He realized he didn’t have that luxury.
Though he desperately wanted to see the creatures these Lesterfields had evolved into, he was far more interested in making sure Danni was safe. When he’d met her, she’d been little more than a personal crush of his – perky, charismatic, and so freaking hot. However, he’d been amazed to find out she was an awesomely cool person in real life. They’d gotten along – kind of hit it off, even. Arthur wasn’t delusional that anything would come of it, but he was hopeful that he’d made a new friend. She kind of struck him as a person who could have used one.
Of course, nothing was going to come out of it if he got caught standing out here with his thumb up his ass.
Arthur considered things. He had little clue how to survive in the woods, much less track anyone. But he wasn’t in any danger from the elements and had a full canteen of water with him. And, perhaps best of all, he was armed and had been given just enough training to know how to use the weapons he had. He could defend himself if need be.
That settled it. He took a guess on the direction that Dr. Jenner and the others had gone and set off that way, hoping that he didn’t come across anything of a less friendly nature first.
Soon, all became silent once more, save for the small voice calling Arthur’s name from the radio he’d accidentally dislodged from his belt.
CHAPTER 40
Ezekiel Lesterfield wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, and that bothered him. They’d been following what he was certain was Sarah’s trail, expecting to find and capture her in short order.
Then they’d heard the scream and spotted lights through the trees up ahead. They weren’t alone. More intruders were invading their territory – most likely a group of unwary campers. He doubted it was a search party. They’d have called it quits before it got dark. Besides, from the look of things, it was too few people and too haphazard.
No matter the case, they wouldn’t be allowed to leave. Not if there was a chance that Sarah could get to them, too.
He’d sent a few of the boys ahead to scout out these trespassers and deal with them if the opportunity presented itself. Any females would be kept, added to their flock. The rest, well, their bodies would never be found.
It was a distraction from hunting Sarah, but a necessary one.
Then he heard the gunshot. They all did. The thing was, it hadn’t come from the intruders up ahead but from somewhere south of their location. For a moment, he feared they’d somehow walked into a trap in their own backyard, but how was that even possible?
The only explanation that made sense was Sarah. She’d seen these newcomers, too, but rather than run to them, she’d set an ambush.
That thought chilled Ezekiel to his bones. It bespoke of a cold-bloodedness he would never have expected from her. But perhaps he should have. She had, after all, already murdered two of his kin this night. One was luck, easy enough to dismiss. Two was desperation. But three? Those weren’t the actions of some two-bit bikini hussy from the TV. Sarah was acting like a killer, one who knew what she was doing.
Ezekiel began to wonder whether it was all worth it. No matter how badly Noah wanted her, she might be too much trouble. At the very least, they’d need to hobble her arms and legs, make sure the rest of her days were spent as a cripple. He couldn’t recall ever having to do that before with another of the clan’s wives. Noah almost certainly wouldn’t be pleased, but that was his cross to bear.
Though he was unsure how to handle this latest development, he also knew inaction wasn’t an option, not with the others following his lead. Whatever happened, he couldn’t let the intruders ahead of them escape. There was no doubt they’d heard the gunshot, too. If they had a lick of sense between them, they’d be turning tail and running as fast as they could back the way they’d come.
Ezekiel quickly and quietly rallied the clan members still near him. He sent half of them up ahead – no waiting, no caution – to hit these trespassers hard and with finality.
The rest he sent after Sarah. Let them flush her out and deal with her as they would. If they killed her, then that would be on them, not him.
Within moments, he found himself standing alone. Though he knew these woods well, he wasn’t used to the feeling of being watched. Knowing that Sarah was out there somewhere, armed and with no qualms about fighting back, frightened him.
Ezekiel was neither the bravest nor strongest of the Lesterfield clan. Fear wasn’t unknown to him. But from a woman?
He pulled his revolver from his side, backed up against the trunk of a nearby white cedar, and crouched down low so as to not present an easy target. The only thing to do now was wait.
Let the others take care of this. He was their new leader and as such wasn’t about to put himself at undue risk.
♦ ♦ ♦
Danni twisted the knife in Jonathan Lesterfield’s back. She knew it was unnecessary. The movements he made were all involuntary, the last twitches of his nerves as they shut down. But she did it again anyway, unwilling to give this monster any quarter or leave any doubt that he was dead.
He’d spun toward her as she’d come up from behind, but the same mud which had given away her position proved to be his undoing. He had lost his footing on the slick muck. It was for the barest of instants, but more than enough for her to strike.
Danni had been on him before he’d even hit the ground. Oddly, he made no sound, gave no protest, as she’d plunged the knife into his body, again and again, his struggles quickly turning into nothing more than a death rattle.
All she could picture was Francis’s face and how this bastard had tried to defile his body – as if what they’d done to him hadn’t been bad enough.
She pulled the knife out and prepared to bring it down once more, just to be safe, when she heard the gunshot.
Spooked as Danni already was, she immediately threw herself into the space between the two bodies. Several seconds later, she slowly lifted her head, certain it would be blown off, but no more gunfire came.
Were the Lesterfields shooting at shadows? Or had they found whoever had been screaming earlier?
She didn’t dare to hope that someone was out there looking for her, but that hope bloomed nevertheless. It was a dangerous thought at a time like this, bringing with it the potential to make her do something stupid.
It was also possible that it was all little more than a trap by the Lesterfields, something to draw her out while they waited to ambush her. If so, it wasn’t going to work. The only way she was going to get out of this was if she kept her wits about her, and that meant playing this game by her rules.
But that didn’t mean she wasn’t still scared out of her mind. Though knowing it was pointless and overkill, she turned over Jonathan Lesterfield’s corpse, preparing to drive the Ka-Bar through his throat if he so much as twitched.
There came no movement, though. His oversized, misshapen eye stared sightlessly up at the stars, that odd glow gone from it – no more threatening than a doll’s eye.
Danni rooted through his pockets but found nothing of use except a few spare bullets. His gun looked to be slightly newer than the one she’d taken from Nathanial, but it was now completely caked with muck. She had neither the time nor inclination to clean it out. However, it was foolish to leave it for his family to find. She sunk the old rifle in the bog, then rolled Jonathan’s body into the thick, muddy water. Rotting in a marsh was better than he deserved, so far as she was concerned.
There were now three less of this accursed clan to terrorize these woods, but in taking Jonathan down, she realized she’d most likely used up all the protection this location offered her. If they came back looking for their missing member, there was enough evidence left for an experienced woodsman to piece together what had happened.
She needed to get moving again.
The Lesterfields were ahead of her now, so the smart thing would have been to head back to the compound to free Sophie and anyone else held prisoner. Yet the thought
of returning there alone, of being caught and caged again, terrified her to the point of inaction.
Much as Danni hated herself for it, Sophie would have to wait.
The rest of these bastards had their backs to her now. It was a mistake they’d regret.
Another shot rang out in the distance, different in pitch to the last. A pistol, maybe?
Mere moments later, the silence of the forest was shattered with the sound of gunfire. Multiple shots rang out, all seeming to come from different directions.
It was an impossible dream, but the more Danni listened, the more she became convinced that there was a gunfight going on. She wasn’t alone out there after all. Even if they weren’t specifically searching for her, they couldn’t be worse than the devil she knew.
The problem was the Lesterfields still held home field advantage. She needed to reach whoever was out there before it was all over, because she had a sinking sensation about which side would eventually prevail otherwise.
CHAPTER 41
Eric was well aware that he could be rash and overly temperamental, but he didn’t consider himself a stupid man.
A part of him still refused to believe there was a family of monsters out in these woods, monsters who thought like men. The problem with that theory was the dead body lying at their feet.
“Boss?” Sullivan asked from beside him, his sidearm out and ready.
Eric briefly considered the rifle slung over his back, liberated from Jenner’s SUV. He knew it was more powerful, especially out here where there was no shortage of obstructions, but he was a lot more familiar with his 9mm semi-automatic. Knew it like the back of his hand. It was quick, reliable, and fast to reload. In a shit situation, like the one rapidly headed their way, he'd sooner rely on it than risk fucking things up while he fumbled with a rifle sight.
It was possibly just Hopper and Muellenberg returning. But whatever was approaching their position sounded like more than two men.
Eric drew his pistol and fired a shot into the air. “Only warning you’re going to get,” he cried out. “Stand down!”
His voice was steady, belying the fact that he was afraid, something that almost never happened in his day to day job. The urban jungle was his territory, not this shit. All at once, it hit home what a bad idea it had been to come out here.
Silence descended upon the forest immediately following his warning. The movement around them ceased and all became still. For a moment, he thought perhaps he’d been successful. But then, when no acknowledgement of surrender was announced from the surrounding brush, he realized it was the exact opposite.
In firing a warning shot, he’d told whoever was out there exactly where he was.
Shit!
Eric grabbed Sullivan and dragged him to the ground a mere moment before the forest around them erupted in thunder and the smell of spent gunpowder.
♦ ♦ ♦
It sounded like all hell had broken loose up ahead. Unfortunately, Derek didn’t give Zeist’s team much chance of winning. They were badly outnumbered and trying to fight a war in the Jersey Devil’s backyard, of all places.
Fuck me sideways.
Much as he wanted to go and help them, though, tough decisions needed to be made. By saving one of Zeist’s men, he’d alerted them to the danger, given them a fighting chance. How they used it was up to them now.
Finding Arthur before he could get too far off base was their top priority, especially once they’d found his radio lying on the ground.
Derek felt a hand tap his shoulder. He stopped and turned, hoping he wouldn’t see a face from a nightmare staring back at him.
“Let me take the lead,” Mitchell said.
“I’m…”
“You’re wheezing so loud I can practically hear it over the shit storm going on out there. Need I remind you that if you drop dead the network is unlikely to renew my contract?”
Derek let out a quick snort of laughter that quickly turned into a cough. Damnit! Mitch was right. He should be sidelined, not running around out here. He prided himself on being the best leader that he could be, but one of the tenets of good leadership was knowing when to let someone else take the reins for a while.
After a moment, he simply nodded.
“Good,” Mitchell replied. “Show me what we’re dealing with.”
Derek flashed his light down at the ground directly in front of him. There were footprints plainly visible in the dirt. Mitchell was the weakest tracker on the team, but Arthur had left a clear trail.
“Could follow this with my eyes closed.”
Derek clapped him on the shoulder. “Looks like the kid got curious, then got turned around. Easy mistake to make.”
“Easy if this was a hiking trip,” Mitchell said. “Stupid when we’re out here…”
“Um, guys,” Julia warned.
Both men stopped, realizing there was a commotion up ahead, and it was coming their way.
Derek leveled his rifle, trying to force himself to remain calm. It was probably just Arthur backtracking, he told himself. Even if it wasn’t, he couldn’t afford to lose his cool. He...
A figure broke from the bushes ahead of them. Whoever it was, it definitely wasn’t Arthur. Derek’s finger tightened on the trigger, but then Mitchell grabbed the barrel of his gun and forced it down before he could fire.
The medic’s light came up, illuminating the newcomer – neither Arthur nor one of the Lesterfields.
Despite convincing himself his head was in the game, Derek realized he’d almost shot the man. Unfortunately for them, the newcomer was apparently of the same mindset.
He raised his sidearm in a panic, before Julia cried out, “Do it and die!” from immediately behind them. She stepped up, gun at the ready.
The man, dressed in a suit jacket and tie of all things, was quick to lower his weapon. “Don’t shoot, please.”
Derek realized he looked familiar. “You with Zeist?”
A look of relief flashed across the man’s face. He composed himself and nodded. “Is that you, Jenner?”
“In the flesh.”
“Um, you and your men are under arrest for...”
“Are you sure I can’t shoot this asshole?” Julia interrupted.
More shots were fired from somewhere up ahead and the man flinched.
“I’m going to assume you’re smart enough to realize that’s not us,” Mitchell said once the barrage subsided.
“I don’t know what the fuck is going on out here.”
“Well, I’d say you have a choice,” Derek replied. “You can head back out and see for yourself, or you can drop the shit and stick with us.”
The newcomer blinked a few times, then holstered his weapon.
“Good choice. So what do we call you?”
“Oh, sorry. Kyle, Kyle Muellenberg.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Kyle,” Derek said. “Now kindly do as you’re told and maybe we’ll all have a shot of getting out of this alive.”
♦ ♦ ♦
Arthur didn’t really know what he was doing, but heading away from the gunfire sounded like a smart idea.
Devil Hunters (Tales of the Crypto-Hunter Book 2) Page 31
