“I don’t indulge in the pleasures of the flesh when there are more important things to attend to.” His disinterested gaze rested on Linda’s battered body. It was clear that in the short time he was gone, Fadhil had gone to extremes in pummeling her body with his fists. “Finish her and let's get the scene set up for the husband.” He unshackled the boy and dragged his dead body up the stairs. “Don’t fucking waste more time, Fadhil,” he snapped at the screams that followed his cruel twisting of Linda’s nipples. “Move the fuck along!”
He had just propped the boy in one of the chairs in the den when Fadhil walked in carrying the young girl. He dumped her unceremoniously; the cracking sound of her head as she hit the floor echoed through the room. Fadhil grunted and went to fetch Linda’s body. Abu shook his head.
“This is turning into a fucking circus,” he mumbled as he arranged Veronique’s limbs to place her abused privates on display.
“Where do you want the bitch?” Fadhil puffed with labored breaths as he returned with the final corpse.
“On the sofa. Naked, so he can appreciate the bruises on his wife’s lovely body.”
“Now you’re talking my language,” Fadhil cackled.
“Ensure their eyes remain open. He needs to realize they saw their own deaths coming.” He checked his watch. “He should arrive shortly.” He cut a sharp look at Fadhil. “He’s mine, so keep your need to kill in check. Is that understood?”
“Of course. I’ve satisfied my desire for bloodlust… for now at least.”
Chapter Eleven
“I hope dinner’s ready. I’m starving.” The front door slammed shut behind the deep voice echoing through the house. “Honey? Vee? Brandon? C’mon. Where are you guys?” A muttering sounded over the footsteps as Colin Woods went in search of his family.
“Nooo… God, please, NOOOO!” His scream sounded raw and filled with grief as he stepped into the den. He fell onto his knees, the sight of his murdered family too much to bear.
“Took you long enough to get home, Mr. Attorney General.”
Colin jerked around at the gruff voice behind him. He scrambled to his feet and stumbled to his daughter, throwing his suit jacket over her body to hide her torn and bloodied loins from his tortured gaze.
“Who the fuck are you?” he croaked as he turned to face the big man, only to encounter a second man watching him unblinkingly. “What do you want?”
“We already got what we wanted, Mr. Woods. You’re just… shall we say, the cherry on top.” Fadhil gestured to his murdered family. “As you can see, I already had my fun.” He laughed as he jabbed a short uppercut against Colin’s chin as he charged him with a murderous growl.
“You bastard,” Colin screamed as he landed on the floor from the force of the strike. “You killed my family! What did they ever do to you? Who the fuck are you!” Hysteria trembled in his voice.
“It’s nothing personal, Mr. Woods. You’re just a game piece… a pawn on a chess board— nonsensical but necessary either way.” Abu remained unmoving as he continued dolefully, “It was your unfortunate fate, being that of a high ranking government official, chosen randomly, to send a message. A victim of misadventure, so to speak.”
“So, you killed my family to force me to carry a message to the President? Is that it? You’re fucking delusional. You should’ve kept my family alive if you wanted anything from me!” Colin’s gaze snagged on his son’s sightless eyes. Tears spilled over as raw sobs wracked his body. “They were just kids.”
“We have soldiers in our regime younger than them. Every day, they willingly sacrifice their lives. You should view your family in the same light. Be proud of them dying for a cause… albeit mine and not theirs.” Abu tapped his toe in a rhythmic tune on the wood floor. “At least your son did you proud. Fadhil tells me he put up quite a fight to try and protect his sister.”
“You bastard!” Colin screamed as he charged, only to stumble to a halt as Fadhil pressed a gun against his forehead.
“Yes! Shoot me, you useless piece of shit, because there’s nothing more you can do to me to make me give in to any of your demands.” He heaved in a deep breath. “Fadhil?” His eyes sharpened on the mocking face. “The terrorist, Ali Mohammed Fadhil, who has been at large for over twenty years?”
“Guilty as charged.” Fadhil laughed. “Not that it serves any purpose since contrary to what you think, we don’t want anything from you. The message you’re going to deliver is in death.”
Colin leaned back. The devastation at finding his family murdered had left him numb. Knowing that he was about to follow in their footsteps came as a relief. Living without them, with the memory of their cruel deaths forever etched in his memory at the look of their pain-filled faces was incomprehensible. He pressed his forehead against the nozzle.
“Go ahead. Pull the trigger.”
“This fuckwit is no fun. Good thing you want to finish him since I prefer someone with more spunk.” Fadhil went to the bar and poured himself a stiff drink. “Just get it over with, Abu. I’m getting bored and I’m hungry. This afternoon is turning into a tedious affair.”
Only Colin’s eyes moved between them, his mind racing while every muscle remained tense, waiting for the zero moment.
“Since you’re going to kill me, why not satisfy my curiosity? I know who he is. Who the fuck are you?”
“Abu Mohammed al-Hashisi al-Lurayshi, at your service.”
“The assumed leader of ISIS?” Colin’s eyes widened as Abu nodded with amusement in his eyes mocking him. “What are you doing in the U.S.?” No one knew what Abu looked like since all visuals they’d ever been able to obtain of him had been grainy and unrecognizable. That he stood in front of him now, as clear as sunlight, spelled danger to the country and its people. He was devastated about the loss of his family but frantically searched his mind for a way to escape. To warn the powers that be of the imminent danger he posed to national security.
“It’s time to end the millennial tyranny of infidels and once again establish a global caliphate.”