Moving along with the steady stream of traffic, he switched the Camry over into the slow lane and eased off the gas until he was alongside a big rig that was in the middle lane. The trailer blocked the chopper’s spotlight, and the beam kept going backward, one car after another, until its light faded and it soared back into the night toward Silver Spring.
It’s about time.
His belly groaned.
I could use a hamburger.
Having finally given his pursuers the slip, Smoke found a drive-through and picked up three burgers and two milkshakes. Sucking down the chocolate shake, he headed to the rendezvous point to meet with Sid.
It was another bizarre set of circumstances.
He could only assume Sid was being followed as well or that she would be in some sort of danger. He just hoped she remembered exactly where the rendezvous was. Well, and that she could manage to get there without being followed.
The last of the chocolate shake came up his straw.
Sluuuuurrrp.
Things weren’t getting any easier for anybody these days with all the security cameras that coated the city like white on paper. The stores, sidewalks, roadways, and restaurants had more than the eyes could count. It was a world full of doubt and paranoia. It had gotten so bad that more and more people wouldn’t even leave their homes for the sake of privacy. It left a knot in his stomach some nights. All the time, someone somewhere was watching.
He unwrapped a burger and swallowed it down in two bites.
“Mmm, I should have gotten two more of those. Oh, I did.”
Wadding up the hamburger paper and tossing it into the backseat and unwrapping another one, he led the car off the interstate until he got onto Chain Bridge Road. From there he drove southwest, drinking the strawberry shake, until he found the entrance to Emmaus United Church of Christ and pulled into the vacant parking lot. He chowed down the last burger and shut off the engine, leaving him alone in the dark and quiet. There weren’t any street lamps in the lot. Outside of the car, he shut the door and cut through the trees onto the Westwood Country Club Golf Course.
No cameras out here. Not yet anyway.
Traveling over the fast green and walking around the sand traps, he stopped at what he believed was the tenth hole. Underneath the trees was the backside of an athletic woman.
Easing in behind her, he said, “You made it.”
Sid turned. The wrinkles in her forehead were deep, and her eyes showed signs of worry. She gave him a quick hug. “What’s going on, John?”
He told her everything that had happened since he left her parents’ house then asked, “Have you called to talk with them? I’m worried.”
“They’re fine.” She pushed the hair out of his eyes and traced her finger over a long scratch on his cheek. Her nose crinkled. “Have you been eating hamburgers? I smell pickles on your breath.”
“I got hungry on my way over.”
Aghast, she said, “So in the middle of being manhunted, you stopped for food? Are you kidding me?”
“Jumping out of helicopters builds up quite the appetite.” He tilted his head to one side. “Are you mad?”
“No.” She gave him a little shove in the chest. “I was just worried. Damn, John, what do you think is going on?”
He took her by the hand, and they started to walk together through the dark to the sound of the singing crickets. “I don’t know who they were, but I do know they don’t have the stink of the supernatural on them. They seem to want me alive. If they wanted to kill me, they certainly could have. There’s no doubt about that.” He slipped the red-tinted goggles over his eyes. “Do you like?”
“Not really,” she said, nudging him. “It hides that mystery in your eyes. So these men, they were all wearing those things?”
“Most of them. Well, all that I could see.” He rubbed her hand with his thumb. “Are you getting tired of this?”
“I get tired, but so far as all this is concerned, no. If anything, I’ve gotten numb to it.” She squeezed his hand. “That sounds like a cold thing to say. It’s hard for me to say it. But after what I went through, I’m numb. That’s what they want, John. They want people like me and you, like everyone, to just give up hope. They’re trying to break our spirit by putting us through hell so we just give up fighting. When I was at Kane’s place, I’d started to feel like I was done for, like I might as well give up. I was this close. But you came. You fought your way into the pit of Hades and dragged me out. My prayers were answered.”
“I’d do it again.”
She leaned into his shoulder and hugged his arm. “I know you would, just like I would for you. I think the Drake knows that, and it scares them. If we can take them on, then so can the rest of the world.” She turned to face him and looked up into his eyes. “So without a doubt you want to go through with this wedding?”
“Until death do us part.”
“That might come sooner than expected.”
“As long as we last for the honeymoon, I’ll be happy.”
Sid’s face lit up. She put her arms around his neck, rose up on her toes, and gave him a long, soft kiss.
He wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her warm lips back with as much passion as she gave him.
They broke it off with her saying, “I love you, John.”
The electric hum of a motor caught his ear. Sid cocked an eyebrow, and her hand drew out her gun.
A man hunkered over the wheel of an electric golf cart was approaching. He was alone. Above, the familiar sound of a helicopter straightened the hair in Smoke’s ears.
We’ve got company.
The chopper spotlight illuminated them both.
Bad company.
CHAPTER 14
“Don’t run off again, Johnny Smoke. Don’t you dare run off. I swear, if you do, it’ll be to the peril of you both.” The man stopped the golf cart about twenty feet from them. Lit up by the spotlight, the man wore an Irish cap and was a little bit heavy in his knit yellow polo shirt and shorts. An oxygen tank was in the passenger seat, and he had a clear mask over his face. He coughed and sucked for air. “So are you going to run or not, Johnny?”
“Do you know him?” Sid asked.
It was the man he’d talked to on the phone earlier. That vaguely familiar voice. It all started to come together. Approaching the man in the cart, Smoke got a glimpse at the man’s gemstone-green eyes. “Uncle Earl?”
The man took a deep breath, pulled the mask down, and said, “Yes, it’s me, Uncle Earl. How are you, Nephew?”
Sid stepped up alongside Smoke. “The man who’s been chasing you is your uncle? That doesn’t sound like family to me.”
Earl shrugged and produced a cigarette from his pocket, then reached for his lighter while it hung there stuck to his lower lip while he said, “I love these things.” He lit the cigarette, took a few puffs, and went into a fit of coughing. He took out his phone and dialed a number. “Turn that damn spotlight off! The fox ain’t running.”
The light died, and the chopper moved away.
Earl leaned back in the golf cart seat. “Whew, that’s so much better.” He put his hands on his bare knees. “So, I hear you two are getting married. Congratulations.”
Smoke looked at Sid and back at Earl. Uncle Earl was a sturdy, adventurous character that had been a part of Smoke’s life on and off. He was in his fifties now, but when he was younger, he was very fit like a burly Army Ranger, and active. But he’d always smoked like a chimney, and it looked like that had finally caught up with him.
Smoke hadn’t seen Uncle Earl since his SEAL school, nor heard from him. “Why all of the fanfare to bring me in?”
“I was trying to make it easy by shutting down your car as soon as you left the Shaws, but no, just like you always do, you kept on going.” Earl blew out some smoke. “Driving a car that doesn’t have an electric system we can take out. Smart move.”
“You had my number. You could have just called.”
Earl poi
nted at Smoke while talking to Sid. “I’ve never seen anyone like him. You can’t corner him or trap him. He fights like a hungry badger to get out of it. Always has a backup plan. Even as a kid. And the instincts. Amazing.”
“I know that.” Sid’s tone was angry. “But you almost killed him.”
“I didn’t almost kill him. He almost killed himself.” Earl finished his cigarette and flicked it away. “All he had to do was stand down.”
“You didn’t want me to stand down. You wanted to test me. To push. You wanted to see what I’d do, like I was auditioning for something. All that time, you were putting me to the test.”
“And you passed,” Uncle Earl said. “With flying colors. But I swore we had you this time when we picked up your car with the chopper. I still can’t believe you jumped!” He went into a fit of coughing and put his mask on, fist tapping his chest until it stopped.
“Wait,” Sid said to Smoke, “you jumped out of a helicopter? You didn’t tell me you jumped out of a helicopter.”
“You should have seen it, Miss Shaw.” Earl’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “He jumped right off of it like a Captain America comic book or something. I swear I could hear my men crapping in their pants when he did it. ‘That’s a soldier,’ I said, and I meant it!”
Sidney walked over to Earl and pulled his mask back and snapped it into his face. “My soon-to-be husband isn’t some rat in a maze. You pull another stunt like that, and I’ll shove that oxygen tank so far up your—”
“Sid,” Smoke interrupted. “It’s fine.”
Wide eyed for a moment, Earl whispered to Smoke, “Boy, I really like her.” He gave her the once over. She was glaring at him. “She’s got a great, uh, personality too.”
“I don’t care for your uncle,” Sid said, making her way back over to Smoke’s side. “He’s trouble.”
“It runs in the family. Heh-heh.” Earl locked his penetrating eyes with Smoke’s. His raspy tone softened. “Yeah, I’m a bastard. I could have done this the easy way, but I didn’t. Smoke is my Rambo. My super soldier. The prodigy. I couldn’t resist vetting him some more. Besides, I needed a good field test for my men. They needed to see a true master in action. Someone who’ll do anything to win. The hungry will of a lion in action.” He dug out another cigarette, lit it, removed his mask, and started smoking. “I’m thrilled and amazed.”
“You’re sick,” Sidney said.
“No, no he’s not,” Smoke said. He shrugged at her. “I liked it. It was fun. But I still don’t feel so good about myself.”
“Why’s that?” Earl said.
“Because you still caught me.”
Earl showed a razor-thin smile. “You did well. It’s hard to beat all the technology that’s hovering around. There are satellites. Spy planes. Infrared beacons. Radio towers. And many other technologies you don’t know about. I’ve been with you the entire time, ever since you hurled yourself fearlessly into the air.” He started tapping on his phone. A black drone with four propellers shaped in a four-feet-wide square dropped out of the sky. It was silent and hovering over the green. “And there is this drone of mine. Pretty snazzy, ain’t it?”
Quick as a snake, Sid drew her Glock and shot it.
Ka-Blam!
The drone’s body exploded into pieces, and it flopped to a stop on the green.
“Shit!” Earl said. “You didn’t have to do that. I’m on your side, you know. Damn, I can’t believe you did that. Are you sure you want to marry her, Johnny? She’s got a temper.”
“I know.” Smoke nodded. “I like it.”
Sid stuck her gun back into her holster. “So what’s all this about, Earl? You came here with your boys to see Smoke. Why?”
“I’m here to recruit him.”
“Recruit him for what?”
Earl took another puff of his cigarette and blew it out noisily. “I want him to lead my soldiers in a war against the Drake.”
CHAPTER 15
“What do you know about the Drake?” Sid asked.
“Plenty,” Earl replied. “You know, there’s more than one Black Slate. The two of you are only dealing with the one here in DC. That’s the big one, but these shifters, ghouls, nightmares, or whatever you want to call them, they’re all over. My task force has been working the west coast. You can tell by my tan.” He pulled his collar back, which revealed nothing in the darkness. “Anyway, we got called to DC because somebody—that somebody being you two—has kicked the hornets’ nest, and now DC is buzzing.”
“What task force are you part of?” Smoke asked. “Who runs it, the FBI? CIA?”
“We’re under contract with the division of the federal government that oversees the FBI and CIA. My people are ghosts that don’t exist. I don’t exist.” He hacked really hard and spat on the ground. “I literally won’t exist soon, that’s for certain. Look, I don’t have much time left to live. Look at me. I’m dying. Well, I might make it a year. But I need an heir apparent, and that is you, Johnny Smoke. You are best suited to run the Black List operation.”
Smoke shook his head. “No. I’m not answering to anybody. You might as well go.”
“Johnny, this is another way to serve your country, and this time you’ll have everything you need at your disposal. Armor. Weapons. Cars. We have lots of toys.”
“You have lots of red tape that comes with that, too.” Smoke made his way into the cart and gave Earl a long, hard look. There wasn’t any weakness in his eyes. “You aren’t dying.”
“Sure I am.”
“Not anytime soon. You’re too stubborn, Earl.”
“Okay, I’m not dying that soon, but I could. Look at me. I’m on oxygen and down to my third unhappy wife. I can’t hold up that much longer.” He grabbed Smoke’s arm. “My job is what you are meant for. I’ve seen those evil bastards and what they do. They are pollution. Poison. But they’re weak right now, and we need to take them before they strengthen.”
Smoke pulled away and glanced at Sidney. “I’ve got different priorities.”
“Sure, sure, I know,” Earl said. “You want the happy life and happy wife. A family. Kids to bounce on your knee. Well, you’re both in the thick of this, and it ain’t going away. At least equip yourselves with the best and be ready for the battle ahead.”
Smoke got up and walked back to Sid. “I don’t even want to think about it until after the honeymoon.”
Earl eased the golf cart closer to Smoke. “Listen to me, both of you. They’re coming after you.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Sid said. “How would you know?”
“I’ll tell you what I know. I know where Kane Lancaster’s mansion is. I know what went down there with you and him. I saw it. That mansion might be archaic, but it’s not totally primitive. There are recordings.”
Sid’s eyes grew wide. “What kind of recordings?”
“Discreet ones.”
“How discreet?” she said.
Earl’s eyes slid over to Smoke and back on Sid. “I’d rather not say.”
Taking Sid by the hand, Smoke said, “It wouldn’t make any difference if you did. We’re okay.” He truly felt that way no matter what Sid had been through. But the pain in her eyes told it all. She was barely able to hide a deep, dark shame. Sometimes Smoke hated being able to read people so well. “Listen, Uncle Earl, it’s been good catching up with you, but we’ll be on our way. Take care of yourself.”
“There is strength in numbers, Johnny,” Earl said as Smoke and Sid walked away. “Just come and check out our operation. I swear you’ll like it.”
Smoke waved goodbye. “You owe me a ton of gear. And a car.”
“That wasn’t a car. That was something that should have been laid to rest in the eighties.” Earl went into another fit of coughing. When he regained his composure, he yelled out, “Enjoy your honeymoon! That’s the best part of the marriage. Trust me, I’ve been through three of them, and everything goes down the crapper after that.” There was a raspy sigh. Earl drove the golf cart a
way and was back on the phone. “Hey, someone get their ass down here and pick up the pieces of my drone.”
Hand in hand, Smoke and Sid kept on walking until they were just across the parking lot where Smoke had crossed onto the course. He looked down into Sid’s eyes and said, “You all right?”
“Smoke, things happened in that mansion that I still have nightmares about.” She swallowed. “I, uh, think you should know more about me and Kane.”
“I don’t care about that.”
“You say that now, but later, that might change, and you need to understand what you’re getting into.” She hugged herself, shivering. “I don’t even know who I was back then. My mind is fuzzy. It’s like waking from a horrible dream. Honestly, I don’t know how long an effect it will have on me, and I feel like maybe I’m trying to fill the gap selfishly with you by getting married. Marriage isn’t going to fix me. I’m broken.”
Smoke took her cheek in the palm of his hand, put his forehead to her forehead. “We were born broken and we’re going to die broken. It’ll never change how I feel about you.”
She grasped his wrist. “Those aren’t the most comforting words, but I think that’s just what I needed to hear. Fine, you still want to get married, then let’s quit standing around and get married, but just remember that once I put that ring on your finger, you’re mine.”
“Till death do us part,” he said.
CHAPTER 16
“This is it,” Sidney said to Smoke. It was a sunny morning, and they were standing outside of her church. It was a single-level red-brick building with a high, gabled roof and a white cross on top. On the right side the building extended out into a newer addition that looked to be more classrooms, with a fellowship hall in the back. To the left across the lawn, a little white concrete bridge went across a charming creek to the church’s parking lot. “What do you think?”
Nodding, Smoke said, “I like it. It looks humble. Holy. So you grew up here?”
“Every Sunday up until college. You know, there’ll be a lot of people here you’ve never met before. Plenty of single older ladies.” She nudged him. “They’re going to have their eyes on you. Lots of pinchy fingers and decades-old compliments. Think you can handle it?”
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