Obsessions: A Monster Squad Novel 7 (32 page)

She pushed away from him and leaned across the other side of the couch. “Crimeny, James, I’m not fifteen anymore.”

“No shit.” He gave her a crooked smile. “Fifteen-year-olds don’t turn grey.” He pointed to her hair and she slugged him in the arm.

“I am
not
turning grey.” She pulled her legs up and sat on her feet. “I swear, it’s like coming home from college during the holidays around here.”

Derek handed James a beer and set one in front of Laura. “Some things never change Punk.”

“Some things do. Heidi is expecting again.” James popped the top on the beer and took a long pull. “This one makes four.”

“You know what causes that, don’t you?” Laura teased as she popped open her own beer.

James nodded. “Yeah, I shot the mailman, but she just
keeps
getting pregnant. Maybe it’s the UPS driver?” He shot her an evil grin.

“You’re horrible.”

Derek stretched out on the floor again and watched the two. “Don’t let him kid you, Punk. He’s proud as punch that he still has lead in his pencil.”

James threw the bottle top at him then flipped him the bird. “I’m not that old, butthead.”

“You act it sometimes.” Derek took a pull from his beer then set it aside.

James sat on the couch, absently peeling at the label of his beer. “So I guess you came out here to say goodbye to Pop?”

Laura gave him a sideways look. “I came out to see him.” She shrugged. “He didn’t look so bad to me.”

James raised a brow but didn’t look at her. “Really? Did you talk to his doctors?”

“No, but Dad was talking about maybe coming home.” She watched him carefully and watched him simply nod.

“Yeah, he’s been saying that ever since he went in this last time. Docs don’t think he’ll be leaving this time.” James pulled the label off and flattened it on his knee. “I thought maybe they could let him come home just to…well, you know.”

“To die?”

He finally turned and looked at her. “Yeah. Some place that he’s comfortable with. You know, like a hospice or something.”

Derek cleared his throat. “They wouldn’t allow it. Said something about the pain meds he needs.”

Laura nodded. “He didn’t use any pain meds while I was there.”

James took a pull from his beer then set it on the coffee table. “Yeah, they feed it straight in through his IV now. He kept throwing up the pills.” He sighed and shook his head. “He’s a tough old buzzard.”

“What about Crystal?” Laura couldn’t believe the words came out of her mouth until she saw both of her brothers turn to face her. “I just meant…couldn’t she help him if he was here?”

James shook his head. “Not with the meds. They’re pretty well controlled. I was trying to see if there was a nurse who could come by and…”

Laura reached out and patted his hand. “Don’t give up hope. He may well outlive us all.”

James gave her a confused look. “Don’t count on it, Punkin.”

*****

“So how come Admin isn’t all over this?” Little John closed the file and shoved it back into the stack next to him.

Spalding rubbed at his eyes and sighed. “Honestly? I think they were ready to write off Apollo as soon as he turned on us. This? This is…low priority. They figure that whoever the shooter is will pop up on radar again soon enough. Then they’ll sic us after him and we’ll take care of it.” He reached for another file and opened it. “I’d rather track the son of a bitch down and take the ass whoopin’ to him than wait and see if he tries to hurt anybody else.”

John stretched and tried to work the kinks out of his oversized frame. Working from the floor of Spalding’s office was just a little too tight. “I can’t say that I blame ya.” He glanced at his watch and couldn’t help but wonder where Brooke might be.

“You don’t need to stay and help. I can stay on this.”

John shook his head. “Naw, I don’t mind. Besides, I’d just try to figure out another way to piss off my sister.” He gave him a lopsided grin. “When it comes to death and destruction, I know just what to do. Trying to deal with family?” He shrugged his massive shoulders. “I’m completely lost.”

Spalding pushed the file away and ran a hand through his hair. “I wish I knew what to tell you. I mean, I wish there was a quick fix, but there just isn’t. She’s just going to need some time.”

John grunted a laugh. “Like she hasn’t had enough of that.” He shut the file in his hands and set it in his lap. “She’s had since I was ten, I think that’s plenty of time.”

Spanky nodded. “True, that’s her time. Time for her to adjust to what’s happened to her, but not time for her to adjust to how to deal with you.” He pushed his chair back and eyed Sullivan, his mind trying to find the right words. “John, she’s inundated with all these old emotions again. Except here you are…a grown man. You’re not ten any more. That brings a whole new set of issues to the table. She has to deal with her immortality, the fact that you’ve aged and she hasn’t. She…” He sighed and tried to find the right words. “I get the impression that her abduction is still a very sore spot with her. Seeing you now…it brings it all to the forefront again and I don’t think she wants to have to deal with it.”

“Okay, I guess I can buy that. But if you’re right, she’s having problems dealing with my mortality and her immortality, she needs to realize that I may not be around forever now. Besides aging faster than her, I’m not exactly living a protected lifestyle here.”

“True, but you’re forgetting, you’re wolf now. You age a lot slower. So you have a lot more time than you think. And as long as you’re careful, your lifestyle isn’t
that
dangerous.”

John gave him a smart assed smirk. “Really? You say that to a guy who hunts monsters for a living.”

Spalding shrugged. “Hey, it sounded a lot better in my head before it rolled out of my mouth, okay?” He pulled the file back closer and opened it. “Just…give her time. If she doesn’t come around, we’ll handcuff her to the interrogation table and you can tell her how much you missed her until she either gives in or chews her hand off to escape.”

“Gee, thanks, boss.”

“Any time.”

*****

Samael watched diligently as the vampire walked through the warehouse, his eyes appearing to study the rafters and beams, but darting about as the demon Centurions went about their business. He watched as the intruder paused at key locations and seemed to take his time studying the columns or braces, all the while, the explosive vests were either being manufactured, test-fitted or crated for transportation.

The fallen angel slipped into Lilith’s abode and pulled her aside. “I’ve been watching the undead one. He is studying every step of our undertakings.”

Lilith shrugged. “So? What do I care? He is one man.”

“He is more than a man. He can…” Samael lowered his voice and glanced out the window again. Satisfied that Rufus was beyond hearing, he continued, “He is a controller of demons. He can control
me
. I do not like what I do not understand.”

Lilith tossed aside the maps she had been studying and turned to face him. “So why not call on your brothers and have them deal with him? If he is such a threat, remove him now. We will carry on as originally planned.” She watched him carefully. “I’ll just be certain to be very careful and not be seen.”

Samael rolled the idea around for only a moment before shaking his head. “No. For this to work, we cannot risk you being seen.” He fell onto the edge of the bed and folded his wings behind him. “You must remain unseen. The demons will rain down carnage and destruction and then you can step in and order them ‘away’. You will be seen as their savior. In exchange for keeping the demons at bay, they will have to put you in charge of everything. They won’t like it, but the demons will continue their attacks until they do.” He turned and faced her. “It is the only way.”

She smiled and caressed his cheek. “Especially once they see you. Once I order you, the big, bad demon, back to hell…they won’t have a choice but crown me queen.”

Samael nodded, rubbing his cheek against her hand. “Order it and I shall obey.”

“And how long before you can dump this body and obtain one more befitting your true stature?” she rubbed at his neck and shoulders as she whispered in his ear.

Samael shrugged. “A matter of hours I suspect. It will be days though until I can transform it as I did this one.”

“Just be sure and choose a human one this time.” She clucked in his ear. “No more bat wings.”

“White feathers from here on.” He kissed her palm and raised his eyes to meet hers. “But the moment the vampire has the system in place…”

“He will be dealt with.” She gave him a soft smile. “He may be able to control you, but let’s see what he can do when he has a thousand demons attacking all at once.”

*****

Analyst Bob Stevens stared at the screen in front of him and had to remember to close his mouth. He swallowed hard and routed the print command to his local printer. He couldn’t risk anybody stumbling upon his find before he picked it up, and he certainly didn’t dare it showing up in the server queue.

He waited while the pages printed then pulled them from the print tray. He thumbed through them and felt his chest tighten. “This can’t be right. Director Jameson will flip shit.” He shoved the pages into the file folder and clutched it tight to his breast. He stood slowly and peered over his cubicle, paranoia creeping upon him.

Stevens reached across his desk and picked up the other two file folders and wrapped the info he had just printed in between the others. For some reason he felt that if he could bury it, nobody else would be able to see it as he worked his way to the director’s office.

As he stepped off the elevator and worked his way around to the open area where the administrative assistant sat, Bob clutched the folders tighter. “I really need to see him.”

“He’s on a conference call.”

Bob stared at the door then back at the assistant. “I can wait.” His head bobbed up and down as he shakily sat in a chair.

“He may be a while.”

Bob stared, his eyes not really focusing. “This is important.” His hands automatically clutched the files tighter.

He had no idea how long he sat outside the office. He fought the urge to open the files and go back over the material that he had found, the information burned into his memory at this point. He vaguely remembered the administrative assistant raising her voice to get his attention.

“He’ll see you now.” She pointed to the door and Bob slowly stood.

He pushed the large mahogany door open and pulled it shut behind him, his mind racing as he closed the short gap to the man’s desk. “Did you find what I wanted?” Jameson didn’t even bother to look up as Bob stopped in front of him.

“Y-yes, sir. That…and more.” He placed the stack of file folders on his desk and stared at the man.

Jameson finally glanced up and noted the pale pallor of Stevens. “Good heavens. You look like you’re about to pass out.”

Bob Stevens swallowed hard and nodded. “I found something that…” He shook his head.

“Well, spit it out, man. Don’t just stand there.”

Bob pushed the short stack of files toward him. “It’s all in there.”

Jameson stared at the stack of folders as if Bob had just placed a flaming bag of dog shit on his desk. “You expect me to dig through all of that now? Just tell me.” He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

Stevens couldn’t find the words. “Do you have any idea what…what we’re…what they’re doing?”

“What
who
is doing? Make sense, man!” Jameson was beginning to lose his temper.

Bob reached into the pile and pulled the fresh printouts. He handed the file to the director and waited while the man opened it and perused the information. Jameson pursed his lips and slowly closed the file. “Where did you find this?”

“You told me to look at our own files. Not just theirs, but other agencies. I did. I found that.” He swallowed hard.

“How?” Jameson tossed the file onto the stack and stared at the analyst.

“How?” Stevens took a half step back. “You mean you already knew about that?”

“Of course I knew. I authorized it.” He sat forward and leaned across his desk. “Do you really think that we could discover that monsters were real and not actually
do
something about it?”

“B-but…they…I mean, the Monster Squad? They do something about it now. Why would we…I mean…”

“Why would we create a
better
monster hunter?” Jameson pushed his chair back from his desk and crossed his legs. He continued to stare at the analyst, watching as the wheels spun in the man’s mind. “Think about it, Stevens. Why would we allow monsters to hunt monsters? You read the reports. You know what they’re doing. They’re playing God. They’re deciding who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.”

“But, sir, even we have allies that you wouldn’t normally consider an ally.” He shook his head, his mind trying to wrap around the concept.