can control it?'
'Sure I can,' I said with false confidence. 'Compared to time travel, it'll be a walk in the park.
Holly laughed. 'Then you're an idiot. You just had an episode when Dorcas was talking, didn't you? You got all glassy eyed and stupid for a second. I thought you were going to drool on the table.'
'Again?' Julie asked with alarm. 'How many more times has this happened?'
'Just a couple little ones,' I lied.
'I don't like it, man. You're messing with things you don't understand,' Trip said. 'There's got to be another way. We've got his name.'
'The Feds have more resources,' Holly added. 'They can probably find him better than we can. Like with secret databases and the Patriot Act or something.'
'Do you really think the Patriot Act has a clause for necromancers?' I asked pointedly.
'You know what I mean. We should tell Franks, and let them handle it. It's not like we're getting paid for this.'
Julie agreed with Holly. 'They're right. It's too dangerous.'
I didn't say anything, but my friends knew me far too well, surely understanding that I'd had enough. They continued to come up with reasons why I should just stay safe. But I was tired of waiting. Screw it. I stood, placed my palms on the table, and raised my voice. 'These assholes have tried to kill me and my entire family. As long as they're out there, everybody I love is in danger, and that includes you guys. Sitting around powerless is pissing me off. You want to sic the Feds on him, fine, whatever, but this is my fight. This is personal. So now it looks like my enemy is this Hood guy and we've got a lead. Yeah, it's a pretty iffy lead, but it's what we've got. So I'm going to Appleton, and I'm going to find out what those missing Hunters learned, even if I have to rip it right out of his brain.'
The others were quiet after my outburst. Finally, Julie broke the silence. She folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. 'You're the most stubborn man I've ever known.'
'And that's why you love me. Look, I'll just sneak out. Nobody will even know I'm gone. You guys cover for me, tell everyone I'm asleep in my room or something. If the Condition thinks I'm here, then they won't even know to grab me.'
'You're not going anywhere alone,' Trip said. 'I've got your back, Z.'
That wasn't a surprise. Trip was probably the single most honestly noble person I had ever known. He typified all that was heroic about Monster Hunters.
'We've got your back,' Holly added.
'I thought you didn't want to get involved if you weren't getting paid for it?' I asked, knowing that Holly talked a big game about being the hard-ass, but deep down, she was just as loyal as Trip.
'Don't be such a douche bag.'
If I told them it was too dangerous, then I suppose that would make me a hypocrite. Trying to talk them out of it would be as futile as them trying to talk me down. So I said what I could. 'Thanks. You guys up for a field trip to the insane asylum?'
After changing into street clothes, concealing some guns, and grabbing our gear bags for a worst-case scenario, Trip, Holly, and I snuck down the back stairs. In theory, if nobody saw us leave, then we wouldn't have to worry about the spy. Unfortunately for Julie, with Earl currently indisposed, she was in charge, and in a couple of hours most of the MHI team leads from around the country would be arriving to sort through and pick out their favorite Newbies, so she was stuck here being managerial. For the rest of us, our absences wouldn't be missed, but no Julie would be glaringly obvious. She didn't like it much either.
There was no sign of Franks or the other Feds. There was no way that he would let me go, short of me beating him unconscious, and from I'd seen, I didn't even know if that was possible. The front area was still packed with Newbies. Some had found spots to go back to sleep, but most of them were still milling around because of the excitement and the fact that they were still guessing about why they had been rousted out of the barracks. Julie was just going to have to deal with that problem.
I made eye contact with Grant as we were leaving. He'd been on Harbinger's team and knew the drill. He went back to feeding some line of bull to the Newbies. The three of us just kept walking. He was still a jackass, but it was nice having another experienced man on hand.
We gathered by the back door. The coast was clear. The plan was to discreetly grab a car from the lot and head for Appleton. It wasn't that far a drive, and we should be able to get there before sunrise. Hopefully Earl was still chasing vampires, so we wouldn't run into him. Julie was supposed to be covering for us right now and taking care of whoever was manning the security room. With luck, the Condition would never even know I was gone.
I hoped.
'You ready?' I asked, heavy bag shouldered, hand on the latch.
'Let's get out of here,' Holly said. Trip gave me a thumbs-up. I patted my pocket to make sure I had the car keys. Still there. Good to go. A hundred yards to the car, and we were gone. I shoved open the heavy door and stepped into the night, only to immediately come to an abrupt stop. 'Aw hell…'
Agent Franks was sitting on the concrete steps directly in front of the back exit. His face was emotionless behind his sunglasses as he fiddled with his fancy PDA. His gloved thumbs moved across the keypad. He was a surprisingly fast texter for a man with such large digits. 'You think I'm stupid?' he asked, not bothering to look up.
'Is that a rhetorical question?' Holly responded.
'What are you doing out here, Franks?' I growled. I didn't have time for this nonsense.
'Checking my e-mail,' he said. He finished what he was doing, closed the device and dropped it into a suit pocket. Now he turned his head slightly to study me. I could see my reflection in his shades. I had no idea why he was wearing them in the dark. It took him an infuriatingly long time to phrase his next question. 'Going somewhere?'
'No,' I answered, giant canvas bag large enough to hide a dead body slung over my shoulder, proving me an obvious liar. This was really making me angry. I was tired of this oppressive jerk getting in my way, because regardless of whatever the hell he really was, man or monster, Franks was above all a pain in my ass. 'Didn't you hear there's a werewolf out? There's safer places for you to hang out while you download porn.'
'You probably shouldn't do that on a government computer anyway,' Trip pointed out. 'That's a misuse of taxpayer funds.'
Holly's voice was flat. 'Naw, I'm cool with it. The more time federal agents spend masturbating, the less time they have to screw around with us.'
The muscular Fed slowly stood, drawing himself to his full height, nonchalantly dusted his pants off, and then got right up in my face. He was remarkably intimidating, but I didn't blink. A giant vein pulsed in his forehead. 'Where are you going?'
I'd had enough of this clown. If he wanted to throw down, now was as good a time as any, and I wasn't going to go out as easy as the last time we had tangled. I dropped my gear bag on the concrete at Franks' feet. 'Wherever I damn well feel like.'
'Is that so?' Franks responded slowly.
Always the peacemaker, Trip stepped forward. 'Listen, Agent Franks, we've got a tip about the Condition. This is our chance to find out what's going on. Let us go take care of business. Anything we learn helps your mission just as much as it does ours.' Leave it to Trip Jones to resort to reason when I was all ready to get my violence on.
'A tip?'
'The kind that only I can access,' I responded. The silent jerk wasn't going to let us pass, there was no way. But I would be damned if I was going to be his prisoner in my own home while a gang of psychotic cultists plotted against my family. My pulse quickened. If I sucker-punched him I'd have a chance… Right in the nose, then push him down the stairs, kick him while he was down, and run for the car. Franks probably wouldn't shoot me since he was tasked with protecting me. Probably. 'The kind of tip that leads us right to the shadow man.'
Franks appeared to think about it, wheels ponderously turning. 'You aren't going anywhere-' Decision made, my right hand flew up, fingers tightening into a fist the split second before impact, three hundred pounds of muscle driven by righteous fury and years of mixed martial arts experience, in a brilliant sneak attack maneuver-
Blocked.
