Wayward Son (7 page)

“You didn’t.”

“No. I’ll admit you had me on that one.” Sheridan looked past the man and watched as the wolves packing each stopped and checked their phones at nearly the exact same time. To the man, they each put away their phone and began unpacking the gear they had been preparing to take back. “Looks like he’s put the wheels into motion.”

“When will they be here?”

“They’re loading now. Should be here tonight.” Sheridan turned back for the office then paused. “By the way. You’re now in charge of this canine army.”

Apollo raised a brow at that announcement. “You ain’t the boss no more?”

“Oh, I’m still the boss. Just not over the tactical movements. That’s all you. So if this goes to shite, it’s on your head.”

*****

“So he’s just gone?” Nadia’s eyes were wide with disbelief as she probed Jack’s face for some tell-tell sign that he was pulling her leg.

“We’ve searched everywhere and Pedro saw him go up in a huge explosion. My best guess is that he vaporized himself.”

She shook her head as she tried to wrap her mind around the possibility. “I can’t believe it. I’ve known Rufus since I was…well, my entire life.”

“I know.” Jack patted her hand and avoided her eyes.

“There’s more, isn’t there?”

“I don’t…” his voice trailed off.

“I’m a big girl, Jack. Tell me. Please. I need to know.” He looked up and saw the tears forming in her eyes.

Jack swallowed hard and tried to think of a way to put what he needed to tell her next that wouldn’t make Rufus out to be the bad guy. There was no easy way to say it. He opted for the Band-Aid approach. Rip it off quickly and let the sting fade. “There’s evidence that he stole secret plans from the squads and attempted to build a Doomsday weapon. It was that weapon that exploded on him and—”

“No!” Nadia exclaimed, pulling her hand from his. “Rufus is an honorable man. He would never do such a thing.”

Jack held her by the shoulders and stared deeply into her eyes. “As I said, there is evidence. That doesn’t necessarily mean that he did. Until I can find out more…”

“I refuse to believe that Rufus is capable of such a thing.”

Pedro stepped into the room and held the notebook out to her. “It was a Doomsday weapon that targeted natural born supernatural beings. Not just vampires, not just wolves, not just elves…all of them.” He held the notebook at arm’s length, but she refused to accept it from him.

“Why would he do such a thing?” Her tone was defiant as she glared at the man.

“Who knows? The last time this notebook was seen, it was in Doctor Peters’ lab.”

“Why would your vampire create a weapon to destroy vampires? That makes no sense.” She was slowly shaking her head, refusing to accept what her heart already knew.

“He didn’t set out to design it. As I understand it, he was trying to figure out a way to differentiate. So that it wouldn’t be a ‘kill-everything’ weapon, and instead could be used more like…well…like a sniper rifle.”

“I refuse to accept this based on your say. I’ve known Rufus my entire life. He is simply not capable of such subterfuge.”

Jack turned her attention back to him. “And I’m going to try to figure out if it’s true.”

She turned wide eyes up at him and shook her head. “You’re not returning with us to the pack? If Rufus is truly…gone, then our pact with him is nulled.”

Jack closed his eyes and sighed. “I’m still officially his Second until my duties are discharged. You know this.”

“No, Jack. If he is truly gone then you cannot be Second to him.” She tried to stand and pushed his hands away from her. “Why do you do this? Answer me truly.”

Jack stood and faced her. “If he’s not dead and he’s still out there? He could have copies of this. Which means there’s nothing to stop him from building another weapon.”

“But you found nothing when the weapon blew up and—”

“And Foster is missing. As well as some of the wolves. And a watercraft.” Jack exhaled hard and turned to Pedro. “Give me a minute, will ya?”

Pedro stepped out of the room and his footsteps could be heard clicking down the stone hallway. Jack turned back to her and his eyes unsettled her. She had seen this look before…in her visions. Before he ever uttered the words, she knew what he was going to say.

“As long as a threat like this is out there, I can’t just sit around and do nothing. I need to be out there trying my best to stop it.”

Nadia felt the tears running down her cheeks without realizing she was crying. “Jack, this is Rufus we are speaking of. He is not a threat.”

“If he’s trying to build a Doomsday weapon, then he
is
a threat. And pact or not, Second or not…friend or not. I will stop him.”

“No, Jack. Please, come back with me. Be a husband and a father.”

“I will be, sweetheart. But not until this threat is neutralized. How could I ever rest knowing that at any moment he could set off a device that could take out
all
natural-borns? You, me, our child?”

“Jack…” she sobbed. “Please?”

“Your father. Your mother. Everybody you’ve ever known or cared for is at risk as long as he has the ability to recreate that weapon, Nadia. Can you really ask me to sit aside and do nothing?”

She collapsed into her chair and sobbed into her hands. When Jack reached out for her she pushed him away and turned her face from him. “Go!”

Jack stood and stared at her sobbing, his heart breaking. It took everything he had not to reach out and pull her to him, but she didn’t want him. She was too upset. He turned for the door but paused at the doorway. “I love you, Nadia. I will come back to you.”

She turned away from his voice and continued to cry.

*****

“Seems like we just got back from a mission.” Lamb smirked as he double checked his gear.

Ing chuckled. “Ah, the life of a military operator. Travel to strange, exotic lands, meet new and exciting people…”

“And kill them.” Little John finished the joke for him as he finished checking his gear. “Anybody hear what this one is?”

Spalding hung his pack back on the pegboard and stretched his neck. “Supposed to be a small vamp pack.”

“Easy-peasy,” Donnie chimed in as he finished checking his own gear.

“Never assume, Donovan.” Spalding looked up from his team and saw Jericho approaching them from the leader boards. “Heads up.”

“Secondary just came in. Time to lock and load, boys.” He handed Spanky the operations sheet then turned back for the hallway leading to the OPCOM. “For the love of God, be careful out there.”

“Roger that, Cap.” Spanky browsed the operations sheet then handed it to Donovan. “Be on your toes, boys. We got some mixed signals on this one. California border town. People disappearing. It doesn’t look pretty.”

Little John reached for the sheet and checked it. “Cali, huh?”

“El Cajon. Mean anything to you?” Spanky asked.

“I had family out there. On the outskirts of town, anyway.”

“Maybe if we get done soon enough you can stop by and say hi.” Lamb patted the large man’s shoulder. “I’m sure they’d appreciate seeing you.”

John shook his head. “She’s long gone.” He hung his pack up and turned back to them. “My grandmother.”

Spalding held a hand up to get their attention again. “Gear up, check out your weapons, grab plenty of ammo and be on the tarmac in twenty.”

“We Chinookin’ it again, boss man?” Donnie asked.

“Negative. We’re trying to get set up before sundown this time. We’ll be taking a fast mover. The faster we’re wheels up, the less chance of having to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.” He shot the crew a wink. “Move it, ladies.”

*****

Laura rested her head on her shoulder as she slowly pressed the buttons, dialing the hangar again. She’d grown so sick of the tone announcing that the number was out of service and suggesting that she try her call later…she wanted to scream. Now she was just bored as she alternated between fingers to keep them from blistering. When she heard a ringing tone, she feared she had accidentally dialed a wrong number. She sat upright and cradled the phone closer against her ear.

“Duty officer,” the voice announced.

“Holy…who is this?” she asked.

“Please announce yourself.”

“This is Laura Youngblood. I’m trying to reach Colonel Mitchell.”

“Oh, Ms. Youngblood. This is Lieutenant Daniels. I apologize, ma’am. The colonel is in the OPCOM preparing for a mission.” She could hear the phone rustle as the duty officer shifted it. “Can I take a message?”

“Negative, Lieutenant. It’s imperative that I speak with him. Is the XO available?”

She noted a longer than normal pause and dread swept through her. “Ma’am, I’m sorry, but…Major Tufo was attacked. He’s in really bad shape. I’m not even sure if I’m supposed to be telling you this or not.”

“Oh, my God…what happened?” She shifted in her seat and listened carefully, hoping to pick up any hints the man might give her.

“We were…uh…there were multiple assailants. They pinned most of the personnel below decks. Communications were down for quite some time. They were eventually repelled but…we did lose some. Quite a few were wounded as well.”

“How bad is the XO?” She couldn’t hide the anxiety in her voice as she asked.

“Ma’am, I honestly don’t know. Doc’s got field medics and a couple of the nurses watching him around the clock.”

“Doc?” Laura’s mind raced as she considered the numerous possibilities of why Evan would be in charge of Mark’s recovery. She could only come to one conclusion. “Lieutenant, were the assailants…” she tried to think of a way to ask her question over what she knew was an unsecure line at best. “Were they what we normally send the squads out against?”

She noted the long pause on the other end of the line then heard him clear his throat. “Ma’am, you know I can’t say. But I can say that sometimes you should ‘trust your gut’.” Laura’s hand went to her mouth as she realized that the squads had been attacked by
something
and not someone.

“Understood. Can you patch me through to Doctor Evans?”

“Ma’am, as I understand, he’s down for the day. He was in surgery for a long time, but I know he’d be happy to hear from you. If you want to leave your number, I can send somebody to try to wake him and have him return your call.”

Laura smiled at that and nodded, “Yes, please. I’m at the Brazilian base with Pablo and his team. Do you have a pen?”

*****

Paul Foster sat beside his brother in the quiet of the empty warehouse. Waning sunlight seeped through cracks in the walls or through old exterior doorways, but the pair were deep in the shadows of the building, stuffed back into the abandoned offices in the rear. Desks had been pushed together and an old mattress placed on top for Rufus to lie on while Marco was out hunting down more ‘donors’.

Rufus had greedily drained the first two and was beginning to look closer to normal, but still he slept, his body attempting to heal itself from the massive burns and multiple crushed and broken bones. Paul could only guess at the internal injuries he had suffered absorbing the brunt of the blast.

Paul had only suffered minor burns from the explosion. Finishing Rufus’ scraps had easily healed him and given him the strength to break through the concrete floor to rid them of the bodies. He barely lifted his eyes as the overhead doors opened once more and Marco drove the SUV inside again. The sunlight pouring into the warehouse told him that it was still unsafe to be outside.

The truck slowed to a stop near the office and Marco opened the door then walked around and opened the door for a petite blonde who stepped out and looked around the warehouse with wide eyes.

She chewed her gum loudly, popping it between her jaws as she spun in slow circles. “So this is where you film your movies?”

“It sure is,” Marco replied as he shut her door. “It doesn’t look like much, but trust me, hang a few drapes, set up some false walls, some furniture, you can’t tell it from a real house. One soundstage is as good as any other.”

“Fuckin’ sweet.” She pranced around the front of the truck, swaying her hips in an exaggerated manner as she walked. Her high heels clicked on the concrete floor, and Paul noted the large hoop earrings dangling from the sides of her face. She glanced back to Marco and smiled, “So it’s a grand to do the porno then what’s my cut of the sales?”

“One percent,” Marco answered as he walked her closer to the office. “That may not sound like much, but when you consider that most of our movies gross over a million a month, that’s ten grand for each actor. You don’t see a lot up front, but it really pays off in the end.” He stopped and wrapped an arm over her shoulder. “And that’s counting our internet sales, our over-the-counter DVD sales, pay-per-view, satellite, cable...it all adds up.”

She snapped her gum again and smiled up at him. “There must be a ton of perverts out there.”