Damnation Code (William Massa) - William Massa Page 0,11
her, a smile split Zagan’s face.
Soon the world would experience the terrible power of Omicron.
***
Talon reached Michelle’s neighborhood around 11 p.m and found a parking spot right outside her door. Talon’s good mood changed the moment he approached the townhome. The door was wide open, its surface splintered. A wave of dread sucked the air from his lungs. Unarmed, he knew he should call the cops first, but Talon wasn’t the type to wait around for the cavalry to show up.
He barged into the apartment with quick strides, heart hammering against his ribcage. He was prepared to fight off an army with his bare hands.
When he saw Michelle, an icy hand seemed to tighten around his heart. His mind went blank, world reduced to the horror before him. The woman he loved was lying in a broken, bloody heap.
Talon had encountered death often enough to know Michelle was gone, but logic took a backseat to emotion. He surged toward the body and cradled her scarlet-streaked head. Blood flowed through his fingers… so much blood… Its coppery tang mixed with her subtle perfume.
He held Michelle in his trembling arms, brushing a sheaf of crimson-caked hair from her face.
God, this can’t be happening!
Talon was beyond words and so was the dead woman in his arms.
He was still cradling Michelle when sirens cut through the night and cops exploded into the apartment, guns pointing at him.
“Step away from the body!”
They were shouting at him, but he didn’t hear their words. “I said, step back!”
One of the officers grabbed Talon’s arm and something snapped inside of him. Years of training kicked in and he roughly shoved the cop aside. Wrong move. Immediately, three guns were cocked and laser-lights danced over his chest.
Talon slowly raised his hands, his face turning into a dead mask.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE EVENTS FOLLOWING his arrest became a dark blur. Talon remembered the cops slamming him against the wall at gunpoint and slapping cuffs on him. At first he’d refused to back away from Michelle, unwilling to release her body, to let go of her. As long as he clung to her, death wouldn’t become permanent and irreversible. His thinking stood in the face of logic but he now found himself in a place where his darkest emotions held reign.
As the police officers kept barking orders at him to back away, his 1000-yard stare fixed on the boys in blue. He was daring them to shoot him, part of him wishing they would put him out of his misery. Another thought prevailed and brought him back to his senses. Michelle was gone but her killer or killers were still out there. This realization tore through his mind and became his reason to go on living. Whoever had done this to his girlfriend would pay for their crimes.
He would make sure of it.
After the cops cuffed Talon, they led him to a waiting cruiser. The red-blue light of the sirens washed over his expressionless features. The long drive to the precinct felt like an endless journey down a dark tunnel, a fragmented, hallucinatory trip into his personal hell. He fixated on his cuffed hands — they were still caked with Michelle’s blood — and blocked out the world.
Talon knew he was shutting down. The next thing he remembered was sitting in a bare, gray room facing down two homicide detectives.
As the questions intensified, Talon offered up clipped, angry answers. He’d received a call from an old Army buddy. The timing of the texts on his phone would back up his story and they should contact Erik. Not the best alibi in the world, but his old friend would certainly vouch for him.
Two hours into his interrogation they received his service record and the tone in the room started to change. Especially once Detective Jessica Serrone, an attractive Hispanic woman in her late twenties, arrived. At least with her, steely professionalism and hostile suspicion gave way to pity and empathy. He saw that he’d gone from potential murderer to grief-stricken victim, but this only drove home his loss.
The ordeal ended when Detective Serrone told him he was free to go. Before he stepped out of the interrogation room she returned his belongings, including the small box containing Michelle’s engagement ring. “I’m sorry for your loss,” she said with heartfelt emotion.
Talon turned away from the detective, a man of stone. He walked into the bustling police precinct and found Erik waiting for him. His old buddy had cleaned up as best he could and the