The desert night that had seemed so bitterly cold before seemed welcoming after the unnatural chill of the tank.
“Where did that thing come from?” The two of us were in the dead circle, scanning the desert with our headlamps. “What was that?”
“Ice ghoul,” Franks said. “Mummified undead.”
“They common around here or something?”
“Only in polar latitudes.”
Dugway, Utah, wasn’t pleasant by any means, but it certainly wasn’t the arctic. “They teleport?”
“No. Glorified tough zombie on ice.”
Now I was really confused. It hadn’t come down the ladder. It had appeared out of thin air, jumped on me, got the hell beat out of it, then disappeared. “I’ve never even heard of those before.”
“Rare. Haven’t seen one since…” Franks trailed off. “Interesting…”
“What?”
“Classified.”
After all that…“Screw you, Franks! You rotten son of a bitch! Take your stupid ‘classified’ and shove it up your—”
“Everything okay, Agent?” the major had waddled back to the circle.
“We’re done here.”
“And the containment unit?”
Franks took one last look at the hole. “Bury it.”
Chapter 9
I had been taken in the back of the pickup to a portable shower, sprayed with foam, scrubbed with brushes, then taken out of my suit, sprayed with hot soapy water, then sprayed with freezing water, then given my clothing, armor, and weapons back. Since there was no indication of any actual chemical or biological agents in that particular containment unit, and there was no sign that any of the surrounding units had been breached, it was probably overkill, but I liked not puking blood or having brain damage, and wanted to keep it that way.
While I was getting washed, rinsed, and repeated, my mind was on the symbol. No matter how much I’d hoped otherwise, I’d known this day was going to come. Everything my father had lived for was to prepare me for this. He had drawn that symbol in the dirt of the Cazador compound to show me what to look for and given me a letter to fill me in and absolve him of his last responsibilities. The letter was still unopened, sitting in one of my gun safes back in Alabama. He was certain that as soon as I read it, his borrowed time would be up. Dad thought I hadn’t read it because I was a coward. Maybe he was right, but I didn’t want to just murder the stubborn old bastard. How would it happen? Would he keel over the minute I read it? That was a hell of a thought, because I didn’t have much choice now.
Franks met me at the Blackhawk. It was all warmed up and ready to go. “I’ve been ordered back to Las Vegas.”
I climbed in after him. “Any new word on the attack?”
“Grimm Berlin got the bounty. MHI got the assist. Congratulations.” Franks actually sounded bitter. “Case closed.”
A few minutes later we were in the air. By that point I was too tired to even try wheedling any further information out of Franks. I knew it wouldn’t do any good. He seemed even more reclusive than normal. I used the rest of the flight back to get in another nap. Hunters get so used to working stupid hours and being exhausted that most of us develop the ability to sleep the instant the opportunity presents itself.
“Wake up.”
The neon brilliance of Las Vegas was outside the window. I stretched. That had been a solid power nap. Franks was holding something out for me. It took me a second to realize it was an open laptop. He pressed it into my hands, took the audio line out of his headset and plugged it into mine. I flipped it around so I could see the screen.
Special Agent Dwayne Myers, former interim head of the Monster Control Bureau, had aged a lot over the last year. His hair had thinned further and turned whiter. He’d lost some weight, and it wasn’t like Myers could afford to lose much weight to begin with. Thin, tired, face lined with stress, and dark circles under his eyes, Myers was looking haggard. “Pitt. This is a secure video conference, but I need to keep this brief. I will deny this conversation ever took place.”
There was a short list of people I trusted. Myers wasn’t on it and never would be. This man had been prepared to nuke Alabama in order to do his duty. He had ruined thousands of lives in his mission to keep monsters secret from the public, including my own brother. Myers wasn’t the type to let things like collateral damage get in the way of doing his job. He’d used me before and would burn me the second that it became convenient. “What do you want?”
“I take it you’re aware of my demotion.”
“I’ll admit, I cheered a little when I heard. I haven’t got the invitations made up for the party yet, but I did order the cake.”
“Amusing, but I wouldn’t be so quick to celebrate. I take it you haven’t dealt with my replacement yet. No? Well, you are in for a real treat, and I don’t mean the cake. This is a courtesy call. Agent Franks has made me aware of what you’ve discovered—”
“Oh, good. Maybe you can fill me in, because he hasn’t made me aware of shit.” I looked over the top of the monitor as I said that. Franks ignored me.
“I’m afraid that there are some certain specifics which can’t be shared relating to government programs—”
“Like Nemesis?” It never hurt to go fishing.
Myers frowned. “For one. Regardless of what unfounded rumors you’ve heard about that, just be aware that as long as I or Agent Franks are in any sort of position of authority, that project will never be implemented.”
“Because I’ll kill anyone who tries…” Franks muttered under his breath.
“As to our current business, I have no more information about today’s case than you do. That is not why I’m talking to you now. I need you to deliver a message to Earl Harbinger.”
Myers hated Earl. I’d be surprised if the message was anything other than drop dead. “What’s the deal?”
“Tell him that what we spoke about in Copper Lake, I believe it’s happening now. I don’t know what’s coming, but MHI and everyone like you out there needs to be prepared. If I learn of anything that may help, I will pass it on. MHI must be ready to act.”
“Myers, we were born ready. Our greatest impediment to actually doing our jobs is you assholes screwing with us and keeping us in the dark. Franks told you about the symbol we found?” The image of Myers nodded. “Do you know who it belongs to?”
“No, we do not.”
That felt like the truth. “Have you seen it before?”
Myers didn’t answer.
“I thought so. Where?”
“Everywhere. It has been showing up over the last few years with ever-increasing frequency. My sources told me that the Hunters at the conference were talking about many of those same instances today.”
I swallowed hard. My father’s symbol and the pattern of new monster appearances were related. “Myers, listen—”
“I’m out of time, Pitt. Just know that things aren’t what they seem. Changes are being made in how the government does things, about how we combat the forces of the unnatural. I did not…agree with some of these new policies. No matter what you think of me, you know everything I’ve done has been to protect America. I took a solemn oath to defend this country. I will continue doing that to the best of my abilities, no matter how dark things become, no matter what, I will fulfill that oath or I will gladly die trying.”
Myers was beginning to scare me. “I’ll tell Earl.”
“Good luck, Mr. Pitt.” The image went black.
Franks snatched his laptop back and immediately began scrubbing files.