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  Captain Monahan rubbed the back of his balding head. “The thought had occurred to me. That guy is bad news.â€�

  Michael sighed. “Look, Richard and I were both convinced Hallowed was our man before. Now, we have his experimental data, the hit by Ming’s man, and the deaths in this paramedic truck accident. Even the witnesses at the scene said the guy had blood on his hands, a wild look in his eye, and ran off laughing about it all.â€�

  “He could’ve been in shock,â€� Captain Monahan said.

  Michael slapped the pen down on the written order. “He’s our guy, Captain. He’s just like his pet rat in the experiment. I watched that thing kill two anacondas, for Pete’s sake.â€�

  Captain Monahan sighed. He took the pen and signed the order. “Be careful, Mike. If this goes bad, I don’t even know your name.â€�

  Michael smiled, snatching the order off the desk. “Don’t worry, Captain. As crazy as this guy is about his research, he’ll show up, and we’ll be waiting for him.â€�

  HALLOWED_BE_THY_NAME

  13 GENERATION X

  “I’m in!â€� Jay crowed.

  Jonathan turned up a soft drink and finished it. “It’s about time.â€�

  Jay put on his best wounded face. “Can you hack into this system? Can you hack into any system—oh wait; I forgot I was talking to the dead guy.â€�

  Jonathan joined him at the computer. “Formerly the dead guy, thank you very much. What have you got?â€�

  Jay scrolled through a menu of documents pertaining to the Generation X Mutagen. “Here’s one called Physiologic Regeneration,â€� Jay said, clicking the icon. They scanned the report, written by Trenton himself.

  Jay sat back in his chair, tapping his chin with his finger. “If I’m reading this right, Trenton’s test animals became super strong, with much faster reflexes. They also became uncontrollable and highly aggressive, until each one had to be destroyed.â€�

  “I’m impressed,â€� Jonathan said. “How’d you learn to interpret this kind of data as a high school dropout?â€�

  “Lots of Star Trek and an addiction to Wikipedia,â€� Jay said, leaning forward to examine the screen. “Hey, check this out. It looks like Trenton had trouble keeping the test animals down. He tried injecting them, even gassing them to death, but they recovered almost every time. He finally had to cremate them.â€�

  “Then it seems we have our answer as to what happened to you, Jonathan,â€� Joseph said from the shadows. “There’s something else, I’m afraid.â€�

  Jonathan saw the cell phone in his hand. “What is it?â€�

  “I called the hospital, in hopes of speaking with Trenton. The ambulance never arrived with him.â€�

  “What do you mean? What happened to him?â€�

  “I called Detective Stamos. He asked if I had seen any sign of Trenton. It seems the ambulance crashed into a bus while en route. Bystanders say Trenton appeared outside the vehicle, walking around with blood on his hands. None of the others survived. The detective said only Trenton’s lab assistant was killed before the ambulance crashed.â€�

  Jonathan lowered his face into his hands. “What happened to Trenton?â€�

  “Eyewitnesses told police Trenton bowed to them, grinning like the Devil himself, and then ran off, laughing hysterically.â€�

  “What did you tell Stamos?â€� Jonathan asked.

  “The truth—I haven’t seen Dr. Hallowed since the shooting at the lab,â€� Joseph said. “He did ask me how I was doing and expressed his regret for your death. Of course, I didn’t mention your unexpected recovery.â€�

  Jonathan might have smiled, after all he was glad to be alive, but evidence continued to mount against Trenton. The mutagen had transformed the lab animals into super versions of themselves, virtually unable to die. What had it done to Trenton? “I think we had better keep searching these files for as much info as we can get,â€� Jonathan said. “Did Detective Stamos say what they plan to do now?â€�

  Joseph pulled up a chair, with Jonathan, behind Jay. “He didn’t say, but apparently Genetic Corp has been shutdown indefinitely, pending this investigation.â€�

  •••

  Trenton surveyed the scene at Genetic Corp, from behind one of the border hedges. Everything was dark now. Yellow police tape crossed the front of the building, warning people not to tamper with the crime scene. Despite a moonless night, Trenton saw the two police officers attempting to hide themselves in the shadows.

  He felt like an owl hunting mice in the dark—a silent but deadly predator. Nothing would keep him from claiming his mutagen formulas. They belonged to him. Without those formulas, he wouldn’t be able to share his discovery with the rest of mankind. Without those formulas, he wouldn’t be able to stop the worst effect of the mutagen.

  •••

  Officer Bunch pulled the wrapper off a stick of gum and pushed it into his mouth. He chewed a few times, then blew a bubble. Pop.

  “You want to let everyone in the world know we’re here?â€� his partner hissed.

  “Shut up, Jack,â€� Bunch said.

  Jack sent him an unfriendly hand gesture. “Who you tellin to shut up? You don’t want any of this, Bunch.â€�

  Officer Bunch wadded up his gum wrapper and tossed it at his partner. “You’re worried about me giving up our position, while you stand there smoking that nasty cigar? You can see it glowing a mile away.â€�

  “Ah.â€�

  “Anyway, I think this is a huge waste of time,â€� Bunch complained. “That kook ain’t gonna show up. Who calls out a SWAT unit for one guy, anyway? This is crazy.â€�

  Jack blew out a puff of cigar smoke and smiled. “Doesn’t bother me—as long as I’m getting paid overtime.â€�

  Officer Bunch jumped at a crashing sound from the parking lot in front of them. He drew his MP5 submachine gun to his shoulder, aiming the night-scope into the darkness. “What was that?â€�

  “I don’t know. It sounded like somebody kicking the side of a car, or something.â€�

  “There aren’t any cars in the parking lot.â€� Officer Bunch swept the night-scope back and forth. “There’s too much glare coming off those street lights.â€�

  Something shifted within the green field of his night vision optic. Massive glare from the street lamp filled the scope. “What the—?â€�

  Officer Bunch looked up just in time to see the street lamp come crashing down on their position. Bunch jumped out of the way, as the four-way lamp head smashed into the ground. He rolled over and saw the massive steel pole lying horizontal on the concrete where he had been standing. His partner lay crushed beneath it. “Jack!â€�

  A blur darted through his peripheral vision. Officer Bunch raised his weapon, only to have it snatched from his grasp by a shadowy figure. The breath exploded from his chest as the intruder punched him in the breastbone. Even his flack jacket didn’t diminish the impact. He flew off the ground, landing against the side of the Genetic Corp building, unable to breathe.

  “Too bad about your partner,â€� Trenton said.

  Officer Bunch tried to cough, wheeze, anything to get air into his lungs again.

  “Oh, don’t worry,â€� Trenton assured him, “you’re going to join him, momentarily.â€�

  Officer Bunch’s eyes bugged, his face turning a rich cyanotic blue. He slumped down the wall, losing his fight for air.

  HALLOWED_BE_THY_NAME

  14 INTRUDER

  “Hey, I’ve found something else,â€� Jay said. He bit off a piece of de
livery pizza. “This file is encrypted.�

  “What is it?â€� Jonathan asked.

  “It’s entitled, “Full Burn Side Effect.â€� The encryption will take longer, but I can hack it.â€�

  Joseph walked into the room with his cell phone open. “Jonathan, that was the police.â€�

  “Detective Stamos again?â€�

  “No. This was about the morgue. Apparently, there has been a robbery. Someone has stolen your body.â€�

  Jay snickered as he typed. “If they only knew.â€�

  “Actually, that’s what concerns me,â€� Jonathan said. “Won’t they do an investigation?â€�

  “They certainly will—especially with the connection to the shooting and Trenton,â€� Joseph said.

  “They’ll find the door was kicked out from the inside,â€� Jonathan said.

  “Probably with your bare footprints on the floor—maybe even your blood on the broken window glass,â€� Joseph said.

  Jonathan grimaced. “That will lead them back here.â€�

  Joseph agreed.

  “Then we’ll need to hurry this along, Jay,â€� Jonathan said. “We’ve got to leave.â€�

  “Why not just tell the police what’s going on?â€� Jay asked, taking another bite of pizza.

  “Not until we actually know, for ourselves, what’s happening,â€� Jonathan said.

  •••

  A brief hint of static squawked in Michael’s earpiece. “Detective Stamos, we’ve got a street light down outside and two men dead.â€�

  So that’s what it was—he’s here. “Right, copy that,â€� Michael replied. “Everybody on your toes. Our suspect has arrived, gentlemen. Remember, he’s extremely dangerous. He’s already made the first move—shoot to kill.â€�

  His SWAT unit responded, “Copy that.â€�

  Michael lowered his night-vision visor. The building had been blacked out for a good reason. Hopefully, forcing Hallowed to stumble around in the dark would give Michael, and his team, the edge they needed to take him out—an edge his partner had not had a couple of nights ago.

  Images of the doctor’s experiment haunted him now—a white rat tearing two of nature’s most dangerous predators to pieces. Trenton Hallowed had become the white rat. Suddenly, Michael had the sinking feeling his SWAT unit would not be enough.

  He had gone through the training himself, some years back, but ultimately decided on becoming a detective instead. His father had been a detective. It was important to Dad.

  Michael heard glass shatter in the distance. He and two other officers responded. They glided down the hallway using the shadows for cover—their MP5s trained ahead of them. The thin carpet helped mask their steps. They drew close to a corner.

  Michael heard a scream, both in his headset and ahead of him. One of their fellow officers flew past the intersection into view, slamming into a decorative vase in the corner. The hallway erupted in machine gun fire, as the officer recovered and fired in the direction he had just been thrown from. Another gun went off, almost simultaneously.

  Michael ran forward as the officer fell under return fire. He reached the corner, stopping with two officers in tow. When Michael nodded, they rounded the corner and caught sight of a man. Michael noticed a uniform and held his fire, but the officers with him did not. “No, don’t!â€� Michael warned.

  The officer screamed through his headset, as they cut him down by accident. “Hold your fire!â€� Michael ordered. As soon as the officers realized what had happened, Trenton stepped out from behind the slain officer, he had used as a shield, and fired. One of the SWAT officers went down. Michael ducked behind the wall, as bullets chewed up the sheetrock.

  “Give it up, Hallowed!â€� Michael yelled.

  Trenton laughed. “Why if it isn’t Detective Stamos. Are you the one responsible for throwing me this grand party?â€�

  The second officer with Michael shot out from the corner, but was immediately hit by the body of the officer Trenton had been hiding behind. He fired in a panic, just before the dead body smashed into him. Michael pushed his submachine gun around the corner, found Trenton in the night-scope, and fired. As soon as he did, Trenton disappeared.

  More laughter. “You’ll have to be quicker than that, Detective.â€�

  Michael switched ammo clips and called into his headset. “Officers down in the west wing, repeat, officers down. Suspect is in the west wing and armed. Dispatch, this is Detective Michael Stamos at the Genetic Corp building. We have the suspect surrounded, officers are down. We need backup, immediately, and paramedics to the scene, copy?â€�

  Trenton’s voice boomed at him from everywhere, over the intercom system. “Do you suppose they can get here in time, Detective? You and your men don’t have long to live.â€�

  “Copy, Detective Stamos, backup and paramedics are en route to your location,â€� the dispatcher said through Michael’s earpiece.

  Michael checked on the second officer. He was unconscious, but alive. Michael rounded the corner again. He didn’t know where the main intercom might be controlled, until he saw a hallway phone receiver dangling—recently dropped. He breathed deeply, made sure his weapon was ready, and proceeded down the dark hallway. “All right, Hallowed. I’m coming for you.â€�

  •••

  Joseph came back into the study where Jonathan and Jay sat at his computer. “The police scanner is going mad, sir. A SWAT team is calling for backup at Genetic Corp. The suspect is Trenton Hallowed.â€�

  Jonathan winced at the name. “Trenton went back to Genetic Corp?â€�

  Joseph sat two large suitcases down on the floor, next to some other supplies he was gathering for their departure. Jonathan looked at his bodyguard. “What do you really think is going on, Joseph?â€�

  “Sir, your cousin was in the same room, in the same chemical fog. For all we know, Trenton may have been using the mutagen on himself. Maybe Detective Stamos has been tracking Trenton for good reason.â€�

  Jonathan stood up. “Trenton…a murderer? I don’t believe that.â€�

  “Sir, we don’t know the full effects of this Generation X Mutagen. We’ve already witnessed its effect on the lab rat in the experiment, and its ability to heal you of fatal gunshot wounds.â€�

  Jonathan leaned on the desktop. “Joseph, do you expect me to believe my own cousin is a superhuman, serial killer?â€� He pounded the desk once with his fist, in anger. The legs shattered, and the desk tumbled sideways into the floor.

  Jay caught his laptop just in time. “Hey!â€�

  All three of them looked at the pummeled piece of furniture, horrified.

  “Sir, we clearly must consider all the possibilities,â€� Joseph said. “Trenton has gone back to Genetic Corp for a reason. An entire SWAT team is calling frantically for backup, against one man.â€�

  Jonathan stammered, searching for an answer, looking at the shattered desk. “Okay, Joseph. Why would he go back there with the police waiting for him?â€�

  They looked at one another, simultaneously coming up with the answer. “The mutagen!â€�

  Jay turned to them. “You have to read about the side effects of this stuff, written in this journal entry.â€�

  Jonathan joined Jay on the floor with the computer. “There’s no time, Jay. Can you stop access to Trenton’s files from here?â€�

  Jay smiled. “Does a bear—â€�

  “All right, just do it and hurry,â€� Jonathan said.

  “Do you want me to shut him out completely? There’s vault access, and everythi
ng, available here.�

  “The vault is where he got the chemical for the experiment,â€� Jonathan said. “Yes, shut down everything. If that stuff does what we think, then we can’t let him have it.â€�

  Jay’s fingers flew over his keyboard—their natural environment. “I’ll lock it up so tight, with encryption, he’ll never even get into the mainframe.â€�

  Joseph grabbed the suitcases off the floor. “We’d better get moving, Jonathan. With all of this going on, the police won’t delay very long in coming here—especially if Trenton escapes Genetic Corp.â€�

  Jonathan grabbed some of the duffle bags Joseph had assembled in the room. “Do you think Trenton would come to the house?â€�

  Joseph looked at him. “If he does, we don’t want to be here.â€�

  HALLOWED_BE_THY_NAME

  15 ONSLAUGHT

  Static mingled with shouts and screams, in Michael’s earpiece, as he hurried through the dark corridors of Genetic Corp. He heard Trenton speaking. “You’re missing the party, Detective.â€�

  The sounds of sporadic gunfire echoed off the walls. Michael proceeded with caution looking before and behind. He saw muzzle flashes playing against the wall up ahead. Another voice screamed and was abruptly silenced through his earpiece. He ran toward the end of the corridor and stopped short at the corner, finding a double doorway just beyond.

  Michael checked his ammo reader—almost a full clip left. A guestbook sat upon a podium on the opposite side of the doorway. He had seen this before. Michael had signed the guestbook at the party celebrating Trenton Hallowed’s grand exhibition. Beyond the doorway, he would find the huge foyer with its double staircases and buffet tables.