Wayward Son

by Heath Stallcup

  Jack closed the notebook and handed it to Popo. “I know who can tell us.” His eyes met Pedro’s. “Doc. He designed it. He’d know if it could be miniaturized.”

  “You’re coming back with us?” Jimmy asked.

  Jack glanced around the destroyed island compound. “With Rufus gone and unable to explain this, there’s nothing holding me here.” He glanced up and watched as the helicopter began its approach. “And I need some answers.”

  “Somebody may have something to say about you just up and leaving.” Pedro pointed to Nadia gingerly stepping from the front of the helicopter.

  Jack smiled when he saw her honey blonde hair and big blue eyes in the early morning light. “She can complain all she wants, but I have a job to do.” He started to walk across the destroyed courtyard then turned back to his old teammates. “And I can’t walk away from this until I know for sure where Thorn stood in all of this mess.”

  *****

  Laura sat quietly as the Brazilian team drove them to their mountainside compound. As they approached the underground enclosure, she was reminded of the NORAD base at Cheyenne Mountain, only slightly smaller. The concrete archway built into the side of the mountain looked nearly impenetrable. Armed guards saluted as the trucks approached the compound, and tall chain-link gates closed behind them. She suddenly felt more like a prisoner than a guest.

  “Do not worry. You will be safe here.” Pablo smiled at her, and she didn’t feel any better.

  Laura did her best to return the smile but she was nearly certain it didn’t come across as friendly. “Sorry, Pablo, I’m just exhausted from the trip. Please don’t think we’re not grateful.”

  “I understand. You’ve been struck with quite a bit since your arrival.”

  The truck stopped, and Laura looked out the dirty window. They were deep within the compound and men were disembarking the other trucks. Mick opened his door and held it for the two women. “Home sweet cave,” he muttered as they passed him.

  “At least it’s cool in here,” Jennifer stated as she took it all in.

  “You must mean the temperature, because it feels like a tomb to me.” Mick shuddered as they fell into step behind Pablo.

  “Your quarters are down this hallway. They are not large, but there are beds and a place for your belongings if you have any. We will see to getting you a change of clothing. The lavatories are at the end of the hall.” He paused and sighed at the two women. “I apologize, but we are not set up for women. If you will let us know when you plan to shower, we will make accommodations for you.”

  “Thank you, Pablo.” Laura gave him a gentle squeeze on his arm as she walked past him. She took the first door on the right and watched as Mick took the room opposite hers. Jennifer took the next room on the right. Laura opened the door and found a small room with a single bed and a small nightstand and a two drawer cabinet. “This will do nicely. Thank you.”

  Pablo pointed behind them near where they entered the hallway. “The room there with the large glass windows. I will be in there. When you are settled, find me and we will get you to a phone.”

  “I won’t be but a moment,” Laura said. She turned and went to Jennifer’s room, knocking as she opened the door. “I’m going to call and see if I can get through. I have to find out what’s going on there.”

  Jennifer sat on her bed, her eyes staring off into nothingness. “Do you think he is dead?”

  “Who? Matt?” Laura shook her head, giving the young woman a pat on the arm. “No, he’s far too sly to have fallen for anything sneaky like that. If I know Matt, he’s just fine. He’s probably kicking back right now, sipping a scotch and puffing on a victory cigar.”

  “Please, Laura, let me know.” The concern in her eyes seemed genuine.

  “Trust me, I will.” She stepped down the hall and tapped on the Plexiglas of the office. Pablo waved her in and Laura took a seat near the phone. She got the proper dialing sequence from Pablo for dialing the United States, then started going through the list of numbers that she had memorized.

  *****

  Sheridan pulled into the warehouse that they had been using as a staging area and shut off the headlights of the van. He heard the side door of the van open and felt the truck shift as the few wolves he encountered fleeing the hangar exited the vehicle. He sat quietly behind the wheel a moment longer. How was he going to explain their failure to his benefactor? With a silent curse, he opened his door and slid out from the seat.

  He pulled his cane from behind the seat and hobbled into the abandoned office. He pulled the satellite phone from the charging station and punched the preset speed dial. He waited for the line to connect and then ring.

  “Ah, Mr. Simmons. Yes, this is Sheridan.” He paused while listening to the other line. “No, sir, not entirely. We dealt them a pretty tragic blow, but I’m afraid that—” He was interrupted as the other end blew up. “Yes, sir. But you need to keep in mind we attacked with untrained soldiers against some of the world’s best. Considering the circumstances, we did some serious damage.”

  Sheridan slowly sat in the chair next to the work bench and listened to the tirade on the phone. “No, sir, I haven’t heard yet how the attack on the island went. I can say that they wouldn’t have had the same degree of opposition that we encountered so I’m sure that they did much better.” Sheridan watched the wolves in the shop as they began tearing down their stations and prepared to leave the area. “Yes, sir. Once I know for sure, I will certainly be calling you again.”

  Sheridan sighed to himself and rubbed at his eyes as the man on the other end continued to yell. “Yes, sir. At once, sir.” He clicked the end call button and placed the phone back in its charging cradle. “Please, Apollo, tell me that you had much better luck than we did.”

  *****

  Little John and Spalding carried the body of Vince Carbone to a gurney where he was placed into a body bag. Spalding zipped the bag and placed an orange tag on it. This indicated the body had to be incinerated. He never really understood why their dead had to be cremated. They were infected with the wolf virus. It wasn’t like their bodies would reanimate. Still, procedure was procedure.

  Technicians and soldiers alike worked side by side cleaning up the topside, spraying down blood with antiseptic and preparing it for decontamination. Bodies of wolves that were shifted were placed into special body bags made for larger beings. Those who were killed prior were bagged and tagged, both given incineration tags. Only those who were support personnel and killed in the battle would be allowed a true funeral.

  Little John almost envied them as their families would have an opportunity for some form of closure. He stood and stretched his wide shoulders, the realization of why operators for the squads were chosen from those who didn’t have ties to the ‘normal’ world.

  The sound of approaching helicopter blades caught the attention of everybody topside. Fearing another attack, techs began looking for cover and security personnel and operators grabbed their weapons and formed up at the open doors.

  The Chinook hovered just outside the parking lot and Spalding watched through the ACOG scope as the side door opened and third squad fast roped out the door and into the parking lot. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief and called the men down. He stepped out and held an arm up to Dom.

  “What the hell, man? How come nobody is answering coms?” Dom slowed and looked at the hangar. “Holy hell…what happened here?”

  “We were hit,” Spalding answered as the rest of third squad caught up with their team leader. “Hard.”

  “Oh, my God. Anybody hurt?” Dom walked past Spalding and entered the hangar. Rivers of blood running to the drains in the floor caught his attention. “Please tell me that’s tango blood.”

  “Some. Not enough of it, though,” Little John answered. “They hit the XO. He’s bad.”

  “Tufo?” Dom paled as the words hit home. His mind instantly returned to the bond he formed with the man when he first returned to the squads. Tufo wa
s the only one that treated him like he wasn’t a China doll, ready to break if he wasn’t handled with kid gloves. “Where is he?”

  Spalding pointed down below. “Doc’s working on him.”

  “Why the hell is Doc working on him? Why didn’t they medevac him to a hospital or a trauma center?” Spalding and Little John lowered their heads and refused to meet his eyes. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Dom, a wolf shredded his guts. The damned thing sliced him from bellybutton to throat.” Spalding choked up.

  Dom felt his knees weaken as the words hit home. Hammer was at his side and propped him without being asked. “Let me get you to a chair, boss.”

  “No. I’m okay. I just need…” Dom turned slow circles and stared to the ceiling. “Why the hell couldn’t we have been here for this? We could have made a difference.”

  Darren pulled his buddy aside, away from the support personnel still cleaning up the mess. “Believe me when I tell you, had you been here, you would have either ended up pinned down like we were or worse.”

  “What’s worse than not being able to do anything?” Hammer asked.

  Little John pointed to the body bag containing Carbone’s body. “Being carried out in one of those.”

  “Who is that?” Hammer asked, not sure he wanted to know.

  “Carbone,” Sullivan replied. “He went down fighting.”

  “All of them did,” Darren corrected. “Just because they weren’t squad members didn’t make their sacrifice any less noble.”

  Dominic repeated a silent prayer over Carbone’s body then crossed himself. He turned to Spalding, his eyes angry, “Who was behind the attack?”

  “We can’t be sure. All we know for sure is that they were wolves.”

  Ben watched as they continued to scrub the coagulating blood and bits of flesh from the structures. “Should we turn in our weapons and lend a hand or…”

  Dom shook his head. “Negative. We have a cleanup crew still in the field.” He turned to Hammer, “Stay here and help them get the coms back up. That’s priority one. As soon as they are, reach out and touch me, brother.”

  “Roger that.” He turned and headed for the stairwell to turn in his weapon and grab a tech crew.

  Dom grabbed Ben. “Give him a hand with it. We can cover for you in the field but those coms are essential. I’m going to check in on the XO. The rest of you replenish our ammo. We’re lifting off in twenty.”

  *****

  Apollo continued to replay the events of the last few days through his mind as the helicopter sliced through the early morning sky. One of the wolves had opened the side door, and the air whipping through the cabin carried a chill. The smell of the salty sea threatened to carry his mind elsewhere, but he forced himself to evaluate exactly where he allowed himself to be swayed.

  He couldn’t put his finger on the exact moment that he stepped into that dark chasm, but he knew what had caused it. It was the video of Maria. He only thought that he had her out of his system. To find out that she didn’t really care for him…that she, in fact, loved someone else, was more than his fragile psyche could handle.

  He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. The emotional turmoil of the last few days was more than he could handle, and the constant adrenaline rushes were causing a crash.

  What have I done? he asked himself. Why did it take seeing the Chief in person to drag me back to reality? He knew Jack wasn’t lying when he said he held nothing back from him. He knew that the man wouldn’t lie to him about something as important as Maria. How could he have let Sheridan get inside his head? He wasn’t that weak-minded. He wasn’t some hormone driven teenager. He fought the urge to punch something as he sat upright in his seat and stared out the window.

  The land zipped by and he watched as the patchwork quilt of the land below passed beneath them. He quietly continued his mental assessment until the thought of Sheridan came back around. What had he said about their benefactor? He had an axe to grind with the squads? He was the one who provided the wolves? Apollo shifted in his seat and studied the wolves trying to unwind and come off their own battle highs.

  He scooted closer to the wolf closest to him. “You and your boys did well out there. We couldn’t have known that they’d have gargoyles and shit.”

  The wolf gave him a broad smile. “If they hadn’t had those flying rock monkeys, we would have handed them their heads.”

  “You got that right.” Apollo gave him a light elbow. “Hey, where’d you boys learn to fight like that, anyway?”

  The wolf shrugged. “We’re all pretty good in a scrap.” He pointed to the wolf in the front of the helicopter. “Davidson is from the states, and he used to fight mixed martial arts.”

  “No shit?” Apollo feigned interest. “Where the rest of you from?”

  “Most of us are from different packs down south.” The wolf shifted closer so he wouldn’t have to yell as loud. “The three of us are from Columbia. There are some from Brazil, some from Peru. All over South America.”

  “Seriously? I wouldn’t think that many different packs would come together for something like this.” Apollo rubbed at his chin thoughtfully.

  The wolf laughed at him. “We didn’t come together for nothing. Mr. Simmons hired us. We’re all enforcers for him.”

  Apollo raised a brow at that one. “Paid enforcers? Mercs?”

  “You could say that.” The wolf nodded, liking the sound of being called a mercenary. “Yeah, a private army for a very wealthy wolf.”

  “That’s cool.” Apollo eyed each man as the chopper continued along its flight path. “How long y’all been with this…Simmons?”

  “Yeah. Simmons.” The wolf shrugged. “Different times really. I have been with him for nearly five years. Most of these guys over ten years.” He scooted closer and lowered his voice somewhat. “Once his daughter come up missing, the old man went bat shit crazy and started spending his money on all kinds of security. He has a compound in Belize that would blow your mind. All of his cars are armored. He has dozens of wolves patrolling all the time just to keep his daughter safe.”

  “Wait, I thought you said she went missing?”

  “Well, she did. But then she came back. She was gone for nearly ten years…wait. So…you don’t know who I’m talking about?”

  “Brother, I have no fuckin’ clue.” Apollo shrugged.

  “Your people were the ones that had her.”

  Apollo gave him a disbelieving look. “My people?”

  The wolf laughed again. “Yeah, man. That’s why the old man wants them all dead. They held her for nearly ten years.”

  “We didn’t hold nobody.” Apollo’s face was twisted in confusion.

  “Yeah they did. Had her on ice. Literally.” The wolf leaned in and spoke into his ear. “Little blonde gal. Spoiled rotten? This shit seriously isn’t ringing any bells?”

  Apollo shook his head. “No, man. We didn’t have nobody like that. We weren’t set up for holding prisoners.”

  The wolf leaned back in his seat and smiled. “Maybe you should talk to your people?”

  “Yeah.” Apollo leaned back and watched as the landscape slid by underneath them again. “Maybe I should.”

  *****

  “It’s not good.”

  “Define ‘not good’, Matt.” Tracy’s eyes hardened as she stared at him, her heart sinking in her chest.

  “Like maybe you should come with me.” He held the door open for her and watched the color drain from her face.

  She backed away a half step, her head shaking. “I-I can’t just…I mean. I have to…the dogs. And…”

  “Tracy.” Matt placed a hand on her shoulder. “Now.”

  She felt a lump form in her throat as her body responded, moving her forward even though her brain was screaming at her to run.

  She nearly jumped as he shut the door and circled the car to get in behind the wheel. She felt her hands begin to shake as her mind raced, playing a thousand possible scenarios
. “What happened?”

  Matt started the car and pulled out onto the pavement, turning toward the hangar with purpose. “We had a mission and had just released from it. The next thing we know, all hell broke loose.” He slowed slightly then drove through the stop sign. “We were under attack.”

  “Who in the name of…” Her mind couldn’t conceive of anybody stupid enough to attack a squad of monster hunters. “Who was it?”

  “We don’t know yet. All we do know is that they were mostly wolves.” Matt pushed the car past the legal limit, ready to hit the red and blue emergency lights if they happened to run afoul of any base police. “Anyway, they were in retreat. Mark and a couple of others were putting down the wounded and—”

  “Putting down the wounded?” She stared at him open mouthed. “Did nobody think about interrogating them?”

  He ignored her. “One of the wounded tore into him. Literally shredded him from throat to waistband.”

  Her breath caught in her throat as she thought of her husband being torn open by something as vicious as a werewolf. “Did he…”

  “He’s still alive, Tracy. They’re working on him as we…” He turned and gave her a sympathetic look. “He was still alive when I came to get you. It’s bad, though.”

  “I understand what you’re telling me.” Her lip quivered, but she refused to allow herself to cry. “Just hurry.”

  “As fast as I can.” He pointed to the hangar. “We’re almost there.” Matt slid the car to a stop outside the double doors and was halfway out of the car before the engine had stopped running. “This way.” He helped Tracy out of the passenger side and guided her past the mess and toward the elevators.

  “Why is he here and not at a trauma center, Matt?” The shock was beginning to wear off as the elevator car carried them deeper below the hangar.

  “How do we explain a werewolf attack at a trauma center?” When the doors opened, he directed her out and to the left. “Doc has him over there. We need to stay out of their way.”