Monster Hunter Legion-eARC (40 page)

“Yes.” Agent Myers stopped next to the booth and gave Holly a nod of recognition. “You, I’m not surprised to see here meddling.” He looked next at Mosh. “You, I didn’t expect. Your psychological profile suggested you were a narcissist that didn’t suffer from heroic delusions like your brother. When did you get suckered into joining MHI?”

“Never. I’m a
freelance
ass-kicker. So uncuff me now, asshole.”

“Or what?” Myers asked slowly.

Mosh hadn’t thought that far ahead. “Or you’ll be hearing from my lawyer.”

“I already bribed your leech of an attorney into failing miserably during your civil-liability cases last year, Mr. Pitt, and he did a rather spectacular job of it too. I was surprised he came so cheaply as well. Apparently, he didn’t much care for you to begin with. So spare me the sanctimony.”

“What? Max sold me out? That son of—”

Holly made a shushing noise. “Quiet. Grownups talking…Okay, Myers. So I know what you know, and you know that I know, but you don’t know
all
I know, and there’s something else that I simply must know…So we need to make a deal.”

“I’m listening.”

She leaned forward conspiratorially. “I know that Stricken is planning on letting everyone inside the Last Dragon die before he makes a move.”

“Unfortunately, it would appear you are correct. Mr. Stricken feels that an event of this magnitude will result in him receiving the permissions necessary to go ahead with a very controversial plan. My guess is that he considers these deaths an acceptable loss in order to reach his goals.”

“That’s the difference between us. I don’t consider any losses
acceptable.
Are you mounting a coup against Stricken, or what?”

“Coup is such a nasty word.”

Despite being in handcuffs, Holly seemed completely at ease. Mosh found her confidence almost annoying. “You know what else I hear is a nasty word in some circles?
Nemesis.
I’ve heard that Stricken is willing to murder you and Franks over it.”

That got his attention. Myers waved his hand dismissively at Archer, and the junior agent slid out of the booth to go stand next to Jefferson. Myers sat down across from them. He steepled his fingers and studied them with cold eyes. “Ahh, Ms. Newcastle, how you never cease to amaze me. Now on you, the Las Vegas MCB truly dropped the ball. Your resume was rather underwhelming, and the routine psychological profile pegged you as a rather mundane specimen of an attack survivor. Your background suggested that you wouldn’t be the type to talk about trauma, since you obviously know how to keep a secret. So you were simply warned, filed, and forgotten. If we had realized what a spitfire you’d turn out to be, then the MCB would have made you a job offer. I hate to see this much talent wasted on the private sector.”

“Why, thank you, Agent Myers. That’s the sweetest thing an MCB representative has ever said to me. But my parents weren’t first cousins, so I’m afraid I’d be ineligible.”

“Such a loss.” Myers nearly smiled. “And the information that you need?”

“How to defeat this monster and save my friends. Preferably today. I want to talk to Dr. Blish.”

“You are remarkably well informed.” Myers glanced around theatrically. “Are there gnomes here that I don’t know about?”

“I hope not. Little bastards give me the creeps. You help me and in exchange I give you an audio recording of Stricken being all plotty and nefarious.”

“What good does that evidence do me? I’m more than aware of Stricken’s nature, and he’s not the sort of man that you can touch with things like the truth.”

“Like you’d know the truth if it bit you in the ass,” Mosh muttered.

“Compliments will get you nowhere, Mr. Pitt.”

Holly shook her head. “I don’t care if you use it to hold a congressional hearing or stick it on YouTube. Personally, I planned on just playing it for Franks and letting that murder machine
sort things out
. I’m straightforward like that.”

“Agent Franks is currently indisposed,” Myers said. Holly began to ask another question, but Myers held up one hand to silence her. “I’ll level with you, Ms. Newcastle. When I arrived, I attempted to speak with the scientist, Blish, but was ordered out of the area. I’m supposed to be on a plane to Washington right now. Direct command of my strike force was taken over by Director Stark. He is in total operational control.”

“Sounds like you’re not a fan of the guy.” As Holly said that, Jefferson had to suppress a laugh.

“Cutting to the chase? He’s a puppet. Doug Stark has been a quisling searching for a boot to lick for a very long time. With him in control of the Bureau, I fear for America’s safety. Luckily for us, the men that I’ve trained are intelligent and loyal to the MCB’s primary mission. Despite your organization’s feelings about mine, we are first and foremost professionals, and will do what we must to keep this nation safe. Once I found out what was going on, I sent Franks to procure some items that I feel will be necessary to defeat this being. There’s an MCB storage facility here in Nevada—”

“Area 51?” Holly asked excitedly.

“Don’t be absurd.”

“Seriously. It’s Area 51, isn’t it?” But Myers’ deadpan expression didn’t change. “Okay, okay, never mind. Franks’s picking up a secret weapon; go on.”

“I’ve gleaned a small amount of information, but some of what I’ve learned has been conflicting. I want this situation resolved just as quickly as you do. If, in the process, embarrassing facts surface that are damaging to my replacement and his pink-eyed handler, I would be a very happy man.”

“And in the process maybe get your old job back…Yeah, I know, you don’t care about that, but we both know the MCB needs strong leadership in these troubling times.” Holly grinned. “You’ve been remarkably forthcoming, Agent Myers. I’m impressed. Now, as for our deal—”

“I’ve already heard your recording. It was downloaded on your phone. I listened to it after my men confiscated it from you. I have no need of a
deal
.”

“You prick!” Mosh exclaimed. “I should—”

“Chill out, Mosh,” Holly ordered.

“Yes,
chill out
, Mosh,” Myers said. “Really, I never thought I would say this, but you’re making your brother seem rational and level-headed in comparison.”

Holly seemed completely unperturbed at losing her ace in the hole. “If Myers was just going to screw us over, he wouldn’t bother to brief us with a bunch of sensitive intel first. He’s a busy guy. Am I right,
director
?”

“Correct, Ms. Newcastle. There are a few policy disagreements. I am one side of the battle and Stricken is on the other. In this battle, information is power. Stricken has one of the original scientists, and thus, he is keeping that information from me. What I do need is more information, and to achieve that now I need resources with plausible deniability. My loyal men are known. If we are caught attempting to speak to the scientist, then there will be repercussions. Stricken can’t know that we are aware of his plans. However, nobody would be surprised if a member of MHI was caught trying to speak to the good doctor. You have a reputation for being meddlesome.”

“We do work at it.”

“Go with Agent Jefferson. He’ll provide a way in, you get what you need, and in return you report back to my men.”

“You’re on,” Holly answered without hesitation.

But Mosh was still suspicious of the slimy bureaucrat. “Aren’t you worried about us talking if we get caught?”

“Absolutely not. Because if it comes to that, they will more than likely shoot you on sight. Though very capable in their own right, STFU’s greatest weakness is its relatively small number of staff, which is the only way something so shrouded in secrecy can exist. In operations like this, they depend on us or other government agencies to provide security and firepower. In our current situation, Stricken, knowing he’s in a power struggle, won’t endanger his secrets by leaving their protection in the hands of men that may be loyal to me. So he hired some outside contractors on short notice and put them under the supervision of one of his pets seeking a PUFF exemption. They strike me as the shoot first and ask questions later type. If by some miracle you are taken alive, by the time they confirm the information that they torture out of you, I personally will be on the way to Costa Rica to live out my days under a new identity. Thus, I would strongly recommend not being caught.”

Torture?
It wouldn’t come to that. Mosh knew that he would gladly blab Myers’ name the second they got caught.

“You know, Myers, I like you a lot better as a subversive terrorist. Super villainy really works for you,” Holly said with forced cheer. “We’re in. Let’s go for it.”

Mosh glanced nervously at the MCB agents. The ones with visible faces looked as nervous as he felt. This whole sinister inter-governmental rivalry thing was way over his head. He despised the MCB for everything they stood for, but Holly seemed to think that they were a whole lot better than the alternative. That was really saying something about the alternative.

The ghost of Mordechai chuckled inside his head. “Boy, these policemen are not your friends. They are liars who hide monsters and threaten poor survivors. They do terrible, misguided things, but they are so much better than the pale one. Him, you avoid. I have seen with my own eyes what happens when his kind becomes in control. Now go. Next part may become…difficult. Hurry. Time is short.”

If I live through this, I want you the hell out of my head, old man.
No wonder Owen had gotten to be so nuts. This talking to dead people business was a bad trip. “So what’s next?”

Agent Myers slid out from the booth, carefully adjusted his tie, and said, “Try not to get shot.”

Chapter 20

Mosh Pitt, former rock superstar, had woken up with a nasty hangover and a bad taste in his mouth, which was a fairly normal state of affairs lately, but after that his day had just gotten progressively worse. His stupid older brother was in danger, the whole city of Las Vegas was being evacuated, he was hearing dead people, and somehow he’d ended up working with the government agency that had used him as a scapegoat. Now he was in a sewer.

“Is not so bad,” Mordechai told him. “This is not actual sewer. Only tunnel. Sewer much worse.”

Sure, there was no river of poop like in the movies, just close concrete walls and a lot of pipes, several of which he’d already managed to hit his head on, but there were still rats. Mosh could hear the rodents, just crawling with fleas and rabies, scurrying to stay ahead of their flashlights.

“You cannot
hear
rabies, boy.”

“Shut up,” Mosh said, sick and tired of the helpful voices in his head.

Grant Jefferson was in the lead. “What was that?” The MCB agent looked back over his shoulder.

“Nothing. Just talking to myself.”

Jefferson shook his head, muttered something about Newbies, and continued down the narrow passage. As the flashlight moved away, a cold dread began to worm its way back into Mosh’s guts. There was something bad ahead, he could just feel it. He jumped when Holly came up from behind and tapped him on the shoulder. “Relax, Mosh.”

“You relax.”

“Jeez, dude, calm down. I don’t like being in the dark or in enclosed spaces either. Believe me. Nothing to be ashamed of. Hell, me and Grant have both been captives in some pretty nasty underground holes and you don’t see us being jumpy little babies.”

“It’s not that. I’ve got a real bad feeling about this…” It was hard to explain. It was more than just the possibility of being shot by the guards. He knew that something bad was waiting for them. “I can just tell. Okay?”

“Like a premonition?”

“What? No. Cut that out already. I’m not my brother. He’s the magic one. It’s only a feeling, but I feel like something is going to try and stop us.”

“That’s like the definition of a premonition. You freaking Pitts. I should have taken Z out gambling with me last night. He could’ve used his psychic powers to predict where that stupid little ball was going to land on the roulette wheel.” Holly put her hands on his back and shoved Mosh along. “I blew through two zombies’ worth of PUFF in less than an hour.”

“It makes me sad that she feels she has to wear a mask,” Mordechai said. Mosh had absolutely no idea what that was supposed to mean.

Mosh followed Jefferson’s flashlight beam. As far as he could tell, the plan made sense. Myers’ MCB agents couldn’t risk tipping their hand by being spotted trying to talk to the scientist, so they were going to cause a distraction and sound the alarm while Holly and Mosh snuck into Stricken’s base of operations.

They reached an intersection. “All right, Holly.” Agent Jefferson aimed his flashlight down the service tunnel. “Here’s where we part ways. You go to the right. We’re now under the Taj, that’s the casino that was next to the Last Dragon. You’ll find the access door to the basement in about two hundred yards. Archer cut the camera wires, picked the lock, and disabled the alarm earlier when we thought we were going to have to do this on our own. Last we knew before the MCB got tossed out, Doctor Blish was one floor up in the main office area.” Jefferson looked at his watch. The hands glowed in the dark. “In approximately ten minutes there will be a massive security breach. That should get the guards’ attention. I wouldn’t expect them to stick around if they think the monster has come through the smoke. They’ll run. They’re only contractors.”

“Watch it, Grant,” Holly warned. “Contractors are bailing your ass out right now.”

“Only kidding.” Jefferson lied smoothly. “Everyone here will think the monster has broken out. From what Myers knows about him, Stricken will go there in person to oversee its takedown. He wants just enough carnage so the president will green-light his pet project, so having everyone in the Last Dragon die is perfect, but he won’t want it to escape into the city because that will make him look bad, since he’s in control.”

“Or if it does escape, then Stricken will just blame it on Stark. Your boss will be the fall guy, and the MCB loses even more authority,” Holly said. “There’s no way that slippery bastard is taking the blame for anything that goes wrong, which is why Myers wants to steal his thunder and stop this monster before Stricken’s little task force can get all the credit.”