"What?" she asked when she realized he wasn't staring at her but rather at something behind her.
"What the hell is The Savage?"
"Oh yeah, there was an incident in which someone in a mech suit attacked a Russian safe house in Brussels," she explained. "I remember it being all over the news a little while ago. Anyway, footage went viral of the guy beating a couple of cops during his getaway, and people ran with it and called him The Savage. There were a couple of comic books about him and now, they're making a series about it, I guess. It’s not really my thing, though."
"Huh." He grunted, half-amused and half-curious. "I might have to check that out."
"Sure, mindless action has you written all over it," she said with a small smirk.
"Of course it does. Anyway, I seem to recall you needed me here to do some job or another. I remember something about…Bigfoot?"
"Right." Banks took a deep breath. "Let’s get to it. First of all, we had a couple of reports from some of the locals that mention the sightings. We've dealt with those kinds of reports in the Pacific Northwest since forever, so no one really paid much attention to them until, again, a couple of hikers—or more accurately, self-proclaimed cryptozoologists—reported a couple of bodies in the area. Oh, and signs of Bigfoot too."
"So far, it seems legit. What did you guys find out there?"
"Well, the only people available to follow up were a couple of local police officers who found the bodies and put in reports of large animal sightings. As you can imagine, that drove the locals crazy. The result was that a whole horde of folks headed into the local forests to try to catch a glimpse of the big guy."
"How did that work out for them?” He grimaced when his mind joined the dots of for him. "You don’t need to be a whatever-ologist to know that even bears could deliver a hefty body count if a large group of humans intruded on their territory."
"Well…many people didn't see anything." She pushed one of the files on the table across for him to take a look at. "Three of the groups weren't heard from again, though. Search parties were sent in after them, and…well… Take a look."
Taylor picked the file up and opened it to the pictures that had been collected by the search parties. It wasn't hard to tell them apart, of course, since it was clear which were from the original bodies seen and which were from the Bigfoot hunting parties. Most of them were of the bodies and the first few showed the five that had been found by the police. These were crisp and professional and displayed the corpses in a way that would be relevant to any investigations that might result.
He doubted that they would find anything to investigate, however. The remains appeared to have been in the mountains for a while, and while there seemed to have been considerable damage, especially to the torso and stomach, that could have easily been caused by wild animals that had found the bodies after their death.
The second set—which comprised a total of eleven corpses—was a little more telling. They were fresher, for one thing, and showed far more of what actually killed them, although he couldn't be sure if it would have been the damage to their stomachs and chests or the fact that they had been impaled on branches in the trees.
"Fuck me," Taylor said and scratched his jaw. "Have the families been shown these?"
"Not the pictures, no," Banks replied. "The bodies were returned, but…well, it's hard to explain that kind of shit."
"That's not a bear or a mountain lion," he said firmly. "I don't think there's much in the world that can pull that shit off. The only animal I know of that pegs its prey on trees and stuff are birds—shrikes, I think they're called."
"Yep. That was what I thought," she agreed.
"You thought it was a giant shrike?" He raised an eyebrow skeptically.
"Well, it’s probably a little more complicated than that. But…yeah, unless you have any better ideas."
"I don't," he admitted. "But I know one thing for sure—this definitely sounds like our kind of job."
"Agreed. When can you head out there to investigate?"
"I don't know. I might need to put a little more time in to think this through." He shrugged and put the file on the table. "There are other possibilities to consider. What if this isn't goop-related? What if I'm actually dealing with a Bigfoot that likes to pin his victims on trees?"
"Well then, you shoot Bigfoot in his big head, come back to me to collect your reward, and for the love of God, don't get the media involved. If there's anything the FBI doesn't need right now it’s the bad press that would inevitably come from us being implicated in the death of a beloved folklore character. And yes, even if he kills people by pinning them to trees."
"Well, I don't know… I kind of want to be remembered as the guy who killed the first Bigfoot."
"Well, if that happens, you don't get paid," Banks pointed out.
"I don't need to get paid. I'll have the book and film rights." His eyes lit up. "I'll be a fucking millionaire."
"It won't be that simple and you know that," she argued with a grin. "With that said, being the FBI agent who authorized a hit on Bigfoot does seem like it would be worth a pretty penny too. Do you think I could get someone really hot to play me, too?"
"I doubt it would be difficult," he assured her. "Besides, they'll choose someone who's really hot with large tits and no acting skills to play you all angsty anyway."
"I'll be sure to wipe my tears away with hundred-dollar bills." She tapped the desk. "Now, what say you we get this show on the road?"
"That sounds good to me."
Chapter Twenty-Three
There was something to be said about the beauty of the forests in the Pacific Northwest. People always said it rained or snowed almost every day of the year, but in the days that had sunlight, it was a gorgeous place to be. Lush forests covered the landscape in a thick green blanket.
Today was not one of the good days. It rained incessantly, the kind of steady, driving rain that made it more difficult to climb through the damn forest than it really needed to be. Excessive rain was another thing he had never encountered in the Zoo. The self-created weather brought storms that usually cleared after a few hours and seemed to follow a pattern that only the jungle that created them understood. Occasionally, he’d encountered softer drizzle that lasted longer, but that didn’t seem to be the norm, at least from his experience.
Even so, it didn't take him too long to begin his long climb through the hills. While the mud was difficult to navigate, he was certainly better equipped to handle it than most of the hikers who ventured out this way.
"You have the coordinates, right?" Desk asked and the comm line blinked active on his screen.
"Nope. I'm merely wandering around here blindly in hopes of finding whatever it is I can find." He pulled himself up a small incline and adjusted his heading toward the north.
"You're joking, I take it?"
"Yes, I'm joking. How the hell are you able to get any signal out here?"
"Well, the suit you're wearing was designed with the Zoo in mind," Desk said. "Of course, the jungle is able to interfere and even block signals, so comms usually only achieve a maximum of one to two kilometers. My point, though, is that your suit has a very distinctive signal that I'm able to track, follow, and even contact when needed. That should be no surprise to you."
"Well, no, but it sounds like you're talking to me over a phone line."
"I might be," she said. "But it's been uniquely programmed to make contact with your suit. There should be a signal powerful enough to allow me to contact you almost anywhere in the world."
"I assume the exception would be the Zoo," Taylor replied.
"Among other places," Desk admitted. "There aren’t too many areas in the world with light satellite coverage these days, but there are a few. North Korea comes to mind."
"Huh, the more you know, I guess."
"Hey, Desk," Banks said and joined the link. "How is Taylor doing? When will he reach the area where the bodies were found?"
"Oh… I didn't realize this was a shared line," the agent said. "Oh, well, how are you doing, McFadden, and what time do you think you'll reach the area where the bodies were found?"
"What, no Taylor? And here I thought we were on a first-name basis all of a sudden."
"Well, we're not. "Now answer the question, McFadden."
"There’s no need to get grumpy I'm merely making conversation." He chuckled. "As for how I’m doing… Well, the rain has slowed me somewhat and it is tough terrain, but I've made better time than the people did without a suit. With that said, I'm not really sure how much I'll be able to find out here. It's been days since the bodies were found, and with all the rain and other elements in this corner of the world, there's no telling how long useful evidence will last before it’s washed away."
"Well, you never know what you'll find." The agent sounded dismissive. "Besides, you need somewhere to start, and there's no place better than where the monster was last seen."
"Should we get a bet going?" he suggested. "Whether or not it's actually Bigfoot?"
"Goddammit. Will you give it a rest?"
"Oh, would you rather we talk about how often you stay in Vegas to keep an eye on me instead? You know, I'm actually a little surprised you didn't volunteer to come into the forest with me this time. I seem to recall that you like to stick close to me. It would be all romantic and shit. Okay, sure, there's rain and mud, but that doesn't really matter when you're in a mech suit."
"I joined you that one time because I didn't trust you to get the job done," she reminded him caustically. "I've since learned the error of my ways and I know for a fact that there's no better way to hunt monsters than to send a monster after a monster. I trust you now, which is why I stayed behind."
"And yet you're still keeping an eye on me?"
"I'm keeping an eye on Vickie," Banks corrected him.
"Hey, Desk, settle something for me," Taylor said and addressed the third party in their link. "Does Banks keep such a close eye on the other freelancers? Is she this close to the rest of the operatives?"
"Don't answer that," the agent warned.
There was a moment of silence while Desk appeared to try to decide whether she would follow orders or not.
"She does not keep this close an eye on the rest of the task force operatives, no," the woman finally answered in a level tone.
"Dammit, Desk!" Banks snapped.
"Well, don't sound too disappointed," Taylor said. "I'm sure you're only keeping this close an eye on me instead of the others because you don't trust me, isn't that right, Desk?"
"I think it's less about trust and more about curiosity," Desk replied.
"If you say another fucking word, there's nothing in the world that'll save you from me," the agent all but snarled and sounded like she meant it too.
Desk had nothing to say to that, which told him that she actually believed the special agent's threats. Still, he doubted he would need help from anything to keep him away from Banks' vengeful impulses.
"So, you pursued me, then?" he asked, unable to stop a small grin from spreading across his face. "And why would that be if it's not only about my qualifications? Do tell me the reason. Should I be blushing right now?"
"You should be doing your job right now." She instantly sounded like the consummate professional. "You appear to be approaching the location where the bodies were found. There should be all kinds of things for you to focus on other than the childish teasing you appear to be obsessed with."
"Well, like I told you, there won’t be much for me to find. So, I might as well focus on the teasing. Talking mindlessly is like white noise for the brain. You simply let it run on automatic and eventually, it does what it's meant to do and things work."
"And what? You want me to hang around and let you ramble on at me until you find something you can track?"
"Well, unless you have a better plan to work with." He scrutinized his surroundings once more. The area did look vaguely familiar since he had studied the pictures on and off during the entire hike. It had taken him a few hours to get this high up and with little else to do than to try to determine what he had to find.
He should have considered a helicopter, but those fuckers were even smaller than flying tubes.
A couple of landmarks stood out and he realized that he had, in fact, located the first site. There had been five bodies in the trees around him and eleven more deeper into the forest and higher up into the mountains. There wasn't much else to see, exactly as he had predicted. The bodies were gone and all the blood had washed away, and all he was left with was the memories of what had happened.
"I…don't have a better plan, no," Banks admitted. "But you have to realize that it's a shitty plan to merely wait for something to happen while you run that mouth of yours."
"I'd hold off on judging it," he said quickly. The rain that had settled into weak but constant for the entirety of his climb had slowed further to barely a drizzle. That, fortunately, gave him a decent view of his surroundings. "I think I might have an idea."
"What makes you think that?" Banks sounded skeptical.
"I don't know." Taylor moved toward one of the trees closest to him and looked up. "It's not an idea—more of a thing, really."
"A thing?" The agent sounded confused.
"Don't question the thing. It's in progress. The bodies that were found in this location were the farthest from the mountains there to the east, and the other sites seem to lead up toward those same mountains. I can't say it's a path to follow but it’s as close to it as possible— And then there's this asshole."
"What asshole?" Banks demanded.
"Can't you see the footage from my HUD?" he asked irritably as he studied the trees carefully.
"I have access to the live footage," Desk pointed out. "Banks doesn't. I don't want to overload the connection by having it stream to two locations at once."
"Well, whatever." He lowered into a crouch and peered at the ground in front of him. "There are fresh tracks. It looks like a bear's tracks too."
"A bear?" the agent asked. "What kind of bear—a monster bear? Like that one near DC?"
"I don't think so." He examined what he’d found from every angle. "Only a regular fucking bear."
"Do you think it was a regular bear?" she pressed. "If it was, sure, kill it and come back."
"Regular bears do tear into their prey," he pointed out. "But they don't pin them to trees, mostly because that's a waste of energy. Bears in this part of the world need all the calories they can store because they don't eat much of anything during the winter. There are jungle cats that hide carcasses in trees to come back to them later, but they don't impale them on the branches. That's fairly unique to birds. Small birds, too, because the larger ones can carry their prey to their nests up in the mountains."
"Okay, I think I follow your train of thought. Wait…no, I'm lost again. It sounds like you're talking about a small bird that's still somehow big enough to pick a human up and impale it on a tree branch."
"Yeah, I won’t lie, I'm a little confused too. So, I’d say you're following my train of thought just fine."
"Honestly? It sounds like you're lost," she snarked.
"Well, I am in the middle of the woods trying to find my trail of breadcrumbs. I’m not sure how I'm supposed to work this one out, but if I keep talking, I'm bound to stumble onto the answer eventually. You see? This is fun, chatting away like we're old friends."
"Trying to solve a mystery together," Banks said. "You make us sound like we're the Scooby-Doo gang."
"Do you think I'm Shaggy or Fred?" Taylor asked.
"You know that Shag is the British word for fucking, right?"
"You're right, Shaggy is a good fit for me. That makes you Daphne, and I guess Desk is Velma."
"I always liked Velma best," Desk said.
"See, it's all coming together. We only need a Fred for Banks to fall head over heels
in love with. Daphne and Fred get together, right? Or is that only from the movies?"
"I think Daphne and Fred only had a mutual crush in the animated series," the agent said. "They never actually got together, as I recall. Also, don't we need a Scooby-Doo to be the Scooby-Doo gang?"
"Well, we have Liz, so she can be our Scooby." Taylor stopped abruptly, alerted by a faint shiver that traced up his spine. His path had brought him almost to the mountains now, close enough that he could already see an outcropping of rock that opened into a cave. Cautiously, he proceeded, his senses on high alert. The rain had almost stopped by the time he reached the opening. He wasn't sure what he would find inside, but he had the kind of feeling nagging at the pit of his stomach that told him he wouldn’t like whatever it was.
"What did you find?" Banks asked.
"A cave. The bear tracks lead to a cave."
"It sounds like you found your monster."
"Maybe." He inched a little closer to the opening and the motion sensors and night vision kicked in to give him a better view of what was inside. "Maybe not."
It was hard to make out at first, but the bear was definitely in the cave. It didn't extend too deeply or if it did, the bear itself—a grizzly by the looks of it—remained near the lip.
A flicker of movement caught his attention. There wasn’t only one bear, he realized, but a cub as well.
Grizzlies didn't like it when people came too close to their cubs and became aggressive, even if the humans didn't try to interact with the little one at all. The mother growled softly but remained beside her offspring. She could see Taylor at the entrance but didn't seem quite sure what to do about him yet.
No, he decided, she knew what she would do. She would stand her ground and protect her baby if he attacked, but she had no plans to do anything else judging by the way she nuzzled and calmed her cub.
"You're afraid," he said softly and took a careful step away from the cave. He had no intention to provoke any kind of reaction from the mother that obviously only wanted to be left alone.
Silent Death (Cryptid Assassin Book 2) Page 18