Monster Hunter Nemesis Read Online Free PDF Page A

them worked for a shadow government entity that specialized in fabricating conspiracy theories and falsifying evidence, Grant didn’t sound convinced. “Probably. Stricken might be willing to sit around and let extra innocents die, but he isn’t going to start murdering other Feds . . . But if the crew starts parachuting out, I’m going with them.”
    “Like Stricken would tell the Air Force? Fat chance of that. If I was him, I’d just have one of our wings rigged to blow clean off.” Archer had been in the 82nd Airborne and had made a lot of jumps in his life, but they’d all been out of perfectly good aircraft. “You can’t exactly overcome centrifugal force and cleanly exit a plane that’s corkscrewing its way into the ground. Well, Franks maybe could, but I hear as long as there’s enough left of him to scrape into a Ziploc bag they can make a new body, so Franks doing something stupid doesn’t count. All those military training accidents you read about where some plane falls into the Med with no bodies recovered? That’s got monster cover-up written all over it. Just because we’re not briefed in doesn’t mean it wasn’t us. I knew this one dude—”
    “Okay, enough. I already hate flying when I’m not the pilot.” Grant had to shout as they got closer to the plane. They both got their plugs out and stuck into their ears. C-17s were loud as hell on the ramp. Since the MCB was a rather special entity within the government, when they needed military resources they got them fast. “It’s not fair. I was doing a great job on PR. Getting stuck Franks-sitting . . . That’s the most boring job in the Bureau until the minute it turns into the most dangerous. What’s the fatality rate on Franks-sitting?”
    “Last time we worked with Franks only half of us died. Plus that dick Torres even deserved it. Don’t be a wuss, Grant. We’re not going operational with Franks. We’re going to watch him fill out paperwork and maybe growl at a congressman. I’m probably just here because I type fast.”
    “This is just a letdown. That was one of the biggest cover jobs in MCB history and I was doing a damn good job locking it down.”
    To be fair, Grant really had. Some of them were just better natural born liars, and some, like Archer, were better at supporting the liars. “Your career will survive. Our last two directors partnered with Franks at some point. Supporting the big dog is a prestige assignment. Think of this as a resumé builder. Everybody knows you’re gunning for a SAC position eventually.”
    Grant got a little red in the face. The MCB had a very hands-on warrior culture. No field agent wanted to get a rep as a political hack, especially now that the biggest political hack in the Bureau was their new director, and Stark wasn’t exactly a popular figure.
    Archer didn’t bring it up, as Myers hadn’t had a chance yet to brief them on the details of their particular assignment, but with everything that was going on in Vegas right now, Myers could barely afford to spare anyone, let alone four agents. There was something going down, and since he and Grant were some of the few who knew about Stricken’s illegal activities, it had to be related.
    The female Air Force loadmaster led them up the ramp and showed them where to stash their gear bags. She couldn’t help but give Grant a flirty little look. The dude was just so annoyingly classically handsome that he had that effect on nearly every woman they met. Half the time Grant could simply charm their witnesses into silence. They were still in their issued black MCB armor, though both of them had managed to avoid being set on fire or covered in ectoplasm, so all things considered they appeared rather respectable. Only Archer was skinny and goofy-looking. She gave Grant a long once-over, barely noticed that Archer was alive, then went back down the ramp as they continued going forward. Grant inspected her backside through her flight suit and turned