“FBI,” Sidney said, shining the light on the man’s back. He was big-framed. Arms bulged. A nasty scar was carved deep in his bare skull. He should be freezing. “Drop the shovel and let me see your hands.”
Shnnnk … Ffffp … Shnnnk … Ffffp … Shnnnk … Ffffp …
Dirt landed on Sidney’s boots. “Drop the shovel and get out of the grave, sir.”
Shnnnk … Ffffp … Shnnnk … Ffffp … Shnnnk … Ffffp …
Sidney growled in her throat. Men never listen. She stepped around the side of the grave to get a better look at him. He kept his head down. He might be deaf, but he can certainly see the light. She shined the light in his face.
The foreboding man stopped and looked up. His marred face had dead eyes. He snarled. The shovel swung.
Shit! A deader!
Sidney jumped. The shovel clipped her heel, and she pitched backward hard onto the ground. Her gun fell from her grasp. The man grabbed the hem of her pants and hauled her into the grave. She drove her heel into his mouth. Clocked him in the head with the flashlight. The deader’s grip was iron, his power unnatural.
“Screw you, Frankenstein!”
She let loose a flurry of kicks in his face, rocking his thick neck back. Using a jujitsu move, she twisted her leg free of his grasp and scrambled out of the hole. In the darkness, she clutched through the tall grasses for her gun.
“Murrr!” the deader moaned, climbing out of the hole wielding the shovel. He raised it over his head and brought it down hard.
Sidney rolled left.
The shovel bit into the ground beside her head. The deader ripped it from the ground and swung another decimating blow.
She ducked under the swipe. Spying her gun, she snatched it up and blasted away.
“Eat Glock, you ugly undead sonofabitch!”
Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam!
The deader staggered backward, shovel slipping through its grasp, teetering on the lip of the grave.
Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam!
Goo oozed from the hole in its chest as it toppled into the grave.
Thud!
Chest heaving, Sidney leaned over the grave.
The deader’s arms shot up.
Blam! Blam! Blam!
The deader’s arms fell down.
Morning Glory. She took out another fifteen-round magazine and reloaded. What was that goon made of?
A man rushed toward her. She aimed for his head. He raised his arms. It was Smoke. “Where in the hell have you been?”
“Sorry,” he said, peering into the grave. “Another deader?”
“I guess,” she said, glaring at him. “Now, if you don’t mind, where were you?”
“While you were fumbling through the trunk, I saw somebody running and went after them.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me.”
“When a wolf chases a rabbit, he doesn’t think about it.”
“So you think like a dog?”
“I said I was sorry. You’re a big girl, Agent Shaw. Get over it.” Then he said with a little guilt in his voice. “I really didn’t anticipate any danger. I should have known better. Sorry.”
She could see the heavy look in his eye. He meant it. And he was right. She didn’t need to get into the habit of relying on someone else. “Just give me a heads-up next time.”
Smoke sauntered over to the grave marker and ran his fingers over the engraving. “You need to see this,” he said.
She took out her phone, turned its light on, and shined in on the marker. Sidney read it out loud: “Edwin Lee. 1865-1945. A humble servant of the Drake Foundation.” There was a black sun rising at the top. She looked at the body on the ground, covered only with the burlap sack. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
Smoke cut away at the cords with a knife and peeled the burlap away from the face.
Just as her mother had described lay the cold dead face of Edwin Lee.
CHAPTER 14
“Weird,” Smoke said, looking at the dead body. “Really weird. He doesn’t look like a deader. Practically a fresh corpse.” He glanced at Sidney. “You’re bleeding.”
“I don’t have time to bleed,” she said.
Smoke started laughing. “I can’t believe you just said that. Is there something you’re not telling me? Did you used to be part of the secret SEALS or something?”
The willies that had been creeping through her bones started to subside. She needed some humor, something real and tangible in what was become a bizarre world. “My father and brothers were big fans of the movie.”
“And you weren’t?”
“Well, I liked it too—the first twenty times.”
“It was a pretty popular phrase among the seals,” he said, “I’ve just never heard a woman use it. I like it.”
“So, assuming we haven’t woken the dead, did you find what you were chasing?”
“Disappeared into a mausoleum.” He pointed over a ridge of tombstones. “That’s when I heard your shots.” He nudged the body of Edwin Lee with his boot. “What do you want to do with him?”
Good question. According to her letter from the Bureau, she needed to call it in. Then again, this was a shadow operation, which gave her liberties with her decisions. She took some pictures of Edwin Lee, the tombstone, and the deader. “Let’s go check out this mausoleum.”
After traversing through fifty yards of grave markers and willow trees, she came to a stop in front of an ancient rectangular structure. Standing almost twenty feet tall and just as wide, it towered over the other structures. Gargoyles adorned the corners. Vines crept over the stained glass windows and twisted along the columns to the entrance. A pair of brass doors at the top of the steps were split open.
“In there?” she said.
Smoke nodded.
“Maybe he or she slipped back out.”
“Only one way to find out,” Smoke said, starting up the steps and pulling open the door. The hinges creaked from the effort. “I’ll go first.”
“But you don’t have a light.”
Smoke disappeared inside. Sidney ran up the steps after him and shined her phone light inside. It was wholly inadequate, and she regretted busting her Maglite on the deader’s head. She could see Smoke well enough, however, and rows of marble burial markers. There were dates carved in them and initials but not full names. She snapped a few pictures.
“Do you mind?” Smoke said, running his fingers over the burial vaults. “You’re screwing up my night vision.”
“Do you have super powers I should know about?”
“Maybe,” he said, tapping his knuckles on the stones. “Huh. Doesn’t make sense someone would run in here without anywhere to go.”
“Only those windows.” She shined the light toward the top. The stained glass windows at the top were all intact. “Or down through the ground.”
Smoke pressed his ear to one of the burial chambers.
“Listening for a ghoul’s heartbeat?” she said, eyeing the floor and walls. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. “I think whoever it was already left.”
“I don’t,” Smoke said. “I can smell them.”
Oh boy. Sidney sniffed the air. There was nothing extraordinary. “Really, and what do they smell like?”
“Fear.” He ran his hands over the markers and started pushing. “Help me out. There has to be a catch or something.”
Sidney gave it a half-hearted effort, running her fingers over cold stone after cold stone. She pushed in a little here and there. “It’s just a mausoleum, not the Temple of Doom, Indiana.”
“I take it you don’t like my plan.”
“I think we stumbled on plenty to start with already.” Her shoulder throbbed, and she was getting colder. “I think it’s time to go.”
“You aren’t all right, are you?”
“This isn’t how I normally spend the holidays.”
Wuppa—Wuppa—Wuppa—Wuppa—Wuppa …
“That’s a chopper
landing,” he said, heading for the door.
Sidney followed him outside. Sure enough, a large helicopter landed in a nearby clearing. Its whirling blades pressed down the tall grass and stirred the leaves on the willow trees. Men in dark garb spilled out the chopper’s doors and rushed at them with bright lights and assault rifles.
“This is bad,” Smoke said as the men surrounded them from all angles. “Really bad.”
Shielding her eyes, Sidney took out her badge and held it up over her head.
“Don’t move another inch, lady,” said a voice filled with authority.
“I’m Agent Shaw with—”
Budda-budda! Budda-budda!
One of the armed men squeezed off a few rounds at her feet.
“When I say don’t move, that means not anything!” His voice was muffled by a mask of some sort. “Especially your mouth. Try me again, and I’ll saw your legs off.”
CHAPTER 15
“Lock your hands onto your head,” the soldier demanded. “Now!”
Slowly, Sidney put her arms over her head. Smoke’s hung ready at his sides. Just do it! she wanted to say but didn’t. She had no doubt the half dozen men she could make out meant business.
“Looks like we have a wise guy on our hands,” the soldier said. “Teach the trespassers a lesson.”
“No!” Sidney cried out.
The muzzle flashed.
Budda-budda! Budda-budda!
Bullets tore up the landscape in front of Smoke’s toes. He didn’t flinch.
“I’ll be,” the leader said. “Plenty of guts to splatter in this one. Take him down.”
Two figures darted from behind the lights. One of them launched the butt of his weapon into Smoke’s belly. He doubled over.
Zap!
The second soldier prodded Smoke in the back with a stick that was some sort of taser. Smoke twitched, growled, and started to rise.
The soldiers laid into him.
Zap! Zap! Zap!
Smoke sagged to the ground, clutching at the air.
“That’ll take the starch out of him,” one said, twirling his stick in the air. He slapped it in his hand. “How about we take a little starch out of her, Boss? I bet Barbie pees herself.”
“Just fetch me her ID,” the leader said.
“Aw,” the man said, strutting over. He snatched Sidney’s badge. The men were soldiers of a sort, clad in dark body suits padded in body armor and wearing rectangular goggles and some sort of masks over their mouths. “Sidney Shaw, FBI agent.” He glanced down her backside. “Not bad. Boss, can I keep this one? She’s got a nice — oof!”
Sidney slammed her knee into his nuts. The other forces closed in with stun sticks ready.
Zap!
She twitched from head to toe and toppled to the ground. Everything tingled. Her bones hurt. She watched the sky above blinking as more men in strange masks crowded around her. One of them called her a bitch. She was pretty sure she knew who it was.
Just doing my job, she thought.
“What’s the plan, Boss?” said one of the mercenaries. “This is a great place to bury them. Alive would be nice.”
“I’m not very fond of suggestions. Perhaps I should bury you. Nothing like a shovelful of dirt to silence you,” said the leader, kneeling down alongside Sid.
“Sorry, Boss.”
The leader brushed Sidney’s hair from her eyes. “It’s so hard to find good help these days, Agent Shaw. The younger ones are so, eh, exuberant. And stupid, for that matter.” There was some polish in his voice behind the mask. “I hate stupid people.” He pulled out a stainless steel pistol. The muzzle flashed.
Blam!
Sidney saw the body fall.
“Leave him,” the leader ordered. “The servants shall dispose of him.” He ran the muzzle of the gun along Sidney’s chin. The hot barrel seared her flesh.
“Uh…” The man’s tone and demeanor were those of many cold-blooded killers she’d studied. Nerveless men who didn’t flinch executing torture. Mutilation.
“Agent Shaw, I assume you don’t have a warrant. Blink once for yes.”
She did.
“Good,” he said. “But I find it very strange that you are here. Why would that be?”
Can’t exactly help with that right now.
“I see, you still can’t speak. How rude of me. What’s this?” He took off his goggles. He was fair-haired and pale, with pitch-black eyes. He fingered the wound in her shoulder. Blood was on his finger. A hunger filled his eyes. “Mmmm … delicious, I bet.” He removed the mask over his mouth. His face was long and slender with a strong dimpled chin. He licked the blood and closed his eyes. “Delicious indeed.”
You better not be a vampire. You can’t be a vampire.
The leader gazed into her eyes, lending her a full view of his becoming face. He cradled her in his arms. Her head flopped back, exposing her neck to him. The leader bent down and brought his lips to her neck.
This can’t be happening! No! She moaned. No!
His teeth sunk into her skin. She squirmed. “No.”
“Ah-hahaha!” the leader laughed. “I’m screwing with you, Agent Shaw. I’m not a vampire, but I always wanted to be one.” He cocked his head and stared hard into her eyes. “But there are worse things out there than vampires, love. Take my word for it.”
I know. They’re called lawyers, jerk. The numbness and pain started to wear off. Save your energy, Sid. Save it.
“But I do have a bit of a dilemma here. Normally, I just kill people that trespass and have them buried. You however, are a Fed.” He scratched his neck. His nails were unusually long. “And the Feds cause problems. Questions. Investigations. Hmmm. My boss likes to keep things quiet. And I don’t like my boss showing up, so I like to keep things quiet too.” He gazed into the sky. “Damn. I really hate loose ends.”
Sidney watched him stand up and hang the barrel of the gun over her face. He’s going to shoot me. God, please don’t let him shoot me!
CHAPTER 16
“Hmmm …” the boss said, tilting his head with the moon hanging over his shoulder. “I like you, Agent Shaw. You and your friend can live, for now. But I suggest you stop your snooping around. The game you’re playing is far too dangerous for the common man—or woman.” He motioned to his men. “Drag them outside of the gate and leave them. Maybe the cold will take them.” He walked off, heading toward the chopper.
A hand clutched Sidney by the hair and dragged her limp body over the grass. Smoke was being dragged by two men behind her. His head was slumped downward. Her teeth started to chatter. It was a miserable existence, being dragged.
“Hurry up,” one of them said. “The boss might leave us.” The soldiers picked up the pace. “It’d go quicker if this big bastard wasn’t so damn heavy. I say we kill ‘em both. He’ll never know.”
“You saw what happened to dumbass Franklin back there, didn’t you? You want a hole in your head too?”
“Good point,” said the man dragging her. “But a bullet in the head’s an act of mercy compared to what I’ve seen other upstarts get. The Cage. Ew. That’s nasty.”
“Clam up, will you. I don’t need reminded.”
They came to a stop just outside of the gate. Sidney could see the Hellcat’s taillights and mufflers. The soldiers dragged Smoke by her side and kicked him in the ribs a few times.
“All right, that’s enough,” one said. He started closing the gate. “Let’s go. I’m pretty sure they’ll be dead soon enough anyway. He’ll make it look like an accident is all. Enjoy the cold, agents.”
They all piled in the chopper, and it took off.
Wuppa—Wuppa—Wuppa—Wuppa—Wuppa …
It was below twenty outside, and if she didn’t get moving she’d be a Popsicle in an hour. Come on, Sid. Move. Her fingertips scraped at the dirt. Her teeth still chattered. This sucks!
Smoke rolled over with a heavy groan and crawled toward her.
Thank God!
“Han
g in there,” he said, rummaging through her pockets.
What! What in the hell are you doing?
He produced her key fob and pressed the button. The taillights flicked on.
You’d better be starting the engine.
Smoke rose to his feet, staggered toward the car, and pulled the door open. He pulled out his duffle bag and unzipped it.
Now you’re pissing me off.
He produced an army green tube and stretched it out to full length.
That’s a LAW rocket! He’s insane! She had fired the light anti-tank weapons before during Air Base Ground Defense training in the Air Force. But those had been blasting caps. This was the real thing.
Smoke hefted it onto his shoulder and took aim at the rising helicopter.
“No,” she managed to croak out. “No.”
Watching the chopper rise, Smoke took his hand off the trigger and collapsed the weapon back into its compact size. Jaw jutted against the moonlit sky, he shook his head as the chopper flew out of sight.
Thank God. The men deserved it, but she didn’t want their blood on her hands. She didn’t want it on Smoke’s either.
He walked over, picked her up, and cradled her in his arms. “I hate loose ends. It’ll come back to bite us.” Smoke set her down in the passenger seat and buckled her inside. “Looks like I finally get to drive.”
“Don’t you dare,” she mumbled.
Smoke fired up the engine and pressed on the accelerator, which let out a vicious exhaust note. “What? Did you say something?”
Pinning her to her seat, the Dodge Hellcat’s back wheels tore the gravel off the road. After a couple of minutes, the seat began warming her rear, and the heater thawed her icy cheeks. She glanced over at Smoke. In the dim light he reminded her of a modern-day road warrior. She kinda liked that about him. “Don’t get too comfortable, Mad Max.”
“Hah. Now he was an interceptor. But that wasn’t a Hellcat.”
She shifted in her seat and made herself a little more comfortable. Held her hands in front of the heater. The nerve-jangling effects were beginning to wear off. But Smoke had been tasered at least three times. He shouldn’t be moving. “So, was that LAW rocket a parting gift from the SEALS?”
The Supernatural Bounty Hunter Files Collector's Set: Books 1-10: Urban Fantasy Shifter Series Page 20
