by Michael Todd
She donned the suit and zipped it up the side. He’d finally acted on her not-so-subtle hints and allowed more room in the chest area—the damned bulletproof threads they wove into the shirt were always so damn restrictive. Suitably clad, she retrieved the file and opened it. It contained a picture of the reporter—a younger Latino guy with nice hair and a perfect smile. Billie shook her head. She would never understand how all these young people could get themselves so wrapped up in shit that carried a short life-expectancy.
Once she’d absorbed all the facts, she knocked on the window of the partition. The driver opened it and stuck his hand back to take the file from her before he closed the partition. Billie knew he would immediately slip the file into a shredder and the contents would be burned at their next stop.
Marcus still bitched about her insistence on physical copies of the info, but she didn’t want it downloaded into the suit. If someone got their hands on it, the information it contained would be freely available.
Yeah. So not a good idea.
Billie yawned and leaned against the window and allowed the warmth of the glass to lull her into sleep. She was exhausted and might as well take a snap-nap while she could. The vehicle left the French side and she only stirred when they came to a quiet stop in a dark section of the small city on the Chinese side.
The driver did his thing with the partition once more and handed her another envelope. “For the transport. Marcus said to use the second setting on your suit. That will tell you where to find your next disguise. Good luck.”
She nodded, took the money, and slid out of the car. A van was parked not far away, and she handed the driver the cash after a curt nod in greeting. He nodded to the back of the van and she scrambled in and made herself as comfortable as she could amidst the boxes and packages.
It was a fairly long trip to the American side of the jungle, which meant she had time to regroup and consider her options in more detail. The Zoo trip had been relatively short, so it hadn’t sapped all her reserves, which made this easier. And, she reasoned with a grin, at least her target wouldn’t come at her with poisoned fangs or snapping mandibles. If she could take out big-ass Gor-T single-handed, a reporter had to be like a simple real-world bug-swat.
Ready to work, Holly opened the fridge again and grinned at the bounty. “This is the first time in my life I have been happy to open my fridge and find whole organ-like things waiting for me.”
She shrugged, grabbed one of the bags, and placed it carefully on the counter. Holly rubbed her hands together and smiled mischievously. “JB, I’m going to make you my bar bitch yet.”
With a small sample spoon in hand, she focused on her task and carefully scooped samples of the goop. It took a while to methodically prepare the various tests she thought she should run to identify the exact serum that was needed to cure JB. She ran several different ones while her mind churned at a million miles a minute. As she worked, she took notes, determined to record all the data before she actually sat down to set out the math and science of it all on paper.
When she was done, she sat back and sighed with something close to amazement. Excitement stirred, and she hurried to her desk to input what she had discovered. As she typed, a notification of a message from her company popped up on her phone but she closed it. She stopped for a moment and looked out the window.
It wasn’t a stretch to believe she could sell this information to her present potential employer who wanted her to go into the Zoo. It would bring her a pretty penny too, which meant she’d probably be set for life.
Holly shook her head and rubbed her face in irritation. “What are you saying, Holly? You can’t sit here and play God.”
She exhaled a deep breath as she pushed the thought aside and centered her concentration on the reason she had started this research to begin with. JB was her focus, and it needed to stay that way. As she worked through each step, she tried to make the most comprehensive set of notes that she could. At the same time, though, she also had to make sure her information would never get out beyond her.
She worked on an air-gapped computer that she already had and saved everything on a small, inconspicuous drive that she wore around her neck whenever she wasn’t there.
Holly thumbed the drive and tilted her head back. “Not that it would matter if Hickok wanted it,” she observed with a grin. “She can pretty much get anything and everything she wants.” The thought of her friend made her smile and she had to shake her head to dislodge the seemingly impossible abilities Hickok was able to conjure whenever she needed them.
The hours dragged on and finally, Holly put her head on her hand and sighed. She had to keep working in the hope that her latest research would be the answer they needed. That night, she fell asleep with her fingers still on the keyboard. Even in the fuzzy grayness of descending sleep, she knew that when she woke, she would pay JB a visit.
Chapter Three
Hickok tucked her white blouse into her high-rise, wide-legged dress pants. She shrugged into a short blazer and tugged her wig firmly into place.
Her appearance had completely changed with the application of a temporary self-tanner to bronze her skin further and makeup specific to the instructions she’d received. The red wig completed the miracle. She gripped the Marc Jacobs handbag tightly, spritzed a little perfume, and wrinkled her nose in distaste at the smell. Fuck you, Marcus. You know I hate these snooty East Coast bitches with a passion. Maybe he was a little more pissed that she’d allowed a stranger to work on her armor than she’d thought.
Her red wig was cut into a short, perfectly straight bob with bangs that softened her brow.
She took one last look at herself in the mirror and scowled angrily at the pointy-toed kitten heels she wore. They were a long stretch from her worn-in military-grade boots that felt like slippers in comparison. She took a deep breath, retrieved a lanyard from her bag, and hung it around her neck. It was a press pass which displayed her name as Melinda Ellsworth, reporter for the New York Times. Billie assumed that had all been prearranged with the organization considering that a phone number was printed boldly on the front.
She headed out of the bathroom located at the front of the press building and approached the security guards at the checkpoint.
They searched her bag and studied her press pass closely before they allowed her through. Her heels clicked as if in mockery on the tiled floor as she walked down the hall and to the left, where the administrative offices were located. As she entered, a woman with a nineties-style grayish-blond hairdo stood and sauntered toward her in an equally dated mauve business suit. The Nikes on her feet were the kind everyone knew were for the middle-aged woman who constantly checked her calories on her wristwatch.
The assistant looked at Billie for a moment and raised an eyebrow. “Can I help you?”
Hickok forced a breezy East Coast smile. “Yes. I am supposed to meet a Thomas Bellbrook for a joint assignment but unfortunately, I have forgotten what office he works out of.”
She grunted and typed on the computer. “He’s in room 45C but it says here he departed this morning.”
Billie restrained a sigh of irritation. “Really? That’s strange. Does it say where he went?”
“We aren’t babysitters here,” the woman grumped. “He was listed to be under our press pass for another month and had three interviews scheduled today, but apparently, he left rather hastily right as we opened. He even turned his pass in and all.”
So much for a simple fucking bug-swat. She nodded her head and delivered another dazzling empty smile. “Thank you for your help. I guess I’ll check in with his boss, then, and see who I’ve been reassigned to. Have a wonderful day.”
The woman nodded, turned, and shuffled back to her desk. Hickok left the office and immediately made a hard right around the corner. She stopped and pretended to check messages on her phone as others walked past. This definitely put a wrench in things and the guy suddenly AWOL was so not what she needed.
&nb
sp; She clicked through on her black ops phone, put her finger to her ear, and turned to her right. “Marcus. I need you to get the people out of the target’s main room—for three minutes tops, I guess. The dickwad has gone.”
His sigh matched her own irritation. “I told you to hurry. All right, give me a second. I’ll send an emergency response notice to the EIC. All hands, so they all hurry from the office.”
Billie continued to pretend to look through her phone. 45C was two doors down the hall on the left. In a few moments, shuffles and chairs scraping alerted her of her backup’s success. The door flew open and about twelve reporters and the EIC staff barreled out with everything from cameras to notepads.
She paused and maintained her focus on her phone as they rushed past and waited for them to exit the building. From the window at the end of the hall, she saw a steady stream of vehicles snake out of the parking lot after a few moments.
The coast clear, she snuck down the hall and entered the office quickly. Conscious of the seconds ticking by, she scanned the work areas but didn’t see anything she thought she could use. At the front, a filing cabinet stood beside a large desk.
The top drawer was labeled Sensitive and she yanked on it but found it locked. She turned, opened the top drawer of the EIC’s desk, and scrabbled through the usual office supplies until she found the key. The cabinet opened easily, and she pulled all the files forward as she riffled through. None seemed promising until she finally found a red one tucked way back behind all the others.
Billie chuckled as she opened it. “For people given sensitive information, you sure do a shitty job hiding it.”
Quickly, she read through the contents of the file and soon realized that Thomas Bellbrook was not a reporter at all. Instead, his name was Eliza Owens, and he was nothing more than a common spy.
The EIC had obviously been duped into concealing his identity. Sneaky bastard. She grinned. “Just like me, only he plays for a different team.”
At the bottom of the file was a note by the EIC. Left on assignment early AM. Heading to Sydney.
Hickok slammed the file shut and replaced it, locked the cabinet, and returned the key to the desk drawer. She hurried out of the room and left the building. Thankfully, the potential transport issue was resolved when a vehicle cruised to a stop in response to her raised hand. She glanced at the driver, reasonably certain that she had used him before.
She retrieved the envelope containing emergency cash from her bag. Without a word, she leaned casually against the van and handed it through the window.
“Where do you need to go?”
Billie glanced around. “The local airport on the African North Coast.”
He paused and then nodded toward the back. “Get in.”
Holly stretched and yawned, more awake than she had been in a while. She pulled her robe over her shoulders and walked to the kitchen counter.
The automatic coffee machine hadn’t worked it’s magic and she scowled her displeasure. Damn the woman. Billie had obviously unplugged the fucking thing again. Her experiments waited for her in a row, all labeled and numbered, so she decided to simply ignore her body’s demands for it’s morning fix. She took a few readings and saved the notes on her drive before she ejected it and placed it on the long chain that dangled down her shirt.
That done, she hurried into the bathroom and showered hastily, leaving her hair up in a bun. She didn’t have time to go through her whole routine that morning. It was more important to get to the bar.
It took a minute or two to throw on a tank top and shorts, lace up her boots, and slide her laptops into the bottom desk drawer before she locked it.
A quick glance around reassured her that she hadn’t forgotten anything, and she snatched her keys and hurried down the steps. Amanda wasn’t at work yet, so she locked the door behind her and walked at a rapid pace toward FUBAR.
When she opened the door, the familiar smell of old beer and bacon hit her. She desperately hoped Paula had put on a pot of coffee because she had completely blanked out when she walked out of the apartment.
Note to self. Never ever leave home without at least one cup.
To her surprise, though, JB was up, looked good, and tended the bar. He had a small smile on his lips and nodded warmly to her as she walked up and took a seat in her normal spot.
“Coffee or harder?” he asked with a grin
Holly shook her head. “Definitely coffee.”
JB tapped the bar and walked away as Dan came in and took a seat next to her. “Hey there, mad scientist. How did that equipment work out for you?”
She smiled widely. “Hey, Dan. Actually, I have to admit that it was a complete and total godsend. I completed a whole lot of work yesterday and I am well on my way to figuring out the information I need. Thank you for that. I’d still be bogged down in a useless effort to piece things together online if it weren’t for you.”
He chuckled. “I’m not used to so much praise. It was my pleasure to help. But I thought about this after you left and realized that I actually have access to a full lab I could get you into.”
Instantly, excitement flowed through Holly at the idea of a professional-grade working environment available in the area. “Really?”
Dan nodded. “Sure. It’s used by the government from time to time, but it’s more of an off-grid lab.”
Her excitement faded quickly once she’d thought about it. There was no way for her to determine whether the place was bugged or not. And from the way they did things around there, it most likely was. Especially if the fucking government’s involved. “Well, I’ll definitely let you know if I need to use it. I think right now, though, I’m good with what we have.”
“No problem. I’m here if you need anything.”
Paula entered from the back and placed a plateful of food in front of Holly. “When was the last time you ate?”
Holly sighed and looked at the sandwiches in front of her—with a side of bacon of course. “Uh, the last time you fed me. I think.”
The other woman shook her head. “You can’t have a bright mind without a good nutritional meal.”
“I appreciate it.” She smiled and selected one of the sandwiches.
JB put a cup of coffee next to her but didn’t stay to chat. The two women exchanged a glance and Paula shrugged her shoulders. “Will you hang out for a while?”
Holly shook her head and swallowed her mouthful. “No, actually, I only came to check on JB. I have more stuff to research back home. Do you think I could take this with me?”
Paula chuckled and handed her a box. “Anything that keeps you going.”
It took only a moment to transfer the sandwiches to the box. She paused to gulp some of the hot coffee. “Thanks, Paula. Put it on my tab. I’ll be back.”
The bartender nodded and Holly hurried out the front door. She wanted to stay and relax but she knew she couldn’t waste even a second of time. JB looked good, but so far, the stuff she gave him most likely only slowed the progress and perhaps reversed it a little. They needed something much more powerful to cure him, and they needed it soon. Amanda was inside behind the counter when she reached her apartment building and looked up as she walked in. “Hey there, tenant. How’s it going?”
Holly stopped and smiled and glanced at the gear in front of Amanda. It definitely didn’t look like anything the mercs out there wore, so she turned and locked the front door. “Things are going. You know. Is that Billie’s?”
The armorer looked at the suit and laughed. “Yeah. I definitely don’t have anyone else out here wearing shit like this. Where is she, by the way?”
“Like I know. She pops in and out. I assume she’s off doing something for whoever it is she works for.”
Amanda smiled and stuck her finger through a hole in the suit. “I heard an interesting story when I stopped to get coffee this morning. Apparently, someone found a large-ass creature filleted like a pig for a Sunday BBQ.”
Holly tried to avoid eye
contact. “Wow. That’s…strange.”
The other woman stared at her for a moment. “Mm-hmm. It sure is. No bodies were found and no one has claimed the kill. Apparently, it was some crazy-looking beast with big-ass teeth and gorilla-like arms. Its belly was split from neck to pelvis and the guts shoveled out in front of it. I’ll simply assume that the Ghost has struck again.”
“Yeah, well, we both know who that would be.” Holly smirked. “I was there so I know about it although I didn’t see her kill the thing. She went wild and lured it off on her own. My team was there with me, but she saved their asses more than once on the trip and they promised me they would keep the secret that they saw her in the flesh. They said they would spread some wild stories around whenever anything surfaced to get people away from the truth that she’s actually a real person who lives here.”
Amanda shook her head and laughed. “I’m not shocked that she said she would take the thing on her own. This armor is unlike anything I’ve seen before. I saw her last suit and it was wicked but this shit is next-level. I haven’t even fully figured out what everything does yet.”
Holly laughed. “Yeah, when she first met us in the Zoo, she dropped in front of us like she’d hung out in the trees or something. And she looked like the next generation of stealth—like something out of a movie. I wish you could have seen how she was able to endure the hikes. It was plain fucking nuts.”
Amanda raised the arms and poked at the spikes which protruded from the glove. “Some of this shit seems too advanced to be practical.”
“What do you mean?” Holly frowned in confusion. “She seemed to handle it like any other suit.”
“Oh, I’m sure. It’s incredibly lightweight given the specs. You can get in and out of it quickly, and the material is tough but soft at the same time.”
The armorer leaned forward and lowered her voice, even though they were alone in the building. “It’s like she expects enemies with other weapons besides poison, acid, and teeth.”
