“Such as?” Smoke said.
“Blind mice,” the woman said. “The innocent can be so delicious.” She chirped out a flittering sound. “The Black Slate. I know I’m on that dubious list. You aren’t the first to find me, and you won’t be the last either.” She checked her nails. “I’m not one for hiding.”
She’s way too confident. I should probably shoot her now.
“So,” Night Bird continued, “are you the pair that took down the wolf man? He was such a cock. But I admit, we were impressed. Two mortals taking down the wolf. I would have lost a bundle on that bet, not that money matters.” She clapped her hands together. “Good for you.”
Not good. Again, someone knew more about what was going on than Sid did. But didn’t most criminals? Keep her talking.
Smoke beat her to it. “He wasn’t so tough. Just bad dog breath walking on hind legs. I look forward to taking out more of them.”
“Oh ho!” Angi leaned forward. “I like a man who is cocky. Even a mortal one.”
“Everyone is mortal,” Sidney chimed in.
“Really?” the woman said. “I know a lot of dead people who are still living, including me. Don’t be so sure of yourself … Agent Shaw.”
What is she talking about? Sid’s fingernails drummed on the wheel. Night Bird had said too many odd things. Mortals. She talked as though she was a demi-god or something. But she was so confident when she spoke. Everything she said had the stamp of truth behind it.
And Night Bird, she sat back in her seat with a confident smile, staring out the window. The voluptuous debutante seemed invincible.
Sid stopped at a light and turned the wipers off.
“Huh,” Smoke said, looking out the windshield. Large black birds flew across the night sky and landed on the nearby power lines. They squawked at the car. “Are those crows or ravens? I’ve never seen birds like that fly at night before.”
“They do what they’re told,” Night Bird said. “And they are ravens.”
“Aren’t they the same?” Sid asked. “Black. Annoying. Ugly.”
Angi sneered. Her voice became a hiss. “You had best watch your tongue, little woman. You know not of what you speak.”
“No surprise that you know a lot about them,” Sidney said, watching Angi in the mirror. “I’ve heard a lot of people call them rat birds.” The light turned green, and they accelerated forward.
Smoke stared out of his window.
This is getting creepy. The birds were following them. Sidney gunned the gas a little more. “Do they like cheese?”
“I can tell you what they don’t like,” Night Bird said in a very dark tone. “They don’t like people.”
“Ah,” Smoke said, looking inquisitive, “so that’s why they crap on my car?”
“Oh, John, please don’t you start,” Night Bird said. “I’ve grown fond of you. Of course, I’m always fond of my pets, especially the lab rats. They’re so entertaining.”
“Lab rats?” Sidney said. They were approaching the safe zone drop.
“Well, it’s a bit more of a modern terminology, but every decade or so, a group of fools such as yourselves shows up to take the likes of us down.” Night Bird sighed then whistled a dreary tune that was impossible for a human. “We toy with them until we bore of their games. And then we wipe them out.”
Sidney’s hand slipped to her Glock, inside the door pocket. “So, care to fill us in a little more on who we is?” She glanced at the sky. It was cloudy, but no moon was out. “Would that we be the Drake criminal network?”
“Such children,” Angi said, shaking her head. “I think it’s too late for your education. Besides, some things, you are better off not knowing. Your minds aren’t ready to comprehend them. But soon enough, the world will be ready. This is just the beginning.”
This needs to be the end. As harmless as she seemed, Night Bird’s calm cool collectedness was a tad on the frightening side. Sid looked up from the highway and noticed a black helicopter landing in the distance. It was FBI. They landed about a mile off the road at an abandoned truck stop. The tightness in her neck eased. Good! They can have the bird-loving loon.
“It seems my escort has arrived. I so hate those flying metal machines,” Night Bird said. “So loud, and they smell nasty.”
As soon as they pulled into the lot, they were surrounded by agents clad in body armor and armed with M-16 assault rifles.
What is up with all the hardware? Badge out and up, Sidney exited the car. Smoke helped Night Bird out of the back seat.
“This was fun. Too bad we’ll never do it again,” Night Bird said, leaning on his chest. She sucked her teeth. “I just love the dark and charming kind.” Two agents pulled her away and marched her toward the chopper. “Ta ta!”
A sea of ravens landed on the truck stop’s roof, on all the cars and trucks, and all over the pavement, pecking and squawking.
Sidney shooed them away from her car. “Get!” She looked around. “Who’s the agent in charge?”
A Chinese man in full gear walked up with his rifle slung over his shoulder. He stood eye to eye with her and had a small mole under his left eye. He extended his hand. “Agent Ramsey.”
“Do you have any paperwork or anything that needs to be signed off?”
“No. I was just told to get my ass down here ten minutes ago. We rolled off another job to come to this one.” Agent Ramsey looked at the chopper. “I was expecting something a lot less fine and a lot more dangerous. Who is she?”
“Huh, well, I guess I can’t really tell you that. But thanks for the back-up.”
Agent Ramsey touched the microphone in his ear. “Once the bird’s out of site, we’re all clear.” Watching the chopper lift off, he shrugged. “Nice meeting you, Agent Shaw. Nice car too. Be careful you don’t get any bird poop on it.” He kicked at a raven and walked off.
Sidney eased up alongside Smoke. His gaze hadn’t left the chopper. “What do you think, easy peasy?”
He slowly shook his head. “Maybe too easy peasy.”
Watching the helicopter drift up and away, Sid’s eyes widened. An agent from inside the chopper was plummeting toward the ground. Her heart jumped. “Oh no!”
CHAPTER 29
Agents sprinted toward the body that had crashed to the ground, but Sidney’s eyes remained transfixed on the scene above. The chopper wavered in the air, hung in place for a moment, then spun in a three sixty. Her keen eyes picked up a struggle in the cockpit. A wrestling of bodies.
What on earth is going on?
Another man was hurled out of the chopper doors. “Aaaiiyyeee!”
More agents scrambled in aid then slowed as they gazed up. Something alive emerged from the reeling chopper. A giant bird of some sort.
“My Lord,” one agent said, gawping. “Are those wings?”
Among the distant commotion, a bird with the head of a woman dropped from the chopper and into the sky. Like an eagle, the bird-woman clutched a screaming agent in her talons. She soared overhead, making a cackling shriek just one hundred feet above.
“Night Bird’s a harpy?” Smoke said, drawing out his pistol.
“A what?” Sid said, taking aim.
Night Bird circled above. Her great wings of black and grey feathers spanned fifteen feet. Everything from her chest down was covered in feathers, and her face was still human. It was radiant but in a dark and supernatural state. Suddenly, she dove and flung the agent from her talons. The screaming man soared head over heels and smashed into the FBI van.
“Run!” Agent Ramsey said, pointing toward the sky. “Take cover! Now!”
The helicopter descended in their direction. Legs churning, Sid sprinted away and took cover behind a parked bus. The chopper plunged into the blacktop.
Boom!
A fiery explosion erupted, spraying the parking lot with bits and pieces of metal. Black birds scattered everywhere, taking to the air in droves and diving down in a black swirl of terror on the other agents. Men and women wer
e flayed, and they screamed.
“Come on,” Smoke said, scraping Sidney off the ground and onto her feet. “Let’s move!”
Wading through the sea of birds, they headed for the car. A shadow glided over them, cackling. It was Night Bird. She snatched another agent off the ground and pumped her wings, racing into the sky, up, up, up, a speck in the dim light. Suddenly, the woman dropped from high above and smashed through the truck-stop roof.
Sidney’s stomach turned in the chaos. This is mad! Hitchcock madness!
FBI agents fired bullets into the sky. Night Bird weaved and darted with grace and speed, cackling the entire time. In a streak of feathers, she closed in on one man and sliced his throat open. Blood spilled from the gaping wound.
Sidney blasted away at the evil creature as it did aerial somersaults in the sky. Her bullets clipped off some feathers that sprinkled the air. Night Bird and her ravens continued their assault on the other agents, who scrambled for the cover of their cars, plucking the birds from their ankles and faces.
“Strange that they aren’t after us,” Smoke said, taking cover behind the fuel pumps beneath the canopy. “Keep an eye out for her.”
Sidney dashed the sweat from her eyes. Underneath the truck depot’s cover, the ravens darted in and out, squawking. She fired at three of them. Pop! Pop! Pop! They dropped from the sky.
“Good shooting,” Smoke said, “but you might want to save your bullets. There’s at least a thousand more to go.”
Sidney’s mind raced. Her heart pumped from terror. Nature had run wild, and she’d seen at least five agents fall in the chaos. “We have to end this!” She marched out from underneath the oversized canopy and eyed the sky. There was no sign of Night Bird. “Where are you?”
“Looking for me?” said a voice from above. It was Night Bird, standing on top of the roof in her full glory. Her feather-coated body still maintained her voluptuous figure, but her arms were turned into wings with hands, and razor-sharp talons had become her feet. The bird-woman’s face was dark and twisted, yet beautiful. “Here I am!”
Sidney fired.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
The spray of bullets hit center mass, drawing a gusty laugh from Night Bird. “Your mortal weapons cannot hurt me.” She took flight and disappeared into the sky.
Smoke eased along to her side and said, “Which bullets are you using?”
“Government-issued loads, why?”
Smoke popped the magazine of his weapon and showed her the blue-tipped bullets within. “I think I have a pretty good idea what these are for.” He slapped the magazine back in. “If she comes back, let me take the next shot.” He scanned the sky.
“Why don’t you let me handle that? I think I’m a better shot.”
“No,” Smoke said, shaking his head, “I don’t think so.”
“Even if those pretty bullets work,” she said, “we’re supposed to take her in alive, you know.”
“After she killed all those people?” Smoke set his jaw. “I don’t think so.”
Good point. Good men and women were down. Many dead. Ravens pecked and clawed at their flesh. Capture would be mercy to the murderous fiend.
“And to think I kinda liked birds up until now,” he said. “But Night Bird is going down.”
“I’m sure they aren’t all bad. But I think we need to take her alive. Those are my orders.”
In an instant, the ravens stopped squawking and took off in flight, disappearing into the night sky.
“That was weird,” Smoke said, surveying the lot.
The surviving agents stumbled around assisting one another. In the distance, Sidney recognized the silhouette of Agent Ramsey. Good.
“Oh, I beg your pardon,” a familiar sultry voice said. “Are you searching for me?” Night Bird stood near the pumps behind them, back in human form and completely naked. She held out her blood-caked hands and wrists. “I surrender.”
Smoke aimed his gun at her chest.
“Please don’t,” Night Bird said, eyeing his gun. “I don’t want any part of your little blue bullets.” She touched her ear. “We birds have very keen hearing, you know. I’m glad I was paying attention.”
“She’s unarmed,” Sid said, readying her own weapon.
“She only looks unarmed.”
“What’s the matter?” Night Bird said, approaching them, “Are my perfect breasts a threat to you?”
“Sorry, Agent Shaw,” Smoke said, “but I don’t play by your rules.” His finger tensed over the trigger.
“Stay where you are, Night Bird,” Sid said, stepping between the bounty hunter and the woman. “Smoke, ease up.”
Night Bird stopped, lifted her hands above her head, and dropped to her knees. “I’m really sorry about your comrades, but my temper got the best of me when one of them groped me.” She offered a coy smile. “I’m over it. I’ll play nice from now on.”
“Don’t trust her, Sid,” Smoke said in a growl.
Duty. Despite the carnage, Night Bird had to be taken in alive. Those were the orders. Sid was a good soldier, and she’d follow them as long as she could. She pulled out her flex cuffs and said, “Hands behind your back.”
“You are a faithful soldier, Agent Shaw,” Night Bird said, placing her hands behind her back, “but you should have listened to your friend.” She opened her mouth wide, and an ear-splitting shriek came out.
Sidney’s stomach turned and her knees buckled. She hit the pavement and the world started spinning. In front of her, Night Bird rose up, still unleashing the hellish sound. Sid felt bile rise up in her mouth when the horrendous sound stopped. She spat it out.
Ahead, Night Bird’s body convulsed and transformed. Muscle, sinew, and bone popped and crackled. Feathers sprouted out. The bird woman shuffled over and grabbed ahold of Smoke. The big man’s long limbs trembled. His gun lay inches from his fingers. Sid’s ears were ringing. She tried to find her own gun but couldn’t move. She couldn’t feel her fingers. Ugh!
Night Bird was a much bigger bird than she was a woman. She scooped Smoke up in her talons, spread her great wings, took flight, and disappeared into the night sky.
Sidney’s mind cried out, “Nooooooooooooooo!”
CHAPTER 30
Head down, Sidney sat inside the Wayfarer’s Way restaurant, stirring her spoon in her chicken tortellini soup. It was midday, two days after Night Bird flew off with Smoke. Since the chopper crashed. Since good FBI agents died.
I can’t believe he’s gone. I can’t believe they’re all gone.
She glanced at the front page of the Washington Post on the table. The headline read:
FBI AGENTS PERISH IN TRAGIC TRAINING INCIDENT.
Conspiracies and accusations followed. The community was shocked. Television, Internet, and radio buzzed with theories about terrorist activities. Everyone had a theory. Everyone was wrong.
How many other fabricated stories have I believed before?
There had been plenty of incidents with loose ends she had previously taken at face value but had begun to reconsider. Pan Am’s Malaysia Flights. Seal Team Six. Was any of it true? Everything she read in the paper was a lie. What else was?
She rubbed her temple with one hand and took a sip of soup with the other. It tasted funny. Not that she’d eaten much. Everything tasted funny since Night Bird’s screech. The jarring sound still echoed in her ears. She could still see Smoke’s body being hauled through the air like a carcass. It left her cold inside. She should have trusted him. She should have let him take Night Bird down. Now, he might be gone forever. I failed him.
She closed her eyes and sighed. She felt as if something was eating her from the inside out. After the incident, it had taken her thirty minutes to get back on her feet. By the time that happened, help had come, sort of. Men and women covered from head to toe in hazmat-type attire administered aid and whisked the dead away in minutes. It was bizarre. Not of one of them spoke or identified themselves. Agent Ramsey did all of the talking while they patche
d up his bleeding arm. Sid was in a haze eyeing the sky. By the time they shook her out of it, everyone was gone. She was taken to a small hospital and released the day before with orders to stay away from headquarters and meet her boss at the Wayfarer. Finally he came.
Ted Howard entered the restaurant, hung up his coat and hat, and took a seat across from her.
“How are you doing, Sid?”
She held up the paper. “It’s all a lie.”
“Aw, come on. You know we can’t print what you and the other agents saw, especially when none of it can be verified.” A waitress approached with her honey brown hair up in a bun. “Coffee and the special,” Ted said.
“Coming right up.”
“I’m surprised you can eat,” Sidney added, pushing her soup away.
“I’m not hungry, but I am a creature of habit. You know that.” He leaned forward with an uneasy look on his face. “Sid, you’re going to have to let this one go.”
“What do you mean, let it go?”
He swallowed, and his eyes drifted before they found hers again. “The Black Slate is shut down for now. At least until the smoke clears. Ah!” He shook his head. “Sorry, bad choice of words. Let me rephrase. Until the dust settles.”
“What do you mean, Ted? I have to go after him. We have to go after him.”
“You know bloody well that the Pentagon is all over this one. At least until the media moves on to something else.” He rolled his sleeves up, revealing his meaty forearms. “But there will be an investigation, and that will take weeks. Heck, months. This won’t go away for a long time.”
“I have to find him, Ted. You know that. We can’t just forget about him.”
“If he was an agent, sure, but he’s not.” He lifted his finger up. “And before you get mad at me, you know that my hands are tied on this one.”
“Just because he isn’t an agent doesn’t mean he’s worth any less.”
“Yeah, well they don’t see it that way. He’s a convict. Expendable.” He frowned. “That’s probably why they signed him up for this gig.”
The Supernatural Bounty Hunter Files: Special Edition Fantasy Bundle, Books 1 thru 5 (Smoke Special Edition) Page 25
