Son of Cerberus (The Unusual Operations Division Book 2) Read Free Page A

night. Germaine felt the hairs on his arms and neck stand on end at the complete absence of any engine noise that accompanied both the boat and that frightening melody.
    Unconscious of the fact he was moving at all, he grabbed the handle of his pistol.
     
    Marcus panted from beneath the sheets. It was nearly three in the morning now and still he had this strange feeling. It wasn’t getting any stronger, at least. Marcus knew something was going down somewhere and soon he would be back on the road. He wondered for a brief second how Julie would take it if he were right. It would mean cancelling plans for their weekend getaway.
    Her soft touch brought him back to reality. He was here, in his room, with his giant television and paper thin tablet, his automated security system and lights, and a woman in his bed. Sometimes he took for granted all the things he actually had in hopes of gaining a little more adventure.
    “I wanted to add to the list,” Julie said breathlessly beside him. Her hair was in tangles now and her face was red from exertion. She kissed him softly on his chest.
    “I have been thinking about it for a few days now.”
    “Go on and do it then,” Marcus teased. “You want to add another few hours of abuse? I’m ready for whatever you’ve got.”
    She patted him playfully. They had been dating for nearly a year now and Marcus still couldn’t anticipate everything the woman would say. He assured himself that someday he would be able to read her as well as he hoped. Today, however, she was being difficult.
    “No more sex,” she answered. “I’ve been thinking about something a little more serious than that.”
    “Oh,” Marcus answered inquisitively. “Do tell.”
    “Well, we’re supposed to take this vacation soon and even though it’s just a weekend away I was hoping we could do something crazy.”
    “You want to get a tattoo?” Marcus guessed. She had been thinking about getting one for weeks now but she was still too afraid that eventually she wouldn’t like it anymore. Marcus had nearly pleaded with her to keep her body clean; it looked amazing like it was and he didn’t want to chance ruining it.
    “No,” Julie responded. “More serious than that, Marcus.”
    “More serious than something that marks your body for the rest of your life?” he goaded. “I wonder what you could possibly be talking about.”
    “I was thinking while we are there, you could buy me something special.”
    “You’re the one with all the money,” Marcus joked. It was true, after all. She ran her own private law practice in D.C. No one out there could compete with her either. She had all the money she could ever want, but she wanted something special. Marcus couldn’t imagine what it was.
    “Well, I can’t buy my own engagement ring.” With those eight words, Julie nearly shattered Marcus’s world.

Chapter 2
     
    Germaine made his way as close as he could back to the end of the dock. He could hear the rowdy sea slapping up against the cement below him and feel the cold water brushing past as he stared out into the darkness. Unfortunately the fog was thick enough to obstruct anything that was more than five feet away, so even using the flashlight turned out to be futile. Regardless, he could hear the strange music and the slapping of water on fiberglass approaching. He knew he would see what was coming at him at any second.
    The ship appeared like a specter through the ultra-bright beam of light and illuminated fog before him. The polished white bow was just a foot or so lower than the pier itself meaning it stood out of the water a good eight to ten feet. It glided in without the slightest sound of propulsion, giving it the illusion of a ghost ship. From stern to bow the Crown Prize was sixty-two feet long, though no one was ever an accurate judge of her length. The height at which she sat made her look much shorter.
    It was immediately obvious that no one was steering the ship. The way it plummeted