She of the Sea

51 of 53 - A Somber Burial

A fatigued Bruce Webb couldn't believe so much had happened in such a short period of time. The news of the sea creature saving the party boat had been broadcast at noon which led to Tipstaff Security abandoning their stakeout of him. He had inadvertently led them to Cassandra which led to her kidnapping near sunset. They had managed an overnight rescue. Cassandra, depressed over her failure to save Doctor Armando, had returned, transformed back into human form, and changed back into her clothes.

After all that activity, it was still an hour until dawn.

At least it had stopped raining, but a cloying dampness made it impossible for everyone to dry out. All of them were soaked.

Cassandra and Rafe clung together as if fearful to let go of each other. The two of them approached him. Rafe said, "I'm taking Cassandra home. She's been through enough."

They all had, but the girl suffered the most. "Take the company vehicle we came in. Robin gave me the keys." He handed them over.

"Mind if Corky and I sit in the back?" Mick asked. He tuned to Webb. "Unless you need us to help mop up."

"Won't be necessary. Milos, Ofelia, and I can handle it."

"Great, cause I have a breakfast date with a pretty co-ed."

Cassandra kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you. I owe you my life. I probably would've ended up in one of those glass tubes like my momma." She swiped away a tear. "Oh, I don't want to leave her like that."

Webb laid a hand on her shoulder. "I'll take care of it. We'll free your mother and the other lady and take them with us on the boat. We'll return their bodies to the sea."

Cassandra pulled him into an embrace. "Thank you. Let me know if there's anything I can ever do for you."

He chuckled. "What kind of a custodian would I be if I didn't watch over you." He had a thought. "Actually, there is one thing that would help me out of a huge jam. You don't have to if you don't want to." He explained to her what he needed.

She shot him a sad smile. "Consider it done. Just give me a day or two to get over all this."

"Of course."

Earlier, Milos had called one of his employees back in Tarpon Springs to come with a van. With one of their boats destroyed, the fighters who had accompanied them on the boats needed transportation. Milos hadn't warned his driver about Morg the gate guard, so there had been an unfortunate scuffle resulting in Morg being roughed up and now being secured as a prisoner in the same bathroom along with Preston.

As the van pulled away, Webb considered it fortunate that no civilians had been killed.

Webb freed his two remaining teammates. With Armando dead, the contract between Verdanx Pharma and Tipstaff Security had been severed. It was over.

Danno seemed resigned. "I'll deal with Nico's and Razzy's bodies and tell the families they died as heroes in some undisclosable mission involving national security."

It had been the standard company line they always used. They had told Leo's family the same thing after Cassie's mother had killed him during the raid five years earlier.

Claudia sighed over the two dead men, now lumps wrapped in blankets. "I hope Nico and Razzy are with Armando right now in whatever comes after this life and are beating the shit out of him."

Danno stuffed his hands into his pockets. "All things considered, Webb, don't consider me as a friend anymore. I don't ever want to see or hear from you again."

Webb's old teammates were professionals. They accepted dying as a possible outcome of their job, but they also possessed human feelings. "Yeah, I understand." He helped them load the corpses into Razzy's car and watched them drive away.

He was left standing with Milos and Ofelia. They seemed to be waiting for him to tell them what to do. He cleared his throat. "We need to finish and get out of here. Are there anymore blankets?"

Ofelia pointed in the direction of the imaging room. "There's a whole closet full of them in there."

"Can you bring me some? Then do me a favor and free Morg and Preston from their bathroom prison. Tell them not to waste time leaving. We're going to burn this place to the ground."

She nodded and set about doing what he asked.

Webb located two fire stations and removed the axes. He handed one of them to Milos. "Give me a hand."

Together, the two men entered the lab and took a moment to stare at the two women Armando had preserved within their cylindrical glass tombs.

Milos cursed at seeing his dead sister-in-law. "I've done things in this life I'm not proud of, but nothing as hideous as this. I wish Cassandra had never seen, and I'm glad she's not here to witness this." He hoisted the fire axe over his shoulder like a batter stepping up to the plate and dealt the glass a powerful blow.

Webb did the same to the other tube.

The sharp stench of preservative filled the room as it gushed from the shattered tubes, stinging Webb's eyes. The remains of the two women washed out and slid onto the floor.

Quickly, the two men wrapped the corpses in the blankets and carried them to the boat.

Ofelia met up with them by the time they finished. "Morg and Preston called me all kinds of vile names. They told me they would call the cops as soon as they got across the causeway."

Webb snorted. "No problem. We're almost done here and will be long gone." He eyed the crate of grenades Milos had procured from who knows where.

Milos met his gaze, smiling like a little boy about to make mischief. "Let's do this thing."

As Ofelia piloted the boat into the Gulf, Webb and Milos looked behind at the Verdanx Pharmaceuticals facility now engulfed in flames. "Your niece should now be able to live her life without having to constantly look over her shoulder."

"Thanks to you," Milos said. "You've got guts. I could use a man like you in my organization."

Webb laughed at that. "Thank you for the offer, but I'm too old to become involved in the shadowy world you operate in."

Milos raised an eyebrow. "My friend, from what I've learned about you, you've been operating in the shadows your entire life."

Webb wanted to disagree, but after giving it some thought he realized the Greek was right. He had been a soldier turned mercenary and now a private investigator lurking to catch people doing what they should not. He had killed a man a few hours ago and had torched a multi-million-dollar lab. The remains of two dead women rested at his feet.

Both men often operated outside the law and justified their actions under the guise of helping people. He and Milos were the same.

Ofelia throttled back on the engine. "We're three miles out. It should be far enough."

Webb helped Milos hoist the blanket-wrapped bodies onto the gunwale. Gently, they lowered the bundles over the side. The three of them watched silently as the bodies slipped out of sight beneath the waves, the sea welcoming her two sisters back into her bosom.

As if approving, in the east, the sun raised its bright orange face above the distant mainland.

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Top photo credit: Rusty Russ http://www.flickr.com/photos/10159247@N04/47118409912 via photopin.com Creativecommons.org license