by Jenny Allen
Chance tensed and stared at her for a moment. “The lion’s den?” He nodded resolutely, but she could see the fear plain on his face. He wasn’t scared for himself. He was scared that he might not be enough to protect her. Chance lowered his eyes to the pavement and tentatively took her hand. Very slowly, he raised his eyes to hers. He needed to say something, but he was dreading it. After a final sigh, he bit the bullet. “You realize that if Cohen didn’t find Gregor and Alvarez, then it means Ashcroft has them.”
It was a truth she didn’t want to face. “They could have gotten away. Maybe they were trapped inside and finally found a way out.”
Chance cradled her face and stooped to look her straight in the eye. “Lily, Ashcroft went through a lot of trouble to set that fire. We both know what the man is truly capable of. He’s not about to let them burn in a fire, especially not Gregor. That wouldn’t be enough revenge for him.”
“Why are we even talking about this?” She was breathing a little faster, losing a little of the calm clarity he’d given her.
“I just think we should be prepared. They may not be in good shape.”
“Let’s just get moving. We need to get to Cohen’s car. We can do all the worst case scenarios in the car on the way there although I had my heart set on a game of I spy. ” Typically her snappy temper earned her a hurt look or a snappy comeback, but this time he simply kissed her quick and tugged her towards the scene. Perhaps he finally realized that not all of her agitations were about him, that she was just scared and anxious for her father.
“It’s at least an hour and a half away, I’m sure we’ll have time for both.” His Cheshire grin brought flashes of just how delicious his mouth and everything else was. Her skin flushed as a shiver ran down her spine. For a moment, she just reveled in the internal playback, completely forgetting that they were moments away from rushing into the home turf of an impossibly powerful man that had slowly been assassinating her family for over 600 years.
Chapter 21
Cohen didn’t say much of anything when they finally reached the car. The uneasy silence continued for most of the drive. He’d lost all his calm composure. Apparently, he either cared about his partner more than he claimed or there was something else going on. Either way, he wasn’t talking about it. Cohen just stared straight ahead, jaw clenched, arms locked straight, hands white knuckling the steering wheel and his lead foot attacking the gas pedal. If he hadn’t had the foresight to put the flashing siren on the roof of his car, she was certain they’d be on the side of the road trying to explain to some state trooper why they were rocketing down the interstate at almost five in the morning.
She could just picture that conversation. “I’m sorry, Officer, but we have to get to an abandoned, half-finished, nuclear plant before a 600 year old monster slices up my dad, this cop’s partner, and a whole bunch of other people. If it helps, the guy set an entire hotel on fire earlier this morning and butchered a scientist in a secret lab after we blew half his head off. Oh yeah, and he’s also a vampire slash incubus.” Can anyone say white padded cell?
Lilith was grateful for the relative safety of the backseat. Chance had gallantly volunteered to take shotgun. The air was thick with an odd tension. It was like sitting in a car with your dad when he’s picked you up after sneaking out, or maybe like a bomb tech trying to diffuse a ton of plastic explosives. Actually, now that she thought about it, those two scenarios weren’t all that different. She had never been the type to sneak out, but she could always ask Gloria and Alvarez about their daughter, Erica.
Her face fell when the thought crossed her mind. Alvarez. She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, and rubbed at her face. If anything happened to Alvarez, Gloria would never forgive her. They’d been together so long. They’d accomplished for hundreds of years what humans couldn’t handle for more than fifteen years, a happy, healthy, loving marriage. The thought of facing Gloria and telling her that the man she’d loved for centuries, her husband, father of her beautiful daughters, was never coming home… Lilith had to get Alvarez home to his family, safe and alive. There just really wasn’t any other option.
This was precisely why Lilith hated silence. With nothing to distract her, her mind roved in a million different directions at the speed of sound. It was nothing but a thick, convoluted web of tangents that didn’t actually help her figure out what they were going to do when they got to Phipps Bend. Worrying about the look on Gloria’s face, the ferocity of her Spanish rage, the tears of her daughters if she didn’t bring Alvarez home alive, none of that was gonna help her figure out a way to make sure Ashcroft stayed dead.
She still had Gregor and Duncan to worry about, not to mention keeping herself, Chance, Cohen, Whitmore and Humphries alive. She silently chuckled to herself. In what universe should she actually have to worry about three cops, one professional bodyguard and three other strong individuals taking down one old man? It would actually be hilarious if it wasn’t so damn terrifying.
Cohen flipped the siren off as they hit the exit ramp at seventy miles per hour. It was enough to shake her from her thoughts. “We’re meeting Whitmore and Humphries a half mile from the target building.” His tone was overly assertive. It made sense. His partner had at least a half hour head start on them. Hopefully, they were still waiting in the car and not rushing into the building, trying to be heroes.
Still, his reaction just seemed overly intense for what she knew about him and his partner. Granted, Whitmore wasn’t her favorite person, but she was all too aware of how people formed deep bonds when working closely on a daily bases. However, that usually takes years and according to Coffee, Cohen only moved here a few months ago.
“How is this going to play out?” Lilith snatched at the back of Chance’s seat with a white-knuckled grip to keep from flying across the car as Cohen took a corner like they were chasing a terrorist with a dirty bomb.
“What are you talking about, Adams?” The southern accent was back and chocked full of animosity.
“First off, I’m not a damn cop. It’s Lilith, not Adams. Secondly, how are we going to handle Whitmore and Humphries? They’re humans, completely oblivious to what’s really going on, the real dangers. They’re lambs for the slaughter.”
“Don’t you think I know that?!” Cohen slammed his hands against the steering wheel and she saw Chance tense out of the corner of her eye. Cohen ran a shaky hand through his short blonde hair and sighed.
“I’ve been trying to figure that out the entire drive. Whitmore has already called in the FBI. They’ll be here in about 12 hours. He isn’t gonna just walk away. I don’t see us having any choice but to bring him with us and pray for the best. We should split into two groups, help minimize the exposure. Whitmore will stay with me. I can help influence him a little more, especially when you two aren’t around. He’s not exactly fond of either of you. Humphries is a little more open-minded, so he can stick with you.”
Chance finally decided to speak up. He felt a lot more comfortable discussing tactics than Cohen’s emotional time-bomb. “Wait. Why not just keep them both with you? You can keep an eye on them, use your persuasion and it’ll keep Lily and I free to maneuver however we need to.”
“You obviously do not remember actually meeting Whitmore.” Cohen’s laugh was a little too sarcastic and awkward to actually break any of the tension in the car. “My partner is not going to let you go anywhere without a police escort, Mr. Deveraux. Look, Humphries and Whitmore are not the enemy. They can be our allies.” There was something in his voice when he talked about his partner, tension, hesitation. This emotional turmoil of his wasn’t just about Whitmore. There was something else, something deeper. Maybe it reminded him too much of something from his past. The curious side of her wanted to know, but she knew this wasn’t the time to go digging in Cohen’s past.
“And what are we supposed to say when Humphries takes a shot at Ashcroft and the monster dodges the bullet or starts to heal?” Chance definitely had a valid point.
This was a disaster. “Besides, wasn’t it you who said we needed to take care of this quietly or your family would slaughter anyone that knew anything? I don’t know about you, but I have a…” Chance faltered for a second and it made her wonder what he was going to say. “I have reasons to stay alive. I plan on making it back to New York. I have plans. Now the FBI is getting involved too. Shit. We have a small window here to resolve things.” Chance glanced at her for a moment with that comfortable, charismatic smile that made her whole body blush. “I’m not going to survive Ashcroft just to be taken out by a pack of secret emotion-suckers, no offense.”
“We don’t have any choice now. Whitmore is going with me. Humphries is going with the two of you. There is no other choice.”
“That’s not entirely true.” Lilith meant her voice to be strong and confident, but it didn’t really come out that way. “I know you won’t like it, but we could knock them out.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Cohen coughed on his breath as the car screeched to a halt at a stop light. “This isn’t a damn buddy cop movie. We aren’t going to assault two cops just because they might get in the way.”
“Don’t patronize me, Cohen. I know this isn’t a damn movie. It was my cousin’s body I examined on that table. It’s my uncle, my father and my partner we are rushing off to save. I know it’s not as simple as a tap on the back of the head, but it would solve the problem of them seeing something they shouldn’t. Chance is right. I don’t want to survive this just to be killed off by your family because we weren’t careful enough.”
“And what am I supposed to tell him when they wake up? He’d only assume that we are hiding something more insidious. He’d probably shoot Chance on sight. He’d dig and dig, like a dog searching for a bone in China.”
“If either of them see something they can’t handle, they are going to dig anyway.” This was exasperating. Either way they were all screwed. Once the atrocities at Goditha Labs hit the spotlight, they were gonna have to scramble. Going public was not going to be an option for a while now. The labs were part of Gregor’s plan to contribute to society and buy good favor with the American public. A slaughter wasn’t the way to start. Ashcroft had already won. Hopefully he was only succeeding in pushing them deeper into the shadows and not the alternative. If they were pushed into the public light with these devastating circumstances, Miriah, Goditha, the hotel fire, it would be devastating. Ashcroft would become a hero for slicing Lilith and her whole family into pieces.
Cohen’s voice pulled her out of the downward spiral of thoughts. “You may not want to hear this, but we may actually need their help. We can handle damage control on keeping things quiet after we all walk out of that plant alive, but first we have to make sure we survive.”
Chance sighed heavily in the front seat. “I hate to admit it, Lily, but Cohen may be right. The two of us couldn’t take down Ashcroft at the lab. No offense, but I don’t think that Cohen is gonna make much of a difference.” Chance craned around the seat to look at her. “Plus Ashcroft has hostages, ones we care about, ones that might make us hesitate.”
Lilith sank back in the seat, trying to avoid Chance’s eyes as they continued to study her. “Fine.” And with that, the awkward silence continued. That was fine by her. She was outnumbered, but taking the two human cops just screamed disaster to her.
She stared out the window, watching as they drove around the road to the Phipps Bend property. According to Cohen, they halted construction of the nuclear plant in 1981. Now it was just a mass of concrete beaten by the elements for the past thirty years. There were two crumbling bases for reactors, but funding was cut before they could really get started. Beyond them, a dozen or so buildings stretched out, covering the property which consisted of over a thousand acres. It was a good thing Whitmore had men posted around the property to watch for any unusual activity. If it wasn’t for him, they’d have no idea where to start. The place was massive, surrounded by a curving road that circled the entire complex and beyond that, forest.
Cohen pulled up behind a black sedan parked just outside the gate surrounding the abandoned plant. Whitmore pulled himself out of the driver’s side, wiping at his tie and still chewing on something, probably the cop stakeout food of champions. It amazed her how he could chew and scowl all at the same time. He stalked up to Cohen as Humphries finally got out of the sedan. There was no delaying it anymore. Lilith took a deep breath and stepped out of the car.
Chance followed her and they formed a little circle, though Whitmore kept as much distance as he could between himself and Chance. He obviously wasn’t too fond of her either. He kept glancing at her with a menacing frown. Of course he was a short, grumpy, aging man with a spare tire around his waist. Scowling was probably his typical modus operandi.
Something occurred to Lilith and she scanned the area. She didn’t see any other cars. “Where are the men you had stationed here?”
Whitmore glanced at her again, his nose wrinkling in disgust. Okay, maybe it wasn’t a bored look per say, more like a go to hell and die look. “I sent them back to their station. Ya’ll gonna finally tell me what in the hell is going on?” Whitmore growled and put his hands on his well-padded hips. “You send me on one more damn goose chase without explaining anything and I swear to Christ…”
Cohen headed everyone off at the pass. “We don’t have time for details. We have a highly dangerous suspect with at least three hostages inside.” He popped the trunk and started rummaging while he was talking. “Time is essential. One of the victims has been held for at least 3 days. They may be delirious so use caution with the hostages.” Cohen handed Lilith a 9mm and two clips and then looked up at Chance.
“I have a gun, but if you’re offering...” For a brief second, they shared a conspiratorial grin. The universe had to be coming to an end. Lilith rolled her eyes at the universal bonding agent called Testosterone.
“More can’t hurt.” Cohen handed a shotgun over to Chance complete with a pouch of ammo.
“Wait. You’re giving him a gun?! I thought you said its one suspect in there!”
“One very dangerous suspect. I’d rather have more than we need than not enough.”
Whitmore looked out over the weather stained concrete buildings hovering over them in the darkness. There was a calculating look in his eyes that she’d never seen before. It was enough to tell her that beyond the prejudice and small-minded country hick attitude, he was actually a fairly shrewd detective. Part of her was pleasantly surprised and the other part of her wished he was just a dumb country cop. A smart human was the last thing they needed heading into Ashcroft’s den. “Is he heavily armed? I don’t have the vests.”
“No. He’s very fast, strong, sneaky, and deadly. Don’t think he’s not a threat just because he doesn’t have a gun. Might be on PCP or something. I don’t want any hesitations in there. If you see a crazy-eyed man with a crisscross of scars on his face, shoot and keep shooting until you’re out of ammo.”
“Shit, fucking drug addicts.” Whitmore shuffled back to the trunk of his sedan and pulled out the standard cop-issued shotgun.
Lilith leveled a look at Cohen and he just shrugged. Comparing Ashcroft to some out of control druggie with an axe to grind. It was kind of like comparing angry fighting fish to a colossal great white shark. Still, he was trying to keep things as quiet as possible and it was the closest to an explanation he could give without just telling the truth. He had to tell them something so they’d take this seriously. They had to be prepared as much as they could without telling them what Ashcroft was. Not that Whitmore would ever believe him, or the all too silent Officer Humphries for that matter. In fact, the Officer seemed content to just stare at Chance with cautious suspicion. Yeah, this wasn’t awkward at all.
“Okay.” Cohen stuffed a 38 special in his side holster and grabbed another shotgun out of the trunk before closing it. “Whitmore, you’re coming with me. Humphries, you’re going with these two.”
“Wait one
damn second. We are not…”
Cohen cut Whitmore with a steely glare that would intimidate just about anyone. “No discussion. The building he’s holed up in is pretty big and we have to act fast. Plus, I think plodding in there like a team of Clydesdales is a bad idea. Let’s move out.”
He headed straight for the gate, leaving everyone trailing behind him. Whitmore jogged to catch up to him and it definitely wasn’t a pretty sight. Humphries, however, felt it necessary to walk several paces behind her and Chance. Unnerving was a little bit of an understatement. She could see the tension in every single muscle of Chance’s body. She knew it wasn’t just the Officer’s stare, but for a moment she could pretend.
Lilith slid her fingers through his. It wasn’t just to be supportive. She was honestly scared out of her mind. Yes, this was awkward, but what waited for them in the looming block of concrete was terrifying. She kept seeing Ashcroft’s cruel, pointed face hovering over her, smelling her, grinning at her with his crooked teeth. The sight of him crawling across the floor, his splattered brains trailing behind him as he reached a taloned finger to slice through the Doctor’s skin.
Chance squeezed her hand and leaned in close enough for his breath to tickle over her ear, completely derailing her morbid thoughts. “If we can withstand Officer Humphries staring holes in our back, I think we’ll be just fine.” Lilith stole a glance over her shoulder. Sure enough, the death stare was firmly in place. She smiled and squeezed his hand a little harder.
