The deputy tried to shout an epithet through the gag that was quite obvious, despite the t-shirt twisted and tied through his teeth. Captain Andrews paused and shot him an evil stare.
“Oh, you’ll cooperate, officer. Or I’ll let their friends eat you for lunch.” He chuckled at his threat. “Trust me. There are worse things than simply suffering a fever for a short time,” he said with a raised brow. “I imagine being eaten alive would be one of them.”
He turned and walked out of the trailer, slamming the door behind him. The creature next to the woman sniffed the air and began to scream at the top of its lungs, followed by the creature next to it. The creature next to the deputy simply stared at him, its red eyes studying him. It tilted its head and sniffed the air in his direction, lip curling as if something disagreeable met its nostrils.
In the low light of the holding cells, the deputy watched the red-eyed demon on his left as it held his gaze, its two partners continuing to scream, the woman across from him crying into her gag. The man and the monster continued to stare at each other, neither able to say a word as time continued to tick by.
Chapter 6
Hatcher had to remind himself to breathe as the soldiers stepped out of the Mobile Unit and walked back to the transport. If any of them had turned and even glanced under the trailer, they all would be caught. He had no doubt in his mind they’d be shot or worse. A lot of the conversation above their heads carried through the thin floor of the trailer, and while Hatcher couldn’t speak for Mitch or Candy, he knew his guts were twisted at the moment with pure anger.
Mitch tapped him lightly and pulled him from his own thoughts as the transport started and pulled away. The trio watched the white-suited man step down from the trailer’s steps and walk back to the white tent with purpose. The tent appeared to be under some kind of suction as the tent flap fought him when he pulled it open and sealed tight behind him after he entered.
“We have to do something,” Candy swore softly. “I heard a woman up there crying.”
Mitch shook his head. “First things first. We snag the full bird and get him to order them to stand down.”
Hatcher fought with his own inner demons, but he had to agree. Three against a small army of armed men was suicide, but if they could get that skinny bastard in charge, they stood a half chance of pulling off a takeover. Something told him that the colonel’s sense of self-preservation would overcome his sense of duty, no matter how twisted it may be.
“Richardson is right. We stick to the plan,” he told her softly, but his eyes betrayed him. His heart went out to those trapped in the trailer as well.
Candy ground her teeth. “Fine, but can we at least be quick about it?”
Mitch kept his eyes glued to the parking area and nodded. “I think now is our best chance. If we cut back behind the trailer, we might be able to sneak past that white tent. I can hear something running near it that will help mask any sound we make.”
Hatcher agreed. “I think they have that tent under a vacuum or something. Look at the way the flap pulls in and the edges are sealed with Velcro or something.”
“I’d bet that whatever they’re doing in there isn’t good,” Candy added.
Mitch was belly-crawling back to the rear of the trailer and urging them along. “Stay low and stay quiet.” As he emerged from below the trailer, he pulled his weapon and released the safety. He checked the grounds one more time and took off at a sprint, Hatcher and Candy hot on his heels.
Mitch came up beside the white tent and slowed, dropping low again. He stole a quick peek around the edge of the tent and waved the other two around with him. Being in close quarters now, he holstered his pistol and pulled a survival knife from his boot sheath. He crept along the edge of the tent, staying low as the sun began to rise behind them. Mitch cursed to himself, knowing that a rising sun could easily cast shadows along the sides of a canvas tent, he bent lower and increased his speed. He stopped at the edge of the white tent and poked his head out quickly, stealing a glance in both directions. With two more tents ahead of them and the coast clear, he waved his companions on and took off at a sprint.
The trio shot between the two darker green tents and ran to the end of the canvas alleyway, ducking low and sliding behind a low stack of wooden crates. “The maintenance shack is right over there,” Hatcher whispered, pointing across the short expanse of clearing.
Mitch wished his adrenaline would start pumping up again to help him clear his mind and give him the clarity of thought he’d always counted on when it came down to a life or death situation, but it wasn’t coming. Apparently, after all these years, his brain didn’t consider this an ample enough threat to dump the precious hormone into his system.
He stole another glance and pulled back sharply. He signed to Hatcher there were two soldiers out there, but Hatcher had no idea how far away, what they were doing, what direction they were looking, or what their purpose might be. Mitch settled in and checked the sky again. With a slight shake of his head, he slowly eased his head out and checked once more. As more of Mitch’s body eased out, Hatcher felt surely the soldiers must have vacated the area, but Mitch held a hand out, staying them.
Mitch slowly
