“You’re delusional. That’ll never happen.”
Abu laughed. “You underestimate me, Mr. Woods. Surely you know we believe there is one way to purge the world of non-believers and reinstate the prophecy? Those who convert will eagerly follow our guidance and honor our way of life.”
“Jesus, you’re a delusional piece of shit. You’ll never be able to conquer civilization and subject it to a Medieval theocracy,” Colin snorted. “Don’t tell me you’re honestly pushing to bring about the apocalypse.”
“I would hope it never comes to that but if it did, we are prepared.” A Glock 19 appeared in his hand. “The message your family’s death will send is only the beginning. The destruction of your office, that will leave a crater in the center of Santa Ana, will be but the beginning of violent change— the cudgel with which to beat into submission the unbelieving. If your useless political colleagues are clever enough to put two and two together, that is.”
The mechanical echo of the silencer hardly registered as the round slammed into Colin’s head, tearing away bone and tissue.
“Let’s go, Abu. It’s done.”
“We’re not going anywhere— not until it’s dark. I don’t want anyone to see us leave. Why don’t you check if he left his car in the driveway? If he did, pull it into the garage. Just make sure no one sees you. I don’t want anyone knocking on the door until we alert them to their deaths.”
“Just before the bomb explodes, I imagine?”
“No, immediately after. I want the news to be spread far and wide. That way the bomb exploding won’t be seen as a separate message. They need to realize how vulnerable they are. I want to watch them run around like headless chickens, then we hit them again.” He cut a sideways glance at Fadhil. “Go. Do as I say.” Abu ignored Fadhil’s annoyed muttering as he stared at the lifeless body of Colin Woods lying atop the corpse of his daughter.
Once the violent images had faded into the darkened recesses of his mind and the metallic smell of blood and fear had dissipated, the mental and physical sensations similar to the aftereffects of a riotous orgasm began to play out in a confusion of feelings. It wasn’t unusual for him to indulge in such an intimate killing, of watching up close the powerful command of madness unleashed and swung like a deadly cudgel to shatter and smash irreparably the life force, body, and soul of the victim. All of it, an obligation to rip loose the expected thrill that would gallop and pound like a doped up thoroughbred through the opiated synapses of his mind. For a sexually repressed psychopath, it was a magnificent act of malignant promiscuity— archived in cinematic relief, privy only for a self-indulgent audience of one, forever housed in the blackened cerebral synclines of a monstrously godless mind.
The bullet had entered through the eye socket. It was dark red, pooling with blood, already blackening. Brain matter had exploded from the back of his skull and splattered against the wall. His muscled body looked like an ungainly life-sized doll. The other eye remained open, staring blankly back at him with a shocked-surprise expression, his death mask into eternity.
All in all… it was a good day.
“What are we doing here, Cruz?” Brock grumbled as they shouldered their way through a scrum of reporters flanking the property of California’s Attorney General, Colin Woods.
“I set up cyber alerts while we were in Turkey. Any activity in the U.S. that could be linked to terrorists will appear as red flags on our system. Colin Woods and his family were reported dead this morning. My sources informed me the scene was horrific. One called it “an orgy of death.”
“Which could’ve been a burglary gone wrong,” Brock said.
“My instincts tell me otherwise,” Tanner interjected. He and Jordan had been working various strategy models using the thought process of Islamic terrorists and the Mafia. “It could be the beginning of ISIS’ war on the U.S. I believe this could be the first message.”
“Under the circumstances, it’s probably best practice to investigate every incident,” Jared said. “Especially since the Director of the FBI, himself, insisted we stay involved since we’re already on Boneiro’s case. If there’s a link between the Mafia and ISIS, we need to find a way to stop them.”
“I’m running a facial recognition program through all the street cams and public CCTV footage in and around this area hoping to find something to confirm our suspicions.”
“Jared? I was just about to contact you,” Senior Agent in charge of the investigation, Bill Simms, greeted them as they entered the house. “This is a cluster fuck if I’ve ever seen one.”
“Jesus,” Brock said as the gruesome scene unfolded upon entry into the den. They hastily covered their faces at the acrid smell of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. The toxic gases, still expanding inside the bloated bodies, permeated the air. The stench indicated they’d been dead at least two days.
“What the fuck happened?”
“Preliminary assessment from our forensic analyst indicates that Woods arrived home to find his family already murdered. They were displayed like this for him to find.” Bill looked around. “This was an out and out massacre. The only intent was to kill.” He looked at Jared. “As a message.”
“Has anyone claimed responsibility?”
“No, but you can rest assured this wasn’t a random act of violence. Nothing had been disturbed throughout the entire house. Nothing stolen either. They came here to kill the entire family.”
“So you believe Woods was targeted? An assassination?” Jared stared at the bodies.
“This is too sloppy,” Brock said, as he evaluated the scene. “An assassin wouldn’t take the time to do this. They're in and out. This is different. Whoever did this, took pleasure in the act. Perhaps extremists wanting to make a point?”
“Perhaps.” Bill led the way to the bunker. “The rape and killing of the wife and children happened down here. We’re hoping to find fingerprints but it’s a long shot. There was nothing upstairs.”
“Cruz is already scouring CCTV and street cam footage. We might be lucky.”
Bill looked at Jared. “My guys are on it as well but who do we look for? We have no idea who could be involved, except perhaps the Boneiro Mafia.”
“Leave it with us. Cruz knows what to look for. If we can identify anyone, it might just lead us to their hideout.” Jared headed back upstairs.