Lies Among Us

READ DISCLAIMERS IN CHAPTER 1

Warning: There are some graphic descriptions in this part, during a violent scene. Reader beware…

CHAPTER 10

HEAVENLY GARDENS CEMETERY
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI
TWO DAYS LATER

I observed my Brother's casket being lowered, as the soldiers folded the flag before me. Remembering all the good times that we had growing up, which flashed before my eyes. Mike at age six throwing his birthday cake at me, I'm chasing him around the yard with the hose during summer break, His Military graduation, my Academy graduation and our paintball championship.

Seven Honor guards fired into the sky in unison, "BAM...BAM...BAM!!"

A soldier approached me, handing me Mike's flag and saluted.

Returning the salute and held his flag close to my chest. I felt my hand being taken and gently squeezed. Looking over at who took it and realized that it was my Angel. She was lovely staring back at me, smiling. Her eyes bore into my soul, breaking down the door to my emotions and releasing them. I grinned back at her, knowing that she holds my heart and part of my soul. Glancing back at Mike's casket once more, as a lone tear escaped and rolled down my cheek.

MOMENTS LATER

The ceremony was now over and the small group of people came up to me. They each gave me their heartfelt condolences. I knew most of them at one time or another, his friends, his girlfriend Valerie, Jack and his family. Our extended family so to speak. I stared at Mike's coffin one last time, remembering.

“It's going to be alright,” Sam whispered, squeezing my hand.

“I know…”

“Sweet pea,” Jack called out, “Come here, little one.” He was my height, short gray hair, green eyes and medium built. He was dressed in a black suit, as he approached us. “Mike would be proud,” he whispered, giving me a long hug.

“Thanks, Jack.”

“Someone wants to speak to you,” he stated, moving to the side.

“Rachel,” I greeted, “It's been awhile.”

“Taylor, my condolences…” Rachel expressed, hugging me. She was a bit shorter that Jack, long brown hair and deep brown eyes. The tight black dress she wore revealed an athletic build. “The Lord must have needed his wonderful spirit up there,” she said, gesturing towards the sky.

“Yeah, I guess so…” I nodded, “Well, you look good.”

“Thanks,” she grinned and enlightened, “You look very healthy yourself.” She glanced over at the beautiful blond on my right. “Taylor, are you going to introduce us to your friend?”

“Sorry,” I spoke up and introduced them, “Jack and Rachel, this is Dr. Samantha Evans…” I gestured, “Sam this Jack Trebor and his wife Rachel.”

Sam held out her hand and greeted, “It's nice to meet you Mr. Trebor.”

“A pleasure Doctor,” he stated, shaking her hand. “Call me Jack.”

“Alright, Jack...” Sam replied, turning to Rachel. “Mrs. Trebor.”

“Rachel, Honey.” Rachel shook her hand and spoke up, “We're so happy that Taylor here, finally found someone.”

“Rachel,” I voiced, catching the twinkle in her eye.

Sam grinned, “Thanks and call me Sam.”

"Alright Sam," Rachel retorted, “It's true, Dear.”

I sighed, “Sam, Jack and Rachel are close friends of my family.”

“We've known Taylor, since she was born…” Rachel revealed, “She was such a beautiful little Angel.”

I blushed, “Thanks, Rachel.”

“I'm not surprised,” Sam expressed, “She's a gorgeous woman, who happens to be my Warrior.”

I stared at Sam, wondering what I did to deserve this beautiful Angel by my side. I do love you… Feeling Jack's reassuring hand upon my shoulder and relaxed a bit.

“Let's give them some space,” Jack whispered, guiding me away. “So, how's my Sweet pea really doing?”

“A few bruises and scrapes, but I'm fine Jack…really.”

“Did you find who was behind it all?”

I shook my head, “No. But, I did get the murderer and the other-” remembering the Colonel's loud screams, “Perished as well.”

“What about the General?”

“Well, she helped us out of that Hellhole…” I stated, “Which by the way is very real.” I stopped for a moment and revealed, “Gen. Dakota, has been very cooperative in her efforts to find the culprit or culprits behind this whole thing.”

“Just be careful,” he advised and inquired, “She's still a suspect right?”

“But of course,” I replied and continued, “We still have to go back to Nellis to tie up any loose ends. Maybe I'll find something else there.”

“Well, if you need-”

“I know Jack and I appreciate it.”

“Lovely lady got there,” he nudged me, “Don't let her get away.”

“I won't…” I decreed, looking over at Sam. “Believe me.”

“Why don't you two come over and have some coffee.”

“Sorry, Jack…” I said, looking at my watch. “We have a flight to catch.”

“Where too?”

“Albuquerque, New Mexico.”

“Her Father's funeral?”

I nodded, “Unfortunately, yes.”

“Well, some other time.”

“Of course,” I stated, heading back to our girls. “That's a promise.”

He grinned, “I'm holding you to that, Sweet pea.”

AREA 51

General Dakota was touring the destruction in her halls. The smell of death was overpowering, even after the removal of the bodies. Damn… She sent in a clean-up crew to remove all the bodies, two days earlier. So, far the body count was now forty, not including the bodies that were torn to pieces. Shredded beyond belief. Over all my years in the Military, have I seen act such as this.

Soldiers were removing some rubble from a hallway and tossing it into a large metal trashcan.

Liv continued through the rubble and blood towards the camera room. “SWOOSH!!” as she entered into the room and approached the console. “Let's see if there's a DVD,” she voiced and pushed a button. The DVD holder opened revealing it to be empty and pushed another button. A small console turned on and it read, 'TYPE IN CODE'.

After typing it in, another DVD holder opened and it revealed another, a second. “I just love back-up copies…” she whispered, taking the DVD out and switching it with a blank one. “Let's see what we have here,” she muttered, placing it into the original holder and pressed the play button.

The screen lit up with the images of Dr. Tepis and his assistances moving around three large cages. Within those cages were three human beings, sedated and bound spread eagle.

“What in the…”

NELLIS MILITARY HOSPITAL
MORGUE

The large room had built in storage cabinets along two of the walls. They could hold up to forty bodies, but normally remained empty. Four tables sat in the middle of the room, each had a body underneath the sheet.

A figure entered the dark room, dressed in scrubs and approached the bodies. Flicking a small flashlight on and began to read the toe tags. Until, the Stranger found the right one and lifted the sheet to reveal the body of Col. West. His throat was torn open, exposing his ripped arteries and a large chunk of flesh; that was missing. The sheet was pulled further back, revealing the Colonel's nakedness and pulled back over the body.

The Stranger moved towards the office area, picking the lock in one quick move and entered into the room. The beam of light scanned the room, until it found a large shelf containing cardboard boxes. The figure lifted the lid and thumbed through the manila envelopes containing the personal effects of the deceased. The light focused on one particular envelope, Colonel West's. Quickly the Stranger opened it and pulled out a DVD disk and stuck it into their pocket. Closing the envelope and placed it back into the box then, exited the room.

TAYLOR'S HOUSE

After finally changing into something more comfortable, which consisted of a white tank top with a matching sports bra, black jeans and my boots for the plane trip to New Mexico. I stepped out of the bathroom, carrying with me my outfit from earlier hanging from a hanger.

“Taylor, the ceremony was beautiful…” Sam spoke up, as she buttoned her shirt in front of the mirror.

“Yes, it was…” I agreed, laying my clothes on the bed. “Thanks for coming with me, Sam.”

Sam came up from behind me and hugged me. “You're welcome,” she replied and expressed, “I'm sorry, that I didn't get a chance to meet your Brother.”

“He would've loved you, Sam….” I revealed, leaning back into her and feeling her warm body next to mine.

“You think?”

“I know so.”

Sam stated, “Well, if he was anything like you then, I would have loved him too.”

I turned around, pulling her closer to me and gently placed my lips upon hers. The kiss was an innocent one. Until the hunger within, enveloped both of us into it's lair and bringing us together. Our tongues intertwining with each other, tasting the other and fighting for control.

“HONK…HONK!!!” came from outside our room.

We broke the intimate kiss, taking in a much-needed breath and stared into each other's eyes for a moment. “Damn…” I grumbled, realizing whom it was. “Damn, taxi.”

Sam caressed my cheek and whispered, “We can finish this later…”

“Promise?”

She kissed my cheek and replied, “I promise.”

Grinning like a grade-schooler, as I pulled away from her and picked up all our bags. “Let's go, my little Angel…” I said, gesturing towards the door.

ROLLING HILLS CEMETERY
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO

There was a chill to the late afternoon air and the dark clouds hovered above us. They lowered the gray urn into the ground, as the minister quoted excerpts from the bible. His voice along with the howl of the wind blended into one, causing a shiver to run up my spine.

“Thanks for being here, Taylor…” Sam whispered, squeezing my hand.

I leaned over and whispered back, “I'll always be there for you.”

After the ceremony, Sam was approached by some of her relatives. A young couple with child came up to her and said their condolences.

“We're so sorry about Uncle Daniel,” the handsome man spoke up, hugging Sam. The chiseled looks, a six-foot athletic frame, short dark hair and dark eyes would've made him to be a perfect catch to some. “It's so tragic.”

“I know,” she replied, letting go of him. “It's nice to see you again George,” she looked him over, “You look good.”

“Well, Dana here detests couch potatoes.”

“Hey!” a blond haired woman interrupted, carrying a bundled up infant. Her blue eyes stared up at him with unconditional love and stated, “If I have to carry our child for 9 months and deal with the pains that come with it. YOU can at least be fit for us.”

“Hello, Dana…” Sam greeted, glancing down at the newest member of their family. “Oh, let me see the Angel…” she said, moving closer to the baby.

“Sam, do you want to hold her?” Dana asked, lifting the blanket that covered her and gently handed her off. “There you go.”

“Sure,” she replied, taking the bundle of joy into her arms and holding her close. “My…my…you're such an cutie, Gabrielle…” Sam cued, kissing the yawning baby on the forehead. She ran her fingers through the short blond hair, taking in the new baby smell. Gabrielle opened her eyes, revealing deep brown eyes. “She has your looks, Dana…and George's eyes.”

“Gabrielle also has George's appetite,” she informed, nudging him in the side.

“Hey, I can't help it…” he groaned, “It runs in the family, right Sam?”

Sam responded, “I'm afraid so.” She grinned at me and introduced us, “Taylor, this is my cousin George and his wife Dana and this bundle of joy is Gabrielle. George and Dana, this is my friend Detective Taylor Rineheart.”

“Hello, George…” I greeted and shook his hand. “You can call me Taylor. You have a lovely daughter there.”

“Thank you,” he thanked, looking me over. “It's nice to meet you Taylor.”

“Hello, Dana…” I addressed, shaking her hand.

“Hello, Taylor…” Dana spoke up, “So, how did you two meet?”

“We met in Vegas,” I replied, feeling someone's eyes upon me. Who in the hell… Turning towards the voyeur, as our eyes made contact with each other. There stood Gen. Dakota dressed in her class A's, observing us.

Dana voiced, “Oh, really?”

“It's a cute story really,” Sam informed, glancing over at Liv then, at me. “Go on,” she mouthed.

Grinning at her, “Excuse me.”

I approached the General and inquired, “Can I help you?”

“I came by to give my respects to Sam,” Liv stated and revealed, “I've known Daniel for sometime.” She pulled out .45 from her jacket and held it out. “I thought you might like this back.”

“Thank you,” I thanked, taking my weapon and placed it in the waist of my pants. “I'm sorry.”

“To be expected, considering that you believe that I'm involved in this whole fiasco…” Liv explained and enlightened, “I may not be a Saint…but I never claimed to be one.”

Raising a brow as I spoke up, “What are you saying?”

“Be careful,” Liv expressed, turning to me. “There's a saying that sums this all up.”

“What is that?”

“There are always lies among us,” the General decreed and continued, “The further you dig, the deeper you go AND when you do find it…”

“What did you find out, General?” I probed, knowing full well that she's hiding something. “If you know something-”

"YOU need to watch your back,” Liv advised and explained, “Someone close-” A bullet struck her in the chest, silencing her. She then, collapsed to the ground in a heap.

“What the…” I uttered, reaching for her.

Sam noticed them and shouted, “WHAT HAPPENED?”

“I don't know,” I replied, turning her over and perceived blood on her chest. “She's been shot!”

“Oh, GOD!” Sam gasped.

Mourners scattered, trying to find a safe place to hide. Some hid behind other tombstones and a lucky few made it to their cars.

“FIND COVER!” I roared out.

Sam ducked behind a tombstone, took her cell phone out and dialed a number.

After I dragged her to a large tombstone, felt for a pulse and found a weak one. “Just relax General,” I assured, as I applied pressure to the chest wound. “It's going to be all right.” It doesn't look good at all. I scanned in the area behind me and observed a large cluster of trees. Damnit…a sniper.

To be continued...

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