Specters: A Monster Squad Novel - 8 (22 page)

Jameson crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “I’d say it’s time to get the party started.”

Ingram smiled and leaned forward to the communications tech. “We’re a go.”

“Affirmative, sir.” The two older men watched as the tech typed commands into his console then hit enter. Almost instantly, the Titans began moving from their camouflaged cover and converging on the moving targets.

Ingram leaned across to Jameson. “This shouldn’t take long.”

“Let’s hope.” Jameson watched the screens and could almost imagine it was the mutated hunters that the Titans were engaging. “For their sake.”

12

Mitchell eyed the two men standing before him. “You’re telling me that Major Tufo gave you his okay for this op?”

Dom shifted uncomfortably. “Well, Colonel, he said he would okay it if you did.”

Mitchell leaned back in his chair and studied the pair. “You realize that Jack isn’t going to stand still for this. He’s convinced that the Wyldwood is some kind of soothsayer. What she says is law, and she told him it was only supposed to be his crew.”

“Yes, sir, but I’d feel better knowing he had another set of eyes covering his six.” Dom could feel the man’s eyes piercing him. “I know it sounds like ‘mom said it’s okay with her if it’s okay with you’, but…” he glanced to Marshall who fought a grin.

“I understand,” Mitchell groaned as he leaned forward. He ran a thick fingered hand across his face and exhaled hard. “Look, if you want to tag along and provide support, I have nothing against it. But I promised Jack I’d keep my nose out of their business. You have to have his blessing.”

Dom felt his face twist as he tried to think of a way to twist the colonel’s words. “You think I can tell him that you ordered us to tag along?”

Mitchell snorted. “Absolutely not.” He stood and poured another cup of coffee. “
Ask
the man. Plead your case. The worst he can do is say no.”

Dom snapped to attention and gave the colonel a quick salute. “Thank you, sir.”

“Be safe out there,” Mitchell called to the closing door.

He sighed heavily as he sat back down and pulled the folders to him that were copied from Stevens’ stack of papers. He rifled through the reports until he came to the armor that the Titans wore.

“Project Gladiator?” He sifted through the papers and pulled up the overview of the battle armor. “Why the hell couldn’t we have gotten something like this for our guys?”

The phone on his desk buzzed and Mitchell picked up the receiver. “Mitchell.”

“Colonel, you have a call.” Lieutenant Gregory sounded a bit confused as he spoke. “The man says that he’s your
father-in-law
?” Mitchell gripped the phone harder and felt his jaw tighten. “Do I put it through, sir?”

“Yes. Put him through.” Mitchell heard the click and buzz while the call was transferred to a secure line.

“Mister Mitchell?” an unfamiliar and tinny voice asked.

“Colonel Mitchell. I take it this is Walter Simmons.”

“You’re a very hard man to track down, Colonel.”

Mitchell ground his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. “What do you want?”

“I need to warn you, Colonel. Your people…my
daughter
isn’t safe.”

*****

Jack finished packing his gear and was preparing to leave when Evan approached him, a broad smile on his face. “You may need these, Chief.”

Jack watched as Evan handed him multiple magazines for both a FiveseveN and a P90. Jack held his hands up to stop him. “Doc, those won’t do me any good. Silver is useless on these guys and—”

“It’s not silver.” He handed the magazines to him again and Jack flipped a round out to examine it.

“It looks like a standard silver round.”

“It may look like it, but it’s a milled bullet from the arrows that Kalen gave us. We finally found an industrial diamond bit that would cut the arrow shafts. I had the boys in the fabrication shop mill you enough rounds to fill these magazines.” Evan practically beamed as he spoke.

Jack stared at the round, his mouth hanging open. “You’re serious? I have ‘angelic bullets’?” His face broke into a wide grin as he stuffed the magazines into his pouch. “Doc, you’re a freakin’ genius!”

“I aim to please.” He gave the man a quick smirk. “You aim, too, please. That’s all we have, and the fabricators said that they burned up all of the diamond cutters they had making these. Every shot counts.”

“No spraying and praying, gotcha.” Jack felt practically giddy. Until Evan delivered, he was afraid he would be facing a demon legion with nothing but an angelic dagger and his dick in his hand. He quickly checked out the pistol and carbine then checked that the rounds cycled freely. “Good job, Doc.”

“Just be careful out there, Chief.”

“I have his back.” Dom stepped beside Jack and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “If you’ll have me, that is.”

Jack’s face fell and he gently shook his head. “Dom, I appreciate it, but—”

“No buts, buddy. We cleared it through Mitchell and Tufo. Both gave us their blessing, but only so long as you’ll allow it.” Dom watched as Jack opened his mouth to protest and quickly cut him off. “Look, I know we aren’t ‘supposed’ to assist, but you have to admit, having an extra set of eyes on the situation can’t hurt. We can provide backup in case something doesn’t go as planned. We can hold back and pick off stragglers or something.”

Jack sighed and averted his eyes. “Dom, this is supposed to be just—”

Dom held his hand up to stop him again. “We don’t have to engage, Phoenix. Me and the boys would just feel a whole hell of a lot better if you had somebody watching your back. Even if that means covering the perimeter.”

Jack lowered his eyes and chewed at the inside of his cheek. After what seemed like far too long, he nodded. “Perimeter only. Do not engage unless you have to.”

Dom smiled and slapped the man’s back. “All we have are these worthless silver rounds. Maybe we can slow them down, right?”

“Possibly.”

Allister approached from the shadows and cleared his throat as best that he could. It sounded much like a cat hocking up a hairball. “Chief Jack, we are prepared.”

Jack turned and faced his warriors. “Let’s rock and roll. We want to catch them with their pants down.” Allister gave him a confused look and Jack smirked. “It’s just an expression. Means catch them off guard.”

“Ah. Perhaps you should have said that.”

*****

Laura sat on the front porch and watched as her family slowly began to show up. As each brother arrived, they would hug and exchange pleasantries, but inside Laura felt as though they secretly blamed her for her father’s actions. She knew it was because she blamed herself. Only Derek knew what really happened and he didn’t act like it was her fault. Why did she?

She knew why; because it was. She fought to break away from the teams and sneak her father a cure. It had taken far too long for her to make a clean break…her sense of duty overriding her devotion to family. She pulled her legs up under her and squeezed her knees to her chest as her eyes scanned the skies.

She felt the chill air begin to bite at her skin and chose to ignore it. She heard the front screen door open but refused to face whichever brother happened to step out there with her.

She felt the warm body sit next to her and she continued to stare upward. It seemed a long time before the voice spoke, and it surprised her when it was Crystal.

“Do you think maybe he’s staring at the same sky right now?”

Laura shrugged slightly. “I’m hoping so.”

She felt the arm wrap around her then the comforting warmth of the blanket that Crystal placed over her shoulders. “Don’t catch a chill.” She stood slowly and Laura continued to stare upward. “Try not to stay too long, Laura. You won’t do anybody any good if you get sick.”

Laura nodded slightly, her eyes still glued to the starry sky. “Do you blame me?” She surprised herself when she asked Crystal the question. She hadn’t even been thinking it.

Crystal sat back down beside her and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. “Of course not. Nobody blames you, Laura. You couldn’t stop him from…well, nobody could stop that man when he made up his mind.”

She turned a blank face to Crystal and stared at her. “Mom could have.” She didn’t even realize she had said it until the words escaped her. Her eyes went wide and she put her hand over her mouth. “Crystal, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…”

Crystal gave her a soft smile and simply nodded. “I know. Trust me, I’ve heard the stories about your mother.” She reached up and tenderly tucked a loose strand of hair behind Laura’s ear. She turned and stared at the night sky that had Laura so enraptured just moments before. “I think I would have liked your mother.”

Laura’s face must have registered surprise because Crystal laughed. “Oh, honey, I meant if she were still with us, I think she and I could have become great friends. Of course, your father would still be with her. He absolutely adored her.” She smiled again and Laura could tell it was genuine.

“It didn’t bother you that…well, I mean…”

“Bother me? Oh, heavens no. That was just one of the many reasons I loved your father so much. His dedication to her and his family was so…refreshing.” She leaned into Laura, bumping her slightly. “He tells me that you and she are very much alike.”

Laura snorted. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

Crystal chuckled with her. “To hear your father tell it, you were a carbon copy of her. Well, except she had red hair. But as for your personalities? You were a chip off your mom’s block.”

Laura simply stared at Crystal, a newfound respect forming deep within. “You really loved him.”

“With everything I had.” She continued to stare at the sky, her mind elsewhere.

Laura felt a lump forming in her throat that she couldn’t swallow. “I’m so sorry.”

Crystal turned and gave her a confused look. “For what?”

“It’s because of me that Dad never married you.” She fought not to get choked up but she felt her eyes watering despite her best efforts.

Crystal slipped her arm back around her shoulder and pulled her close. “Sweetie, it wasn’t just because of you. I think somewhere deep down inside, he felt that he would be betraying your mother’s memory if he married me.” She pulled back and stared into Laura’s eyes. “And you know what? I was okay with that. I took what he was able to share and I cherished every moment I spent with him.”

“But, I thought you wanted to marry Dad?”

“Sure I did. But he wasn’t ready.” She shifted again and turned her eyes back to the sky. “At first, it hurt a little. But I soon realized that I didn’t need a license from the state or a preacher to tell me what I already knew in my heart. For the short time I had him, he was mine. And I was his. In our hearts, we
were
married.”

Laura sniffed back a tear and leaned her head against Crystal’s shoulder. “You’re a much stronger woman than I am.”

She chuckled again and gently stroked Laura’s hair. “No, sweetie, I’m not. You are your mother’s daughter. From what I hear, that makes you pretty damned strong.”

The two sat silently and continued studying the night sky. After what seemed forever, Crystal leaned forward and stretched. “I’m getting too chilly. How about we go inside and get something warm to drink?”

Laura nodded silently and slowly stood, her joints arguing against the cold. “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”

*****

Mark took the command seat in OPCOM and watched as the team made a fast approach on the drop zone. He marked the log and turned to the communications tech. “Verify coms.”

“Coms verified, sir. Loud and clear, five-by-five.”

“Very well. Enter the time in the log and let’s split the monitors between the teams.”

The logistics officer turned and gave Major Tufo a confused look. “Sir?”

“First Squad has quite a bit of transit time ahead of them. Second Squad will be backing up Phoenix and his team. Their transit time will be nil.” Mark updated the command codes into the chair’s command keypad then spun to face the screen.

“Begging the major’s pardon, sir, but is Colonel Mitchell aware of—”

Tufo cut off the inquiry before it could be finished. “Of course he’s aware, Lieutenant. Second Squad wouldn’t be supporting without his blessing. Now, if everybody can focus on the tasks at hand, we have a dual operation to oversee.” He spun the chair and punched in the codes for the overhead flat screens. “Tie in coms from Second Squad.”

“Aye, sir.”

As the monitors flickered and came to life, Tufo slipped the headset on and turned the sound down to a dull buzz. His hearing was sharp enough that he probably could have heard everything with it hanging from the arm of the chair, but he did his best to keep up appearances. “Switch us to red light and let’s get the coms on the overheads.”

“Done and done, sir.”

“Helmet cams on periphery monitors.” He didn’t look up as he punched in more orders for the drone operators, ordering them to stand by. He looked up to the Logistics Officer. “Isn’t the 173
rd
out of Kinglsey?”

“I’m not sure. I think so, sir.”

Mark scratched at his trimmed chin and studied the map on his PDA. “Jack said she was holed up at an abandoned saw mill in Oregon. Little piss ant town in the middle of nowhere…” he trailed off in thought. He suddenly looked up and nodded to the Logistics Officer again. “Notify the 142
nd
in Portland and the 173
rd
. See if either has a drone we can commandeer. Use a NORAD Word of the Day.”