G.H.O.S.T. Teams (Book 2) Shifters (19 page)

“No. But it was close,” he said.

“Was it? How do you know? You think because you read my file you understand me?”

My voice was a bit sharper than I intended. But obviously he’d struck a nerve. I knew all to well how dangerous it would be to let Erika get close. Or maybe I just hated facing the fact that I was a killer. Either way, some British elf sure didn’t know me well enough to even begin this conversation.

“Bruce, I’m not trying to upset you,” he tried.

“You agreed to call me BD, remember?”

The silence hung heavily in the air. After a deep sigh, Vector continued.

“BD. I’m just trying to help. I’ve been doing this for a few years. I’ve seen people get close.”

“Don’t worry kid, I have a gift for keeping people at a distance. It comes as part of the ‘my whole family is dead’ package.”

At that moment our gazes met and I could see regret on Vector’s face. He obviously didn’t intend to upset me, and somewhere, deep down, I knew that. I understood that he was just trying to help. But I don’t like being helped. Especially when I haven’t asked for it. I turned away and continued to watch the traffic as we drove back to HQ. After a few moments he spoke again.

“You’re not alone,” he stated.

“Of course not. I got Vlad.”

“That’s right, boss,” he replied.

My smile was forced as I patted him on the dash. Vector even gave half a smile before responding.

“What I mean is…” I cut him off, meeting his eyes.

“Do you have family?”

A weirdly knowing smile crossed his face as he answered, “Yeah. I do.”

“Then you don’t understand. So, be a good little elf and stop trying.”

“But…”

“Seriously. I don’t want to talk about this. Okay?”

There was a pause as he clearly weighed his answer. It looked like he was about to say something else when he changed his mind and simply answered, “Okay.”

The rest of the ride was in silence. The van pulled into GHOST HQ without any issues. Vlad backed into his usual space and we all helped take Erika down to sublevel two and into Sickbay.

Tanya was on duty again, and she hurried to Erika’s side as we entered Sickbay. Once the medical staff started to swarm in, we all got out of the way. They started cleaning the wound, hooking up IVs, and placing the various electrodes required to connect Erika to the beeping machines. I looked over at Kara, her face still heavy with exhaustion. I put my hand on her shoulder before I spoke.

“I think you should get some rest. You can’t help her if you can’t even stand on your own. Come on.”

I pulled her towards one of the beds on the end and helped her lay down. She didn’t even really fight me, just sort of followed numbly. I tucked her in and gently kissed her on the forehead.

“Thanks again.”

She closed her eyes and smiled. It took less than thirty seconds before she was unconscious. I made my way back towards the rest of the team. They were standing there, out of the way, watching the medical staff work on Erika. I was worried about her too, but I knew there were better ways to use our time. Facing the three members of my team that were still standing, I spoke.

“Okay everybody, she’s in good hands. I think we should talk about what, if anything, we learned today. Freddy, why don’t you and Danny head down to the library, share notes and see if the wolves were actually any help. Find out if that stealing kids thing points us in a direction. Vector, get one of the nurses to look at your arm. I’m sure they can improve greatly upon our field dressing. I’m going to make sure that everything went smoothly with the prisoner transport. I’ll meet you all down in the library shortly.”

Freddy and Danny gave me small nods as they walked out the door. I think they suspected that part of my plan was to keep them busy and not worrying about Erika. Vector headed over to an empty bed and waited patiently for a nurse to check his wounds. Sadly for him the nurse was a dude, so I didn’t stick around to see how the bandage change went.

I took the stairs down to sublevel three and walked into an entrance that always reminded me of a cross between a police station and a doctor’s waiting room. It was a good-sized space, maybe twenty by forty feet. There were chairs, benches, a couple of couches along three of the walls, and
a small beverage stand in the corner. A couple of long wooden coffee tables sat in front of the couches, old magazines haphazardly strewn on top. In front of me, however, was what I really cared about.

There was a single door on the left that required the use of a numbered security panel in the wall in order to gain entry. Next to it was a large window separating this room from the security office. It was a sturdy sheet of
bullet-proof glass, about fifteen feet long and maybe six feet tall. There were two small metal discs set into the glass, small holes drilled into them in order to allow communication from one side to the other. There was only one guard behind the glass right now and although he looked familiar, I didn’t know his name. He had dark hair, a round face, and looked to be barely out of his teens. To the right of the bullet-proof observation deck was a set of enormous double doors. On the other side lay the prisoner holding cells, evidence lockers, and interrogation rooms.  Constructed of thick steel, the doors were exactly the kind of thing one expected to keep trolls, wolves, and ogres at bay.

The guard looked up at me and gestured towards the large doors with one hand while reaching for the buzzer with the other. I’d been spending so much time down here lately, with all the lycan prisoners from the various scuffles that I didn’t even need to identify myself anymore. I held up a hand to stop him and approached the glass.

“Hey, I’m just wondering if they got the Reds in lockup yet?”

He frowned and clearly didn’t know what I was talking about. Although I thought my nickname was fairly self-explanatory, perhaps it needed a bit more elaboration.

“The Red Hoods, those crazy chicks who hunt lycans. We just took two of them prisoner, they should be here or real close.”

“Sorry, sir, I haven’t had any prisoners through here in the last two hours. I heard on the radio that we had two incoming, but I think something happened,” he said.

“What do you mean, ‘something happened’?”

“I’m sorry sir, I have no idea. There was talk on the radio of trouble on the road. If you want, I can call someone…”

He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence as I took off upstairs. I flew up four flights of stairs and into the upper parking level. Vlad was parked in the distance, but my sights were on a security guard. While most of the guys on parking detail were far from my biggest fans, they were always in the loop when we had prisoners coming in. The closest guard turned as I approached him, the look on his face indicating that he knew why I was here.  

“Calm down. We don’t have a lot of answers yet. They’re just pulling the van in now,” he said.

“What do you mean, you don’t have answers? What the hell happened?”

“All we know is that they were attacked on East Capital as they came around Lincoln Park. They were hit fast and both prisoners were taken.”

“You have got to be kidding me. In broad daylight?”

“Apparently. Look, I can only tell you the bits and pieces I caught through the radio. If you want more answers you should go talk to the sergeant,” he said.

I took a breath and forced myself to calm down. It wasn’t this guy’s fault the truck got hit. Considering how rocky my relationship is with these guys, I guess I should be grateful he told me what he knew.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

I watched as the van pulled in and headed down to the lower parking level. Instead of taking the stairs, I walked through the lot, traveling down the winding ramp after them. I used the walk to breathe, relax, and in general calm myself down. Screaming at the sergeant wasn’t going to help matters, or get me the answers I sought any quicker. Right now, the most important thing was whether or not our troops were all right. I hoped for the best as I headed towards the truck.

The prisoner transport van looked very similar to the armored trucks that deliver money to banks. It was large, boxy, and made of very bulky steel. Even before I got close, I could see the damage to the back doors. There was a bowling ball-sized hole where the lock used to be, and one of the doors swung loosely on its hinges. I could just make out a few of the guards in the back, makeshift bandages around their heads, torsos, and limbs. At about that time the elevator opened and some medical personnel stepped out, accompanied by Vector. I nodded and he walked over.

“What are you doing here?”

“They got the call about the van right after they finished patching me up. Figured I’d check things out,” he said.

I had a feeling that there was more to it than that, but I didn’t push it. Maybe he felt bad for trying to get me to talk in the car. More likely he was here to keep an eye on me. After the way I acted earlier, I’m sure he was worried I’d go ballistic on the troops for letting the Reds escape. Right now, however, I was actually more concerned with the health of our guys. Assuming they were all going to be okay, I might even admit that a small part of me was glad the Reds escaped. I wasn’t sure I trusted myself to be around them so soon after they’d hurt Erika. But, I’d find them again before long, and when I did, their survival depended greatly on whether or not we just sustained casualties. I hoped for the best as I looked over the truck.  

“Whoever did this wasn’t messing around. Look at that back door.”

“Yeah. I’d guess some kind of shaped charge. Enough to blow the door and most likely stun the occupants inside, while a team extracted the Reds.”

“This is what I get for letting them live.”

Vector looked at me, and he wasn’t sure if I was joking or serious. I was pretty sure that I was joking. But for my own sake, I needed to hear myself say it out loud.

“I’m kidding.”

He raised an eyebrow at me, doubt on his face.

“Mostly,” I admitted.

I shrugged, and Vector gave a small smirk. Honestly, considering how pissed off I was earlier, I was kind of proud of myself for being less bloodthirsty. Maybe I wasn’t a complete lost cause. Vector and I walked over to the car, careful to stay out of the way of the medics. I noticed the sergeant talking to one of the drivers and we headed over in that direction.

The sergeant was a big man, just over six-feet tall, with a
bald head and a thick white mustache. He looked to be in his late forties, with reddish skin that had been weathered from years in the sun. There was a very drill-sergeant-ness about him. He wore black BDU pants and large combat boots. The sleeves were rolled up on his white button down shirt, revealing forearms so large they almost looked comical. It was no secret why his men called him Popeye. We’d exchanged pleasantries a few times in the past, but honestly I didn’t know his real name. I’ve never heard anyone call him anything other than Sergeant or Popeye, although the latter was never to his face. The driver he was talking to was someone that I had never seen before.

She wore a standard GHOST guard uniform. I guess I’ve never really talked about their attire before because honestly they just remind me of a generic cop outfits. I assume it was done on purpose, to make it easier for them to blend in with the local authorities. Like the rest of the troops in the truck, she wore shiny black shoes and dark pants held up by a hefty duty belt. She carried cuffs, mace, a collapsible baton, and a sidearm. Her shirt was a dark blue button-up, short sleeved for the warm summer temperatures. She wore an unmarked black baseball cap, her dark hair pulled back into a tight bun. I couldn’t make out much of her face as she was leaning on her hand, almost propping her head up as she talked. Popeye was already questioning her as we got within earshot.

“No warning whatsoever?” Popeye questioned.

“No, sir. We’d stopped because there were people in the crosswalk and the next thing you know, bam. There was smoke everywhere and my ears were ringing,” the guard answered.

“Did you get a look at them?” he asked.

“Not them, sir, her,” she replied.

“What do you mean? Are you saying that your entire team was neutralized by one lady?” Popeye spit.

“Not a lady, sir.
One of them. One of the red cloaks,” she tried.

“And not one of you got off a shot?” Popeye said.

“No, sir. We were…no, sir,” she sighed.

“Very well. I expect a full report in an hour. For now, get that wound looked at,” he ordered.

With that, she hopped down from the cab and headed over towards the medics. It wasn’t until then that I noticed what her hand had been covering up. There was blood all over the side of her face, obviously from the nasty gash that she had across her forehead. Once she was away, the Sergeant nodded in our direction, and we took that as an invitation to approach. I spoke first.

“How bad?”

“Looks like a couple of concussions and a few broken bones. Nothing life-threatening. Could have been worse,” he answered.

“Yeah.”

“I hear you almost lost one taking these bastards down. How’s she doing?”

“She’s stable, for now. Thanks for asking.”

He nodded and continued, “Did you have any idea there was a third one of these Hoods running around?”

“No idea. Our
intel said there were only two in town. Had we known…”

I let the thought trail off and no one said anything. I’d been so worried about Erika that I didn’t even think to tail the prisoner van. Then again, since we assumed we had both the Reds, I didn’t think there was a reason to watch it. Popeye glanced at the van and looked over his injured men before responding.

“I’m gonna talk to the rest of my men. If I learn anything useful, I’ll let you know,” he paused for a moment, his eyes meeting mine, “And, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” he said.

I nodded and he patted my shoulder as he left. While it would have been nice and easy to blame the guards for letting us down, the truth was that they weren’t really equipped to deal with supernatural threats. That was the whole reason our team existed. We took ‘em down and they hauled ‘em off, although, we might have to look at shoring up their end of things in the future. I turned towards Vector and glanced down at the new bandages on his arm. 

“How’s the arm?”

“Not bad. You all right?” he asked.

“I’m fine. Better than I thought I’d be honestly. I’m hoping that we can all put our heads together and make some kind of sense out of this day.”