Specters: A Monster Squad Novel - 8 (14 page)

The man holding the pistol cocked it and leaned slightly forward. “I said, state your purpose.”

Robert swallowed hard and nodded. “I need to see your leader. I mean, uh…Colonel Mitchell, right? I need to see him. I have information that he needs to know. It’s life or death.” Robert knew that the color had drained from his face. He felt it happen.

The guard stepped back and spoke into a radio. A moment later he holstered his weapon and two other men appeared from nowhere. He was handcuffed and his papers were taken and sifted through in the parking lot before he was escorted into the lion’s den.

8

“Wait out here and observe. Don’t think for a moment that we’re done discussing your… ‘problem’.” Mitchell stared at the slight framed man through the two way mirror. “If you get a read from his body language that I miss, key the two-way.”

“Roger dodger,
mi capitain
.” Tufo gave a mock salute as Mitchell pushed the door open and walked behind the man cuffed to the interrogation table.

“Mr. Stevens, I’m having difficulty verifying your credentials. Care to enlighten me on why that might be?” He slapped the folder down on the table for effect.

“Colonel, I work for a branch of the Central Intelligence Agency that…” He glanced over his shoulder then lowered his voice. “Sir, they’re targeting your people.”

Mitchell sat down and crossed his arms, his face stoic. “Why on earth would an intelligence agency attempt to target a little black operation like us. We fly under the radar, Mr. Stevens.”

Robert lowered his face and cleared his throat. “Because, Colonel, they know what you are. Rather, what your
men
are.” He raised his eyes to meet the man’s gaze. “They discovered that monsters were real and they stumbled upon your operation here. They’ve sworn to eradicate all monsters. Including those who work for the United States, defending her interests.”

Mitchell’s face remained stoic. “Assuming that anything you say is true, we’ve dealt with threats before.”

Stevens began to shake, his head nearly convulsing. “Not like this, sir. I’m talking about super soldiers. They have battle uniforms specially made to combat nearly any threat conceivable. They—”

“They’re still human. Humans bleed, Stevens.”

“Look at the notes I brought you, Colonel. Their battle uniforms are made to repel most small arms fire. If they’re punctured, they’re self-sealing with clotting foam dispensers built in. They have pneumatic rings built into the limbs that can be activated to act as a tourniquet if need be. They’ve brainwashed these men until they simply will not stop until the mission is completed!”

Mitchell leaned back and thumbed through the stacks of folders taken off the man when he was detained. He pulled diagrams and schematics of technology that only Doc could understand. “Let’s play devil’s advocate for a moment and assume that what you’re saying is true.”

“It is true, Colonel. Every word. I came here to warn you.”

Mitchell held up a hand to stop him. “Let’s assume that you’re telling the truth. How did you find us? We’re off the grid.”

Stevens shook his head again. “Your telecommunications aren’t. For the most part, they’re still land lines. And the internet you do use? You use a standard military algorithm to mask it. Any high school hacker could defeat it.” Stevens smiled impishly. “I actually used your procurement records to locate the physical location of your operation here.”

“Procurement records?”

“You recently purchased three black Ford Raptors as rapid response vehicles?”

Mitchell turned his head slowly toward the mirror and glared at where he assumed Tufo would be. “Yes, we did.” He turned back to Stevens. “And you used that purchase record to locate us?”

“Yes, sir. It was actually pretty easy.”

“And that’s how your people located us also?”

Stevens shook his head. “No, sir. I don’t know how they got wind of you. I swear. I was called in by the director of the agency and ordered to intercept any and all communications, gather all intel that I could, in essence, build a dossier on your people. It was when he accused me of being incomplete in my data mining for not digging through other agencies information that I stumbled upon the Titans and Project Gladiator.”

Mitchell nodded. “Tell me about this Project Gladiator.”

“Sure. What do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

*****

Viktor stepped from the private jet and walked to the limousine waiting for him. The driver opened the door and he stepped inside. Sitting in the rear of the car he smiled to his old friend, Cardinal Sardelli. “Thank you for meeting me on such short notice.”

“Do you any idea how difficult it is for me to get away from the city these days?” The cardinal offered his hand, and Viktor quickly kissed his ring.

“I apologize, my friend, but this is of most importance.”

“You said life and death.” The Cardinal sat back in the limo and eyed Viktor suspiciously.

“It very well could be.” Viktor stared out the window as the ground crew prepared to fuel the jet for the return trip. “You have heard the stories of Lilith, yes?”

“Wives tales. Stories told by ancient Jews to keep children in line, that is all.”

“No, my friend. She is very real, and she has reared her ugly head once more.” Viktor shifted in his seat and gave the cardinal his full attention. “What I am about to tell you will be difficult to believe, but what you do with the information…”

Cardinal Sardelli reached forward and took Viktor by the hand. “I am listening Viktor. I listened when you told me of the Sicarii, did I not?”

Viktor took a deep breath and began his tale. He told of the history of Lilith and her resurrection. He told of their attempt at stopping her and her escape. He was hesitant to mention the winged demon looking angel who spirited her away, but he felt that his friend should know everything. Then he broke the news of her plans to attack the Roman Catholic Church. As many as she could at once…and the suicide bombers. When he finished his tale, he studied his friend’s face. “What can the church do to help us thwart her plans?”

Cardinal Sardelli shook his head. “What can we do? It sounds totally implausible. Thousands of suicide bombers, striking all at once? How could she have that much sway over people?”

“No, my friend, the bombers are demons. They have stolen the bodies of humans. As each blast destroys the host, the demon is free to take another.”

Sardelli rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “I cannot fathom such an attack. We cannot possibly order the churches closed. They do too much in the communities. People depend on the works and the charity of the church.”

“Is there nothing they can do? Even for a short time? If we can determine her timeline and can notify you first, can you order the churches emptied?”

Sardelli shook his head. “That is not for me to say. I will notify my superiors, and it will have to be taken to a much higher authority.”

Viktor groaned as he leaned back in the supple leather seat. “The pope will not believe that the Demon Queen Lilith has returned.”

“No, but he might can be convinced that another is at work here. Perhaps a terrorist group? One that cannot abide infidels?”

Viktor turned curious eyes to his friend. “You would set up another to take the blame?”

“If it can save the lives of our followers, I would blame the priests themselves.” Sardelli opened the door for Viktor, indicating their conversation was over. “Tell me when she plans her attacks. I’ll do what I can to convince the pope to order the churches abandoned.”

*****

Jack finished his reports to update the powers that be about Lilith and her suicide bombers. He hated leaving the report open ended, with no resolution code. He submitted the report and prayed that whatever power that be higher up didn’t bring the hammer down on his team. No matter how he many times he went through it in his head, he couldn’t see how even having another team present could have prevented her escape. There were just too many of her demons present.

Jack knew that the Oversight Committee had the authority to notify others within the Pentagon, but he doubted that it would come to that. With Kalen’s report from the Wyldwood that the capitol was threatened, he did his part by running it up the chain. It would be up to the Secret Service to beef up security at the White House and the rest of D.C. He sat back and waited for his copy to print then slipped it into his box. He knew that once Colonel Mitchell and Major Tufo read the final report, they wouldn’t be happy either. They technically had nothing to go on. No leads meant down time, and down time meant that the clock was ticking between Lilith’s taking action and the team being able to
re
act.

He cursed under his breath as he made his way to the simulators. He watched as his team went through the motions of taking down mock threats and knew that the simulator was the wrong kind of trainer for what they would be seeing. They needed something more ‘real world’ and this simply wasn’t it.

He watched a moment longer and then did something he rarely had in the past. He prayed. He prayed that they could get a lead on the demon bitch before she could act again and hurt any innocents. He prayed that his team would be prepared for whatever the ancient monstrous bitch could throw at them and come out of it unharmed. He lowered his eyes and prayed that the Wyldwood was right and that this team she assembled was the right way to go.

He raised his head again and watched as they flawlessly ran the gambit once more. He had to admit, until he was told that they were all ‘young’, he never would have thought it. They handled themselves like veteran warriors. He watched them as they fluidly worked their way through the CQB trainer and a smile crossed his features. His fears for them being able to handle themselves in battle faded and he found himself only worried about whether they could locate their target in time.

*****

Laura paced by the edge of the tree line and stared cautiously into the darkening shadows. She kept stealing glances at her watch and huffed when another minute ticked by without Derek’s return. She had flipped open her phone three separate times to call Jimmy and ask him to bring the dogs, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. How could she explain it was to track down their father?

She stared toward the house and strained to see headlights that weren’t there. She fretted and glanced at her watch again in the dwindling light. “Do you really think the two of you could track me if I didn’t want to be found, Punk?”

She nearly jumped out of her skin and spun so fast that it took her eyes a moment to focus on the silhouette of her father standing behind her. “You
have
to have that second shot, Dad. The longer we wait, the less chance of it working.” She fumbled in her bag for the vial and Jim reached out to gently take her hand.

“Wait a minute, sweetheart.” He pulled her hand away and held her loosely by the shoulders. She looked frantically to him and read the sadness in his eyes. “Let me explain before you go doing something that we may both regret.”

“We don’t have time for—”

“Laura.” His voice turned stern and she started again. “Let me explain so you know I’m not crazy, okay?”

She relaxed her shoulders a moment and found her head nodding. Perhaps if she played along long enough, Derek could return and they could hold him down and give him the shot. “Sure, Daddy, I’ll listen.”

“I mean it. Actually listen to what I tell you. Don’t just hear me, but listen.”

She nodded again, her brows knitting as she studied him. “Okay. I’m listening.”

He leaned against the fence post and gave her a soft smile. “You know, I thought it was kind of odd when you brought me the cure and the side effect was becoming a ‘wolf’. Did I ever tell you that when I was younger, the wolf was supposed to be my spirit animal?”

She shook her head. “No. But I know you have a lot of native artwork depicting wolves.”

“That’s your mother’s handiwork. She knew that the wolf and I were bound together.” He stared over her shoulder at the rising moon and smiled as he thought back to simpler times. “A lot of people never forgave me for stepping away from office.”

“You were dealing with Mom’s death. Surely they couldn’t expect you to—”

“I was the governor. The tribe is a nation, and they expected me to continue my job after a period of mourning.” He squeezed her shoulder and shook his head. “My heart just wasn’t in it any longer. It was more your mother’s dream than my own.”

“Daddy, I don’t see what any of that has to do with your not taking the shot.” She didn’t mean for panic to rise in her voice, but it crept in and she couldn’t stop it.

“I’m getting to it, Punkin.” Jim stood next to his daughter and continued to stare at the moon. “That first night, I had a vision. I
was
the wolf. I felt so free. I could feel it calling me. It was the wolf who told me to take the rest of the medicine you brought. It told me that I could become what I always desired.”

“Daddy…no…”

“I’m not joking, Punk. I felt my spirit leave my body and enter a wild wolf. We hunted together and it felt so…pure. I was free. Free to be what I was meant to be.” He turned and gave her a heartfelt smile. “I have no regrets, Punk. This is what I want. I
want
to become the wolf. I want to run free in the mountains, hunt, and become part of a pack. I want to become one with my spirit animal.”

“Daddy, you don’t believe in any of that stuff anymore. You told me so yourself.” She tried to pull away, but he held her in place.