“I’m surprised you’re willing to ride right into the lion’s den, Manson.”
“You aren’t surprised. You’re suspicious, and I don’t fault you. Well, I’m taking a new side.” His voice became cryptic. “The signs abound. The sky falls. The walls close in. The end is near.”
Goose bumps rose on her arms even with the second skin on. She sat in the quiet for the rest of the ride, going through the game plan.
Now’s not the time to worry about what he is or isn’t going to do. Just focus on what you need to do, Sid.
Manson drove the truck onto a private road that split from the highway. A green sign read Hillcrest Road. Also, a Drake Properties sign was posted at the split, along with several notable “No Trespassing” and “Private Property” signs. The winding road snaked up into the hills for miles. Trees of all sorts lined both sides. Leaves bent on the branches as the truck rolled by. The road flattened out at the top. They passed a mausoleum on the right. The building was surrounded by hundreds of grave markers in an overgrown field. The mausoleum itself looked to be big enough to hold at least a dozen bodies inside the belly of its sandstone framework. A monolith of stone sat facing the moonlight. Two urns sat on the ledges that confined the steps leading up to the iron door of the mausoleum. Four thick stone pillars held up the front of the roof.
At least I don’t see any gargoyles.
Ahead were the guard shack and the perimeter fence. The fencing was ten feet high. The top was covered in coils of barbed wire. Behind it was a stone building three stories tall with small windows, just as Manson had described. There were parking places outside, and a ramp led below the building. Dim lights illuminated some of the windows.
Two men in pea coats stepped out of the guard shack and greeted them with M-16s.
Manson brought the truck to a stop. “I’ll do the talking.”
The guards flanked the passenger and driver’s-side doors. A third man stepped out from behind the shack. A giant of a man over eight feet tall. His hair stood up on top of his head in patches. He wore a beige, Carhartt-like work suit.
Lance!
CHAPTER 24
The huge teenager stood between the truck and the gate. He stooped, staring right at the windshield, small eyes squinting.
Manson rolled down his window.
The guard climbed up on the semi-truck’s doorstep. His eyes popped open when he met Manson’s in A.V. form.
“Special delivery,” Manson said. “And don’t ever get in my face again.”
The flat-nosed guard held his ground. “Who’s the girl? I don’t recognize her.”
“She’s the delivery, fool!” Manson shoved the man off the side of his truck. The guard fell on the ground, popped up, and with a nasty glance over his shoulder at Manson, he headed over to Lance.
Manson said to Sid, “You seem to recognize that big fella. Got a name?”
“Lance. We crossed with him a little ways back at Titus Tolliver’s mortuary. I’m a bit surprised he’s here. He’s a loner.”
“A shifter that big has nowhere else to go. Hmm, I wonder if he knows A.V.”
Lance approached.
“I guess we’re about to find out.” Sid put on a long face. Lance’s big head almost filled the window. His little eyes got big. “You! Why isn’t she secured?”
“She’s not going anywhere, Lance. Her loved one is hostage in the back.”
“They should both be in there,” Lance said. “Kane’s not going to like this. Where’s the bird lady?”
Manson leaned toward the windshield and glanced up in the sky. “I’m sure she’ll be landing any moment now, if she hasn’t already. Why, do you still have a thing for her?”
Lance gaped. “What thing?”
“Oh, people talk. They say you give the little lady a lot of leers. I can’t blame you. She’s a fine wine even to the likes of myself, though a little moody.”
“I don’t remember you being so talky,” Lance said. He stuck his entire head through the window. Sid crammed into the back of her seat. Lance sniffed. “Anyone back in there?”
“The truck cab? Uh, no, you can see for yourself.” Manson popped his door open.
“Forget it.” Lance looked at Sid. “You burnt my hair.”
“I don’t care.”
“You will.” Lance walked away. He snatched a radio from one of the guards. The radio looked like a credit card in his big hand. He said something. A few seconds later, he gave a nod and then dropped the radio on the ground. Using his hand like a grizzly bear’s paw, he grabbed the heavy gate by the chain-link fencing and walked it open, waving the truck through.
Manson jammed the truck into gear, hit the gas, and stalled.
“Really?”
He started the engine again. “Sorry, but this clutch is jumpy.”
“No, your driving is shitty.”
“What do you expect? It’s been decades.” He hit the gas, the truck jumped forward, and he eased it through the gate. Lance stepped in front of the truck. Arms swinging easily and with giant strides, the colossal teen led them inside the compound. “Looks like things are going to be chippy. I hope things work out. I don’t recall seeing this many people about.”
Sid counted men in pea coats. They stood inside the windows and were scattered in the parking lot. Each one carried an Uzi. She noted a head and a rifle barrel on top of the building. Men marched along the fence. There were man-like figures, too. Deaders. They wore clothing like men but walked like zombies. Their jaws were slack and eyes sunken as they creeped around the plaza. “And you made those things?”
“I’m not fully responsible for the juices that keep them alive. Much was passed down through the ages. At least you know stopping their hearts stops them.”
“Unless they have body armor on. Which, by the looks of them, they do. Morning glory. How did I ever get into this?”
“The same way we all do. Destiny.”
“I don’t know about that.”
A twelve-foot-high garage door rolled open, just like the ones they used in the federal buildings. Lance crossed the barrier and walked down the ramp into a huge garage bay lit up by fluorescent lights. Lance waved them over toward the middle and motioned for them to stop. Aside from the way they had come in, the only other ways out were a stairwell door and an elevator. The roll-up garage door closed behind them, sealing them inside.
“If you haven’t prayed yet, now might be the time to do so. I respect that. We’ll be having company soon.”
Sid mentally said a prayer. She’d done it several times since they left.
Jesus, I know you know what you’re doing, but I’m not sure what I’m doing. Give me strength.
The stairwell door burst open. A dozen pea coats came out. Rushing over on booted feet, they surrounded the truck. The elevator doors split open. She expected to see the brawny Kane. She got a bigger surprise. It was her.
Manson leaned forward. “Oh my, that’s you. How quaint.”
Samone, Sid’s shifter clone, was dressed in a sweetheart suit the same as Sid’s. She was identical in every aspect—aside from the cruel sneer on her lips. She wasn’t alone. Titus Tolliver was in full gargoyle form on one side. Swift Venison, the were-rat in slacks, was on the other. She hoped to see her sister, but there wasn’t a sign of Allison anywhere. “Are you sure Kane is here?”
“I’m not entirely positive, but where else would he be? He’s cautious. Can you blame him? Why else send in a clone?”
“To rattle me and Smoke.”
“That’s what I’d do.” Manson shut off the engine, opened his door, and made his way out of the cab. Sid did too. “Package delivered,” Manson said.
“I can see that,” Samone said. Her eyes never left Sid’s face. “At least half of it. Am I to assume the other half of this dynamic duo is inside the container?”
“Even Houdini couldn’t make it out of this container. Plus, he’s bound up. All secure.”
Arms crossed over her chest, Samone
stood eye to eye with Sid. “We’ll see. Rexor! Thorgrim! Come!”
Two huge men stepped out from behind the support columns of the garage and shambled over. They were the same pair of giants that had tangled with Smoke before, bigger and brawnier than Lance. Both wore heavy burnt-orange jumpsuits. Shaggy, long hair hung over their shoulders. Rexor was bearded, Thorgrim clean shaven.
Glancing at the container, Samone said, “Bring it down.”
In a feat of awesome power, the giants snapped the chains that held the container secure on the truck bed. Using their fingertips, they picked it up. Together, they walked it off the flatbed, shaking the metal box and laughing. “Heh-heh-heh-heh!”
“It’s not a present. Just set it down,” Samone said.
Thorgrim dropped his end.
Boom!
“I said set it down, not drop it!”
Rexor eased down his end.
Sid’s mind scrambled for another plan. She hadn’t expected to see so many powerful enemies in one place. She fully hadn’t expected to see the giants. Screw this, I’m not taking any chances. She bit open the supervitamin stuck in her cheek and swallowed.
“Go ahead, Thorgrim. Open it up and see what’s inside.”
The giant handled the metal locking bars with ease. Metal scraped over the mechanism with an annoying squeak that echoed inside the garage. Many hardened faces cringed.
Looking at Samone with big, sad eyes, Thorgrim said in a cavernous voice, “Sorry.” He opened the doors, stooped, and peered inside, then hunkered down and crammed inside. “Hello?” His voice echoed in the chamber. He shuffled back out. “It’s empty.”
Samone locked her fingers on Sid’s arm. “Where is he?”
CHAPTER 25
In the air, Vormus followed the truck from the shipyard to the Drake Compound. He waited just below the tree line when the truck came to a stop at the gate. Once the truck was through and inside the building, he made his move. Floating above the treetops, he rose higher in a huge arc and then hung suspended above the roof. He counted four men roosted on top of the building, leaning over the north, south, east, and west ledges. Each was armed with a machine gun. In the center of the roof was the chiller plant. The fans from the three refrigeration units spun at high speeds, sending gusts of wind into the air.
I can’t believe I’m doing this.
He held a pack of C4 plastic explosives in his hand. Staring at it, he shook his head.
So not me.
Vormus’s part was to take down the heating and cooling system in hopes of damaging the server. There weren’t any guarantees it would work, but it was only part of the plan. This was also a distraction. It was Smoke’s plan. Vormus didn’t like it, but he complied.
He drifted down like a falling feather onto the roof and nestled himself between the units, where he then stuck three packs of C4 to three different units and filled the malleable plastic with the remote detonator pins.
“Don’t move,” a guard said. The man had crept up into his blind spot. The barrel of his gun was pointed at Vormus’s face.
Slowly, Vormus turned. “That’s no way to treat the air conditioner repairman.”
“You don’t look like a repairman to—”
Vormus ripped the rifle out of the guard’s hands. He punched the man in the face, crushing his nose. The powerful blow sent the man backward, where he tripped and skipped on the roof with a loud scuffle.
“Hey, what’s going on over there?” another guard cried out.
Back pressed against the chiller, Vormus sensed the men closing in.
So much for discretion.
Vormus burst into action. Toes lifting off the roof, he glided into the blind spot of the first guard he saw. He put the man in a headlock and squeezed. The guard’s neck popped. He let the body down and moved on. He found the third guard leaning over the first guard he had punched. He swooped in and punched the man in the temple.
The fourth guard appeared around the corner of the chiller unit. “Move a muscle and I’ll send a hundred bullets through you.”
Vormus lifted his palms and searched out the man’s eyes.
The guard looked right into Vormus’s hypnotizing eyes. The man’s body locked up.
Holding the man’s gaze, the vampire floated over to him and pulled the rifle from his hands. “Normally, I’d twist your head from your shoulders, little man. Fortunately for you, I’m beginning to enjoy this covert thing. It’s not as sticky.”
The rigid guard stood with a spacy look in his eyes.
Vormus armed a chunk of C4 and stuck it in the man’s pea coat pocket. “I really do hate pea coats. If I could destroy them all, I think I would.”
“Not everyone shares your sense of style,” said a familiar voice.
“Huh?” Vormus turned. He couldn’t hide his surprise. “Reginald. And what brings the doppelganger out on this fair night?”
Wearing a suit, the slender salt-and-pepper-haired man looked like he’d just left a business meeting. He sucked on a cigarette. The tobacco burned bright orange. Smoke vapors drifted in the air. A silent drone hovered in the air about twenty feet above their heads. “We’ve been watching you since the moment you dropped in.” He opened up his hand. “Hand over the detonator.”
“And fail my task in this secret mission? Oh, I couldn’t do that. I’m hoping to get a medal for it.”
Reginald slipped off his coat. “I tell you what. Let’s make it fun.” He blew smoke out of his nostrils and set the cigarette aside with the fire still burning. “Kane and I discussed your betrayal, and he has a deal for you. A simple one. You won’t have to make all this racket and create a big mess. Beat me, and you can go in peace.” He was rolling up his sleeves. “It’s a good deal. Besides, your new little allies, Sid and Smoke, were doomed the moment they entered the building.”
CHAPTER 26
The grip of Samone’s hand had the power of a vise. Sid tried to pull away, but Samone held tight. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know,” Sid said. “He was in there when we left. Maybe the stupid giant isn’t looking hard enough.”
“Shut up!”
“He’s slipped us,” suggested Manson, still posing as A.V.
Samone’s brows lifted. “Oh, so you think he slipped us? Are you stupid enough to think anything slipped by us?” Samone laughed. “We knew you were coming since the moment you left, Manson.”
Manson’s eyes enlarged. “I beg your pardon.”
Titus Tolliver, the gargoyle, walked up behind Manson and locked his stony fingers around his wrists. “Nice try, fool.”
“I beg your pardon, Samone, but you’re making a big mistake. I’m A.V.”
Samone just rolled her eyes at that. “So where are the real A.V. and Night Bird?”
“I have no idea.”
“It doesn’t matter. At least half the problem is solved.” Samone jerked Sid’s arm. “Let’s take you to Kane.”
“Rough hand me again, clone, and I’ll bust you in the face,” Sid said.
“Is that so?” Samone tugged again. “I’d like to see you try it, mortal.”
“You will soon enough, you soulless bitch.”
Samone smacked Sid hard in the face.
With all eyes on the twin women, a new voice interrupted the scene. In an oddly familiar yodel, a man said, “Helloooooooooo.”
Shoulders swiveled. Heads turned. Heels pivoted.
Smoke stood on top of the container, armed to the teeth. Two L.A.W. rockets rested on his broad shoulders.
Samone tossed her head back and laughed. Gloating, she said, “Smoke, surely you don’t think you can escape this complex?”
“That depends on how reasonable we’re all willing to be. All I want is the girl,” Smoke said, aiming the rockets at Samone.
“And if we refuse?”
“Then your fuhrer has no prize.”
“What?’ Samone said.
Several faces had puzzled looks. Thorgrim and Rexor scratched their heads.
Swift Venison, the rat man, stroked the rat tail that hung over his shoulder and chimed in. “I believe he just quoted from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Actually, I believe you both did.”
Samone sneered at the rat man.
“Though it was unintentional,” the rat man finished. He cackled. “Humorous though. Even I admit to enjoying how this mortal banters in the direst situations.”
“Why don’t you come down from your perch, Smoke? Just think how much you can enjoy yourself with the both of us, hm, dearie?” She hugged Sid. “Haven’t you ever had twins before? Double your pleasure? Double your fun?”
“Double your enjoyment?” the rat man added.
“Will you shut up?” Samone said. “Come on now, Smokie. Let’s talk about this.”
The giants spread out, flanking Smoke’s position.
“Take another step, and you’re going to find out what rockets do in a confined space like this,” Smoke warned.
Thorgrim and Rexor froze. Their heavy eyes drifted back to Samone.
“What will you do, Smokie, drop the entire building on us? Now that would be foolish. We wouldn’t die, but you most certainly would.”
“You know, I’m not really buying into this shifter immortality thing. I’m pretty confident you won’t survive instant disintegration.” He panned the L.A.W. rocket tubes toward the giants. “I’m quite willing to unleash a test fire. Do you behemoths want to volunteer?”
“That mortal is crazy,” Samone said to Sid. “He’s going to get you killed.”
“True. He loves me to death.” Sid felt the vitamin start to kick in. Yes! “Too bad you’ll never know love, Samone. Oh, what a feeling.” In a super-fast move, she reversed Samone’s arm behind her back. The clone had strength beyond her appearance, but now so did Sid. She cranked up the pressure so hard the woman’s shoulder popped out of the socket.
“Argh!” Samone moaned. “Screw the rockets! Take them down! Take them down now!”
The Supernatural Bounty Hunter Files: Special Edition Fantasy Bundle, Books 6 thru 10 (Smoke Special Edition Book 2) Page 33