About a hundred yards out from the building, Greer found a hiding spot for Remi. “Stay here, stay hidden. I will come back for you. If for some reason I don’t, wait until the guys come for both of us. Be quiet. Keep your phone on silent.”
“Greer, don’t go in there. I have a really bad feeling about that place.”
“Yeah, so do I.” He caught her elbow, then moved his hand down her arm to the flashlight she held. He switched it off. She stood before him, shadowy and solid. He wondered if Sally and the healer had told each other the truth of their feelings. Had she died wondering if the man she loved loved her back?
“Remi.” He caught her face in his palm. She could no more see him than he could her. “I love you.”
She grabbed his wrist in both of her hands and moved her face into his palm. “Don’t you dare die in there, Greer Dawson. I have plans for you, ones that involve long years of me being afraid for you and you laughing at me.”
“I never laugh at you.”
“No, you don’t. And that’s why I love you.”
He leaned forward and kissed her lips, then pressed his mouth to her temple. “You are the best thing that ever happened to me, Remi.”
He took out his phone and dialed ops.
“Go.” Kelan’s voice came over the line.
“We found Sally’s body.”
“We?”
“Remi and I. It’s near a collection of Quonset huts. They look abandoned, but I’m going to check them out.”
“I got your coordinates. I’ll send some of the guys your way.”
“It could be nothing, K. Let me check it out first.”
“Negative. Hold your position. Max, Val, and Angel are already near you. I’ll send them your way.”
“What were they doing?”
“Retrieving Lion and his boys. King got to them first.”
“Were they hurt?”
“No. Just gone.”
“Shit.”
“Hang tight, bro. The team’s on its way.”
“Copy.” Greer dropped the connection. He felt Remi’s hand slip into his. Though he couldn’t see her face, he felt the question she wasn’t asking. “King got Lion and his pride.”
“No. That is not good. Do you think they’ll be all right?”
Greer shook his head. “King’s a fucking hotwire. Who knows.” He and Remi went up the hill to the nearest forest service road to wait for the team.
Their big SUVs pulled up a few minutes later. They parked in a way that would let them head out fast if needed. Greer took Val’s keys and handed them to Remi.
“Get in the back and stay down. No one can see you through the tinted windows. If there’s a problem, get the hell out of here. Drive back to the Friends and wait for us. It’s too far to go back to headquarters alone.”
“Okay. Be careful.” She reached out for Greer’s hand. He held it for the length of a step, then let go. He watched until she was safely locked inside the SUV, then caught up with the guys.
“I heard about Lion,” he said to Max.
“Yeah.”
“We’ll find them.”
Max didn’t answer at first, but it was ugly when he did. “Your girl Sally’s dead. We didn’t find her in time. Half the kids from the Friendship Community are missing. We haven’t found them. King’s a fucking expert at disappearing people.”
“So we find King and get our answers.”
“Oh yeah. Bet your ass we’re gonna find him.”
“What’s going on here, G?” Angel asked.
“Remi and I followed a ghost here. There’s a girl’s body on the hill below. I think it’s Sally’s remains. She’s near three Quonset huts that look abandoned. I haven’t checked them out. Could be nothing. Could be something.”
“A ghost brought you here?” Val asked. “What’ve you been smokin’, G?”
Max pursed his lips and shook his head. “He’s been getting visits from a ghost for a while.”
“Shit.” Val smiled at him. “Maybe you should read my cards or something.”
Greer waved his hand. “I’m over it. Let’s go.” He started down the hill.
The forest was dark. None of them had night-vision goggles. They walked the perimeter of the site. The windows in each of the buildings were boarded up. The huts were dark and quiet. They switched on their flashlights and immediately saw fresh tire tracks.
“Doesn’t look exactly abandoned,” Angel muttered.
They split into two teams, Max and Greer taking the nearest hut, Val and Angel the farthest. Greer and Max flanked the door at one end. On Greer’s signal, Max opened the door. Greer raised his gun and flashlight, pointing both into the cavernous space. Long sheets of plastic hung from rods, separating cots. The cots weren’t empty. The monitors attached to the occupants were dark. The place had a rancid odor of death and human waste.
“Shit. Shit. Shit,” Max snapped. “Greer, get outta here. I think we found where the smallpox came from.”
Just as Greer started to retreat, he noticed one of the bodies move. “They’re alive.”
Max grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the building. “We’ll call it in. We aren’t equipped to deal with it. We don’t know what they’ve got.”
Halfway to the other hut, they met up with Angel and Val, who’d made the same assessment. Max called it in to Kit. Greer went to the third hut. There were no cots inside. What he saw was a thousand times worse. It was a deep pit half filled with bodies in various degrees of decomposition. He backed outside and shut the door.
What the hell had happened here? He thought of Sally’s body just up the hill. Had she come from here? Was she trying to get away? Were these the missing Friends kids?
“Max.” Greer’s voice was raw. “We got a mass grave, too.”
“Aw, hell.”
Greer helped an emergency worker haul the last victim up the hill to a waiting emergency vehicle. He was strapped to a backboard so they could navigate the steep hill. The guy began to rouse and struggle against the restraints and blanket.
Greer freed a hand to set it on the guy’s leg. “Be calm. We’re here to help you.”