Specters: A Monster Squad Novel - 8 (18 page)

“You’re not amusing.” Jameson reached past him and clicked the button to eject the video disc.

“Hey, I was still watching that.” He reached for the disc as Jameson slipped it into his jacket pocket.

“Burn another one for your own records.” He stretched his neck and squared his shoulders. “Notify me once they’re rearmed and rested. I want to be there when they’re field tested against the fangers moving north.”

Ingram stared at him as though he had just slapped him. “Remind me again who put you in charge? I thought we were partners in this little venture.”

“The mere fact that I’m the
Director
of the Agency and you’re the Assistant Director for the NSA means I have seniority.’

“And let me guess. Since you’re older you get to sit in the front seat on long trips and you get to pick which cereal Mom buys when she goes shopping?” Ingram gave him a sardonic glare.

“Don’t be a smart ass, Robert. We have far too much work left ahead of us.” Jameson reached for his hat and stepped to the door. “To be honest, with how you’ve been talking about the way these soldiers have been treated, I’m beginning to wonder if you were the right man for this project.”

“Hey, I came to you with this, remember?”

“Yes, I remember.” Jameson paused, his hand on the door. “Which causes me to wonder why you’re suddenly getting cold feet at this early stage. You read the project reports prior to us implementing them. You knew what would happen. You were on board before you ever presented it to me. But suddenly I’m the bad guy for approving the project and making it a reality?” He pulled the door open and stepped through. “I think you need to get your priorities straight, Robert.”

10

Mitchell hung up the phone and rubbed at his eyes. “What a clusterfuck.”

“I take it you won’t be joining me for food?”

He glanced up to see Jenny standing at his door, a disappointed look on her face. “I’m sorry, love. Things have gone from bad to worse.”

She pulled the door shut behind her and walked slowly into his office. “Are things always so stressful?” She slipped in behind his chair and began kneading at his neck and shoulders, attempting to work the knots out.

Mitchell groaned as his eyes closed to slits and the tension worked itself from his body. “Believe it or not, not always, but lately it seems like if it’s not one thing, it’s another. We’re either under attack by a group of crazed wolves or there’s some power hungry lunatic trying to take over the world. Now we find out that another government agency has some kind of super soldier in the making and they’re targeting us.”

“What? Can they do that? Don’t you work for the government?”

He shrugged slightly under her grip. “Yes and no. Technically we do, but also, we’re military and we’re a black op. We’re under the radar by most standards.” He groaned as she hit a particularly stiff knot.

“So can’t the government people you work for tell the other government people to go to hell?”

He chuckled lightly at her over simplification. “I actually just got off the phone with one of those government people.”

“And? What did they say?”

“Off the record, they said that if it came down to us versus them, they’ll disavow us. They can’t risk having their names attached to a group of operators whose purpose is hunting monsters. On the record, he’s going to do what he can, but he seriously doubted he would have much pull.”

“Why’s that? Government is government, isn’t it?” She stopped massaging and stared at him. “Can’t they tell the others to just stop what they’re wanting to do before they do it?”

“That’s part of the problem. The other group is a pretty secretive club. Nearly everything they do is hush-hush. Just getting info on them is nearly impossible. Trying to find out exactly who, what, when and why?” He shook his head as he let the statement hang in the air.

“That doesn’t seem right, Matt. No group should be so big that one part doesn’t know what the other part is doing.”

“I agree, but then, I’m not the head honcho in charge either.” He reached up and took her hand. Pulling her to him, he cradled her in his lap. “I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you. We’ve had worse problems crop up before.”

She stared into his eyes and he could see them tear up. “I know this sounds silly, but I just found you. I’m not ready for us to be over yet.”

“I thought we were both in it for the long haul?”

She kissed him lightly and laid her head gently on his shoulder. “We are, I’d just like the long haul to be a bit longer than a few days.”

*****

Jack scribbled notes in his pad while his team shuffled into the conference room. Allister appeared almost angry as he glared at the man standing at the front by the white board. Azrael stepped near the griffin and patted his thick shoulder. “You look troubled, friend.”

“That is stating things mildly.” Allister turned his feathered head toward the gargoyle. “We had a visitor while you were out, and it left me…disheveled.”

Jack looked up from his notes and raised his voice. “Everybody grab a seat. We have a lot to go over and little time to do it.” He noted the sly grins that Kalen and Brooke shot at each other and how she made sure she found a seat next to the lean warrior. His curiosity piqued, but he kept his thoughts to himself as he finished scribbling in his notes. “As Allister stated, we did have a visitor. An angelic visitor.”

A light murmuring went up in the small crowd and Phil’s brows hiked as he looked up at Jack. “Did he give his name?”

“Azazel. Ring any bells?”

The Nephilim shook his head, his brow furrowing. “No, but that doesn’t necessarily mean much. I’ve only met a handful.”

“He claimed that the archangel Michael sent him with a message.” Jack cleared his throat and watched while the crowd gave him their unfettered attention. “He gave us Lilith’s location. He also said that, if we wait, she’ll come to us.”

Kalen glanced about at the crowd. “Why would she come here?”

Gnat grunted as he thumped his hammer down on the table. “We took something she wants back.” He glanced to Chief Jack and nodded. “Didn’t we?”

“According to the angel, she wants her suicide vests back. But seeing as how I sent them out for demil, she can’t reclaim them.” Jack slipped the cap back on his pen and made short paths in the carpet as he paced. “I was only able to discuss the details for a short time with Azazel, but there are bad points to both choices. If we go to her, we’re in unfamiliar territory. If she comes to us, we put a lot of other lives at risk that don’t necessarily need to be.”

“Which do you choose?” Phil asked, his eyes narrowing at the human leader.

“I haven’t. I decided to leave it to the team to decide.” Jack looked each of them in the eye as he spoke. “If you were my team, assigned to me by my superior officer, I’d either make the decision or accept the orders of my commanding officer. But this time, you are all on loan. Yes, I am supposed to train and lead you, but you aren’t truly mine to do with as I please. I’m not willing to risk your lives on what I’d like to see done.”

Brooke leaned closer to the table and shook her head. “So what? Is this a democracy now? We’re all supposed to…what? Vote on it?”

“Exactly.” Jack nodded his head. He pointed to the map on the wall. “She and her horde are located here, near this small town. According to the angel, she’s holed up inside an abandoned sawmill.”

Azazel stood and stepped closer to the map. “This green all indicates forest, yes?”

“Yup. Hence the sawmill.”

Azazel turned and smiled to Gnat. “Your kind of territory, is it not?”

Gnat smiled and tugged at his beard. “Mine and the Greaters. You
are
a forest elf, are you not?”

“I am.” Kalen nodded. “Most definitely.”

Jack stepped forward and caught Azazel’s attention. “The tree canopy will be a hindrance to your taking to the air.”

“Won’t be the first time.” He pointed to the concrete ceiling. “And this structure is not conducive to flying either. Unless we met her outside. And at night.” he shrugged.

“Let’s see a show of hands for taking the fight to her.” Jack watched as all of them raised their hands. His mouth slowly curved into a smile until he reached Allister. “You disagree?”

“I have no ‘hands’. But yes. My vote is to take the fight to the demon bitch.”

“Alright then, everybody gear up and meet me topside in one hour. I’ll notify the colonel of what’s going on and maybe we can get some communications gear.”

The crowd quickly took to their feet and worked their way to the exits. Jack tried not to notice Brooke as she sidled in next to Kalen. “I’ll only need a few minutes to get ready. How about you?”

“I’m ready now.”

She flashed him a wicked smile. “Imagine that. We have a whole hour to kill.”

Jack could almost swear her eyes flashed as she smiled at him. He watched the pair exit and shook his head. “Be careful, sugar cookie. She has one hell of a bite.”

*****

Laura paced by the edge of the woods, her eyes trying to focus on the deepening shades of darkness between the pasture and the treeline. She continually glanced back toward the house to ensure that Crystal wasn’t coming out to check on their progress in finding Jim.

Laura turned suddenly when she heard the stumbling steps of someone working their way out of the brush. She ran toward the noise and watched as Derek stumbled out of the woods and collapsed on the ground. He panted for breath and shook his head. “Don’t say it.”

“Don’t say what?” She probed his face for some hint at what he meant.

“Don’t say, ‘I told ya so’.” He rolled to his side and coughed, his breathing becoming more labored.

“What happened, D?” She reached for him and he gently pushed her hand away.

“The old bastard jumped me.” Derek pulled himself to a sitting position and coughed into his hand. He pulled his hand away and stared at it in the moonlight. “He’s definitely got his strength back.”

“Oh, my God. Derek, are you okay?” She grabbed his shoulders and lifted him to a better sitting position.

“I think so. I thought maybe I’d punctured a lung or something.” He held his hand closer to his face and studied it. “No blood though. I think I’m good.”

Laura blanched. “Did he scratch you or bite you?”

Derek shook his head. “No.” Another coughing fit caught him off guard. “But he tackled me and sent me into a tree trunk.” He looked up at her and gave her a pained smile. “They don’t give, ya know?”

Laura chuckled with relief and sat down next to him. “I guess you didn’t get a shot at him?”

Derek grunted. “He knew what I was doing. He pulled the dart and crushed it.” He slowly shook his head, his eyes betraying him and allowing the tears to flow. “He knew exactly what he was doing and…”

“What happened?”

Derek sniffed back the tears that caused his nose to run. “He told me…quit. Go home. Know that this is what he wanted.”

“So, he still had his mind about him?”

Derek nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t think he knew his own strength. He looked shocked when he hit me and I went flying.”

“Are you okay?”

Derek shrugged. “Cracked ribs, I think. I’ll live.” He glanced back toward the trees and shook his head. “Wish I could say the same for pops.”

Laura sighed heavily and held her head in her hands. “He’ll live, D. Just not like what we had hoped.”

The pair sat quietly for a while listening to the sounds of nature. Both wished they could hear a wolf howl so that they could pretend it was their father. Finally Derek turned to her. “What will you do now?”

Laura shrugged. “I guess…” She let her voice trail off as her mind raced. “I guess we should probably have a memorial service for the rest of the family.”

“That’s actually a good idea. Give them some closure.”

“Then I guess I’ll go back. Unless reports of a Halfling in the area suddenly crop up, then…” She turned and eyed Derek. He watched her shake her head slowly.

“You said he wouldn’t. I mean, he’ll turn into the wolf, right? That is what you told me.”

“That’s what is supposed to happen.” She lowered her head again and sniffed back her own tears. “It’s just that my luck has been so shitty lately, I don’t know if I want to put that much faith into it.”

Derek placed a hand on her shoulder and used her as leverage to get to his feet. “Help me to the house. We have to break the bad news to Crystal, then call Jimmy, and…” He sighed heavily. “I am
so
not looking forward to this.”

*****

Mark worked his way toward his office when Jericho stopped him in the hall. “We have primaries you need to look over, Major.”

Mark scanned the report and shook his head. “Seriously? Can these guys not tell the difference between fireflies and pixies?” He shook his head and slipped the sheet into his folder. “Anything else, Jones?”