Doctor Slaughter patched us all up as best he could. Mara would live but her recovery would take a long time. My burns should have killed me, the Doc had no idea how I was even alive but he worked his magic and they were healing better than could have hoped, though it would be a long time before people stopped mistaking me for Freddy Krueger. Lisa made contact to say that she made it out of the complex fine but hadn’t shown her face to anyone for almost three months. I kept my promise to Ben, talking to him many an afternoon about things that had happened to me, his fascination about my life was seemingly endless. Together we figured the Spindelorn must have been who set these events in motion; it fit with the planning, shady nature of the race. I would make a point of asking them about it once I found more of them.
Colton called off the manhunt on me, spinning a fairly wild story about me working undercover for ARC the entire time, that I was a hero, blah blah blah. They were going to rebuild ARC under military control, some calling it to be established as a new official branch of the military and they wanted me to be their poster boy. Someone higher up there knew more than they were saying about everything that had gone down. No one could be as prepared as they had been and besides, I was through taking orders… from anyone. Maybe Nate had it right all along, I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of me working out of his old office. Still, it wasn’t the worst idea I ever had.
Holly had gone dark after the vampire incident, to give me time to think about how I felt about who she really was. Turns out the new headset even came with a fancy new off button she told me how to use, I would let her worry another couple of weeks before turning it back online and forgiving her.
Lisa walked into my office just over a month later, she was all business dressed in a fancy pantsuit as she strode across the room and dropped an envelope on my desk.
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“I’ve got a job offer for you.” She stated calmly and evenly. “Though I had my doubts about you in Paris you proved yourself more than adequate with this latest encounter.”
I stared at her slack-jawed. “That was you? You took our bounty and didn’t even cash it in!”
“I saved you in Paris, and those two boys.” She looked down at a hot pink sailor moon watch on her wrist. “Speakin of which, I got coffee with one of dem in an hour so I’ll keep this short.”
I opened up the envelope and inside there was a set of photos, taken from a long range of a sleeping, massive form. The pictures were pretty blurry but there was little mistaking what they showed.
“A dragon? You found a dragon?”
“Yes, a dragon who seems to be waking up. It’s underground and causing some seismic trouble for the people nearby and I have been hired to fix the problem. You in?”
“You’re going to need more than just me.” If my guess was correct the size of this thing must be huge. I could land in a football stadium and feel crowded. “You’re gonna need a couple of extra guys at least, and firepower and…” My voice trailed off as my mind started moving through logistics, my face breaking into a smile. “Of course, I’m in.”
The phone rang.
I answered.
“Is this Mr. Derek Hunter?”
“It is.”
“This is Detective Sergeant York of the California Highway Patrol, we regret to inform you that there has been an accident.” I could feel the blood draining from my face, Lisa’s look turned to concern as she spoke to me but no words were coming out of her mouth. “Sir, you were listed as next of kin of one Amy Cartwright, I regret to inform you that Mrs. Cartwright did not survive the crash. Her daughter, Kaylee is in surgery now and we will need someone to come out here and claim custody.”
As the phone slipped from my fingers I was vaguely aware of Lisa calling my name over and over again but all I could hear was… perhaps then you will learn to keep better watch over your women.