Twilight Hunter (The Execution Underground) Read Online Free PDF Page B

lowered the bin inside. Once the weapons were secured, the hidden entrance on the warehouse wall folded open. Damon stepped inside, then stood stock-still as the laser scanner ran over his body.
    “Cleared,” an artificial voice said.
    Damon moved past the portal, and the other men took turns following him through the scanner. When they finished, all four of them descended the basement staircase into the control room at the heart of their operation. Multicolors flashed across the array of screens connected to the computer database. The Execution Underground bosses never skimped on their tech budget.
    Damon’s expression was all business as he took his regular seat. “We need to focus our efforts on the case of these mutilated women.”
    Damon’s voice droned on, and Jace fought to pay attention. What if she got loose? He would be screwed. She would tell the local packmaster that he had moved into the area, and then all the damn monsters would be on the lookout for him.
    “Jace, get your head out of your ass and focus,” Damon barked. “This concerns you more than anyone.”
    Jace looked up and frowned, but he managed to keep his mouth shut. Someone needed to teach Damon a lesson in manners.
    After several long seconds of glaring, Damon turned back to the group. “As I was saying, the deaths started nearly three weeks ago, and that’s just here. It could’ve been going on in other cities around the state or even the country for months, even years. The frequency is escalating, which means we’ve got to end this, and soon. Not only for the sake of the victims, but to save our own asses, as well. We can’t have HQ breathing down our necks and finding out how infested this city is with supernatural scum. Four young women, mutilated and dead, means—”
    Jace sighed. “Five.”
    Damon closed his mouth and the room fell completely still. Jace stood and leaned against the nearest wall.
    “Right after David called me about the meeting, I found her in an alley. Same M.O.—ripped to shreds and then raped while she bled out.”
    Damon’s hands clenched into fists. “You’ve had three weeks. Three weeks to find this son of a bitch, and yet innocent girls are still being murdered on your watch.”
    The anger Jace directed toward himself and his rage at the killer combined with his current frustration and bubbled beneath his skin. Had the Mateba been clipped at his side, a bullet would already have zoomed straight through Damon’s smug face.
    David and Shane glanced away from the argument in progress, uncomfortable with the skyrocketing level of anger on display. They busied themselves pretending to multi-task. Shane started scribbling notes on his paperwork, and David fiddled with the items surrounding his computer as if counting paperclips was an extremely important task.
    Jace pointed straight at Damon. “You can’t pin this on me. You aren’t out there every night trying to track this monster down. I’m the only one working this damn assignment.”
    “Because it’s your area of expertise,” Damon said.
    Jace pushed away from the wall and straightened to his full height. “Just because the guy’s a werewolf, that doesn’t make it solely my problem.”
    “What if he isn’t a werewolf?” Shane interjected.
    Jace’s head whipped in his direction. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
    Shane ignored his pissed-off tone and continued. Sometimes the kid had more guts than Jace gave him credit for.
    “I mean, have we really considered the possibility that this could be something else? Maybe that’s why you’ve had such difficulty catching him?”
    “Shane has a point,” David said. “Have we really thought about it? We need to keep our minds open. For all we know, it could be some bastard who likes to pretend he’s the new and improved Ted Bundy. He could be human.”
    Jace slammed his fist against the wall. “I know this is a werewolf, all right?”
    Shane piped in again. “But how can you be