Back at her parents’ house, Sid was sitting in the living room, rocking the baby in her father’s recliner. The lit fireplace brought a soothing warmth to the room. Keith and Sally were sitting on the sofa watching an episode of Gunsmoke. JK’s eyes were aglow. He sucked on his binky, staring at the light on the ceiling.
“They sure don’t make them like James Arness anymore. Look at him. He’s as tall as a horse. Did you know that he was six foot seven? He served in World War II and got a Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his service.”
“We know, Dad.” Sid had heard it time and again since she was a kid.
“And I’m making sure you don’t forget it. I miss Matt Dillon and the like.” He held up a bottle of beer and drank it down. “Here’s to you, James!”
Sally slapped Keith’s leg. “Will you quit being so foolish? You’re setting a bad example for the baby.”
“He’ll not be picking up on it anytime soon. But when he does, I’ll mind myself. Maybe.”
The telephone rang. Sally perked up. She hustled over to the phone.
The loud ringing startled JK. He started to cry.
“Aw, just when I thought he was about to go to sleep.” Sid sighed and tried to put the binky back in his mouth. “We never get enough rest, do we?” Visiting her parents had become routine. They’d watch him while she ran her errands. She hadn’t told them about Smoke being alive. She contemplated whether she should or not. If she couldn’t trust her parents, who could she trust? But she didn’t want them put in danger. She put JK over her shoulder and patted his back.
“Sidney,” Sally said. She’d stretched the old yellow phone cord from the kitchen into the living room. “It’s for you.”
“Me?” Sid didn’t have her parents’ house listed on any of her instructions that she’d given to Sam and Asia. She got her hopes up. Smoke. “Who is it?”
Sally’s eyes were as big as saucers. Excited, she said, “Its Cyrus.”
“Tweel?” Sid got up on her feet. She handed JK over to her mother and took the phone. Slipping into the kitchen, she said, “Hello?”
“Hey, Sid. How are you?”
“Fine.”
“How’s the baby?”
“He’s wondering what the hell you’re doing calling me at my parents’.” She could hear traffic in the background. “Where are you?”
“I’m still in DC. My transfer isn’t official yet. Look, sorry if I startled you, and I hate to call you at your parents’, but I wanted to use a secure line. Well, at least something that no one is keeping ears on. I wasn’t sure if anyone would pick up, but I’m glad Sally did.”
“Out with it, Cyrus. What’s going on?”
“Look, I know you’ve been wanting some insight on the Black Slate. I came across some information that you might be interested in.”
“What is it?”
“It’s not something I can explain over the phone. It’s more or less a ‘see it to believe it’ kind of thing.”
“You need to be more specific than that.”
“Look, I have it on a jump drive. I’m not about to send the file over the net. And Rebecca doesn’t know about it. If something happens, I don’t want to put her in any kind of danger. Just meet me. I’ll hand it over and give you a little more insight. Listen, Sid. I’m washing my hands of this. I’m moving on, but maybe you can do something with it.”
“Okay, Cyrus. Where do you want to meet?”
“Remember our favorite place to eat dinner?”
“Yeah.”
“Meet me there on the back patio, say six thirty. I won’t keep you.”
He sounded a little nervous. “All right, Cyrus. Six thirty, then.” She hung up the phone and said, “Mom, can you keep an eye on JK for a few more hours?”
Bright eyed and sweet voiced, Sally said, “Well of course we can. Do you have a date? I always liked Cyrus, even though he was a bit frosty. I thought he tried really hard to please you. Too hard, perhaps.”
She kissed Sally, Keith, and the baby. “See you soon. And Dad, I’m taking your truck.”
“What?”
CHAPTER 37
“I said, ‘Smoke?’” Kane had a pack of cigarettes in his hand. He was tapping one out. “I know. You’re a cigar man, right Mack? What’s wrong? You look a little queasy.”
“This stench isn’t doing much for me.”
Kane rose. “No, I imagine the colonial guard hasn’t bathed in two hundred years. Hah, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if some of them never bathed at all. You have to appreciate the modern times we live in. People don’t stink so much.”
Smoke breathed a little easier. If Kane’s playing along, you play along. We’ll see.
Kane started passing out cigarettes to the old soldiers turned deader. The listless men lit the cigarettes with the lighter he gave them. Many of them carried old sabres and muskets with bayonets still attached to them. He handed the rest of the pack to the giant. “Stonewall here is one of my favorites. He’s an actual giant turned into a deader, not a shifter like the other giants you’ve seen. I like deaders. They’re completely loyal. They don’t cause problems like some shifters do. Like my brother Vormus, for example. He’s such a traitor.”
Smoke stepped aside when Kane came back and headed up the stairs. With a casual glance back at the deaders, he said, “I have to admit, I’m curious about what they guard. Don’t you think we should put some eyes down here?”
Heading up the stairs, Kane said, “No. What lies down here is not meant to be seen by the living.”
“Is it a demon?”
“It’s something.” Kane made it to the top. Smoke moved right by him and closed the door. Kane locked the door and tucked the key in his shirt. “I hope you enjoyed that. Now let’s finish the inspection of the rest of the facility.”
Tormented, Smoke led Kane through the facility step by step. On the inside he was agonizing over Sid. He needed to get word to her. He needed to do it now. Outside, they cruised the parking lot in a golf cart and counted the cameras. This is asinine. To make matters worse, the sun was starting to fall. Dusk was coming, and it wouldn’t be long before he changed. He was stuck in a wormhole of the unordinary. What is Kane up to?
“My, it’s getting late, isn’t it? Let’s swing by operations and drop our checklist off. Tell you what, Mack, why don’t you join me and Allison for dinner?”
“Really?”
Kane laughed. “Of course not. Come on though. I’m tired of this. Ride me down to the dock.” He took out his phone and dialed. “Allison, meet me at the dock. We’re leaving.”
Smoke saw them off. As soon as the boat churned into the river and headed upstream, he went straight to operations. He sat down at a station and pulled up Sid’s location on his monitor.
“Is there anything we can help you with, sir?” said Sherry.
“Anything happen while I was out giving Kane the grand tour?”
“No,” she said.
“Good.” Smoke watched a satellite feed of Sid’s car parked at her parents’. He saw Keith’s truck leave. That’s her. I know it. He linked up the satellite connection with his phone, which wasn’t anything odd. Mack Black had the authority to do things like that. He stuck the phone in his pocket and logged out his recent history from his search. Getting up, he said, “I’ll see the both of you in the morning.”
“Knocking off early?” the man said.
“Don’t ever ask me that again.”
The man shrank behind his console.
Smoke headed out, got in his truck, and left the facility. He pulled up the image of Sid driving on the screen. She was headed east. Smoke dialed a number on the phone. He got a signal that the line was dead. Aw, crap! He realized he might have been out of the loop too long. Sam and Guppy would be on different exchanges by now. Mal Carlson would be too. That’s what happens when you don’t want contact. You cut all those ties.
Smoke laid into the accelerator. He weaved through traffic, watching the sun drop from the
sky and settle in the west. The streetlights flickered on over the black streets. The rain came. He checked the image on the phone again. Sid parked in an old neighborhood and got out. There was an FBI vehicle sitting in the rear. Smoke was still a mile away. He banged the wheel. His hands became claws. He saw his face in the rearview mirror, savage and ugly. “No!”
Smoke the Shifter
CHAPTER 38
Sid drove her father’s truck to the east end of DC. She wasn’t certain if the car switch would work or not, but chances were the goons that followed her would be focusing on the Hellcat. She prayed the satellites would be, too.
She pulled the truck into a slot in the street in front of a small brick building. The sign on the building read, “Fazio’s House of Spaghetti.” It was a quaint restaurant tucked inside one of DC’s smaller suburban neighborhoods. It was a good place away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The houses in the neighborhood were old and the area quiet. Rain came down in a cold drizzle as she stepped out of the truck. The warm lights that filled the window of the small eatery were out. Sid stepped on the stoop. A handwritten sign taped on the inside of the glass door behind the bars read, “Closed for Renovation.”
Not seeing any sign of an FBI car on the street, Sid headed around the side of the building toward the parking lot in the back. There, a single car was parked in the small blacktop lot. It was a black SUV with a government plate. Sid found it odd that the lighting in the back was out. That was when she saw somebody standing on the patio in a trench coat. It was Cyrus.
“Good evening, Sid. I’m glad you could make it. Come on up.” He scanned the area. “I hate cold days like this, but at least no one else is about.”
Sid took the steps up to the patio. “What’s going on, Cyrus?”
He took off his glasses, which had become misty from the rain. “Does that suit you wear keep you warm?”
“What suit?”
“You know, the suit?”
“It does, but not when you don’t have it on.” Her teeth chattered. She faced him but didn’t get too close. There was something off with him. “Which I regret.”
“You know I hate the cold. Sorry, it’s just a whimsy that came to my mind when I saw you.” He put his glasses inside his coat pocket and produced something else. A black jump drive was in his hand. “This is it, Sid. Now, I’m not saying it’s going to take you to the heart of the matter, but it’s got names and places. Look, I could have just left it somewhere, but I wanted to wish you luck. I’m also sorry for having been difficult.” He came closer, widening his arms out for a hug.
She gave him one. “It’s okay, Cyrus. I know you risked a lot with your career by coming here. Thanks. I hope you and Rebecca do well. You deserve a new start.”
He broke off his embrace. He showed a weak smile. “Thanks, Sid.” He handed her the jump drive. Before he fully let it go, he said, “You should think about breaking away too.”
“I will.” She turned her back and started walking away. She had hit the first step down when the hair rose on the back of her neck.
Behind her, the sound of a pistol clicking out of its polymer holster caught her ear.
She turned, feeling like she was stuck in time. She caught a glimpse of Cyrus.
Fire blasted out of his gun’s muzzle.
She fell backward into a sea of blackness. Her head bounced off a step. Through glazed eyes, she watched Cyrus walk away with a silencer in his hand. He opened the car door and didn’t look back. He sat down in the seat, slamming the door behind him.
That dirty bastard. She could feel her blood seeping through her clothing. I knew I never should have dated him. The fire burning through her wounds turned cold. Her numb fingers found her gun. She pulled it out, but it slipped through her fingers, falling to the pavement.
The car engine started. The lights came on. The SUV lurched forward.
Something black dropped from the sky, landing on the car’s hood. It was a man in form. The face was hard to see in the dark. The ears were large, the expression bestial. The clothing it wore was in tatters. With steel cords for muscle, it busted out the windshield.
Cyrus fired a shot at the monster.
Clawed hands reached inside the cabin and jerked Cyrus out like a rag. The man’s entire body was slung over the hard pavement, bouncing before skidding to a halt. The agent didn’t move.
In a single bound, the creature hopped over to her side. Gently, he picked her up in his arms and said, “Talk to me, Sid.”
“Smoke.” She reached up and touched his face with bloody fingers. “It is you, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “We need to get you help.”
“You look like a bat,” she managed to say. “A man bat.”
“Save your energy.”
“I always liked Man-bat.” Her eyes were weak. “I’m not going to die, Smoke. I can’t. I won’t leave my baby. I won’t leave you.” Her phone buzzed. “Get that.”
Smoke fished through her clothing and found the phone. He read the screen.
“What does it say?”
“Take a pill.”
Two seconds later, two vehicles screeched into the parking lot. Guppy jumped out of a Bronco with a gun on Smoke. “Get away from her.”
The other car was an old sedan. Cort Calhoun emerged with a big Alaskan wheel gun in his hand. “If you don’t back off, I’ll take your head off! Whew, what in the world are you, anyway? You look like a bat, man.”
Asia, Mal, and Sam spilled out of Guppy’s vehicle.
Smoke held his hands up. “It’s me, Smoke.”
Sid croaked out, “It’s him. Get Cyrus.”
Mal and Asia rushed beside Sid. “Were you shot?”
“Several times.”
“Why didn’t you wear the suit?” Mal asked.
“I did wear the suit.” She had told Cyrus she didn’t, or at least led him to believe that. “I’m not sure what the hell he shot me with.”
Mal opened up her jacket. Clean bullet holes had torn right through the suit. A burst had gone through her left side, soaking the fabric. “Take this now.” He gave her a pill. “Chew it up and swallow. These wounds are through and through. No shrapnel. We need to get the bleeding stopped.”
Asia popped over with a first aid kit. “I’m on it.” She made a sour face at Smoke. “Handsome man not so handsome now.”
Groaning, Sid said, “What’s that, your lunch box? I hate to imagine what’s in it.”
“Watch what you say. I’d hate to accidently use the hot sauce on those wounds.” Asia plucked a bottle of Cholula hot sauce out of the box and handed it to Smoke. “Hold this. Got to operate.” She grabbed a metal canister and screwed a long straw on the end. “This is great stuff for humans. Hold her still.”
Smoke and Mal held Sid fast. Her tongue started to numb. The burning in her side started to fade. “What did you give me, Mal?”
“Part supervitamin, part pain pill. Very potent, and it slows the heart too. Don’t let her fall asleep.”
Asia injected foam into her wounds while Sid kicked. “Hold her still. She flop like fish.”
Smoke’s grip tightened around her legs. “Hang in there, Sid, you’re going to make it.”
“I know,” she replied.
Asia filled Sid’s wounds with the concoction. “That has to hold her for now, but she needs to get to a hospital. I need to stitch her up, inside and out.”
“I thought the vitamin and the foam would do the trick,” Mal said.
“Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t.” Asia shrugged. “Either way, she’ll live, but she might have trouble digesting spicy foods.”
Sid’s innards tingled. “Whoa, something’s happening.”
“Take it easy,” Smoke said.
Calhoun approached. He had Cyrus in a headlock. “What do you want me to do with this ass-bag?”
Sid glared at Cyrus. “Give me a gun. I’m going to shoot him.”
CHAPTER 39
Calhoun handed Sid
his gun. “I’d be happy to let you use mine,” he said.
Smoke took the gun out of Sid’s hand. “No, we can’t kill him. We need him.”
“How could we ever need a piece of crap like this? He almost killed me.” She glared at Cyrus.
His face was sagging. “I’m sorry, Sid. I didn’t have a choice. Kane’s too deep on the inside. He was going to kill Rebecca. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“That’s not true,” Smoke said. “Kane wouldn’t kill anyone. You had to become willing to be his servant to go through with this. What you did came out of your heart. It’s dark and broken.”
“No, I swear it. I’m sorry, Sid. I didn’t know what to do. Aw, what does it matter? Kane will kill me anyway, and just so you know, he’ll kill all of you too.”
Guppy appeared with Cyrus’s gun in hand. “I found this in his car.” He popped out the cartridge. “Blue-tip bullets. Explains a lot of things. It doesn’t seem like he was taking any chances.”
“Where’d you get those bullets?” Smoke said.
“I snaked them away from you guys. Can you blame me? I saw what was going on out there with all of these monsters. I needed my own protection from them. But you’re going to lose, trust me. You don’t realize it, but it’s over. Kane’s always a step ahead of you.”
“I really don’t like this guy.” Calhoun gave Cyrus a shake. “Let me take him away and bury him. I know just the place. I’ve got a cousin who owns a junkyard. We’ll put him in a junker in the compactor and squish him. It’ll make an FBI Rubik’s Cube out of him.”
Sam poked Smoke in the shoulder. He looked up at her. “Hi, Sis.”
“Man, this is weird. You always did read too many comics as a kid. Can you fix it?”
“I don’t know.” He looked at Sid and said to the others, “Give us a moment.”
Everyone moved away.
“Sid, what needs to be done needs to be done now.”
She touched the outlines of his face. His features were strong, between a man and a bat, but she could still make out the man she loved. “Are you blind?”
The Supernatural Bounty Hunter Files: Special Edition Fantasy Bundle, Books 6 thru 10 (Smoke Special Edition Book 2) Page 50