XIX

November 9, 2016

2031 Hours

"Alexius, why don't you help Burt out with putting up the groceries, I have to go check something."

James looked down at Dan, and he barely saw his expression in the dark. It was a look of fear. Dan slowly walked down the stairs, James following him close.

"What are we going to do, Dan?" James whispered, trying to make his voice as low as possible. Dan shushed him as they neared the bottom of the stairs. Sanine didn't open the door immediately, which means that she had to check something else.

Or get something to investigate the door. Dan thought. He knew the door was locked before they got there, and then it was unlocked when she came in. An observant person like that would notice something that small. Dan reached the last step, and when he put another foot forward, he felt something soft underneath him.

What the hell. Dan held up a hand to stop James from coming down the stairs. Dan's foot moved on the soft thing below him, and it felt like something was moving, but had a restricted area to move. Putting more pressure, he realized the soft thing was also a little plush, but the harder he pressed, the more resistance there was. Dan got tired of this, and put his whole weight down. As soon as he did, he heard multiple cracks resonate throughout the basement. Dan froze.

"What was that?" James whispered. Dan lifted his foot, and bent down, and felt with his hand. It was clothes fitted around a lukewarm body.

"It's a body." Dan said, white in the face. He stood up, then the door above them opened. Both of the brother's looked up, and saw Kathy standing there, staring at them. She smiled as she saw them.

"Burt, honey. I'm going to be right back!" She exclaimed.

"Okay," Burt retorted from somewhere above. She pulled out the gun she got from before, walked onto the top step of the stairs, and closed the door, sealing them in darkness again.

"Don't suppose we could... talk this out?" James asked. A footstep was heard, signaling Kathy took a step down the stairs. Dan grabbed James hand, and pulled him over the body to the actual floor of the basement. Once they reached the bottom, they saw a single computer on, with it's lights dim. The dim light revealed to the brothers where the light switch was. Another footstep went down the stairs, causing James and Dan to panic.

James pushed Dan towards the light, while he hid right next to the stairs bottom, waiting for Kathy to come down. Dan quickly made his way to the light switch, pulled it, and the basement was flooded with light. The first place Dan looked at was the stairs, and he gasped at what he saw.

There wasn't only one body, as Dan previously thought. There were two. And judging by the context they were in, Dan assumed one of them was at least Rogers.

She would kill her own. Dan thought, scared of this woman. Then he thought of something.

She's a woman. I can take her on. Who am I kidding? James and I can take her on, easily. All James needs to do is tackle her when she comes down the stairs.

Dan looked at James who was crouched in a position where Kathy wouldn't see him until she turned right from the stairs. Perfect spot. Dan looked at the stairs again, ready. Then he realized something. The footsteps stopped. He then noticed something above James' head: it was a long, black nozzle…

"JAMES!" Dan yelled, running to James. James look confused at Dan's sudden turn of demeanor.

"Wha-" A muffled shot ran through the basement quietly, and James eyes went wide. The shot grazed his ear, and ended up landing in his foot. He screamed from the pain, moving away from the spot where he was.

"You guys are truly something else," Kathy said. James was in the corner, holding his bleeding foot. He was trying his hardest not to make any noise.

Let it out James, it doesn't help if you hold it in. Dan thought. Kathy made it down the stairs, pistol in hand with a silencer attached to it.

"I thought you guys were professionals! Oh my. Looks like I'm going to have to take matters into my own hands."

"Like you did with Rogers?" Dan said, pointing to the dead bodies. Kathy looked behind her, and fake sighed.

"Unfortunately he had to go. Both of them. They messed up, and I can't allow any room for fuckups. I'm sure you understand Dan."

"Can't say I do," Dan commented. He looked over at James in the corner, and right above him. Sitting there on a shelf was a sword.

Is that a sword?

James looked up to see Dan staring at him. With his eyes, Dan looked at the sword, then back at James, hoping he would get the message.

"You're brother is in a lot of pain, but I wouldn't worry about him right now Dan. It's your life that you should be worried about." Kathy explained as she raised the pistol to aim at Dan. He stood there, frozen. He needed to stall.

"Why?" Dan asked. Kathy kept aim at Dan, her arm never wavering.

"Why what?" She asked. Dan tried to think of something. Then the obvious clicked.

"Why did you kill your son?" Dan asked. Kathy pulled back the top of the gun, loading it.

"I didn't." She stated.

"Bullshit. You killed your own son, and then hired Rogers over there to make it seem like he did it. A burglary gone wrong..." Dan just remembered something.

The PS3.

"You made him steal the PS3 and hide it, but it was in your game room when I went up there. The only reason he turned himself in was because you promised to bail him out as soon as possible." Dan looked at the bodies again, and finally recognized the top one. "You even had an inside man in the prison to secure Rogers' safety. That, or to keep his mouth from blabbering. He posed as his officer. Am I doing a good job so far?" Sanine never left her eye wander from the aim sight.

"You're good." She said, "Too good."

"Yeah, and I put up my toys properly," Dan commented. Kathy blinked at the random comment.

What. She thought. Suddenly, she felt a body clash into hers, causing them to both fall to the ground. James was now on top of Kathy, with the sword in his hand. He threw it in Dan's direction, and he picked it up with ease. James got off while Dan picked Kathy up, holding the sword to her neck.

"What's stopping me from killing you right now?" Dan breathed into her ear. Kathy looked at James, and smiled.

"Him." She said, pointing to James. Dan looked at James, and saw he had the gun pointed at them. He had the shot foot raised a few inches off the ground, putting all of his weight on his other leg.

"Dan, don't do it," James pleaded. Dan looked at James with a curious look.

"We can end it right now if we wanted to James," Dan said with a smile. The pain and suffering of this case would go away. "The end is nigh!"

"Dan, stop it!" James said. Kathy started to laugh, but stopped when she felt the edge of the sword press against her throat. "Look, do you want to kill someone Dan? Because if you do, that's going to haunt you for the rest of your life." Dan eyed Kathy, then back at James.

"It'll help." Dan said, in an almost broken voice.

"Help with what?" James asked, almost certain what the answer was going to be. He handled the gun carefully in his hand, not wanting to use it, but if he had to…

"Help avenge Chelsea. If I couldn't kill Rogers to do that, I'll stick with the next best thing. That, and this heartless monster did kill her own son."

"I did NO-"

"SHUT UP!" Dan yelled, pressing the sword against her throat so it drew a little blood. James was about to say something else when a shot rang out in the basement. This one wasn't muffled, but left a ringing in everyone's ears. Dan closed his eyes, as did Kathy.

Except the ringing in James' ears weren't from the shot. James dropped the gun from his hand. Dan opened his eyes to see James standing there, white faced. His hand clutching his stomach, which had blood pouring out of it. Everything slowed.

Dan yelled out James' name, but James didn't recognize it. He kept staring straight forward, his whole body wavering. The weight on his good leg gave out, causing him to fall onto his knees. In all of this commotion, Kathy brought her arm in front of her, and brought it back, hitting Dan square in the chest. Dan dropped the sword in shock, and stumbled backwards holding his side.

Kathy grabbed the sword from the ground, and walked to where the shooter was standing. As she passed James, she pushed him, causing him to fall to his side.

On the opposite side of the room was Burt. A smoking revolver in his hand. Kathy looked at him, and smiled.

"You're so hot." She said as she kissed him. Dan looked up to see who shot his brother, and saw Burt there. They were currently too preoccupied to see what was going on. Dan looked down at James, who was looking at him. James smiled, then brought out a black silver stick with a button on top.

"Wha-" Dan was about to say, but James pushed it. A second later, there was a loud commotion upstairs. Kathy and Burt broke away, both looking up the stairs.

"What's going on?" Kathy asked as she ran up the stairs. Burt looked from her, to Dan on clutching his side. It didn't hurt too bad by this point, but he stood there in shock.

"What." Dan said, staring at Burt. He shrugged.

"I always knew what was going on. That Kathy was Sanine, that you guys were investigating us. I have cameras set up everywhere around this house, and I'd be damned if anyone hurts my Ki-"

"LET GO OF ME!" Kathy yelled from upstairs. Burt immediately cocked the revolver, and ran up the stairs.

"Honey, are you okay?" Burt yelled. Dan was left alone in the basement with James on the floor, barely breathing. Shaking his head, he ran to James.

"James, please, say something. Stay with me," Dan pleaded. James looked up at Dan with faded eyes. His face only showed one emotion: satisfaction.

"We got her..." James mumbled. Dan picked up James' head, and held it tight.

"What do you mean, James?" Dan asked. James eyes started to flutter slowly. "No. No, you son of a b***h, you stay with me."

"The bug..." James mumbled, "I have bug... cops outside..." Dan was confused on what he was talking about.

"Cops? What cops? Who dialed 91-" Then it hit Dan. James asked of him earlier to drop him off at the police station before coming to the house.

"James, I don't understand why you want to come back here," Dan said, "We have to get over to Sanine's house ASAP!"

"I know, but please, let me do this one thing, okay? Maybe if I tried to explain it, they'll listen. It's our only hope," James explained. Dan stared straight ahead, not wanting to say a word. He knew in his head what he was going to do, whether or not the cops were involved or not.

James got out of the car, and walked inside the police building. Sitting at the desk was Greg again. He was reading some paperwork until he looked up at the new visitor.

"Well if it isn't Mr. Brotective!" Greg quickly went to the door behind him and yelled, "GUYS, HE'S BACK!" The six officers came to the front, expecting some kind of show out of James.

"So, what do you have in store this time?" An officer asked.

"Yeah, did Ghandi commit mass genocide?" One cop joked. The rest of them laughed, but James kept his face neutral.

"I have a little wager for you guys," James explained. All of the cops stopped laughing at once. Greg stepped forward to speak to James.

"What kind of wager?" He asked.

"I know you didn't believe me and my brother's story, but it is true. Regardless, you probably still won't believe me, however, that doesn't matter. I want all of you guys to come to the address I'm about to show you, but don't come inside or let anyone around the neighborhood until the family that lives there  comes home. After they go inside, wait outside the house until I press this button." James pulled out a black metal rod with a button on the end. "It connects to a another piece of metal that will vibrate, signaling for you guys to come inside."

"What the hell is all this for? And why would we do this?" Greg asked, the guys behind him muttering in agreement.

"I will be wearing a bug that will record Sanine's confession. I will only press the button when the confession is set." Greg looked behind him, and saw some guys considering what James was saying.

"What's in it for us?" Greg asked.

"I'll buy you all dinner tonight at whatever restaurant you want," James said. This caused a commotion of the guys as they decided where to eat. Greg stared at James, and James stared back. "Like you said, you guys never get action in Hemingway, Texas. If you're just itching for something to happen, then follow my lead."

Greg grunted, signaling yes. James smiled, handed him the piece of metal, along with a note that had the address of the house.

"Don't make it obvious that you're following us, take as few cars as possible. Have one following us, and another taking an alternate route to this address." Greg nodded, and James left the police station.

"You took your sweet a*s time, what happened?" Dan commented as James got in the car.

"They laughed at me too," James lied. Dan chuckled lightly. "Hey, do you think we can stop by the gas station real quick? I need a sudoku book to pass the time... and I need to use the restroom." James didn't really have to go to the restroom, he just needed to implant the bug somewhere isolated.

"Fine, but that's your final stop." Dan warned. James saluted sarcastically, and they drove off.

"You asked them to follow us here," Dan said. James nodded weakly, his conscious beginning to fade. James' arm went to his jacket side, and revealed underneath it, a microphone. James was bugged. James plan finally hit Dan, and he stared at his dying brother.

"James... I don't want to lose you too..." He whimpered. James looked up at Dan, and smiled. He slowly moved his hand up to Dan's face, and held it there for a sec.

"I'll always... be with you... It's... not your fault..." James muttered. His hand fell from the side of Dan's face, and hit the ground hard. The colorful life in his eyes disappeared right before Dan's eyes.

"James." Dan said. His body was motionless. "No, not you too, don't leave me alone!" Dan shook James body, but nothing happened. It moved as if it was almost a puppet.

Footsteps stormed down the stairs, and Dan looked up to see Greg from the police headquarters. Greg stopped short, looking at the two dead bodies at the end of the stairs. He then looked over and saw Dan holding James in his arms. He didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry," Greg said. Dan, with tears now stricken down his face, looked back at James, not responding to Greg. Greg spoke into a walkie talkie on his shoulder about backup in the basement.

He then stepped over the bodies, and walked to the two brothers. Crouching down, Greg looked down to see the bug still there.

"That thing has the confession on it, right?" Greg asked. Dan nodded his head, his whimpering almost audible. Greg nodded, and thought it would be inappropriate to try to take it right now.

"Okay, well," Greg stood up, and stretched his arms. More footsteps were coming down the stairs from behind him. "We have Kathy and Burt in custody now. They're currently sitting in the police car, waiting to be taken down to the jail..." Greg looked over at the mass of computers to the side. "There should be enough evidence to convict Kathy to a lifetime sentence, and maybe her boyfriend too."

Dan didn't react to a single thing Greg said. All he could focus on was his brother's face. He was tracing it with his fingers, trying to remember all the tiny details about him.

"Look, Dan, you should get out of here, okay? We got it from here." Greg said. Dan shook his head stubbornly, clutching his brother's body.

"He's all I've got," Dan said, his voice broken. His soul was shattered. Greg had no idea how to respond to this type of behavior.

"Yeah," Greg said. He then looked behind him, and saw two other officers investigating the bodies. Greg coughed to grab their attention, and they stood straight to attention. Greg nodded with his head to Dan, signaling for them to get him out of there.

The two officers went to Dan, and both grabbed him. "Come on buddy, this will be easy if you don't struggle." Dan didn't acknowledge them, but he gripped James' body with all of his strength. He wouldn't let go. He couldn't let go.

"Sir, please." The other officer said. They both tugged at Dan, but he didn't budge.

"No..." Dan muttered. Both officers tried pulling him again, but Dan had a death grip.

"No..." Dan muttered again. Greg sighed, and bent down to help them.

"No..." Dan muttered, a little louder this time as three grown men tried to separate him and his brother.

"Dan, come on man. You have to let go, he's gone." Greg tried to explain as he pulled on Dan's arms.

"No, no, no, no, no," Dan said, getting louder with every word. Greg finally released one arm, letting the officers have more leverage on Dan.

"No!" Dan shouted as the officers successfully pulled him away from James. "NO! NO! NO!" Dan yelled as he clutched James' shirt with one hand.

"NO! I NEED TO BE WITH HIM! I NEED HIM!" Dan yelled, physically fighting to try to stay with James. Greg took this opportunity to take the bug from James' person.

"We need more guys down here to escort Dan," Greg spoke into his walkie talkie.

"JAMES! JAMES WAKE UP! PLEASE!" Dan yelled. The two officers detaining him could barely hold him as he tried to get to his brother. Dan's jeans were soaked with James' blood that was on the ground. The smell was starting to get to everyone. More officers came running down the stairs to help escort Dan.

"JAMES! HELP ME! I CAN'T DO THIS WITHOUT YOU!" Dan yelled as they pushed him up the stairs. Greg was left alone in the basement with James laying there in front of him. The bug was in Greg's hand, and he looked around. There was sword on the ground and a pistol with a silencer attached to it to the side.

"JAAAAAAAMESSS!" Dan yelled as they pushed him out the door. Greg got out his phone to dial the ambulance. Multiple dead bodies, and a possible psycho.

The cops stormed upstairs, into the hallway, and busted down all the doors. The one with drawings on them opened easily, as it was unlocked. The one with the police box took a few kicks, but it was broken in. In it, was a room with air that feels like it hasn't been disturbed since a week. The last room wasn't kicked down, as the guy trying couldn't break through.

He called for the other two, and together, they were beating on the door. After a minute of beating, they heard screaming from the other side. This only made them try harder. Eventually, they kicked through the wood, and the lead officer looked inside.

Inside was a gray room with a single bed, a dresser, a window with bars on the inside and outside, and someone against the wall in fear. It was a young teenage girl.