“When John couldn’t drink any more he fainted, I dropped blood on and into his wound in his chest. I pretty much collapsed after that. Both of us were down for a while and had just woken up when the helicopter picked us up. By the time you saw John, the healing was mostly finished. He didn’t have enough blood to go past this first stage of healing. So, worrying about him changing into a vampire is just wasted energy. He can’t do it.”
“What about his new skills?”
“Honestly, I don’t know what to tell you about that. I think it’s just the first stage correcting some of the natural genetic mistakes in his DNA. If he hasn’t told you, all of his scars are gone now and a problem he had with his calf is healed as well.”
They stopped a couple of hundred yards away. Both looked towards the distance, lost in thought.
Dan looked back at her. “That’s why you don’t want people to know. You are literally the fountain of youth here in Florida.”
She smiled. “Yeah, Ponce de Leon was a little early to find me.”
“Yeah, well, that was a fabricated story anyway. I appreciate you trusting me with this. I got your back, Bethany Anne. The fact that you would do that for John and you only knew him for a few hours means a lot to me.”
“Dan, they were my team. You don’t leave your team behind and letting them die when you can do something about it is, de facto, leaving them behind.”
Dan made his decision. He held out his hand and Bethany Anne took it, confused.
“Bethany Anne, I am officially asking you to allow me to join your merry band of military miscreants as we fuck up these forsaken and anyone else who needs an ass kicking across this world.”
She smiled a hugely radiant smile and added, “And beyond the world, Dan? Any limitations?”
Little did Dan know what he was agreeing to. “No ma’am. Whether they be here or anywhere out there we can reach, they will be dealt with.”
She shook his hand and he couldn’t believe this beautiful woman with a smile to launch a million ships was as dangerous as she was. Dan finished the handshake and they started back to the hangar. It felt to Dan Bosse like he had just turned a major chapter in his life. He would always remember his life as ‘pre-shake and post-shake.’
He never did regret that handshake, but he often questioned his sanity at the time.
They called Frank together to pitch him on the idea and what was necessary to make it happen. Frank was starting to consider asking Bethany Anne to see if she knew how to give him a few years more. This was becoming fun again and he didn’t have anyone to give it to, anyway, now that she was batting for the other team. He consoled himself that he had been right and she would have made a perfect replacement for him.
Now, he had some arms to twist, favors to use and suggestions to make. Life just went past interesting to fascinating.
18
Miami, FL, USA
Bethany Anne left Dan at the van and decided to check in on the status of her team and her possible new team member. She stopped and took a look at the Black Hawk. When you looked at it up close, it had its dings and dents and some paint peeling in spots. But there weren’t any large oil leaks on the ground or around anywhere she could see. She wasn’t a mechanic, so she didn’t know what she was looking for exactly but she thought she’d be able to tell if it was a rattrap. She wished she’d thought about it before they jumped on, but needs must and she got real lucky.
She didn’t want to trust luck again. Plus, she hired a pilot, not a mechanic. She needed a mechanic on her team and as far as she knew, the team didn’t have anything like that. She wondered where the best place to store all of her team’s toys was going to be.
She knew that flying around in a military helicopter needed to be either over the top, or rather infrequent. Since she expected to be running and gunning, over the top was the only choice.
Considering this, she walked over to the door and knocked on it. Eric opened the door and peeked out. Seeing her he opened it all the way with a grin on his face. She smelled the alcohol before she saw the bottles the guys were trying to hide from whoever was at the door. She rolled her eyes.
She didn’t want any, but she didn’t care if they did. Since all five of them were acting like busted little teenagers, she figured they were bonding just fine.
“Do I have to separate you guys from Bobcat? Is he already a bad influence on you?”
John pulled his Shiner Bock out from behind him. “Only if you allow us to keep his case of Shiner.” He grinned unrepentantly. They all joined him and pulled their beers out from their hiding places. Obviously Bobcat had the best hiding place down under the desk since he was sitting in his own desk chair.
“You’d have to take that up with him. I suppose this is the ritual drinking of newfound friendship and team bonding?”
“We’re all good if you’re good. Uh, just one clarification?”
“What’s that?”
“He’s not sure he believes us about your, um…”
Bobcat took over. “Oh geez, John. Grow a pair.” He turned to Bethany Anne. “Are you really a vampire?” He didn’t look concerned by the question, just curious.
She smiled and willed her eyes to glow red and her fangs to grow. Bobcat looked a little shocked at the reality. It was one thing to be talking about the pretty, intense team leader; it was entirely different to see what she looked like when she went all vampire on them. It took everything Bobcat had to not try to crawl into his right hand drawer.
She let her eyes go back to normal and her fangs retract. She had hated the idea of doing that back in Switzerland, but realized it really was the easiest way to make a point. Apparently it affected the person looking at her at a fundamental level that really got the fight or flight reaction started. Always flight.
Bobcat took his cue from the guys around him. They didn’t get ready to fight for their lives so he was able to pull his shit together. He didn’t think these guys would steer him wrong.
He looked over at the guys, but talked to John. “Sorry about not believing you.”
John just laughed and put his hand out to shake. “Welcome to the team, Bobcat. If you can handle when our leader Vamps out like that and not pee in your pants, I think you can cut it. You got my vote.”
Bobcat leaned forward and shook his hand and looked over at the woman with the smile on her face. “Anything I need to do?”
“Well, I don’t have an HR office if that’s what you mean and I don’t seal it with a bite, either.” She smiled and the guys took it as an opportunity to laugh off a little tension.
“So, you’re now my lead of all things having to do with transportation on the ground and in the air. I need to get the six of us up to New York the day after tomorrow. I don’t care how we get there, but I want it fast and safe. Also, do you have a mechanic?”
Bobcat shook his head. “Not full-time. Most of the basic engine work I do myself. I’ve got a chief engineer friend who’s between rotations that helps me from time to time.”
“Is he good enough to retrofit the bird out there?”
“Like an engine overhaul? She shouldn’t need that for another 500 hours.”
“No, I mean brand new engines. I want whatever is the latest available for that bird. While you’re at it, see what the difference is for a new bird. I don’t want to be penny wise and pound foolish.”
“A new bird is probably north of $30 million.”
“And new engines?”
“Not even close.”
“Well, check into it. I suspect we will use you for drop off and pickup and maybe supply runs. No telling how bad it could get. Also, see what the latest coatings are for the bird. See if there’s anything that we can get that wouldn’t be obviously military. We can’t hide her during the day so maybe we can put a face on her that hides her in plain sight.”
“What, something like a changing paint?”
“Well, sure if that’s possible. I was thinking of something like a da
rk red that doesn’t scream military during the day but is still hard to see at night. Plus, anything radar absorbing to mix with it if possible.”
“That’s going to get us all up in the government’s ass, you know.”
“I’ll let my government contact deal with that end, John. You and the team need to figure out what we need for an op in two days. We’re going to meet a group of unruly Weres and we need to look sharp and as badass as we can. Consider our dress on and off op. Dan’s signed on to lead the new unified team and Frank is on board to get everyone the chance to join me if you want. If you want out, I’ll understand. You guys didn’t even know me before yesterday.”
She looked all of them in the eyes and there wasn’t one who doubted he was in the right place.
“OK, I’ll take it that all of you are going with it?”
Scott said from the corner, “One for all and all for TQB!” All of them except Bobcat busted out laughing.
Gott Verdammt, she wasn’t going to get to change that name now. Oh well, make it your own, she thought. “That’s right, and you guys just became my bitches, so get your asses in gear. I want to be wheels up by 5:30 in the morning day after tomorrow.
They all left happy and excited. They had feared that Bethany Anne was going to go on to her other responsibilities and they would be broken up until the next event happened. Now, the action wasn’t going to stop and they finally felt like there was hope for the future and a way to take the fight to the enemy. They were still on their high from two successful ops in twenty-four hours and they didn’t want it to end.
There was one thing that they were sure of, around Bethany Anne life would not be boring.
Over the Atlantic between Miami, FL and New York City, NY, USA
Bobcat lifted off a few minutes past 5:30 AM with Bethany Anne’s team and an extra co-pilot. Bethany Anne took a few minutes in private with John to take a strip off of his skin for missing the planned take-off time.
He respected her point and he took it for the team this time. But he received the message loud and clear that there was one way to get things done and it was his responsibility to make sure it happened
She went up to the cockpit of the rental Gulfstream G550. It was a pretty large jet, able to handle almost twenty passengers. For her team of four it was overkill. She told Bobcat to rent it because she wanted to know if she liked it enough to purchase. Even as rich as she was, her toy list was getting damn expensive. She was going to need a way to make some money off of this somehow. At least eventually.
That reminded her; she needed to start getting with TOM about the future. Which meant someone was going to have to help her with the businesses she already had access to and the businesses she would need to buy or create to get the science finished to get out of the Earth’s gravity well. SpaceX and two other companies were pushing the envelope with rockets and sub-orbital aircraft liftoff. That was nice, but TOM’s capabilities were a massive jump in ability over anything they had right now.
A decision she needed to worry about soon, just not on this flight.
She went up to the pilot’s cabin and sat down next to Bobcat. The copilot they had ‘rented’ with the plane had gone to the back for a few minutes to give her some time with Bobcat. Terribly inappropriate, but who was going to tell on her?
“Hey, what do you think of the plane?”
Bobcat looked it over. “Nice. It’s got legs which we might need. Who’s kidding, we will need, I’m sure. But I don’t know about buying it. We’re renting this bad boy for just shy of $7,000 an hour with me flying, so the bill is going to be about $60k for the trip there and back. Considering the heavy duty weapons we have on board I realize you didn’t want to fly commercial, but damn, Bethany Anne, this big?”
“Hey, I wanted to check it out for a full team load and I’m hoping to come back with more than just five passengers. Did your chief engineer take the bait?” Bethany Anne had told Bobcat to contact his friend, Billy ‘William’ Stevenson and find out just how bad he wanted another tour in the sandpit. They decided a contract to retrofit the Black Hawk, now nicknamed Shelly, was a good idea. They would see if he wanted to leave once he put his blood, sweat and tears into the girl.
Someone on the team mentioned that Bobcat treated the Black Hawk like he had treated his old girlfriend Shelly. That story stuck. Then Bobcat made a tactical error and exclaimed that Shelly was not an appropriate name for a Black Hawk. The more he bitched, the more the team gave him shit until he realized he had cemented the deal himself.
Now, William was ordering all sorts of parts to upgrade Shelly. Including the engine upgrades the Army used in the latest iteration of the Black Hawk.
“Yeah, he was happy for the work and is looking forward to working on her and upgrading the engines. He loves these birds.
“So, you finally gave in on the name?”
“Had to, the more I fought, the more the guys found ways to get the name Shelly into the conversation. It was a losing battle and truth to tell, I started to come around and liked it anyway.”
“Good. When we get back, you need to decide if William is the right guy for our team. We need a kickass aviation engineer and I hope he’s the right one. I want one that has military experience, he will have seen a lot of the problems our birds might have.”
“What, stress cracks from hard use?”
“No, bullet holes.”
“Oh.” That kind of put a final period to that conversation and Bethany Anne looked out towards the ocean and let her mind drift.
They needed to find another hangar location. The one Bobcat had was good for commercial customers but not for her team. She had Dan take over the logistics since he should know best how to move the assets around. She trusted his knowledge and insight from his fifteen years running this team.
However, the slower speed they were flying helped explain why Michael’s plane had those kickass military jets. When you were called into an op, speed was a requirement not just a ‘nice to have.’
Fortunately, they were just testing the plane. There was a new G650 that Bobcat was interested in. He said the wait time was a mile long. Bethany Anne just smiled. She was sure it was, but money might be able to take care of it. She would talk with TOM, he might have some ideas on how to build a better jet. She considered that for a moment. Maybe starting a small jet engineering company could provide what she wanted and create the perfect cover for the engineering efforts to come. So much to do, she needed a bigger team. She was going to have to talk with Frank and finally get in touch with her father.
She knew what Michael thought of reaching back into your old life, but she had already broken the rules so many times starting with Ecaterina, what was one more? So much had happened in the past seventy-two hours that she felt like she was on a roller coaster and it wasn’t stopping.
She got up and patted Bobcat on the way out of the cabin. There wasn’t any reason she needed to be thinking in the cockpit and the copilot didn’t need to be sitting in the back.
She passed him and went back to her team to work out the strategy for making an impression in New York. They called Ecaterina and got her on the phone to confirm what she was setting up and picking up for them.
If nothing else, New York was going to be a blast. Now, if she could just make it work, the roller coaster was going to have jets strapped to the back.
They got down to planning the nitty gritty.
New York City, NY, USA
Carl Corruthers, the executive driver, was waiting for his customers to land at JFK. He was stationed at a personal hangar that was pretty large. That wasn’t too strange. Often, people would park multiple planes in one hangar. That this one was empty could mean that they were all gone. This was supposed to be just someone coming into town for a few days and leaving again.
Carl had been told to take the baddest SUV the company had. It was a beautiful Chevy Suburban that had been modified by Texas Armoring Corporation and was so plush inside that the ba
ck two seats could actually lay back like seats on a first class flight. They even had the little tables that could come out for working or drinks.
He didn’t know who it was he was picking up, but he imagined it would probably be a rich person who had delusions of grandeur. He didn’t care as he was getting an automatic tip for this whole trip. He was going to have a great check at the end of this gig.
Finally, a jet landed and seemed to be heading in his direction. Oh mama. That wasn’t a little turboprop. It was a beast of a private jet. You could buy a car instead of renting one of these for a few hours.
Maybe they were important.
He straightened up a little. The jet rolled up near the hangar, but didn’t go into it before stopping. The door opened and the copilot was the first off. Then one of the biggest men Carl had ever seen came down the stairs and headed straight for him. He was dressed in a two-piece black suit and carrying a ballistic nylon bag that clanked around.
“Name?”
“Carl Corruthers.”
“John Grimes. Pleased to meet you, Carl. Is this the vehicle we requested?”
“If you requested a special executive protection package Chevy Suburban, sir, then yes it is. We can get shot and no one will get hurt inside.”
“Good, open it up and let me make sure there aren’t any surprises.”
Carl was startled but it wasn’t a big deal. He popped the locks and John went through the inside while another guy dressed in the same style pulled a mirror and went around the base looking under the carriage. He turned around to see a most beautiful woman coming down the steps. She had a subtle flair that wasn’t makeup, but it was mesmerizing. She was dressed in a black pantsuit with a suit jacket over her top. He noticed that all of them, including the woman, had shoulder holsters and pistols. Ah hell, who was he ferrying around that looked like they truly needed this vehicle? While it might be nice to get a great story, he couldn’t tell anyone if he might actually be dead soon.
Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Set One: Books 1-7, Death Becomes Her, Queen Bitch, Love Lost, Bite This, Never Forsaken, Under My Heel, Kneel or Die (Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Sets) Page 38