Midnight Squad: The Grim Read Free Page B

Jennifer, Jackie O,
Melanie, it’s your brother on the phone!” I could hear the mad scramble into
the room. Mom put me on speakerphone. With every one of them talking at once,
it was impossible for me to figure out what was they were saying, but it was
clear that they loved me, they were glad to hear from me, they were worried
about me, and when was I coming home so they could kill me for disappearing
like I did.
                I finally had to interrupt. “I’m fine. Dad is taking me
to a job. I’m not sure when I’ll be free, but I’ll try and be home for
Christmas if I can.” It wasn’t much, but I have to give my family credit. They
understood. They’ve been through this with Dad all their lives. We chatted
away. After ten minutes, I handed back the phone. I leaned over so that the two
men riding with us wouldn’t hear. “So where are we going Lo-o-o-o-o-o- ve Bunny?” He whinced slightly,
and then a devilish smile danced across his face. Dad slowly leaned back and
whispered, “Son, be glad it was Love Bunny, she used to call me her Genetic
Jackhammer when we were trying to have your sisters.” I think I must have
turned two shades of green because Comb-over offered to pull over to let me
throw up. Nobody wants to be in a car with that new puke smell.

Chapter 2

 
                Two hours later had the Colonel and me puttering across
the desert in a transport helicopter. The Colonel said he’d ride with me until
I got to my destination. What can I say? Dad is a hard-ass, but he loves me.
Luckily, we were able to ditch the two losers… er … I
mean lawyers… no, on second thought I’ll stick with my original thought…
losers. If they were any bigger douche bags, they would have to change their
names to Summers Eve and Massingil . “Son, seriously…
how have you been? We were afraid we would never see you again. You go on a
trip and don’t come back for three months. Then when you do show up it’s in a
nuthouse. Just when we’re trying to get adjusted to your situation, you sneak
out and are off to God knows where. I should kick your ass on principle, but
they want you there as soon as possible. What happened?”
                I took a breath. I did my best to sort out what I could
and could not say. It’s hard to have a family conversation when so much of what
you do in life is classified. Thankfully Dad has been on this side of the
problem as well. I already knew he wouldn’t hold it against me for the things I
couldn’t say so I took a deep breath to compose myself and began, “We went on
what should have been a simple mission that should have just been in, out, and
go home. We ran into…something unusual. After extensive one-sided negotiations,
I was finally able to make my way back. It was a lonely flight.” Dad’s face
winced. I guess no father likes to hear his son was captured, tortured, and the
only survivor of a clearly failed mission. “I’ve known a few people that went
through….negotiations before. It changes you. I hope that you got the better
end of the deal.” It’s odd when your father tells you he hopes you killed
someone. I felt a little ashamed, as if I had disappointed him when I shook my
head no. “How bad was it?” I popped my knuckles to relieve stress. Oh what the
hell, who would it hurt? Anything I told him wouldn‘t go anywhere. Besides,
considering his rank he probably already had an idea about it. “Dad, they
pretty much broke me. I didn’t give them anything. Hell, I didn’t have anything
to give them to begin with. They would torture us and then after they got bored
they’d take us back to our cell. Then they would leave us there with a rope or
a razor. They didn’t want to kill us. They just wanted to see how long they
could go before we killed ourselves.” I tried to keep a calm voice, but before
I finished I could already hear my voice cracking and choking. I blinked away
the few tears we both pretended weren’t