Morgan smiled, his face showing true joy. “Deal,” he said, holding out a hand. “I’ll include you in on everything from now on unless of course it’s a last minute decision. And sometimes I roll without a plan.”
“You’re stubborn, but as long as we understand each other…” Karen trailed off.
“I left the note for a number of reasons. I needed them to think the Vampire Nation was involved.”
“And they are…?”
“A group of old and powerful vampires that decided things in the vampire community needed to change. They set rules for my former kind and keep order; at least for the most part. They can’t be everywhere at once, but they try. Kind of like the police, they do so much, but they can’t do everything. Anyway, let the Murphy people worry about them for a while.”
Karen nodded.
“Second, I needed those agents out of there and what better way to threaten them than with images of armed VDGs pointing high-powered rifles at them.”
“VDGs?” Karen parroted.
“Vampire Day Guardians.”
“Why would the Murphy people believe what was written in the note?” Karen asked. “Vampires can’t be out in the sunlight?”
“No, they can’t, and I apologize. I forgot how much you don’t know about them. Most vampires, especially groups like the Vampire Nation, use humans as guardians during the daylight hours. Hence the VDG: highly trained humans, jacked up on a synthetic drug that heightens their reaction time and aids in healing.”
“What human would agree to that?”
“Mercenaries getting paid a bundle of money, or humans looking to prove themselves, wishing to become vampires. Overuse of the drug leads to premature death, burns the body out.” Morgan paused, his face serious. “Look, there’s a whole other world out there and I’d love to talk to you about it, but we really need to move with this. Time is critical.”
Karen was fascinated to learn about this other world. She wanted to know more and had a hundred questions in her head, but Morgan was right. Now wasn’t the time. She needed to focus again, keep her mind on the task at hand.
“Names and places?” she asked.
“Like you told me earlier,” Morgan said, turning back to the computer screen. “Ask someone a question and even if they don’t want to answer aloud, they will think about it.”
“Walter Road in Kingston,” Karen said, remembering the words McKlintock had thought. “There was also a red barn and a field surrounded by a high chain-link fence. It’s like whatever he thought, I saw the words that made up the images, or maybe I just saw the images. I’m still getting to know myself.”
“Your ability is amazing,” Morgan said as he began typing a web address in the search window. “It makes sense though when you think about it. What are images after all but a jumble of atoms held together creating things we see, taste, and touch. Things we have names for. What would someone call a red barn without the word red in their vocabulary? Fascinating stuff, Karen.”
“It truly is.”
“And you’re sure about the road’s name?”
“Yes, positive. And you’re lucky I have a good memory. Another reason to fill me in on what I’m looking for.”
“Okay, okay. I get it,” Morgan said jokingly as he clicked the ‘go’ button. Within seconds, the Map-locater.com page popped up. He typed in ‘Walter Road’ and ‘Kingston, New York’ before pressing enter on the keyboard.
A map of Kingston came into view, but no Walter Road was found.
Together, the two searched the screen, following the multitude of lines, blues and reds, intersecting like pieces of discarded yarn. Morgan zoomed the map in and out. After an hour of searching, neither he nor Karen found the place.
“Are you sure it was ‘Walter’ and not ‘Water’ or ‘Walker’?” Morgan asked, frustrated.
“I’m sure. I hear people’s thoughts as clearly as if they’d spoken them aloud. It’s as if I can see a picture of whatever the person’s thinking. We’ve looked over this thing enough already. It must be a new or very old road. Dirt maybe. One that never made it onto the map. Let’s head up there and ask around. Someone is bound to know where it is.”
“Do you know how large of an area this is?” Morgan said, pointing to the map.
“No, but the base is located on farmland. That should help narrow our search.
Morgan shook his head.
“There are thousands of acres of farmland in Kingston. Believe it or not, most of New York State is open field and forest.”
Karen saw how frustrated Morgan was getting and felt herself growing discouraged, as well. They had this one chance to find out where the agents were going to be and had used it. They wouldn’t get another. “We can’t just sit here and do nothing.”
“You’re right,” Morgan agreed, his tone suddenly upbeat. He stood up. “Time to get going.”
“Where?”
“To Kingston. We’ll take the Thruway and hope we run into them.” Morgan clicked off of the Internet.
“Run into them?” Karen asked, her eyebrows knitting together. “You mean follow them?”
“Sort of,” Morgan said, wiping a hand through his hair. “They’ll be sending an assault team back to the bar, hopefully leaving a lot less armed men at the base.”
Karen stood the followed Morgan as he walked toward the exit. He was planning on entering the base. That seemed like suicide. No planning. No thoughts.
Outside, as they were about to get into the car, Karen stopped.
“You’re planning on going to the base today, aren’t you?” Morgan didn’t answer; just stood with the car key in his hand. “You’re going to kill everyone at the base?” Morgan clicked on the car remote, unlocking the doors.
“No, not everyone,” he said coldly. “Only the ones responsible for this mess. And anyone that was there when Doctor Rivera was killed. They must be stopped.”
“You don’t even know if these are the same people, the same group.”
Morgan turned on her, his eyes savage. “This is the closest I’ve come to finding the men who ruined everything and killed a decent human being. These men after you…they
are
the same ones who changed me. I can smell them, and their odor is just as putrid. I saw an insignia inside the truck. It had the same design as The Murphy Group that I knew. Either way, some people are going to die, and if I get my revenge by killing Commander Keegan, the bastard who murdered Doctor Rivera, then the better for me.”
Karen felt tears welling in her eyes. She slapped the top of the car roof hard, the pain welcoming. “You can take your revenge, but it can’t be your goal. We need to find the spaceship, and if anyone in that place knows where it is, we’ll need them alive.” Karen needed to break through to Morgan. She could see the hatred burning in his eyes. There was a much larger issue, and she needed her partner calm and clear-headed.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll think of killing Keegan as a bonus. Happy?”
Karen wasn’t convinced. “Morgan, we need to stay focused on the plan. Find and destroy that alien ship, then we can worry about getting Keegan.”
Morgan began pacing back and forth, running his fingers through his hair. Karen had never seen the man so agitated. She took a step toward him, wanting to calm him down, but stopped abruptly as Morgan spun to face her. They locked stares.
“I won’t jeopardize our objective. The ability you have is dangerous, world altering. I know. I get it. It needs to die with you.”
Karen was taken aback by his words. As true as they were, she wasn’t ready to hear them spoken. Without hesitation, she dove into Morgan’s mind, but before she could see anything, the blackboard went up like an impenetrable wall.
“Don’t,” Morgan said.
She wondered if he meant to kill her. Was she just a tool being used to get the job done? She thought she knew Morgan, had felt a connection.
“What do you mean, ‘die with me’?” She dove into his mind again only to find the blackboard.
“No one can have the ability you have. I get it. Now stop worrying. I said I’d help you and I mean it. Let’s go, we’re wasting time.”
Karen opened the car door and got in. They drove to a gas station in silence then filled up the tank before heading to the New York State Thruway.
Chapter 25
Nothing was said during the car ride, and Karen didn’t bother trying to read Morgan’s mind. He seemed to relax, the anger leaving him with the passing miles. Karen’s own trepidation dwindled at the thought of Morgan ending her life after all this was over. She wondered, was that for the best? She didn’t want to die; had hoped in the end to have her life back. But realistically that wasn’t possible. With her ability, she’d never be the same again.
“I guess they had a pretty good head start, with us being at the library for so long,” she said, breaking the silence.
“I didn’t think we’d catch them.”
“So we’re going to drive around until we find them?”
“Of course not, but if they went this way, which is the shortest route to Kingston, then I figured they’d go back this way, too.”
Morgan paid the toll and traveled down the exit ramp. He took a left at the end and then another left, getting onto the south-bound side.
“I thought we were going to try and find the place, but instead we’re going to follow them back to the bar—when they’re fully armed?”
An eighteen-wheeler drove by, its mass shaking the car like a mini-earthquake.
“No,” Morgan said. “We’re waiting for them to drive by so we can follow them. All we need is one of them to tell us where the base is located.”
Karen unbuckled her seatbelt and faced Morgan. “And how do you plan on abducting an agent?”
Morgan smiled, and Karen could see that the old Morgan—the version she preferred—was back.
“Run them off the road,” he said.
Karen opened her mouth to comment, but decided not to. She had to stop being surprised by the new and frightening things in her life. The world was dangerous, but even more so now that she was aware of supernatural beings and organizations like The Murphy Unit. These things needed to become ordinary; as scary of a thought as that was. Morgan reached into the backseat and pulled his backpack to the front. Unzipping the front pocket, he produced a pair of sunglasses, a Yankee’s baseball cap, and a fake beard.
“Are we attending a Halloween party?” she asked.
“You’re a riot,” Morgan said, zipping up his bag. “I don’t need anyone seeing my face.” He tossed the bag over his shoulder. “You better get in the back. Stay down. Keep my bag company.”
Karen frowned before climbing into the backseat. She lay down as flat as possible, positioning herself on her side in a fetal possession. Looking up, she could see a portion of the back of Morgan’s head. She watched as he put the cap on, along with the beard and sunglasses. He turned around, facing her. She wasn’t sure if what she was looking at was funny or frightening.
“How do I look?” he asked.
Up close, the beard looked fake, like something people wore on talk shows to hide their identity. From a distance, Karen thought it would be fine.
“Honestly,” she said, laughing, “you look ridiculous.”
“As long as it does the job.” Morgan turned back around. “Comfortable?”
“I’m fine.”
An hour passed by, the two not saying much. Karen began to grow tired when Morgan spoke, his voice excited.
“I think they’re coming.”
“How do you know it’s them?”
“Oh, it’s them. Big truck and a line of sedans.”
Karen’s sleepiness evaporated. Her immediate reaction was to sit up and look, but she remained down. Her pulse quickened as her heart thumped against her breastbone. She tried flattening herself further. She wanted no one from the Murphy Unit to know she was alive. She felt the car move as Morgan pulled away from the side of the road. Karen wished she’d thought more about the plan. Maybe she should’ve waited at a diner or gas station while Morgan performed his dangerous task. No, they were a team and needed to be together; to work as a unit against The Murphy people. Yes, she was terrified, but she had to be strong and believe in her partner. She needed Morgan more than he needed her. Asking him to do anything without her, to risk his life, wasn’t something she could or would ever do.
“Ticket booth coming up,” Morgan warned her. Karen felt the car slowing. Morgan rolled down the window, took the ticket from the machine, and drove off. “Okay, we’re clear, just lay back and relax.”
“Relax? How am I supposed to relax when we’re going to purposely cause an accident with the enemy? The same people who’ve been after you for years and shot at me all day.”
“I’ll let you know when we’re going to hit them, and besides, it’ll just be a little tap. Don’t stress.”
“Don’t stress?” Karen asked, incredulously. “I’ve been stressing out my ass all day and night. I was free. They thought I was dead, and now my ass is heading straight for them.”
Karen heard Morgan laughing. She was glad at least one of them found the situation amusing.
“Sounds funny when you put it like that. But remember, we’re trying to save the world.”
“No shit!” Karen told him. “Of course it sounds funny coming from a guy who’s practically indestructible.”
Morgan was right. They were trying to save the world, and what could be more intense than that? “Do you mind if I keep blabbing,” Karen asked. “It’ll keep me from really freaking out back here.”
“I told you, they’ll simply think I’m a bad driver who wasn’t paying attention. One car, two at the most, will stop and pull over. The rest will head onward to the destination. The mission is too important for all of them to stop and make a big deal out of a little fender bender.”
“What do you care? You can’t be killed.”
Morgan huffed. “Not true at all. I’m not indestructible. It’s just really, really, hard to kill me.” Karen could hear the smile in his voice.
“And just how do you kill your kind? I mean your previous kind, the real vampires. Is it like in the movies?”
Morgan laughed again. “Not all movies are the same. Let’s get through this, then we can discuss vampire killing.”
Karen wanted to search his thoughts, see what he was thinking, but now wasn’t the time. Morgan needed to remain calm and focused. She knew the basics of how to kill a vampire through legends, but figured she ought to know for sure, since they really did exist.