She Is Risen (She Is Risen: The Gun Control Case Studies) (6 page)

            Gloria immediately trots over and sniffs the
cart, but does not detect any explosives.  He knows better than to eat the
food; poison has not only been a useful tool of the CIA for many years, in some
cases, it has created foreign policy. 

            Devlin carefully removes the stainless steel
cover from the bowl of strawberries, setting it gently on an empty space of the
freshly-cleaned white, linen topper.  He steps around the cart slowly in a
clockwise circle, watching it as if an evil spirit has just entered the hotel
room.  After he takes a few steps to the left, Devlin sees a familiar long-range
CIA communications transmitter.  He picks it up from the cart, inspecting the
surface of the headset for any moisture or other possible threats.  As a
cautious man, he decides to clean the surface with some spit and the corner of
the tablecloth.

            With a hesitant sigh, he finally mounts the
headset to his earlobe, positioning the small microphone in front of his
mouth.  He then flips the switch at the base of the unit to enable
communications.

            “Who is this?”  Devlin asks with a deep look of
betrayal and caution.

            “This is Ming.  I’ll go ahead and assume that
you’re Devlin.”  The young woman states in a self-assured manner as she asserts
her intention to control the conversation.

            “That’s possible.” Devlin replies, feeling
suddenly vulnerable as he takes cover between the bed and closet, kneeling on
the soft carpet.

            “I have been authorized to kill you, and they
said I could make this a dirty op.”  The young woman conveys in mysterious
tone.  “But I thought it might be more interesting for us to talk first.”

            “I knew that twelve-hour window was bullshit!  You
think I’m going to surrender?”  Devlin inquires through pursed lips, feeling
insulted and somewhat intimidated. 

            “Maybe,” Ming begins with subtle confidence,
“but first I want to ensure we’re having the right conversation.  Hold on for a
moment…”  The young woman falls silent, her voice sounding as though she has
already captured or killed him.

            “Hello?  Devlin, are you there?”  A familiar
voice beckons from the small headset.

            “Holy shit!” Devlin answers, putting his head
down and closing his eyes.  “Jenny, get off the line!”

            “Devlin, what’s going on!?  This woman says that
you’re trying to kill her and that you’ve already killed several people?”  Her
voice is shaky, almost desperate as she questions him with concern that is
bordering on hysteria.

            “My fucking sister, Ming!?  Are you kidding
me?”  Devlin responds in a blur of frustration, disgusted by this melee. 

            “Yes, your sister,” Ming redirects boldly, “I
want her to know what you’ve done and what you’re planning to do.  She needs to
understand that you’re an enemy of The United States Government.”

            “I’m the enemy of a man who is perverted; a liar
who enjoys touching young, blind women.”  Devlin fires back into the headset,
rolling his fingers into tight fists.  “Jenny, get off the phone, these people
are dangerous, and I don’t want you involved!”

            “Wasn’t it you though, Devlin,” Ming asks with
contempt in her voice, “who touched the young blind woman?  Isn’t that why
we’re after you?”

            “Jenny, you need to get off the phone right
now!” Devlin demands with a rush of anger, his spine tingling as he becomes
instantly nauseous by what Ming just said.  “I have not done anything wrong;
this person is using you to distract me...”

            “Jenny, please stay on the line,” Ming orders in
an official tone, “we are going to break through the door of your brother’s
hotel room in less than five minutes.  If you stay on the line, his chances of
survival are increased by 80%.”

            “Oh my God, Devlin, what have you done!?” Jenny
begins to cry, feeling immediately afraid for her brother’s life.  “I just came
into work today and started making calls; now I’m in my office bawling, and I
have no idea what’s going to happen to you… All these people are staring at me…” 
Jenny continues to sob, breathing in panicked gasps, her thoughts dominated by
fear as she feels instantly numb with the shock from this situation.  “Devlin,
please just stop this so that we can get you some help.  I love you!”

            Devlin feels sick as he stares at the blank,
white wall, feeling scorned in the worst way by his former employer.  He rubs
his eyes like a prisoner who has endured many nights of torture.  His hatred is
renewed for Henri as the social-engineering tactics from the CIA’s gun control
case studies are now being utilized on him and his sister. 

            “Ming, when you come through that door, I’ll be
waiting for you.” Devlin promises as if speaking to a member of his tribe who
deserves ancient justice.  “Devlin, out!”

            “Devlin, please don’t…” Jenny pleads helplessly
from her office in Seattle, Washington.  “I need to see you this Christmas. 
Whatever is going on isn’t worth your life.  What about Yulia?”

            “I’m so sorry, Jenny,” Ming resonates with
plastic empathy, “your brother is beyond our reach.  We’ll do our best to save
him, but we need you to appeal to his sensible side; just as you’re doing now.”

            “Devlin, please, think about Mom!” Jenny cries
with a voice of deep hurt and helplessness.  “I need to know that you’re
alright, bro.  Nobody needs to die today; no matter what happened…” 

            “Jenny, your brother is like a cornered animal
now,” Ming continues her manipulative rant with careful precision, “we had no
idea what the war did to him.  Unfortunately, many veterans come back
exhibiting antisocial behavior; the toll on their minds is just too much.  I
need you to be strong for him now so that we can get him some therapy, and help
him to recover.”

            “Why is all of this happening?” Jenny asks,
feeling alienated from the entire event.  “I don’t understand why he would do
this; Devlin was fine last time he came to visit us…  Please don’t do this,
Devlin, you’ll break Mom’s heart, and Dad will never forgive you!  I need you
to be a good man!  We need you to be a good man!”

            Ming brushes her delicate, black hair aside with
her left hand as the elevator doors open on the third floor.  She steps out
into the hallway with her pistol drawn, moving slowly sideways like a jungle
predator stalking a helpless ape.  The hallway is empty except for one young
woman talking on her cell phone en route to her hotel room, oblivious to the
gun-toting CIA agent behind her.  Ming’s oversized, light blue shirt does its
job in concealing the bulletproof vest underneath as she steps forward with
vigor.  Her muscular legs are hidden by a pair of loose fitting dress pants,
and her white running shoes move silently across the soft carpet. 

            The deadly CIA assassin looks like someone who
would be babysitting for a living; young and approachable.  Her pulse is
elevated as she nears the hotel room where Devlin is hiding.  With her left
hand she retrieves a Smartphone from her pocket and stares at the tracking data
being displayed.  A small, white dot on her screen is moving about fifteen feet
from her position, showing the location of the headset she sent up with room
service a few minutes ago.  Ming smiles wide despite the fear, her Japanese
features emerging with a look of satisfied anxiety, knowing that she is close
to a kill.

            “What’s happening?” Jenny asks with desperate
concern.  “You both stopped talking.  Is everyone okay?”

            “He’s going to be just fine.” Ming says quietly
into the microphone to comfort Devlin’s sister.

            She checks her pistol to ensure the safety is
disengaged and then takes one last look at the Smartphone screen before placing
it back into her pocket.  With her pistol held firm at a forty-five degree
angle, she retrieves a hotel key card from her pocket and slides it quickly
into the reader.  As the light turns green, she twists the door handle until it
unlatches, then conceals her body behind the doorframe and uses the tip of her
foot to push the door open. 

            The door slides open with ease, and she waits
patiently for thirty seconds before moving.  After giving Devlin time to react,
she gathers that he is not going to take the bait, and points her pistol into
the room, wrapping her body around the doorframe, exposing only her right arm
and one eye.  She waits another few seconds, and then enters the room in a
crouched position, keeping her pistol at the ready. 

            Inside the hotel room, Ming hears the shower
running, and glances to her left to see water seeping into the carpet as it
moves across the pristine, white tiles.  The shower curtain has been positioned
with its material draped across the tile floor, allowing water to flow freely
all over the bathroom.  She realizes that Devlin is trying to distract her with
the shower setup, deciding to focus instead on the other side of the bed and
closet nearby.  Ming’s heart suddenly goes cold as a fast movement catches her
eye at the other side of the bed near the windows.  She begins to gasp with
anxiety, not understanding what could be moving so fast.  Her grip tightens on
the pistol, and she takes aim, rising up from the carpet slowly.

            In an instant of terror, Ming realizes that she
is pointing her pistol at a dog.  The Golden Labrador is wagging its tail at
her, looking up from the other side of the bed, and the headset is dangling
from her collar. 

            “Oh my God!” Ming exclaims in a full panic,
looking around the room for Devlin.

            She hears the thundering footsteps of a large
figure sprinting across the carpet into the entrance of the hotel room behind
her.  Ming’s body seizes up with terror, realizing that Devlin concealed
himself in the stairwell while she was talking to Jenny.  As she spins to
react, her entire world is shrouded in darkness. 

            Devlin throws a queen-sized sheet over the young
assassin’s head, draping her completely in fabric before she can turn around. 
He then tackles her without hesitation, forcing her petite body down onto the
large bed.  When she is down, he delivers three sharp elbows to her head
through the sheet, allowing the adrenaline to work in his favor.  Although she
doesn’t make a sound, a large amount of blood begins to soak through the white
fabric, and Devlin wastes no time, knowing that she still has the pistol.  Ming
begins to struggle wildly as he climbs atop her almost completely wrapped body,
pushing his knees into the small of her back, and using his weight to hold her
down.  He grabs a pillow, and wraps it around the blood soaked portion of the
sheet where her nose and mouth are protruding.  Devlin closes his eyes, holding
the pillow around her face with all of his strength as the young woman writhes
inside the sheet for what seems like eternity. 

            Finally the athletic woman stops moving, and
Gloria lets out a disturbing, high-pitched whine, knowing that something is
horribly wrong.  Devlin slowly climbs out of the bed; his insides are filled
with nauseated terror from this sinister deed.  The dog walks over to him in a
state of fear, hiding her head under his leg between his thigh and calf
muscles.  He reaches down to comfort her and feels the headset dangling from her
collar.  Devlin closes his eyes for a moment, placing his hand on his forehead
as he recalls that his sister was patched into Ming’s headset, and may still be
on the line.  He takes a deep breath, the foulness of his crime still a
haunting reality.  The guilt creeps slowly up the backside of his throat as he
removes the headset from Gloria’s collar and reattaches it to his right earlobe.

            “Jenny?”  Devlin asks, hoping for no response.

            “Oh my God, Devlin!  What have you done?”  Jenny
demands with a trembling voice, through tears of intense agony. 

            “What do you mean?”  Devlin asks, pretending
that nothing has happened.

            “I heard you kill that woman, Devlin…” His
sister begins to cry with uncontrolled horror and shame.  “I heard her… gasping
for breath… I heard the sound of something moving around her face… What did you
do to her, Devlin?  Is she gone?  Please tell me she’s not gone!?”

            “She’s not gone!” Devlin says, feeling tears
streaming down his face as a sharp pain starts to burn inside his right
abdomen.

            “Then put her on the phone!” Jenny begs with a
sincere desire to believe him.  “Just put her on the phone, and let me know
that you didn’t hurt her…”

            “I can’t, Jenny…”  He replies in shock, just now
realizing the full weight of what he has done.  “I can’t!”

            “Oh my God, Devlin!” She cries out as the
gruesome finality of what he has done impacts her as well.  “That was someone’s
daughter; it was someone’s sister or wife… How could you..? How could you!?”

            “Jenny, there’s a letter… When I’m gone, make
sure they let you read the letter.” He says slowly, closing his eyes in shame
as tears spring forth, mourning the woman next to him who didn’t need to die.