Part 22 (2/2)

”Carlos was the only survivor,” Julie said. ”I remember because I was young and it terrified me. All I could think was that could have been one of my parents lost like that. They found him wandering through the forest weeks later, dazed, half-dead from exposure, his mind totally gone. No sign was ever found of his team.”

”I've heard that story before somewhere,” I said.

Julie nodded. ”You met him. He's still a patient at Appleton.”

”That's right.” Dr. Nelson had showed me on the tour. Carlos had been in the wing of the Appleton Asylum reserved for the seriously damaged cases. That wing of the place had haunted me, noises of gibbering madness coming from behind every steel door while the good doctor had lectured me about the dangers a Hunter's mind could be exposed to. ”Susan just said that Hood had taken out a team of Hunters and we had never even suspected...She said that they had learned too much.”

”We've got to go talk to him,” Trip said.

”Carlos hasn't said a word to anybody since they found him...All he does is sit there and hum children's songs and s.h.i.+t himself. His brain turned to mush. Whatever he saw messed him up something fierce,” Dorcas said sadly. ”He was a good man.”

”Too bad,” Holly muttered as she shoved coffee to Dorcas. ”If he could talk, he'd probably lead us right to this shadow freak.”

There might be a way. I glanced at Julie. She must have known exactly what I was thinking, because she shook her head. I didn't need psychic powers to know that she thought it was stupid and dangerous. We had no idea how these weird powers worked or what side effects they might have. All I knew was that anything that came from the other side had to come with a price. And dredging through the memories of a madman was probably not the best idea anyway. I glanced at Julie. She must have known exactly what I was thinking, because she shook her head. I didn't need psychic powers to know that she thought it was stupid and dangerous. We had no idea how these weird powers worked or what side effects they might have. All I knew was that anything that came from the other side had to come with a price. And dredging through the memories of a madman was probably not the best idea anyway.

”Don't you even think it,” Julie said. ”I'm putting my foot down.”

”What?” I asked with feigned innocence.

”Huh?” Trip asked.

”Nothing,” Julie responded. ”Owen was just thinking of doing something asinine.”

”What'd I miss?” Milo asked.

”Nothing. Sleep on it, and we'll see you in the morning.” Julie stabbed the b.u.t.ton and ended the call. ”Dorcas, would you mind going back downstairs and checking on the Newbies? It isn't safe to send them back to the barracks yet, so we'll probably need to think up a story. I'll be down in a minute.”

The old lady grumbled as she pulled her leg off the table and strapped it back on. She was the only one here who didn't know about what I was experiencing. Dorcas stood with a wobble, s.n.a.t.c.hed up her Styrofoam cup, and headed for the door.

”Hey, Dorcas,” I stopped her. ”Thanks for telling us about that.”

The old lady gave us a bitter smile. ”There's always been too d.a.m.n many secrets around this place,” she said, knowing full well she was getting left out of something. She was on the list of potential spies, though personally I really doubted that. It would be a cold day in h.e.l.l before I could imagine that woman signing up with a death cult. ”Do what you gotta do, kids. I'd do the same if I were you.” Then, in a flash of pastel bathrobe and the slam of the door, she was gone.

”Well, now we know why she's MHI's little cup of suns.h.i.+ne,” Holly said.

”Like you've got room to talk,” Trip responded. ”That's you in a few years.”

Holly reached over and punched him in the arm. Trip flinched.

This whole thing sucked. Earl had been right from the beginning. The very idea that a fellow Hunter could be betraying us was painful and damaging. I swore to myself that I was going to catch the son of a b.i.t.c.h so we could get back to normal. But first things first...Julie didn't waste any time. She turned to me. ”You can't try to read Carlos' mind. That's suicide.”

”You got a better idea?”

She paused, rubbing her neck. ”Not really. But you don't know what you're doing. Do you honestly think you 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 gla.s.sy 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. Screw it. I stood, placed my palms on the table, and raised my voice. ”These a.s.sholes 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 p.i.s.sing 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.” I stood, placed my palms on the table, and raised my voice. ”These a.s.sholes 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 p.i.s.sing 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. n.o.body 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 n.o.ble person I had ever known. He typified all that was heroic about Monster Hunters.

”We've got your back,” Holly added. 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-a.s.s, 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 n.o.body 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 jacka.s.s, 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. 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 h.e.l.l...” 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 h.e.l.l...”

Agent Franks was sitting on the concrete steps directly in front of the back exit. His face was emotionless behind his sungla.s.ses 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.

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