Homecoming (7 page)

Damien stood and ripped the heart from the chest cavity as the tall vampire died. He quickly chewed it and shook his head. “Too young,” he spat.

Rachel tossed him the other heart which he almost dropped from the black blood covering it. He tore a bite from it and swallowed. “Older, but it still isn’t the same as a true elder.”

“Every little bit helps, lover.” She picked up the body of the shorter vampire and tossed it out into the harsh winter air.

Damien shoved the rest of the heart into his mouth and launched the taller vampire out and off of the porch with his companion. “Let’s see if we can find what we came here for.” He wiped his hands on the remnant of the curtain as the two began sifting through the shack.

“It’s here, lover. I can feel it.” Rachel stood from the box she had been digging through and turned slowly in the room, her eyes closed. “It’s almost like it’s calling to me.”

“Home in on it, darling.” Damien stood anxiously to the side and watched as she tilted her head first one way and then the other. “You can do this.”

She suddenly stopped and looked down at the wooden floor of the shack. With her nail extended, she pointed a long, slender finger at the floor. “There.”

Damien fell to his knees and began tearing the boards from the strongbacks with his bare hands. Rachel dropped to the floor beside him and reached under the shack to retrieve a package wrapped in old, rotting cloth. “I have it.” She pulled the package out and laid it gently on the floor of the shack.

Damien stood over her shoulder and watched as she gently unfolded the cloth and spread the material out on the dirty wood. “Both hands and both feet,” she said quietly.

Damien stood and wiped the crumbling wood from his hands. “Not as much as I was hoping for, but necessary to the end game.” He glanced at his watch and back out the door. “We can’t make it back before sunup. We’ll have to stay the day here.” He patted her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile.

“What if those two idiots are missed?” Her eyes pleaded with him for them to leave. “What if others come looking for them?”

Damien gave her a sadistic smile. “Then I’ll eat them as well.”

4

Laura stepped off the plane and caught a taxi to the hotel where the blonde woman was last seen. She had studied the file that Matt had given her until she knew every inch of what was between the covers. She had memorized the woman’s face, used software to shorten and lengthen her hair, changed the color of it, changed her makeup, photo-shopped in sunglasses of various styles, and memorized her facial structure and body build so that she could be certain that, if she spotted her, it wouldn’t be a misidentification.

After she unpacked her meager gear, she headed down to the hotel lounge and grabbed a quick bite then changed and headed to the pool. Although she wore her swimsuit, she had wrapped an oversized towel around her waist and brought a big book to pretend to read. Inside the book’s cover was a camera and the pages had been cut out to hold a stun gun, just in case.

Laura took a lounge chair across from the doors in a nice shady spot and propped the book high enough so that she could scan the area from behind her oversized sunglasses. She watched every female that came or went for the next three hours until she felt that it was time to try a different tactic.

Closing the book she stood and stretched, trying to ease out some of the tension from her stiffened muscles. A cabana boy approached her and offered her a towel. “No, thanks. I wasn’t actually swimming.”

“I think you want this one.” He held the folded towel out to her.

Reluctantly, she took the towel and thanked him. Inside the folds was a simple note: Hotel bar. 30 minutes. 

She glanced around the pool area and saw nobody. She dropped the towel and caught up to the cabana boy. “Who told you to bring me that towel?”

He shrugged. “Another guest. She tipped me twenty bucks.”

Laura groaned and looked around once more. “By chance was she blonde? About this tall?” She indicated the height with her hand.

He nodded. “About that tall, but not blonde.”

“Okay. Thank you.” Laura glanced at her watch and decided that if she were going to confront the escapee, she’d rather have on real clothes and running shoes. She headed to her room and changed quickly, slipping the stun gun into the back of her waist band.

Laura’s eyes quickly adjusted to the dimness of the bar as she entered and took a seat along the long polished wood. The bartender gave her a knowing look and she ordered a soda. No sense in allowing alcohol to dull her wits. He had no sooner placed the drink in front of her when a short, brunette woman sat beside her. “You’re no wolf.”

Laura sipped at her drink and took in the woman’s reflection from the mirror behind the bar. “And you’re no brunette.” She set her drink down and tried not to act nervous. “I’m surprised you’re still here.”

“You mean after that big oaf came and stomped all over the place looking for me?” She snorted a quick laugh. “If he had any kind of nose, he’d have known I was still around.”

“How’d you know about me?” Laura asked, contemplating how quickly she could pull the stun gun from behind her back.

The shorter woman paused and gave her a ‘duh’ stare in the mirror behind the bar. “I smelled you the moment you arrived.”

“And you remembered it from the hangar?”

“From the day I woke up, cold, shivering, dripping wet, and freezing my ass off, yes. Your scent was all over the place down there.” She raised her hand to the bartender and ordered a piña colada. “And now here you are in my little piece of tropical heaven. Care to explain before I rip your liver out?”

Laura grunted a condescending laugh and raised her brows at the woman. “So now you want an explanation?”

“You did come all this way.” She glanced around the bar, “Apparently alone.”

“Yes, I am alone.” Laura finally turned and faced her. “But if you want answers, we need to get one thing clear.”

“Really? And what’s that?”

“Just because I’m not a wolf and came alone, does
not
mean that I’m defenseless.” Laura gave her the coldest stare that she could muster, one that she reserved for staring down the operators when their tempers threatened to boil over. She watched coldly as the shorter woman appraised her.

Slowly a smile spread across her features as she studied the taller, dark haired woman. “I’ll give you one thing, you got a set on ya, lady.”

“In my line of work, you have to.” Laura turned back toward the bar and picked up her drink. “How about we go someplace a little less busy so we can talk?”

The shorter girl shrugged and slipped off the barstool. “After you.”

*****

  Mitchell’s intercom buzzed and Jericho’s voice came through the speaker, “Colonel? Mr. Thompson is on the horn for ya.”

“Jack? Patch him through.” Colonel Mitchell waited for the button on his phone to light up then punched it. “Chief, how’s married life? Have you made me a grand…err, an uncle yet?”

“Negative, sir. Still waiting on the package to arrive.”

“Well, I’m sure it won’t be long now.” Mitchell poured another cup of coffee while listening. “What can I do ya for? I’m sure this isn’t a social call.”

“You’re right on that one, sir. I need to call in a favor.” He didn’t sound as confident as Matt was used to hearing him. He assumed the favor was large.

“Spill it, son. I can’t tell you yay or nay if I don’t know what it is.” Mitchell sipped the coffee and waited.

“I know this may seem a bit unorthodox, sir, but I’m hoping to be able to borrow one of the squads.” Jack sounded more than just hopeful. He sounded nearly desperate.

Mitchell sat forward and stared at the phone, “Run that by me one more time.”

Jack audibly sighed and Matt could hear him shifting something on the other line. “I know this is probably a wasted effort, Colonel, but I need trained men. Men that can handle a HALO jump.”

“I see. And may I ask just what in the hell you intend to
do
with these men?” Mitchell set his coffee cup down lest he dump it when Jack broke the news to him. He sensed he wouldn’t like the answer.

“I have an op. Out of the country. They’ll have full deniability and I can—”

“Wait now, hold on. How can you have an ‘op’ out of the country? You quit the squads, remember? We are the ones who hunt monsters. You…well, you went to work for one.” Matt cleared his throat and lowered his voice, “No disrespect intended to Mister Thorn.”

He could almost hear Jack nodding on the other end. “Colonel, Rufus still has a ton of enemies. I’ve trained our staff to handle most threats, but the one we face now…”

“Is this something I should know about, son?” Matt was suddenly worried.

“Negative, sir. I’m pretty sure we can handle it. And Rufus is confident that he can straighten things out diplomatically. But you need to remember, he’s still caught in the middle of a vampire civil war. He still has a death mark on his head. And the Vampire Council did hire an assassin to take him out. One of our own, no less.”

“Well, one of the Brit’s own,” Matt corrected. “But I get where you’re coming from.”

“Regardless, sir, he still has a lot on his plate and we’re trying to clear a major portion of it.”

Matt picked up his coffee again and took a long pull from it. Right now he was sure wishing it was Scotch. “Jack, to be honest, I can’t send the boys to you.”

“I was afraid of that—”

“But what I can do,” Matt interrupted, “is let them know what you’re looking for. I’m sure a lot of these guys have a ton of annual leave built up. If we aren’t busy when you need them, and if they are willing, then they’re more than welcome to take leave and…well, hell. If they decide to go on vacation somewhere south of here. Say, maybe in Texas, who am I to stop them?”

Jack all but laughed on the other end, “Thank you, Colonel. I really appreciate that.”

“I figure it’s the least I could do.” He glanced at his computer screen and flipped through a few pages. “We have a few weeks before the next full moon. When do you need them?”

“That’s just it, sir, I don’t really know yet.”

Matt nodded as he stared at the calendar. “Well, the way things have been going, it doesn’t matter if it’s the full moon or not. It’s either feast or famine. When you find out the date, let me know and I’ll do my best.”

“That’s more than I could hope for, sir. I’ll email you what I’m looking for.”

“Sounds good to me, son.” Mitchell leaned forward, his finger hovering above the button, “You take care of that cute little wife of yours.”

“I will, sir. And, Colonel? Thanks again.”

“Thank me by sending all of them home after your op, Chief.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Mitchell, out.” Matt mashed the button, disconnecting the call then pulled his two way radio. “Tufo?”

“Yo,” came a static-filled reply.

“Yo?”

“Uh, ‘yo’,
sir
?”

Mitchell groaned and keyed the radio again. “Get over here.”

Moments later, his door opened and Tufo stepped into the office looking somewhat frazzled. “Sorry, Hank, uh…well, let’s just say that he’s discovered power cords.”

Mitchell rolled his eyes and tried counting to ten. “Why don’t you leave your dog at home?”

Mark gave him a shocked look. “At home? Have you seen the base housing here? The yards are so tiny, he’d chew a hole in the fence and crap in the neighbor’s lawn. Negative. He can stay right here with me.”

“Whatever. Look, I need you to pass the word amongst the teams. Jack needs volunteers for a…‘special mission’. Whoever does it will need HALO experience.”

Mark smiled. “I’ve played that game a few times. My kids can beat the pants off me, but I like the energy swords. They’re really cool.”

Matt gave him a blank stare. “High Altitude Low Opening jump experience.”

Mark nodded. “I knew that.” He pulled out his notepad and scribbled something on it. “No
Call of Duty
experience?”

When Mitchell’s mouth fell open, Mark smiled and waved him off. “Just messing with ya. I’ll get with the team leaders and have them pass the word.” He flipped the notepad closed. “How soon does he need them?”

“He’s going to get back with me on the dates. Could be soon, could be not soon, he doesn’t know yet. All I know is, it’s not here. It’s overseas.”

“Yay, a vacation.” Mark stood and turned for the door. He paused and turned back to Matt. “I suppose this is a night op?”

Matt shrugged. “He didn’t say.”

Mark shook his head, tapping his pen against his chin. “When you talk to him again, ask him. If it is, tell him I have an idea for him. That is, if he wants to call in another favor.”

“What’s the idea?” Mitchell’s eyes narrowed.

“Just a thought bouncing around in the old noggin’. I don’t want to say anything until I know more about his op.”

“Fine. Just spread the word with the men.”

*****

Apollo knocked lightly on the doorjamb, and Little John looked up from the book he was reading. “Got a minute?”

John set the book aside and nodded. “Sure, boss. What’s on your mind?”

Apollo stepped in, and rather than try to sit in the cramped quarters, he leaned against the doorframe. “I thought about what you said earlier.”

John simply watched the man and their eyes met. “And?”

“And I’ve decided that the only way I’m going to be able to properly place you is to alternate you through all three teams as much as I can. Get feedback from all the team leaders. Put you in the field as much as possible,  and evaluate your performance in the muck.”

John nodded. “So I gathered.” He turned back to his book and picked it up. He glanced back at Apollo and closed the book again. “Was there more?”

Apollo stifled the confusion he felt at John’s dismissal of his news. He shook his head slightly, “Just report to Spanky for the next op. Then as soon as you back, get with Dom for your assignment with Squad Three. You’ll be hitting each op from now on. Each team, each op, until I get enough feedback to get a good read.”

John nodded and placed his book back on the table. He stood to go find Spalding when Apollo put a hand up to stop him. “Look, man, I don’t know why you want to be a loner. And I guess that technically, that’s your business. But in order for this to work, and work right, I need to know that your head is in the game.”

John met his gaze and the cold grey eyes bore into him. “One hundred percent.”

Apollo raised a brow at him questioningly, but lowered his hand. “Tell Spanky to check the boards. We have an alert and they’re waiting for a secondary on it. You may be going out tonight.”

John nodded and slipped past him.

Apollo waited a moment then stepped over to the desk and looked at the title of the book. “
To Kill a Mockingbird
?” he grunted to himself and turned to step out of the room, “That boy’s got some strange reading habits.”

*****