Smoke stepped aside when Kane came back and headed up the stairs. With a casual glance back at the deaders, he said, “I have to admit, I’m curious about what they guard. Don’t you think we should put some eyes down here?”
Heading up the stairs, Kane said, “No. What lies down here is not meant to be seen by the living.”
“Is it a demon?”
“It’s something.” Kane made it to the top. Smoke moved right by him and closed the door. Kane locked the door and tucked the key in his shirt. “I hope you enjoyed that. Now let’s finish the inspection of the rest of the facility.”
Tormented, Smoke led Kane through the facility step by step. On the inside he was agonizing over Sid. He needed to get word to her. He needed to do it now. Outside, they cruised the parking lot in a golf cart and counted the cameras. This is asinine. To make matters worse, the sun was starting to fall. Dusk was coming, and it wouldn’t be long before he changed. He was stuck in a wormhole of the unordinary. What is Kane up to?
“My, it’s getting late, isn’t it? Let’s swing by operations and drop our checklist off. Tell you what, Mack, why don’t you join me and Allison for dinner?”
“Really?”
Kane laughed. “Of course not. Come on though. I’m tired of this. Ride me down to the dock.” He took out his phone and dialed. “Allison, meet me at the dock. We’re leaving.”
Smoke saw them off. As soon as the boat churned into the river and headed upstream, he went straight to operations. He sat down at a station and pulled up Sid’s location on his monitor.
“Is there anything we can help you with, sir?” said Sherry.
“Anything happen while I was out giving Kane the grand tour?”
“No,” she said.
“Good.” Smoke watched a satellite feed of Sid’s car parked at her parents’. He saw Keith’s truck leave. That’s her. I know it. He linked up the satellite connection with his phone, which wasn’t anything odd. Mack Black had the authority to do things like that. He stuck the phone in his pocket and logged out his recent history from his search. Getting up, he said, “I’ll see the both of you in the morning.”
“Knocking off early?” the man said.
“Don’t ever ask me that again.”
The man shrank behind his console.
Smoke headed out, got in his truck, and left the facility. He pulled up the image of Sid driving on the screen. She was headed east. Smoke dialed a number on the phone. He got a signal that the line was dead. Aw, crap! He realized he might have been out of the loop too long. Sam and Guppy would be on different exchanges by now. Mal Carlson would be too. That’s what happens when you don’t want contact. You cut all those ties.
Smoke laid into the accelerator. He weaved through traffic, watching the sun drop from the sky and settle in the west. The streetlights flickered on over the black streets. The rain came. He checked the image on the phone again. Sid parked in an old neighborhood and got out. There was an FBI vehicle sitting in the rear. Smoke was still a mile away. He banged the wheel. His hands became claws. He saw his face in the rearview mirror, savage and ugly. “No!”
Smoke the Shifter
CHAPTER 38
Sid drove her father’s truck to the east end of DC. She wasn’t certain if the car switch would work or not, but chances were the goons that followed her would be focusing on the Hellcat. She prayed the satellites would be, too.
She pulled the truck into a slot in the street in front of a small brick building. The sign on the building read, “Fazio’s House of Spaghetti.” It was a quaint restaurant tucked inside one of DC’s smaller suburban neighborhoods. It was a good place away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The houses in the neighborhood were old and the area quiet. Rain came down in a cold drizzle as she stepped out of the truck. The warm lights that filled the window of the small eatery were out. Sid stepped on the stoop. A handwritten sign taped on the inside of the glass door behind the bars read, “Closed for Renovation.”
Not seeing any sign of an FBI car on the street, Sid headed around the side of the building toward the parking lot in the back. There, a single car was parked in the small blacktop lot. It was a black SUV with a government plate. Sid found it odd that the lighting in the back was out. That was when she saw somebody standing on the patio in a trench coat. It was Cyrus.
“Good evening, Sid. I’m glad you could make it. Come on up.” He scanned the area. “I hate cold days like this, but at least no one else is about.”
Sid took the steps up to the patio. “What’s going on, Cyrus?”
He took off his glasses, which had become misty from the rain. “Does that suit you wear keep you warm?”
“What suit?”
“You know, the suit?”
“It does, but not when you don’t have it on.” Her teeth chattered. She faced him but didn’t get too close. There was something off with him. “Which I regret.”
“You know I hate the cold. Sorry, it’s just a whimsy that came to my mind when I saw you.” He put his glasses inside his coat pocket and produced something else. A black jump drive was in his hand. “This is it, Sid. Now, I’m not saying it’s going to take you to the heart of the matter, but it’s got names and places. Look, I could have just left it somewhere, but I wanted to wish you luck. I’m also sorry for having been difficult.” He came closer, widening his arms out for a hug.
She gave him one. “It’s okay, Cyrus. I know you risked a lot with your career by coming here. Thanks. I hope you and Rebecca do well. You deserve a new start.”
He broke off his embrace. He showed a weak smile. “Thanks, Sid.” He handed her the jump drive. Before he fully let it go, he said, “You should think about breaking away too.”
“I will.” She turned her back and started walking away. She had hit the first step down when the hair rose on the back of her neck.
Behind her, the sound of a pistol clicking out of its polymer holster caught her ear.
She turned, feeling like she was stuck in time. She caught a glimpse of Cyrus.
Fire blasted out of his gun’s muzzle.
She fell backward into a sea of blackness. Her head bounced off a step. Through glazed eyes, she watched Cyrus walk away with a silencer in his hand. He opened the car door and didn’t look back. He sat down in the seat, slamming the door behind him.
That dirty bastard. She could feel her blood seeping through her clothing. I knew I never should have dated him. The fire burning through her wounds turned cold. Her numb fingers found her gun. She pulled it out, but it slipped through her fingers, falling to the pavement.
The car engine started. The lights came on. The SUV lurched forward.
Something black dropped from the sky, landing on the car’s hood. It was a man in form. The face was hard to see in the dark. The ears were large, the expression bestial. The clothing it wore was in tatters. With steel cords for muscle, it busted out the windshield.
Cyrus fired a shot at the monster.
Clawed hands reached inside the cabin and jerked Cyrus out like a rag. The man’s entire body was slung over the hard pavement, bouncing before skidding to a halt. The agent didn’t move.
In a single bound, the creature hopped over to her side. Gently, he picked her up in his arms and said, “Talk to me, Sid.”
“Smoke.” She reached up and touched his face with bloody fingers. “It is you, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “We need to get you help.”
“You look like a bat,” she managed to say. “A man bat.”
“Save your energy.”
“I always liked Man-bat.” Her eyes were weak. “I’m not going to die, Smoke. I can’t. I won’t leave my baby. I won’t leave you.” Her phone buzzed. “Get that.”
Smoke fished through her clothing and found the phone. He read the screen.
“What does it say?”
“Take a pill.”
Two seconds later, two vehicles screeched into the parking lot. Guppy jumped out of a Bronco with
a gun on Smoke. “Get away from her.”
The other car was an old sedan. Cort Calhoun emerged with a big Alaskan wheel gun in his hand. “If you don’t back off, I’ll take your head off! Whew, what in the world are you, anyway? You look like a bat, man.”
Asia, Mal, and Sam spilled out of Guppy’s vehicle.
Smoke held his hands up. “It’s me, Smoke.”
Sid croaked out, “It’s him. Get Cyrus.”
Mal and Asia rushed beside Sid. “Were you shot?”
“Several times.”
“Why didn’t you wear the suit?” Mal asked.
“I did wear the suit.” She had told Cyrus she didn’t, or at least led him to believe that. “I’m not sure what the hell he shot me with.”
Mal opened up her jacket. Clean bullet holes had torn right through the suit. A burst had gone through her left side, soaking the fabric. “Take this now.” He gave her a pill. “Chew it up and swallow. These wounds are through and through. No shrapnel. We need to get the bleeding stopped.”
Asia popped over with a first aid kit. “I’m on it.” She made a sour face at Smoke. “Handsome man not so handsome now.”
Groaning, Sid said, “What’s that, your lunch box? I hate to imagine what’s in it.”
“Watch what you say. I’d hate to accidently use the hot sauce on those wounds.” Asia plucked a bottle of Cholula hot sauce out of the box and handed it to Smoke. “Hold this. Got to operate.” She grabbed a metal canister and screwed a long straw on the end. “This is great stuff for humans. Hold her still.”
Smoke and Mal held Sid fast. Her tongue started to numb. The burning in her side started to fade. “What did you give me, Mal?”
“Part supervitamin, part pain pill. Very potent, and it slows the heart too. Don’t let her fall asleep.”
Asia injected foam into her wounds while Sid kicked. “Hold her still. She flop like fish.”
Smoke’s grip tightened around her legs. “Hang in there, Sid, you’re going to make it.”
“I know,” she replied.
Asia filled Sid’s wounds with the concoction. “That has to hold her for now, but she needs to get to a hospital. I need to stitch her up, inside and out.”
“I thought the vitamin and the foam would do the trick,” Mal said.
“Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t.” Asia shrugged. “Either way, she’ll live, but she might have trouble digesting spicy foods.”
Sid’s innards tingled. “Whoa, something’s happening.”
“Take it easy,” Smoke said.
Calhoun approached. He had Cyrus in a headlock. “What do you want me to do with this ass-bag?”
Sid glared at Cyrus. “Give me a gun. I’m going to shoot him.”
CHAPTER 39
Calhoun handed Sid his gun. “I’d be happy to let you use mine,” he said.
Smoke took the gun out of Sid’s hand. “No, we can’t kill him. We need him.”
“How could we ever need a piece of crap like this? He almost killed me.” She glared at Cyrus.
His face was sagging. “I’m sorry, Sid. I didn’t have a choice. Kane’s too deep on the inside. He was going to kill Rebecca. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“That’s not true,” Smoke said. “Kane wouldn’t kill anyone. You had to become willing to be his servant to go through with this. What you did came out of your heart. It’s dark and broken.”
“No, I swear it. I’m sorry, Sid. I didn’t know what to do. Aw, what does it matter? Kane will kill me anyway, and just so you know, he’ll kill all of you too.”
Guppy appeared with Cyrus’s gun in hand. “I found this in his car.” He popped out the cartridge. “Blue-tip bullets. Explains a lot of things. It doesn’t seem like he was taking any chances.”
“Where’d you get those bullets?” Smoke said.
“I snaked them away from you guys. Can you blame me? I saw what was going on out there with all of these monsters. I needed my own protection from them. But you’re going to lose, trust me. You don’t realize it, but it’s over. Kane’s always a step ahead of you.”
“I really don’t like this guy.” Calhoun gave Cyrus a shake. “Let me take him away and bury him. I know just the place. I’ve got a cousin who owns a junkyard. We’ll put him in a junker in the compactor and squish him. It’ll make an FBI Rubik’s Cube out of him.”
Sam poked Smoke in the shoulder. He looked up at her. “Hi, Sis.”
“Man, this is weird. You always did read too many comics as a kid. Can you fix it?”
“I don’t know.” He looked at Sid and said to the others, “Give us a moment.”
Everyone moved away.
“Sid, what needs to be done needs to be done now.”
She touched the outlines of his face. His features were strong, between a man and a bat, but she could still make out the man she loved. “Are you blind?”
“No. You’re still as radiant as ever. Trust me. I’m not sure how I ended up like this, because I’ve done everything I can to resist it.” He groaned. His face twitched. The muscles in his arms flexed. “This power coursing through my veins is hard to fight. It clouds my mind. Sid, if you lose me, you have to put me down.”
“You’re not an animal.”
“No, not yet, but I don’t want to lose my soul over this. There’s a war inside me. I’m trying not to embrace what I have. That’s why my blood runs so hot.”
Sid pulled herself up to her knees. “You’re going to beat this. We’re going to beat this. Think of all the evil Kane has done. Use your power and turn it against him. If anyone can do it, you can. I know it.”
“I should be able to do anything, now that I have wings,” he said, flapping a membrane of skin that was attached between his elbow and lower back. “But I can’t fly too well. I more or less glide. I guess I’m a werebat. I guess that’s what I get for having a powerful imagination.”
Clutching the fur on his chest, she said, “You do wonderful things with your imagination. You’ve certainly never disappointed me, so don’t disappoint me now.” Wincing, she stood up. “Now let’s do what we have to do. Let’s find Kane and bury his ass.”
“So be it.” Smoke walked over to Cyrus and wrapped his long, clawed fingers around his neck. “You tried to kill my wife. You owe me.” He squeezed. Cyrus’s eyes bulged. “Contact Kane. Tell him the deed’s done.”
Choking, Cyrus managed to say, “You won’t kill me.”
With one arm, Smoke lifted Cyrus off the ground with ease. “Don’t be so sure.”
“Phone. Phone is in my pocket. But he usually calls me. It’ll ring between now and morning.”
Smoke set Cyrus down. He patted him down until he found the phone. The phone seemed really small in his hand. He tossed it to Guppy. “See what you can do with this.”
Rubbing his neck, Cyrus said, “I’m telling you, Smoke, Kane’s not going to lose. You can’t beat him. He’s a thousand years old! Maybe older. They win. They always win. They control everything. You’ve got to see that.”
“Somebody get me some duct tape so I can silence this man,” Calhoun said.
Asia pulled a roll of medical tape from her first aid kit. “This will do.” She started to unstring the tape.
Cyrus’s phone rang.
“Unknown Caller,” Guppy said.
“That’s him. He’s the only caller my phone doesn’t ID.”
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Sid said to Cyrus as Guppy handed the agent the phone. “You’ve done enough stupid today. Put it on speaker.”
Crowded by everyone, Cyrus answered the phone. “Hello.”
Kane’s voice responded. “Is the deed complete, Agent Tweel?”
“Yes. She’s dead. I’m working on disposing of the body as we speak.”
“Interesting. I’m sure that was very difficult, seeing how she was a former lover of yours,” Kane said.
Calhoun’s eyes turned big and white. He started to mutter something, but Asia covered his mouth.
&
nbsp; “Now that you’ve finished your task, come down to the plant. There’s a full moon tonight. It’s the perfect time to run you through the process. As a matter of fact, why don’t you bring the body with you?”
“I, uh—”
“Just stuff her in the trunk if you haven’t dropped her in a river already. Yes, bring her back here. She’ll make a beautiful deader. Besides, I promised Allison some new company.”
“Yes, sir. I’m on my way.”
CHAPTER 40
Moving present company to a more discreet location under a bridge, Smoke told everyone what he knew about the Drake Energy power plant. He had a jump drive that he handed over to Guppy, who sat in his truck with a computer on his lap. His sausage fingers were working the keys.
“I don’t expect anyone to go in with me, but it’s all or nothing.” Smoke snapped a gun belt around his waist. Two pistols were holstered on the sides. “We aren’t going to get another shot at Kane. He’s the main mark. We have to kill him, but it won’t be easy. The plant has security everywhere, not to mention deaders and shifters coming in and out. We’re going to need all the ammo we can get. Mal, what do we have?”
“I’ve got a lot of everything: bullets, suits, vitamins. I’ve been storing up for this special occasion.” Mal slid open the door of his minivan. He took out a metal suitcase and set it on the ground. “Who wants one?”
Russ Davenport held his hands up. “As much as I’d like to think I’m brave enough to go in, well, that’s not happening. I’m not much of a lover or a fighter, but I’m more than happy to lend my brain.”
The Supernatural Bounty Hunter Files Collector's Set: Books 1-10: Urban Fantasy Shifter Series Page 117
