by Michael Todd
Katie pursed her lips. “Looks lovely. I hope they have room service.”
“Room service, yes, but not quite the kind you’re thinking.” Damian chuckled. “There were seven ghosts, all capable of physical harm. I took care of three of them, but the others may be a bit harder to convince. It took everything in me to get those three to leave, so I figured a little backup might be in order. You game?”
“Always.” Katie smiled.
Damian turned to the hunters. “Why don’t you guys sit this one out?”
John nodded and Katie and Damian headed back toward the front entrance.
In the shadows to the right of the door, unknown to Katie—or anyone else, for that matter—a man stood, watching them carefully. His long black trench coat camouflaged him, and his tanned skin and chiseled face gave him a wise and handsome appeal.
His hair was cropped short, the white so bright it almost glowed, and he wore dark sunglasses, even within the darkness of the corners and crevasses.
The two mercenaries walked into the hotel and stood in the entry, looking around. The walls were moldy, and the paint was chipped and peeling.
Katie took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to sense the ghosts. She figured it worked with demons, so why not spirits? At first she felt nothing, but after a moment a warm feeling bubbled inside her and began to grow stronger. She opened her eyes, the red light of her pupils illuminating the floor.
“They’re in the meeting room.” She whispered.
Katie took off toward the room before Damian could say anything. He ran behind her, catching up as she burst through the old doors, and they almost ran into the four angry and writhing ghosts. She tilted her head to the side and tapped her finger against her knife, knowing weapons wouldn’t work there. She didn’t know how to explain it, but it was like she understood what to do though no one had ever taught her, much like the ghost in the hotel in Los Angeles.
“Damian, keep them away as I work. Don’t let them attack.”
“You got it.” Damian ran forward, his cross out, chanting in Latin.
The spirits hissed, but it seemed to be working at least for the moment. They dove toward the two, pulling back just before coming in contact with the cross.
Damian had never seen anything like it; it was almost as if the cross was providing a barrier of sorts. He glanced at Katie as she raised her hands in the air, her eyes glowing bright red.
Katie’s voice was deep but still her own. “Angelis altitudinem dirigat requiem eorum illis. Abierunt spiritus ab hoc loco non receperint vos diutius.”
When had she learned Latin? he wondered.
The spirits continued to twist and writhe, but now golden wisps of light shot from their backs and heads. It almost looked as if they had wings and halos. Suddenly all four stopped, stretching out their arms and dropping their heads to the side.
“My God, they are mimicking the Lord Jesus on the cross.”
Aw, fucking shit! Pandora moaned. I’ve only seen this once, and now twice. Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck!
The brightness around the ghosts increased until you could no longer distinguish them. Damian looked away, covering his eyes, and after the light had dissipated he gazed in wonder, finding them all gone and a lightness moving over the old hotel.
Katie’s eyes dimmed and she rolled her shoulders, trying to hide the shock from Damian at what she had just done.
What was that, Pandora?
Oh, fuck me. Wait, who is that?
Katie turned quickly toward the door and squinted into the shadows. There is no one there.
Pandora sighed. There was, and I have a feeling I know who.
14
Katie smiled as she walked into the bar. She and Damian hadn’t been there in a long time. They took a seat at their regular table and Katie smiled at the waitress as she approached.
It felt like old times, especially after her trip to their former base. Still, what had just happened let her know loud and clear that times had changed.
“Hello, Father.” The waitress smiled. “Haven’t seen you in a while. Your regular?”
“Yes, please.”
“And for you?”
“I’ll have a cup of hot tea. Whatever kind you have.”
“Perfect. I’ll be back.”
Damian leaned back and put his hands in front of him on the table. “So, how was your vacation?”
“Action-packed.” Katie laughed. “I got called into an incursion with the LAPDF. Let me tell you, there were a ton of demons there, falling from a portal over the hills and valleys leading to some cliffs. It was insane. I’ll just say I was exhausted after that.”
“Sounds like it. At least you got to rest the rest of the time.”
“Uh, not really. That fight was in the middle of my trip. The beginning was more than a little interesting. I went to a bar and ended up drugged and kidnapped. At first I thought it was random, but they were definitely aware of who I was, and Moloch was there as well, somewhere in the alleys. When I was done escaping that shit show, I sent a spirit from the hotel I was staying at on to the next life.”
“I swear, trouble follows you wherever you go. But who is trying to kidnap you?”
Katie smiled at the waitress as she set her tea down in front of her. “I don’t know, but somebody was trying to track me when I got into Vegas. I have to make sure I am paying very close attention. I don’t want to lead whoever it is right to the base.”
“We need to look into this ASAP. There has to be an explanation.”
She stirred some honey into the tea. “I’m sure there is, and when I find out their ass is mine.”
Damian smiled, taking a sip of his whiskey and looking around. It had been a while since he had gone there, but it was nice to be back.
He still wasn’t sure how many more times he would have the chance. They sat and talked about old times, about her visit to the old base, and how nice it was to be reminded of where she had come from. When she was done with her tea, she stretched her arms over her head and tossed a twenty on the table.
“Leaving so soon?”
“I gotta get the truck washed.”
Damian laughed. “We have a dirt road from the highway to the base. You don’t think it’s going to get a little messy?”
Katie leaned forward with a smile. “You remember when you first met me? In the back of that SUV, trying to figure out my demon?”
“I do. It was an interesting time.”
“I remember looking up at you and just knowing you were going to be an important person in my life—and so you became one.”
Damian smiled. “And you as well, Katie. Now, before you burst into tears or an overly emotional show of love, go wash your truck. I’ll meet you back at base.”
Katie laughed and leaned across the table, kissing Damian on the cheek before grabbing her bag and heading out the door.
Damian still didn’t know what he was going to do.
Timothy paced the floor as Calvin finished reading the last of the emails.
He didn’t say a word while reading, just shook his head at every other sentence.
It made sense, and it was probably what Katie had been trying to avoid since she became infected, but that didn’t make it right. She had saved more lives than any other Damned he could think of. She was also an important part—maybe even the center of—the defense against the demon invasion.
Timothy spoke up. “What do you make of it? Because I won’t lie; I needed a martini after reading that.”
Calvin grabbed a paper in the middle. “It seems a group with members in both the political and military structures are discussing whether to kill or capture Katie and Pandora. Which is interesting, because I’m pretty sure they are going to have a damn hard time trying to accomplish that one.”
Calvin stood up and pushed the chair back to the table. “Good find, Timmy. Try to relax. If anyone can hold their own, it’s Katie. I’m gonna go have a discussion with Sergeant Barrow and tr
y to get to the bottom of this.”
Calvin left the office and headed toward the elevator, knowing he would find the sergeant in the military command post at the front of the property. He gripped the papers tightly in his hand, feeling anger welling up inside of him.
He couldn’t believe someone would come after Katie.
“Over my dead body,” he grumbled, climbing into the elevator.
As soon as he reached the surface he took off toward the command building at a jog, covering his face with the neck of his shirt to ward off the blowing sand. He opened the door and walked in, finding the sergeant talking to one of the guards. Calvin nodded and stood to the side, waiting for him to finish.
“None of the guards are allowed inside the compound. Understood?”
The soldier popped to attention. “Yes, Staff Sergeant.”
“Thank you. That will be all.”
The soldier sidled past Calvin, nodding at him and putting on his cover before leaving the office. Barrow sighed and rubbed his hands over his face as Calvin walked toward him.
“Calvin, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
Calvin put the papers down on the sergeant’s desk. “Timothy found these. I figured since you were the one who hinted for him to look you might be able to give me a little more insight.”
Barrow looked at the papers and shook his head in disappointment. “I have to admit, there are issues with the group that was overseeing the demon war before Incursion Day. The problem is that we are stuck in one place right now.
Anytime someone wants Katie, all they have to do is wait for her to show up. Other than that, this is the first true evidence that I have laid my eyes on.”
“This,” he tapped the papers, “is a shit show.” Calvin sighed.
“I’m sorry I can’t be more help, but when I hear anything I will come to you right away.”
Calvin picked up the stack of papers and nodded. “I appreciate it, Barrow. Let me know if you have any issues with the men working on the base. I’d like to question anyone who may be in on it.”
“Absolutely,” Barrow replied, standing up and shaking Calvin’s hand.
Calvin left the building, this time moving much slower. He wasn’t sure what the answer to this was. They couldn’t ignore calls, and he knew Katie would fight him tooth and nail if they attempted to leave her behind, commanding from Korbin’s old desk. He was going to have to talk to her—and Damian too—and figure out the best course of action.
He just hoped it happened before anyone took a swipe at her, if they hadn’t already.
Katie pulled through the gate, nodding at the guards on duty. She was looking at everyone differently now that she knew someone was out to get her.
Still, she couldn’t walk around paranoid.
She had to stay focused and be even more diligent than before. After she parked her truck she headed over to the ammunition building. She hadn’t spoken to Joshua and his team very much in the last month or so, and after her findings at the gun shop she figured she might want to.
When she walked through the door the cacophony of the machines hit her like a ton of bricks. She had forgotten just how loud the place was. Across the room, Joshua was staring down at a clipboard at his desk. He looked up and smiled, then got up and met her halfway.
“I fixed your backup staff,” he told her, handing the separate poles to her. “One of the metal blades was lodged in the space right behind the opening. It had bent the metal, but I was able to dislodge it and bang it back out. Should be as good as new.”
“It feels good to have them back again. I didn’t realize when you made them how much I would end up relying on them.” She decided not to tell him her primary staff might need to be looked at.
He had provided her a second staff as a backup and taken her primary to fix. Then, she returned her broken backup to take her primary after he fixed that one. Hopefully, her primary was fine.
“I’m glad you like them, though I don’t think those will go on our mass-production line.”
“No, that’s probably safest.” Katie chuckled. “I can see it now, Billy Bob from the Deep South swinging this baby around in a crowded Walmart. Wouldn’t be the brightest moment for the company.”
“No.” He laughed.
“Well, I just wanted to stop by and see how everything was going. Maybe sometime soon we can sit down and talk about production. I had an interesting conversation with a gun shop owner while I was gone.”
“You know where to find me.” Joshua nodded.
Katie waved at the girls and patted Joshua on the shoulder before leaving the building. She headed over to the elevator and took it to the main floor, walking through the tunnel and peering into the living room.
Calvin was sitting on the edge of one of the chairs eating a sandwich. He looked up and smiled, happy to see Katie home safely.
“Hey, Vacation Girl! Good to see you.”
“Hey. Good to be home.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I am assuming that you had a more than adventurous time while you were away?”
Katie rolled her eyes. “That isn’t even the half of it.”
“Well, why don’t you put away your stuff and come down to the office. I have something I want to talk to you about.”
“Okay. Sounds ominous.”
“No, just another day in the life of a mercenary, I suppose. We can talk about it all down there and then I’ll let you be. I know how it is when you get back from a vacation.”
“Yeah, I need a vacation from my damn vacation. Give me twenty and I’ll meet you down there.”
Calvin nodded, letting his smile slip away as she turned the corner. He hated dropping bombs on her like he was about to, but it couldn’t wait, not even until the next morning.
If someone was hunting Katie, they had to come up with a plan to find out exactly who was behind it and what they needed to do to squash it right then and there.
Things were getting complicated, and Calvin was trying not to fear the worst.
15
General Brushwood walked down the hall to his office as he scanned some secret intel he had requested. There was a lot to sift through and he had called on a special favor from a friend in that sector to get the info on the down low.
It wasn’t necessarily legal, but it was imperative that he find out what was going on with Katie. He turned the corner into the waiting area of his office and closed the file, smiling at Colonel Jehovivich who was standing there waiting for him.
“General,” she said, standing at attention. “I came to check in with you, sir.”
“Oh, good. At ease. Come on in.”
Jehovivich followed Brushwood into his office and closed the door behind her. He sat down behind his desk and crossed one leg over his knee, opening the file and continuing to read. The colonel took a seat in the chair across from him and looked around, waiting for him to be done.
She had just gotten back from a tour of a new base that would house some of the infected recruits when they finished training and awaited instruction.
The general sat up in his chair and stared down at the third page in his folder. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. A “Kill or Capture” platoon had been sent out for Katie, the order coming from outside his command. He pounded his fist on the table and looked at the colonel.
“What is it, sir?”
The general’s voice was low, hissing with his anger. “Someone is taking orders from outside this command. They have sent a group of kill or capture to get Katie at the new base. How dare they!”
The colonel watched him. “What should we do, sir?”
“We need to warn them, but I think a call would be too risky.” He rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment. “Colonel, I want you to scramble a jet and deliver the message to Katie in person.”
“Yes, sir.” She stood up and put her cover on.
He continued speaking as she got ready. “I’m sure Katie will have a plan, and when you find out I want
you to call my secure cell and let me know what it is.”
She stood up. “What are you going to do, sir?”
“I will await your call, then probably head over to Command and put these bastards in their place. How dare they undermine my authority and put this whole operation in danger? This bullshit is going to stop here and now. I am relying on you, Jehovivich, to get in there and figure this out.”
She nodded. “You can count on me, sir.”
“I know I can. Thank you for that, Colonel.”
“And thank you for trusting me after finding out about my past. I have changed my mind about Katie and the others, and it has allowed me to put my country first.”
“I’m glad to hear it. I knew you would come around. Now, hurry, and don’t forget to call,” he called after her.
Her voice came from outside his office door. “Yes, sir.”
The general listened as the colonel hurried from his office, then looked back down at the papers and gritted his teeth. He didn’t know who was giving the orders, but he would find them and put a stop to it.
If it was the last fucking thing he did.
Katie sat at her desk going over some of the intel that had collected while she was gone. There were several smaller incursions in progress, but the military had them under control.
Katie was glad to spend her first day back in a relaxed atmosphere. She grabbed her coffee cup and took a sip as she flipped the page.
Calvin and the others seemed to be more worried about the threat to Katie’s life than she was, but she knew getting upset about it wasn’t going to solve anything. She was going to have to deal with it, but in the meantime, she had to continue to do her job.
Just then the phone rang and Katie glanced up, a strange feeling of worry flooding over her. She picked up the receiver and put it to her ear, hearing the loud whirl of helicopter blades on the other end.