Chapter 33
No one was supposed to die today, and yet six of his men were dead. Martins had found the two spotters and hidden their bodies for later pickup and Jared wasn't sure what had happened to the four in the garage. They might have burned in the fire, or been murdered by the killer.
And whether the killer had been trapped in the fire was something he wouldn't place a bet on. He'd driven out of there as fast as he safely could. He couldn't afford to double check on what had happened with Harold in the truck. He had to protect Harold, the little man had just proven what a valuable resource he could be.
Not knowing about the killer was a problem. With the loss of six more men, he was seriously hampered in the cleansing action, at least until more soldiers came and were trained. But even if he'd had enough men to burn half of the city down, he wouldn't risk them. There wasn't anything he could do until he knew the killer was dead.
Jared looked over at the little man beside him. Harold shoved stir-fried noodles into his mouth from the take out box. He ate like an animal, and lived like one in that basement hole. He was really no better than the people Jared wanted to drive out of this city, out of his country.
And, the little man had frozen today just when they'd had the opportunity to burn the killer to ashes. Jared had nearly murdered Harold at that moment. But then, Harold had shown what he was really capable of. He had burned a whole building down, just by wanting it to happen. That kind of power could make Jared's work unstoppable. He could clean this city in days and move onto the next without having to recruit, train and organize.
With that kind or power, the dominoes would fall faster and farther than he had ever hoped. The service he could do for his country and his people was unimaginable.
He took a bite of an egg roll and smiled over at Harold. "Good, isn't it? Congratulations."
Harold smiled back at him, chewing all the while.
But Jared knew the dangers of that power too. The killer and Harold were different. He didn't know the cause, what had given them these abilities, but he didn't trust it. And he knew that if there were two men like this, there might be more. That was dangerous as well.
The other races were a danger in their numbers. Individually, they were nothing, but as they grew, made up more and more of the population, they threatened good people, they changed the culture, they took the jobs. But if there were more people like Harold and the killer, they would be a bigger threat, no matter the color of their skin.
They would have to be stopped…hunted and killed before they could spread.
And while Jared would use Harold for as long as he could, if the little man became a threat, or refused to do the work that needed to be done, then Jared would start that cleansing with a bullet in the back of his skull.
He swallowed, turned. "Let's get you somewhere comfortable where you can relax. Tonight, I'll talk to Jessica for you."
He saw Harold smile wider.
*