Body Thief (38 page)

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Authors: C.J. Barry

BOOK: Body Thief
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Maybe I’m not meant to have a home,
Griffin thought.
Sani nodded his head slowly. “If you want a home, you will have to fight for it. Look at the Eagle. She fought the wind. She was battered by the rocks. She didn’t give up.”
Griffin turned to him. “She also died.”
“Are you sure of that?”
Yes, he was. Griffin had watched her die. He saw the Eagle fall to the earth, saw her body still in the sand. She was gone forever.
Then he heard a bird’s cry, carried on the wind. He checked the skies but couldn’t find her. “Where is she?”
“She waits on the other side for you.”
“How do I get there?” Griffin asked.
“You must free your spirit. Let go of these things you think are important.”
He didn’t like the sound of that. “I’ve already given everything I have, Grandfather. My home, my job, my marriage. There’s nothing left.”
“Have you looked inside?” Sani said.
Griffin felt a pang of apprehension. He didn’t want to look inside. “It’s empty.”
“Is it? Then why are you here?” Sani asked.
Because,
he thought,
because of Cam
.
Sani turned to face the wind and smiled.
 
“I thought you told me you had these attacks under control, Braxton,” Harding said, trying to keep his voice within the confines of his office. “I can’t keep fixing your screwups. People are starting to ask questions.”
“Well, apparently the computer system
your
people installed here is full of holes,” Braxton yelled back. “Don’t blame me for that. I can’t send a damn text message without it being intercepted.”
“The computer system is not the problem,” Harding said, stabbing his finger on his desk. “You have a mole. Find him.”
Braxton didn’t have a response to that, and it gave Harding immense pleasure to know he was right. “The report has gone to the president. I need everything set as soon as possible.”
“You think the president has been sitting there waiting for your report? He probably doesn’t even remember who you are. I’m pretty sure we have time.”
Braxton was really pissing him off, and Harding was about to tell him so when there was a knock on his office door.
“Find your mole and get rid of him,” he told Braxton. Then he hung up, pocketed his cell phone, and said, “Come in.”
It was Roberts, and he didn’t have an appointment, which wasn’t like him. He closed the door behind him but didn’t come forward.
“Do you have a minute, sir?” he asked.
“Sure, what is it?” Harding said, pretending to be reading the report in front of him.
Roberts took his time before saying, “We have a lot of men on Mercer.”
“So? That’s what XCEL does.”
Roberts nodded. “That is true, but the rest of our cases have been put on hold. And Mercer can hardly be considered a major threat.”
Harding lifted his eyes from the report. “Are you questioning my orders?”
“Yes, sir, I am.”
Harding stared at his good little soldier. “You have failed in your duty to monitor Agent Vincent, and your remarks are out of line.”
The man didn’t budge. “I realize that, but this is unusual—”
“You are dismissed from this case,” Harding interrupted.
Roberts blinked in shock. He stood for a few moments longer and then turned and left.
Harding leaned back in his chair. He hoped Roberts wouldn’t be a problem. If he was, then Harding knew who to blame his untimely death on.
 
Aristotle, Griffin, and Cam were huddled over the schematics of the chemical facility in a makeshift armory when one of Aristotle’s men came running in, out of breath. “We have a problem.”
Aristotle frowned. “What is it?”
“Matt’s dead,” he said. “Found him lying on the floor. His face is a mess.”
“Who’s Matt?” Griffin asked.
“One of my perimeter guards,” Aristotle answered.
So, it wasn’t just a problem,
Griffin thought. It was a breach. Someone had followed them. “You need to notify your people.”
“I will,” Aristotle said. “Warn everyone to keep a look out for anyone who shouldn’t be here.”
The man nodded.
“How was he killed?” Cam asked him.
“I have no idea.”Then he made a ball-like shape with his fingers. “Matt’s head is all swollen and hard. Like his DNA solidified.”
She gave Griffin a worried look. Apparently, they weren’t the only ones who’d gotten the beta version of the Salt Round. It was moving to general release at the speed of light.
He said, “It’s a new Shifter weapon. It must be one of Harding’s men.”
The man shook his head. “No, a Shifter got him. I could smell him. But he’s not one of ours.”
Griffin stilled as the familiar face in the crowd came back in a flash. “Just one?”
“But he’s well armed,” he reminded him. Then he studied Griffin. “You know who it is?”
Cam was watching him too. Everyone was watching him. The bad feeling that had haunted him since they left the nightclub lay heavy in his chest. But it couldn’t be. Parker was dead. That’s what he’d been told.
By Harding.
Griffin could barely think it, he was so furious.
Cam moved closer to him and asked, “Who is he?”
It had been the one consolation he’d had during this entire ordeal, the one bit of revenge he’d ever get. And it had been a lie. Harding had played him to the limit. No more. This ended now. Parker was his.
He turned and grabbed a rifle from the rack behind him. He’d get the rest of the XCEL gear from his room, but he wouldn’t be needing the tranquilizers. “Where did you find Matt?”
“Tunnel Twelve B, lower level by the ladder,” the man said.
Cam stepped in front of Griffin. “Who is it?”
Even though he had no proof, his gut told him otherwise. “Parker. My ex-partner.”
Her eyes widened. “But he’s dead.”
Griffin pulled on his holster. “If he’s not, he will be.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
 
“I
don’t like it,” Cam whispered as she stepped through the couple I of inches of water and gross stuff in the sewer. They’d found Matt, and he had definitely been killed with a Salt Round. Now she and Griffin were alone, taking on his ex-partner, who was supposed to be dead, armed with XCEL weapons.
“Which part don’t you like? There’s a lot to choose from,” Griffin said, moving through the waste behind her.
She’d already shifted to Shifter form to make full use of her senses. She slowed to make sure she was still on the ex-partner’s trail. “Why is he here now? How does he have access to XCEL weapons? And why don’t we have more Shifters to help take him down?”
Griffin said, “To kill us. Harding. And too much noise.”
Well, that answered all her questions. It occurred to her that he’d been pretty good about that lately. “I can do quiet.”
He made a
humph
sound behind her, and they moved forward to the ladder that Parker had used. They climbed down a level and into a particularly bad-smelling tunnel. But Parker’s scent was growing stronger, and she decided to cut the chatter. He had super hearing too.
How did Harding get hold of Parker to begin with, unless he knew where to look? Which meant that Parker being dead was a lie, and Harding knew it. He’d withheld that information from Griffin all this time. And that meant that Harding had protected Parker all along. No wonder Griffin was loaded for bear. There was murder in his eyes, and his anger was driving him to a dangerous place. A place she understood well. If given the chance to face the people who killed her mother, she’d seek revenge too.
That was never going to happen for her, but she could help Griffin find closure. Maybe then he could move on with his life. A different life. Perhaps even one where he wasn’t a Shifter hunter. Sadness filled her. But what if it wasn’t enough? What if he couldn’t forgive and forget?
Then danger trumped her thoughts as she approached a tunnel intersection. Parker’s scent was crisp and strong; he’d spent some time here. Water dripped from the ceilings. Muffled thumps and rattles echoed through the tunnels.
Cam slowed where the tunnels converged, scanning each side as best she could. They were partially blocked by cardboard boxes and plywood sheets where someone had tried to make a home. She silently signaled for Griffin to wait.
She took one step through, and her senses screamed. Suddenly, a body hurtled at her, lifting her off her feet and into the concrete wall with enough force to knock her into next week. The impact stunned her, and she struggled to get up in the slippery slurry on the floor. Gunfire erupted, and she lurched toward the Shifter who was bearing down on Griffin.
He turned at the last second and clubbed her in the face with his fist, throwing her back against the wall again. Griffin was firing at him nonstop, but it didn’t even slow him down as he advanced on her. He grabbed her and tossed her headfirst into the opposite side. She twisted to block the impact but heard her shoulder crack. She went down and felt the wet floor on her back while the tunnel faded away.
 
Griffin threw everything he had at Parker, and he was still standing. Cam was down though, and that was what made him really mad. Watching it happen, unbearable. He needed to check on her, make sure she was going to be okay. But first, he had to get rid of Parker.
Parker stood in front of him, in full living Shifter glory. The flashlight was ten feet away, facing them and providing minimal illumination. The rifle was in his hands, but so far, it hadn’t made a dent in Parker’s smug smile.
“Never thought I’d see the day when you joined the Shifters,” Parker said in that cocky-ass way Griffin hated. “Didn’t believe Harding when he told me.”
Griffin threw the useless rifle to the floor. He had something else he knew would work on Parker. “He protected you from XCEL after you betrayed us.”
Fearlessly, Parker took a step toward him, bringing them within five feet. “Well, he wasn’t going to, but then I convinced him that I’d be worth more alive than dead. And you know what? I’m thinking the same thing about you.” Then he glanced at Cam. “And her.”

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