G.H.O.S.T. Teams (Book 2) Shifters

by Bobby Brimmer

  “We’re lucky, no casualties on our end. The lycan lost eleven total, counting these three,” he said, a thumb towards Leather and company.

  “Where are the rest?”

  “Down in the parking lot and around the other side of the stadium. The Creek lost five that they had walking the perimeter and the Macs lost three who were guarding their cars. Their Alpha is making his way out of the Circle now. I have a few of our men keeping an eye on things as they surface.”

  “Good. What about the bodies?”

  “They said they take care of their own,” Danny shrugged.

  I looked back at Vector and he nodded. That was good enough for me. I glanced back at Erika and before I could even look up at Danny, he answered my unasked question.

  “I’ve got two men bringing up the gurney from the van. We’ll take her back with us,” he said.

  “Well done, Danny.”

  He smiled and nodded in return before turning on his heels and heading off to check on the gurney. The kid was definitely doing everything he could to prove he belonged in the field with us. After a little bit of time, another wolf in a black tee drove up in a golf cart. He must have borrowed it from the stadium equipment room, because it had the long back like the ones they use to cart players off of the field. They carefully loaded Dolph, Crazy Bustier, Leather, and even managed to cram the other bodies onto the back before slowly driving off. At about that time Danny arrived, escorting two GHOST guards and our gurney.

  The two men held the gurney while we took the support board off of the top and brought it down next to Erika. Kara, Vector, and I pulled her body up as Freddy and Danny slid the board gently underneath. Slowly and carefully we got her centered on the board. We all lifted together, placing Erika on the gurney.

  Once she was secure, we all pushed, pulled, or just held onto her for support as we made our way back to the van. She was a member of our team, and I think we all felt some sense of responsibility about getting her safely home. Once we were in sight of the van, which was parked next to Vlad, I heard my friends voice in my head.

  “Is she going to be all right, boss?”

  “I hope so pal.”

  The team glanced my way as I said it.

  “Sorry. Vlad was asking about Erika. He worries about you all.”

  Freddy looked appreciative, Danny looked apathetic, and Kara, her face still slightly pale from exertion, managed to give me a doubtful look. I thought Vector might be hiding a snicker, but I couldn’t be sure. Danny jumped up and opened the back of the van while the rest of us slid the gurney inside. Vector and I kept watch while everything was secured.

  Once they were ready to go, Danny headed towards the front to drive, while Freddy and Kara stayed in the back to keep an eye on Erika. I gave them both a nod and a smile before closing the doors. Part of me wanted to ride along with her, be by her side while she was injured. But I knew that keeping her and the rest of the team safe was the priority and the best way to do that was to watch over the van as it drove home. So, I patted the door a couple times to let them know it was locked, and Vector and I headed over towards Vlad.

  As always, Vlad slid the doors down for us, rolling them into his under carriage as they do. Vector jumped in on the passenger side while I hopped into the driver’s. The doors rolled back up into place and we were ready to go. The team van started forward, and Vlad started driving right after them. In addition to making him happy, letting him drive meant that Vector and I were free to keep our eyes peeled for trouble. The car was quiet for a bit before Vector spoke up.

  “You know, if you ever want to talk or something…” he tried.

  “About what? Erika? She’ll be fine.”

  “I meant more about what happened after.”

  “Nothing to talk about. They hurt one of ours and we took ‘em down.”

  “I think there was a bit more to it than that,” he said.

  Neither of us was looking at the other while we talked, our eyes scanning the road for threats. I wasn’t sure why Vector suddenly wanted to talk about feelings, but it wasn’t going to happen. Especially not with a guy I hardly knew. I didn’t respond and the silence hung in the air for a bit before he tried again.

  “Look, we both know you care about her. That is the danger of getting too close to members of your team.”

  “I care about every member of my team. Even you.”

  “Would you kill for all of us?”

  “I didn’t kill anyone.”

  “No. But it was close,” he said.

  “Was it? How do you know? You think because you read my file you understand me?”

  My voice was a bit sharper than I intended. But obviously he’d struck a nerve. I knew all to well how dangerous it would be to let Erika get close. Or maybe I just hated facing the fact that I was a killer. Either way, some British elf sure didn’t know me well enough to even begin this conversation.

  “Bruce, I’m not trying to upset you,” he tried.

  “You agreed to call me BD, remember?”

  The silence hung heavily in the air. After a deep sigh, Vector continued.

  “BD. I’m just trying to help. I’ve been doing this for a few years. I’ve seen people get close.”

  “Don’t worry kid, I have a gift for keeping people at a distance. It comes as part of the ‘my whole family is dead’ package.”

  At that moment our gazes met and I could see regret on Vector’s face. He obviously didn’t intend to upset me, and somewhere, deep down, I knew that. I understood that he was just trying to help. But I don’t like being helped. Especially when I haven’t asked for it. I turned away and continued to watch the traffic as we drove back to HQ. After a few moments he spoke again.

  “You’re not alone,” he stated.

  “Of course not. I got Vlad.”

  “That’s right, boss,” he replied.

  My smile was forced as I patted him on the dash. Vector even gave half a smile before responding.

  “What I mean is…” I cut him off, meeting his eyes.

  “Do you have family?”

  A weirdly knowing smile crossed his face as he answered, “Yeah. I do.”

  “Then you don’t understand. So, be a good little elf and stop trying.”

  “But…”

  “Seriously. I don’t want to talk about this. Okay?”

  There was a pause as he clearly weighed his answer. It looked like he was about to say something else when he changed his mind and simply answered, “Okay.”

  The rest of the ride was in silence. The van pulled into GHOST HQ without any issues. Vlad backed into his usual space and we all helped take Erika down to sublevel two and into Sickbay.

  CHAPTER 19

  Tanya was on duty again, and she hurried to Erika’s side as we entered Sickbay. Once the medical staff started to swarm in, we all got out of the way. They started cleaning the wound, hooking up IVs, and placing the various electrodes required to connect Erika to the beeping machines. I looked over at Kara, her face still heavy with exhaustion. I put my hand on her shoulder before I spoke.

  “I think you should get some rest. You can’t help her if you can’t even stand on your own. Come on.”

  I pulled her towards one of the beds on the end and helped her lay down. She didn’t even really fight me, just sort of followed numbly. I tucked her in and gently kissed her on the forehead.

  “Thanks again.”

  She closed her eyes and smiled. It took less than thirty seconds before she was unconscious. I made my way back towards the rest of the team. They were standing there, out of the way, watching the medical staff work on Erika. I was worried about her too, but I knew there were better ways to use our time. Facing the three members of my team that were still standing, I spoke.

  “Okay everybody, she’s in good hands. I think we should talk about what, if anything, we learned today. Freddy, why don’t you and Danny head down to the library, share notes and see if the wolves were actually any help. Find out
if that stealing kids thing points us in a direction. Vector, get one of the nurses to look at your arm. I’m sure they can improve greatly upon our field dressing. I’m going to make sure that everything went smoothly with the prisoner transport. I’ll meet you all down in the library shortly.”

  Freddy and Danny gave me small nods as they walked out the door. I think they suspected that part of my plan was to keep them busy and not worrying about Erika. Vector headed over to an empty bed and waited patiently for a nurse to check his wounds. Sadly for him the nurse was a dude, so I didn’t stick around to see how the bandage change went.

  I took the stairs down to sublevel three and walked into an entrance that always reminded me of a cross between a police station and a doctor’s waiting room. It was a good-sized space, maybe twenty by forty feet. There were chairs, benches, a couple of couches along three of the walls, and a small beverage stand in the corner. A couple of long wooden coffee tables sat in front of the couches, old magazines haphazardly strewn on top. In front of me, however, was what I really cared about.

  There was a single door on the left that required the use of a numbered security panel in the wall in order to gain entry. Next to it was a large window separating this room from the security office. It was a sturdy sheet of bullet-proof glass, about fifteen feet long and maybe six feet tall. There were two small metal discs set into the glass, small holes drilled into them in order to allow communication from one side to the other. There was only one guard behind the glass right now and although he looked familiar, I didn’t know his name. He had dark hair, a round face, and looked to be barely out of his teens. To the right of the bullet-proof observation deck was a set of enormous double doors. On the other side lay the prisoner holding cells, evidence lockers, and interrogation rooms. Constructed of thick steel, the doors were exactly the kind of thing one expected to keep trolls, wolves, and ogres at bay.

  The guard looked up at me and gestured towards the large doors with one hand while reaching for the buzzer with the other. I’d been spending so much time down here lately, with all the lycan prisoners from the various scuffles that I didn’t even need to identify myself anymore. I held up a hand to stop him and approached the glass.

  “Hey, I’m just wondering if they got the Reds in lockup yet?”

  He frowned and clearly didn’t know what I was talking about. Although I thought my nickname was fairly self-explanatory, perhaps it needed a bit more elaboration.

  “The Red Hoods, those crazy chicks who hunt lycans. We just took two of them prisoner, they should be here or real close.”

  “Sorry, sir, I haven’t had any prisoners through here in the last two hours. I heard on the radio that we had two incoming, but I think something happened,” he said.

  “What do you mean, ‘something happened’?”

  “I’m sorry sir, I have no idea. There was talk on the radio of trouble on the road. If you want, I can call someone…”

  He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence as I took off upstairs. I flew up four flights of stairs and into the upper parking level. Vlad was parked in the distance, but my sights were on a security guard. While most of the guys on parking detail were far from my biggest fans, they were always in the loop when we had prisoners coming in. The closest guard turned as I approached him, the look on his face indicating that he knew why I was here.

  “Calm down. We don’t have a lot of answers yet. They’re just pulling the van in now,” he said.

  “What do you mean, you don’t have answers? What the hell happened?”

  “All we know is that they were attacked on East Capital as they came around Lincoln Park. They were hit fast and both prisoners were taken.”

  “You have got to be kidding me. In broad daylight?”

  “Apparently. Look, I can only tell you the bits and pieces I caught through the radio. If you want more answers you should go talk to the sergeant,” he said.

  I took a breath and forced myself to calm down. It wasn’t this guy’s fault the truck got hit. Considering how rocky my relationship is with these guys, I guess I should be grateful he told me what he knew.

  “Yeah. Thanks.”

  I watched as the van pulled in and headed down to the lower parking level. Instead of taking the stairs, I walked through the lot, traveling down the winding ramp after them. I used the walk to breathe, relax, and in general calm myself down. Screaming at the sergeant wasn’t going to help matters, or get me the answers I sought any quicker. Right now, the most important thing was whether or not our troops were all right. I hoped for the best as I headed towards the truck.

  The prisoner transport van looked very similar to the armored trucks that deliver money to banks. It was large, boxy, and made of very bulky steel. Even before I got close, I could see the damage to the back doors. There was a bowling ball-sized hole where the lock used to be, and one of the doors swung loosely on its hinges. I could just make out a few of the guards in the back, makeshift bandages around their heads, torsos, and limbs. At about that time the elevator opened and some medical personnel stepped out, accompanied by Vector. I nodded and he walked over.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “They got the call about the van right after they finished patching me up. Figured I’d check things out,” he said.

  I had a feeling that there was more to it than that, but I didn’t push it. Maybe he felt bad for trying to get me to talk in the car. More likely he was here to keep an eye on me. After the way I acted earlier, I’m sure he was worried I’d go ballistic on the troops for letting the Reds escape. Right now, however, I was actually more concerned with the health of our guys. Assuming they were all going to be okay, I might even admit that a small part of me was glad the Reds escaped. I wasn’t sure I trusted myself to be around them so soon after they’d hurt Erika. But, I’d find them again before long, and when I did, their survival depended greatly on whether or not we just sustained casualties. I hoped for the best as I looked over the truck.

  “Whoever did this wasn’t messing around. Look at that back door.”

  “Yeah. I’d guess some kind of shaped charge. Enough to blow the door and most likely stun the occupants inside, while a team extracted the Reds.”

  “This is what I get for letting them live.”

  Vector looked at me, and he wasn’t sure if I was joking or serious. I was pretty sure that I was joking. But for my own sake, I needed to hear myself say it out loud.

  “I’m kidding.”

  He raised an eyebrow at me, doubt on his face.

  “Mostly,” I admitted.

  I shrugged, and Vector gave a small smirk. Honestly, considering how pissed off I was earlier, I was kind of proud of myself for being less bloodthirsty. Maybe I wasn’t a complete lost cause. Vector and I walked over to the car, careful to stay out of the way of the medics. I noticed the sergeant talking to one of the drivers and we headed over in that direction.

  The sergeant was a big man, just over six-feet tall, with a bald head and a thick white mustache. He looked to be in his late forties, with reddish skin that had been weathered from years in the sun. There was a very drill-sergeant-ness about him. He wore black BDU pants and large combat boots. The sleeves were rolled up on his white button down shirt, revealing forearms so large they almost looked comical. It was no secret why his men called him Popeye. We’d exchanged pleasantries a few times in the past, but honestly I didn’t know his real name. I’ve never heard anyone call him anything other than Sergeant or Popeye, although the latter was never to his face. The driver he was talking to was someone that I had never seen before.

  She wore a standard GHOST guard uniform. I guess I’ve never really talked about their attire before because honestly they just remind me of a generic cop outfits. I assume it was done on purpose, to make it easier for them to blend in with the local authorities. Like the rest of the troops in the truck, she wore shiny black shoes and dark pants held up by a hefty duty belt. She carried cuffs, mace, a collapsible
baton, and a sidearm. Her shirt was a dark blue button-up, short sleeved for the warm summer temperatures. She wore an unmarked black baseball cap, her dark hair pulled back into a tight bun. I couldn’t make out much of her face as she was leaning on her hand, almost propping her head up as she talked. Popeye was already questioning her as we got within earshot.

  “No warning whatsoever?” Popeye questioned.

  “No, sir. We’d stopped because there were people in the crosswalk and the next thing you know, bam. There was smoke everywhere and my ears were ringing,” the guard answered.

  “Did you get a look at them?” he asked.

  “Not them, sir, her,” she replied.

  “What do you mean? Are you saying that your entire team was neutralized by one lady?” Popeye spit.

  “Not a lady, sir. One of them. One of the red cloaks,” she tried.

  “And not one of you got off a shot?” Popeye said.

  “No, sir. We were…no, sir,” she sighed.

  “Very well. I expect a full report in an hour. For now, get that wound looked at,” he ordered.

  With that, she hopped down from the cab and headed over towards the medics. It wasn’t until then that I noticed what her hand had been covering up. There was blood all over the side of her face, obviously from the nasty gash that she had across her forehead. Once she was away, the Sergeant nodded in our direction, and we took that as an invitation to approach. I spoke first.

  “How bad?”

  “Looks like a couple of concussions and a few broken bones. Nothing life-threatening. Could have been worse,” he answered.

  “Yeah.”

  “I hear you almost lost one taking these bastards down. How’s she doing?”

  “She’s stable, for now. Thanks for asking.”

  He nodded and continued, “Did you have any idea there was a third one of these Hoods running around?”