Asunder Read online




  Asunder

  Tonnie H. Johnson

  Published in the United States

  Asunder

  Copyright © 2017 by Tonnie H. Johnson

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  Cover artwork provided by Ramzan Artsikaev

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  Lucifer & Elena

  His lungs were on the verge of collapsing while chasing the drug addled fiend across the rusted cargo ship with nothing but the strobe lights to illuminate the path. 'I won't let him go this time!' He reached for the pistol but settled his grip, the tired agent's name was Luc, short for Lucifer; 'My parents were hippies' accompanied the introduction once the lengthy version of his name came to light. Lucifer Greylight Dantes. The name wasn't relevant, only the pale-skinned ill looking fellow charging ahead. Luc jumped high onto the transported storage bins landing on the skinny body, slamming the thinner man to the dock. He drew cuffs, locking the clanking steel around the other’s wrists before the other could fly off anew. 'Good!' Luc blew out a puff of breath. He was hot and sticky with sweat, and not at all content, though satisfied with his catch... it was better than nothing.

  "Now you're gonna talk!" He yanked the fellow up and stood.

  The roving lights of the FBI helicopter shined on board the ship. He rubbed his five o'clock shadow lamenting at his need for a shave, his blond hair trimmed short and clasped to the nape of his neck; well built, angular, and toned—his eyes were a soft jade.

  His longtime friend Elena made her approach, her soft curled brown hair bounced with each stride. She stepped off the chopper—emotional, but what could she do? That was Luc, always taking chances, and she hated it and loved him for it at the same time. Right now, she didn't know which one to choose.

  "You know you can't arrest him." she scowled.

  "Elena, I just need to talk to him."

  "You're on U. S soil now, buddy." She grabbed the suspect pulling the man to her.

  "We started out in Germany." Luc tried to reason with her.

  "And now you're in America and we're arresting him. Thanks for cuffing him for me." She teased.

  "You know I'll speak to him, anyway. You might as well make it easy for me by letting me talk to him after you process him."

  The FBI Swat team exited the helicopter and rushed to surround the dirty crewmen on board, forcing their hands high and bodies to the wet deck. Elena tossed the cuffed bony man to the others and soon after she noticed a slim like black film on her hands which she wiped off on her pants. "Disgusting!" She mumbled with a scowl. "Get this scumbag out of here." She ordered her underlings. "I'm gonna check out the rest of this ship."

  "I'm going with." Luc followed behind accepting his tourist status... well, almost accepting it.

  They headed deep into the bowels of the dark and dank vessel the stench grew even more offensive as they proceeded deeper inside the structure. Not a sound but their own footsteps and the drips of water echoing in the hallow steel walls. Luc pointed to the glimmer of light and stepped with caution through the ship's narrow hallways.

  "So how did you get here?" Elena wondered if she would like his answer.

  "I set up a meeting to recruit an informant here. Before I knew it, we were setting sail for the good old US of A. The rest is classified."

  "Talk about a non-story." She rolled her eyes,

  "Well, if I told you the whole story, I'd have to kill ya."

  The thick metal doors that sealed each section were rusted beyond repair, many of them no longer able to perform their duty. The ship was falling apart.

  "I'm surprised you made it here in one piece, this ship looks like it could sink any day now."

  A rolling glass bottle across the floor gave him pause and for extra protection he released from its holster his standard issue Glock 23; Elena followed.

  "Damn this stench." Luc whispered.

  The area stunk of rotting meat left out on a hot day mixed with mildew, the place was funky but he didn't give in to cover his nose. He stepped with nimble grace, his movements slowed due to the ground carrying a slight film forcing him to dig the soles of his shoes in to gain a foothold.

  "What the hell is this?" Elena coughed and gagged but held off on vomiting.

  "Perhaps some mold or mildew."

  Luc flashed his lights over the walls, a mysterious string of black fungus pulsated, reaching from high and clinging along the structure, piling onto corners. "This is strange, like something out of a horror film." The substance glistened and smacked like a person chewing gum with no tact.

  He kept going, maintaining his careful slow pace. The lights of other flashlights wandered behind him and he turned to see a spectacle, an FBI agent slipping and falling hard and cursing much to everyone else’s amusement.

  "Yeah, you might wanna watch your step." Luc mused with sarcastic glee.

  Red faced the agent stood on impulse beginning the motion to wipe his pants but thought the better of it when he noticed the black gunk. "Thanks."

  Luc continued his search, stepping through a small door away into the large cargo area which housed several lined up white canisters—a foot tall each.

  "Help me get one down." He grabbed his pocket knife and striped the metal lock opening the lip. He backed away when a cloud of white fog drifted outward disappearing into thin air.

  "Okay. I think it's better if everyone leaves this place, seek medical attention--"

  A chill traveled up his spine, his arms and legs tingled at the sight of the green ragweed symbol plastered to the white canister.

  "What is it?" Elena followed his gaze to the symbol. "My god." She sighed while watching Luc, trying her best to measure the multitude of emotions appearing on his angular features.

  She turned her attention to the other agents telling them it would be within their best interests to follow Luc's suggestion; that they should leave this place and seek medical attention for possible exposure to hazardous materials.

  "I'm gonna keep going." He walked away from the cans flashing his light near her as to say, she could leave with the others.

  "No, I need to call it in first."

  "Elena, it's dangerous down here, and you have no reason to follow me."

  "Keep moving."

  They came upon another rusted door and he wiped the fungus film from the windows cosigned to whatever fate had in store.

  "Looks like a lab of some sort." Elena peered through the glass, but couldn't make out the contents inside. Just a few tables with burners attached.

  "Only one way to find out."

  A well-placed boot created the entrance they needed. He flashed his light on the vials of liquid inside the room. Black with the same fungus strings inside coating the glass.

  "A new drug maybe?"

  "Hey guys let's do some slimy fungus." Luc mocked. "I doubt it."

  "Kids have done worse."
>
  "We need this tested, too." Luc stepped away. "It could be the same stuff on those canisters."

  The rustling of chains grabbed his attention once more, and he held his gun out ready to fire. "This is the CIA! Come out now and you won’t get hurt!"

  "Please help! "A man trembled from the dark corners of the room, he then spoke the same words but in German. "Bitte helfen Sie!"

  Weapon in hand Luc flung open the doors to find a malnourished older male chained in a small closet. His white hair wild, teeth dirty, and clothes torn and stained with piss.

  "What the hell?!"

  Elena clicks her radio. "We have a possible 207. The subject is chained up so bring cutters."

  "You're not gonna believe this." Luc focused the light into a nearby hole in the wall and several faces glitter from within the iron bars of their cages.

  "We've got a room full of people. We need more resources, over." Elena somberly reported their fast-changing status. "We also need the HMRU in here, and these subjects may have to go into quarantine, over."

  The fresh dawn air was just what Luc needed, he loved the look of early morning, that time between the darkness and light when the sun dispels its counterpart. Terrorist filth, fungus, the stuffy cramped quarters—he couldn’t handle the stench anymore, no, he'd take wet morning dew any day. Flashing police vans and ambulances transported the sick to safety.

  A group of young officers stood nearby waiting for Luc to pass.

  "Go get your CIA man, girl." An officer laughed in Elena's direction, a playful tease.

  "Shut up." Elena sighed, her friends were just determined to embarrass her.

  "So, are you gonna tell me the real reason you were on board that tanker?" She turned her scowling face to Luc.

  "I told you the reason." He replied folding his arms.

  "Right." She sighed disappointed. "You just so happen to be chasing down a recruit on board a tanker carrying containers from Ragweed."

  "What do you want to hear?"

  "I don't know." She shrugged. "How about, you're ruining your career over a personal vendetta?"

  "An international terrorist group killed Jona so I would say I'm doing exactly what my job entails."

  "Right." She said unbelieving. "And what will you do when you find out who's responsible for her death? Ask them questions, let them go?"

  "I need to get checked out and so do you." He quickened his pace.

  "I'll give you a ride to the hospital." She directed to her car parked at the port.

  They entered the sedan and Elena carefully steered the vehicle away from the waters and through the downtown streets.

  "How long are you planning to stay?" Elena asked not into silent car rides.

  "I don't know. I still need to see if I can recruit my guy, and I'm looking forward to a report from your people about the contents of those canisters and the junk that was coating everything." After a beat. "Also, I still need you to help me with Dunham."

  "Not this again."

  "If you don't want to, I can always get someone else to help."

  "You're not allowed to spy on American citizens, Luc."

  "You can, and you said you would help me."

  "I said I would help you because I knew you would drag anyone into your mess--"

  "So, you're doing this to hinder me?" Luc pinched the bridge of the nose.

  "I'm not." Elena sighed. "I think you are growing more and more obsessed. It takes years to find Terrorists, they have cells everywhere. Yet you believe if you just look hard enough, you can find those responsible for Jona's death." She paused for a moment wanting her words to sink in. "And honestly, I have no idea what the hell you will do to them once you catch them. Will you bring them to justice or just go on a murder happy spree?"

  "I won't know until I find them."

  "And that is what I'm trying to protect you from."

  "I don't need your protection, Elena."

  "Oh my God." She held back before a tear formed enough to fall. "If I don't say this now, I never will and I don't want this to come as a surprise to you. If I let myself get too complacent, I know I'll waver."

  "What?" Luc sat back getting comfortable.

  "You're so nice! It took a while to realize you would be this way for everyone." She exclaimed in sudden exasperation.

  "What are you talking about, Elena?"

  Luc sat back on her plush seat accepting failure at whatever test she may have conjured; he couldn't understand her mood and the gloomy tone of her voice. "You know, most girls say they want a nice guy and I’m sure many of them want that but if they knew the truth, they wouldn't wish for it."

  "What are you getting at?" Luc chuckled.

  "Luc, you're so handsome and strong and so nice, the perfect dream guy but sometimes I wish you weren't so nice. Sometimes I wish you were an asshole because if you were it would be so easy..."

  "Elena..."

  "You are so well loved. Even in high school. You could draw anyone toward you and people loved you because of your gentle nature and good looks. And I was just a two hundred and fifty pound nobody." She struggled to say the words. "They ridiculed me every day before I met you. I felt so bad about myself, like I deserved nothing. But you approached me and made everyone back off, you told me I was pretty no matter what anyone had to say and that you believed in me. You don't know how that made me feel. I fell in love with you that day, I followed you to a University, then when you quit to become a cop I quit to the do the same, always following behind you like a baby duck. Lost all this weight to make you love me. Worked my tail off to become a decorated officer. When you went back to school, I followed. When you tried out for the FBI, I joined you and I worked so hard to be your partner. But then you left and joined the CIA and I’m stuck with the FBI because I wasn’t good enough and to add insult to injury I have to keep your dirty little secret…"

  Luc looked at her and squirmed. "Please stop."

  "I had to do some blackmailing to make your little investigation work. Do you think I would be stupid enough to blab it all over the place?"

  "No. But you have to be careful..."

  "I hated her." A lone tear fell from her eye.

  The heat rose to his face, he squirmed wanting to yell at her or worse he wanted to hit her, deep inside he figured the day would come. "Elena." He warned her not to continue.

  Lost in her own pain she soldiered on spilling everything she wanted to say. She had to finish, to cleanse her soul so to speak. "I wanted her to die." Her voice dipped into a whisper, as far as she cared this was the last time they would get to talk so intimately with him, and she was ready for the hate that would follow. "I truly wished for it, and when she did, I felt horrible because of the baby but... I was happy." She parked the car in the lot. "Still you never looked at me the same as you did her." Elena wiped her tear. "Yeah it would have been better if you had never tried to comfort me... I want to let you know that after I help you with this, I'm done. I don't believe for a moment you don't know how I feel about you and you asking this of me is cruel at this point."

  "Elena, I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

  "You know what? I know it’s the truth, that's what makes it even worse."

  Luc sat in stunned silence as she got out of the vehicle. He didn't understand what else to think or even feel about the matter. But something she said nagged at him which prompted him to close the gap between them. "Wait. How did you know about the baby?"

  "What?" Elena rounded on him, wiping her eyes.

  "Jona and I told no one she was pregnant."

  "Well she told me." Elena walked away wanting more distance.

  The silence between them was awkward, he sat on the opposite side of the waiting room lost in his own memories of the auburn-haired, sultry eyed woman he called his wife.

  Luc entered the front door with each step heavier than the last. His keys hit the rim of the bowl on the nearby table, just missing its mark. The leather jacket hit the couch, and the shoes
flew toward the entry way, the pressure from his feet dissipating. He couldn't wait to loosen his joints with a hot shower. For a moment he had imagined clothes and books strewn across the room, or a new painting on the walls; something gaudy that clashes with the creamy whites and bold reds. But no, the house was near spotless and the redwood floors shined, the large area rug was clean and the exposed kitchen—pristine.

  'Jona', her name whispered in his thoughts as he stroked the image of the auburn-haired woman. He imagined her laughing, sitting on the couch with a bag of hot fries, an ice-cold beer, and ice cream melting into a gloppy mess; the way she preferred. "Fuck me." he cursed, bringing himself back from terrible thoughts of a life that no longer existed.

  He answered the call from his vibrating phone and on the screen, was a woman with soft brown eyes and features. She sipped on her hot mug of coffee before addressing him. "I see you're alive."

  "I'm sorry I didn't contact you earlier." He seemed to piss off every woman in his life right now.

  "You hadn't given a report in days. I was worried."

  "I intercepted the ship in Quebec and hid on board to see what they were transporting and where they were going." He opened the fridge and took out a homemade iced coffee. "Once I realized it was Detroit, I took action to get a hold of my contact. They must have set off the alarm at a lock because the FBI was on us. He bolted the moment he saw the chopper." he took a swig of the bittersweet creamy liquid. "I'll see if I can cut a deal with him when I talk to him tomorrow."

  "Do you know what the ship was transporting?"

  "Possible hazardous materials. The FBI has their people looking into it. I'll see if I can get info out of them about it."

  "And now you're home..." Her voiced carried a light accusation with it.

  "Yeah..."

  "Convenient..."

  "I gotta shower." He hung up fast and ran upstairs to get ready.

  The day was hot, and the tall neglected grass blew in the small pockets of wind. The long barrel of a rifle followed the clay disc until the pull of the trigger shattered it into pieces.

  "I knew I haven't lost my touch." Luc laughed watching the shards spray across the field. They made camp on the roof of an old warehouse, the only structure still left in the tall grassy field.