Darkness Returns Read Online Free PDF

isn’t a priority.”
    “Why did you send us out there in the first place, if you didn’t plan on following up?”
    “I’ll have some men look into it. Meantime, we have more pressing matters.”
    “My daughter’s insane ex-boyfriend, locked safely in a hospital, is more pressing?”
    Kress started to counter, but Lockman barreled on.
    “Forcing my daughter into an emotionally volatile situation after all the shit she’s already been through is more pressing?”
    The click of a pistol hammer going back came in answer. “You’ll want to dial it back, love,” Mica said, shoulders squared, her firing stance firm, her gun lined up with Lockman.
    “Mica,” Kress said slowly. “I don’t think the gun’s the right choice for this situation.”
    She glanced at him. He nodded. Some silent communication passed between them. A corner of her mouth quirked up just barely as she holstered her weapon. Lockman almost missed it, but he was trained to notice small things.
    He tossed Mica a bored smirk. “Get any closer to try and sprinkle your dust on me, and I’ll send you off to Never Never Land.”
    Like a six year-old brat, she poked her tongue out at Lockman.
    “Stop it,” Kress said. “Craig, I appreciate your concern, but I’ve talked it over with Jessie and she’s fine with it.”
    “You should have talked it over with me.”
    Kress must have got tired of craning his neck back to look up at Lockman. He stood, slowly, as if expecting a move from Lockman. Lockman let him stand. Just made it easier to knock him over if it came to that.
    “Before I sent you to New Orleans, you asked me to bring Jessie in as a participating operative. Hear that? You asked me . I agreed. That means she reports to me now. Just like you report to me. And I,” he tapped his chest with a thumb, “report to the man in the big white house in DC. Not to you.”
    Lockman clenched his jaw and his fist. “Suppose I take Jess and move on. You can play general and chase after your prophecy without us.”
    “Seeing as you are both agents of the US government, that would be considered treason. You’d spend the rest of your lives with every arm of law enforcement hunting you down on orders to execute without prejudice.”
    “You make some dramatic threats, Mr. Kress.”
    He hitched a shoulder, all casual. “It’s the performer in me.” Kress stood a few inches shorter than Lockman, but he had presence, and he knew how to work his posture so that presence expanded. Chin lifted. Chest puffed. Shoulders pulled back. “Let’s not forget what happened when you were in charge, Craig. More than eight hundred lives lost. I know you don’t care much for supernaturals, but those folks looked up to you as their leader, and you led them straight into a slaughter.”
    His fist shot out and struck Kress in the chin so quickly, Lockman had to depend on the sting across his knuckles to know he’d even done it.
    Kress stumbled sideways, leaned against the flag-draped wall to keep his feet. A thin line of blood curled down from the corner of his mouth to his chin.
    Mica had her gun out, the barrel a few inches from Lockman’s temple. The knuckle on her trigger finger bulged. Lockman turned to face the barrel, and saw the hate in the pixie’s eyes. She was definitely no Tinker Bell, even if she’d had wings. He showed her a stone face to make sure she knew he wasn’t a bit afraid. Then he turned back to Kress.
    “Real easy to preach about leadership from behind a desk. You like being boss so much, you wait until you have to face the real consequences of that role.”
    “Fair enough,” Kress said, dabbing at the blood on his chin with the back of his wrist. “In the meantime, you have a mission. Escort Jessie to Detroit. We’ll have you cleared to question the boy by the time you arrive.”
    Lockman snapped off a salute. “Yes, sir.” Mica still had the gun in his face, but he stepped around her as if she were nothing more than a potted