Chapter Twenty-Two
Douglas Jefferies hung up the phone and staggered around the room to assess the injuries to his men.
There were twelve known casualties, six injured, and two missing.
He stumbled over to Willie’s desk to find him lying on the floor in a pool of blood.
“Damn it,” Jeffries growled, his gaze sweeping the area for any sign of life.
“Sir?” Fredericks ran into the room, wild eyed and bleeding from his face. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Jefferies snarled, checking the ammunition in his weapon. “Any sign of our missing?”
Fredericks nodded. “They’re dead, sir. I found them upstairs.”
“Son of a bitch.” Jefferies motioned for Fredericks to follow him to the front door. “We have troops on the way. They’ll take care of the injured. I don’t want Cahill and that creature to get too far ahead of us. Let’s go.”
Fredericks ran along beside him. “Do you know which direction they left in, sir? Or where they may be headed?”
“My best guess is to Cahill’s sister’s place. But I can’t reach Anderson on his cell to give him a heads up. I’ll have his ass for this. The idiot.”
* * * *
“Son of a bitch,” President Howell snarled, slamming the phone receiver down with more force than necessary.
Trevor Sparks glanced up with wide eyes from the morning report he’d been going over. “Sir?”
“They’ve escaped again.”
“The alien and Miss Cahill?”
With a jerky nod, Rueben ran a hand down his face. “That damn Anthony Vaughn was behind it.”
“What happened?” Sparks asked, laying the papers aside and getting to his feet.
Rueben stared back at him for long moments before answering. “Vaughn and a handful of those aliens attacked Winchester Industries, killing fourteen of our best men.”
Trevor paled. “And Jefferies?”
“He’s gone after them. He figures they will head over to Brighton’s place in search of Cahill’s sister.”
Rueben rested his palms on top of his desk. “Notify every law enforcement agency in all surrounding counties, including Walton County. I want an APB on Vaughn and Cahill. Roadblocks set up on every major highway. Notify the CIA and FBI as well. I want eyes in the sky. Drones, satellites. You name it. I want them found, Sparks.”
“Right away, sir.” Trevor snatched up his papers and turned to go, stopping before he reached the door. “Perhaps we’re going about this all wrong?”
“What’s your point?” Rueben barked, pinning the guy with an intimidating stare.
Trevor nervously shifted the papers he held in his hands. “Maybe we should go public with the situation. Offer the Sutherland woman a deal.”
When Rueben continued to peer at him over the rim of his glasses, Trevor continued. “In exchange for allowing us to run tests on her and her child, draw some blood, take some samples, she will be heavily compensated and permitted to go free once the testing is complete. We get the samples we need, and they no longer have to run. It’s a win-win situation.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Rueben growled, marching around his desk to stand in front of Sparks. “We can’t go public with any of this. Too much is at stake. Not to mention, several people would be brought up on charges, myself included, after I’ve been impeached.”
“I’m sorry, sir. It was a terrible idea.”
“You’re damn right it was, and if you value your career, you won’t speak of such nonsense again.”
“Yes, sir.” Trevor fled the room in a hurry, nearly running into the door on his way out.
* * * *
Glenn Anderson moved across the deck and took a seat next to Amy. “Can I get you anything?”
Amy shook her head. “I’m fine, thanks. But I appreciate the offer.”
“May I ask you a question?” Glenn inquired, studying her profile.
“Sure.”
“What are your plans once we get to Cuba? I mean, I realize that you have your sister, but it looks to me like she has her sights set on one of those…things.”
Amy tilted her head slightly. “Things?”
“The aliens I told you about.”
“Have you ever thought that maybe you seem alien to them as well? Yet they have never done anything to harm you.”
“They are the very reason we’re in this predicament to begin with.”
Amy shook her head. “From what you have told me, we are the ones who blew that oil well and caused them to wash up onto the beach. How is it their fault that they are here?”
“It’s not. There’s just something unnatural about them. I don’t believe it was meant for us to cohabitate with them. They live beneath the gulf for a reason.”
Glenn glanced up in time to see Zaureth watching him with a hooded expression. He wondered what the creature was thinking as he stood there motionless.
“I don’t judge others by how they are created,” Amy informed Glenn as she rose to her feet. “Any more than I want others judging me for my disability.”
Glenn stood also. “May I help you to the cabin?”
“I will take her,” Zaureth announced, suddenly standing in front of them. Glenn hadn’t seen him move.
Amy’s face lifted, a soft smile playing on her lips. “Hello, Zaureth.”
The giant alien didn’t answer, only linked her arm through his and turned to guide her toward the cabin.
Glenn shook his head and wandered over to where Oz sat, steering the boat. “How much longer until we arrive in Cuban waters?”
“Not long,” Oz responded, his jaw muscle tense. “You have a problem with the Bracadytes?”
“What makes you say that?” Glenn took a seat next to the tall Cuban.
Oz briefly met Glenn’s gaze before turning his attention back to the waters in front of them. “It’s easy enough to spot. I’d be careful if I were you.”
Glenn’s own jaw tensed. “Is that a threat?”
“No threat. Only good advice. The Bracadytes are a loyal species. They love deeply, protect fiercely, and are more deadly than your human military if they are provoked.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
Oz sighed before turning to face him. “Because I don’t want to see you cause a fight that you can’t win.”
Glenn stood. “I’m not causing anything. I don’t have anything personal against them. I just feel that our two races shouldn’t mix. If we were meant to breed with them, we would have gills and fangs as well.”
“Says the man who betrayed his country for them,” Oz shot back.
“I didn’t do it for them.” Or did he? Glenn wondered, slinking off to the other side of the boat. Why had he helped the Bracadytes at the risk of his own life? He wasn’t sure, but something inside him had demanded he do it. Demanded he free Amy and reunite her with her sister. Demanded he give Zaureth the details of Winchester Industries, to aid in the rescue of Mallory and Vaulcron. Or maybe it was himself he was trying to free…