RE A MULTIPLE MURDERER, MR. HUNTER. AND A COP KILLER! SO WHERE DO YOU GET OFF THINKING YOU HAVE ANY RIGHT TO ASK TO SPEAK WITH ME, THE PARTNER OF THE OFFICER YOU KILLED??!"
Josh continued to look at the man, feeling his pain but still numb from hearing the news of Kat's demise, until the tirade had ended, then he turned and looked out the cell window. He sighed, then very quietly, began to speak...
"Somewhere out there, somehow two people have gotten away with murder. However, you choose not to believe me, as is your right. You think you hate me, and thats also your right. Let me tell you something Detective, I don't intend to sit here waiting for the system to come to the same conclusions we have. That is, that I am either a murderer or a victim of an elaborate setup. I tell you i did not kill your partner, anymore than I did not just pull a live rabbit from my navel. So we have two choices... you help me find who did, or you shoot me right here and now like I am sure you want to, and live with the thought that you may have let two killers go free in a moment of blind fury. Sure you can say you could handle it now, but the doubt will grow overtime, until it consumes you. The choice is yours. ***********************************************
Andre Portiere was a man who got things done. Always had been, always would be. So after he had knocked his beautiful yet belligerent accomplice out, he tied her spread eagle to the bed, packing her mouth with a cloth and sealing her lips with several strips of tape. As helpful as she had been, it was time he reverted back to his original plan of selling her off. After all, wouldn't want to upset those fools at The Network did he? They would get their commission, though it would be the last one he ever got them.
Making sure she was securely held and silenced, he left the room and entered the den. Pressing a button on a console, he revealed a hidden cabinet, and smiled at the large collection of stolen military weapons he'd managed to assimilate into his collection.
Choosing several, as well as a few boxes of ammunition, he pressed the button again, and then left the room. One more thing to check on, then he could go about preparing the house for his guests...
**********************************************************
It is said in certain religious circles that the human psyche is inclusive of two parts, light and dark, and that the balance of these two variables determines how good or evil a person is.
If that was true, then Kilburne and Josh were in the midst of the most evil night of their collective lives. The darkness engulfed them, nearly suffocating the light from them as they stood outside the remains of Josh's home in the rural section of Angel Falls.
"I really wish I had spent the extra hundred on the insurance," Josh remarked.
"Well, if this is all a sham, you won't have to worry about lodging now will you?" the detective responded.
A moment of tense silence ensued, and then they began walking through the rubble.
"What exactly are you hoping to find in this mess anyhow?"
"I don't know... something that might tell me where they went after rigging the bomb, since there Isn't a trace of them here. I--" Josh stopped, turned to face Kilburne, his eyes wide.
"What?"
"There's no trace..."
"If you know that already, why are we looking for--"
"No," Josh cut him off, " Don't you see? There's no trace of anyone here! If Kat was in here when the blast went off, there would be some trace of her... her arm, her skin, some body part. The explosion was big, but not THAT big."
"What are you saying?" Kilburne asked, starting to doubt his earlier convictions.
"You said you HEARD a woman inside , a muffled scream... you burst through the door a second later, and the bomb went off... If Kat or whoever screamed were inside, they would've been killed instantly, and would still be in here." Josh turned away and began scanning the room again.
"What are you talking about? If there was no one inside when the bomb went off, then who did the officers hear?"
"Not who, " Josh said kneeling down and picking something up off the ground near the entrance, "What."
In his hands was a portable tape player, burned beyond repair, containing a very intact audio tape.