Ghosts: CATU Book 01 Ch. 10-11

Roger sees he isn't going to get anything out of him. He turns to the agent he entered with and nods. The agent takes his leave; it was time to find Kloser's whereabouts.

"Thechildren are secured in the basement?" Kloser asks Hanson.

They both sat in chairs opposite of each other in front of a fire.

"Of course, I've already taken care of it," Hanson says taking a long drag on his cigar.

"Excellent. Tomorrow you'll go on television again and make a new demand."

"Once the Stanos takes office we'll be in control of America. That is if he sticks to our agreement," Hanson states.

"Haven't you heard? Stanos was assassinated this afternoon; it seems the sniper that was running around shot the wrong person."

Hanson jaw almost drops. First Bowling was killed, now Stanos? His first thought is that Kloser is behind this. Kloser knew Hanson ordered a hit on him, this was only payback. He still had later plans to resolve this matter with Kloser. Deciding to play it cool, he asks, "What are we going to do now?"

"Same as we planned, we'll just have other sources waiting at our disposal," Kloser says smiling.

We. Always we. He thinks he runs things. That's all going to end soon, real soon.

"At least we will have a cell ready to act," Hanson says as he settles back into his chair, taking another drag.

Kloser sits there without another word, only smiling.

If only you knew.

You'lllet me leave or this bitch is dead!" Rudolph yells.

You're in no position to be making demands.

A hand rips out of Rudolph's chest, his heart still beating in the hand that holds it.

Spencer draws his gun as the hand pulls away from Rudolph's chest. He had his special clip loaded and is firing as the body falls to the ground. Sam doesn't need any warning; she is already diving out of the way.

With lightning fast speed, the demon dodges the bullets and is instantly in front of Sam as she rolls up. She has the look of surprise when she sees him.

Not leaving the party are you?

He slaps her so hard she flies backward into a car.

Spencer recognizes the demon, the one he hated. "Delgrious, you decided to haunt me more?" he shouts.

Haunt you?Delgrious laughes.No, more like watch you suffer.

"Why did Sara have to die?" Spencer asks. He doesn't care for whatever answer Delgrious gives, he just needs to buy some time.

Same reason your mother had to. Human suffering is what fuels my world. This is not the only time you'll face us. We are everywhere and we control it all.

"You won't be controlling anything when I send you back to hell!" He runs toward Sam firing at the demon. Delgrious easily dodges all the bullets with ease.

The bridge begins to shake, more cables snapping away. Spencer stops running, instead tries to keep his balance. When the bridge stops shaking, he looks around. Delgrious and Sam are nowhere to be found.

You have two choices.

Spencer looks up to see the demon hovering over a hole in the bridge and holding Sam by the ankle, upside down.

"You son of a bitch!" Spencer yells.

You can save the people on this bridge or try to save the one you love. You weren't very successful the last time. Save her and the people die or let her die and I will spare their miserable lives.

Without giving time for deciding, Delgrious releases his grip on Sam. She falls into the hole and manages tp grab hold of a piece of rebar that is sticking out.

You have until all the people burn to give me an answer.

The demon laughes and then one at a time the cars and people began to catch on fire.

"Sam, hold on!" Spencer yells.

His nightmare was happening all over again, only this time the circumstances were different. He knows his decision lies with Sam, but weight of the guilt he'd have over all those peoples death was a lot to have to bear.

He never has the chance to make a choice. A shot is fired and Delgrious cries out in pain as a bullet tears through his chest. The demon flies off, too injured to stay and fight.

This isn't over, not by a long shot Spencer.

Spencer runs to help pull Sam from the hole. After safely pulling her out he looks around for the person that fired the shot. His eyes settle onto a man with a large and powerful looking rifle walking toward them. Puzzlement forms on Spencer's face as he recognizes the man, but he can't place from where.

"Yes Spencer, you know who I am," the stranger says.

"Who are you?" he asks.

"We met some time ago, when you were younger. My name is Samuel Dimetri."

I remember now, but how are you still alive you were—"

"Old? Yes, I was and still am. God has a way to keep his warriors alive."

"What are you doing here? Not that we aren't grateful," Spencer asks.

"I've spent most of my life trying to kill Delgrious, I finally tracked him here. It's no surprise he got away again. Well, looks like I ought to be taking my leave," Samuel says pointing in the direction of the now arriving police and firemen, "Don't need to try explaining myself to those who won't understand. Until next time."

He sprints to the edge of the bridge, salutes them and leaps over the side.

"You travel in strange circles, Spence," Sam says then kisses him.

"Things get weirder even for me; let's get off this bridge before it falls."

Someoneshould have been here by now," Fredrich says out loud. He is beginning to get nervous; he'd seen what he thought were FBI agents snooping around the docks. A glint from the roof top of a warehouse catches his attention. Squinting he can barely make out a human form looking through binoculars.

"Damn!" he screeches.

How did they find me?

He starts the plane; a cold start was going to have to do. Agents began pouring out from every direction yelling for him to shut down and come out with his hands up. He has no intentions of doing so and begins moving the plane away from the dock. Shots ring out, hitting various parts of the plane. It starts picking up momentum and soon he is airborne.

The docks becoming a distant memory. As long as he stayed low he could avoid the radar and make it back home in one piece.

ThePresident sits alone in his office. He gives permission to release the information about his daughter and the situation to the media. His joint chiefs argued it wasn't a good idea, but now was not the time to keep the people in the dark. That's what helped get them in this problem in the first place.

"What are you planning to do?" asks his wife as she enters the office.

"What can I do?" he answers with a question.

"Fight back."

"Against what? A faceless enemy? Look where that has gotten us."

The President is showing signs of weariness, his eyes are bloodshot, face ghostly and hair disheveled. Most of all with his daughter's death, his resolve is eroding away.

Sandra puts her arm around him to soothe him. "She wouldn't want you to give up, especially when you have to fight for her. Don't give up; fight for Sara and for all those innocent children."

He sits there letting it all sink in before saying anything. "You're right; I have a duty and an obligation." He pushes a button on his intercom. "Cathy, please get me the director of CATU on the phone."

His wife kisses him on the cheek. A single tear drops from her eye. As she pulls away he says, "It's time we use a resource to its full potential. I won't let Sara death go to waste."

Glad to see you two alive. Sam, I'm sorry," Roger says referring to Sara McKinsey's death.

"It's alright boss. I just want to nail the bastards responsible," Sam replies.

"You'll have your chance. Adams talked, wasn't much but it gave us enough of a lead. It appears Kloser is in league withGhost. It'll take awhile to sort through his bank's financial records to see just how deep he is with them. However, he chartered a flight to Austria yesterday."

"How do we know Adams is telling us the truth?" Spencer asks.

"Call it a hunch. After I told him of Sara's death, he seemed to lose hope in something; it's all I got out of him afterward."

"So he's hiding Hanson and whatever is left ofGhostand presumably the children," Sam says.

"Yes, from what information we got out of the captured terrorists from the factory, the children were never there. They kidnapped them and took them to the harbor and were placed on a ship. We've sent a team down there to see if anything turns up."

"Do we know where to look first? We can't just stroll into his bank over there," says Spencer, using a bit more sarcasm then he intended.

"Of course not Reeds. You'll have a contact from Interpol, a Lieutenant Julius Claude. He'll meet you at the airport and brief you on the situation. You two get some rest, your plane leaves in three hours."