Conquest: Rise of the Fifth Horseman (The Fifth Horseman Series Book 1) (12 page)

This changes everything.

“Come!” he
grabbed her arm less reluctantly, “We must make haste!”

Abner carefully
navigated the way through the chambers of the ancient machine. Despite the damp
muskiness of the air, his every breath tasted of freedom. They travelled
through the dark in a northwesterly direction for nearly an hour, and finally
arrived at the forgotten dock. From there they launched one of the remaining
watercrafts.

Though his original
intentions had been sinister in nature, now her rescue stemmed from a much
nobler cause. With the fast northern current, he knew they would reach the
shores to the west of the hidden Village of Udom shortly. He had some family
there, and in the solitude of the hidden village he would find some time to
properly train his successor.

Chapter Twenty One: Unjust Detainment

And
Cain was cast out from the presence of God, and was cursed to dwell in the
barren land of Nod, to the south of Eden. And Satan didst appear unto Cain and
his followers, and put it into their hearts to form secret oaths and covenants…

– Methuselah
10:3 –

Lieutenant Vanessa
Walker had interrogated many suspects in her career, but this one proved to be
most difficult. Allan had been so stoic that neither of her colleagues had been
able to drag a confession out of him. They had obtained strong evidence against
him at the scene of the crime, so she was absolutely certain that they had the
right man. His claim of an attempt against his life by the CEO of Motif Global
Encryption before being miraculously cured was absurd. Obviously, he was trying
to play the insanity card.

The lab results had
returned some time ago, and unfortunately they confirmed the blood as his own.
This didn’t bother her though. During the scuffle prior to the death of his
victim, he must have been dealt a blow to the face causing a severe bloody
nose, which would account for the blood down the front of his shirt as well as
the pool of his blood found at the scene of the crime. It was his motive that
she was having a difficult time deciphering.

She had been watching
him through the one-way mirror for the past hour. He appeared to be sleeping.
She couldn’t help but feel somewhat jealous as she finished off the rest of her
cold coffee. The bottom of the cup was always a little gritty, but she needed
the extra surge of energy. With a heavy sigh, she grabbed the manila folder on
the desk and stood. This questioning had gone on long enough. She could feel
herself getting cranky, and knew she was due home hours ago. Having taken the
night shift, she didn’t expect to be asked to stay later for this case. Chief
Herbert himself had requested her assistance, so she couldn’t say no. In his
words, “I need my best interrogator on this one.”

Tying her dark hair in
a bun, she approached the door. She steeled her gaze, and straightened her
shoulders. Turning the bolt with a click, she swung open the heavy door. At the
table, she watched as Allan slowly lifted his head out of his arms. He looked
pale and there were heavy bags under his eyes.

Guilty. Plain as day.

He remained silent as
she sat across from him.

“Your story checks.”
she stated flatly.

Allan sighed heavily in
relief.

“So, remind me again
why you were in the park early this morning?”

Allan cleared his
throat, “I thought you said my story checks.”

“I did.”

“Then you have no right
to detain me.” he stammered.

“Ah, but I didn’t say
we were finished with our investigation.” she smiled.

“According to the
Suspension Clause of the U.S. Constitution, article one, section nine, clause
two,
‘The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended,
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.’
Which translates to the fact that you cannot legally detain me without just
cause!” he shouted angrily, “Unless of course you suspect me of terrorism!”

“My, my!” she taunted, “Someone
knows their legal rights.”

“I should! I happen to
be an
attorney
!”

She ignored him and
pulled out a photograph from the manila folder, “Can you identify the object in
this picture?”

He recognized it
immediately, “Yes, that’s my cell phone. I was wondering what happened to it!”

“This was found at the
scene of the crime.”

“Well, obviously it
was.” he rolled his eyes, “Considering I was the victim, common sense would
dictate that I was there.”

“So you admit to being
at the scene of the crime early this morning?” she queried.

“I feel like we’re
going in circles.” he rolled his eyes, “Yes, I was there! Are you happy now?”

“Yes, I am.” she
smiled, “You’ve just made my job easier.”

Allan sighed in
frustration, “What do you want from me? This is getting ridiculous.”

“All right Allan, let’s
cut the bull. I don’t know how you pulled it off,” she barked as she pulled a
stack of more photographs out of the manila envelope and dumped them onto the
table, “but maybe
this
will jog your memory.”

His eyes went wide in
horror as he took in the sight before him. Suddenly, he turned his head and
began vomiting violently. Lieutenant Walker’s face fell. She had fully expected
him to start blubbering and finally come clean. Murderers don’t typically vomit
at the sight of their own victims. She feared she had grossly underestimated
her suspect and would need to take it up a notch.

“As I said, your story
checks.” she spoke frankly, “Your blood was found twenty feet from the scene of
the crime.”

Allan continued to
choke.

“So let me see if I’ve
got the story right.” she ventured as she turned up her nose to the putrid odor
in the confined space, “You received a call from the late Jason Bridger at 4:46
AM this morning. He had stumbled across some dangerous information that could
potentially harm one of your clients. You met him shortly after his message,
and there was an exchange of angry words. The two of you got in a scuffle, and
Jason got the upper hand and bloodied your nose. Your immediate reaction was to
plant a bullet in his abdomen followed by another through his chest. He
stumbled to the ground, you extracted the information you needed, and then finished
him off with a bullet through his brain. Am I missing anything?”

His stomach fully
expelled, he continued to dry heave.

She stood menacingly, “Answer
the question!”

His breathing slowed as
he wiped his mouth on his shoulder.

 “I need... to speak...”
he paused, gasping for breath, “...to my lawyer.”

Chapter Twenty Two: Late Visitor

And
Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth.
Righteous generations flowed from the loins of Seth, and the people didst
establish a great Kingdom to the north after the manner of his name…

– Methuselah
10:4 –

Later that evening
Allan sat on the lonely bench that also served as his cot. He stared at the
filthy sleeves of his orange jumpsuit, wanting nothing more than to take a
shower and change into a fresh set of his own clothes. Outside the small window
of his cell, he could see the gold and pink hues of the clouds as the sun began
to set.

Over and over he
replayed the week’s events, and he still couldn’t make any sense out of any of
it. By all logic, he should be either dead or mortally wounded from his
encounter with Timur two days ago. Instead, he was a suspect of murder.

This is crazy.

He heard a door open,
and the guard approached.

“You have a visitor.”

He stood in
anticipation as the guard fumbled with his keys.

Thank goodness. I was
beginning to worry she hadn’t gotten my message.

The guard slid the jail
bars open, and escorted him to the visitation chamber. There were four desks
with partitions between each one and bulletproof glass that separated the
visitors from the inmates. Only one visitor was present, but it was a blonde-haired
woman he didn’t recognize.

His face fell as he
realized it wasn’t Lily. The guard escorted him to the seat across from her,
and he picked up the phone hanging from the partition.

“I’m sorry, but who are
you?” he asked in confusion, “Did I get a state-assigned attorney?”

“No, no. Mr. Young,”
she corrected, “I’m not an attorney. My name is Detective Brittany Parker, and
I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me.”

Allan shook his head, “Not
without my attorney present.”

She raised her hand as
if attempting to stop him from hanging up the phone, “My questions have nothing
to do with the case. I was just hoping you could clarify something for me.”

Intrigued he nodded, “Depending
on what you ask, I might be able to give you an answer.”

She smiled and then
held up a cut-out picture of Lily, “Do you recognize this woman?”

“Of course I do! She’s
my girlfriend.” his eyes went wide, “Is she in trouble?”

She ignored his
question, “What is her name?”

“Lily.” he paused, “What’s
this all about?”

A broad smile fell
across her lips, “Lily, as in Lillian Thatcher perhaps?”

“Yes...” his eyebrows
furrowed, “Why? What’s going on?”

“Has she ever been
known by another name?” she asked eagerly, “Such as Jamie?”

“This is ridiculous.”
Allan stammered, “Get to the point. What are you getting at?”

“I think she may have
been leading a double life, and she was about to leave you.” sensing that he
was about to hang up she rushed to a conclusion, “Is that what you two fought
about two days ago?”

“What fight?” he
stammered, “And what do you mean by a double life?”

She stared at him for a
long minute. The confusion and concern on his face was very telling.

“You really don’t know,
do you?” she concluded.

“Know what?” he was
starting to get impatient, “I feel like we’re talking in circles.”

What is she not telling
me?!

“I hate to be the one
to tell you this...” she sighed heavily as she reached into her pocket, “but
here’s a copy of the letter she left for you.”

She unfolded the copy
of the letter she had scanned in the Evidence Room and pressed it up against
the glass partition. She watched his eyes as he read the letter. His face
betrayed multiple emotions that escalated from alarm, to confusion, to denial,
to pain, to shock, and then back to confusion again.

“What?!” he stammered
as tears formed in his eyes, “Where did you get this?”

“Lily left this for
you.” she then admitted, “I found it on the floor of your living room.”

“What were you doing in
my house?” he panicked.

“The District Attorney’s
office issued a search warrant.”

He sighed heavily as a
tear escaped down his cheek, “Where’s Lily? I need to talk some sense into her.”

“That’s actually the
reason I came to see you.” she treaded softly, “I was hopeful that you might be
able to shed some light on that mystery.”

“What do you mean?”
Allan wiped his eyes on his sleeve.

“Well,” she paused
uneasily, “When was the last time you saw her?”

“Three nights ago.”

“Would you say you
parted on good terms?” one of her eyebrows raised in query.

This is an absolute
waste of time.

“Considering she avoided
my marriage proposal then night before this mess, I’d have to say no.” he
rolled his eyes in annoyance, “What are you trying to accomplish, exactly? If
you’re trying to extract some type of motive, don’t bother.”

“Excuse me?” her eyes
lit up in anticipation.

“I know what you’re
doing, but it won’t work.” he made a gesture to hang up the phone, “Please, just
stop.”

She waived her hand
frantically as he almost hung up the receiver.

He let out a sigh and
pulled the receiver back to his ear, “WHAT?!”

“Please, Mister Young.
I’m almost done.” she spoke quickly, “You mentioned something about a motive
just now. I’m confused. A motive for what, exactly?”

“You guys clearly think
I killed Jason.” he started to get extremely agitated, “I didn’t.”

This lady is getting on
my nerves.

“No, no Mister Young. I
told you I wasn’t here about that.” her eyes lit up in understanding, “So are
you sure you haven’t seen Lily since that night?”

 “No, I haven’t.” his
eyes betrayed concern, “Why? What are you not telling me?”

She stared at him for a
long minute before determining he was being honest.

“There’s no easy way to
say this...” she fidgeted uneasily, “When I went to search your home, it was in
shambles. Books had been thrown off the shelves, there was a lot of broken
glass... The place was an absolute mess.”

Utter confusion
registered on Allan’s face, “But why would Lily do that?”

“I don’t think she did.”
she paused, “I think someone else may have been in your home.”

“Are you saying there
was a burglary?” his eyes went wild, “Does Lily know?”

She let out a deep
sigh, “There was also a pool of blood in the living room.”

“WHAT?!” he shrieked.

Suddenly the guard
tapped Allan on the shoulder, “Wrap it up. Visiting hours are over.”

Detective Parker
continued quickly, “After running a DNA analysis, I was able to confirm the
blood belonged to your girlfriend.”

Allan stared at her in
shock. He had no words to express.

“Which leads me to why
I’m here.” she then held up the first page of the profile she had printed off
earlier, “After I confirmed Lily’s DNA match, I ran the test again and got this
match instead. Most importantly, it seems that all traces of a Lillian Thatcher
have been erased. Do you have any idea why someone would do that?”

The guard tapped Allan
on the shoulder again, “Time’s up buddy. Let’s go.”

His eyes were wide with
shock as he stammered, “I... I have to go.”

“Please, I just need
one more minute of your time...” her voice trailed off as the guard roughly
yanked him to his feet and the receiver fell from his grasp and hit the desk
with a thud.

“I said your time is
up!” the guard bellowed as he shoved him forward.

Allan’s mind raced
frantically as they passed through the door and down a hallway.

Where’s Lily? Is she
okay?!

The guard ushered him
back into his cell and pointed to a folded orange jumpsuit sitting on the
hammock, “You missed your bathing time slot, so I’ll request a new one for you.
It probably won’t be for a few hours, but you are welcome to change your
clothes.”

The cell door slammed
shut, and Allan was left alone. Panic and rage built up inside him as he felt
utterly helpless. He knew Lily was in trouble, but he had no way to help her.

“LET ME OUT OF HERE!”
he shrieked at the top of his lungs as he shook the bars of the cell door, “I’M
INNOCENT!”

Tears streamed down his
cheeks as his mind envisioned Timur in his home, tearing it apart. The memory
of the pistol and the spinning bullets returned at full force, causing him to
hyperventilate. He feared that after he escaped from the makeshift dungeon, Timur
must have retaliated against Lily.

He slumped onto his
hammock, and moaned while cradling his head in his hands. His panic and anxiety
reaching a peak, the silver light began to escape from his eyelids again. As
his mind processed the possibility that Lily could be dead, his eyes flew open
in rage. In a flash of brilliant silver light, a loud explosion echoed as the
walls around him crumbled into ash.

Allan wasn’t entirely
sure what had just happened, but he had no time to think about it. An alarm
sounded as the dust began to settle. Allan realized that there was a large
opening in the far wall facing the street. He could hear shouts from the guards
coming in his direction, and he made a split-second decision. He leapt through
the opening just as the prongs from a Taser barely missed him. He took off at a
sprint, unsure of his direction.

I have to find her.