Chapter 21

Hudson woke, his neck stiff, his fingers still laced with Beverly’s. He checked the clock which read five. He was guessing afternoon time, which meant they had slept most of the day away.

He looked at Beverly and debated waking her, but decided against it. She looked so peaceful and calm, and he didn’t want to disturb her. From what she had described, she hadn’t had any peace and calm in her life in quite a while.

He thought about their chat, and how different this woman was from the rest of the women in his life. He was actually getting to know Beverly, not just have sex with her. The last time he had done that, he ended up falling in love. Iris. The thought of her name brought a scorching pain within him, and not of the heartburn kind.

He certainly wasn’t going down that road again. No. Fucking. Way. Even if there were room in his decrepit heart for love, he wouldn’t let it happen. Chances were too good that things would get even worse for him. He would never love unless he was loved first.

Jesus, that sounded childish, but his heart had been slowly put through a meat grinder for the past twenty-seven years, and he wasn’t about to add a little salt to the wound to make it even more pleasant. It was just going to have to be that way because he couldn’t put up with any more pain.

And speaking of which, he really needed Cohen back so that he could get a little relief from his demon. He needed to workout. Badly. The cooking wasn’t doing it, and he certainly wasn’t in any shape for fighting, but maybe…

He turned back to Beverly. Damn, she was pretty. Maybe he should get the good ex-doctor between the sheets and roll around for a little while. He wasn’t really in any shape for that either, but there were always different positions they could try out…

Nah. She deserved better than him, way better than what he could give her. She needed to be worshipped and made love to. He had nothing to offer but raw fucking.

So he would just have to deal until Cohen got home.

He lifted his torso from the bed and cursed silently while looking at his watch. He was due for a briefing session with the Warriors in fifteen minutes.

***

Hudson found the rest of the Warriors in the War Room waiting for him while tossing around a football.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said, making his way to a chair and catching a toss. As he threw it to Talin, he noticed that they always sat in the same chairs in the War Room, just as they did in the dining room. Neptune, the overweight black cat, jumped up on his lap curled up into a ball, and began purring. Hudson smiled and stroked the fat feline.

“No worries,” Noah said. “Now that everyone is here, let’s get down to business. This one’s pretty ugly. You know that guy that cannibalized that other guy’s face in Florida?”

“Oh, man, please don’t tell me it’s a Colonist. Please, Noah. Just once make one of these sickos a human,” Rayner said, crossing his arms across his chest, closing his eyes and leaning back in the chair, the leather creaking.

“Wish I could, my man. Wish I could.”

“But he can’t,” Talin chimed in. “I did the family tree. It ends at his grandpa, and we know what that means.”

There were a few hushed curses and then silence.

Yes, they did know what it meant. They had found that an untraceable family tree meant a Colonist was involved.

“The tree ends at Grandpa, so it looks like he passed on some of his stellar genes to his grandkid,” Talin said. “And there’s more good news. Looks like another guy with tendencies to gnaw on people has turned up. He’s on the run from the police. I’m trying to get a handle on his family tree as we speak.”

Talin glanced over at his computer. “Still working. Hopefully it will be done soon.”

Hudson sighed. He hated those Colonists and the havoc they wreaked on the people of Earth. The guilt he felt ate at him, but he also knew within his heart that their mission was a losing battle. It didn’t matter if they caught all the Colonists, because their offspring would carry the genes of evil that the Colonists had running through them.

But cannibalism? This went to a whole new low of demented and a new high on the gross meter. However, it shouldn’t have been a surprise. Jeffrey Dahmer, another Colonist, also liked to dine on his victims. Those Colonists had so many wires crossed.

“So what’s the plan, Noah?” Rayner asked.

“Well, thankfully the police were able to gun down that guy in Florida. I’m hoping they’ll get this other guy as well. Talin’s looking into it to see if either one has ever become a daddy, and then…well, we’ll just go from there.”

“Any new info on the fucker who sliced and diced Hudson?” Rayner asked opening his eyes. Hudson knew that Rayner would love nothing more than to give that Colonist a long, slow, painful death for messing with Faith and killing her family.

“I’ve been watching the police reports in the area, and there was a maid that went missing at the hotel Hudson was staying at, but that’s about it. A couple other possibilities but, nothing that screams Colonist behavior,” Talin said.

“In the next couple of days, I’ll be going through the reports Talin’s been gathering,” Noah said. “Right now I’m up to my nuts in this shit in the U.K. that Jovan and Cohen are working on.”

Rayner nodded. “I can take a look at the reports and see if anything stands out. Do we have crime scene photos as well?”

Talin nodded. “I downloaded them last night.”

“Good,” Rayner said. “Maybe Hudson should look as well. Or at least give them a one-eyed glance.” After a moment, he burst out laughing, as did everyone else.

“The swelling’s going down,” Hudson said above the laughter. “I’m not a total Cyclops.”

The laughter continued, and when it died down, Hudson said, “When I’m healed, Rayner, you’re going to regret that.”

Rayner waved him off as Noah said, “Okay, lay of Hudson. Although that was fucking funny, Rayner.”

Suddenly Hudson felt like an insect was crawling on his stomach. He stood and pulled up his shirt. One of his wounds was oozing, dripping down his torso. “Aw, hell,” he said.

“Looks like you got yourself a leak,” Talin said, tossing the ball to Noah.

Hudson nodded.

It seemed as though Beverly would be staying around whether he wanted her to or not.