The two guards glanced at each other quickly. They hadn’t thought about that.
“Okay, I’ll undo them and take his hands from the back and put them in front. I still want the cuffs on him before you start. He is extremely violent,” Jon said.
“Do whatever you need to do but let’s get this over with. I want to get back,” she said.
Jon started to roll him over on his side but Raymond rolled for him so he could get to the cuffs. He was trying to keep the badge hidden by cooperating. Once the cuffs were off he wrapped his hand around the badge, threw his right fist, catching Jon in the side of the jaw and with his left hand he grabbed Angie’s coat, pulling her toward him.
She let out a yell and the guards pulled her away and jumped on him. They started hitting him with their fists. He went limp and absorbed the blows as best he could.
“Stop it. Stop it,” he heard the woman yell. The two guards quit hitting him and placed the cuffs back on him.
“Get the sample. I told you he was violent. The guy is an animal. Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. It just scared me for a minute,” she said, straightening her coat.
“I’ll hold his shoulders and Kevin will hold his feet, just in case,” Jon said.
She wrapped the rubber tube around his upper arm and tapped on his vein. He was looking at her, trying to convey a message, but she was intent on her work. She pushed the needle into his vein and released the rubber tubing when the blood started to flow. She took two vials of blood before she withdrew the needle and placed a bandage over the entry hole.
“That should make the general happy she said, holding up the two vials.”
“Good. Let’s get them back to base so they can be flown to Vegas and I can report in. Maybe the general will get off my butt now,” Jon said, ushering her out of the cell.
Raymond lay on the cot, spent from the struggle and blows he had taken. He had done all he could at this point. The rest was up to fate and God.
The last thing he heard as the footsteps receded was the guard called Jon saying, “I told you he was crazy. See why the general wanted …” the last part faded out along with the footsteps.
When they were back at the base the two guards made a big show of rushing the vials to the waiting chopper. Jon jumped back in the Jeep and drove Angie over to the infirmary.
“Thanks Angie. You’re sure you’re alright?”
“I’m fine. Really. I’ve been grabbed by worse than that,” she kidded and Jon laughed like he thought it was really a funny line.
“If you’re sure? I don’t mind waiting or driving you home.”
“Don’t be silly. Go on and report to the big kahuna that the job is accomplished. The vampire has done her work. He might even say thanks,” Angie said.
“Right. Then I would have to come back to be treated for a heart attack.”
“Get,” she said and waved as he drove off toward the main security building.
It had been an eventful evening. She decided that she had had enough excitement for one night, closed up the infirmary and headed home.
The general was at the main security building when the guard drove up.
“How did it go?” he asked.
“Like clockwork. Here are the two vials,” he said, handing them to the general.
“Excellent. His pants and one of his shoes are over on the table. I want you to smear the blood on the pants and inside the shoe,” he instructed.
Jon picked up the pants that were tattered and torn. It looked like something had chewed on them, which is exactly what had been done. The general had used one of his dogs to make it look like something had been eating on them. They had given the shoe the same treatment.
“Don’t overdo it. Just make it look like he had been bitten and the blood had run down his leg,” the general said. When Jon was finished he held it up for the general’s approval.
“Good. Now head back to Beacon and throw it in the sand and drag it around. I don’t want it to look too fresh.”
“Yes sir. What about the prisoner?”
“What about him?”
“Did you have any special instructions?”
“No. Just don’t kill him yet. We may need him as a hostage if something should go wrong. It’s always wise to have a trump card for emergencies.”
“Yes sir. We are to discover the pants and shoe sometime tomorrow afternoon, right?” Jon asked.
“Correct. Then bring them here and make sure as many people see you as possible. I want it to get around that we found something.”
“Yes sir. I understand,” he said.
“Nice work Jon,” the general said as he was departing.
Raymond lay on his side, rubbing his head up and down on the mattress, trying to dislodge the cloth rag that was holding his gag in place. He had to get it out of his mouth. Not only was it absorbing all the moisture but it was beginning to make him feel nauseous and he didn’t want to choke on his own vomit.
He rubbed back and forth until he felt his neck was going to give out, but just as he was about to give up, it rolled up enough so he could spit the rag out his mouth. He instantly had the dry heaves as he tried to gulp air down his throat. His mouth was dry and he needed a drink badly but his legs were still chained to the steel ring in the wall.
He reached as far as he could but he immediately felt a sharp pain in his ribs. They must have cracked them when they jumped on him, he thought. The pain intensified as he tried to stretch to reach the sink.
He could just reach the faucet and push it until he could hear the water running. He couldn’t reach the water no matter how hard he tried. It was so close yet so far away. That made his thirst even worse. He then got an idea to get some moisture at least.
He reached down and picked up the wad of cloth and unravel it, holding one end he tossed the other in the sink. He let it soak in the water a few minutes before pulling it out and sucking on the end of it. It was one of the best things he had ever tasted. He did it several more times before the dryness started to subside. His ribs hurt but at least he had water.
After drinking until content, he lay on his back and tried to find a comfortable position. It was an exercise in futility and he finally gave up. Eventually he drifted into a restless sleep.
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
The Jeep Cherokee raced up to the main security building with the lights flashing. People stopped and watched as the guard jumped out of the vehicle almost before it stopped and ran, clutching what appeared to be a pair of torn pants and a shoe, into the security building.
A few minutes later he emerged with several guards. They rushed to their vehicles and the procession sped off. Everyone watching knew something had happened and most speculated that they had found the missing person who had been object of non-stop searches.
Talk of the event quickly spread throughout the main base and it didn’t take long for it to filter all the way out to the S-4 complex, twelve miles away. It became the main topic of conversation for most groups as they ate lunch.
A few hours later the security vehicles returned but this time, no lights and at a normal speed. Obviously, whatever they found, it wasn’t good. The general came out and they all stood around the vehicles while he inspected the pants and shoe. No one had to get very near to understand that it wasn’t good news and the expression on the face of the general said the most of all.
He slowly walked back to the security building, holding the bloody pants and shoe.
“Mr. President,” the general said, “I have bad news.” His voice was somber.
“Concerning Raymond?”