Cuda

Cuda slows his pace as the destruction around him starts to register in his mind. This had to end, now, tonight. “Jameson!” Cuda says loudly as he steps into the garage. “I trusted you, you sonofabitch! How could you do this to me? How could you do this to Nicole? Didn’t her father save your life? And this is how you repay him, by killing his daughter!”

There is no more doubt in Jameson’s mind. This was Charlie Steiner talking to him. But what he is saying is wrong, for the most part. For one reason or another, knowing who was after him, eased Jameson’s troubled mind, a little. “Charlie? If that is really you, let’s stop this charade and talk this out, before you cause any more damage. I’ll take my mask off, and be straight with you. Why don’t you take off that suit, so we can look each other in the face, man to man?”

“Because, this isn’t a mask!” Cuda declares as he appears behind Jameson. He spins the Admiral around and shoves him down, knocking over a stack of tires. “This is what I am, now, because of you, Jameson! You created this nightmare, for all of us, so you will suffer it through to the end!” Cuda grabs Jameson and throws him across the maintenance bay, where he collides with a rolling tool box that goes shooting out the door.

“Wait! Wait a minute, Charlie, you don’t have all the facts straight!” Jameson scrambles across the concrete floor, searching for somewhere to hide. Unfortunately, at his age, he isn’t quick enough to get away from Cuda’s rage. “Charlie, there is more people involved with this, than you know! I’m not responsible for everything!”

Jameson’s words fall on deaf ears. Cuda grabs him by his shirt and pulls him up from the floor. “No? But, you’re responsible for enough! You didn’t have to kill Nicky, you bastard! She was pregnant with our child, and you had their lives ended, as if they meant nothing! Well, they meant something to me!” Cuda shoves Jameson backwards, sending him flying through the air about ten feet, before he collides with the garage door. The impact knocks the door from its tracks and sends it crashing to the ground. More security vehicles were entering the airstrip and see the incident, but Jameson knows that they will reach him too late for salvation. “Where can I find your partner, Callistone?”

“Charlie, you have to believe me! I had nothing to do with Nicky’s death! I loved that girl, like she was my own daughter. It was Callistone’s men that shot her. You were the one who killed them at the storage facility, weren’t you? Think about it, you have to see the truth in what I’m saying!” Jameson crawls on his knees as if he was begging for his life.

“Where is he?” Cuda asks as he pulls Jameson up from the roadway.

A spark of hope shines in the eyes of Paul Jameson. With it spews forth everything he knows about Darien Callistone. “His father has a small island in the Bahamas! Darien was going to meet his father, there, and we were to arrive next week. I swear to God, Charlie, it’s the truth.” Jameson stares into the red and yellow orbs that serve as Cuda’s eyes, hoping to see something other than his own reflection.

Cuda stares back at Jameson without changing expressions. Before Jameson realizes what’s happening, Cuda thrusts his hand into Jameson’s chest, and retrieves his heart. Cuda squeezes the tough muscle, burying his claws into the tissue, before Jameson’s horrified eyes. Without wasting a motion, Cuda spins around with his claws outstretched, and removes the Admiral’s head from his shoulders. “Callistone will suffer the same fate.” Cuda declares, as if Jameson could still hear him. By the time the emergency vehicles arrive, all they will find is carnage, death and destruction. There will be no answers for the questions they will have. There will be no clues found, to help them solve this mystery. The case will be abandoned and no one will ever know why this happened tonight.

Cuda stands in the darkness at the far end of the runway, staring at Chesapeake Bay. Behind him he could hear the sirens of the fire trucks as they struggle to save what’s left of the installation. A patrol boat moves along the shore, conducting a search of the bay waters. Soon, they will have a good sight on Cuda, so he decides to head on. Never again will he return to this city. Charlie Steiner now has his closure here. It was time for Cuda to return to his new home. “All along I’ve known the name and never made the connection. Isla de Calliston has to be Callistone’s little island paradise. It also explains the armed goons sailing around attacking other vessels. I guess he thinks that he’s some kind of modern day pirate living in the Caribbean. Look out, Mr. Callistone, there’s a storm heading towards your island paradise.”