Specters: A Monster Squad Novel - 8 (10 page)

Ingram sat back down and rubbed at his neck. “I’m not a fan of this idea.”

“Nor am I, but these are the only monsters that we know exactly where they are and in what kind of numbers. Setting up that infrastructure will take a bit more time.”

Ingram nodded. “I can see that being problematic.”

“Besides, do you really want your boys going up against the ‘monster squad’ without dirt under their nails?”

“Well, no, but I expect to ease them into it.”

“Do we ease our new troops into it when we send them into battle? Hell no, we dump them out of a transport, hand ‘em a box of shells and tell them to not shoot anybody wearing the same uniform they are. How is this any different?”

“For one thing, we don’t spend thirty million dollars and two years transforming them into the next generation of super humans.” Ingram tried not to put as much bite into his words but he found it increasingly difficult. “But, I can see where you definitely have a point. If they can’t handle something like this, then how the hell are they going to handle battle hardened monsters like the squads.” Ingram sat back and pulled his tie loose.

“Relax, Robert. They’ll do fine. They’ll have air support as well.”

Ingram stared at the screen and nodded. “Out of the frying pan and into the fire.”

6

Mitchell tossed the daily reports aside and glared at the door as it opened. His face softened with surprise when Jenny stepped into his office. “Do you ever rest?”

He pushed his chair from his desk and gave her a soft smile. “Not when I when I have teams out.”

She straddled him in his leather chair and planted a soft kiss on his chin. “I waited for you. Then I fell asleep alone.”

He sighed and lowered his head, his nose inhaling her scent as he buried his face in her chest. “I’m afraid that may become a common occurrence around here.”

She wrapped her arms around his thick neck and pulled him closer. “I was afraid you’d say that.” Her fingers ran up into his short cropped hair and she squeezed, pulling his head back to meet her gaze. “I might get tired of sleeping alone you know.”

He fought back the smile. “Want I should get you a puppy?”

She jerked his head back further and nipped at his chin. “Wrong answer, cowboy.”

He growled low in his throat and tried to nip back at her, but she held his head tight in her grip. “A cat then?”

“I want you, you mangy mutt.” She kissed him hard and he felt himself being dominated. He enjoyed it. For the briefest of moments he could imagine her decked out in black leather and stilettos.

He liked the image.

“What are your thoughts on leather and lace?”

“What are yours on whips and chains?” Her eyes twinkled and he knew he was about to be in trouble.

“I don’t suppose you believe in safe words?”

“Never use them,” she growled as she bit his ear, sending shivers up his back.

“Okay Jen.” He lifted her from his lap and set her aside as he would a small child. “As much as I hate to do this, I have to nip this in the bud. You’re about to drive me crazy and I still have work to do.”

She gave him a wild grin and reached into his lap to squeeze his crotch. “Something tells me you don’t really want me to leave.”

“You’re right. I don’t. But I really do have…”

The door to his office opened and Mark stepped in. “I figured I’d go ahead and get my ass chewing over with-” He paused, his eyes wide as he stared at his boss sitting in his chair, his new bride holding him by the cojones. “Bad timing?”

“No!” Mitchell shifted uncomfortably and rolled his chair back behind his desk and out of Jenny’s reach. “She was just…you were just…”

Jen stood up and smiled. “I was just leaving.” She walked seductively past the two and stopped at the door, hugging it as though it were a new lover. “I’ll be going to breakfast in an hour. You had better join me.” She spun and disappeared down the hallway.

Mark’s eyes stared after her for just a moment before he turned back to his CO. “Did she give them back before she left or do I need to wait ‘til later?”

“Give what back?” Mitchell tried in vain to straighten his uniform from a sitting position.

“Your balls.” Mark smirked at him as he plopped into the chair. “Looked like she was either ripping them off or reattaching them when I walked in.” He kicked his feet up on the desk and crossed them, the grin growing broader as Mitchell’s face reddened.

“She was just…I was…” He cleared his throat and took a large gulp of coffee. “I’m glad you came in. We definitely need to talk.”

“You bet we do. You need to get that girl to a chiropractor and quick. If she keeps swinging her hips like that every time she has her tail in your face, she’s gonna throw her back out something terrible.”

“That’s
not
what we need to discuss.” Mitchell took a deep cleansing breath then turned and filled his coffee cup. “Your behavior in the field…”

Mark nodded. “Yeah, if I hadn’t broken orders, we’d have a dead squad and those asshats would’ve probably found me and Mac, too.” He tsk’d and shook his head. “That would have been a crying damn shame if you ask me.”

“You know what I’m talking about. Going off coms without so much as letting us know? Engaging the enemy? That was outside the scope of the mission.”

Mark simply nodded. “Agreed. But you have to admit, if the situation were reversed and you were the one in the field, you would have done the same thing.” He pulled his feet off the corner of the desk and leveled his gaze at Mitchell. “Look, Matt, it’s not like I went there to pick a fight. We had to know what was going on with the squad. Once we did—”

“You mean, once
you
knew. We had no clue what was going on.” He leaned back and crossed his arms.

Mark studied him a moment then nodded knowingly. “Is this really because I had to play it by ear or is it because I was in the field and you weren’t?”

“No, this is because you went against the mission parameters.”

“Well, okay then. I can live with that, Matt.” Mark stood and walked to the coffee pot. He glanced around for the spare coffee cup.

“Mine got broke. I’m using the spare.”

Mark shrugged and picked up the pot. He took a long pull from it and noted Matt’s eyes widen. “Oh yeah. Did I forget to tell you? I’m pretty much impervious to pain and heal instantly.” He took another long pull from the coffee then set the pot back on the burner.

“When did…how…”

“The other day. I talked to Doc about it. I think it has something to do with the whole vampire gene thing.” Mark shrugged. “I can still feel pain, but only if it’s truly life threatening.”

Mitchell shook his head. “This isn’t good. That sort of neurological deficit can’t be a positive thing.”

Mark sat back down and stretched. “Doc didn’t seem too concerned.”

“How could he not be concerned? You’re impervious to pain and you said you heal instantly?”

Mark nodded slowly as he pulled his knife and made a slice across his hand. He felt the cold steel enter his flesh and felt his skin stitch up behind it. Barely a thin line of blood was left behind as evidence of what he had done. “Not even a scar.”

“We need to do some testing or something.” Mitchell slowly came to his feet, his eyes studying his best friend.

“Matt, if those guys had shot me, I doubt they could have done any real damage. Unless they shot me in the head and even then, I’m not so sure.” He wiped his hand on a tissue and tossed it into the trash. “As of now, I’m as close as you have to a real live immortal.”

*****

Jack walked into the new command center and looked around. Between Doc and Allister, the place had been set up while the crew rested and it looked to him as though it had always been there. He noted the stacks of crates in the corner. “Is that what I think it is?”

“It stinks of sulfur.” Allister stepped back from the stack and shook his head. “I believe it was all handled by demons.”

“Good guess.” Jack pried a lid off and stared at the suicide bomber vests within. “I need to get these checked out.” He lifted the device and held it to the artificial light.

“It smells.”

Jack smiled to himself as he laid it gently on the table. “You wouldn’t know it by looking it at it, but it’s extremely dangerous. One of these devices could kill hundreds, if not thousands of people in the blink of an eye.”

“If it is demonic in nature, I believe it.” Allister sat back and eyed the vests warily. “What manner of witchcraft is it?”

Jack held a vest toward him. “It’s not witchcraft. It’s explosives. These ceramic balls inside act as shrapnel.”

“I do not know what you speak of, but will take your word for it.” Allister leaned further from the foul smelling thing and stared at Jack through narrowed eyes. “You should remove it from these enclosed spaces. The stench is overpowering.”

Jack raised a brow and held the vest closer to his nose. He could barely make out the smell of sulfur and plastic from the vest. “A bit touchy, aren’t we?”

“If you had a natural aversion to demons, you would want it gone as well.”

The door pushed open and Azrael stepped in, Gnat following closely. The Nephilim followed the pair and paused just inside the doorway. “I smell demons.”

“So I gathered.” Jack tossed him a vest and the angel spawn let it hit him then fall to the ground. “You were, uh, supposed to catch that.”

Kalen bent and retrieved the vest. “Is it safe to have these here, Chief Jack? They are explosives, yes? Couldn’t Lilith trigger them?”

“We have a signal jammer here at the hangar, kid.” Jack packed the vests back into the crate and replaced the lid. “And even if we didn’t, we’re far enough underground that I doubt she could do much without a satellite uplink.”

Brooke slid across the table and took a seat across from the griffin. “Shouldn’t we be having those demil’d? You know, just in case?”

“We will, but first, we need to know what exactly we’re up against.” Jack reached for his two way radio just as Doctor Peters came in.

“Apologies for my tardiness.” He dropped a stack of folders onto the table and turned his attention to Jack. “I had a chance to pull the signature files of known bomb makers from the FBI’s database. I had no idea there were so many.”

“Did you find a match to the vests?” Jack hopped onto the crates and studied the vampire’s face.

“No, sir.” Evan pulled the top three files and handed them to him. “These are the closest, but they’re too dissimilar.”

Jack thumbed through the files, unsure of what he was really looking at. “Dissimilar how?”

“Well, Chief, a suicide vest is used by most Middle Eastern terrorist groups, but this one is unlike any of them. If you’ll note the fiber optic rather than wire? I can’t find any reference to that. Anywhere.”

Jack flipped the folder closed and chewed at his lower lip. “Metal detectors.”

“Excuse me?”

“They’re trying to avoid metal detectors.” He hopped from the cases and marched to the white board at the front of the room. Popping the top on a marker, he began noting the differences on the board. “Lack of metal in the vests allow them to pass through metal detectors. Like they use at train stations and other mass transits.”

“Airports?” Evan raised a brow, his stomach sinking.

Jack shook his head. “You can’t fly public anymore without some guy with hairy knuckles checking your prostate.” He turned back to the board, “Trains and busses would be the most likely scenario.”

“We already know they are targeting Catholic churches.” Azrael shrugged. “Who cares how they get there?”

“That was their original targets. They could just as easily change that now that we’ve thrown a monkey wrench into their works.” He capped the marker and stared at the board. “Besides, they have to get their people there somehow.”

Allister stepped from the shadows. “Is there infrastructure in place to search these demons out at your train and bus…places?”

Jack shook his head slowly. “No.”

Gnat spun his hammer by the handle, seemingly ignoring the conversation. “Then we are right back where we started. They intend to cause mayhem and we are left in the dark.”

*****

Laura paced the kitchen while she waited for Derek to show up. She practically ran to the front of the house when the door opened. Derek looked frantic and Crystal was still climbing out of the truck as Laura pushed the door shut. She quickly dragged him to the rear of the house, doing her best to explain as she did.

“Wait, hold on, sis. What do you mean, he
has
to have another injection or he’ll die?”

She pointed out the kitchen window toward the woods. “He went out there and we have to get him back. He has to have another injection or…it’s complicated. Just know that I know what I’m talking about. And he isn’t in his right mind. He refuses to take it.”