Angels Mark (The Serena Wilcox Dystopian Trilogy Book 1)

Angels Mark Chapter 22

22

“Hey, man, you don’t have to do this,” said Special Agent Whikehart. He heard Paul coming around the back of the former president’s house long before Paul could see them. Paul had parked near the back entrance, oblivious to the numerous government vehicles parked at the front entrance.

It was only after he entered the backyard that Paul saw the team of agents gathered to meet him. It was then that he broke into a cold sweat, suddenly chilled and shivering. He didn’t stop moving though- he walked doggedly forward, putting one shaky foot in front of the other.

“Looks like suicide by police,” said Special Agent Zech.

“We should call someone in on this,” said Whikehart.

“We don’t have time, this guy could pop off at any time,” said Gasiorowski. He stared at the unsteady figure a few yards away. Nothing about this guy seemed right.

“Call it in,” said Zech.

“Meanwhile, we deal with it,” said Special Agent Wooding. Wooding signaled for four team members to move in.

Special Agents Gasiorowski, Bledsoe, Whikehart and Jorissen slowly circled around Paul while Special Agent Delk called it in.

“The FBI is sending a team, but we have to keep him talking until they get here,” said Delk.

Zech initiated dialog with Paul. “Easy now, tell us what you want, we can help you.”

Paul stood with his arms passively by his sides, his face emotionless. He said nothing.

Zech tried again, “Why are you at the house of the former president?”

The circling agents came a few steps closer.

Paul reached into his pocket.

Agents Gasiorowski, Bledsoe, Jorissen and Wooding all fired at once. None of the shots were aimed to kill, or even to maim. They were merely noisemakers. The desired effect was easily accomplished: Paul froze, dropping what he had in his hand. No further shots were necessary.

The gun fire got the attention of the two men inside the house, and the attention of the couple who was pulling up behind the line of government vehicles parked in front of the former president’s residence.

“Oh no!” cried Serena. “It’s too late! We should have called the police.”

“That’s a lot of rounds,” said Tom. “Look around; there are government vehicles all over this place. They already know.”

“What do we do, stay in the car?” asked Serena. “We should at least tell them what we know. Poor Paul, he’s probably dead.” She couldn’t see much from her perspective, but she did notice an agent walking purposefully toward their car. She shook Tom’s arm to get his fast attention.

Neither was startled when Special Agent Whikehart rapped on their window. “Identify yourself, please.”

Serena leaned across Tom’s lap to speak out his window, “We were helping President Kinji, and Paul is part of that. We were looking for Paul to check on him. It looks like we were too late. We tried to call President Kinji on her special line, but we couldn’t get through.”

Whikehart handed Tom a slim gadget through the open window. “Press 3.”

Tom pressed 3 and heard a click.

“Yes?” said President Kinji.

Tom handed the tiny phone to Serena. She held it to her ear the best she could.