Blood from Dopple’s eyes was now dripping down his cheeks. “I can’t see. I can’t see!”

Caleb smiled. “I know.”

Vito recoiled in horror. “What’s happening?”

Caleb turned to face him. “You tell me.”

Blood suddenly spurted from Vito’s nose and mouth. He dropped to his knees as he gagged.

Caleb stood up and pulled the knife from his shoulder. “Don’t worry. You won’t suffer for long.”

Still blind from the blood in his eyes, Dopple fumbled for the gun in his shoulder holster. Caleb quickly took it from him. Blood began to gush from Dopple’s left ear. He gasped, “You’re a demon!”

“Hmm, I’ll try not to take offense,” Caleb said. “But I assure you it’s about science, not superstition.”

Dopple screamed in pain and held his head in his hands. He fell and began writhing on the floor.

Caleb watched the two screaming men for a moment longer. “Why were you warned to be careful around me, Dopple? Perhaps because it’s been discovered that some animals secrete odors from their glands or emit vibrations that provoke all kinds of harmful physical reactions in their prey? There are also rare cases when that ability appears to occur in humans and can occasionally be inherited. And what may begin as an instinctive, involuntary ability sometimes can be controlled. As you gentlemen are finding out. I can’t tell you how pleased and fascinated MI6 was when I demonstrated that skill to them.”

Vito coughed up a mouthful of blood.

“Whatever pain you’re now enduring, I’m sure it’s no worse than what you two put this poor man through,” Caleb said. “Perhaps you’ll think about that in these last moments of yours.”

An electronic chime sounded from Dopple’s jacket pocket. Caleb bent down and pulled the phone from his pocket. A text message flashed on the screen: ONE MINUTE OUT. SUBJECT NEUTRALIZED? It was clear he’d signaled for Bohdan’s soldiers to come out of hiding the instant Caleb had shown.

Caleb heard the sound of vehicles outside. He went to the window and saw half a dozen SUVs bearing down on the shack. “That’s my cue. Goodbye, gentlemen.” He turned back and saw that Vito was dead. Dopple, still choking and gagging on his own blood, wasn’t far behind.

Caleb ran from the room and bolted down the stairs. He could hear Bohdan’s men taking positions outside. The front and back doors were probably already covered, so he needed to find another way out before he was totally surrounded.

Caleb ran to the shack’s far side, away from the road. His first instinct was to go for a window, but he needed a less conspicuous option.

He looked down at the creaky floor. Of course.