Chapter 41

Return Of The Phoenix: A Monster Squad Novel By Heath Stallcup

Senator Franklin paced the floor of his office, his private cell phone pressed to his ear. His face was a nice shade of crimson to match the power tie he wore. He tried very hard not to yell as he whispered into his phone, “You promised me that you could deliver!”

“Well, that was before I actually got a chance to hack this system. You didn’t tell me what I was getting into. They have a stand-alone system. I can’t actually hack them without being there. If they were connected to the internet, I could work my way in, but I can’t. It’s like they don’t exist,” the voice on the phone said.

“They have to have an internet connection somewhere. I can e-mail them for shits sake!” Franklin all but screamed.

“You still don’t get it. You can have a network that is connected to the internet for day-to-day stuff like email and ordering parts and food and hammers and toilet paper and porn and Hulu and whatever. But if their operational stuff is on a totally different server and the two aren’t connected…”

The little light bulb above Franklin’s head was just starting to glow a bit. “If they aren’t connected, then all of their operational data is unreachable…”

“Bingo! You win the stuffed teddy bear!” the voice said.

“Don’t be a smart ass, you little…”

“Whoa, hold on there, senator. Let’s not forget who the ‘Distinguished Gentleman’ is here,” the voice said with a laugh.

Franklin sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. He swore under his breath then put the phone back to his ear. “Fine! Tell me then…what exactly do you have to have in place for you to be able to access their data and do what I need done?”

He could hear breathing on the other end of the line so he knew the hacker was still there, but Franklin was just about to lose his patience. “I need to get one of their computers that are plugged into their main hi-security server online. Or, I need to get the server itself online. Either way, if I can get access to either one long enough to download the data and hack just one of their email addresses, I can do what you need done.”

“So what you’re saying is, I’m going to have to go there,” Franklin said. “And I hate that fucking state. The most boring, backwoods fucking state in the world next to Utah,” he muttered.

“I don’t care how it’s done, senator, but that’s what I need. The rest is easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy.”

“Fucking teenagers,” Franklin muttered. “Fine. I’ll call you back when it’s done.”

Franklin pressed the ‘End Call’ button so hard he almost wished that it had broken. He hated going to Oklahoma with a passion. They always made him fly a military transport to get there, and they were the most uncomfortable and odd smelling planes in the world. Plus, it never failed. As soon as he set foot on the tarmac to board the plane, some kiss-ass would call ahead and Mitchell would know that he was en route. No surprise there. So he couldn’t even pull the old ‘surprise inspection’ routine. He wanted to scream at the very idea of having to shuffle his schedule, put off the meetings and the dinners. He’d much rather be rubbing elbows with the movers and shakers and doing what he did best. Moving money and making deals.

But, this had to be done. It was the best way he could think of to bring down the teams. All of them. In one fail swoop. Let them be undone by their own doings. Surely nobody in their right mind would believe that American troops were being used on American soil, spending taxpayer money chasing down creatures that go bump in the night?! Surely they would be laughed out of existence. Nobody could justify their existence once word was made public? It would be a PR nightmare for a short time, but like anything else that was a PR nightmare, it would make the rounds, promises of investigations would be made, heads would roll, people lower than him would be hung out to dry and the program would be shut down. No more Monster Squads. No more threat to his son…his only son. He had to protect him just as he had always done. Just as he always would.

Sanchez had found that co-ed living with over a dozen men wasn’t the easiest thing in the world. There was no such thing as privacy. Luckily, for the most part, even though she didn’t have the same plumbing, the boys pretty much treated her like one of the guys. Oh, there were the jokes. Like when Lamb found her bra and commented that he didn’t know they made ‘double-barreled slingshots’. Ha ha ha. Very funny. Not. Or when Mueller stumbled across her undies and asked if SWAT issued thongs. Again, not funny. But for the most part, it was all in fun. She would wait her turn, patiently, until the guys were done in the shower and then quietly go in and do what she needed to do. And though they could just as easily have walked back in and harassed her, none ever did.

One time, though she wasn’t absolutely certain, she thought she saw the back of Apollo’s head standing just outside the showers, standing guard while she was in there, but when she was done and stepped out, he was nowhere to be found. Another time, when she went to the bathroom, she heard voices outside. She could have sworn she heard Ing Jacobs, the Asian guy with the Jewish last name (seriously, what gives there?) say that he really needed to take a piss, but she could have sworn that Hammer told him ‘No, Sanchez was in there.’ Were the guys making accommodations for her because she was a female? She smiled to herself. At first, she thought it was sweet. But then, after a bit, she got a bit angry. Who were they to treat her any differently? She was every bit as tough as they were. She earned the right to be there, didn’t she?

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Her Latin blood started getting hotter and she hatched a plan. One that would either make her part of the team as an equal or drive a wedge between them that couldn’t be pulled out.

The following day, both teams endured physical training, hand-to-hand combat training, live fire exercises and CQB drills until they were almost ready to drop. After they ate, they went on a twelve-kilometer run and then were allowed to shower. The men hurriedly stripped down and hit the showers. This time, Sanchez stripped down and followed them in. As she walked into the shower room, she could hear the guys all laughing and joking around, but as she turned the corner and they heard her shower shoes against the tile, they all clammed up and did an about face to face the walls. Suddenly they were silent automatons, going through the motions of taking a shower. Eyes front, slowly going through the motions, mouths closed.

Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea, she thought as she approached an open shower head and turned on the water. She sighed as the hot water stung her skin and soaked her hair. She closed her eyes and tried to forget that thirteen naked men were in the room with her. Thirteen very well built, extremely muscular, very large, very strong extremely naked men were in the same shower with her. She sighed and reached for her soap box. When she snapped it open, she realized that in her haste to make her grand entrance, she forgot her soap.

“Fuck!” she yelled, her voice echoing in the dead silence of the shower.

“Whatchu need?” Sanchez turned around to find Apollo standing there. Her first instinct was to look down, but she forced herself to keep her eyes UP at his face.

“I forgot my soap,” she said, her voice sounding very small with all of the hissing of the shower.

“Hold on. You can use mine,” Apollo said.

He went back to where he had been showering and pulled his soap on a rope off the shower head and brought it back to her. She found herself checking out his ass as he walked off but when he turned back, she forced herself to look back up again. But it was so difficult to not sneak a peek. She could almost swear that he didn’t walk back, he swaggered. She averted her eyes, but she also made no effort to turn or cover herself either.

When he approached, he said, “Here. It may smell a little manly, but it will wash the grime off of ya.”

When she looked back at him, she was staring at his oh-so-wide chest. She took the soap from him by the rope. “Thank you.”

“Just don’t drop it. God knows, I don’t trust none of these muthafuckers in here, and I’m a guy!” he hollered over his shoulder. That comment was the ice breaker that brought a few snickers from the other guys.

TD finally turned around and with his best gay imitation said, “Only cuz you got buns of steel, Apollo. Mm-mm, wanna get me some of that!”

Marshall lost it then and burst out laughing and Gus Tracy almost slipped from laughter when Apollo faked a swing at TD.

“You know I don’t thwing that way, Jimmy!” Apollo said with a fake lisp.

Dom laughed so hard he got soap in his eyes then blamed Jacobs for flinging soap. The grab-assing started and it went back to business as usual in the shower. Laughter and joking around.

Sanchez relaxed a bit as she glanced around. For the most part, the guys were ignoring her, but every once in a while, they’d make an offhand comment or tease her about leaving girly stuff in the showers. She caught one or two checking her out, but she also expected that. At least none of them left with raging erections. Not that she would have minded that either, she did work really hard to earn her body. And to be honest, she did more than her fair share of checking them out, and she didn’t think she got caught.

At least, she hoped she didn’t.

But she didn’t drop the soap either.

Jack tested his legs again and found the pain had lessened greatly. He could put more weight on them than he had before and even though the sweat was forming on his forehead, he was able to take his full weight. He knew he shouldn’t try to walk just yet. He didn’t want to risk re-breaking the knitting bones and he gently sat back on the edge of the bed. He let out the breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding and his stomach growled at him.

“You’re getting stronger,” Nadia said from his open door.

Jack didn’t look up. He hadn’t heard her approach his room this time, and he had been so focused on his pain and taking assessment of his injuries that he failed to notice her standing just inside the doorway. He had asked Rufus to leave the door open so that the breeze from the window could more easily flow through the room and carry the sea air through.

“I’m feeling stronger,” Jack said. He finally turned to look at her. “Thanks to you.” He could almost swear that Nadia blushed slightly with his comment.

He noticed that her eyes looked different. She wore makeup this time. Subtle, but there. Just a slight eye shadow to accentuate the aquamarines of her eyes. A very light blush. She had pulled her hair back into a complex braid that allowed more of her face to be seen. His eyes traced the shape of her ear, how the lobe attached delicately to her jaw, the angle of her neck, and around her neck was a crucifix of gold.

“You wear a cross?” Jack asked.

“Rufus gave it to me as a gift, many years ago,” Nadia said as she came in and sat with him.

“I thought vampires and holy articles didn’t mix.”

Nadia smiled almost bashfully. “A wives’ tale,” she said softly her eyes not meeting his. “Although, our legends say that a natural born vampire cannot be touched by such things lest they burn.”

Jack simply nodded, still admiring the crucifix. “Well, either way, yours is lovely.” He caught himself and felt the need to elaborate. “I mean, I’m not a religious man, really. It’s just that yours is perfect for you. It’s not too froo-froo or too simple…it’s perfect,” he blurted out with a lopsided grin.

“Froo-froo?”

“Ehh, yeah. Well, froo-froo…you know? Like bling? Not too blingy?” Nadia shook her head at him. “Not too ornate? Too ‘over the top’?” he said, using his fingers to make air quotes. “Like the Pope wears.”

“Ah!” Nadia’s eyes widen, “Now I understand froo-froo!”

Jack chuckled. “Yeah, stick with me, kid, and I’ll teach you all kinds of useless words that will get you absolutely nowhere in life!”

Nadia smiled back at him and Jack felt this familiar pain in his stomach. Like butterflies. He wasn’t sure that it was an entirely unpleasant feeling, but he also wasn’t sure that it was a welcome feeling either. After a few moments of awkward silence, he finally asked her, “Did you just drop by ‘cuz you missed me, or was there a purpose to your visit?”

Nadia’s hands were busy twisting at the corner of her skirt and it was obvious that she was nervous. She finally spread her skirt out and patted it flat with her hands and sat up straighter. “Jack, I must ask you a few questions, please.”

“Okay, here we go…” Jack figured this time would come. Interrogation time. He knew the whole ‘we are your hosts’, ‘you are free to go once you are healed’ thing was a load of shit! “If you bastards think I’m going to tell you anything about our operations or tactics, then you got another think coming.—”

“No, Jack!” Nadia pleaded. “Jack, please!”

“You sons-of-bitches think that because you help patch me up that I’m gonna just spill my guts to you out of what…a sense of gratitude?”

“No! Jack, please, you misunderstand me, Jack!”

“Bullshit! You think that I’m fucking stupid? You think you can just walk in here and bat your vampire eyes at me and I’m gonna go stupid and just start spilling secrets to you and…”

“Jack! Stop it!” Nadia screamed. Rising to her feet, she took him by the shoulders and shook him. “Jack, it’s about your blood!”

Jack finally stopped ranting and froze. He stared at her face, and she seemed frightened. That scared him more than anything else she could have said. Well, that and there were tears in her eyes. Can vampires cry? Or was this a trick? Many thoughts, half-thoughts, and blank thoughts ran through Jack’s mind all at once, but he did calm down. Something innate told him he needed to know what she knew. Or at least, what she suspected.

“Okay, gal pal. You have my attention,” he said. “Spill it.”

“I must ask you some questions please,” Nadia said, trying to calm herself as she sat back down. Her hands were shaking as she attempted to smooth her skirt again. A skirt that didn’t need smoothing, Jack noticed.

“Okay, Nadia, ask your questions,” Jack said slowly and softly, trying more to help calm her than himself.

“You told Rufus when you got here that your people had given you something that would prevent you from becoming vampire if you were bitten, yes?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you know what this ‘something’ is?”

“Sorry, sugar, I’m no doc,” Jack said honestly. He cracked a grin. “All I know is that it came in a needle along with a lot of other needles. Big needles. Some of them hurt, some didn’t.”

Nadia turned away, thinking. When she turned back to him, she looked him in the eyes and asked, “Is there anything else that they give to you, Jack? Something that you take regularly?”

“Yeah. All the time. We take supplements, vitamins, enhancement stuff. Things to make us stronger, faster, and keep our immune system beefed up.”

He could see her eyes shifting as if reading a book or accessing parts of her memory. Then, her light bulb came on. Jack saw it and knew it as soon as she did. “The things they give you, was it bitter and dark in color?”

“Actually, it’s in a capsule, but yes, it is dark,” he said. Her face fell when he didn’t admit it was bitter. “But you know one time, I had a capsule stick to my tongue, you know, because it wasn’t wet enough or something, and I guess it dissolved or melted before I could pry it loose and wash it down. Anyway, it was the most gawdawful-tasting crap I ever had in my mouth.” Her face lit up. “Seriously, it was horrible tasting. I thought maybe somebody took a dump in one of those little pill thingies, but then I was like, ‘who could take such a tiny dump?’ and then I was like, ‘well maybe a leprechaun’ or something ‘cuz it really tasted like shit…”

“No, Jack! This is such wonderful news!” Nadia jumped up and hugged him. “Would you be sure of the taste again if you tasted it?” she asked.

“The leprechaun shit?” Jack asked. “Just kidding.” He smiled. “I mean, yeah. I’d know it. It’s pretty hard to forget.”

“Good!” she said, reaching her hand into a bag tied to her belt and pulling out a pinch of some powder she had in there. “Open your mouth!”

“What?!” Jack started backing up on the bed. “What do you mean open my mou—” Nadia shoved her fingers into Jack’s mouth and released the powder. What followed can best be described as a human imitation of a lawn sprinkler. Jack turning his head from side to side spitting as he went. Pft, pft, pft, pft, pft, pft, long turn, long spit, pft, pft, pft, pft, pft, pft! “What the hell did you do that for?!”

“I needed to know. Is this the same thing that your people are giving you?” she asked.

“Water! Please, I gotta get this taste out of my mouth!” Jack reached for the pitcher beside the bed and bypassed the glass, drinking straight from the pitcher. “Oh my God. I think a leprechaun shit in my mouth again.”

“So it is the same?” Nadia asked, obviously excited.

“Why would you do that?” Jack asked? “That wasn’t even nice. I wouldn’t shove powdered leprechaun shit into your mouth when you weren’t expecting it.”

“Oh, but you were expecting it!” Nadia got up and sat next to him, practically bouncing on the bed. She took the water pitcher from him and looked him in the eye. She took a deep breath and then sighed. “Jack. We need to have a very long talk.”

“Hopefully about something better than leprechaun excrement?”

Her smile almost broke his heart. She almost seemed sad.

“Jack, we only have days until the next full moon. There is little time.”