The Supernatural Bounty Hunter Files: Special Edition Fantasy Bundle, Books 1 thru 5 (Smoke Special Edition)

by Craig Halloran

  She walked over to his side, bent over to eye level, and said, “I’m driving.”

  He got out, walked in front of the hood, and entered the passenger side door.

  Sidney took her place in the driver’s seat. She adjusted her mirrors and seat. Cars honked as they passed by. She popped the sunglasses holder. The glasses from Mal’s house fell into her hand. She slipped them on. The dark streets became brighter, distant images crystal clear. She squeezed the wheel. “Do you know what’s going on?”

  “Yeah,” Smoke said, eyes forward, switching the magazine on his gun.

  “You might want to get out. I’m going to see Mason Crow. Don’t try to talk me out of it.”

  “I didn’t swing by to give you a shoulder to cry on.” He slapped the magazine into the gun.

  “Good.” She slapped the gear shifter into drive and punched the accelerator. The front end lifted off the ground and the rear tires dug in. “Now let’s go get those bastards.”

  ***

  You can count on me. Smoke’s words echoed in her mind. It was clear now. He meant what he said. It strengthened her. There weren’t too many people she trusted in this world. Whenever she had trusted someone, they’d let her down. Maybe my expectations are too high for most people. Not everyone can be a ‘do the right thing or die’ kind of person.

  The car engine purred as they traveled down the road back toward Mason Crow’s estate. Or the Drake estate. It didn’t matter to her whose it was.

  “So, you plan on driving straight up to the front porch?” Smoke inspected the keen edge of the knife he had in his hand.

  “I’ve got a feeling they’re expecting me.”

  “You have a good sense of things. Guts too. I like it,” he said. “Let’s just hope they stay in you.”

  “I’ve got my sweet heart suit on. I figure my guts will be just fine. Getting my hair messed up is what worries me.” She eyed his shaved head. “At least you don’t have that problem.”

  He let out a low chuckle.

  “You need to let that hair grow back out if we make it out. Just saying.”

  “All right, Delilah. If we live, I’ll never cut it again.”

  “No, don’t go all hippie on me, either.” Her phone buzzed. She turned on the car’s Bluetooth. “Hello, Mal.”

  “Good guess, Agent Shaw. Is Smoke with you?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “And I see that you’re headed back. You need to turn around.” Mal’s voice was urgent. “Now.”

  “Can’t do that,” she said.

  “It’s a death wish. Turn around.”

  “It was nice meeting you, Mal. But we have to go now. If you recover our bodies, make sure it’s a nice funeral.”

  “And if I’m gored to death,” Smoke added, “be sure to hide the hole if it’s in my head.”

  “Have you two gone mad? You’re on a suicide mission. You need a plan.”

  “We have one,” she said. “And it involves using all of your ammo.”

  “At least take the pills,” Mal said. “Please, take the pills. Take them now. They’re time release.”

  “I don’t have any pills.”

  “I do,” Smoke said, holding up two liquid green pills. “Sorry, but I couldn’t resist. Reminded me of The Matrix.”

  “Well, you can take one for you and one for me then.”

  “Agent Shaw, listen to me. Your lives depend on it. So do your niece and your sister. Turn around.”

  “Good-bye, Mal.” She disconnected the phone and powered it down. “I don’t like being talked out of things.”

  “I know,” Smoke said, “but if you don’t care, stop for just a few seconds.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’d stop for you if you were asking.”

  She slowed the car down and put it into park.

  Smoke shifted around in his seat and faced her. He held up the two green pills. “Who knows what sort of real monsters we’ll find in there. I think we’ll need an edge this time. These super vitamins might help.”

  “It doesn’t seem like you,” she said, eyeing the pills.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I won’t take it if you won’t.”

  Now the pressure was on her. She rubbed her palms on her jeans. “Don’t you put this on me. If you want to take it, then take it. Don’t blame me for dying if you don’t.”

  His dark eyes bore into her. “If you won’t do it for yourself, then do it for Allison. Do it for Megan.”

  “Fine.” She snatched the pill from his hand and swallowed it down.

  Smoke did the same. “See, that wasn’t so bad.”

  She put the car into drive and hit the gas, pinning them both to their seats. “We’ll see about that.”

  After they rounded the last bend, about a quarter mile in front of the ranch was a gate under heavy guard. Suddenly, a spotlight beamed on her car.

  Sidney stopped the car about an eighth of a mile away. “Huh. I get the feeling they’re expecting us.” She squeezed the grip on her pistol.

  Smoke held a gun in each hand. “They haven’t started firing yet.”

  The sounds of small engines roared to life. Four ATVs zoomed in from the tall grasses, surrounding her car. A dozen gun barrels were lowered on them.

  “Get those hands where we can see them!” yelled one of the men.

  “Yep, they were expecting us.” Smoke eased his hands up.

  One of the men hopped out of an ATV, holding his fist up. He pecked on Sidney’s window with the butt of his weapon.

  She rolled it down.

  “Are you Agent Shaw?” he said.

  “No, I’m the tooth fairy.”

  The man lifted his bushy brows. “Nice car, tooth fairy. Now take a nice easy drive up the road, and come to a stop at the log cabin. Someone will meet you there.” He spit tobacco juice on the ground. “I hope you’re up for a long night. It’s gonna be hell. It’s gonna be death.”

  CHAPTER 27

  Inside the oversized log home, a fire burned beneath a great hearth of cut stone that rose up through the ceiling. Sidney’s face dripped sweat from the heat of the blaze. Her hands were bound behind her back, and she was on her knees. Smoke was in the same position beside her, with sweat dripping off his chin.

  “Hot, yes?” said a man with a booming voice. It was Mason Crow, sitting in a grand chair carved from wood and animal bone. He was larger than life. Dark skin with large eyes underneath a head of shaggy brown hair. His shoulders were inhumanly brawny. A large machete rested on his lap. “Enjoy it. It’s much warmer than the grave.”

  Sidney shifted against the bonds biting into her wrists and gave him a defiant look. “Where’s my sister? Where’s my niece?”

  A tall well-built woman wearing a dark purple and gray suit with short salt and pepper colored hair strolled over and drove her booted foot into Sid’s gut.

  “Ooof!” Sid teetered over onto the floor, coughing and spitting.

  “I doubt you are in a position to ask any questions,” Mason said, rolling up his white cotton sleeves. “If I want you to speak, I’ll ask.”

  Sid fought her way back onto her aching knees. She didn’t care what he wanted. She hadn’t come here to play games. She just wanted to know if Allison was alive or dead. “Just answer me, you fricking animal.”

  The woman launched a punch into her jaw. Whap!

  Sid swayed, kept her balance, and leered up at the woman. “You hit like a girl.”

  Whap! “You bleed like one.” The woman drew her fist back again. Whap!

  Sidney’s stinging eye began to swell. Her split lip tasted like blood. I hate these people. Like a fool, she had rushed into the lion’s den, and now she would have to face the consequences.

  “She is a spirited one, isn’t she?” Mason said, cocking his head and giving her a study. Nostrils flaring, he took a deep draw through his nose. “I don’t smell fear in her. Nor in him, for that matter. Much unlike her family.”

  Sid’s head snapped up, a
nd she stared him down.

  “Yes, Agent Sidney Shaw,” Mason said. “I have seen them, and you’ll be glad to know that they live… for now.”

  “Show me!” she fired back.

  The woman cocked her fist back to strike.

  “Hold!” Mason said. “Let her save her energy, Double Dee. She’ll need it. Humph.” He picked up his machete, stood up, and made his way toward them. He brought the blade up under Smoke’s chin. “You are the one who shot me. Humph. It takes a special bullet to penetrate my skin. My attendants marveled when they plucked it out of my hide. A breakthrough in ammunition. It will take more than that to kill me, but it’s more than enough to kill mortals like you. I’m all about heavy blades and horns.” He hefted the machete high over his head and brought it down hard with a tremendous yell. “Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

  “Smoke!” Sidney yelled.

  The blade quavered less than an inch from Smoke’s skull. The man remained still as a stone.

  Sidney gasped. “You’re sick! What’s wrong with you people! Are you nothing but bloodthirsty vampires?”

  Mason withdrew the blade and stuck it into the hardwood floor. “Please, no need to insult us. We are nothing like those blood-sucking leeches. Leave those vermin to the European world.” He backed up and resumed his chair. “Humph. Survivors. I like that. It’s been quite some time since the attendants of the Drake have been tested. You took down the wolf man and the bird lady. Quite a feat.” He stroked the coarse black hairs on his chin. “I’d say they underestimated you.”

  “That’s an excuse,” Sid fired back. “Your friend Night Bird didn’t like lab rats who fought back. Well, we do fight back, and given the chance, we’ll kick your hairy ass too.”

  Mason’s chest heaved with great laughter. Some of the other guards in the room chuckled. The woman called Double Dee smirked. “Said like a true warrior. It’s no surprise that they chose you, bold woman. You have guts.” He stomped his foot, shaking the room. “And I aim to see them splattered underneath my hooves.”

  “Doesn’t make for a very nice memory of the petting zoo,” Smoke said. “Say, do any of you fiends turn into llamas? You know, half man, half llama. Now that would be formidable.”

  Sidney laughed.

  “Fools,” Mason said, “but cocky fools. Humph. That makes for great entertainment, but unlike the battles you had with my lesser colleagues, this one will be quite different.” He snapped his fingers. “Let me see their weapons.”

  One of the soldiers carried Smoke’s duffel bag over, bowed, and set it down at Mason’s feet. Slowly he stepped off to the side.

  Mason reached down and pulled the duffel bag up and into his lap. Clank. “Let’s see what our dear enemies have in store for us.” He fished his hand into the bag and withdrew one of the daggers Mal had given them. He thumbed the edge. “Interesting.” He ran the blade along his arm. A hairy clump of arm hair drifted toward the floor. “Now that’s a sharp knife. I like it.” He eyed the point, stuck it deep into his forearm, and sliced back until he drew blood.

  Sidney grimaced. Blood dripped down Mason’s arm and splashed onto the floor.

  “‘If it bleeds, then it can die,’ the mortals like to say, eh, heroes?” Mason held his forearm out. The nasty gash closed itself together, and the shaved hairs grew back. “And that’s true in most cases.”

  Sidney glanced at Smoke.

  His eyes were on hers, and he said, “I’ve always wanted to be a matador.”

  “Yeah, me too,” she added. “Do we get to wear those funny hats?”

  “No,” Mason said, “but you will be seeing a lot of red.” In a lightning-swift move, he jammed the blade to the hilt into the soldier’s chest. Chuk!

  “Urk!” The man in the pea coat sagged to the floor, eyes wide and gasping for breath.

  “Take this mess out of here,” said Double Dee.

  Two men rushed over, hooked the dying man under the arms, and bore him out of the room.

  Sidney’s nerves were on fire. She shifted on her knees. Eyed the exits of the room. Maybe coming here wasn’t such a good idea after all.

  CHAPTER 28

  “This is interesting.” Mason had fished a gun magazine out of the duffel bag and was eyeing it. He plucked a bullet with a red tip out and cocked his head. “Humph. Looks to be a little more than a tracer. What does it do?”

  Sidney pulled her tongue off of the roof of her mouth and tried to speak. She was on a roller coaster of mixed emotions, fear and anger intermingled. Sweat dripped into her eyes. She wiped it with her shoulder. Be brave. Be bold. Do it for your family. “It kills people. And animals.”

  “Oh, I see.” He slapped the magazine into the gun and handed it over to Double Dee. “Show me.”

  Double Dee charged the weapon’s slide and took aim at Smoke. “It’s gonna leave a mess,” she said.

  “Good, I like messes.”

  “Double Dee?” Sidney interrupted with a sneer, “What kind of stupid name is that?” She glanced at the woman’s chest. She couldn’t stop the words from coming. “Did you have a reduction and forget to change your stripper name?”

  “You’ve got a pretty big mouth for a woman whose boyfriend is about to get shot in the head.” Double Dee recharged the weapon’s slide. “Anything else, Agent Shaw?”

  “Nope.”

  “I’d like to state, for the record, that I’m not her boyfriend,” Smoke said. “And I’d like lilies sent to my funeral. If I get one.”

  The woman huffed a laugh and said back to Mason, “Can you believe these two?”

  “They’d make excellent jesters, Dee. Humph. I like it.” He pointed at the guards posted at the windows. “Shoot one of those. Or both.”

  One man stiffened, and the other man moved.

  Ka-Blam! Ka-Blam!

  Sidney squeezed her eyes shut and hunkered down. Two explosions rocked the floor. Boom! Boom! Glass shattered.

  “Holy shit!” Dee said.

  Sidney opened her eyes. There was blood and guts splattered on Dee’s face.

  Dee wiped it off, held up the gun, and said to Mason, “Can I keep this?”

  He nodded.

  Sidney glanced over her shoulder. The pair of men lay dead, each with a massive cavity in his chest. Her tummy soured, and she turned away. “I told you they killed people. Pretty sure they’ll work on livestock too.”

  Mason wiped the bits of scattered flesh from his arms and removed another item from the bag. It was the special flex cuffs that Mal said would hold anything. “They can have these. Humph. ” He tossed the bag onto the floor. “The rest is now acquired by our arsenal.”

  Dee cozied up to Smoke and tugged at the sweet heart suit hidden underneath his collar. “What about this? I think this suit’s made of fibro-gynnsynn.”

  “Leave it. It might save their skin, but it won’t stop their bones from breaking or their innards from being crushed. If anything, it will only prolong their suffering.” He cracked his knuckles. They each made a loud pop. “I love the sound of bone and sinew breaking.”

  “What about my family?” Sidney said. “I don’t care what you have in store for me, but just let them go.”

  “Oh, but I’m going to leave their fate in your hands, Agent Shaw. Yes. All you have to do is find them. If you can find them, then you can save them. How does that sound?”

  “It sounds like another one of your twisted games.”

  Mason shrugged. “When you’ve been around as long as I have, you find creative ways to entertain yourself. I’m so glad you volunteered your services.” He stood up to his towering full height. “Dee, have them prepped and sent to the catacombs.” He stood over Sidney. “I hope to see you both at the end.” He turned his back and exited the room with loud and heavy footsteps.

  “What does he mean by prepping us?” Sidney asked Dee. The woman had a vague familiarity about her.

  Dee waved a few guards over, but she addressed her comments to Sidney. “It means search them again and take off t
heir shoes. No one wears shoes down there. It’s a thing. Now sit down on your ass.”

  Knees aching, Sidney was almost happy to comply. “How can you do this, Dee?”

  “Please don’t start trying to pick at my conscience. I don’t have one.” Dee started untying Sidney’s boots. “Besides, you’ve only seen a glimpse of the power they have. Let me give you some advice. Let the devils in those holes take you quickly. They’ll have more mercy than Mason will.” She jerked Sid’s boots off one at a time. “You’ll understand once you get down there.”

  “I saw what you were thinking,” Sidney said to Dee. “You have that gun, that power. You were tempted to shoot him, weren’t you?”

  “You’re mistaken.”

  “No, I’m not. Women of your disposition often want to kill their lovers.”

  “Ha, well, I don’t think you were paying attention.” Dee tossed the boots aside. “He can’t be killed.”

  “That’s what AV and Night Bird thought. You know, Mason reminds me of my boss, Ted Howard.”

  Dee froze for a moment and then said, “Good for you.”

  “Huh, so the legendary Special Agent Deanne Drukker lives.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “What’s the Double for then, Dee?”

  “Just a stupid pet name for me,” Dee said, looking Sid in the eye. “You should be able to figure it out, Special Agent.” She then spoke with a hushed breath. “I warned Ted. Now you’ve come to die.”

  Something clicked deep inside Sid’s thoughts. Extraordinary Caution. Did Ted put me on this assignment hoping that I would find Deanne? Damn him! “He misses you.”

  “He always was soft.”

  “Probably started after his mentor left.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Dee,” Sidney said, pleading a little. “I don’t care what happens to me. I just want to save my sister and niece. Free them.”

  “How noble.” The rangy woman stood up. “But that’s entirely up to you and him.” She shook her head. “I really hate to see good troops go, but I’m excited to see how this ends.” She pulled out her pistol and raised it behind the back of Sid’s head. “Have a good death, Agent Shaw.”