was no noise, but what they saw was bad enough. The double doors flew open as four workers, clearly terrified, burst through. Two dark forms, moving so fast that they appeared almost as shadows, followed them.
Mac watched as the shadow-figures caught each man in turn, brought him close, and held him in a macabre embrace, mouth pressed to their victim's neck. When they finished with one, the attackers flung the lifeless body away and grabbed another.
Mac saw the security guard, moving too slowly to be effective, pull his gun and fire. The dark forms did not falter, but when the last of the four workers lay dead, one of the two forms attacked the guard, whose face was turned toward the camera. His expression of stark terror was undeniable, and when his mouth opened, Mac was again grateful that they couldn't hear the man's primal scream.
After discarding the guard's body, the dark forms lingered for the briefest of moments before disappearing through the double doors.
Within seconds, the grisly images replayed in the lab. This time, when the bodies were discarded and the dark forms left, they did not reappear elsewhere—they simply disappeared.
The monitor went black as the group stood in stunned silence. Mac spared a glance at Lanie to make sure she was okay. Her jaw was clinched tight, and he thought her breathing sounded erratic, but she was tough, he decided, and would be okay.
"I'd like to see it again," he said to the technician. "But can we watch it in real time?" He wanted to get a better look at the two dark figures.
The tech glanced over his shoulder. "That
was
real time."
Damn. A
bad feeling stole over him, but he refused to focus on it. "Can you slow it down, then?"
The tech nodded and, turning back to the desk, typed in commands at the keyboard. A second later, the entire horrifying scene replayed in slow motion, but this time when the dark forms came into view, it was evident that they were human. Mac watched closely.
"Stop the recording," he ordered after a second. "Can ; you rewind a bit? Okay, now go forward, but slow it way down." The tech typed in the commands to comply, and Mac studied the action on the screen. "Freeze."
The image froze and the two attackers' faces were almost facing the camera.
"Can you zoom in?" Dirk asked.
The faces seemed to jump out at the group, fuzzy but identifiable, and he felt his own blood run cold. Beside him, Lanie gasped. On the screen, bloodied yet smiling, was Lance Burton. Standing next to him was an older man who Mac assumed was Dr. Weber.
He'd seen enough. Turning, he gently guided Lanie away from the group. She might have been in shock because she allowed him to steer her outside where the bright afternoon sun could warm them and chase away the chills still racing along his spine.
"Now do you believe me?"
It wasn't the first thing he'd expected her to say, or do, in reaction to what they'd seen. He gave her a speculative look before letting his gaze drift off to stare sightlessly at the trees.
"Honey, I already knew Burton was psycho—and this isn't the first time he's murdered innocent people to get what he wants. However, it's the first time we caught him on tape."
Eyeing her skeptically, he considered how much to tell her. "Burton and I served together in the Navy; specifically, we were members of the same SEAL team. Burton was good, but not the best. He was promoted several times to a higher rank, but never as high as
he
felt he deserved. After a while, I think it got harder for him to accept that he wasn't leadership material in the military's eyes.
"We started out as equals—friends—but when I became his commanding officer, he didn't like it. The 'accidents' started out small, and frankly, it never occurred to me that they were due to anything other than bad luck." Mac traveled back in his mind to those earlier days. "I should have paid closer attention. Maybe I would have recognized the symptoms, before…"
He took a deep breath, aware that
Mac watched as the shadow-figures caught each man in turn, brought him close, and held him in a macabre embrace, mouth pressed to their victim's neck. When they finished with one, the attackers flung the lifeless body away and grabbed another.
Mac saw the security guard, moving too slowly to be effective, pull his gun and fire. The dark forms did not falter, but when the last of the four workers lay dead, one of the two forms attacked the guard, whose face was turned toward the camera. His expression of stark terror was undeniable, and when his mouth opened, Mac was again grateful that they couldn't hear the man's primal scream.
After discarding the guard's body, the dark forms lingered for the briefest of moments before disappearing through the double doors.
Within seconds, the grisly images replayed in the lab. This time, when the bodies were discarded and the dark forms left, they did not reappear elsewhere—they simply disappeared.
The monitor went black as the group stood in stunned silence. Mac spared a glance at Lanie to make sure she was okay. Her jaw was clinched tight, and he thought her breathing sounded erratic, but she was tough, he decided, and would be okay.
"I'd like to see it again," he said to the technician. "But can we watch it in real time?" He wanted to get a better look at the two dark figures.
The tech glanced over his shoulder. "That
was
real time."
Damn. A
bad feeling stole over him, but he refused to focus on it. "Can you slow it down, then?"
The tech nodded and, turning back to the desk, typed in commands at the keyboard. A second later, the entire horrifying scene replayed in slow motion, but this time when the dark forms came into view, it was evident that they were human. Mac watched closely.
"Stop the recording," he ordered after a second. "Can ; you rewind a bit? Okay, now go forward, but slow it way down." The tech typed in the commands to comply, and Mac studied the action on the screen. "Freeze."
The image froze and the two attackers' faces were almost facing the camera.
"Can you zoom in?" Dirk asked.
The faces seemed to jump out at the group, fuzzy but identifiable, and he felt his own blood run cold. Beside him, Lanie gasped. On the screen, bloodied yet smiling, was Lance Burton. Standing next to him was an older man who Mac assumed was Dr. Weber.
He'd seen enough. Turning, he gently guided Lanie away from the group. She might have been in shock because she allowed him to steer her outside where the bright afternoon sun could warm them and chase away the chills still racing along his spine.
"Now do you believe me?"
It wasn't the first thing he'd expected her to say, or do, in reaction to what they'd seen. He gave her a speculative look before letting his gaze drift off to stare sightlessly at the trees.
"Honey, I already knew Burton was psycho—and this isn't the first time he's murdered innocent people to get what he wants. However, it's the first time we caught him on tape."
Eyeing her skeptically, he considered how much to tell her. "Burton and I served together in the Navy; specifically, we were members of the same SEAL team. Burton was good, but not the best. He was promoted several times to a higher rank, but never as high as
he
felt he deserved. After a while, I think it got harder for him to accept that he wasn't leadership material in the military's eyes.
"We started out as equals—friends—but when I became his commanding officer, he didn't like it. The 'accidents' started out small, and frankly, it never occurred to me that they were due to anything other than bad luck." Mac traveled back in his mind to those earlier days. "I should have paid closer attention. Maybe I would have recognized the symptoms, before…"
He took a deep breath, aware that
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