Holes in the Ground Read Free Page A

cut my throat?” Jerry asked curiously.
    Sun ignored him, focusing on her husband. “Is it…?”
    Andy nodded.
    The phone rang, startling them both. Andy had a sick feeling he knew who it was.
    Sun left Jerry, who looked bewildered, and picked up the phone. She spoke in a monotone voice. “We already did our part.” Pause. “We’re on our honeymoon.” Pause. “Believe me, I understand national security, but I don’t see why he’d be needed. We were told we could get on with our lives, Mr. President.”
    “Whoa,” Jerry said. “Is that the man?”
    Sun hung up. Andy felt his stomach clench. “Let them in,” she said. “We don’t have a choice.”
    She was correct. Among the many things Sun and Andy had signed in order to return to civilian life after their tenure at Samhain—oaths and pledges and vows and confidentiality agreements and NDAs swearing to never reveal what they knew—there was a price for being left alone. At any time, they could be called back into service.
    Fighting the US government was like fighting the tide.
    Besides, Andy did feel a smidgeon of responsibility for what happened at Samhain, and he knew Sun did as well.
    Good people had died.
    Worse, something very bad had escaped.
    His hand shaking, he let the Secret Service in. They closed the door behind themselves.
    The one on the right said, “Good morning, Mr. Dennison. Mrs. Dennison.”
    “It’s Dennison-Jones,” Andy said, feeling deflated. “We just got married.”
    “We know. I’m Agent Johnson. This is Agent Williams. Who’s that?”
    “He’s not with you?” Sun asked.
    “I’m Jerry.” He stood up, and suddenly didn’t look stoned anymore. “I run the Stop Government Secrets website. Is this about Samhain?”
    The agents exchanged a glance. Then Agent Williams said, “Get out of here, kid, before you get hurt.”
    “The people have a right to know! It’s all true, isn’t it? All the rumors! All the guesses! You really do have Satan locked up! I knew I could prove this! My site is going viral, bitches!”
    Agent Williams calmly reached into his pocket and removed a taser.
    “Is that a taser?” Jerry asked.
    Agent Williams shot Jerry in the chest. The boy jerked and began to convulse.
    For a few seconds, Andy dispassionately watched Jerry flop about like a fish on a jetty. When the volts were cut, Jerry lay still with a faint smell of ozone hanging in the room. Andy turned to agent Johnson. “We’re not going. We’re on our honeymoon.”
    “We’re not giving you a choice. It’s only for a few days, and you’ll be well compensated for your time, Mr. Dennison.”
    “Dennison-Jones. Does Sun have to go?”
    “That’s up to her.”
    Andy said, “You’re not going” at the same time she said “I’m going.”
    They had a stare down, and Andy blinked first. He always did.
    Could this honeymoon get any worse?
    “What about the kid?” Sun asked.
    “I want to go, too!” he said, half-whine and half-croak.
    “Who is he?” Agent Williams asked.
    “We have no idea,” Andy answered. “He knocked on our door a few minutes before you did.”
    Agent Johnson squatted down next to Jerry, grabbed his hand, and pressed it against a small, electronic device that looked like a smart phone.
    “Are you reading my fingerprint?” Jerry rasped. “I heard about these things. We’re just one step away from a one world government planting ID chips in our arms to track our movements.”
    Agent Johnson eyed the screen of his device. “Jeremy Preston. UK citizen. Wanted for major theft. NSA has a file on him as well.”
    “They do?” Jerry sat up, eyes wide. “Cool! I didn’t think anyone was paying attention to me. Hey, how do I get these little electric barbs out of my chest?”
    “Pull, really hard,” said Agent Williams.
    He did that and yelped. “Getting tazed sucks.”
    “That’s the point. What are you doing here, Jerry?”
    “I’m here to interview Andy and Sun. I’m the one who flew them to San