“For now we’ll lock all three down,” he said, then shot a stern look at Naomi as she began to protest. “You too if you don’t settle.”

“That seems more than fair,” I said. “At least until we know more.”

Philip handcuffed Kyle’s hands behind his back and ziptied his ankles, then moved to Dan and Raul and ziptied them both at wrists and ankles. As soon as he finished, Jacques administered tranq antidotes to both Dan and Kyle. Dan began to perk up almost immediately, but Kyle was slower to recover, probably because he’d been tranqed three times. Raul’s wound had closed, and he was breathing more easily but was still terribly pale with a grey cast to his skin.

Jacques murmured something about finishing the blood analysis then departed. Philip took the phone from me and once again looked through the pictures.

“Rachel will be on her way out here soon, or will send someone,” Philip said, half to himself. “Hopefully all this shit will get straightened out then.”

“You want me to throw a book at her head too?” I asked cheekily, but he wisely ignored me and instead crouched before Raul.

“Give me your report,” he asked Raul, calm and all business.

“The pics.” Raul licked dry lips. “About half an hour ago, Chris phoned Rachel but all she heard was scuffling noises and wheezing. It went quiet, but the line was still open. She traced the GPS, and when she went out she found what you see there.” He nodded toward the phone in Philip’s hand. “He’d been garroted in a double loop—” His eyes flicked to Kyle and then back to Philip. “—stabbed in the brainstem and then buried in a shallow grave. But apparently he survived long enough to claw his way out and try and call Rachel.” He took a deeper breath, color slowly improving. “Rachel sent me the pictures then called and told us to detain Kyle for investigation.”

“I don’t understand why that points to Kyle,” I said, confused.

“Kyle’s signature move is a garrote looped twice,” Philip said quietly.

Raul shifted his attention to me, nodding in agreement with Philip. “Yes, but it’s the fifth picture that’s the most damning.”

“The one that’s just dirt?” I asked, even more baffled.

“Zoom in,” Raul said. “To the right of the pine cone.”

I peered over Philip’s shoulder as he did so.

“It’s K-Y,” Raul said. “Chris scratched that in the dirt and started another letter before he died.”

/> Crap. Somehow I doubted Chris had been asking for lube. My mind raced as I tried to sort everything out—raced right to K-Y-L-E but didn’t stop there. Naomi still crouched by Kyle like a lioness guarding her cub, obviously not entertaining even a whisper of doubt. Philip slowly scrolled through the pictures again, meticulously examining each one.

“I don’t think Kyle’s stupid,” I blurted.

Not in a snide way, Philip asked, “What’s your point, Angel?” without looking up.

“Well,” I began, “if he’s not stupid—which I’m pretty sure he’s not since he’s this hot shit operative with all sorts of experience and skills—why would he make it so goddamn obvious it’s his work and then come bebopping back here?” I shrugged. “I mean if I was going to fuck over the Tribe and then return here, I’d at least make sure that there was no possible way it could ever be traced back to me. And I’d sure as hell make sure the zombie I killed stayed dead.”

“Those are all good points,” Philip said. “But standard procedure is to detain and then investigate.” He jerked his head toward Kyle. “He knows that.”

I clung stubbornly to the fact that he didn’t specifically say he was going to actually follow the standard procedure. “Uh huh, but detention locks down one of our top guys. If it’s a setup it’s a good one, because it really fucks us up and slows us down.” I gestured around the room and at the three restrained men as evidence of that.

“We’ll see what Kyle has to say when he can speak,” Philip said. The front door dinged, and Philip glanced back with a slight frown. “Rachel’s here already?”

I stepped over to the monitor that showed the drab waiting room, then sucked in a sharp breath. “That’s not Rachel!” Four men in black tactical gear poured through the outer door and on into the short hallway to the next secured door. With pistols at their belts and automatic weapons in their hands, they didn’t have “Saberton” stenciled on the back of their shirts, but they might as well have. I recognized the overall look all too well.

Shock coursed through me as one of the men lifted a scrap of paper and began inputting a code on the number pad. “Philip! They’re getting in!”

Already up and moving, he dove to slam a hand on the remote door lock, but the second door clicked open the instant before he could hit it. Easily visible now through the broad window, the four moved on to the next door. I backed away from it even though I knew it was several inches thick. One of the men crouched by the door and dug in a small backpack while another held a cell phone to his ear and kept his eyes on the window. Even though I knew he couldn’t see me, it was still unnerving as all hell. The other two men stood by, their weapons ready. They definitely weren’t stopping by for a beer.

Philip swept a quick look around the room. “Naomi, grab weapons,” he snapped, jerking his head toward the weapons locker. “We’ll set up in the hall so that these guys aren’t sitting ducks.” He flicked a hand at the three secured zombies.

Naomi leaped into action, surprising me a bit that she didn’t argue that Kyle should be released to help fight. Maybe she realized there wasn’t time for that shit.

“They don’t have a code for this door,” I announced. Backpack Guy had pried the front panel off and hooked an electronic thingy to it.

Philip spared a quick look. “They’ll have it open in less than a minute,” he said grimly, quickly donning the ballistic vest Naomi tossed his way and seizing up weapons. I looked back at Naomi, taken slightly aback at the sight of her in ballistic armor and helmet, looking badass as fuck. No doubt at all, she was ready for action.

“Jacques and Reg!” I spun back to Philip. “Saberton must be trying to get them as well, since they already have Dr. Nikas.” Another hideous thought hit me. “And the heads. Shit.”

Tags: Diana Rowland White Trash Zombie Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net