Tuesday, April 05, 2005

To (Un)Live and Die in Las Vegas...Part 4

I have gathered myself and have resolved to continue with the narrative where we last left off...

Looking around the at the carnage in the suite, and being faced by several members of a Las Vegas Police Department tactical squad with weapons drawn, I dropped my baton and raised my hands.

I could see that at least one of the younger officers was about to lose his dinner, so I complied with all the instructions I was given. I didn’t need to add to the chaos by trying to resist these guys. I did indicate that I was an FBI Agent and that my credentials were in my jacket pocket.

They still handcuffed my ass, which is pretty much standard procedure when responding to a scene like this, so I didn’t take any offense. As they began to survey the room for any survivors, I was led from the room into the hallway. Two officers remained with me as another 4 searched the suite. The young man I had bribed on this floor by the elevator was busy talking to another officer further down the hall, clearly indicating that I was the only to come up the elevators in a little while, but I was too far away to hear any of the details.

Instead I listened as the team checking the suite called out that there were a total of 8 bodies inside the suite, and that no one was left alive. Since we were standing still, I used that chance to leave my body briefly to make contact with those spirits of the deceased that might still be lingering.

Jenny’s spirit was the only I could locate immediately, she was looking down at her broken body, still stunned in the way that some victims of sudden, violent deaths can be.

“Jennifer, I am so sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I tried to save you.”

She looked back at me, eyes shimmering. “I know Mr. Bones. This whole gathering was a trap. That mean man with the dread locks told me about it just before you came up.”

“What happened, exactly?”

“Mr. Tinker invited us up for a little party to celebrate our first night of Convocation. I thought it would be a fun thing to see what the suites looked like here.”

“Who else was with you?”

She sobbed, “Eric was with me, and a couple of other students from different parts of the country. I don’t remember their names.”

“Then what happened?”

“While we were playing some music and starting to mingle, Mr. Tinker came out from his bedroom after making a phone call. Shortly after that, that evil man showed up with his monster that looked like you in some ways, but was so evil...it just started swinging it’s weapon. I don’t remember too much after that.”

“Did Mr. Tinker get attacked as well?”

“Yes. He was the first one that monster killed. He was screaming about b eing on their side, but it clubbed him down. It was horrible Mr. Bones.”

“Jennifer, can you do me a very big favor?”

She nodded.

“I need you to seek out Cerrydwen or John Redbear, they need to know what happened here, and that they are all in danger. Tell them I will be at the police station, under questioning. Please let them know that I didn’t have anything to do with this massacre. It looks like I have been set up to take the blame for this. Can you do this for me? It is very, very important?”


She nodded again, became even more translucent, and disappeared as she left to go find the others, or so I dearly hoped.

That whole conversation happened in the matter of seconds in real time, so it wasn’t even noticed that I was immobile for a moment by the officers who were watching me. I slid back into my body, felt the connection reform and shifted my weight from one foot to the other.

The one officer was done questioning the young man down the hall and was walking towards me. He was apparently the lead officer on the scene, as he directed the officers guarding me to take me down for transport, and to use the service elevator to avoid the public areas of the resort.

With a grunt, I was lead away and escorted down to a waiting police van. They were very careful to keep me out of sight from the general public. I walked with them calmly. There wasn’t much to say at this point, they hadn’t even read me my miranda rights, but I attributed that to the shock they must be experiencing, and hopefully to the doubts in their minds (however small they might be) that I was not the killer.

It was a quiet, lonely ride to the City of Las Vegas Police Headquaters.

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