Smoke heard everyone linked to him perfectly. Everyone was connected. “I’m going to do some recon first. Who knows, I might get a nice window.”
“I’ll give you fifteen minutes, John. Not a second more. We’re coming in after that,” Sid said.
“Just stay put. I’ll be back in touch. Guppy, if you can see those cameras, tell me, what are you looking at? How many men? Deaders? Shifters?”
“You’ve got four men at the lone entrance. Three more are posted at the dock. Seven are doing a foot patrol. My guess is there are more inside. It’s a pretty big complex. Mal’s looking for interior feeds.”
“There aren’t any interior feeds,” Smoke said. “They only care about what’s on the outside getting in.”
“Well, you have three in the control room. Kane’s up in his office — with Allison, I suppose.” Guppy cleared his throat. “Aside from the peacoats, nothing else is moving.”
“What about all of those marks?” Smoke asked. “None of them are moving on the grounds?”
“No. Huh.”
“Huh, what?” Smoke asked.
“I’m guessing they’re all inside.”
“Fine. I have to go silent. Time to get moving.” Smoke muted himself on the Bluetooth. It freed him up a little. The communication gadgets were aggravating. It would be a distraction if they didn’t maintain radio discipline and everyone spoke at once.
Then he heard Guppy say, “Fifteen minutes, starting now.”
With the complex dark, it gave Smoke an edge. He didn’t need Guppy to dicker with the lighting. He could glide right in, but flying wasn’t something he’d mastered. His gear would weigh him down too. He stood on the building ledge and spread his arms out wide, then leapt high and outward. He flapped his arms, catching the wind drifting under his wings.
This feels good.
He banked toward the river, staying as high as he could. He could make out figures posted along the dock that led up to the yacht. He glided a little closer down. He could make out the men breathing with his enhanced hearing. He listened for anyone moving on the boat. Rubber soles let out quiet squeaks on the polished wooden deck. Something that breathed really heavily resided in the cabin.
More shifters. It’s got to be. Deaders don’t breathe.
“Fourteen minutes,” Guppy said.
Smoke fought off the urge to pluck the earpiece out.
That’s annoying.
Circling, he glanced at the landing spot he had in mind, the roof. It was a field covered in a black tar top. Above the view of the cameras were peacoats posted on every corner. One of them worked with a pair of binoculars, scanning the grounds as well as the sky.
Time to see how good you are, Johnnie Boy.
Years ago, when he was in the Navy Seals, Smoke had crept up on plenty of unsuspecting foes and killed them. It was the same thing now, except he was more than twice as dangerous as he’d been before. It should be easy. All of the guards’ backs were turned. Not a one of them looked back at the other. He had to be quick and careful. One stray gunshot cracking off would be like thunder in the night. Chaos would erupt.
A dark and stormy night would have been so much better.
Smoke landed on cat feet several paces from the guard holding the binoculars. He locked up the man’s head in a sleeper hold. Seconds later, the man sagged. Smoke dashed toward the next soldier and brought each one down, one after the other.
Easy peasy.
“Thirteen minutes.”
Smoke unmuted his Bluetooth. “Just hold your horses. I’m on the roof, counting bodies and looking for an entrance. I can tell time. Lay off until the final minute unless I check in first.”
“Roger that.”
The building had an entrance on the roof. There was a magnetic lock. He tried one of the peacoat guards’ keycards, but it didn’t work. He linked back up with Guppy. “Can you unlock the rooftop door?”
“I figure so,” Guppy replied. “Now.”
Sid cut in, “No, John. Don’t go in there alone. It’s too dangerous. That place will be full of shifters. This is recon. You hear me?”
“I do.” A soft scuffle caught his ear. He ducked. A powerful glancing blow clocked the back of his head. Stars streaked in his eyes.
CHAPTER 7
“What just happened?” Sid said, toying with her earpiece. “John? John?”
“His link is off,” Guppy said with a shrug. “Probably nothing, you know him. Twelve minutes.”
The group sat inside a large passenger van they’d switched to on the way over to the Drake Energy Plant. They were parked alongside the road a few blocks away. Sam, Guppy, Cort Calhoun, Russ, and Mal sat on the bench seats. Asia was elsewhere.
“All of this waiting around is making me edgy,” Cort said, scratching the side of his cheek. He sat in the passenger seat. “Makes me sweat. Turn on the air or something.”
“It is on,” Russ said from the driver’s seat. The reporter dabbed his forehead with a blue handkerchief. Eyes up, he craned his neck toward the front window. “Boy, that moon is big. I wrote my articles based off events that occurred on nights like this. You know, it’s really true. A full moon really brings out the crazies.”
“Man, that’s just superstition stuff,” Cort said. Everyone in the van stared at him. “What?”
“You haven’t picked up anything superstitious since you started hanging with us nuts?” Russ said.
“Well, now that I think about it, I suppose there could be some truth to it. But I’ll believe more when I see more.”
“I’ve got a pretty strong feeling that you are going to see something that you’ll never forget.” Sid leaned closer to Guppy, who held the laptop on his lap. Sam sat on the bench seat on the other side of her. Mal was in the row behind them. “Keep checking those exterior cameras.”
Guppy toggled security views one by one. His seventeen-inch laptop screen managed several images at once. The complex was dead still, aside from the peacoats that walked by the view. All of them moved with the purpose of well-trained soldiers. She winced. A sharp stabbing pain throbbed in her side, causing her to suck through her teeth.
“Are you okay?” Sam said.
“Fine. I’m still mending.”
Sam nodded. Lips puckered as she took slow breaths, her elegant fingers rubbed the gun in her hand. “I have a feeling I’m going to have to shoot something tonight. I’m not the best at shooting things that move right at me.”
“I’ll protect you, honey,” Guppy said. “Ten minutes.”
“Man, this ten minutes is going to take forever.” Cort beat his head against the head rest. “So what’s the plan again? We’re just going to roll through the main gate and start firing?”
Rocking back and forth, Sam said, “That’s the plan unless Smoke comes up with a better idea. Oh, I think I’m going to be sick.”
“That’s not the best tactical plan,” Cort said.
“We’re trying to get the jump on them. It’s the element of surprise,” Sid said, pointing at a view of the complex on the computer. “Listen to me, if we don’t hear from John, we’re going to bust through that gate and pull up to this entrance door. Guppy can let us in. Just don’t take your vitamin until you absolutely need it.”
“If we drive in there in this old van, they’ll shred us,” Cort said.
“No, it’s bulletproof.” Guppy grinned. “I bought it at a government auction. In this sucker, we’re going to roll in just like the A-Team. Eight minutes.”
Sid’s stomach turned upside down. Her palms started to sweat. She wanted to hear from Smoke. Something’s wrong, I can feel it. There were too many unknown factors with their mission. She didn’t know how many of the enemy were out there. It was one thing to face off with Kane and Allison at some point, but who else? Deaders, giant men, harpies. Lord knows how many shifters are really out there.
Sitting in the back, staring out the window, Mal quietly said, “Khonshu.”
“What’s he babbling about?�
� Cort said. “Sounded like a sneeze or something.”
“What are you talking about, Doc?” Russ asked.
Sid heard Mal’s fingers getting busy on the keyboard. “Khonshu is the Egyptian god of the moon. I glossed over that as an option for the shifters’ powers before. After all, the ancient Egyptians were very advanced in their technologies. What we have been dealing with are supernatural things, but we’ve also witnessed some modern biochemical effects. I’m starting to wonder if all of this isn’t tied back to some ancient technology.”
“Or alien technology?” Russ added.
“Please stop talking,” Sam said. “I used to love this stuff, but now, it’s too close to home. It’s really making me sick. Oh man, I need something for my upset stomach. Does Asia have any Pepto in her backpack there?”
“I’ll check,” Mal said.
“Five minutes.”
CHAPTER 8
Smoke rolled. A hard foot caught him in the ribs, sending him scraping over the roof. He rolled with the momentum. He came to a stop just as another blow was about to belt him. He caught the leg of his assailant. It wasn’t a leg. It was a talon. The claws would rip steel. A husky figure lorded over him. It was a neckless man with the feathered face and eyeballs of an owl.
“Release me,” the owl-like man said. He jerked his leg and swiped at Smoke with sharp talons on the hands at the ends of his wings. His voice was a windy whisper. “Release me and die.” The shifter’s clawed fingers ripped the meat of Smoke’s shoulder.
Smoke hauled the owl shifter up. In a judo move, he drove the man’s face into the black-coated roof.
The burly shifter lurched up, wings flapping at his sides.
On instinct, Smoke stuck his fingers in the owl man’s mouth, choking out the screeching sound that was about to come. He unsheathed a knife. Striking hard, he rammed the blade into the owl man’s spine. The body went still.
The owl man let out a life-draining sigh.
Putting his blade in the sheath that was strapped on his leg, Smoke rolled the shifter over. The owl man’s spacy eyes gazed at the stars. He was lifeless as a stuffed owl perched in an old study. He nudged the shifter with his foot. I suppose he’s dead. He crept over to the edge of the roof. The scuffle he’d been in had been silent. The peacoat guards walked the grounds. Others were still huddled at their stations.
Good. Smoke checked his Bluetooth link, but the unit on his wrist was busted. Great Dane. At least he could hear them when they spoke. He considered going back to let them know. He had time. It was a long way off before Kane thought they’d be coming. Besides, it had been a recon mission.
However, the bodies on the roof now made this a different story. Someone on the inside would be checking on them. When that happened, the complex would become a hive of activity.
This entire mission stinks.
He was seconds away from having Guppy let him in. He was going to go it alone. Nip it in the bud. Now, he was hanging out on a rooftop, waiting for the real fire to start. He made a choice. Counting the time, he waited for the last five minutes.
Smoke raced over the rooftop and took to the air. In seconds, he was a hundred feet up. He circled high above the lights in the streets where the bats dined on the fluttering wings of moths.
“One minute,” Guppy said.
Smoke heard tension in the man’s voice. He then heard Sidney say, “Ready or not, John, here we come.” He counted down. Fifty seconds. Forty seconds. Thirty seconds. Twenty…Ten.
Smoke dove through the sky straight at one of the windows of Kane’s office.
Kane and Allison faced each other on the other side of the glass, drinking and talking. Smoke zeroed in. Both of their faces turned his direction at the same time. Their wide-eyed stares were priceless. Smoke hit the window like he’d been shot out of a cannon.
Thud!
He bounced off of the unbreakable glass and crashed into the garden below. Body aching, his hypersensitive ears picked up the vibration waves of their raucous laughter. Shaking his head, he climbed back to his feet. A rushing engine revved. Metal collided with metal. Voices hollered and gunfire erupted.
This is a disaster.
CHAPTER 9
“One minute,” Guppy said. Everyone patted down their gear. Sam’s hands rubbed on her thighs. “No word from Smoke.”
Sid nodded. “Drop it into gear, Russ.” She charged the slide on her weapon. “It’s time to go.”
Russ turned on the van lights. He dropped the gearshift into drive. Slowly he pulled into the street. The traffic they passed was light on the two-block trip down to the complex. He turned the van down the dead-end street that led to Drake Energy’s main gate.
Sid noted the signs hanging on the chain-link fences. There were coils of barbwire on the top. Tall rows of pine trees covered in frost on the top branches swayed. She took a breath. Sam’s hand clutched hers.
“I feel like I’m in a hearse,” Sam said. “My hearse.”
“You don’t have to do this, hon,” Guppy remarked.
“No, my brother is in there. I have to help, somehow.”
“Final stop coming up,” Russ said as his heavy arms turned the wheel to the right. The chain gate that opened up on a base of small metal wheels was closed. There were dark-green slats in the links that barred the view inside. Rolling the window down, he hit the horn a couple of times. “Hey! I’ve got a delivery.” He laid on the horn again.
The gate cracked open the breadth of a man’s shoulders. A peacoat deader guard stepped through. He eyed the markings on the outside of the van. Guppy had prepped the van with lettering that read Drake Industries. The guard carried a small Uzi in his hands that was strapped over his shoulder.
“He’s got some heat,” Cort whispered.
“We aren’t expecting any deliveries,” the deader said. He searched out their faces. “This is an awfully big delivery crew.”
Russ lowered his voice down to a threatening tone. “Yeah, well, Mack Black knows we’re coming. And I think you know what this crew is all about. We just happen to be a late arrival. These hard faces got caught up in customs.” Russ held up a fake Drake ID badge. “Go ahead. Check it.”
The deader’s eyes slid over the badge and hung on Cort. “I don’t even want to know what you turn into. Give me a sec to sort this out.” The guard moved back to the gate and started talking to someone on the other side of the opening. He gave a nod. Holding his hand up in a stop signal, the guard put his shoulder on the gate and walked it open. The chain links rattled.
Six peacoat deader guards were pointing Uzis right at them.
“Morning Glory,” Sid whispered.
The peacoat that opened the fence dropped his arm and shouted, “Fire!”
Muzzles flared. Bullets blasted. Sam let out a bloodcurdling scream.
“Run through them, Russ! Stomp the gas! Now!” yelled Sid.
Rolling up the window at the same time, Russ crushed down the gas pedal.
The juggernaut of a van powered forward.
The deaders split like the Red Sea.
“Where the hell am I going?” Russ yelled.
“Just run them over!” Cort rolled down his window and started shooting.
Spray after spray of bullets rattled off the metal on the panel van, making loud popping sounds.
Ears covered, Sam looked squeamishly at Sid. “I really don’t like this!”
“We need to get to the building entrance.” Sid was leaning forward to squeeze in between the two front seats. Pointing, she said, “There!”
“I’m going. I’m going.” Russ spun the wheel in his hand. The tires screeched. A peacoat popped up right in front of him, blasting away. The van plowed the deader over. The van jostled. “Twenty points!”
Sam chortled a strange giggle. A crooked grin appeared on her face. “That was kinda funny.”
Russ drove the panel van through wave after wave of dodging and diving deaders. The van made a nasty weapon, but that wasn’t the plan. T
hey had brought it to get them to the building quickly, and then later, to speed them off to safety. But Russ was driving all over the place.
Cort was screaming, “Waaaaahoooooo!”
“Russ!” Sid yelled. “Get us to the door! This isn’t a video game! Drop us off and get out!”
Bullets peppered the metal machine.
Russ ran another peacoat down. “Okay! He was pretty big. Thirty points for that one!”
Cort was still shooting. “I’ve taken out four of them! I don’t see any more. I think we have this place cleared out.”
The van circled through the parking lot. A small group of deaders dashed over the blacktop and hid behind a sizable storage shed.
“There’s some!” Russ turned the wheel in the shed’s direction. “I say we oust the last of them.”
Sid grabbed the man by the ear. “Get us to the entrance, Russ!”
Russ slammed on the brakes. He was twenty feet from the shed. “Okay, okay, I’ll back it up. Geez, I’m not a five-year-old. Just having some fun mowing over evil. How often does a guy like me get a chance like that?” He dropped the van into reverse.
Two huge men burst out of the shed. They stood at least ten feet tall.
Sam screamed, “Aaaaaaah!”
“What in the hell are those!” Russ yelled.
“Sweet butter biscuits, those are the biggest dudes I ever saw!” Cort added.
They were Rexor and Thorgrim, the giants Smoke had fought before. One of them had a missing eye and a bald head. The other was just hairy. Muscles bulged beneath their chestnut-colored jumpsuits. The shambling men came at them with wild eyes.
“Back it out of here, Russ!”
The engine revved. They didn’t move. “I’m trying! I’m trying!”
“You’re in neutral, idiot!” Sid stretched her arm out and yanked the van into reverse. The tires spun. “Go! Go! Go!”
The hairy giant dented the side of the van’s passenger-side fender with a swing from a huge mallet-headed hammer. The blow rocked the van to the side.
The Supernatural Bounty Hunter Files Collector's Set: Books 1-10: Urban Fantasy Shifter Series Page 120
