The Turn Series Box Set

by Andrew Clawson

  Lines creased Sarah’s forehead as Reed dialed, but she didn’t say anything.

  Nixon Ereng picked up almost at once. “Chief Ereng.”

  “Chief, it’s Reed Kimble.”

  “Is anything wrong?”

  “No, everything’s fine. I have a question about the woman who sponsors our anti-poaching team.”

  “Minister Conteh?” Nixon’s voice became cautious. “She is a generous sponsor. What is it you wish to know?”

  “Do you know if she was ever in the military?”

  Reed saw Sarah’s eyebrows shoot up at that.

  “Minister Conteh served in the army for several years before she became involved in government service. I do not know her rank or any assignments. Do you wish me to ask her?”

  “No,” Reed said quickly. “It’s not important. I’ll be sure to thank her next time we speak.”

  “One moment,” Nixon said. “Once Minister Conteh and I spoke of her service. As you know, I served as well. She did mention she spent time with a tactical operations unit.”

  Reed’s familiarity with all things military was limited. “What’s that?”

  “A special team for important missions,” Nixon said. “Not the kind you read about in the newspaper.”

  Interesting. Minister Deka Conteh, civil servant and veteran. “Thanks,” Reed said. “I’ll be in touch.” He clicked off and updated Sarah.

  “Do you think she might help us?” Sarah asked.

  “I don’t know.” Reed rubbed his chin hair. “She’s been good to our team. I barely know her, and I don’t think asking her about possible government-sponsored genome editing is the best idea.”

  “What if we told her those genome-editing techniques were stolen?”

  Reed shook his head. “Even if we could prove that, we have no idea who’s really behind this. Catching the other three wolves and keeping you out of trouble is more important.” He whistled and waved to Paul, telling him to get ready. “People already tried to kill me. And you. Until we have a better idea of who we’re dealing with, talking to her is a bad idea.”

  Sarah hustled to catch up as he walked back toward the facility. “Reed, if the military is after us, how can we beat them?”

  He shrugged. “By staying alive.”

  As he headed toward Paul, a cool chill ran along his back. His only plan now was to keep breathing.

  Chapter 20

  Northwestern Tanzania

  May 25th

  Sweat dripped down Reed’s face. He licked his lips, the salty liquid sharp on his tongue as he unloaded the last slab of raw meat from their vehicle and tossed it on the pile.

  “That’s all of it.” He grabbed a water bottle and drained it in one go.

  “I hope the wolves are hungry tonight,” Paul said when he stopped beside Reed and grabbed water for himself. “Making a meat pile is hard work.”

  “I’m surprised you’re even sweating.” Reed nodded to the afternoon sun. “Thought the heat didn’t bother you.”

  “It is not the heat, boss. It is the meat.” Paul laughed long and hard.

  Reed shook his head. Even after unloading two piles of fresh meat under the African sun, Paul still kept smiling. The world needed more people with so much cheer in their soul.

  “Sarah, are you sure these wolves have an enhanced sense of smell? I don’t want to waste this meat.”

  “I’m sure,” she said, glaring at him. He was surprised until she winked. “Trust me, if they’re out there, these piles will bring them in again. Genetically altered or not, they’re still carnivores.”

  Three hours later, wavy heat flickered up from the ground, hazy in the reddish evening light. Reed lowered the binoculars from his eyes and groaned. “Not a single wolf. So much for their heightened sense of smell.”

  Sarah kept her binoculars up, scanning in every direction. “They should be here by now.”

  “They could be full from hunting,” Paul said. “Remember the dead elephants. If the wolves killed another one, they will not be hungry.”

  Sarah didn’t respond.

  “I’ve had enough waiting around.” Reed jumped behind the wheel and pointed to the passenger seat. “Get in and buckle up,” he told Sarah. Paul didn’t need encouragement; he raced over to his machine. Dusk had pushed the last vestiges of sunlight from the sky as Reed punched the gas, rocketing them over the dusty ground with Paul on his tail.

  Moments later Reed jammed the brakes as he flew over a rise to find a lone zebra trotting toward them. “This could be our spot,” he said once Paul had stopped beside him.

  “Why?” Sarah asked.

  “Zebras travel in herds. One zebra on its own is unusual.”

  “Do you think something happened to the others?”

  “There’s a chance,” Reed said. “Either the other zebras are sick or they were eaten. Zebras have more than a few natural predators. Africa is a dangerous place to be a juicy meal without fangs.”

  Sarah pulled at her hair, running her fingers through the short black strands. “The hybrids could have done it.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking.”

  “Carnivores hunt or they die,” Sarah said. “Right now there are some serious killers on the loose, upsetting the natural order.”

  “Upsetting the natural order isn’t the only problem,” Reed said. “What’s wrong is these hybrids exist in the first place, but right now we need the wolves to show up.”

  Silence descended on them and the zebra kept grazing. As time passed and the stars grew brighter, Sarah began to fidget in her seat. “How long do we wait?” she asked, her eyes fixed to the binoculars.

  Might as well be honest. “I don’t know,” Reed said. He didn’t say it out loud, but the zebra angle didn’t seem right. Time for a different tack. “There are two sources of water around here we need to consider.” He opened his mouth to continue, but Sarah cut him off.

  “Every animal needs three things,” she said. “Water, food and shelter. Shelter isn’t the biggest issue out here, and food hasn’t done the trick yet, so we should focus on our last option.”

  She pulled a map out of their center console and tapped a large splotch of blue that indicated the lake they’d seen earlier, now just over the horizon. She traced a path from this lake to the other water supply, a stream on the map’s far side.

  “That stream is around twenty miles from here,” Sarah said. “Normally wolves stay within a ten-square-mile territory, though ranging farther isn’t unusual. As for the hybrids, I have no idea what to expect.” She put the map down. “All I know is they didn’t come for the meat, and this zebra looks lonely.”

  “What if we split up?” Paul asked.

  “Let’s ride over to the river first, look for any trails or paths. There are plenty of game trails we can’t see in the dark. Plus, you never know what scent these wolves might follow.”

  “Like the zebra?” Sarah asked.

  “It’s possible. Hang on.”

  Sarah clutched the safety bar with both hands as the all-terrain vehicle shot forward, headlights cutting through the darkness. Tall strands of grass whipped past as Reed steered over a hill and the lake spread out before them.

  “We’ll do a lap around the lake,” he said when Paul pulled up alongside him.

  “You take one side,” Paul said. “I will take the other.”

  Reed motored off along the shoreline, keeping one eye on Paul’s headlights as they jerked up and down across the water, his vehicle not much more than a shadow in the darkness startling fireflies to life as it moved.

  A moment after the water started curving back toward the lake’s far end, Sarah’s fingers dug into his arm. “Stopstopstopstop.”

  Reed hit the brakes, skidding through the dry dirt. “Get the spotlight,” Sarah said. A moment later three thousand lumens burst into life to bathe the world in white fire.

  “Something’s out there,” she said, peering through her binoculars. “A little beyond us…there.” />
  The beam reflected off two round mirrors in the distance. Eyes. One of the hybrids stood no more than two hundred yards away, gaze locked on the light, its tail flicking back and forth.

  “He doesn’t know what to make of us,” Sarah said.

  “Don’t get out of the vehicle. If we lose sight of him, we’re not waiting for him to sneak up on us.”

  The beast was scarcely a shadow in the darkness. If it attacked, it would be on them before they knew what happened. For now, the hybrid wolf stood perfectly still.

  “Where are the other two?” Reed asked in a whisper.

  “Stop twisting around,” Sarah said. The light bobbed as he turned, searching for the other animals.

  As he stared over the water, Reed locked on Paul’s headlights. They weren’t moving. Before he could react, shouts rang out.

  A moment later, the cries stopped.

  Blood pounded in Reed’s ears. The world closed in black curtains edging on his vision to leave only the motionless, lonely headlight across the lake. Nothing moved over there, no shadows cut across the lights. The engine roared as he hugged the shoreline with an ice-cold hand seizing his heart. Come on Paul. Let’s hear you.

  Sarah shouted as he veered around one final curve and straightened the wheel. Noise in the background, he scarcely heard it. Without warning Sarah punched his side and he nearly turned into the lake, leaving muddy tire tracks as he fought the wheel and turned away.

  “What the hell? Why’d you hit me?”

  This time her words cut through the cotton in his ears. “Did you hear that?” she shouted.

  “What?” Two hundred yards away and still no sign of Paul. Or of the wolf.

  “A gunshot. I think he shot it.”

  He turned toward her. “Where?”

  “Watch out!”

  Reed stood on the brakes, sliding and swerving around Paul’s stationary ATV, missing it by a foot. “Damn. My fault.” As they flew past, he finally caught sight of his old friend.

  His shirt had been ripped open around a meaty gash across his chest, ragged shreds of skin running vertically down the middle. Like someone had tried open heart surgery with gardening tools.

  “I wounded it,” Paul shouted. His pistol pointed into the darkness.

  “You going to survive?” Reed yelled back as he pulled the ATV around to shield Paul.

  “Just a scratch,” Paul said. The strength in his voice suggested otherwise, but a wave of relief washed through Reed’s body.

  Reed’s headlights cut through the night as he idled the engine. Grass waved and tree branches shuddered on a breeze, bringing the loamy scent of rich earth to his nose. His eyes stayed locked on the savanna as he reached back for a rifle loaded with tranquilizer darts, the stock settling against his shoulder like a favorite shirt pulled off the hanger. Reed kept a finger on the trigger as he grabbed the spotlight and scanned the darkness, searching for a telltale reflection. Wherever it was, he could feel it. The wolf was watching them.

  The world slowed down while he searched. How many times had he done this? A lifetime of hunting came back: steady breathing, eyes open, confidence born from years of experience. It was almost disconcerting how easily he slipped back into the role of a killer. Even if he didn’t like it, he was still good at this lethal game.

  Sarah spoke up, but Paul silenced her. Good man. Reed’s ears perked up, searching the wind for any clue. A low growl, or the nearly silent padding of feet on dirt. Anything to give him a hint of where to find the wolf.

  Another sweep of the savanna revealed nothing. Reed got out of the ATV and crouched down on one knee, keeping the vehicle at his back. The wind died, hot air settling on him with muggy softness. For a heartbeat, everything was silent.

  Then there was the soft report of paws hitting the ground, the softest drumbeat he’d ever heard, whispering at the edge of hearing. To the left.

  The headlights from the two ATVs pointed ahead and behind. The spotlight was aimed to his right. He turned left, towards the darkness, and saw white fangs closing in on him, coming too fast, quicker than he could ever have anticipated. The rifle fell from his grasp, landing beside the spotlight. One hand darted to his waist, the .45’s rough grip scratching his palm as he tugged it free and fell back, pushing away from the wolf, away from death bearing down on him, razor teeth glittering in the moonlight.

  The wolf went airborne, its jaws opening wide as Reed fell back. Claws flashed white in the darkness. The pistol came up, too late as he flicked the safety off in one motion and squeezed the trigger. His gunshot lit the world, now only a heap of bristling fur on top of him, hot and wet with blood. The roar of the shot faded and darkness returned as the wolf twisted and fell on top of him, crushing him, pushing the air from his lungs as warm liquid covered his face and the ivory fangs scraped his jaw.

  Reed pulled the trigger again. He rolled, but the beast had him weighed down. Wet fur filled his mouth, choking him, and he felt the huge claws slash the air. The wolf growled once, then went silent. One eye hung open inches from Reed’s face, unseeing in the darkness. With a shudder, air escaped from the wolf’s mouth and it went limp atop Reed.

  He shoved the wolf aside and struggled out from under its dead weight. Rising to his hands and knees, Reed kept his pistol aimed at it while greedily sucking air, the best breaths he’d ever taken.

  Sarah shouted his name and ran to him. Her probing fingers found two cuts on his chin where the fangs had scraped him. If the wolf had lived a moment longer, Reed would have given some poor mortician a hell of a job to handle. “I’m okay.”

  She reached for his face. “Let me see.”

  He pushed her hand away. “Check on Paul first.”

  She was gone before he could blink. His chest felt like a boulder had bounced off it, pain lancing across his body as he stood and grabbed for the spotlight, shining it over the inert form of the hybrid wolf. Its bristly fur glistened, as did a white fang protruding from its bloody lips, fierce even in death. Reed approached it with pistol drawn. “You better be dead.”

  One boot touched the fur. Nothing. Again he prodded, harder this time, and again no movement. He knelt to confirm its chest wasn’t moving. “Must have hit something important,” he murmured. His shot had gone into the boiler room, Reed’s name for the chest cavity where major organs resided. Back in his hunting days, that was the best place to take down most large game. A bullet in the boiler room nearly guaranteed fatal damage to an organ, artery or both. Not that he’d expected to hit anything when he fired at this monster. That had been desperation, plain and simple. He’d gotten lucky.

  He heard Paul groaning over beside his vehicle and hurried over. Sarah was crouched beside him.

  “Hold still,” Sarah ordered. To his credit, Paul stifled his moans as Sarah sprayed an aerosol can over his wound. “I have to kill the bacteria. No point in keeping you alive just to have an infection kill you.”

  “I may prefer that,” Paul said between gritted teeth.

  “One more time,” she said. “On three.” Paul didn’t expect her to spray on the count of one.

  “You tricked me,” he shouted.

  “Let’s get a bandage on there.” She ignored his grumbled protests while rapidly dressing the wound. “On your feet,” she told him. “You’re riding with me back to camp. Stitching that will take a while.”

  Reed and Sarah each took an arm, lifting Paul to his feet and placing him in the passenger seat of his vehicle. They then repeated the procedure to load the dead wolf into Reed’s cargo area.

  “Get him taken care of,” Reed said, “and I’ll get the carcass in a cooler – Hey!” He batted her hand away, but not quickly enough to stop her deftly applying a bandage to the cut on his chin.

  “I’ll dissect that beast tomorrow,” she said, ignoring his grumbling. “I’m not sure what to expect.”

  “My guess is guts, bones, muscle.” He cracked a grin.

  “Very funny for a man who just almost died.” She swatted h
is arm. “You need to rest. And keep that chin clean. Infection can happen to anyone.”

  “Whatever you say, Doc.” He headed for his vehicle.

  “Wait.” Sarah called him back, and when he turned around she had her arms crossed on her chest. “I know you’ve hunted wolves before. Still, it’s easy to forget these aren’t normal wolves. We’ve seen what these hybrids can do.”

  “I won’t forget.” One finger pointed to his bandaged chin. “It got close. Next time I might not be so lucky.”

  “I know.” She looked to the ground, scuffed her shoe along and then turned back to him. “That’s what worries me. Don’t let them get you.” With that, she stepped forward, buried her face in his chest and wrapped him in a hug.

  Startled, he put an arm around her back, not quite sure what to do with his other arm. “I won’t.”

  She pulled away a breath later. “Good.” Without a backward glance, she turned and walked to Paul’s all-terrain vehicle, hopping into the driver’s seat.

  Reed watched, puzzled, as she fired the engine up and drove away. What was that all about? Biting back a small smile, he started his machine and followed Sarah, headlights bouncing over the savanna. Maybe he and Sarah might end up as friends after all. A former hunter and a veterinarian, comrades in arms. Reed laughed. It could happen.

  Chapter 21

  Soter Research Facility

  Northwestern Tanzania

  May 26th

  The world quickly came into sharp focus when Reed sat up in bed. Footsteps sounded outside his door, a conversation he couldn’t quite make out trailing away with the steps. Cool air wrapped his ankles as he swung his feet to the floor, stood and checked the loaded pistol in the bedside drawer. An insurance policy against the unknown.